When Lovecraft Meets Three Kingdoms and Pop Music: Super Robot Wars UX

Let's Plays Completed Let's Plays
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#28

Gravity Energy, you say? After World War 2, you say? How INTERESTING. It’s a pretty notable backstory element to the Byston Well works related to Wings of Rean, but not one noticeable up front.

And yep, Scarlet autolives in SRW’s version of UX. Which is neat - BX is post SKL, but has her as well dead.

I fucking love SKL’s design, because the entire OVA is basically an 80s death metal album with pretty animation and SKL itself is perfect for the aesthetic. It’s possibly the most broken Mazinger in any SRW up till UX, as well. Protip - Kaidou and Magami share skills, and that includes Mental Fortitude and SP Up. One gets Zeal, the other gets Hot Blood, and oh boy, there they go.

C attacks being on all pilots means that you should focus giving ships your C Power Up skills (Multipilot or w/e they’re called) since they’re always solo. Battleships that always do 90% or more damage to both parts of a pair hit pretty hard.

Also, here’s the best version across all fiction of Liu Bei’s squad, including a Kongming who doesn’t sit on his ass the entire damn time (ok, he does SOME of the time, but that’s a fucking improvement!) and a Zhang Fei who’s not a total asshole! And Liu Bei is voiced by Yuki Kaji, who actually sounds REALLY FUCKING GOOD in the role instead of… well… Amata. (No, seriously though. The fact that he ends up combining isn’t a spoiler since he’s in that form in the prologue, but his eventual combination sequence is fucking beautiful and Yuki Kaji managed it perfectly. When the time finally comes that we get it in UX, post th- goddamnit Youtube you removed all of SD Gundam Sangokuden! I was going to link to the video, but it’s not anywhere to be found, damnit. I might go grab the series and upload the blasted thing myself.)

#29
Click to see the mission!


The squad menu finally opened up and now we can start fiddling with our teams. Liu Bei and the WSO crew are all deploying as event units, though, so it’s simpler to just stick to the composition Moritsugu set up last battle. The only change I made was swap the Deceive, Yamashita, Eida and Lockon around, to better fit with their leaders’ ranges – here’s how we’re going:
Moritsugu/Deceive
Kouichi/Yamashita
Joe/Rennie
Setsuna/Eida
Sun Quan/Sun Shangxiang
Mike/Lockon
Arnie
Saya (set them apart only because both have battle lines in the next mission)

Off we go.


We open up inside the Octagon’s prayer room, where Aila ponders her vision. Every time she peers into the island’s future, she sees the devil with the skull. “Can this truly be the god that’ll deliver us from our plight…?” she wonders. Fancy (pink) enters the room right then, reporting that Hurricane’s group has returned with said devil and its companions.
Aila sets out to meet them, but inwardly ponders: if that devil is the one that’ll awaken Sleeping Beauty, then…


Back to us, Cham’s telling of how she’s originally from a world called Byston Well. Throughout many battles, she and her friends eventually had one last showdown with their enemies up here – in the Overworld. During it, Shou struck down his nemesis, Burn, and, at that moment, Ciela purified them all.
Kouichi understood precisely zip of all that but, as Lockon surmises, the main point is that Cham wound up here on Machine Island after it all went down. While Hurricane doesn’t know anything about the outside world, she and Misty were really surprised when they found Cham collapsed on the beach – a fairy, straight out of the stories!
But Izuna raises a good point: if Cham’s story is legit, that’d mean a huge battle would’ve had to take place, right? Problem is, there are absolutely no records, news, pictures, whatever, of anything like she described taking place in recent times. Joe figures we should take what she says with copious amounts of salt – this literal fairy tale makes absolutely no sense.

How rude! Cham doesn’t like him at all, and harrumphs that while his name might sound like Shou’s, his personality is about the exact opposite! Mike can’t well disagree with the Joe (ジョウ) x Shou (ショウ) comparison, earning himself a punch to the jaw. Why do Joe and Rennie always have to punch him over every little thing…?
Speaking of Shou, when Shizuna asks, Cham confirms that he’s been missing ever since the battle. She’s 100% sure he’s alive, though – that’s just the kind of man he is – and Liu Bei is confident she’ll find him again if she has that much faith in him.


As for Liu Bei’s group, he confirms to Sun Quan that they don’t know what happened: one moment they were at the Red Cliffs and, when they came to, they were in this world. As Zhang Fei and Guan Yu tell, the Octagon’s ladies found them wounded and passed out, and saved their lives. They have been fighting as volunteers to defend this fortress ever since to repay their saviors.
Kaido’s heard plenty about them, and even Kiba and Garan have learned to respect the Octagon’s mighty Volunteer Corps. Moreover, the rumors speak wonders about their strategist – a weaver of miraculous stratagems. Zhuge Liang is modest, though, and says the rumors about Kaido and Magami’s valor are far more impressive.
In truth, Liu Bei’s also heard plenty about them and how the Garan and Kiba Forces both building up their armies to try and stand up against the might of their devil.

Shizuna does notice that Shangxiang grew very timid in a hurry and Lu Xun explains why: she’s read Romance of the Three Kingdoms and saw that her counterpart married Liu Bei, so now she’s really nervous around him.
When Liu Bei raises his eyebrows, Shangxiang panics and yells LIES – all of it! Let’s not forget that, first, she’s a huge, difficult tomboy, and, secondly, think of how hard that’d be on poor Quan! “Well, you got one of those right,” Zhang Fei quips, but nobody asked him! Shut up!


But Shangxiang’s saved when Fancy calls everyone’s attention: Lady Aila, leader of the Octagon, has arrived. Inwardly, Setsuna ponders the unique waves of power he feels wafting from her – in fact, he feels it from every woman here. What could it be?


Location: Elshank – Infirmary

: H-Hrrgh…
: You’re awake, Major?
: Arnie, and Saya… I’m…?
: You passed out inside the Orphes’ cockpit.
: I did…? Psh… I must really be getting old if I’m blacking out while there’s a battle going on…
: Major, is that unit of yours, the Orphes, the reason that happened?
: …
: While I don’t know how any of it works, that mech is equipped with a system that allows it to warp, right? But I’m guessing making use of it is very taxing on the pilot’s body. Am I wrong…?
: And your point is? Are you suggesting I ditch the Orphes?
: That’s…
: Sorry to tell you, but that’s not something I can do.
: Besides, a bit of pain is nothing compared to the hell Saya and I’ve seen.
: …
: “Hell”?
: The Orphes’ name is based on a musician in Greek legend who managed to return from the Underworld. And true to its name, I saw hell on earth while in its seat…
: Do you mean particularly gruesome battles you’ve seen as a merc…?
: No, Arnie… No, I do not…
: Maj. Richard…


Back to the Octagon, Aila tells the story of how their mothers and fathers were imprisoned within Machine Island with the advent of the Gravity Curtain. The place has been mired in war ever since, with the island (with all its weapon plants and the Gravity Generator) an environment tailored for spawning an endless procession of robots and tools made for combat.
The Octagon, Kiba’s fortress by the coastline, and Garan’s castle in the mountainous region each control a weapon production plant, all of which are constantly powered by the Gravity Generator located at the center of the island. When Tsubasa asks, Aila says they are aware that said generator is on the verge of going critical. She believes Garan or Kiba to be the ones to blame for it: one of them is going nuts with their weapon plant, pushing the generator way past safe levels.
“Is that really the only reason for it…?” Setsuna wonders aloud. Flash asks if he suspects something more, but no, he decides to leave it at that. Inwardly, though, he senses that Aila is hiding something. In any case, if nothing is done and soon, Aila fears the Gravity Generator will erupt in a massive explosion – one which will have major effects on the planet’s magnetic field.

Romina wonders if they shouldn’t try and explain the situation to Kiba and Garan, but Flash doubts that’d get them anywhere. Those two care only about fighting, and Tsubasa’s outraged that they’d keep with that even with the threat of everyone being killed. Alas, their lust for battle surpasses any fear of death.
Sun Quan shakes his fist at these Shuras, but Kaido figures this is a real easy problem to solve: just wreck both groups! Magami sniffs at his childish approach to things, which doesn’t sit well with Kaido: “You want me to start with you, eh, hotshot?!” Tsubasa and Cham yell at both to pipe down as this is not the time for any of that.


Zhuge Liang speaks up right then, suggesting we go after Kiba’s fortress first, as assaulting Garan’s forces up in the mountains would require suitable preparation. Zhou Yu isn’t so sure, expecting an attack on Kiba’s HQ to be just as complicated and, as Flash notes, Garan is sure to launch an attack on the Octagon if they move after Kiba.
Certainly, which is why Liang says only our team and Liu Bei’s forces will handle things with Kiba and the Octagon women will stay and make sure their own base is guarded. Izuna and Rennie point out that the enemy has a weapon plant capable of creating unlimited troops – facing that by our lonesome is too dangerous!
But this is Zhuge Liang speaking and Liu Bei knows it: he has a plan. “Should ye lack an army, seize the forest. Should ye lack an encampment, seize the earth.” Indeed, there’s a way for us to prevail against such odds.


Cut to Kiba’s place, they’re already massing to attack the Octagon. They’ve been building up their forces precisely for this day, so Kiba declares they’ll set out during the evening – those women would never expect them to try another raid on the same day!
The mooks sing praises of their brilliant boss, and Kiba orders them to get to their machines. They’re gonna have a whole lot of fun today!
… Or not, as another panicky mook runs in: the Octagon’s Volunteer Corps is headed this way!


Mission 10 – Stratagems That Take the World by Storm

:siren: SRW UX - The Legend of Mirisha

: Let thunder’s roar fill your ears!

: Behold the ogre’s frenzy!

: My soul is one… with JUSTICE!!

: G-Gwaaaaaargh!!

: Wh-What… The hell are you up to?!
: Is it not obvious? We’ve come to exorcise the demons that haunt this island!
: Y-You three wanna take us all on?! Hah! I thought you were just a bunch of bodyguards, but you’ve got guts!
: Go and teach ‘em a lesson in pain, men!

: Oh…? I’m surprised they’ve amassed this many forces…
: But it confirms that their production plant is to blame for overworking the Gravity Generator!
: Are you clear on what you must do, Zhang Fei?
: I just need to make it over to the spot Kongming tagged, right?
: Correct. And said spot is…

: Over there!
: Head straight there, Zhang Fei! We’ll see to everything else!
: Heh, spare me the play-by-play! Back me up, bro, furface!
: Let all here behold the might of the Octagon’s Volunteer Corps! To arms!


Don’t lose anyone and get Zhang Fei over the spot by the end of turn 4. This isn’t complicated BUT one thing to keep in mind is that, true to the reputation, Kiba’s got an endless supply of units to toss against you. A new wave of enemies will show up whenever you reduce their numbers under 5, so take that into account as you make your approach.
Liu Bei’s kill count DOES matter for the SD Gundam secret (along with Sun Quan’s), so if you’re confident you can get Zhang Fei to the spot safely, feel free to take advantage of the extra mooks.


Liu Bei Gundam (Dragon Frame)
Pilot Skills:
Soul of the Three Sovereigns
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
All Attack L1
Command L1
Predict
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Sense
Mech Features:
Sword
10% HP and EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Mobility, Melee weapons’ power +100 (Mobility +20, Melee weapons +200, EXP +15%)
Liu Bei’s voice actor: Yuki Kaji (other roles: Amata in Aquarion EVOL, Eren in Attack on Titan, and a bunch more)


Zhang Fei Gundam (Thunder Frame)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
All Attack L1
Spirit Commands:
Guts
Strike
Mech Features:
Sword
10% HP and EN Regen
Squad Bonus: HP +500, Armor +100 (HP +1000, Armor +120, Melee weapons +150)
Zhang Fei’s voice actor: Masayuki Katou (other roles: Demiurge in Overlord, Yasu in Shin Mazinger, and a few more)


Guan Yu Gundam (Ogre Frame)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
All Attack L1
Spirit Commands:
Guts
Strike
Mech Features:
Sword
10% HP and EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, Accuracy +5 (Crit rate +20, Accuracy +20, Melee weapons +150)
Guan Yu’s voice actor: Hiroki Yasumoto (other roles: Ime Liard in SRW Z2, Asura in Asura’s Wrath and many more)

Sun Quan was already a good unit, and Liu Bei’s just as good. Survivability is still an issue against accurate enemies and he doesn’t even have a barrier but, in exchange, he’s got greater firepower with a combo with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. His best solo weapon is post-movement, too.
Zhang Fei and Guan Yu fall in the squaddie category, but are way more combat-capable than Shangxiang (though her better upgrade path will offset that difference almost completely). Only Liu Bei can start the combo attack, too, so that diminishes the bang for your buck, but they’re still competent units for the early-to-mid game. Do note that Zhang Fei only ever learns Invincible as a defensive spirit (not even Focus!), so make sure to keep him around Command auras as a precaution.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: The blades of villains are but blunted sticks against justice! Oppose us and your lives are forfeit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHrzvzT6dyE

: The light of the dragon shall rend evil asunder! Gaze upon it and be blinded!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qENlFF5LCbg
“Bear my justice within, oh, blade!”

: We owe a whole lot to the Octagon ladies, and favors gotta be answered in kind! It’s only good manners!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnaTN8CCfHg

The next turn over…


By the Elshank, the rest of our team is watching as the mission carries on and Zhuge Liang asks everyone to get ready to deploy soon. Joe’s not too sure if this’ll work, but Yamashita points out that Liang is renowned as a genius tactician. Check any Three Kingdoms media: he’s always got max intelligence stats and his stratagems are feared by even the mightiest of foes.
But, Kouichi counters, Yamashita’s speaking based solely on mangas and games, no? Moreover, Damian reminds that the guy made his fame in a society where people fought with swords, bows and arrows. The present isn’t that simple. Lu Xun, however, says everything’ll be fine: “The weapons being used are a nonissue to true Art of War!”
And Zhou Yu adds: “Sun Tzu himself said: the three conditions that majorly influence the odds of victory in battle are proper timing, geographical superiority and troop unity. And what we need now is unity… We must bring our hearts and minds together, and trust in Master Kongming, Liu Bei and his companions.”
Hmhmm…

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G11F0LqxxU

Get the enemy numbers under 5, and…

: You think you’re tough?! Too bad for you, I can bring out as many troops as I want with this production plant up and running!

Another 6 mooks spawn


And there we go.

: Haah, hoo… I’m in position, bro!
: Good! Do it, Zhang Fei!
: Haaaaaaaah!!

: Wh-What’re they up to…?!
: Let’s see how you like this! Bakuretsu… DAIRAIJAAAAAAA!!

: …
: U-Um…?
: Did something happen, Zhang Fei?!
: N-No, I… I thought there’d be, like, a ton of land mines buried around here or something?!
: What?! I’ve never heard anything of the sort!
: Whaaa…?! Then why were we sent over here…?!
: Heheh… You got me worried there for a sec! Now it’s your turn to get a taste of that!

: Kch… There are so many of them!
: This does not bode well at all…
: D-Don’t blame this on me! I did exactly as I was told…!
: I still have faith in Kongming! He shall not fail us!
: B-But…!
: Rrgh… No, I’m a proud warrior too! My bro says he’s got faith, so I’ll do the same! I’ll stick with you all the way to the end, Kongming!
: Hmph, the hell do I care about some Chinaman?! Swarm them, men!
: Th-That’s… BOSS!!

: Wh-Whaaaaat?!

:siren: SRW UX - The Legend of Mirisha

: Heheh… That Liang fella’s pretty dang good!
: Hm. It’s hard to believe how perfectly he anticipated the formation the enemy deployed in…!
: S-Skull-face…?!
: B-Boss… Over here—!

: Y-You…?!
: Our surprise attack on the enemy’s flanks was a success! Half of the Kiba’s Forces have been destroyed!
: An absolutely flawless prediction of the enemy’s tactics… I guess I shouldn’t have expected any less from a legendary strategist.
: Hear, hear. The guy rivals even you and Gen. Mannequin, huh?
: Rrgh…! You think you’ve won yet?! You haven’t!
: Throw everything we’ve got at them! Crank out those robots nonstop!
: U-Um, Boss… the production plant ain’t doing what we tell it to!
: What?!
: Hmhmm… I believe it worked.
: Zhang Fei, pull back!
: Eh…?

Zhang Fei backs away.

: Waaaaaaah! Wh-What in blazes?!
: Y-You…! What the hell did you do?!
: Do you not realize it yet?
: Your production plant receives energy from the Gravity Engine via an underground pipeline… a pipeline that Zhang Fei’s attack cut down.
: I-It can’t be…! This war’s been going on for twenty-eight years and nothing like that’s ever worked!
: That pipeline’s too strong to get wrecked… and from a single attack, even?! That’s not possible…!
: Hmhmhm, we have you to thank for that.
: Your excessive energy intake left the pipeline overflowing to the point of bursting. The smallest of strikes would have been enough to obliterate it!
: …?! N-No… No way!
: H-he thought that far ahead…?! This is the Art of War at work?!
: Alright, I admit it, Kongming… you’re the real deal!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Set onwards, troops! Kiba’s Forces now lie as candles flittering in the wind – you have but to snuff them out!
: Aye, aye!

*+10 morale for everyone!

: You… My army… You sons of BITCHES!!

: I’ll beat every last one of you into a bloody paste!
: Oho, looks like the boss man got sick of hanging back!
: Your primary target is Kiba! All troops, engage!


Only need to wreck Kiba and keep your ships safe, but we’re not just going to ignore all these easy kills hanging out, are we?

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMT7-4DOmio
And here’s Guan Yu’s strongest attack, complete with finger poke of doom.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: Your army’s already finished! Just put down your weapons and surrender!
: Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?! I’ll build a whole trophy room just for your heads!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: How can fighting be your only purpose in life… Is there no justice in any of you?!
: You ain’t got a clue how the world works, brat! Just the sight of goody-goodies like you and your crew makes me wanna hurl!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHRZIavAfQ
Finally got Kiba’s best attack on tape.

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

: Why couldn’t you simply stop overworking the Gravity Generator? Did the fact that you’re endangering the entire world not even cross your mind…?
: And I’m supposed to give crap about the outside world?! Way I see it, all my life’s been building up just for today’s battle!
: Then you are yet another one who’d corrupt the world, who’d push it on the path to ruin…!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: I’m more of a to-the-point kinda guy, but I don’t mind winning with strats once in a blue moon!
: You wrecked my forces…! I’ll paint this whole island red with your blood!

:siren: SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness

: You think you can take me with that tiny plane?! I see you ain’t taking me seriously!
: There’s more to everything than meets the eye. Now how about I show the size of your ignorance?

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Your rampage has run its course, Kiba! And now my Ryuteiken will mete out your due judgement!
: This frickin’ stuffed toy…! You go on acting like some force of justice but then you crash other folks’ war?! Goddamn hypocrite!

: I’m gonna get you for this humiliation if it’s the last thing I do, Skull-face!
: Heh, a boy who can’t read the tide of battle got no business playing boss!
: It’s high-time time we hammered in the last nail in your coffin, Kiba!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbXKHqZSJ0
And here’s Magami’s strongest attack.
We get a Magami’s Marksmanship Teachings from Kiba.

: If God gets in our way, he’ll get cut down…
: If the Devil does the same, he’ll be shot!
: Y-You… I’ll be waiting for you in HELL!!

: Hah… There’s no point in waiting there.
: Because… We are Hell!

: No enemy signals remain on radar!
: Any surviving soldiers of Kiba’s Forces have already scattered, it seems.
: Then I guess it’s over. Now to take over Kiba’s fortress and investigate the weapon production plant!

: Very well done, Master Kongming. Your commands were, as usual, flawless.
: Please, Zhou Yu. It hardly feels right to have a man of your stature address me as “master”.
: You honor me with your modesty. But, I must say, I was rather surprised to see you engaging so proactively in this world’s conflicts. If I remember correctly, you chose a life of seclusion precisely because you detested such battles…
: Hahah, “proactive”, hm? Perhaps. Though I presume my reasons are the same as yours.
: Mine…?
: Have you also read this world’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
: Aye, I glossed through it…
: Then I presume you understand the implications. If that text truly depicts our ultimate fates, then…
: … Your death is nigh.
: …!
: But I see in your eyes that you do not accept that. I do not either.
: Then you are fighting in order to overturn fate as it was written…?
: Aye. This world and Mirisha, us and our “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” counterparts…
: Our histories are so very similar, yet there are also subtle differences… and I can’t help but feel the presence of an unseen hand behind it all.
: An unseen hand…?
: And I believe the answer to that mystery will have significant impact over not just our future… but over this whole world’s future as well.
: Master Kongming, you…
: Man must never submit to the tides of fate…
: Do you not think that a struggle worth staking your life on, Zhou Yu?
: …


Meanwhile, by Kiba’s fortress, Tsubasa’s found what looks like the control center of the weapon plant. Can she shut it down? Easily, as while this whole structure’s pretty old, she can handle any of its standard systems. Well, ain’t she a clever girl?
… But it’s not quite that easy, as there are several traps installed in the system. Can she disable them? She figures she can, as they’re pretty basic, but something strikes her as odd. “Want some help there? Ya just gotta cut the red wire and—” Kaido starts joking before Tsubasa tells him to shush.
Upon further inspection, she discovers something about this plant’s systems…


Cut to the Ptolemaios, Feldt reports that the WSO has succeeded in fully disabling the production plant. That should keep the Gravity Generator stable for now – better yet, the Gravity Curtain has disappeared as a result and Lockon is so glad we don’t have to traverse that thing again.
However, Feldt says the investigation team has reported something else. Things have taken a bit of an unexpected turn at the lowest levels of the production plant: they found a life-sized girl robot stashed down there.
Ryusei Lockon is curious.


By Garan’s place, Himiko confirms to him that "Sleeping Beauty” has been awakened. Furthermore, with the Gravity Curtain gone, this island’s role as a cradle for its denizens is over. When Garan asks, Himiko relates that many of the survivors from Kiba’s gang are hiding throughout the island. Should they send teams to get rid of them?
Garan says no, preferring instead to add those soldiers and robots to his own forces. Himiko’s a bit ill at ease with that – those men are so very violent. Yes, which is precisely why Garan wants them: violent men will easily obey someone with greater strength, and what Garan needs now is to expand his army. Indeed, he’ll welcome any who wishes to support his conquest, regardless of their origin or past.


Isn’t that right, Burn? Indeed, and Burn says he never forgets a debt – his life and all of the Zwarth’s power will serve Garan’s cause. “I swear it by my blade, and by my honor as a warrior.”
Garan likes it and tells him to set forth. The time has come for the entire world to submit to his rule! Inwardly, Himiko tells Aila that she’ll be accompanying Garan in his quest – the truth awaits further down this path, and she will find out what it is.

: We can refine this Odyssite into an appropriate substitute for the kylhasium, then?
: Right. It’s used as a catalyst for the Gravity Generator so there’s plenty of the raw ore stored throughout this island – more than enough to solve the Elshank’s fuel issues for the time being, I think.
: That’s great news, Your Highness!
: Indeed. We thank you all for your assistance.
: Well, that’s the Elshank’s problem taken care of… but what about her?
: She’s what Lt. Yuki found inside Kiba’s fortress, hm…?
: …

Door opens.

: So this moment has finally arrived…
: It’s a pleasure to meet you, VR-14… Or, rather, Fei-Yen.
: …
: This robot is what you were hiding from us, wasn’t it?
: “Hiding”?
: I suppose I cannot fool you…
: Yes, it’s as you said. We have been watching over her seal…
: Her seal…? Just who is she?
: We do not know either. All I can tell you is that she has been asleep, dreaming, within this land for ages. She’s been there since before the Gravity Curtain emerged, since the time when this island’s research institute still functioned, even.
: For that long…?
: Then I guess we could take her to be another legacy from this island’s old researchers…
: Our parents spoke of her. They said her name was VR-14, also known as Fei-Yen… Hers is a soul that longs to soar free – or, perhaps, she is a vessel for it…
: And they said that her awakening shares a deep connection to this world’s underlying truth. What they meant by that, however, I do not know…
: The world’s underlying truth…
: Could I make a request? I’d like you to bring her with you to the outside world and, maybe, shed light upon her mysteries.
: Wh-What?!
: … Y o u.
: ?! That voice was…
: I-I t I s…
: A p l e a s u r e t o m e e t y o u…
: Fei-Yen…?
: I h e a r… m y f i r s t s o u n d… v o i c e s… w o r d s…
: I h e a r… I s e e… e v e r y b o d y ‘ s v o i c e s…?
: She sounds lovely… So this is the voice of Fei-Yen, the soul that longs to soar free…
: A p l e a s u r e t o m e e t y o u…
: W h o… W h o a m… I…?

Fei-Yen, as you might expect, quotes a TON of Miku Hatsune song lyrics. I’ll try and keep an eye out for those and do as much research on it as I can, but I’m honestly not familiar with vocaloid stuff at all. If someone here IS, though, and sees something I didn’t, feel free to get in touch with me through PMs on SA, LP.Zone, Youtube, wherever, and I’ll fix it.

#30

I wonder if Sun Shangxiang got to the part of the Romance where she left Liu Bei two years after marrying him, or the part where she killed herself after the events of Yiling.

#31

Remember that Yamashita told them to get their history lesson from the Yokoyama Mitsuteru Three Kingdoms’ manga, so I dunno if that played out there! :chuckle:

#32

No, they didn’t get to the part where Shiangxian married Liu Bei, because that never happened in SD Gundam Sangokuden BBW. It also never happened in BB Senshi Sangokuden, the toy line SD Gundam Sangokuden BBW was based on (think Zoids here with the various anime and then the Battle Story). This is because SD Sangokuden never had it happen early and then Liu Bei went missing after the Red Cliffs for a lengthy period of time, and they never got around to it. UX likes to bring up things like that though.

That also means they never did the thing where Liu Bei touchdowned a baby.

In my first run, I used all the SD Gundams all the way to the endgame, and found Liu Bei’s group to be really good. Liu Bei himself is fucking broken later in the game (you’ll get there EVENTUALLY, he takes forever and a half), but Guan Yu is fairly good at staying alive, and Zhang Fei… honestly I listened to his attacks almost every time because I fucking love the delivery on DAIRAIJAAAA and CHOURAIKOUUUUU! It helps that Chouraikou’s debut in the anime was fucking awesome. Also, expect this “Zhang Fei uses lightning to solve problems” bit to be used more often, because it’s in a game with Heroman, and lightning solves all problems.

And oh boy, the game’s introducing tacticians. Here’s where Zhuge Liang really comes into play - everyone upgrades to 2 abilities, and then 3, but Zhuge upgrades FIRST both times. And he’s the best in the fucking game - his 1 ability is alright, but his 2 is really good, and his 3 is fucking stupid, such that when they made it a thing you had to apply every turn in BX to a limited area it was still fucking stupid.

(I fucking love how Kongming decided to get off his ass because history portrays him accurately as a guy who sat on his ass the whole damn conflict. It’s amazing.)

UX unfortunately failed to show Guan Yu’s finger poke off properly - see, in the show, he actually grows twice his size before doing the poke, and it instantly takes down another quite powerful person. It probably should have been its own attack to mirror Zhang Fei, but…

#33
Click to see the mission!


I just realized I never took a look at the intermission’s bottom screen and the unit upgrade menu, so let’s remedy that real quick. As I mentioned before, your top aces are displayed right there and kills made with them generate 20% more cash. Below them is the number of unused Skill Parts, and you can see by that 489 that I’ve a lot of consumable stat boosts (maybe I’ll make a vote later and let you pick someone to chug all those).
Finally, right below that, and currently empty, is where the game would point out units that are currently unassigned to squads.


There wouldn’t be much of a point to repeatedly point out upgrades I’m making since the dozens of millions I’ve in my bank account allow me to boost everyone forever. But here’s a quick overview of what everything gives you – from top to bottom:
HP – self-explanatory
EN – Ditto
Armor – damage mitigation for incoming attacks
Mobility – big modifier in your chances to Evade attacks
Accuracy – same, only it’s your chance to hit
Weapons – provides a power boost to all of the unit’s weapons. The size of the boost depends on the unit’s upgrade path: units that follow Pattern A will get bigger boosts more frequently than those that follow Pattern B, which will gain more than those with Pattern C.

As a general rule, you’ll want your Reals to focus primarily on Mobility while your Supers take HP and Armor. Accuracy and Weapon upgrades are desired by pretty much any offensive unit and EN is, of course, significant for those bots with costly weapons.


And with that done, we move to our teams. Arnie, Eida, Fei-Yen and Mike are deploy as event units, so we adjust accordingly. Do note that this next stage will have a not-insignificant amount of water, so you’ll want as many people airborne as possible:
Moritsugu/Guan Yu
Kouichi/Yamashita
Joe/Rennie
Liu Bei/Deceive
Setsuna/Lockon
Sun Quan/Sun Shangxiang
Saya/Zhang Fei
Mazinkaiser/Tsubasa

Off we go.


We open up with the Ptolemaios having just arrived back at JUDA – and we’ve brought Cham and Fei-Yen along as well. One thing Lasse heard is that despite Fei-Yen’s very girly appearance, she’s actually packing some decent fighting capabilities. Of course, there’s the problem that she can’t even remember her own name.
Still, Mileina figures she might just be an awesome, centuries-old weapon. Sumeragi considers that possibility, too, which is why she wants JUDA to give her a more thorough examination and see what they can find.
Setsuna, meanwhile, is sitting in a corner and Lockon asks what’s up. His Innovator powers tell him that Aila was still hiding stuff from us. Moreover, he inwardly ponders this unease Fei-Yen gives him. What could it mean?


Cut to Ishigami’s office, Tsubasa’s been informed that both her and the Death Caprice duo are being reassigned to work with JUDA. The president figures her insight will be invaluable in their analysis of Fei-Yen. Magami won’t argue that, but why transfer him and Kaido as well?
Well, with Cpt. Scarlet recovering from her injuries, there isn’t anyone in the Skull Force that can keep the two of them in line. Put it simply, Magami sees, the WSO thinks they’re a headache best passed on to someone else. That works just fine with Kaido, though, as working with this gang’s looking to be a whole of fun. Plus, it’ll give them battles where they can just cut loose.
“If all you want to do is ‘cut loose’, then you should just go back to the Machine Island, you monkey,” Magami harrumphs. Kaido gets right in his face for that and it falls on Tsubasa to stop things from coming to blows.

As for Liu Bei and crew, they’ll also carry on working with our team; they still have no idea how they’ll get back to Mirisha, so Liu Bei figures they might as well carry on fighting for justice in THIS world until that’s sorted out.
Ishigami purses his lips at that, and Zhuge Liang admits they’re aware that the myriad powers spread throughout this world lead to just as many definitions for what “justice” is. That said, they at the very least believe our group to not be unjust. That’s all Ishigami wanted to hear and welcomes them aboard.
With that settled, Tsubasa wants to know how Scarlet’s doing and Ishigami tells her to rest easy: JUDA’s medical staff is already hard at work, and he’s certain both she and Richard will be fine.


Location: JUDA – Infirmary

: My body’s immedicable…?
: I’m not a doctor, so I can only explain this from a technical point of view… but the problem lies with the Orphes. Surely you and Saya had have an idea of what I’m talking about, no?
: …
: So it really was because of its ability to warp…?
: Though, if you ask me, the very thought of pushing accelerated particle engines into synchro-overdrive is extremely unreasonable to begin with.
: Huh? Accelerated particle engines?
: Ah, right, your Riot is also furnished with one of those.
: Well, the Lepton Vectrer which powers the Lyras and Orphes could very well be called a variant of your unit’s Proton Generator.
: I-Is that true?!
: Yes, though the Orphes’ engine is far more extreme in terms of output, difficulty of control and just overall riskiness.
: But I digress. Major, you must stop piloting the Orphes immediately and our recommendation is that you get absolute repose.
: Because the next time you get in that pilot seat… you’ll die.

Maki leaves.

: …
: Hahah… One more and I’m dead? Seems I’ve really done it now…
: Which is precisely why I was so against it… What will you do?
: What, indeed… I guess I’ll need to leave our missions in your hands, for starters…
: Carrying those out without the Orphes will rather difficult, though…
: Major… Would you allow me to take up the Orphes?
: …?!
: What did you say…?
: I think I’ve the necessary know-how and experience to control it and its engine, and in that case…
: Ensign Berge! Do you understand what it is that you’re asking?!
: Yes, but I don’t think it was pure coincidence that the Riot was equipped with an accelerated particle engine like the Orphes’…
: …
: It’s fate… Is that what you’re getting at?
: I don’t like the idea of chalking up everything in a person’s past, present and future to a single word. Still, I…
: I just feel like there’s something of an unseen hand pushing me towards the Orphes…
: Ensign…
: …
: (An unseen hand, huh…? I guess I was right. The “events” Ishigami spoke of are…)


Some time later, by JUDA’s lobby, Damian finds Mike humming along. What’s he listening to? Eida’s newest single! Shizuna sure didn’t take him to be a closet-Eida fan, but Mike says it’s not like that. You remember how he was teamed up with her back at the Machine Island? Well, the girl liked working with him and later gave Mike a disk with a yet-unreleased song as a show of appreciation.
Joe is proud of how good with the ladies his friend is, and knows what he needs now: a crash course on how to put the moves on her. First, imagine that Joe is a girl… and Mike’s quickly irked as Joe starts strutting over to him, telling to take that stuff elsewhere.
Fei-Yen’s watching nearby and has a question: does Joe love Mike? Does it make it hard for him to breathe (More song lyrics)? Thankfully, Shangxiang is there to explain things to her. “Blah, Joe’s silliness is confusing Fei!” she and Cham fume. The girl-bot’s just woken up, so he should exercise some common sense when acting in front of her… though Damian questions if a Gundam and a Fairy should talk about common sense.

Fei slowly tells that her head’s still all jumbled up from her recent reboot but, while she can’t speak too well yet, says she’s fine. Shangxiang is glad to hear that, and knows she’ll fit right in with our crew.
As for Mike, Rennie warns that he won’t be getting anywhere with Eida: apparently the singer’s already together with her manager. We dunno if he’s aware of her UX gig, mind. “O-Oh, I see… I-I mean, I wasn’t even thinking about that, ya know!” Mike protests, and Rennie just nods along. And on the subject of Eida, does anyone know where she went?
Back to her other life, Izuna says: she’s recording a video for that new single over by Yokosuka. One day, she’s off fighting, the next she’s having a recording session… life as a merc/singer ain’t easy, Kouichi sees.


And on that subject, Johnny’s calling Eida to the location where they’ll record the next scene. He’s set quite the tough schedule for her today, but Johnny says she only has herself to blame, with all the time off she’s been taking. He’s got to make Eida’s work fit the amount of time she gives him – which, by the way, hasn’t been easy.
Eida understands, and says she’ll work extra-hard to wrap things up here quickly. That way they can go elsewhere together. Shopping, maybe? Johnny tries and fails to stay grumpy as she makes faces at him.
Inwardly, she really doesn’t like having to keep secrets from Johnny, but knows that he’d jump right back into the battlefield if he recovered his memories – as would Aoi, Kurara and Sakuya. But Eida wants them all to live in peace. She’s the only one who should be fighting.


Location: Yokosuka – Union Base

BOOM!

: W-Waaaah! They really did it?! (Sakuya)
: I can’t believe it…! I thought we were being pranked when they called us about a terrorist attack …! (Isabelle)

: Yaaaaahooo!
: We did it, Rouri! (Kanamoto)
: Hell, yeah! Apologies to Aesap and all that, but this is one for the history books!
: Hey, look! The press is here!
: Were you the ones who made that call?! I’m Isabelle Cronkite, a journalist!
: Sakuya Kamon, her cameraman. I can believe you actually shot a bazooka at the Union base…
: Get the hell off our country, Union Imperialists! Japan can handle its own defense!
: Make sure you get all this, camera guy!

Sirens!

: You! Don’t move!
: Uh-oh, here come the jarheads! Get in the jeep, Kanamoto!

Vrroooom!

: Sakuya, we’re going after them!

: … (Aesap)

: Now it’s time for extreme motorsports, where the F01 Shibuya Grand Prix has just been won by the legendary, undefeated queen of the race track: Aoi Hidaka!
: Ms. Hidaka, it wasn’t long ago that you announced your return from retirement and it’s like you never even stopped. Your driving is as superb as it’s ever been!
: Well, as it turns out a life of modelling and TV ads was too boring for me. So, I figured I’d jump back into this.
: But, on the other hand, there just isn’t anyone that can actually challenge me… I might just retire again, way this is going.
: Hahahah… a very confident statement, but one the Queen is entitled to make. Carrying on—

Knocking on door!

: Hm? Who is it…?
: Got a delivery here for you, Mr. Suzuki!
: A delivery…? Someone hired a courier, I guess…

Opens door.

: Aesap Suzuki? Assistant Inspector Kurara Tachibana of the Metropolitan PD, public safety division.
: Th-The police…?!
: You are currently a suspect of engaging in the illegal trade of Union weapons. Come with me, please.
: (?! Rouri, Kanamoto… you didn’t…!)
: W-Wait just a minute! What are you accusing my son of doing?! (Toshiko)
: His ID was used inside the local Union base. Your son’s also under suspicion of being an accomplice to the terrorist attack that just happened.
: Terrorist attack…?! My son’s been here all day, how can he be involved in an attack that happened minutes ago?!
: We share this tenement with a bunch of bad sorts. I’m sure one of them took his ID and—
: Urk…!

Aesap runs off!

: Aesap?! Where are you going?!
: Stop right there, Aesap Suzuki!

: Damn it… What did Rouri and Kanamoto do?!

Drive over!

: Yo, Aesap, you saw the news?! How’d we look?!
: Kanamoto, Rouri! Did you really…!
: We blew up a Union base with a bazooka, yeah! The explosion was huuuuge!
: And they’re coming after me because of that! Just how are you even thinking of getting away with this?!
: Chill, we got a boat right at that harbor over there—

BOOM!

: Uwaaaaah!
: Wh-What the hell?!


Mission 11 – The Uninvited

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate
:siren: :siren:

: R-Rgh…!

: I-I’m flying…?!
: This blue sky… this light, it feels… This isn’t Byston Well?! I’m at the overworld?! (Lux)
: W-What the… there are wings coming out her shoes…?
: Did you call me…?
: Huh…?
: Fine, no matter. We must find a place to land…!

: Eida, look! Robots!
: (Those aren’t MSs… What are those things…?!)
: Is that the princess…?!
: Your Highness, are you well?!
: Murassa Mein, of the Aura Battlers?! What is the meaning of this?!
: Some phenomenon occurred between the Aura Ships and the manifestation of the Wings of Rean, I believe! It’s brought us to the overworld!
: The Aura Ship?! Then, the Kintoki is also inbound…?!
: Yes, but our vessel isn’t the only one! The Rebels’ Aplogene is also traveling the Aura Road!
: The Rebels as well…?!
: Could you stop for a second?! Who the hell are you all?!
: I am Lux Sakomizu, of Byston Well – the realm located inbetween the sky, the land and the sea…
: “Byston Well”…? Sakomizu sounds like a Japanese name, though…
: Correct. My father, the king of the nation of Hojo, is Shinjiro Sakomizu… a Japanese man.
: Your father is a king… and he’s Japanese?!

#1: Calling all the unidentified mobile weapons! Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately!
: The overworld’s army…?!
#2: No, never mind that! The brass just sent word to bring them down!

: Urgh…!
: What?! How can they start shooting just like that?!
: Hrm…! So this is how you overworlders do things?!
: Murassa, stop!

: Gwaaaaah!!

: A-Aah…!
: W-Why…!
: You…! Are you trying to turn this world city into a warzone?!
: N-No! I…

:siren: SRW UX - A Bird’s Song

: Hm…?! More overworlder troops?!
: That’s… the red Dancouga?!
: Dan… couga?
: What’re you thinking, starting a battle right in the middle of a city?!
#1: Hmph, big words coming from a terrorist!
: …?!
#1: All troops, the red Dancouga is a member of the Unknown Xtrikers! She’s an international criminal!
#1: Take her down along with all the unidentified forces!
: W-What…!
: This is the overworld… King Sakomizu spoke much about it…
: However, as a warrior of Hojo, I cannot stand down!
: (Hrm… Why did it have to come to this? But I still need to keep this city safe!)
: (Because this is the city my dear Johnny calls home!)


Kill everything, don’t lose Eida. As you might expect, sending her straight into the front is a risky proposition as you don’t want both sides ganging up on her. Moreover, the plot will soon draw her right back to her starting point, so just hang back.
The Hojo guys are our first encounter with Aura Battlers, characterized by their exclusive Aura Power skill, which raises evade % as well as the power of Aura barriers and weapons in proportion to the skill level.
These guys, however, are absolutely no threat: their weapons are weak and all mooks have pathetic amounts of HP and Armor, to the point where pretty much anyone (except the Deceive) can oneshot them rather reliably. Their small size can make them dodgy-ish, but if you use your SP and Command auras wisely, you’ll shred them.

As soon as the enemy turn starts, the plot carries on…

Alarm!

: Hm…? What’s this alarm for?!
: Everyone, we’ve an emergency! Some unknown mobile weapons appeared by Yokosuka and are fighting the Federation…!
: Yokosuka… isn’t that where Eida’s at?!
: Yes, it is. She deployed with the R-Daigun and is under fire from both groups…!
: Wh-What?!
: Eida is…?!

Mike takes off.

: Heey, Mike! Wait!
: The hell’s that dumbass thinking running off by himself?!
: We should set out as well, Moritsugu!
: Hm, I’ll talk to Mr. Ishigami. Get ready to deploy on the double, people!

And the battle carries on, but both sides are too far away to do anything. The next turn…

Vrroooomm

: So the red Dancouga’s one of those Hell’s Executioners terrorists?
: Right. Are you getting all this?!
: ‘Course I am!

: Hey, you in the wagon! How about you watch where you’re driving?!
: Ah, crap… An undercover cop?!
: Driving while running a camera? Are you kidding… huh?
: Ah…?!
: (Do I know this man…?)
: (Huh… I’m getting some real déjà vu from her…)
: Sakuya, look!
: …?! The surface of the water is foaming… Wait, is that—

: Ack, even more robots! How many of those are hiding underwater…?!
: And where did Eida run off to with this whole mess going on?!
: That’s… Kasumi’s Raiden?!
: You decadent Japanese people… behold now the might of Hojo!
: Aah— Waaaaaah!!
: Johnny…!

Eida flies towards him.

: U-Urgh…!
: I-It’s…!
: That robot… it protected the civ?!
: But why would a terrorist…?
: (Th-Thank goodness, he’s safe… Rrgh!)
: Your end is come!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: Eida, get back!

: What…?!
: I-I made it…!
: Mike… What’re you doing here?!
: Heh-Heheh… I can’t just leave a teammate hanging when she’s in trouble, right?
: Mike…!
: Hmph, a new fighter… However—!
: Kasumi, stop! We are not here to conquer the overworld!
:Your Highness, what are you suggesting?! King Sakomizu has told us much of the corruption festering within the nation of Japan, hasn’t he?!
: We must display the might of His Majesty to the overworlders! They must learn that we are not to be trifled with! Such is the way things are…!
: Kasumi…!
: Tsk… Looks like they’re really set on attacking us!
: What’ll you do, then?
: Gonna help you drive them out, of course!
: My bro and Rennie might not be here right now, but I’m still gonna keep this town safe!

]You can send Mike up ahead, as him being underwater all but makes him invincible here. Most of the Hojo and Fed mooks will still fight each other anyway, and the GN Field proves awfully effective at keeping the GNX-IVs alive.

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: Your rabid barbarism just now was a crime in and of itself! And you will pay for it with your lives, overworlders!


Not against the midbosses, of course.

The next turn over…

: ?! More Federation forces…!
: (Union Mobile Suits… Are those the base’s defense platoon?!)
: That’s one of the alien combat machines, no question about it! They’re with that ship, the Elshank!
: Fire! Fire! Their invasion will meet its end today!

: Gaaaah!
: Again, they don’t even try talking things out before shooting…! Dad, what are you thinking?!
: Rrgh, damn it… I’m not going down like that!
: Mike, you need to escape!
: ?! Eida…!
: I got myself into this battle, so forget about me! If you stay here, you’ll…!
: Heheh… Bit too late for me to play it safe, no? We’ve been on the Feds bad side from the get-go anyway…!
: And, still, the folks of the UX and JUDA didn’t think twice about falling in with us…
: But…!
: Besides… Like hell I’m gonna run off and leave a girl hung out to dry! Th-That’s what my bro would say…!
: Mike!
: (Ain’t that right, bro…?)
: DIIIIEEEEE!!

: G-Gwaaaargh!
: I-It’s…!

:siren: SRW UX - Tobikage Appears!

: …
: Tobikage…!

Tobikage runs towards Mike.

: Y-You’re accepting me… just like you did Rennie and my bro?!
: …!

: What…? The overworlder machine and that unit combined…?!
: And now I can keep on fighting…! I can fight just like my bro does!
: Haaaaaah!!

: I-I did it…!

: Are you two alright?!
: G-Guys…!
: Eida, Eida, you know taking on the whole world is our bread and butter. How could you leave us out of this, huh?
: And we haven’t done some volunteer fighting in a long while! It’s always been on someone’s payroll lately, so we’re really raring to go!
: Thank you, everyone…!
: Hey, Mike… is that?!
: Hahah, yeah it is! Tobikage’s recognized me as a real man too!
: He did…?!
: (And with that, Tobikage’s fused with all three machines… What does any of this mean? Just what power do Joe, Mike and Rennie possess?)
: Oh, look! Those are Aura Battlers!
: As in, the mobile weapons from your Byston Well…?
: Right! But those are looking a bit different from the ones I’m familiar with…
: Whatever, it doesn’t change the fact that they hurt our friends!
: I w a n t t o h e l p y o u t o o!
: Are you sure about that, Fei?!
: I a m… I t ‘ s a b i t s c a r y , b u t… I w i l l f i g h t.
: I t h i n k d o i n g s t u f f w i l l h e l p m e f i n d m y t e m p o a g a i n…
: If you say so, I’ll allow it. But don’t do anything crazy, okay?
: It’s Feds and those Aura Battler things today, huh…? Master Kongming, you handle our tactics, alright?
: As you wish. I’ll take charge today but there are plenty who could do the same for our next engagements.
: Hmhmm. Other than the two of us, we also have General Zhou Yu, Mr. Moritsugu, Maj. Richard and Cpt. Scarlet, once they’ve recovered…
: We’ll let whoever is chosen as our tactician choose how we fight, yes?
: Aye. And on that note, to battle!


Kaima
And the Bakuryu fulfills its destiny by transforming into a goddamn robo dragon. This is the strongest of the Tobikage fusions and it comes packing a ton of range, bolstered by the addition Range +1 in its Squad Bonus (it loses ranged weapon attack+ and takes up crit+, too). Better yet, its strongest attack is a post movement +1-3 attack which applies mobility AND attack down – very mean.
Finally, it also gains Tobikage’s Bunshin no Jutsu, making it extra survivable. And if the Kaima has a puddle to sink into that S rank means it’ll take a lot of bad luck to bring it down.


Fei-Yen HD
Pilot Skills:
Diva (歌姫) L4 – raises the special effects of weapons in proportion to skill level.
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Counter
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Sense
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, Accuracy +5, Money +10% (Mobility +20, Accuracy +20, Money +20%, EN +75)
Fei-Yen’s voice actress: Saki Fujita (other roles: Miku Hatsune’s official voice, of course, Lorelai in Shin Mazinger, Shia Kijima in Build Fighters Try and some more)

Why couldn’t we have my boy Temjin here as well?! He deserves better than having K as the last SRW he’s been in!
Blah… Whatever the case, Fei-Yen is mostly built as a debuffer but doesn’t have a whole lot going for her right now: just two attacks, the strongest of which will reduce the enemy’s morale some. Considering that usually only matters on big bosses, and those often have All-Canceller, she won’t help us too much yet.
Her stats are good overall, but she absolutely can’t take a hit – dodging is the name of the game with her, so be careful when sending her out (though this game’s AI seems to prioritize high HP pools, just like in L).
But, at these things go, she’ll go on learning more and more stuff and might just be a solid, if nothing else, unit later on. The plot will auto-deploy her several times, so make something useful out of her.

And with all that done, we can charge forward and go to town. Spam Saya’s Tailwind and get your troops up to the dwindling Federation troops – wreck them first to stop the Hojo forces from stealing your kills, and then thrash the rest.

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

: More travelers from a parallel dimension… What are you after that you’d go so far as to further twist our world?!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: So Tobikage reacted and reached out to Mike, too…
: Just what is up with that guy…?

:siren: SRW UX - Tobikage Appears!

: Ookay, come on, Tobikage! We’re gonna blast all these guys to kingdom come!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1VGSR9bbPc
And here’s the Kaima’s strongest attack. Never send bugs to fight a dragon.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: So you’re another group that goes wrecking a whole town like it’s nothing… just the kind of people Champions of Justice would never put up with! You’re going down!

:siren: SRW UX - A Bird’s Song

: You can go right ahead and tag me as a terrorist, it doesn’t matter…
: I will put my life on the line and fight without a second thought in order to protect those I love!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: My blade will run you through, foolish overworlders!

As the battle progresses…

: What’re we gonna do, Rouri?
: We’re gonna steal one of the jets over by the Union base, is what!
: What?! Can you even fly one of those?!
: Yeah, the sim taught me pretty much everything I needed!
: Aah, that program you had Aesap steal for us…
: Yeah, exactly! Now let’s get outta here!

:siren: SRW UX - LOVE 14 ver. HD

: Don’t push yourself too hard out there, okay, Fei?
: D o n ‘ t w o r r y ; I ‘ m f e e l i n g f i n e!
: I j u s t w a n t t o h e l p e v e r y o n e a s b e s t a s I c a n!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nwqwxtvms
I’ve the sinking feeling getting killed by Miku-bot’s leeks is cause enough for a pseudo-samurai to commit harakiri.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: These bug-like Aura Battlers… Are they the same as us, yet another group of visitors from a different universe…?

Kill more things…

: It’s true that my father always hoped to eventually return to Japan…
: But not by way of a military assault! This is…!
: Lux…
: Aesap Suzuki… There’s something I must do! I’m certain us meeting one another has some sort of meaning, so I ask that you help me!
: “H-Help”… And how do you even know my name? I never told you!
: You did, no?
: Huh…?!

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: The hell? There’s a buncha katana-toting bugs buzzing around town!
: Hah, then these are absolutely the perfect prey for you.
: What’re you getting at with that, huh?!

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

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: Generator internal pressure, all green. Particle acceleration shows no abnormalities… (Arnie’s got a new jacket!)
: Are you certain about this, Ensign Berge…?
: Absolutely. Being chosen to pilot the Riot, getting shot down in Arkham City…
: I just have the feeling that all of it was for this day.
: Very well. If you’re so sure, I won’t try to stop you…
: However, I absolutely forbid you from using the Hell Stringer!
: I trust you don’t want to end up like the Major, yes…?
: … Aye, aye!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Bo0JrvoSA

: Kch, my Aura Battler’s movements have grown sluggish after coming to the overworld…! I should retreat for the time being…!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: I won’t allow you to cause any more destruction through this town! Its populace is now under our protection!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r40FCHgCOuM
And here’s the Liu Bei crew’s best combined attack. The weaker one is pretty much the same, only simpler.

: What’s going on?! Wasn’t the Aura Engine supposed to grow stronger in the overworld?!
: Damn it all… Much as I am loath to do it, I must wait for the Kintoki’s arrival…!

: Whew… Looks like it’s over.

Beep, beep!

: No, it’s not! We’ve more energy readings very close to us…
: Wait, these are… battleships?! They’re rising from the ocean!
: What…?!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: F-Flying boats… No, those’re warships?!
: That’s our vessel, the Kintoki, and the Rebels’ Aplogene…!
: Wh-What in blazes?! The princess opened the Aura Road…?
: Did she use the Wings of Rean?!
: Amalgan!
: Princess, the Wings of Rean shoes are not something you should be using!
: Your actions will only ruin the natural order of the world! Hand them over to me!
: Wh-What nonsense! The Wings of Rean shoes were originally bestowed unto my father, King Sakomizu!
: And if you hadn’t incited revolt against him, the flames of war would never have spread as they have!
: Wh-What… their words are…!
: (The meaning of what they’re saying is resounding through our minds…?!)
: (Is this some type of Quantum Brainwave communication?!)

: Look at that… flying warships!
: Wh-What are they?!
: What’re you all doing?! The Aplogene, the Rebels’ flagship, is right in front of us! (Kotto)
: The Aura Engine’s been restored! Ready to fire the main cannon!
: Good, then target the Aplogene!
: Kotto?! Stop! We mustn’t harm the overworld any—
: FIIIRE!!
: Evasive maneuvers!!

The Aplogene dodges!

: Wh-Whoaaa!
: Hrm… Kiki, Hebi, can the Gim Ginens launch?!
: We’re trying, admiral, but the engine output isn’t rising! (Hebi)
: Wh-What’s going on?! Why aren’t they moving…?!
: This is our chance! Ready all gun batteries!
: Kotto, listen to me…!
: S-Stop…! If you don’t, everyone’s Aura will…!
: E m o t i o n s a r e o v e r f l o w i n g… c a n n o t s t o p…!
: Cham, Fei?! What is happening…?!
: FIRE EVERYTHING!!
: STOP!!
: I-It’s…?!
: Aah, the Wings of Rean…!
: The Aura Road… is opening…?!

Whooooooosh!

: Aa-Aaaiiiieeeeee!
: Your Highness!!


Cut to the California base, and Novel brings news of the UX appearing in Yokosuka… and pinning the attack on us. Apparently we were accompanied by the alien combat machines and some mysterious ships – both the city and the base suffered major damage. “Kch, so much for the vaunted ‘Hell’s Executioners!” Jin spits. “What they’re doing is no different from base terrorism!”
Graham, however, isn’t so sure if that intel can be trusted: thinking back to their previous encounters, he never took the UX to be the kind of group to engage in such villainy. Why change now? “But, at the end of the day, they were just terrorists. And I’ll make them pay! I’ll avenge Arnie with my own two hands!” Jin fumes.
Ronin’s hearing everything and, inwardly, tells Joe that he knows they’d never turn to terrorism. Ronin still believes in him and his friends. But, setting that aside, Graham asks if the attack is what he wanted to speak to them about.

Actually, there’s something else: their Alien Interception Squadron is being reorganized. Novel’s Riot C has been running tests for a while and will soon be ready to be rolled-out, so the brass would like to use this opportunity to put together a proper strike team comprised only of Riots. And it’ll be Lieutenant Jin Spencer who’ll command that team. Jin stammers at the sudden promotion, but tells Ronin that he absolutely can handle it.
As for Graham, he’ll be taking command of the Sol Braves, a newly formed squadron of MSs. Graham confirms, and says that while their team names may change, their duty remains the same. “Lt. Spencer, I pray for your success as you brave these new horizons. But don’t let your anger blind you…”
As Jin confirms, Graham thinks to himself that he’ll need to look into what really happened at Yokosuka. The base’s assigned commander was one Alex Glem, right?


Speaking of, Alex is hanging out with Dog Tack. Alex isn’t sure if he should have lied in his report, as it was the local Union forces who fired first. But, no, Dog says it’s necessary in order to keep the people from starting to sympathize with the aliens, thinking they can be reasoned with. Crazy talk.
Surely he can see that Director Hazard is cut from whole other cloth and a far better man to side with than those “moderates”, yes? Alex doesn’t seem to inclined to agree, but a mook runs in and says he’s got a call from his wife. Dog leaves him to it, hoping they’ll have Alex’ cooperation in reforming the Federation Army. Again, Alex is silently doubtful – they say this reform is in the best interest of the army, but…
As he takes the call, though, his wife has something to say about their son, Aesap.


And now for something completely different. We move to Byston Well, where King Sakomizu is very surprised to see the Aura Road open twice in one day. He turns to Shot Weapon for his opinion, and he thinks that while the first time was due to the Wings of Rean and the Aura Ships, the second was caused by the Aura Power of an overworlder. In other words, it was caused by a Holy Warrior.
Sakomizu posits that this warrior is Japanese like him and, if so, would like to meet him. One of his mooks steps in and declares that they’ve captured some people who literally came falling out of the sky. They believe they are overworlders!

: Aah, very well done! Bring them in!
: Yes, my lord! Here they are!

Door opens.

: Wh-What…?!
: Th-These are overworlders…?!
: What… What in heaven’s name has happened to Japan… to the overworld?!
: H-Hellooo.
: Ahahahah…


And, on that note, let’s make a quick stop by the newly opened Tactician menu. As Sumeragi said, you can only choose one person to be your Tactician for the following mission and that person will provide varying bonuses. Initially, everyone only has one bonus to give but, as the game progresses, they’ll get two and then three.
Here’s who we’ve available right now:

  • Zhuge Liang: +10% attack power during the player phase.
  • Reiji Moritsugu: +25% chance of defensive skills (i.e. Mirror Image effects, etc.) activating.
  • Sumeragi Lee Noriega: units loaded onto a ship now restore 50% HP/EN per turn, instead of the regular 30%.
  • Ylbora Saro: +10% attack power when counterattacking (read: when the enemy attacks you on its turn).
  • Zhou Yu: +10% attack power to all ranged weapons
    Now, this may surprise you, but Zhuge Liang IS the best tactician in the entire game. Right now, he’s good but nothing game-breaking – that will change. Up until that point, you’re free to use whichever suits you. I’d recommend either Zhuge Liang or Ylbora, depending on when you like to kill stuff the most.
    Do note that there are some secrets that will require you to have a specific Tactician set before the mission starts, so keep an eye out for that.

Finally, as a warning: from this point on Tobikage will be gunning for your money. If the Elshank or any of its machines drops below 50%, he’ll show up as an NPC (complete with Double Movement) and go to town; any of the machines drops below 30% and he’ll combine with it, which is the only way of getting him to go away.
Be wary.

#34

Goddamnit Joe, stop being an asshole to Mike, he was the one likeable character in the whole damn show.

It’s “Asap”. As in, ASAP. That’s legitimately his name. Also, his two friends are the fucking worst, which is sort of the point - they’re WoR’s equivalent of Jeryll or the various other assholes who got summoned to Byston Well.

So, Dancouga Nova. It’s mentioned multiple times during the show that when each group who pilots Dancouga is done, their memory gets wiped. The Nova squad from the show chose to do this at the end of the game for… various reasons, which will come up later, but partly because they thought the fighting was done. This ties into one of UX’s central themes, that being MEMORY, which will come up more later.

Also fuck yes it’s the great Sea Demon. I love this fucker, and used it all through my UX run, where it was an absolute bomb. It IS technically weaker than Juuma, but not by much, and its much better at handling long range. Plus it’s basically UX’s version of BX’s Big Volfogg in that it’s utterly incapable of dying. Now, if only the show ever used the fucking thing…

No Temjin, no. However, in one of those odd twists, SRW is the first medium where we’ve ever gotten a voiced In The Blue Sky, or the lyrics even. You’ll get that WAY later though. And yes, Miku is a great unit later, although not a truly top tier one. She’s a great partner for Lockon once both get going apparently. I had her with Zhang Fei though.

As an aside, Tobikage is a true danger because of the Elshank, which will be targetted. 90% of the time, if something hits Kurojishi or Houraioh and doesn’t kill it, the end result will be Tobikage is summoned and immediately combines. Bakuryu is a bit stickier, but you can usually rely on Mike’s defense to take two hits if he lives the first at under 50% but above 30. But the Elshank has a massive target painted on it and it can also summon Tobikage, and WILL NOT make it disappear at 30%. This is where 90% of Tobikage/Ranka related incidents happen, although not where most Ranka incidents happen (I’m reminded of that one major VA - might have been Midorikawa? - accidentally double-overkilling Ranka with Atlantis Strike at some point.)

Also, just a fun-off - UX had a combining robot component named Bakuryu, and BX had a combining robot component named Bakuryu-Oh, and neither was related to the other, but both were blue dragon robots.

#35


It was Jin Haganeya, Demonbane’s creator.

#36

Sounds about right.

#37
Click to see the mission!

We’re back and, whoops, I forgot to take pictures of the intermission. Just know that Joe and Mazinkaiser are deploying as event units. We’ll be heading out with:
Kouichi/Yamashita
Arnie/Saya
Mike/Lockon
Moritsugu
Setsuna/Fei-Yen
Zhang Fei/Eida
Liu Bei/Deceive
Guan Yu/Tsubasa
Sun Quan/Rennie
Tactician: Ylbora (Zhuge Liang will have plenty of fun later in the game).

And I forgot to mention this in the last mission but Arnie taking up the Orphes has permanently retired his Riot B – you can’t even switch back to it if you wanted to. That said, any upgrades you made to it are fully refunded.

Off we go.


Our folks find themselves somewhere real strange. Last thing they remember is being engulfed by that huge light during the previous battle and traversing some passage. Cham immediately recognizes this as being in Byston Well, but somewhat different what she’s familiar with. A girl shows up, saying this is Wahlerkahrain, the land of the Ferario, that exists between the Overworld and the rest of Byston Well.
She is a Ferario herself, called Erebos. She’s got the wings to prove it but, as Eida sees, is also a whole lot bigger than Cham. Is she an E Ferario, one of their elder sisters, Cham wonders? No, Erebos is still just a Mi Ferario like her, and Joe has absolutely no idea what’s going on with all this Ferario talk.
Regardless, Erebos sees that we are overworlders and figures we came in from the Aura Road (the passage of light we traversed) that opened not long ago. More important to Sun Quan, where are Shangxiang and Lu Xun? No one sees them anywhere, and Zhou Yu fears they got separated from us while we were inside the Aura Road.


But an old Ferario speaks up, saying our comrades are currently being held captive within the castle of Hypp Kurene at the land of Herikon. Cham is shocked, certain of who this is, despite her looking nothing like the person she remembers: this is Jacoba Aon, leader of the Ferario.
Cham is very confused, as not only was Jacoba supposed to be long dead, she also looks so different. The answer, however, is simple: “I am the Jacoba of this world, but not the one you know.” Seems to Shizuna that it’s the whole “parallel universe” thing again, and Jacoba laughs at the curious things us, overworlders, say. As for Shangxiang and Lu Xun being captive, Erebos says being able to see something like that is a simple matter for the leader of the Ferario.

Indeed, and that is not all that Jacoba’s seen. She proclaims that the world is now beset by a crisis, with us caught squarely in the middle of it all. What does she mean? The Aura Road opened – twice, even – something not even the Ferario could do by themselves. The first time it was due to the Wings of Rean manifesting themselves, the other by the power of a Holy Warrior.
That is to say, Zhuge Liang surmises, this Holy Warrior person is the one who opened the passageway that brought us here? Indeed, and his name is Aesap Suzuki – an overworlder like us.


Cut to Hypp Kurene, where Aesap is waking up. Lux is there with him, and explains that this is her father’s castle, in the land of Herikon. They are in Byston Well. Big Daddy Sakomizu is also there, who introduces himself and extends his gratitude to Aesap: had Sakomizu not found him, he would have mistakenly presumed all overworlders had changed to look like Shangxiang and Lu Xun!
Speaking of, he’s got them both tied up and Shangxiang demands they be freed now or he’s in for a pummeling (only it’s this attitude that got them tied up in the first place, Lu Xun sighs)! Aesap freaks out at the living, breathing robots, and Sakomizu sees that he does not know them. Those aren’t Aura Machines, though.
“Aura Machines are those bug-like weapons, right?! Well, we are bona fine humans and nothing like those things, okay?!” Shangxiang yells.


Queen Codour does not appreciate her attitude when addressing the king, and blames all this on Lux running off with the treasured Wings of Rean shoes. Sakomizu tells her to focus not on that, but on the significance of the Aura Road being opened twice in one day. At that, he turns to Aesap: he can cause the Wings of Rean to manifest at will, can’t he?
Aesap doesn’t understand, but Sakomizu declares: what Aesap manifested is the power that’ll save the world, the power of a Holy Warrior! Lux sees that her father wants to use Aesap for his purposes and vehemently speaks against it.

Codour frowns, asking if she’s siding against the king, but Lux tells her to shut up. She calls Codour’s a moron with absolutely no grasp of politics, as seen with her building a stupidly huge warship and calling for massive troop deployments all just to put down Amalgan.
But Sakomizu silences her with a slap, earning himself a wag of Shangxiang’s finger – he had absolutely no reason to do that! Sakomizu, however, warns Lux that Codour is both his wife and her mother; she’d best respect her, or, by rights, that’d be grounds for execution! Aesap and Shangxiang are appalled that he’d speak to his own daughter like that, but Sakomizu calls in his Royal Guard and orders all of them locked up – Lux as well.


Back to us, Jacoba’s told of the chaos Sakomizu is bringing to Byston Well. He’s working together with overworlder scientist Shot Weapon to build mighty Aura Machines, one after the other, with the plan of eventually invading the Overworld. Cham can’t believe Shot is not only alive, but also building mechs even in this other Byston Well.
Sumeragi’s concerned about him and a potential invasion, but thinks our priority should be to rescue our captured friends. And we should get Aesap too, as Yamashita fears we won’t be getting back to the surface without his powers.

This all sounds annoyingly complicated to Kaido: why not just wreck the king and his castle and then we can look around for our folks? Tsubasa doesn’t like it, as that’d make us the invading force in this story, but Zhuge Liang figures he has a bit of a point. “We may as well have Kaido, as he says, ‘cut loose’ – the man needn’t worry about any overly complex plans,” he suggests.
Kaido likes that Zhuge Liang gets him so well, but there’s a catch: he’ll have to do it on foot. Huh?


Over by the Elshank, Damian’s doing some studying on Tobikage. He figures if we can figure out what conditions cause him to appear, it’ll be some useful info for our upcoming battles (Damian keeps a tight grip on our wallets).
Sounds good to Mike, but ARE there actual conditions for that? Damian doesn’t know, which is why he’s looking into it – this is about the only way he can be useful to us, seeing how he can’t pilot those machines like the other three can.

: I’ve met with the new Holy Warrior.
: With Aesap Suzuki, my lord?
: Hm. And what I found the most curious about him is the fact that he has absolutely no knowledge of the Shōwa period.
: Oh…?
: When I first came to Byston Well, the Overworld was mired in a great war…
: And during these past seventy years, Amalgan and I went on to conquer and unify this land of Herikon…
: However, in the Japan he calls home, it has already been two hundred years since the war in the Pacific ended.
: It’s possible that time flows at a different pace in the Overworld…
: Regardless, that is a matter for another time. What I must do now is verify whether that child is a true Holy Warrior…
: And if he is…?
: Then he will be of good use to us when the time comes to assault the Overworld.

Crash!

: Intrudeeeer! Seize him!
: What is the meaning of this?!
: Your Majesty! A suspicious man has invaded our castle and is headed this— urgh!

Dead.

: ?! Who–…?!

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: Heheh… King Sakomizu, yeah? I’m here for your head!
: You are mighty. A man guided solely by his thirst for battle… I have found an overworlder with all the qualities of a Garow Ran!
: “Garow Ran”…? Whazzat, some Gundam pilot?
: Nah, the name’s Kaido – Ken Kaido! And don’t you forget it!

Sword clash!

: King Sakomizu…!
: Fret not… Remember that your king is a Holy Warrior!
: Oho… ya didn’t even need to move your body to stop my sword! Not bad!
: Hmhmhm. My skill in the Jikishinkage-ryu kenjutsu was honed to its apex during the war to unify this nation…
: And I will not hesitate to make use of all my strength if the one who sets himself before me is a Garow Ran-esque overworlder!
: Hah… So you’re made of stronger stuff than your average guy with a sword, eh? Sounds like fun!
: Then come, Kaido! Kiaaaaiii!


Mission 12 – The King of Hojo

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: It’s time, Joe!
: Right. We’ll get in there and rescue Shangxiang and the others while Kaido’s got their attention.
: Can you find where they are, Erebos?
: Leave it to me! Even I can sniff out Aura…!

: We’ve got a message from Joe; he’s starting the rescue!
: Copy that. Then we’ll go and keep them backed against the wall: launch all squadrons!

: K-King Sakomizu! Surfacer forces have been spotted!
: What?! So you were no more than a diversion, Kaido?!
: Heheh… So what if I was? What’re ya gonna do now, chief?!
: Hmph, that needn’t even be said! You and any who stand against me will share the same fate…!
: Launch the Aura Battlers!

: You damned overworlders!
: Now we’ll repay you for our previous defeat!
: It’s those bug machines again!
: What is your command, Your Highness?
: We shall follow our plan and head towards the point where we are to rendezvous with Joe’s group. It’s…

: Right there. Understood, Ylbora?
: Yes, Your Highness. Gameran, give me full power to the engine!
: Aye, aye!
: Our time limit is four minutes! All troops, secure a path for the Elshank! I’m assuming tactical command!


Like before, you have until the end of turn 4 to get the Elshank in position and losing either it or the Ptolemaios is a game over. Unlike the assault at Kiba’s place, though, the Hojo troops are garbage and will still drop like flies.
Set forth and slaughter them, but remember that, while Damian is still working on figuring stuff out, Tobikage is already hanging in the rafters, waiting to show up either the Elshank or any of its machines drop below 50%. With how weak the Hojo mooks are, he’ll quickly tear through them and we don’t want that.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

And on the next player phase…

: This isn’t working… I’m wearing the shoes, I’m praying as much as I can, and the wings just aren’t coming out…
: Pull yourself together and try harder! Aren’t you one of those Holy Warriors?!
: You need to call out those wings or neither we nor our friends will be leaving this place!
: I-I know that… but I’m just a regular kid. The most significant thing I’ve done with my life lately was study to retry my college application…
: Princess Lux, could you perhaps explain to us how these Wings of Rean shoes work?
: It takes a Holy Warrior to make full use of the shoes, and, with them, one is able to attain powers beyond the reach of human knowledge.
: Powers, hm… Do you speak of those wings that opened the Aura Road?
: There’s a theory that says the Wings of Rean manifest themselves when a world gripped by chaos needs to be set back on the right path… But the truth is no one knows what they truly are.
: Furthermore, the Wings do not empower just anyone: only those they themselves have chosen.
: Hmm… It sounds quite like our world’s own Yùxǐ.
: My father once wielded the power of these shoes and, with them, built the nation of Hojo onto this land… He was a Holy Warrior in every sense of the word.
: But he is that no more. Now my father is a man bound by his own ambitions… and if he isn’t stopped, I’ll have no one. I’ll be all alone…!
: Princess…
: A man who’s focused on nothing but his ambitions wouldn’t have slapped his child, though. Someone like that wouldn’t even care enough about her to chide her behavior…
: …!
: Trust me, I know. I don’t get along with my dad either…
: Aesap…
: Everything’ll be alright – you’re not alone. You shouldn’t worry so much.
: Heh, maybe you’re right. Thank you, Aesap…
: Huh? Is it me or did the mood around here change…?
: D-Don’t ask me…

: Seriously, couldn’t you two save that for your alone time?
: A Ferario?! Where did you…?!
: I’m here to save you guys! Now stand back a bit because it’s about to get dangerous!

Door blows open!

: Hey! Everyone okay?!
: Joe!
: Wh-Who…?!
: You’re Aesap, yeah? We need you to come with and help us get back to the surface.
: Get back to the surface…?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW48XOgbE1c

: Curses… Again you disgrace me so…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6zd3JWBODk
Carrying on up top, over half the enemy troops got trounced in the previous turn, and whatever’s still alive gets wrecked now.
Might as well show more of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei’s tricks.

: I-I can’t go on?! Retreating!

Kill everything and the Elshank automatically gets in position.

: Sir Ylbora, we’ve reached the specified point!
: Good, now recover Joe’s group!
: A-About that…!
: Did something happen?!

: You’re heading to the castle’s underground…?
: Yes. There’s a workshop down there, where we’ll find the newest model of Aura Battler.
: Aesap and I will steal and escape with it!
: B-But…
: You have nothing to worry about. If Aesap is a genuine Holy Warrior, then we’ll be fine…!
: Lux…
: Fine. In that case, we’ll go on ahead and plow the road. Make sure you get out in one piece!
: Joe, wait! The Rebels are attacking too, looks like!
: What…?!

: Those units…! It’s Amalgan and his rebels, the group Jacoba told us about!
: Hey, look there! That overworlder ship’s right by Hypp Kurene castle!
: What is going on here?!
: I do not know, but our offensive welcomes any confusion in the castle!
: Kiki, Hebi, our targets are only the Hojo troops! Don’t engage the overworlder forces!
: Aye, aye! Take care of the old man, Hebi!
: Of course. When have I ever let him down?
: I-It’s the Rebels! And we’re being informed that the captured overworlders have escaped…!
: Damn it, what are our guardsmen doing?!
: Hmph, I must commend your troops, Kaido! I’d thought they were using you as a diversion while they assaulted my castle…
: Little did I expected, it was all a feint for your true objective: freeing my prisoners! I see the armies of the Overworld possess rather skilled strategists!
: Heheh… and we ain’t even done blowing your mind!

: Jump in, Kaido!
: Ya kept me waiting, Magami!
: What?!
: Come on, KAISEEEEEEER!!

: Pilder On!!

: What…?! You had such a weapon hidden away?!
: Yeah! What’s it gonna be now, chief?!
: I always appreciate a challenge! I’m setting off with the Oukaou!

: That’s King Sakomizu’s own Aura Battler?
: And they got that warship, too…! Oof, this might be tough!
: My liege, all preparations are complete for the Fukaku’s launch!
: Overworlders! Rebels! It’s high time someone taught where you all stand, and I shall carry out that task myself!
: Y - Y a a a h…! H e l o o k s s o s c a r y… A r e w e r e a l l y g o i n g t o b e f i n e?
: Sir Ylbora! Joe and Shangxiang are deploying!

: Shangxiang, you’re safe!
: Of course I am! And I’m also ready to give “His Majesty” there a pummeling!
: Joe, where’s that man, Aesap? You didn’t bring him with you?!
: They went after the castle’s underground workshop! Said they were gonna get out by themselves!
: Joe, listen here! I’ve figured out the conditions where Tobikage’ll show up!
: Whaat? So there are actual conditions?!
: Yes. He’ll show up whenever damage on the Elshank or any of the three machines passes 50%! If damage passes 70%, then he’ll combine with whichever machine is hurting the most!
: I never thought stuff like that would be what calls him over…!
: So he shows up at 50% damage, and combines at 70%… Then I guess we better get him to combine quick in case he does turn up!
: Yeah! We can’t let him show us up, right?!
: Thanks, Damian. You were a big help here!
: And all that’s left now is to kick the King’s royal ass! Let’s get this party started!


Only need to shoot down the Oukaou to end the mission, but those kill counters ain’t gonna boost themselves. Take note of Kotto’s Fukaku battleship in that it’ll retreat at 22650 HP, meaning shooting it down on a fresh game is a real pain (best to just ignore him).


Oukaou (Shinjiro Sakomizu)
Pilot Skills:
Aura Power L5
Holy Warrior (聖戦士) - +10% damage done to the enemy. Activates at 130 morale.
Prevail L5
Support Attack L1
All Attack L1
Command L1
Mech Features:
Sword
Oukaou’s Wings – reduces all ranged damage by 2000 + Aura Power level x100
Ultra-High-Speed Evasion
20% HP and EN Regen
All-Canceller
Sakomizu’s voice actor: Rikiya Koyama (other roles: Clouseau in FMP, Wolverine in the X-Men TV series, Duke in Tales of Vesperia and a bunch more).

That’s a big bag of tricks for a very buff enemy. As is standard to main villains, Sakomizu has great stats all around and high-powered attacks, but he is not without weaknesses. For one, his Oukaou is S sized, meaning everything but our SD Gundams gets a damage boost against him, whereas he takes a damage penalty against us.
His strongest attack does ignore size difference, but its only range 1-2. His range ain’t the greatest but neither is ours, so you’ll at least be facing his second best attack at 1-3. Sniping at him isn’t advised due to his shield taking a big bite out of your damage, but it’s nothing you don’t know how to handle after Master Therion and Lu Bu.
Save your SP until it’s go-time and he’ll go down soon enough.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: Behold the might of an Aura Battler piloted by a Holy Warrior!

: I commend you for being capable of connecting a blow against me. HOWEVER!!

: Wh-What strength is this…?!
: This… This is the Aura Power of a Holy Warrior?!

Kachunk

: It… It moves?!
: (H-He…!)
: So you control it like this… Wow, this Aura System is quite something.
: (The nameless – nanashi, in the language of Japan – Aura Battler… No one in the castle could get it to take flight, and he made it move so effortlessly…!)
: Aesap, you really are…!
: Aah, again with that? Is calling me a Holy Warrior a national pastime around here?
: But, Aesap, you…!
: You’re the Holy Warrior here, Lux.
: …?!
: The Wings of Rean didn’t appear back then because of me. It was because of you, the daughter of a Holy Warrior…
: But that’s…!
: Nuh-uh. Aesap is absolutely a Holy Warrior.
: Erebos?! Why are you here…?!
: Well, Lady Jacoba told me to help the Holy Warrior.
: So where Aesap goes, I go. I’ll be his loving companion forever and ever and ever…
: U-Um… What are…?
: Aesap, this Ferario is trouble! Don’t let your guard down around her for even a second!
: H-Huh…?!

Back outside

: What’s the matter…? Are you finished already, overworlders?!
: Kch… His spirit is overwhelming!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: Hm?! The new Aura Battler…?!
: Father!
: Lux and young Suzuki?!
: You escaped for captivity only to set yourselves against me…? How deep does your contempt for your king run?!
: The princess is only worried about you! So much so that she’s here with me, aboard the so-called nana—
: And you’ve named it Nanajin?! After the Seven Gods of Fortune?!

(This whole convo’s a big – and rather forced, if you ask me – “play” on words and I care not to think of a way to rewrite it. Sakomizu mishears 名無しに (Nanashi ni – nameless + ni particle) as 七神 (nanajin – seven gods), figuring it’s a reference to the七福神 (seven gods of fortune))

: Na-Nanajin…?!
: (Oh…? That boy’s able to control my newest Aura Battler so easily…?)
: (His Aura Power reminds me a lot of Shou Zama. He really is one…!)
: Managed to get out without a hitch, eh, Aesap!
: Huh? Are you that guy from…?
: Yeah, and we’ll all need your powers if we’re gonna get back to the surface! Help us out, will ya?
: Okay… Lux, put on the Wings of Rean shoes, please.
: M-Me?! Why…?
: I’m recreating the situation we had before. You wear the shoes, I’ll pray to them.
: But before we do anything about that… we need to deal with this hardheaded king!


Nanajin (Aesap Suzuki)
Pilot Skills:
Aura Power L3
Holy Warrior
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
All Attack
Spirit Commands – Aesap:
Focus
Adaptation (順応) – turns the squadron’s units and weapons’ terrain ratings into S for a turn.
Sense
Spirit Commands – Erebos:
Scan
Tailwind
Mech Features:
Sword
Ultra-High-Speed Evasion
10% HP and EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, Crit rate +10 (Mobility +20, Crit rate +20, Movement +2)
Aesap’s voice actor: Jun Fukuyama
Erebos voice actress: Yui Horie (other roles: Hitomi in the DoA series, Chie in Persona 4, Sala in Cross Ange and a billion more)

What I said about previous Real Robot protagonists applies here, only Aesap hits harder thanks to stacking Aura Power and Holy Warrior, while also being extremely dodgy with the Nanajin’s raw stats and Ultra-High-Speed Evasion. It can take a hit no better than an SD Gundam can, but it should never be getting hit in the first place.
Range is a B-, with only his second weakest move reaching up to 2-5. His two best are, respectively, 1-2 and point-blank. Still, that high movement will let him quickly close the distance and the AI isn’t too keen on low HP targets. You can get a lot of mileage out of Aesap, against mooks and bosses (especially as the game goes along and he grows).
Having Erebos along, who’ll eventually learn Enable (!), as a free sub-pilot is just the cherry on top.

:siren: Secret Alert! :siren:
Wings of Rean secret - 1st step: shoot down Sakomizu with Aesap.

Not a problem, since he won’t run away at any threshold – just build up enough morale that you can use the Nanajin’s best tricks. Also, as these things usually go, Aesap’s kill count is also tied to this secret and you need 100 kills by mission 39.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAjZZ0K91Ac
Let’s get to work.

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: This Aura Battler… Amalgan Ludle?!
: I see you’ve found me, Shinjiro Sakomizu!
: My comrade, we once shared many-a-battles as we fought to unify our nation… And it is precisely because I respect you so that I’ll make your death quick and painless!
: Prepare to meet your end, Amalgan!


Ah, well.


Oh, and I saw an opportunity to speed thing up against Sakomizu. While he can’t be debuffed, our folks certainly can be buffed!

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

: This energy emanating from him… Is it the Aura Power Jacoba Aon spoke of?!
: Ah, I see you have the makings of a Holy Warrior. I wish we could have had a chance to sit down and speak face-to-face, but alas…!
: Shut up…! All your powers are doing is twisting both our worlds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx9DCa594e4
Bam. Now we have +20 to all our stats (this applies to our allied forces too).

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Why don’t you stop and consider your daughter’s feelings for a second?! And you call yourself a father?!
: Indeed, and it is because I’m her father that I must discipline her! I must educate her on our cause, and what it means to serve it!


Shangxiang: “The princess is crying, you knuckle-head!”

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: Alright, let’s continue where we left off, chief! Only this time we’ll see who’s the better pilot!
: You wild man, servant to no cause but your wild urges. Were you to submit to me, I’d easily proclaim you a samurai!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: How can someone who calls himself a Holy Warrior want to invade the surface?! Is that title just a fancy way of saying “murderer”?!
: If you seek to deny my justice, then you must first showcase your own!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTAW3MLKOIY
Turns out giving Magami that stat boost allowed him to dodge the counterhit, so it fell on Lockon to help me show off Sakomizu’s best attack.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: If you are king in this land then you should only take up the sword to fight in the defense of your people!
: I am Japanese first, king of Hojo second!
: Ignoring the reality of my motherland would be a disservice to the dead that I could never apologize for!

: You’re hailed as a heroic king who united his land, so why do you oppress your people?! Why do you seek to invade the surface?!
: Japan is my motherland! I seek no more than to return it to how it is meant to be!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: And all we gottta do now is bring down the head-honcho. Buckle up, King Sakomizu!
: Death awaits any who oppose me. Now fall to ashes before my grand cause!

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: Aren’t you a Holy Warrior?! Those’re supposed to fight to protect the lives of others, no?!
: You understand nothing! Merely giving to those who cannot earn for themselves is the way of destruction to any nation! Accept it!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: Father… You were a Holy Warrior in your youth, so why won’t you act like one now?!
: I don’t want to see my father be enslaved by delusions born of his old age!
: My wish to cut down the evil that remains in this land, to crush America… is not a delusion!
: King Sakomizu! If you consider yourself both Lux’ father and king, then please use your power for what’s right!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySIpTRnd3o
Sakomizu drops a Teachings of Jikishinkage-ryu Kenjutsu (Melee +10, Evasion and Skill +5)

: Hrrmm…! How could I be brought to this point?!
: Please, father, ask yourself why you couldn’t reach the Overworld when you had the Wings of Rean shoes!
: Yet, when I used them, I could not only travel to and back, but I took a fleet along with me!
: That was only due to young Suzuki’s presence!
: Aesap Suzuki, I see quite clearly that you, indeed, have the makings of a Holy Warrior! Would you be the prince of Hojo?!
: Wh-Wha…?!
: Th-The prince…?!
: Yes! I’d like to you take charge of our nation’s government as the new Holy Warrior! Inherit my crown and the nation of Hojo, you and Lux together!
: F-Father… what are you?!
: Are you trying to make me lower my guard with all that talk?!
: Heh…
: MAYBE I AM!!

Slash!

: G-Gwaaaah!
: Aesap…!?

Flash!

: Huh?! Th-This is…!
: The Aura Road is opening again…?!

Flash! Whooooosh!

: (It’s happening again! I’m wearing the shoes, Aesap’s crying out and the Wings of Rean are manifesting…!)
: (Which means Aesap is…!)


Cut to JUDA, Cagalli’s being told that the UX and Celestial Being are still missing. The company’s doing everything it can to find us (especially considering we took their Machinas along), which disappoints the girl. She wanted to recruit our help again.
Ishigami asks if the Federation’s search crafts are still flying about the island of Tatsumiya and, indeed, they’ve been at it pretty much nonstop. Cagalli fears they pinged something happening there during the previous battle with the Festum. The entire island is currently hidden away behind the mirror camouflage as they try to avoid the Federation’s detection.

Ishigami can’t help but point out the irony of in order to protect mankind from the menace of the Festum, the folks there must first keep themselves hidden from said humanity. The whims of fate have given the Arcadian Project quite the crummy hand, that’s for certain.
But grumbling about it won’t help them, and Cagalli says they’ll deal with the Festum with the forces they’ve available at the moment. With a reminder for Ishigami to be careful in regards to a certain matter, she signs off.


Ogawa then brings the Federation government’s answer in regards to their inquiries on the previous battle at Yokosuka and… yeah. Ishigami’s aware of what the “official” story says, and Cagalli also smelled fish around everything that happened there. It’s pretty clear to Ishigami that a rather unsavory group is quickly rising to power within the Federation – yes, the Martian Development Bureau.
Still, the Federation is currently in a daze trying to figure out how they’ll deal with the Skrugg and the Frontier Fleet, so Ishigami figures JUDA should also work on a plan of their own.


Location: ALVIS – 1st CDC

: I see… so we shouldn’t expect any reinforcements.
: I’m so very sorry. I’d established contact with the Unknown Xtrikers precisely for moments like this, but…
: No, don’t worry about it. The Arcadian Project was always expected to make do without any outside assistance… we should consider ourselves lucky that we even have Orb’s support.
: But if you’re going to field not just the Mark Elf but the other Fafners as well, then…
: …

SRW UX - Separation
:siren: :siren:

: Hm. It’s for that purpose that we’ve these children…

Beep, beep

: … ! (Hazama)
: Cmdr. Makabe!
: This is a list of the children with the highest Synergetic Code values… (Toumi)
: P-Please, wait! Shouko is… her health is!
: I’m sorry, but her physical condition is irrelevant to her Synergetic Code values… You know that, don’t you?
: …
: (We’re deciding our children’s lives with a bunch of numbers. I understand the reason why, but, as a parent, I can’t bring myself to accept it…)
: (I wish no one but me had to go through this…)
: (Shouko…)

: Hmm… this one’s from the last class tournament, right…? (Shouko)
: You’re so lucky that you can take all these pictures with everyone.
: Everyone, huh… Sure you don’t mean “with Kazuki”? (Maya)
: Ah…?! M-Maya, please!
: Heheh… Still, we’ll now have plenty of chances to take lots of pictures together.
: Hm, you’re right. All thanks to us being chosen as Fafner pilot cadets.
: Now I have to work extra-hard! The sooner I’m ready to help Kazuki, the better!
: Woooow, this place is awesome! It’s like a secret base! (Mamoru)
: Well, it’s a base and it’s secret, so I’m pretty sure it is a secret base. (Kenji)
: (So this is where you worked, dad…) (Sakura)

: Those are the new Fafner pilot cadets, huh?
: They’re all around Kazuki’s age… a full bunch of kids who haven’t even made it through school.
: All children in Tatsumiya were born to be tuned with the Fafners.
: It is very difficult to find an adult with the necessary Synergetic Code values…
: I know that. Still, the idea of deciding people’s lot in life from the second they’re born is…
: Folly? Is that what you’re implying…?
: …
: I guess I am…
: Shinn…
: Once there was a man who studied the people’s inherent abilities by way of their genes. And he tried using that knowledge to decide everyone’s destiny…
: But, in the end, humanity rejected his Plan. Do you know why?
: Because destiny isn’t something that can be decided at birth…?
: Right. People will keep on growing their flowers, even when they know those might get wiped out the next day…
: Because that’s the kind of creature humans are…
: …

: Hey, Soushi! Get in here! (Koyo)
: We’re taking a little celebratory picture!
: A picture…?
: And we even got Kazuki to join us, too!
: U-Um…
: Okay, everyone gather ‘round!

: Go on now. You’ll be fighting alongside all of them, right?
: …
: All right…

: And here we go! Everyone say “cheeese”!

Flash!

: …

: (Everything with a beginning also has an end. Sugarcoating isn’t what we need right now…)
: (Folly it may be, but if we yearn to fly, even knowing our wings will bleed…)
: (All we need is a little more time, is that so much to ask…?)

Miku hasn’t a monopoly on quoting lyrics from her series, you see. Soushi’s lines here, while not identical, were all twists on the original lyrics of Shangri-La and Separation.)

#38

FUCK YOU JACOBA FUCKING AON. Goddamnit, I’m having bad PTSD about Tales of Neo Byston Well just looking at her, even if she looks totally different in Wings of Rean, because even in other universes Jacoba is a lying fucking bitch who does stupid shit as easily as she breathes. Goddamnit. Her death was the best part of Dunbine, but even then she fucked everyone over from the grave as it turned out. IIRC they actually bring up a bit of that bullshit in this game even though Neo Byston Well isn’t in the game, although fortunately none of the aftereffects show up.

Ah, yes, Shinjiro Sakomizu. Tomino shooting across the bow at Imperialists yet again.

That Garou Ran line always gets a giggle out of me.

One of the things UX did to Wings of Rean that really helps is it straightened out the plot a lot. In WoR, Asap is on the enemy side for half the show, which wouldn’t have been a thing if it had its full episode count (Was supposed to be 13, and got cut to 6, so everything is rushed as fuck with no time for development.). In UX, he leaves pretty quickly.

Petition to always use Zhang Fei for BAKURETSU DAIRAIJA and CHOURAIKOU purposes. (And Daunt, but shhhh!)

Nanajin is pretty good, and its upgrade is better, but Asap unfortunately suffers from the issue of the secret he unlocks being much, much better. He’s a particularly broken unit though, so no worries! The real value though is his song, because UX’s My Fate is fucking beautiful.

But oh boy, buckle up, there’s no breaks on the Mark Destiny train. Though unfortunately the titular unit is out of business… but still, we always can remember what it looks like through these three expert drawings!

#39
Click to see the mission!


Here we are again, with Aesap still deploying as an event unit. Everyone else is free, though, so we switch folks around:
Joe/Moritsugu
Kouichi/Yamashita
Sun Quan/Rennie
Arnie/Saya
Mike/Lockon
Setsuna/Fei-Yen
Zhang Fei/Shangxiang (her Assail will really help get more usage out of his best attacks)
Liu Bei/Deceive
Guan Yu/Tsubasa
Mazinkaiser/Eida
Tactician: Zhuge Liang

Off we go.

: These are the coordinates? They said the island of Tatsumiya’s here, but…

: Something moved?! Is it API-1… Tatsumiya?!

: …
: A-A Festum…?!
: Mayday, mayday! This is Youngster 2! I’ve spotted a Sphinx-type by point N-02!

The Festum closes in.

: Th-The Sphinx is coming after me!
: Step on the gas and break away from it!
: I-I’m trying… I-I can’t shake this thing!

Closer still.

: Are you there…?
: Aa-AAAAAH!!

:siren: SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens

: Th-That’s…!
: Kazuki, stand down! This isn’t a rescue operation!
: I… I have to save him!

: …!

The Festum backs off.

: Whose unit is that?! Did it actually come from API-1…?!

: The Sphinx has switched its target to the Mark Elf!
: I told him to keep his distance from the Federation jet…!
: Him saving that soldier will make for later headaches, you know. (Kariya)
: And? Could you honestly sit back and just watch as someone is killed?!
: …
: The Mark Elf’s engaging the enemy above Tatsumiya’s airspace!

BOOM!

: P-Projectiles are hitting the island!
: We don’t have a choice now… disable the mirror camouflage and engage the Welle Shield! It’s better than letting the whole island get destroyed…!
: We’re deploying our MS as well! Impulse, coordinate with the Mark Elf and bring down that Festum!

: …?! Wh-What… That island isn’t on the map!

: Kazuki!
: Mr. Asuka…! Back me up, please!
: I’m on it! Haaaaah!

: Now, Kazuki!

: Haah, haah… We did it! We did it, Soushi!
: Kazuki…
: That’s it, I’m sure of it…! Youngster 2 to command fleet! I’ve located API-1! Repeat, I’ve located Tatsumiya!

: Secretary-General Hester, images from the coordinates sent by Youngster 2 are coming up on the monitors now.
: Hmhmhm… At long last, I’ve found the Island of Giants…

: Why did you ignore your orders and save the Federation jet?
: I take full responsibility for everything, sir…
: Saving someone’s life is a bad thing now?
: Depending on the context, it may be.
: …?!
: Kch… Excuse me.

Kazuki stomps off.

: Do you think I’m too soft, Ms. Kariya?
: Not really…
: …
: Cmdr. Makabe, the Federation’s fleet trying to get in touch with us.
: Understood. Put them through.

: …
: Come on, chin up. Ask anyone around here and they’ll say you did the right thing.
: But Soushi and my dad…
: Don’t worry about them. You saved someone’s life today – if that’s not something you can say with your head held high, what is?
: …

: Ah… Kazuki! Welcome back!
: Shouko, everyone… Why are you here?
: They gave us a break from training when your fight started. We all saw you guys in action.
: You and Soushi were so cool out there!
: And you, Mr. Asuka – your piloting just screams ‘ace’! You’re in a whole different league from us!
: Hahah, thanks. But I could do much better if the Destiny’s repairs were finished…
: No way, dude! You were already great out there!
: We need to dedicate ourselves to our training… and become fully-fledged pilots too…
: Hey, Shouko… Are you holding out okay?
: Yes, I’m fine…
: Are you really? You’re not looking to good.
: N-No, I really… am…

Faint.

: ?! Shouko…!
: H-Hey, Hazama! Stay with us!
: …


Location: ALVIS – Infirmary

: Looks like some light anemia. She should be fine now.
: Aah, thank God for that…
: I’m so sorry that you kids had to go through this…
: Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure she’s been having fun doing this, so it’s no prob…
: Fun…?
: Because Shouko’s health always kept her from going to school, yeah…
: She really wants to do this with all of us, so I think she pushed herself too hard…
: …
: Ah…
: Back with us?
: Oh, honey, I told you not to overwork yourself…
: I’m sorry…


And the Federation’s demanding ALVIS hands over a Fafner. And, much to Tamotsu’s surprise, Makabe’s actually agreed to it: they’ll be giving them the Mark Sechs. Tamotsu points out all the years they’ve spent putting the bot together, but they’ve no choice here.
The Feds’ fleet will picking the Mark Sechs up soon and Makabe asks that Tamotsu make sure the bot is good to go. Cagalli is confused about all this: the Federation won’t even be able to activate a Fafner without one of our kids, so why do they care?
Kaname and Makabe have an idea of what going on and, when Cagalli asks, he says it’s very likely we’ll find one Mitsuhiro Bartland with the Federation.


Cut to Hester’s ship, she’s already counting the minutes for when she’ll get to see a Fafner Nothung Model in person. Mitsuhiro and Hazard are also very eager, and Hester is grateful to the latter for all his help. She’s certain ALVIS wouldn’t have capitulated this easily if the Federation didn’t have the support of all the Martian Development Bureau’s forces (including the Famir Warship they’re currently in).
Ah, but Hazard is so very willing to help considering the multitude of threats – like the Skrugg and the Festum - besieging Earth at the moment. If they can stymie those threats even a little, then they won’t hesitate to assist however possible.
Mitsuhiro, meanwhile, reports that they’re ready to initiate research and mass-production of the Mark Sechs as soon as it arrives. It’s almost time for the reform of the Federation army. But their scheming is interrupted when the radar pings Festum appearing on top of them!

: Hey, mom.
: What is it?
: Do you think I could pilot a Fafner like Kazuki does…?
: Someday, when you’re not sick anymore…
: … And will I ever stop being sick?
: Of course you will! Your mom’s a healthy person, no?
: Yes, you are…

ALAAAAAARM!

: …?! This alert… Solomon’s issued a warning?!
: There’s going to be another battle…?
: Don’t worry – you’ll be safe here! I’ve work to do at the Burg, so please stay here and rest.

Hazama leaves.

: …

: Response from Solomon! Festum determined to be Sphinx-types but there’s some ambivalence!
: Commander, the Federation fleet’s sending a request for help.
: Letting them get sunk would be best for us…
: But we can’t simply turn the other cheek. Deploy the Mark Elf.
: Yes, sir…
: We’ll have the Impulse provide support, then.
: Thank you, Rep. Athha.

: Haah, haah… Hrgh…
: What’re you doing here, Hazama?! Aren’t you still feeling sick?!
: I-I’m fine. I’ve a job to do too… Help Kazuki… that’s my job…
: …
: Hazama… Isn’t there anything I can do for you?
: Kasugai…

: Shouko…!
: Kazuki! You’re going out again…?
: Yeah, but never mind me. Are you feeling better?
: Yes, I’m already good. Just focus on making it back to the island safe, okay?
: When you do, I’ll help you with all this. So please come back…
: …
: That’s a promise between us, alright, Kazuki…?
: Yeah…
: This is your island. It’s the place you’ll come home to. So I’ll keep it safe for you…


Mission 13 – Pledge ~ Promise

:siren: SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens

: U-Uwaaaaaaaaaah!

: Escort ship, sunk!
: We’ve come too far to give up on getting the Nothung Model!
: (Tsk… If I knew this was going to happen, I’d have brought The Boom Army along…!)

: Gch… Are reinforcements from API-1 still not here yet?!
: Are you there…?
: Eeek…!

: Aah…! They made it!
: Th-That’s… the Fafner?!
: This one is a rescue operation. Move in and support the Federation fleet!
: We’re going in to save them all, right?!
: …
: No time for questions, Kazuki! We’re going!
: Y-Yes, sir!

ALAAAAAAARM!

: Th-This is…! Another warning from Solomon?!
: What?! Where’re the Festum appearing?!
: 10km directly above Tatsumiya! (Kondo)
: Deploy the second Welle Shield immediately!
: Targets are crash-landing into the island’s mountain range! No time to measure mass!
: Brace for impact!

CRAAAAAASH!

: H-Hrrgh…!
: The targets landed at the island’s central block!
: Sending out the Impulse backfired on us…!
: Alex, can Lunamaria deploy?!
: We’ve a Gunner ZAKU Warrior she could take, but…
: Tsk, if only the Destiny’s repairs were finished…damn it!
: There’s no more time! Have her take the ZAKU and intercept the enemy!

Booom!

: Stop this! Please! Don’t… don’t destroy Kazuki’s island!

Run over.

: ?! Shouko, what are you doing?!
: M-Mom…
: Why are you in a Synergetic Suit?! What are you up to?!
: I’m going to fight them…
: Don’t be stupid! There’s no reason for you to risk your life for the island—
: I’m not doing it for the island! I’m doing it for Kazuki!
: Shouko…
: …
: Shouko, your body’s too weak. This was never something you could do…!
: Mom… We were always meant to fight, no? This has been our destiny from the second we were born, hasn’t it?
: Then, at the very least, I’d like to be fighting because it’s what I want to do. And you can let me have that, right…?
: After all… I’m not even your daughter…
: ?!

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: Kazuki, we’ve an emergency! New Festum have been sighted at Tatsumiya!
: The enemy’s at the island?!
: How many of them?!
: We’re seeing several Sphinx and Grendel-types. Lunamaria is on her way to intercept them with the ZAKU Warrior, but against that many…!
: Luna’s…?!
: Kazuki, you need to get back to the island right now! Can you do it?!
: No, it’s not happening! I’m finished the second I turn my back on these things…!
: But… No, wait! I-Is this…?!
: What is it, Soushi?!
: A new connection’s been established with the Siegfried System… It’s the Mark Sechs… Hazama?!
: Shouko…?!

: Rrgh… You’re not winning this that easy!

: I’ve brushed up my shooting skills some, you see!

The Sphinx charges after her.

: A-Aah—!

: Seiiyaaaaa!!!

: Y-You’re…!
: Haah, haah…
: Hazama, we need you to hang in there until Kazuki’s group makes it back. Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
: Thank you, Minashiro… but, I… I made a promise to Kazuki, so…!
: Hazama…!
: This island is our home… it’s Kazuki’s home! And I’ll keep it safe!


Kill everything, don’t lose any of our girls. You really don’t wanna risk sending Luna out to the frontlines, not only because her ZAKU is kinda “eh” and will likely get assimilated, but because the game, once again, tosses a Sphinx with Mind Read L4 at you (it’s the one Shouko pushed back). If that guy goes after Luna on top of the little Grendels, she might just get killed before getting zapped.
Just let Shouko handle it as she’s more than well-equipped for it, while Luna sticks to the nearby positive terrain and shoots from range (she now knows Strike, and it’s decently priced!).


Fafner Mark Sechs (Shouko Hazama)
Pilot Skills:
Synergetic Code L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
Spirit Commands:
Alert
Focus
Mech Features:
Gun
Repair Module
Norn System – Reduces all incoming damage by 1500. 5 EN per use.
Siegfried System
Squad Bonus: Money +10%, Mobility +5, A in Air (Money +20%, Mobility +20, S in Air, Spec Down Debuff Immunity)
Shouko’s voice actress: the late Miyu Matsuki (other roles: Minaki in SRW Alpha 3, Choppy in Precure All Stars and some more).

Yow, now that is a great Squad Bonus – had she a Resupply Module instead of Repair, she’d be a perfect squaddie. Regardless, Shouko is still great and that’s mostly due to the Mark Sechs because, as a pilot, she ain’t all that. The game is clearly pushing her into a support role, but all Fafners are good enough that you can play them however you want. Having an S in air does do wonders for survivability, of course.
The Mark Sechs has its ranges covered nicely (second best is 3-7) and packs a decent punch, too, which will help you with this:

:siren: Secret Alert!
Fafner Secret #1 – 2nd Step: Shouko must down at least 5 enemies by the end of the third enemy phase.

Simple, but it require you to play aggressively. You’ll want to send Shouko up front and keep Luna back, so that the little Grendels will all focus on her and you can wittle down the five kills you need.
Ignore the Sphinx as it has too much HP (plus regen) for you to kill without really expending your resources. Just go for the Grendels.

:siren: SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens

: Minashiro, please, stop her!
: It’s our mission to protect the island…
: Minashiro!
: Plus, Shouko Hazama is the one best suited as the Mark Sechs’ pilot.
: You knew this would happen, Ms. Hazama…
: B-But…!
: Hazama, the enemy’s closing in!
: I see it. Get out… GET OUT OF KAZUKI’S ISLAND!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1wL-1W5Tyk
That’s four kills she gets on the very first turn. With a bit of morale, a crit from her Mine Blade is just enough to oneshot the Grendels.
Might’ve gotten all five here, but one bugger got clever…

:siren: SRW UX - Life Goes On

: I can’t just dump all this on one girl’s shoulders…! Time to plant my feet into the ground and hold this line!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB_zUE6rEVE
Throwing your tomahawk after you’ve already left the screen is very rude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVqA7oIw4w
And here’s the fifth kill. She’ll get another two as a bonus during the enemy turn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C955qCA1Ds
Seeing how this Grendel cared so much, he gets blasted by the ZAKU’s best attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYu_fLJgc_0
And Shouko’s best move, just for kicks.

Now fast forward a turn and…

: Haah, haah…!

: Rrgh-RAAAAAAAARGH!!

: Grrr… UAAAAAAAAH!
: Hazama…?!
: HAAAAAAAAH!

: Haah, haah… I-I’ve got it!
: What do you think you’re doing, Hazama?!
: I’ll… I’ll drag it out the island!
: What…?!
: Th-The Mark Sechs… is capable of flight, so…!

: The Fafner’s flying away…

Engine noise.

: That’s good enough. Let go of the Sphinx.
: …
: What is it, Hazama?
: I… I can’t…

: …?! It’s assimilating you…?!
: Are you there…?
: Gch… Hazama, eject!
: …
: Minashiro… I’m engaging the Fenrir…
: Hazama?!
: Code accepted. Activating Fenrir.

Beep.

: Shouko… Why’d you activate the self-destruct charge?! What the hell’s going on, Soushi?!
: …
: Kazuki… I said I’ll keep your island safe… and I will…
: Shouko, that’s ridiculous! Stop this!

: Shouko…!

Koyo runs off.

: Pilot cadets are all on standby! You’re not to leave your posts without permission!
: Shouko…!

She goes too.

: Hey! Stop!
: Mi-Minashiro… Give her back… Give my daughter back!
: SHOUKOOOO!

: Mom… I’m sorry…
: I should never have said I wasn’t your daughter…
: I’m so sorry…


Mommy… Why is my name Shouko?


It’s because I wanted you to soar high – that’s what your name means.


”Soar”?


It means to fly through the sky.


I’ll soar right through this sky, then…!

: Kazuki…

BOOOOM!

:siren: Angela - Separation (Piano Version)
:siren: :siren:


I kept my promise, right…?

: SHOUKOOOOOOO!!
: The Mark Sechs and the Festum have… disappeared…
: …
: A-Aah… Aaaaaaaaaaah!!
: Th-This can’t be real… Tell me this is just a bad dream, Shouko…
: The enemy’s destroyed… as is our precious Mark Sechs…
: …?!
: N-No…!
: We… we were too late…!
: Rrgh… Uwaaaaaaah!

: …?! We’re detecting heat signatures where the Mark Sechs disappeared! I-It’s…!
: What… What is that light?!

: That’s the Celestial Being’s ship…! The UX are also there, then?!
: The Unknown Xtrikers…?! But where did they come from…?!
: Th-This is…?
: That light was the Aura Road opening, I’m sure…!
: Then we’re back at the surface?!
: We should be somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but…
: Yeah, this island isn’t on any of our maps!
: This is the island of Tatsumiya…!
: I s l a n d o f T a t s u m i y a…?

: ?! What are those creatures…?!
: The Festum…!
: “Festum”?! The things that attacked Japan thirty years ago…?!
: Do you hear me, Unknown Xtrikers?! This is the Representative of Orb, Cagalli Yula Athha, speaking!
: Orb, the neutral nation…?! What’s their Representative doing here?
: We can explain the particulars later! The Festum are attacking and we’re having trouble pushing them back – we need your assistance!
: Roger that! The UX will engage and eliminate them!
: Then I believe I’ll take command of this operation. Troops, make sure not one of these creatures is left intact!


Alas, poor Shouko; we hardly knew you.
Now we just need to close in and destroy the new wave of Festum without losing either of our ships. Lead with your dodgier guys until morale gets going to make sure no one gets assimilated and you’ll be good.
And remember that Kazuki’s kill count is tied to two secrets and his first one requires 100 kills by the end of mission 26. If you haven’t raised those flags in a previous game, he should be given priority on mooks.

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

: (This is… I feel something within them, but what is it? What are they after…?)

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: Shouko, why…?! Why’d you have to do something as stupid as that?!
: Festum…! You’re gonna pay for taking her from us!

:siren: SRW UX - Life Goes On

: I came along to keep others from dying, but I couldn’t stop anything…!
: And now another young girl lost her life. All her hopes and dreams for her future, gone… Damn it, why is it always like this?!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Something echoes inside my mind…? What is the meaning of this? Just what are these foes…?


I question the safety of having Izuna Nerve Crack a Festum…!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: So this is the Overworld… I’d love to take in the sights, but it’s really hard to move around with three people inside the cockpit.
: And who was it that insisted she come along, huh?! I swear, this is precisely why the Ferario—
: Could you two shush?! I’m fighting here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZI3C30gGSQ

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: What are these things?! Are they a different kind of alien, or…?

:siren: SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness

: (It’s only been a few weeks since our last battle with the Festum…)
: (How can they have already grown so active…?!)

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: Eh?! The hell’s up with these gold freakazoids?!
: Well, if anything, it’s pretty clear they’re not friendly. Hold nothing back, Kaido!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Every day we’re faced with another new enemy… What in heaven’s name is happening with this world?!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: There’s no one piloting these things, right? Then I guess it’s A-OK not to pull any of my punches!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: First a bunch of bugs, and now monsters made of light? Earth’s really gone off the deep end while we weren’t looking!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhAnenvgWGU
Aaay, I FINALLY managed to get the combo attack with the Elshank machines on tape (I think Rennie’s line cut off at the start, but I dunno if that’s a problem with Citra or a bug in the game)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEe83A-cdsA
Also, here’s Kazuki’s strongest attack…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88YoRkZ9x3s
And Zhang Fei’s best one. :supaburn:

: All Festum confirmed eliminated. No signals in the surrounding areas either…
: It’s over…
: But this victory came at a very high price…!
: …


A bit later, an angry Makabe tells Hester that, no, she won’t be getting her Nothung Model. They lost a Fafner defending the Federation’s fleet, so they’ve no units they could give them anymore. Hester tries objecting, and Makabe asks if the Federation’s thinking of using this island as sacrificial lamb. Well, he isn’t – they’ve lost too much already and he’s done talking with her.
As Makabe shuts the call, Yumiko wonders if the Federation will give up on this. Hardly, Makabe thinks they’ll only get worse. Furthermore, he turns to Cagalli and says that while they’re so grateful to her and her people’s help today, there’s now a problem.

She understands: the Federation is now aware that Orb and the Arcadian Project are working together, and that she’s got ties with the UX. It’s probably best for everyone if they distanced themselves from one another for a little while, Cagalli figures.
Makabe truly regrets it coming to this after all Orb has done for them, and says they’ll at least take care of finishing the Destiny’s repairs. That’s hardly enough to repay ALVIS’ debt, but Cagalli says the thought alone is plenty.
But ALVIS also has another urgent problem to take care of: figure out what they can do in regards to the Fafners and the kids after this.

: KAZUKI!!

Punch!

: Grgh…!
: You could’ve saved her! You were out there with your Fafner, weren’t you?!
: Stop, Kasugai…! Stop it, please!
: Kazuki, you could have…!
: That’s enough, Koyo! It was impossible for him to help her back then!
: No, there must’ve been something, anything, he could’ve done!
: You guys get to survive, but not her… Does that seem right to you?!
: …
: How can you expect me to believe that saving her was “impossible”?!
: Shouko was in pain throughout the whole thing… She died in pain!
: Shouko went out fighting… I think she was content to die while doing that…
: …?!
: B-But…!
: No one’s to blame for this. Hazama fought magnificently until the end…
: Kch… And they expect us all to do the same thing?!
: …
: No… no, you can’t tell me dying was expected of her! She dies, and the rest of us live on…?!
: Kasugai…
: Shouko’s… gone… she’s gone…!
: Aah… Shouko… Shouko…! Uwaaaahaaaahaah…!

: …
: Shinn…?
: Born to do nothing but fight… and, then, die doing so…
: As much love was poured into raising those flowers, as beautiful as they may have bloomed… they are, once again, wiped out by people…
: Shinn, that’s…
: I know, Luna. I won’t go down that road again…
: All I’ll do is make sure I never forget how beautiful those flowers used to be…
: …

: (A promise is a tie that binds people forever, both those who keep that promise and those who break it…)
: (We felt no joy over having survived the battle…)
: (No, what we felt was the realization that we’d lost someone. And coming to terms with it was all any of us could do…)

#40

Shouko’s pilot stats are as irrelevant as any other Fafner pilot’s are, but we’ll get to that later. But basically - every Fafner pilot EXCEPT the one who actually needs it the most has absolute bullshit stats if you’re trying to field them.

And ah yes, her death. So, one of the things UX didn’t really get over (that I feel is necessary) is that Fafner pilots in the cockpit show off intense repressed emotions, and hers manifests as berserker rage, which is why her attack lines are the way they are. She comes out of that for the suicide, to twist the knife further… of course, there’s a picture I could post that is absolutely relevant now, but is also spoilers as shit. I’ll link to it instead. SPOILERS.

Did you know Zhang Fei first manifested Bakuretsu Chouraikou while on a bridge, having fought Cao Cao’s generals for most of the day, using literally everything he could in the process, and needing one last push to win the fight and destroy the bridge, all so that they could recover the Ryuteiken? Fun stuff. It’s one of SD Sangokuden’s best episodes.

On the discussion of Heroman’s kills, just grind for a day or so on THE SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH. You can probably bag him ~30 kills a run.

#41
Click to see the mission!


We open up at JUDA, where Ishigami’s just received news that the Frontier Fleet and the Advanced European Union (AEU) have signed a treaty with one another. It’s ostensibly a treaty for the provision of Frontier tech to them, but, and here’s the kicker, the contents are clearly that of a military treaty.
The Union and the HRL won’t take this quietly, and Richard, back in action, can see why: access to both the Fleet’s forces and their warp tech is something folks the world over would kill to get their hands on.
The speed with which this treaty was signed strikes Ishigami are very odd, and, from what Shirin’s told Cagalli, the whole thing was brokered by a certain shadowy mastermind. Scarlet’s also up and about, and immediately suspects Hazard.

We can’t say for sure if he was behind it, but the fact is this could really ramp up tensions between the Big Three Nations. That, in turn, would allow the Martian Development Bureau and Hazard to further increase their influence within the Federation under their banner of “maintaining world stability”. And, to top it off, we still can’t take action against The Boom Army while the Federation views them as allies.
Hazard’s showing himself to be far more cunning than Ishigami gave him credit for, and Cagalli says something must be done and quick. Give him any more leeway and the entirety of the Earth Sphere will all but be under his sway. But Orb can’t take any overt action against him, can they? They can’t, which is why she’s assigning Shinn and Luna to work with the UX as an emergency measure.


Richard’s surprised she’s giving them two of the top aces from the 2nd PLANTs/Earth Alliance war, but Cagalli says it’s only a matter of time before the Federation comes pressing down on Orb now that its ties to the UX and Tatsumiya have been exposed. She wants to make sure those two will be out of their reach.
Richard takes her up on her offer, then, and offers his sympathies. And with wishes for everyone to be careful, the call’s closed. Richard sees that things are taking a turn for the worse. Ishigami can’t help but be curious about Hazard, though.
Until not too long ago, he was someone whose area of influence was primarily around Mars. How has he come to wield so much power, so quickly, over the Earth Sphere? Scarlet doesn’t think the Federation government and army are stupid enough that he could just walk all over them, but Ishigami seems to have an idea…


Cut to halfway across the globe, the Rubens Foundation in New York, Mishima’s called over to thank Rubens for mediating their deal with the AEU. On the contrary, Rubens thanks Mishima for accepting the proposal: the Frontier’s Fold technology is essential for laying the founding stones for Earth’s future. And, with this, Rubens can finally move to the next stage of his plan.
Mishima hopes both their futures will turn out as wonderful as they envision, and ends the call. Rubens has a laugh that the Frontier Fleet also has scummy men like Mishima at its core, but it doesn’t matter: the entire world will now be set in motion.


A hidden man wonders aloud if Rubens will now step onto the world’s stage himself. Heavens, no: he’s merely laying the groundwork for what’s to come. If that’s the case, then the man is satisfied.
Inwardly, though, Rubens tells his observer to keep on watching: when the moment arrives, the world will…!


Over by ALVIS, Makabe’s called in an emergency meeting: the Federation knows Tatsumiya’s current location, so he wants the island temporarily relocated to the northeastern archipelago. Kondo asks if he means engaging the Brünnhilde System, as the thing is supposed to still be disabled.
Makabe thinks otherwise, seeing in the fact that Solomon’s issuing warnings an indicator that “she” is already awakening (Soushi is silent). They can’t allow the Federation to interfere with their mission, so he wants the island moved ASAP. In that case, Soushi has a proposal to make as a precaution in case the Feds do try something: send the Fafners and their pilots out of the island… which would also help get some needed live-combat training.

Kaname is outraged that Soushi wants those kids flung into the war outside, but he argues that this already is a war they’re taking part in. And Kariya thinks it’s a good idea too: if the Brünnhilde System’s active, that means the island’s self-defense systems are as well. They should take this opportunity to get the non-Kazuki pilots used to real battles, and she figures the UX would be perfect to make that happen.
“The UX?! You may as well be teaching our kids to be murderers if you’re sending them to a mercenary group!” Toumi objects, and Kariya wonders why she’s suddenly decided to care. “How many people have you already sacrificed to this project?”
Toumi doesn’t argue back, and Kariya wonders what Cmdr. Minashiro would’ve said about this if he was still alive. Regardless, Makabe decides to go with it – he’ll set things up with the UX through Cagalli. Toumi speaks up again, asking if he realizes that working with the UX will mean fighting against other humans… and, in that case, Makabe says she’ll be accompanying them as a way to care for their mental state.


Back to JUDA, Shinn and Luna have arrived and were acknowledged by Richard as interim members of UX. Arnie’s worried if the guy and Scarlet are good enough to be doing stuff, and they are… though Richard’s in no state to pilot the Orphes. Still, they can at least serve as tacticians for our crew. As for Scarlet, she wants Tsubasa to keep manning the Wingle – she’s already gained much experience over these past battles, so she’ll be fine.
Indeed, Ishigami’s heard of our jaunt from Yokosuka, to Byston Well and to Tatsumiya; that was quite the series of battles, but he’s glad everyone made it back OK. Moritsugu wants to know how things here are faring after our absence: badly, Ishigami says. In truth, he wants to split our forces into three groups and for us to carry out multiple operations at once.

Well, Orb’s just paid the UX for the Tatsumiya battle, so Richard figures they’ve the cash handy to run three separate squadrons at once. What does Ishigami have in mind? Well, this would be both a sort of self-defense plan against the Federation, and also…
Ogawa runs in right then, bringing urgent news: Garan’s forces have just left Machine Island and are headed towards Europe! Ishigami doesn’t seem as shocked as the rest of us over this.


As Richard explains, our folks have free rein to choose which group they go with: the three destinations available are America, Europe or to stay here in Japan. The main point of this split is to distract the Federation but, of course, there’ll be plenty of fires for us to put out when we get there. America is rife with the Skrugg, Europe now has the Garan Forces to contend with and Japan has the Katou Organization prowling about.
Seeing how they didn’t take care of Garan back at Machine Island, Kaido and Magami will absolutely be headed for Europe. Hearing about Garan piques Fei-Yen’s interest, so she’ll be coming with – she feels like he’s calling out to her. The Liu Bei crew will also head for Europe after the history they had fighting at Machine Island.

Lux, however, wants to head to America: while the USA Sakomizu fought in WWII has long since become the Union, its essence still remains and she wants to see it for herself in hopes of understanding a bit of the delusion that binds her father. Aesap rubs his temples, sighing at circumstances pushing him deeper into the Byston Well war - he never signed as a soldier to begin with.
Well, Cham says all he should do is help Lux, not fight a war. And he, a Holy Warrior, can do that, no? He still thinks she’s not one, mind. Moreover, Cham feels Shou – his aura – calling out from America. She feels Marvel as well, surprisingly.
Seems to Richard that this group is set and he’d like the Ptolemaios to go with them there. When Sumeragi asks, he explains that the Hadou Financial Group sent in a request for the UX, so he’d like the CB to help with that. Arkham City’ll be this group’s first stop, then.


As for the Elshank crew, Joe figures, since Romina’s still looking for ninjas, they’d best stay in Japan. If he says so, then the princess agrees to remain here (Ylbora frowns). Sun Quan’s team will do the same, as Lu Bu’s hanging out with the Katou Organization.
Lu Xun’s a bit dejected that they’ll need to impose on JUDA again, but Shizuna and Yamashita tells him not to be a stranger. We’ve all fought together a bunch of times already, right? Shangxiang’s happy to hear that.
But what about the UX units proper? Where will they go?


And here’s the biggest route split in the game, and the sole reason why it takes 3 passes to get all secrets:

America Route:
Wings of Rean
00 Gundam
Fafner
SEED Destiny
Dancouga Nova

:siren: Secret Alert x5!
Take this route for these secrets: Demonbane (3rd step), Dunbine (1st step), Heroman (1st step), 00 Gundam #1 (2nd step) and Wings of Rean’s (2nd step).

Japan Route:
Tobikage
Linebarrel
Sun Quan team
Fafner
SEED Destiny
Dancouga Nova

:siren: Secret Alert x3! :siren:
Take this route for these secrets: Tobikage #1 and #2 (2nd step) and Linebarrel’s.

Europe Route:
Fei-Yen
Mazinkaiser SKL
Liu Bei
SEED Destiny
Dancouga Nova
Macross Frontier

:siren: Secret Alert! :siren:
Take this route for these secrets: Frontier secret (2nd step) and… nope, THAT’S IT! As if I needed any more reason to be sick of them.

Eida, Shinn and Luna are either official or interim UX members, so they’ll accompany Arnie and Saya wherever, but, as you can see, the Fafner kids will only do that for the America and Japan routes. We’ll start with the America route, but I’ll ultimately have to keep the Europe route in order to stay on track for the Frontier secret (which I’m contractually obliged to get…)


Richard decides for America, figuring if the almighty Hadou princess is looking to hire them, something big must be afoot. Eida fears that the Skrugg invasion may be picking up steam – and that’s not even taking into account the Black Lodge.
Saya’s a bit worried for Arnie and he knows why: if we run into Graham and Jin’s team, they might well be hostile to us. “Even a second of hesitation can get you killed in the battlefield. And you’re a mercenary now – make sure you don’t forget where you stand,” Saya warns.
Finally, the Tatsumiya folks have sent in a request that we take the Fafners and pilots along with us. Shinn’s pleasantly surprised to hear that, and Richard figures ALVIS has its reasons for doing this. Whatever the case, they’ll load the bots and the Siegfriend System aboard the Ptolemaios once they arrive.


Zhuge Liang, however, is a bit bothered by how synchronic these supposedly different plans have been. Isn’t it strange that the signing of the AEU and the Frontier Fleet’s treaty happened pretty much in tandem with Garan marching on Europe?
True, Rennie does concede that the timing was awfully good. What would have happened if, say, Garan had decided to invade China or Japan instead? Would those countries’ armies have to contend with Garan by themselves? Zhuge Liang has the sinking feeling that, had that happened, we’d instead be hearing news of the Frontier Fleet signing a treaty with either China or Japan’s governments. “So you mean that, regardless of what country Garan chose, the resulting event would’ve been the same…?” Moritsugu ponders.

And that’s correct, though Zhuge Liang’s not referring to just Garan’s Forces: “Alien foes like the Skrugg and The Boom Army; visitors from a different universe like us and the Frontier Fleet; the Machinas; the Black Lodge… All these seemingly random events – as though lead by an unseen hand – wound up tying into one another, weaving a complex spider’s web…”
A spider’s web? “Aye, I fear we find ourselves squarely atop that web, wholly unaware of whatever lies at its center,” Zhuge Liang finishes, and Richard looks somber.

#42
Click to see the mission!


And, with that, we’re back at the intermission menu. Richard and Soushi have both joined as tacticians, providing, respectively, Spec Down Debuff Immunity and Accuracy +5%. Nothing too exciting here and Sumeragi isn’t that much better, either, so I just flip a coin and go with Richard.


Kazuki’s deploying as an event and we haven’t that many troops to play with, so, again, I don’t worry too much about squad makeup.
Aside from Arnie/Saya and Eida/Luna, everyone else will be flying solo.

Off we go.


Location: Arkham City – Back Alleyway

: Heromaaaaan… ATTACK!
: Hmm!

Boom!

: She’s headed your way, Kurou!
: Take this! Magius Wiiing!

Sound of spider lady getting torn apart.

: And access!
: Decipher Aethyrs encryption! Overwrite program! Return to thy true shape, mine fragments!

: And there we have it. I have recovered the pages depicting Atlach-Nacha!
: Whew… Didn’t think finding the pieces of a grimoire would be this difficult.
: Those are all pieces of me, mightiest of all grimoires, remember? Though they are but lone pages, each houses appropriate magical power.
: That is to say, you should be prepared for anything – no matter how impossible it may seem – when facing these. Do try to remember that in the future!
: Psh, always with the lectures…
: But, in any case, now you have a part of your original power back, Al?
: Aye. Having recovered the spell of Atlach-Nacha, I am now capable of conjuring an arresting field!
: But, of course, this is still a far cry from my full, almighty capabilities…
: Guess we still have a long way to go…
: Still, thanks a bunch, Joey. You’ve been a world of help not just with my training as a Magius, but also getting Al’s pages back.
: Aw, no… You’re the one who’s always helping us out… Besides, this is good training for me and Heroman too.

: OH, bravo! Such a beautiful friendship between you boys!
: …?! This fishy way of talking sounds just like…
: Guten morgen, Monsieur Daijuuji.. And to you too, little Joestar.
: It’s been a while.
: Richard! Saya!
: Old man, we haven’t even gotten past “how do you do” and you’re already screwing with us…
: I apologize for him. I’ve stopped with that, but the Major wouldn’t take no for an answer…
: Hey, now, that was just a little joke between old friends. Right, Jonathan?
: Joseph…


Location: Dr. West’s Lab

THUNDER!

: Hmhmhm… Hahahahaha! I’ve done it! It’s complete! It’s perfect!
: I, Doctor West… have finally, finally achieved what magic cannot!
: …
: Now come on, Elsa! That despicable Kurou Daijuuji and his gang won’t even know… Huh?
: … Robo!

Elsa runs off.

: W-Wait, Elsa! Where are you going?!
: MY FAIR LADY ELSA! COME BAAAAAAACK!


Cut to Ruri’s underground base, she’s explaining the situation to Lux: Center City has been fully occupied by the Skrugg and has become the centerpiece of their invasion. They had been held back by the nonstop efforts of the Federation’s Alien Interception Squadron… but it seems that squadron was dissolved recently. She can’t tell Arnie much, but the fact is damage is spreading with Graham and Jin’s team gone.
Arnie is appalled – just what is the Federation brass thinking?! Worse, the Skrugg are already being sighted around Arkham City. While they have the Demonbane and Heroman around to defend the place, they alone can’t hold back the veritable tide of forces the Skrugg boast by themselves.

Richard sees where this is going and promises that the bugs won’t be running roughshod around town with us here. Soushi reports that the Siegfried System’s already up and running aboard the Ptolemaios, so the Fafner team will also support the UX in the city’s defense.
Ruri appreciates their assistance, and promises she and her organization will work just as diligently to support us. And, as part of that, Winfield relates that they’ve called in a genius scientist to assist. She’s a bit on young side, but Ruri assures us that her intellect is second to none.


Over by the manor’s underground hangar, Denton’s putting together a battery for Heroman. He’s learned from his research that the bot runs on good, old electricity, so he figured furnishing it with an extra battery should work to give it a temporary power boost in a pinch. It’s a power booster, Psy surmises. And it’s pretty decently made, says a young girl who enters the room.
But, she notes there’s room for improvement and swaps some circuits around – and immediately Denton sees a huge increase in the battery’s performance. Unbelievable! Did Denton just get one-upped by this girl? N-No, he swears he wanted to do this before but had to make do with cheapo materials due to cost constraints… only, as Psy notes, the girl didn’t replace any of the stuff that was already in there.

But just who is she? Ruri steps in and introduces her: it’s PROFESSOR Rachel Calvin, a technological advisor at Sighted Marshal Technologies, a company financed by the Hadou Financial Group. Kurou’s blown away and, from what Lockon’s heard, the girl’s a world-class genius who got her PhD at MIT when she was thirteen-years-old!
Rachel bids us all good day and says we can leave all tech-related matters to her, no prob. And Al’s eager to put her to work, as the Demonbane has some damaged bits she needs help fixing. “Wh-What is the matter with you?! Prof. Rachel isn’t some mechanic! And, more importantly, the Demonbane isn’t yours to fix!” Ruri stomps and Kurou gulps.

Ruri’s only allowed them to handle the bot because she’s found no one else who could do it better; if they cause any problems at all, she’ll just as easily take it back! “Hmph! There are none in this world who could control the Demonbane other than Kurou and I!” Al sniffs, and Ruri stomps off right away. Insufferable, vulgar, lousy paper witch!
Aesap’s rather stunned after that explosion – is she alright? Yeah, Psy says this is pretty much how it usually goes. While Kurou groans at Al’s big mouth (she’s still not fazed), Denton gets back on topic and says that, yes, Joey can use this battery to give Heroman a power boost. He’ll try it out later.


Location: Hadou Manor – Courtyard

: Look at how big this place is. It’s even got a huge rose garden in its courtyard…
: Yeah. There’s so much here we never saw at Tatsumiya.
: Turns out we didn’t know anything, not about the secrets our island had or even about the whole world outside of it. Everyone else did, but not us… and, so, we convinced ourselves Tatsumiya was heaven on earth…!
: Koyo…
: But the only reason we’re able to learn all this is because we’re alive today.
: We’re here, but… but Shouko is…!
: …
: Okay, you really need to stop with that. Do you think that girl would be happy to see you fighting with each other?
: And what the hell do you think you know about her, huh?!
: That’s enough, Koyo!
: You’ve just been officially appointed as a Fafner pilot, right? Then you can’t let the past hold you prisoner!
: Are you telling me to forget about Shouko?!
: I didn’t say that. But holding onto someone’s memory and being consumed by it are two very different things. Don’t forget those who’ve died, but make sure you’re always moving forward.
: Otherwise, you’re bound to bring about even more sorrow…
: …
: Hey, do you know that the souls of those who die in the Overword are reincarnated in Byston Well?
: Reincarnated…?
: Right! I’m sure your friend’s going through it as we speak…
: …
: (But… none of that erases Kazuki’s fault in all this!)

ALARM!

: Huh? Is that an emergency alert?!
: Can it be the Skrugg…?! Let’s go, quick!


Mission 14 (America Route) – I, Robot

: No humans in sight… Where could they be hiding?
: Those are the Skrugg, the alien lifeforms…
: Highly intelligent, powerful beings that communicate with one another by way of high frequency sounds.
: …! Found one!

Two Skrugg move after the hidden girl!

: ?! They saw me-robo!

: We got a straggler over there!
: Blast…! Kurou, Joey, we shall set forth by ourselves!
: Yeah, we gotta stop them!
: Heromaaaaan… ATTACK!

: Magius Wiiiiing!

Slash, slash!

: Gwaaaaaaah!

: Hey! Are you OK?!
: Hmm, I see… So this is “love”-robo.
: Huh? “Robo”?
: I’ve never been held by a man before-robo. Yes, I understand…! I am experiencing “love at first sight” for you-robo!
: Bwhuh?! How’d she come up with something as insane as that?!
: Do not ask me…
: Love blooms at the edge of life and death-robo! You saved me from the clutches of the enemy, so now I’m madly in love with you… I think.
: Ha-Hahah… Love?
: Gaah, gimme a break…

: Eeh… what’s going on over there?
: I’ve… no idea.
: Joey, Kurou, you get that civ out of here! We’ll deal with the Skrugg!
: G-Got it!
: Come on! We’re getting outta here, Robo Girl!
: D-Darling, don’t pull me so hard-robo!

: Everyone deploy!

: Kazuki, Koyo? Do you hear me?
: E-Erm… Nibelung, activation confirmed. Connection between pilots and Minashiro is…
: Relax, Maya. Your job is to relay precise information to them, okay?
: O-okay… I understand, mom…
: I’ll be assisting here as well. We’ll help them together, okay?
: Thank you, Princess Lux.
: Don’t worry, Toumi. We’ll be fine!
: Listen, you two, this is our first time operating the Fafners out of the Ptolemaios, so don’t try anything too risky!
: … Roger.
: (Just you watch, Kazuki. I’ll show that I’m way different from you!)
: We’ve no idea how many forces the enemy has. More of them may crop up soon, so take care of these ASAP!
: Troops, mission start!


Destroy everything, don’t lose the Ptolemaios. The Skrugg aren’t a whole lot stronger than they were before (only a bit more HP) but there’s quite a lot of them, which can lead to evasion decay building up if they decide to gang up on someone. Keep an eye out for that, leave Support Defenses on as a safety measure, and you won’t have any trouble.
Depending on the secrets you want, Kazuki and Setsuna are priority killers here, so lead with them – especially the former, since he needs 100 by the end of mission 26.


Fafner Mark Vier (Koyo Kasugai)
Pilot Skills:
Synergetic Code L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
All Attack
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Alert
Mech Features:
Gun
Norn System
Siegfried System
Squad Bonus: EN +50, Ranged weapons’ attack +100 (EN +100, Ranged weapons +200, Accuracy +10)
Koyo’s voice actor: Miyu Irino (other roles: Sora in Kingdom Hearts, Saji in 00 Gundam, Akito Hyuga in Code Geass, Akito the Exiled and several more),

Another squaddie Fafner, but still a pretty good unit. As a matter of fact, the Mark Vier is outright stronger than the Mark Elf right now, though Kazuki’s a better pilot (especially due to his superior Synergetic Code).
Regardless, that’s a very nice Squad Bonus for long range attackers, even more so if they’re EN hungry, so Koyo’s an easy fit in many teams.

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zG9_V6KXQU

[video type=“youtube”]4zG9_V6KXQU[/video]

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flyZL8tvVhc
Keep on killing and, eventually, the plot continues…

: Gch… their backup was already here?!
: Behold our power, worthless—

: Hrk… Th-That’s?!

: What…?! Who took out that Skrugg?!
: It looked like he was cut down by something moving at blinding speed…
: It’s… a flying sword?!

: A what?!
: I know what that is…! 'Tis more of my pages, the ones depicting the spell for the Scimitar of Barzai!
: Th-That sword is a manifestation of your pages, too?!
: Aye, and it seems the Skrugg’s offensive has roused it from its slumber!
: Yeah, that’s great, but how’re we gonna deal with it?! That sword’s crazy fast!
: Mr. Daijuuji! It’s headed your way…!
: Crap, everyone down!
: You won’t hurt my darling-robo!
: Elsa, get back!
: Battle mode: switching to anti-magic armament!

: Spell Cannon… “Dig Me No Grave”! FIRE!

Blaaaaaast!

: Hrm… I couldn’t destroy it-robo.
: Elsa, you’re…?!
: You’re an actual robot…?!
: Yes, I am-robo… But even if my body’s a machine, my love for you is very real, darling-robo!
: The rise I’m detecting in my internal temperature proves it-robo!
: I’m pretty sure anyone would get that way if they had to stare down a giant flying sword…
: This is hardly the time for levity! My pages, the Scimitar of Barzai, are still active!
: We shall need their assistance to recover them!
: You got a point – we won’t be getting anywhere by ourselves. You two mind lending a hand?!
: Of course!
: Leave it to me-robo!
: Our local experts will take care of that sword. Meanwhile we’ll continue focusing on the Skrugg!
: But the thing is still flying about! We don’t know where it might come from next, so keep your heads on a swivel!

And now we got a huge sword carving the city up, and can’t do jack about it. Take out the Skrugg, and soon, because…

: That was… another attack from that flying sword?!
: Tsk, and we can’t even see it coming with how fast it moves. What pain in the neck…!
: We’ll do something about it! Just take care of the Skrugg!

The Scimitar of Barzai will shave off 10% HP of all your units at the start of every turn. It’s not THAT much, but the damage might take you by surprise if you let it build too high and, then, the Skrugg will only need a couple lucky hits to down something frail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuB5eimh3zs
And here’s Koyo’s best weapon. Pretty powerful, especially considering chain-attacking reduces damage done across the targets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tFCUwtD_ic
Also, the Impulse’s best weapon. Not a whole lot of enemies remained, so we clear the rest of them in just a couple of turns.

: Was that all of the Skrugg?!
: Yes, only the flying sword remains!
: We gotta wrap up our end too, then! Come on, Joey, Elsa!
: Okay!

: Heromaaaan… ATTACK!
: ROBOOO!

Crack!

: Access!

: Phew, 'tis over. The pages inscribed with the Scimitar of Barzai spell have been recovered!
: We did it, Al!
: Indeed. And recovering two of my pages in a single day is quite the good sign, if I do say so myself.

Surprising guitar solo!

: But I’m afraid your happy times are about to come to an eeennnd!
: That guitar noise… Is it?!

: Is that the Demonbane…?
: Mwahahahaha! It is my newest creation… the Super West Invincible Robo Type-28DX!
: A.k.a., the Demonpain!
: You just barely changed its name… Yeesh, the thing reeks of “knock-off”… (Even worse in the original Japanese, where all West did was switch a single letter of its name :v: )
: Doctor, why are you here-robo?
: Huh?! “Doctor”…?!
: Ah, so this is where you were! My dear friends, she is the embodiment of years of research! The fruit of my blood, sweat and tears…
: The amalgamation of ultimate power and flawless beauty! Her name is… Elsa, the android!
: They say it’s a fine line that separates genius and insanity… but I didn’t think that creep would be into building little robot girls.
: Now come back to me, Elsa! We’ll crush that despicable Kurou Daijuuji together!
: …
: Like a modern Romeo and Juliet-robo…
: Elsa…
: Forgive me, Kurou Daijuuji. I am truly, madly, in love with you but…

Elsa jumps into the Demonpain.

: You are my enemy, and I must kill you as such-robo!
: Damn it, make up your mind already!
: Kurou, we must answer them in kind!
: Okay!
: From the hate-scorched sky, with righteous anger in our hearts, we draw forth the sword that smites Evil!
: Thou art the innocent blade… DEMONBANE!

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina

: Kurou, you can unleash the power of Atlach-Nacha through me even whilst we are manning the Demonbane… That is to say, you can conjure an arresting field at will!
: Look for the right moment to unleash it and I am certain it shall be of great benefit to us in battle!
: Got it. We’ll show this knock-off a power he could never mimic!
: Mwahahaha! Oh, it won’t be that easy!

Smug guitar solo!

: Aah?! He’s this many of them…?!
: That creep mass-produced his knock-off!
: Nay! I sense the faux-Demonbane’s inner magical energies growing! Are those…?!
: Indeed! Indeed! Indeed! I’ve incorporated both magic theory and some of your pages that I’ve found into my Demonpain!
: And I am the one tasked with relaying it all as data into the magic circuitry-robo!
: O-Oh no…! The enemy’s managed to get their hands on Al’s pages…?!
: A spell that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, allowing one to conjure tangible illusions…
: The pages they have must be the ones depicting the Mirror of Nitocris!
: Illusions or not, the radar’s reading them all as real units…!
: The Scimitar of Barzai should be capable of tearing through our foe and its magical energies both… but we must first ascertain which of those the real one is!
: Then we just need to attack all of them until we find the right one!
: That’s about the only way I see, too! Let’s go, Al!
: Aye. He may be wielding a portion of my pages’ power, but it will ultimately be for naught!
: I shall make him realize the magnitude of millennia worth of knowledge… and how he is found wanting face it all!


And now we need to destroy all the Demonpains without losing either Kurou or Joey. As Feldt said, all of the bots are exact copies and even come with a skill-loaded Dr. West aboard, so you really need to wreck everyone.
The Demonpains hurt a lot more than West’s previous bot and got much better range than the original, but they aren’t too accurate or bulky, so big weapons will make short work of them.

Finally, as Al mentioned, Kurou now has access to his Atlach-Nacha special command which will immobilize all enemies within a 5x5 AoE around him. Very nice in setting up MAPWs, provided you stop Kurou from wrecking all those immobilized enemies who will likely go after him.

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina

: Now you’ll crumble to teeny-tiny pieces before my masterpiece, Kurou Daijuuji!
: What “masterpiece”?! All you’ve got there is a knock-off and it’ll be a cold day in Hell when I get beat by something like that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RH7AveYFxE

[video type=“youtube”]5RH7AveYFxE[/video]

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

: Black Lodge, they who sow chaos into the world… Your group is a menace and we’ll see that it is destroyed!
: So these are the famous Celestial Being and its Gundams!
: Good! I’ll prove to the whole world that my glorious science is superior to even these bots!

:siren: SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN

: So you’ll bug Dr. West not once, but twice! Well, you know what I say: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I’ll squish you like a grape!
: I’ve no idea if this is the real one… but all we can do right now is fight on!

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: Oho, lookie here at these readings! That’s a really interesting engine your mech’s running!
: Hand it over, boy! I’m sure that thing will be mighty useful for my research after I’ve picked it apart!
: And you think I’d ever agree to that?! Maj. Richard entrusted the Orphes to me – it’s too important to let someone like you get his hands on it!

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: Get a load of the most perfect union of magic and science!
: Magic, aliens… What the hell’s been going on in the outside world?!

And once you kill three Demonpains…

: Look, more Skrugg!
: Jeez, they don’t know when to quit! The phrase “when it rains, it pours” fits them to a T.
: Aaah, excellent! These aliens will also get to see the amazing might of DR. WEST!
: Come closer and take a look! OK! I AM ROCK AND ROOOOOLL!!

Elated guitar solo!

: …?! G-Ggch… What is?!

: WHAAAAAAT?!
: The Skrugg retreated?!
: I bet they got so scared of me and the doctor that they ran-robo!

Outraged guitar solo!

: W-H-A-T?! And just how is my grand intellect so abominable that it’d scare even aliens?!
: Quit strumming that guitar every time you open your mouth!
: (What happened? Why did the Skrugg retreat that quickly…?)
: (…! Can it be that…!)

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: Your mech’s construction is fascinating! I’ll enjoy poking through it!
: (This man’s also fighting just for his self-interest? I can’t let myself be beaten by someone like him…!)

:siren: SRW UX - Life Goes On

: Everyone already has their hands full fighting the Skrugg! What the hell are you thinking?!
: Oh, don’t you worry! Once I’ve beaten the snot out of all of you, I’ll zap those roaches too!


Dr. West does have a special trick with his Demonpain, mind…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ZYwFU94L0

: No way! It can even do the Atlantis Strike?!
: Gyahahahahaaaa! How do you like that, Kurou Daijuuji, Al Azif?!
: Kch…! He is also using my stolen pages as a source of magical energy…!
: That’s right-robo! Kurou Daijuuji, I’ll defeat you and claim your love!

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina


And there goes the last one.

: Woohoo! They beat all the fakes!
: Huh? Where’s the real one, then?

: Right heeereeeee! Mwahahahahaha!
: There’s the slippery bastard! You were hiding from the get-go?!
: But all your copies are gone, so you better grit your teeth!
: Tsk, tsk, Kurou Daijuuji! You’re in for a rude awakening if you think this is even close to over! Do it, Eeeelllsaaaaaa!
: Roger-robo!

Flash!

: I-It’s…?! Another batch of copies has shown up!
: Urgh, is there no end to this?!
: And now it’s our turn-robo! Dig Me No Grave!

: Gwaaaaargh!

: Direct hit on the Demonbane!
: Magical circuits #13 through #54 have gone silent! Anomalies detected in the left arm’s motor components!
: This is real bad! Not even the Demonbane can take this…!
: Rrgh… Isn’t there anything – anything at all – that we can try?!
: Well, however much magic theory has been applied to that robot, it’s still another piece of machinery…
: So if we could just cut off its magical circuitry from the rest of its systems, then…!
: Cut off its… Aah, eureka!
: Joey, your battery! Use the battery I gave you before and have Heroman discharge it on the enemy!
: The battery?! But we’re fighting someone using magic…!
: It’s fine, please trust me! I swear I won’t let you down!
: Professor…

:siren: SRW UX - Roulette

: Alright, we’ll give it a try! Here goes, Heroman!

Bzzzzt!

: Hmmmm!
: Heromaaaan… BLAST!

: Look… the illusions!
: They all disappeared…?!
: I-Inconceivable! Where did the pages’ power go?! It’s gone!
: Doctor, that electrical discharge crippled all mechanical systems-robo…
: WHAAAAAAAT?!
: Go, Kurou!
: Kurou, 'tis time! Bring out the Scimitar of Barzai and tear it all apart!
: Aye, aye!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9BesawVS1U

[video type=“youtube”]p9BesawVS1U[/video]

: Heh, that’s what you get! And now they–
: Nay, look there…
: Hm?
: Hmhmhmh, yes, I’d—
: I’d expect nothing less from you, Kurou Daijuuji-robo. My love for you grows by the minute-robo.
: That’s, um… what? Elsa…?
: I’ll admit defeat today-robo. But you will be mine someday-robo!
: And until then, adioooooos… robo!

: Gaah! Elsaaaaa, wait for meeeeeee!

: A big explosion like that and they don’t even get a scratch. What are those two made of…?
: You did it, Kurou!
: Only thanks to your and everyone’s help, Joey. Thanks a bunch!
: Kids really do grow up so fast… They’re both really dependable men now.
: (My grandfather’s Demonbane… My Demonbane has been hurt so much once again…)

#1: So those are the warriors of this world…
#2: They are quite the mighty group, indeed.
#2: If the clashing of powerful forces at the Battle of Red Cliffs was what sent us into this world… then it may be possible to replicate that scenario if we have their strength available…
#1: Hm…
: But will things go as swimmingly as you hope, I wonder?
#2: ?! Who goes there?!
: Oh, who I am doesn’t matter. More important than that is the fact that what you two seek to grasp is the truth, the underlying principle of this world, hm?
: Isn’t that right, general Sima Yi… and warlord Cao Cao, conqueror of Mirisha?
: …
: What is it that you know…?
: “Behold, for that light is nigh. Woe unto your accursed land.”
: …?! Th-That’s written in the Legend of the Mirisha, the G-Records…!
: Indeed… it was a phrase in the final chapter – “Apocalypse” – yes?
: In truth, this world also has several pieces of scripture quite like it, prophecies relating the End Times…
: And…?
: Do you not find it curious? Both worlds’ histories are so very similar, yet there are also subtle differences…
: All of Creation possesses two sides to itself. However, we can never see beyond one side…
: …
: “What should we do? What should we become?!” we wonder! Still, one thing is certain…
: It is the heavens that impel all…!
: …!
: Hmhmhm… Ahahahahahaha!

Swoosh.

: Sh-She vanished?! Cryptic wench…!
: Hmph, leave her – she matters not. I have reached a decision, Sima Yi.
: Indeed, what I should do in this world is…!

: It seems Al Azif has recovered several of her pages, including the ones depicting the Scimitar of Barzai…
: Well, well. Kurou Daijuuji is doing quite nicely, I see.
: Then I suppose it’s about time to raise the difficulty of this game.
: Will you send them… the Anticross?
: Indeed…
: You appear to be enjoying this, Master.
: I am. I am quite enjoying this, Etheldreda.
: That one is unique: none other can make me burn with joy as I lie amid this endless spiral into the abyss.
: This burning in my soul… However many times pass, I never tire of it.


Cut to the Hadou manor, Psy and Rachel have to give Denton credit for his ingenious solution to the previous problem. All due to his nonstop hard-work! As Joey approaches, Denton praises his masterful use of his battery – the Skrugg’s days are numbered now! Problem is… the battery broke.
As Rachel sees it, the thing couldn’t withstand Heroman’s voltage and all circuits within got fried. Seems to Psy that the battery was kind of defective goods, then… Oh. But Rachel tells Denton to keep his chin up – failure is the father of success, and defeat is the mother of victory!
And, in fact, Rachel would be happy to help him: Denton’ll have the ideas and she’ll brush them up. She’s certain that with their two brains working together, they’ll cook up some wonderful inventions. Sounds good to Denton, and Lina approves of the birth of a tag-team of geniuses.

Speaking of tag-teams, Aesap is still blown away by Kurou and Joey’s amazing coordination in today’s battle. Goes to show the level of trust that exists between them, Lux sees, and Soushi notes that the Fafner team must also aspire to bolster their teamwork in preparation for future battles.
Koyo isn’t down with that, though: he doesn’t need to work with Kazuki because he can save people without any help. And then he walks off, leaving Kazuki to ponder if he could ever come to trust Koyo and Soushi the way Kurou and Joey do with each other.


Nearby, Chiaki is bossing around Sonya and Makoto, having them haul materials around. Yes, their primary occupation is as operators, but this last battle was so rough on the Demonbane that all staff’s been ordered to help fix it up. And Chiaki tells Sonya to quit grumbling as she manages to work as both an operator and a mechanic just fine!
Kurou is kind of worried, as the princess has just warned him to be more careful with her bot, and now he went way overboard again. Sonya figures Ruri must be livid right about now, and, speak of the devil, the girl arrives soon after. Kurou tries giving her an embarrassed “my bad”, but is quickly silenced by a BIG slap. That looks like it hurts a lot, Sonya notes!
Ruri doesn’t say anything, though, only giving Kurou a tearful glare before walking off.


And over by the White House, the Union president is being visited by a rather odd man, who presents her with footage he and his peers collected from the battle at Arkham City. You can clearly see the infamous UX to have also taken part in it.
The man identifies himself as Dr. Minami of Generous Industries, director of all R&D divisions and also the leader of their weapon development project with the Union army. Now, what is his purpose here today?

Well, he points out that a group as questionable as the UX can’t be allowed to run unchecked. They are terrorists, remember? And now that the Alien Strike Squadron has been dissolved, the defense of their country should return to the capable hands of the Union Army!
The president looks ill at ease but, at length, asks Minami what he has in mind. Aah, he was waiting for her to say that!

#43

The Europe split is why Brera is usually the last person you end up getting.

Zhuge Liang caught onto a very important plot point there, so pay attention to that. (Of course, if you know all the series, you should have an idea of what’s going on here, but still.)

The Demonbane anime skipped a lot of the initial page gathering stuff as it is relatively light plotwise, so UX is trying to fold it into why Demonbane has been out of your hands for so long - it’s just reaching the end of that period itself.

Dr. West and Elsa are the best fucking characters of all time.

Oh god, I didn’t even know Cham said that stuff about Shouko. That’s just going to make what will happen in a few months even fucking better.

OH SHIT, IT’S THE SWORD OF GRUDGE, BARUZAI!

TFW Demonpain.

And oh boy, Cao Cao is going to make his move. I wonder what insanity is about to ensue?

#44
Click to see the mission


Choose to stay in Japan and everything progresses pretty much the same. Only difference is Richard mentioning that he’s worried about how quiet the Katous have been: they must be gearing up for something big. Arnie’s relieved, since staying here likely means he won’t run into Graham and Jin, and Saya says her piece to him.
That said, we do get an extra scene after this one…

: …
: (Kouichi Hayase’s also joined JUDA, so there’s no reason for me to observe him anymore…)
: (It’s probably only a matter of time before I leave this school…)

Ding, dong!

: Heeey, Kizaki!
: (Huh? Kouichi Hayase?!)
: Um… There’s something that’s been bugging me since the last time we spoke…
: You didn’t know the first thing about me, so I don’t see any reason for you to just come out and tag me a “violent thug”, you know?
: …? Did you chase after me just to say that?
: Yeah! I want you to take that back, you know?
: … That said, I still got this sinking feeling that we’ve met before…

: SOOORYAAAAA!

Swoosh!

: W-Waaaaah! The hell…?!
: Oho, you dodged my punch? That’s pretty good.
: ?! You… you’re Domyoji!
: Ah, you remember me? Much appreciated.
: An acquaintance of yours, is he? You seem to have a lot of enemies.
: No, I never met the guy! All I know is that he was a transfer student here; only he assaulted someone right after he came in and got sent to juvie…
: Yeah, and I got off the joint last week. Word around the street’s you’ve been doing pretty nicely while I was gone.
: Huh? What do you mean, “nice”…?
: It wasn’t nice at all! We had the worst time ever because of you!
: Furuya?! That was your own damn fault for starting crap with me to begin with!
: See, that guy there, Furuya? He did me a solid way back when…
: And when I heard someone was giving my buddy grief, well, I couldn’t just do nothing.
: Urgh, what a pain… Listen, I dunno what place you got sent to, but I’m crazy strong, you hear?
: … Sounds like fun!
: Then suck on this! Haah!

Kouichi rushes him down!

: ! He’s fast…!
: … Not! Haah!

Punch!

: What?! U-Uurgh…!
: (It can’t be… He countered?! But Kouichi Hayase’s a Factor…!)
: Yeeeaah! You’re the best, Domyoji!
: (Wh-What just happened?! A Factor’s supposed to have way stronger physical abilities than a regular person, right…?)
: I’ll admit that you’re strong AND quick, but you got no idea how to fight right.
: But it ain’t in me to take things slow, so I’m gonna have to put you down pronto!

: Armas?! You… Are you with the Katou Organization?!
: Huh?! Hey, those things… ain’t those the guys who were on TV?! Duude, check it out! It’s really them!
: Whaaat?! You didn’t call them…?
: (He’s not a Factor, and he’s not with the Katou Organization either. Then…)
: (Is he simply strong?!)

The Arms step forward.

: Wh-What?! Are they coming after us?!
: Heh-Heheheh… Ah, right, you can’t do jack when you’re up against robots!
: Come! Linebarrel!

: Th-The hell?! Wh-wh-wh-whuh…?!
: (He called the Linebarrel?! Doesn’t he even care that there are civilians in the area?!)
: Whoa, I did not see this coming! You’re gonna fight those guys?! Lemme in on that bot too, dude!
: Sorry, Domyoji… but this isn’t a game.

: Heh…
: Aaah, that was siiick! I just met someone awesome!
: Look at that robot! Look at it!
: …
: (He didn’t even think twice before calling the Linebarrel right around civilians…)
: (Kouichi Hayase… you are positively despicable!)

As for deployments, Kouichi, Saya and the Fafner kids are going out as event units, so we’ll go with this:
Deceive
Yamashita/Mike
Arnie/Luna
Moritsugu
Joe
Shinn
Sun Quan/Rennie
Shangxiang/Eida
Tactician: Ylbora

Just maximize the amount of people that can either fly and/or use Accelerate.


The ALVIS folks have just arrived at JUDA and present themselves to Ishigami, including Koyo, the newly-assigned Mark Vier pilot. Ishigami does note Maya’s surname and figures she’s Toumi’s daughter – she’s got no unit of her own, so she’ll be working as part of our support staff.
Joe’s a bit surprised that they’re all a bunch of kids, as he was expecting hardened vets to be flying special units like those. Shangxiang sniffs that Joe’s also too young to be rocking that attitude… but, as Lu Xun points out, she’s not exactly a grown lady either (Rennie wonders how old our Gundams friends actually are).

Now, Ishigami would love to introduce them to one of JUDA’s fine pilots but, unfortunately, he’s in school. School? Yeah, turn out he’s about the Fafner kids’ age, so Ishigami hopes they’ll be fast friends. “They’ve also got kids like us fighting around here…?” Koyo ponders inwardly.
That said, some rather worrying intel just came in about said pilot, so Ishigami would like to send Eida and Saya on a small mission.

: H-Hey… mornin’.
: You again… what do you want?
: Sorry if what happened back there startled you. That robot’s called the Linebarrel, see? And it’s kinda mine…
: (“Yours”…?)
: I can’t really go into details, but I just wanted you to know…

Door opens!

: A-ha! Found you, Hayase!
: Hrgh…! Domyoji… and Furuya?! What’dya want?!
: Easy, there; we just figured we oughta set things right. Get to it, Furuya!
: … I’m sorry, Kouichi!
: Whuh?!
: He told me everything that happened. How he was mad, got a bunch of guys to ambush you and they wound up getting their asses kicked instead.
: I didn’t know any of that, but it don’t change the fact that I was his accomplice when I got talked into picking a fight with you. And I’m really sorry about that, Hayase.
: A-Ah, no… I-It’s fine. I’m also sort-of to blame for all that, so…
: Oh, really?! That’s just great, buddy!
: (“Buddy”?!)
: Okay, and now that all bridges are fixed, we got a little proposition for you!
: How about you let us be your support crew?
: My what now…?
: Listen, I’ve been thinking… You’re piloting that robot and fighting a bunch of bad dudes, so that would make you a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE, right?

: Eeh, yeah, I guess you could say that…
: …
: It can’t be easy to do that kinda work and be a student too, so I figured we should do whatever we can to help you out.
: (“We”? Oh, god, what do I do…? I’m getting dragged right into this mess…)
: Listen, I understand what you’re getting at, and I appreciate it… but are you really gonna put your neck on the line just to have some fun?
: Not “some”! A whole LOT of fun!
: …
: Hah… Alright, sounds good! Glad to have you aboard!
: (Wh-What… happened? Did they become friends just like that? I don’t get any of this!)
: You, too, girl. Let’s all put our hands together and make it official.
: (Oh, nooooo!)

: HOLD IT!
: ?! Wh-What?!

:siren: SRW UX - Roaring Deathblow

: You worms like making women cry, eh…?! I’m gonna make you pay for it in spades!
: …
: Um… And you are?
: I’m Saya Asamiya, the local delinquent queen! O-Oh, wait, what I’m supposed to say is…
: You don’t deserve to know my name!
: …
: You know her, Hayase…?
: Erm… well… Yeah, kinda…

Door opens.

: S-Sorry about that, Kouichi… This is not how this was supposed to go…
: Eida?! Okay, what’s going on here?
: And why’s Saya dressed like a schoolgirl and spinning that yoyo around? This some sort of prank I haven’t heard about?
: …
: U-Um… excuse me, but are you Eida Rossa, the idol singer?!
: Yes, I am. Why do you ask?
: I-I knew it! I’m a huge fan! Could I please shake your hand?!
: Oh, of course! But, in exchange, can I ask you to keep quiet about this meeting here?
: Absolutely! Aah, be still my heart! I’m never washing this hand again!
: (Hah… Now there’s a side of him I didn’t think he had.)
: These girls are all your friends, Hayase? I’m sure not gonna get bored with you folks!

: Well, isn’t that nice…
: Risako?! What’re you doing in that corner?!
: Oh, I’m just being left out… as always. But I’m already used to it, so it doesn’t bother me… no, sir, not at all…
: B-But this really isn’t anything you need to worry about…
: Hey, don’t do her like that, Hayase. Let her come along, will ya? The more girls, the better!
: Huh? You mean it?! Yaaay!
: Oh, brother…
: And, you, the cosplaying chick – get in here too! Pulling pranks with your crew is way better than doing it solo, yeah?
: …
: Alright, folks! We’re gonna be busting our backs to help out Hayase, ya hear?!
: I don’t really know what’s going on, but YEAH!
: The Hayase Corps. has just been born!
: (“C-Corps…” Someone save me…)

: Biingoo. I can put them to very good use… Yeeheeheeheeee…


Cut to the Shangri-La, Dmitri isn’t too sure about letting Riku handle things and Sawatari has to agree with him. Tubs there used to be a huge terrorist, doesn’t trust others, doesn’t keep subordinates of his own… Sawatari doubts he’s suited to lead any op.
Yulianne, however, disagrees: this op in particular is perfect for someone like him. Besides, the little piggy’s completely enamored with Katou, which makes him a wonderful pawn. Katou himself is well aware of how delusioned the kid is, but delusion can have great power. It’s for that reason Katou saved him…
“However, the moment he mistook that delusion for actual ‘imagination’, he…”

: Kouichi Hayase’s being targeted? And you were also sent here to keep watch on him…?
: Hmhmm. Eida and I have been tasked with assisting you on your mission.
: Eida’s with him right now, so we’re hoping we can meet up later and plan things out…
: I understand. It’s a pleasure to be working with you both.
: But… don’t you think that disguise is a bit out of place?
: It is, isn’t it…? I was a bit doubtful myself…
: Joe coached me on how to introduce myself, but the Major insisted on the outfit and the props…
: You don’t have it easy, huh? Still, I think it best to point something out just to be sure…
: A yoyo is not a weapon…
: Come on, Kizaki! That’s the part you got a problem with?!
: ?! You’re…!
: Domyoji, what are you doing here…?!
: I thought something was fishy with all that “prank” business, so I followed when Ms. Delinquent Queen here pulled you away.
: What was all that talk about Hayase being targeted and you keeping watch on him?
: Th-That was…

BOOM!

: Wh-What the?!
: Yeeheeheee
: A-A giant robot?! This really isn’t a prank, is it?!
: That Arma… it’s the one with the explosive pellets that attacked Atami!

Grab!

: Aaah!
: Kizaki?! Saya…!
: Hrrgh…! L-Let us go!
: What’re you doing with those girls, creep?!
: Oh, nothing… I’m just giving them a lift… Yeeheee! Eeeheeheee!

Fly away!

: S-Stop! Kch… Who was that guy?!


Cut back to JUDA, Ogawa tells us of the attack and the girls’ kidnapping by the Katou Organization – same crazy guy from the Atami ambush, even, says the intel. Ishigami expected them to go after Kouichi directly, but not to pull something like this.
Richard groans at that insane terrorist from before being behind it, and Toumi’s surprised at how calm he is right now. Isn’t he worried for his daughter? Of course he is, but he knows enough to keep himself thinking straight.

That said, as Ishigami points out, we’re dealing with someone who won’t hesitate to attack even civilians, so we need to be very careful. Ishigami also requests the ALVIS’ folks help with this and Soushi agrees: he still needs to check the Siegfried System now that it’s installed on the Elshank, but the Fafners will be ready to deploy and assist.
Kazuki can’t believe how blasé he is with the two girls kidnapped but, as Soushi points out, they’ve both been trained for situations like this. Kazuki and the others should focus solely on the mission at hand.
“Hmph, that’s exactly what I’d expect to hear from the guy who just watched Shouko kill herself to protect the island,” Koyo sniffs. “But we’re not mercs or soldiers. No one told us told anything about the Fafners or all the battles going on outside our island until now!”

But Soushi fires back that that’s because Koyo and the others never cared to try and learn anything in the first place, content with the paradise they lived in. As it turns out, their island, their paradise, has always simply been walled off from the flames raging around them – and Soushi hopes they’ve understood that by now.
Koyo doesn’t like being called out, but Shinn steps in and points out that this is hardly the time for bickering. Toumi agrees, saying that they should direct that energy towards rescuing the captives. “I know that. And unlike Kazuki and Soushi, I will get them both back safe!” Koyo harrumphs.


Back in town, Kouichi and Eida are in pursuit of Riku’s Arma – it looked like he went towards the Ōi Harbor. Kouichi asks that she go and meet up with the rest of our crew while he gets in the Linebarrel.
Domyoji arrives right then, yelling that Saya and Emi got kidnapped – little late with that intel, of course. Kouichi tells him to stand back and beckons the Linebarrel… only the Machina doesn’t show up, despite his yelling. What the?


Location: Ōi Harbor – Abandoned Warehouse

: What did you kidnap us for…?
: Yeeheehee… Tell me, do you know about the bombing that happened in Shanghai five years ago?
: In Shanghai? That’s the one where over twenty thousand people died, right?
: Right-o. And you know who did it? Me, all by myself.
: … Why would you do something as horrible as that?
: To check my imagination, of course! The people who died then didn’t imagine for even one second that they were going to lose their lives in an explosion.
: All of them figured that day was gonna go on, end, and then another one would come… In other words!
: When that bomb went off, I exceeded the imagination of twenty three thousand, five hundred and two people!
: …
: You… do you not feel anything over what you did?! The value of the lives you took, the pain all those people went through… is that meaningless to you?!
: Yup, it is. Because it’s my sacred mission to bring despair to those who cannot even imagine their own futures!
: And, still, Kouichi Hayase dared to say that my imagination wasn’t “all that”!
: And so I’ll make his life a living hell! I’ll make him suffer so much, he’ll pray for death!
: You’re a monster…
: I don’t have any problem with you personally, but you seemed to be good friends with him… So I’m gonna have to make you the instrument of my revenge! I’ll rain misery on him through you!
: …
: I presume you’re not aware that I’m with JUDA?
: Hah! Well, that’s convenient! Then you’re not only a valuable hostage to Kouichi Hayase, but to JUDA too!
: Then… you had no idea who I am when you kidnapped me, right?
: Kizaki…
: It doesn’t make any difference to me who you are. You’re his dear friend who’s been taken hostage, and I’ll blow off your arms and legs right in front of him. And then…
: In that case, I’ll take the time to teach you just one thing.
: Huh…?

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel (Full Intro)

: Reality… exceeds your imagination!


Mission 14 (Japan Route) – The Black Executor

image014.png909×649

: …
: Th-The Linebarrel?!
: It can’t be! Kouichi Hayase’s supposed to be its Factor… What’s going on?!
: (It’s been a very long time, Linebarrel…)
: There’s always only one Factor for any Machina…!

: Let’s go, Linebarrel! Stabilize fields; then, activate counter-nanomachines!
: Engage real-time teleportation in response to target’s movements at intervals 6, 7, 2, 3, 5, 8…!

: …?! It’s turned black?! Still, that doesn’t change anything…!
: …!
: I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I just need to destroy the Linebarrel and it won’t matter!

: Ooorgh! Wh-What was that?!

: Lepton Vectrer, output stable. Internal pressure is green…
: Saya…!
: Kizaki, I won’t ask how you were able to summon the Linebarrel.
: The only thing that matters right now is dealing with the enemy!
: Thank you, Saya…
: Hmph, so you got that jet to help you out. Big deal…!

: Huh?! What’re you doing?! I thought I told you to hang back!
: We understand, but these are direct orders from Cmdr. Katou. He told us to support the 8th unit…
: He did?! Hmph, then I guess it’s fine… Just make sure you don’t get in my way!
: I’m ending this now!


The game tells you to kill Riku, but you can also wait 4 turns and the plot will carry on regardless. That said, if you want his Skill Part, you’ll have to beat him before then; it’s not too difficult, though, because Emi and Saya both have decent morale and can support one another.


Linebarrel Override (Emi Kizaki)
Pilot Skills:
Factor
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Spirit Commands:
Alert
Focus
Mech Features:
Sword
10% HP regen
Override – activates at 130 morale, granting a chance to outright dodge any incoming attack (calculated by the difference between pilot and target’s skill stat – max of 40%). Also allows unit to teleport instead of moving on the map, negating any EN cost or rough terrain.
Squad Bonus: Melee weapons’ power +100, Mobility +5 (Melee weapons +200, Mobility +20, S in Air, Range +1)
Emi’s voice actress: Mamiko Noto (other roles: Suzuka in Endless Frontier, Lunar in Zero Escape, Oichi in Sengoku Basara and a billion more)

Emi’s a pretty good pilot overall, having stats pretty much around Kouichi’s level – her evasion is WAY higher and her melee is somewhat lower, though. The Linebarrel Override loses the Executor shots meaning its range has gone down some (best now is 1-4, her weakest move), but, in exchange, lets Emi use the powerful Override attack and skill.
Emi’s D-S.O.I.L. rate also has a lower baseline than Kouichi’s, but getting a clean hit on her isn’t easy – especially with that S in air.

Seeing how our morale’s already good-ish and we have a limit of two turns, we’ll immediately set our sights on Riku and just let the mooks crash against our girls.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: “Reality exceeds my imagination”?! What a load of bull! My imagination always, always—!
: Your imagination is a delusion, nothing more… and you have no hope of defeating us!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDBk4FMh-PI

:siren: SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness

: To fight is to etch the death… the pain you cause on others into your heart.
: Someone who cannot even imagine that pain doesn’t deserve to be in any battlefield!
: Hmph, what a windbag! And how’s anyone supposed to fight if they start fussing over stuff like that?! No, thanks!
: Then it falls on me to etch the pain of those whose lives you stole into your heart… Actually, no – I’ll etch your own pain there!

So fast forward a couple of turns and he’s gone.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel


Downing Riku gets you a Kyushu Castella Cake.

: Waaaaaagh!
: You’ve lost. Now lay down your weapons and surrender!
: H-Hmph! You actually think you beat me?!

: Energy coefficient’s spiking! His…His unit’s powered up?!
: Eeeheeeheee…! Take a look at the Yaoyorozu’s full power! My imagination’ll always get the better of you!

: More reinforcements…?!
: Now let’s hear you scream! I’ll enjoy watching you two plummet into despair!

: Wh-Whaat?!

: It’s… the Elshank?!
: All troops, deploy!

: We got here in the nick of time…! But what is that black Linebarrel…?!
: Well, I don’t think it has a Phase Shift to lose, so… maybe it’s a Mk. II?
: Is it you in there, Hayase?!
: No… Emi Kizaki is piloting that Linebarrel.
: Come again?! It’s Emi?!
: I’ll explain things later, everyone, but we must first stop the Katou Organization…!
: Yeah, we’re on it! They got a lot to answer for after pulling a stunt as cheap as kidnapping you two!
: Your mission parameters have shifted from rescuing the hostages to eliminating the enemy units… Can you do this, Kazuki, Koyo?
: Enemy units… but aren’t there people aboard those things?!
: If you’re not up for it, then back off. I’m going in!
: (Koyo…)
: Your target is the enemy command unit! Eliminate them with haste, troops!


Riku’s, indeed, gained a slight boost to his mech’s stats but nothing major. Taking him down’ll end the mission so, if you’re keeping this path, you’ll want to take out all other mooks before going for him.
I won’t, though, so I’ll just kill enough to build morale and then get rid of Piggles there.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: I chose to be here precisely to put down monsters like you…
: And, right now, I think I absolutely made the right decision!
: Unfortunately, no, it was the wrong one. And why was that? Because you couldn’t imagine the future where you die at my hands!

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: There’s a person piloting that unit! He’ll die if I shoot it down!
: Calm down, Kazuki! Just make sure you don’t hit the cockpit directly and the pilot’ll be fine!
: Whether they keep their lives or not depends entirely on your ability!
: That’s easier said than done… I’m not that good a pilot!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: The Yaoyorozu’s way more agile than it looks… I’m not letting you tag me!
: You got a real big mouth, guy! But you better not sell the Deceive short!
: That’s right. Underestimate us and it won’t end well for you!

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: Hmm, I’ve never seen this mech before… Oh, well! It doesn’t really matter since it, and your future, will be in pieces very soon!
: How… How can you take other people’s lives so easily?!

:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor

: Kidnapping girls is about one of the lowest things you can do!
: There’s no such thing when it comes to fighting! All you got are different options with which to get what you want!
: Hah, works for me! Then I reckon you won’t mind if I don’t worry about how much this’ll hurt you!

Koyo also has a line against the generics and one against Riku himself:

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: (Fighting people in order to save people… I need to take someone’s life in order to save another’s…?!)
: Your thoughts are in disarray, Koyo. Don’t think about unessential matters.
: “Unessential”…?! That’s what you call worrying about people’s lives, Soushi?!

–

: Taking hostages, wrecking a city… but I’m putting an end to your rampage right now!
: Ooh, look at how much he huffs and puffs. I’ve got a future filled with despair with your name on it!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: You fancy yourself some knight in shining armor, coming in to rescue the captive princess?
: Not at all. I’m here simply to rain on your parade.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: There is no imagination at work here! All I see in your actions is the base destruction you’re causing!
: I’m just opening the eyes of the foolish masses! Can’t you wrap your head around that?!

: How can you destroy so many lives without even batting an eye…?!
: Oh, and how am I any different from you? How many lives did you take during that war, hm?
: I never killed anyone just for the hell of it, though! Someone like you could never wrap his rotten head around the pain that comes from battle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syzFm4qln-I
And, finally, here’s Emi’s best trick.

: A-A-Aaaiiieee…! S-Someone help me please…!
: Haah, haah… R-Relax…
: The life of a man like you… is not… worth taking…
: Rrgh…!

: Huh? What happened? The Linebarrel’s just turned white again…
: It’s… stopped?
: (Haah, haah… I knew it… continuous teleportation is just too straining…)
: Yee?! It’s shut down?! Then… there’s my chance!
: Yeeheeheeeheeee! Now! Come on out!

: What?!

Riku backs away.

: How’d you like that? I bet none of you imagined this, eh?! You always have to keep one last ace up your sleeve for—

image075.png452×649

: …?!
: Wh-What the?! Weren’t they on the same side…?!
: They may be up to something! Do not approach them carelessly!
: Hrgh… Th-This can’t be…! Wh-Why did you…?!

Beep.

: Hey, there, Riku!
: Sawatari… why…?
: Kid, whoever told you to kidnap those girls, hm?
: You got your imagination all wrong. Worse, that’s becoming a problem for our Organization’s goals.
: B-But…!
: So Hisataka told me if you went and stepped over the line… then I’d have to kill you.
: N-No way…! The commander… Mr. Katou said…?!
: And I got a message from him…
: “You’re not the one with the most insight into imagination. And the reason for that is simple: you do not imagine yourself dying.”
: Gch… Ggghh…!
: KATOOOOOUUUUUU!!

: …
: They retreated…?
: W-Wait, hold on…! There was someone inside that robot, wasn’t there?!
: How could they kill him that easily…? Weren’t they allies, even?!
: Those were our enemies, and that’s how they operate; they’ll do anything if it suits their purposes…
: B-But that’s…!
: Horrible? Unacceptable? If you feel that way, then fight them with everything you’ve got. Fight and keep the lives of those you care about safe from them…!
: …
: Those I care about…

: Looks like it’s all over, Hayase!
: Sure, but… what’s going on? What’s the Linebarrel doing here?!
: …!
: Hayase, hold on! That’s…!
: I called and I called and you didn’t show up, and now I find you here?! Why?! Answer me, Linebarrel!
: Hey, look, the hatch is open!
: …?!
: …
: N-No way…! What… How’s Kizaki piloting the Linebarrel?!

Flash!

: Kch…!
: What is it?!
: …
: That’s it… I remember now…! I remember where I met her before…!
: …?!
: That day… three years ago… The last thing I saw before I died…!
: It was you, Kizaki… you were inside the Linebarrel’s cockpit!
: …

: …
: Something wrong, Kazuki?
: Mr. Asuka… No, it’s just that… so much has happened so fast…
: I can’t help but wonder that I might’ve been better off not knowing anything if things were going to get like this…
: I see… but tell me something. Had you never found out about anything, what do you think you’d be doing?
: Well… I’m pretty sure I’d still be at the island, working on graduating. And, then…
: And then the people of ALVIS would’ve told you about the island’s secrets anyway.
: …?!
: One way or another, you would’ve wound up in the same place. The only difference would be whether you got there sooner or later. And, in that case, I think the better option is the one where you learned the truth of your own volition.
: My own volition…?
: Now, I really don’t like the word “Destiny”, but… if anything, we should at least try to choose what our destiny’ll be, right?
: No matter how much hardship said destiny might have in store, what lets people keep on living despite everything is the fact that they chose their path in life…
: Mr. Asuka…


Cut to JUDA, Kouichi isn’t going to give Emi grief for keeping tabs on him, but her keeping quiet about being the Linebarrel’s Factor is a wholly different matter.
“But even worse than that is the fact that you were aboard the Linebarrel when I died! You might as well have killed me with your own hands!” Kouichi yells and Emi’s taken aback. “Kizaki, you… you’re despicable…!”
Ishigami speaks up and says he’s entitled to be angry, and asks that Emi give them the room. As she leaves, Ishigami promises to tell him everything he knows.


By the hangar, Shizuna’s a bit miffed that Domyoji got brought over to JUDA; from what Lu Xun was told, it was his due to exigent circumstances and his “duty as part of the Hayase Corps”? But more important than that is how we now have a Machina with two pilots. Mike and Damian don’t see the big deal, pointing out that the Deceive has both twins aboard, right?
Sure, but the Deceive is only a two-seater due to a unique system JUDA had to put together for it. Furthermore, a Machina comporting two people and outright have two FACTORS are completely different matters. Curious and curiouser.

Maki reports that tests have confirmed that Emi is, without a doubt, a Factor of the Linebarrel… but it seems the bot itself is rejecting her. “Or perhaps a better way to put it would be that the Linebarrel is trying to keep her from fighting. That’s the impression I got,” Maki corrects himself.
Zhou Yu asks if he means the Linebarrel has a mind of its own, but, unfortunately, this is all speculation. They still don’t understand the cause, but it’s for that reason that she wasn’t able to pilot the Linebarrel for long.
Rennie figures that’s why she, albeit clearly reluctantly, had to let Kouichi take over as the Machina’s pilot. Maybe but, as Joe points out, her killing Kouichi back then is a wholly different issue here. But Moritsugu steps in: “No, Emi Kizaki was not the one responsible for killing Kouichi Hayase. It’s true that she was aboard the Linebarrel at the time of his death, but that had absolutely nothing to do with her.”

: “Nothing to do with her”…?! But she—!
: She was asleep, inside the Linebarrel, throughout the whole incident.
: When she came to, she’d lost practically all her memories…
: Her memories…?
: She didn’t understand what was going on at the time – she couldn’t. But when she saw you dying, she, in tears, begged the Linebarrel to save you. And, so, you were reborn as a Factor…
: …
: What the hell… all the secrets you’ve been keeping, and you still figured you’d keep quiet about the most important thing?
: But, from what you guys said, if your life is connected to the Linebarrel…
: Then so is Kizaki’s life, since she’s also the thing’s Factor, yeah?
: Huh…?
: Meaning, if you keep on fighting with the Linebarrel, you’d also be keeping her life safe, ain’t that right?
: …?!
: It’s just as he said, Hayase. Emi Kizaki’s life has been in your hands from the moment you became a Factor.
: Her… Her life is in my hands…?

: (I’m despicable…? I suppose I am…)

: Kizaki…
: Hayase…
: Mr. Ishigami told me pretty much everything, so… Listen, I’m sorry for what I said back there… I shouldn’t have called you that…
: I’d no idea I was responsible for your life… I risked the Linebarrel so many times…
: You don’t owe me any apologies. I’m the one who kept quiet about everything – it was easier for me that way.
: But…
: I… I was afraid that you’d walk out on me if I told you…
: I can’t pilot the Linebarrel for long periods of time, so I wouldn’t be able to survive this battle by myself…
: …
: And, yet, all this time I just looked at you with cold, uncaring eyes. I’d been judging whether you were “suitable” to be entrusted with my life…
: But I’m not in any position to judge you, not after what happened… Still, I… I can’t ask this of anyone but you…
: Kizaki…
: Hayase…
: Please… Please protect me!

capture_16022018_213453_020.png452×682

: …?!
: …
: I won’t put you in a position where you have to pilot the Linebarrel again…
: Rather, I promise I’ll learn to handle the Linebarrel even better than you…! I…
: I will protect you!
: …!
: …
: Okay…!


And back to ALVIS, Yumiko’s a bit surprised at how quickly the UX and JUDA fielded the kids. From what Kariya sees, the Siegfried System terminal is doing just fine – this just greatly expanded the Fafners’ range of operations. Regardless, they left the Fafners in our care, so we can deploy the bots at our discretion.
A more urgent matter, Makabe reminds them, is relocating Tatsumiya immediately, while the Federation isn’t trying anything. Hazama reports that while there aren’t any issues with the system itself, Kariya did find something a bit worrying in the path they were going to take.

She puts it up on screen: they found an island three hundred and fifty kilometers due north of their current location. It seems to be uninhabited but it looks just like Tatsumiya. As Makabe knows, their island wasn’t the only one made for the Arcadian Project, though none of the participants were allowed access to information regarding the other islands.
But why is it uninhabited? Maybe it was abandoned halfway through the project, or maybe something happened that killed all its people. We need to figure out what’s what, which means getting a team sent in to investigate. Makabe orders Soushi contacted and an urgent recall order sent to the Fafners. Whatever could be up with this other Tatsumiya?

#45

Aww shit son, it’s Domyouji! And he even does his “of course I can’t win, you have a GIANT FUCKING ROBOT, that is FUCKING AWESOME” bit.

Saya pulling a fucking Rom Stoll is great too.

Emi has YELLOW eyes. Pay attention, we’ll be quizzing you on this later!

…Well, TECHNICALLY, yes, the Linebarrel is a Mk 2. But the Lostbarrel is also black, and won’t be showing up as more than a map sprite in UX.

Well, look at the bright side, ALVIS, you at least discovered the second island instead of the third. That’d have gotten you killed at this point.

#46
Click to see the mission!


Choose the Europe route and Richard says he’s worried about not only Garan’s Forces, but also this new alliance between the Frontier Fleet and the AEU. Eida understands, knowing that if a force as powerful as the fleet starts taking sides, it could sow the seeds to a new conflict across the world.
After this, pretty much all other scenes proceed the same. Of note, however, is that while the Fafner kids have been assigned to work with us, ALVIS still needs a bit more time to get the Siegfried System readjusted so the Fafners can operate beyond Tatsumiya on this route. Once that’s taken care of, they’ll meet up with us.


And we get Scarlet as a tactician, who boosts the effects of any Support skills by 10% (meaning it lessens the damage penalty on attacks and boosts damage reduction in defense). Not that it really matters, since mitigation isn’t all that important and Zhuge Liang provides a damage boost for everything you do during your phase, but hey.


Mazinkaiser’s deploying as an event unit, but you can still pair it with someone. So, we’re going like this:
Arnie/Luna
Guan Yu/Tsubasa
Shinn
Liu Bei/Saya
Zhang Fei/Fei-Yen (shrug)
Mazinkaiser/Eida
Tactician: Zhuge Liang

Off we go.

: C-Curse you all… Gwwaaaaaargh!

: Yaaahooo! Did you see that? That’s the sort of skill that separates a Super Ace from the rest! (Patrick)
: Garan Forces or whatever you’re called, the AEU’s our turf! Your party’s about to come to a screeching halt!
: Hurray for Colasour, the immortal! That’s our captain!
: Not Colasour, Mannequin! How many times do I gotta tell you I changed my name after getting married?!
: Apologies, sir! Everyone stick with the captain!

Patrick keeps leading the charge up ahead.

: Hrk… Wh-What?!

: So you’re the leader of this army? Hm, you do appear to be decently skilled… however, you know not that you should quit while you’re ahead!

: Wh-Whooaaa—!

: C-Captain Colasour?! We can’t continue… retreat! Retreat!

: So this is all the armies of the surface truly have to offer? What a disappointment…!
: Indeed, he is the only one who can stoke the flame inside me…


But Patrick’s fine (of course), and he’s run off to Marseille to cry on Kati’s shoulder over getting shot down (and she’s now a brigadier general, not a colonel, dang it!). Didn’t she send him a report telling specifically to be careful with that unique black unit? She did, but Patrick never liked reading reports, so…
Garan’s invasion is getting worse by the day, yet Kati has to make do with a tiny amount of forces. Just what is the Federation leadership thinking?! “Everything’ll be fine, my love! Just leave it to your sweet Patrick! I’ll gladly risk my life fighting in your name, colonel!” It’s BRIGADIER GENERAL!
But a mook walks in, telling Kati an envoy from the Martian Development Bureau has arrived…Dog Tack.


Burn’s returned to Garan’s frontline base, making good on his vow to repay the boss man for his kindness. That said, when Burn’s old nemesis is found… Garan understands, and will allow Burn to leave and go face him.
As Burn thanks him and exits, Garan ponders the Black Knight: a man with emptiness in his heart, yet with unquestionable skill as a warrior. Himiko wonders what kind of man Burn’s nemesis – one Shou Zama – is, but Garan doesn’t know either. That said, he does envy Burn, and hopes to someday meet a foe strong enough to view as his own nemesis.

But never mind that, has Himiko managed to find the “truth” she sought now that they’ve stepped into the world outside Machina Island? Not yet, unfortunately, but she does have come to realize something: that this world is home to something akin to a massive and sprawling, yet unseen, spider-web. Or, perhaps, it’d be better to refer to it as the threads of fate.
All these threads lie interconnected by the force of fate itself, weaving together a beautiful tapestry. And at the center of it all stands the one doing the weaving. Whether that being is God or whatever, it makes no difference to Garan: “If the fate that’s been assigned to us is to keep on fighting, then…”


Cut to the Quarter, already down on the surface, Alto’s not too happy that they’ll be taking part in an operation against Garan’s Forces – the brass is ordering them to get involved in Earth’s wars now? Indeed, and it came as an official request from the Frontier government as per their treaty with the AEU.
The suddenness of it all strikes Klan (who turns into a little girl when miclonized) as very odd: let’s not forget that ever since the fleet arrived on Earth, they’ve always been told to keep to space and not descend on the planet’s surface. But Michel sees what’s up: the local governments don’t want to deal with the Frontier’s issues, but they would still love to gain access to their forces and tech.
That said, Canaria points out that with the Vajra confirmed to be arriving in this world as well, the fleet can’t afford to dispatch its own forces – therein lies the business opportunity for PMCs like the SMS. Kinda seems to Monica that we’re taking advantage of the situation but, as Bobby sees it, moments like this are precisely what their company is here for. That doesn’t make Alto happy that they’re taking part in a war that isn’t theirs, mind.

Cathy doesn’t think the government has any problems with this, having the sinking feeling that the only reason the president’s office ever signed that treaty was to be able to send the SMS down to Earth. Why does she think that? Well, for one, it seems Leon Mishima was one of the most vocal voices in favor of the treaty, and the guy’s been trying to leverage Earth’s ongoing state of affairs for political gains for a while now.
So, Ozma surmises, they’ve been sent to Earth in order to get the guy more intel to use. Isn’t that pretty much spy work? Still, Jeffrey notes that the Frontier’s unable to return to their own universe, so they must look for a place to settle down on this Earth – many among the fleet’s residents are seeking to immigrate here, too. If what Mishima’s doing will enable that, then it’s a worthy cause.

Michel agrees with the captain, noting the decades their fleet spent roaming the galaxy in search of a new world – and now they’ve finally arrived on one. Yes, it may be a planet in a different universe, but if it’ll let the people to set their feet on solid ground, then they shouldn’t let this opportunity pass.
Ozma asks what everyone else thinks and Alto inwardly ponders how all he wants is to FLY THROUGH A REAL SKY. But having to fight in a war to make that happen leaves him with a bad taste in his mouth.


Back to us, our people are hitching a ride on the WSO dropship and Saya reports that Garan wasted no time deploying huge amounts of troops and assaulting various parts of Europe. His blitz caught the AEU wholly unprepared, resulting in a very confused counteroffensive where they’ve been stuck playing catch-up.
Liu Bei had taken Garan to be an exceptional man even back at Machine Island, but now it’s clear to him and Zhuge Liang that his ability as a strategist isn’t one to be underestimated either. Magami does wonder about one thing: why hasn’t the AEU asked for the Federation’s help on this? Even those SMS guys are just civilian mercs, right?

As it turns out, from what Scarlet’s heard, the AEU did appeal to the Federation Army for help… but the HRL used its right of veto to shut it down. Looks like they really didn’t appreciate that treaty with the Frontier. Shinn sniffs at the big nations once again vying only for their self-interest, and Fei doesn’t understand why people won’t help other people being attacked. Makes Luna wonder why the Federation was even put together in the first place.
Still, even if they won’t be getting help from the Federaton, this whole thing strikes Tsubasa as strange: the request the UX got was to go and support the SMS, but why hire mercs and ask them to just assist another group of mercs? Sounds needlessly complicated.


When Eida asks, while Richard isn’t at liberty to outright tell us who their client is, he does say that it’s an important personage from a certain North American company. Arnie wonders if said business could be sponsored by the Hadou Financial Group, but the better question here is: why does a Union company care about the situation at the AEU?
Kaido doesn’t see the point in wondering about all this, as it doesn’t change our job. All this talk’s gonna wear us out, Zhang Fei argues, and Guan Yu is forced to agree with him. Whatever the circumstances, we’re getting in there to do one thing: “Find and kick Garan’s ass! That’s the long and short of it!” Kaido proclaims.


Mission 14 (Europe Route) – Search and Kill

:siren: SRW UX - The Target.
Elsewhere, some AEU troops are getting wrecked, but the SMS soon arrives to bail them out. Ozma tells them to let us, their new allies, handle this and off they go. Garan’s men aren’t impressed, and vow no mercy for any who’d oppose their leader’s conquest. Klan approves of their guts.
Ozma orders everyone to engage, but not to pursue the enemy in too deep – their foothold is further ahead and they likely have a lot more troops there. Formation Planet Dance!
Meanwhile, Alto’s getting his first feel of flying in atmosphere. Still, how much better it would be if he could soar through this sky without being in combat.


Blah, blah, blah. Kill everything, don’t lose the Quarter. The Garan troops are bulky enough that the Valkyries can’t oneshot them with their common missiles, but they’re still no challenge. Go forward and destroy.

:siren: SRW UX - Obelisk

And right on turn 2…


Monica pings a unit headed this way from within Garan’s controlled territory, and in comes Burn. The AEU’s already sent us intel on this “Ace Killer”, responsible for downing many of their forces, and Monica quickly pings even more stuff incoming. Enemy reinforcements?


No, it’s us, and Kaido’s annoyed that he got himself all hyped up for nothing: Garan’s nowhere to be seen! Richard gets on the mic and declares that we’re not hostile – rather, we’re here to help repel the invading forces.
Jeffrey remembers the UX from our previous encounter, though the data they received tagged us as mercenary outlaws… But what’s important to Bobby is the “mercenary” bit. We’re all professional colleagues here, so teaming up sounds good to him. Jeffrey agrees, and thanks us for the assist.
As for Burn, while he bears no grudge for us, his honor as a knight must be upheld – to battle! Zhuge Liang can see that the black unit’s pilot is good and warns us to be vigilant. Regardless, our goal here is to clear this area of Garan’s Forces.


Zwarth (Burn Bunnings)
Pilot Skills:
Aura Power L3
Prevail L5
Support Attack L1
All Attack L1
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Shield
Aura Barrier – reduces all damage from ranged attacks by 1000 + Aura Power level x100
Off-Shoot – upwards of 50% chance to outright dodge an incoming attack, determined by the difference between pilot and enemy’s Skill stat. Activates at 130 morale.
All-Canceller
Burn’s Voice Actor: Sho Hayami (other roles: Max Genius, Sandman, Eiji Kiriyama, Kei Katsuragi, Zhuge Liang in the Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi manga and many more)

As is tradition for any Sho Hayami character, Burn is a great pilot through and through. He’s pretty dang dodgy, especially over 130 morale, and the Zwarth has plenty of stopping power. That said, he suffers from the same weaknesses as Sakomizu, namely his steep range drop-off: Burn’s best attack is point-blank, and his second best is 1-2, which is hardly ideal.
Aura Barrier is there to force you to close that gap and get in melee range, of course, but the damage mitigation is a lot less severe than with the Oukaou. Burn’s Skill stat is on par with Moritsugu’s, too, so you’d best err on the side of caution and cast Strike if he’s got over 130 morale.
Regardless, approach him as you did Sakomizu, and you’ll be fine. Try and deal with him quickly, as he’ll move in right from the start.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

:siren: SRW UX - Obelisk

: If I had to go by its looks, I’d say I’m looking at an animal… but that’s actually a human-piloted weapon?!
: You are a bold pilot, I see. However, your movements remain far too simple!

–

: So this is Earth’s “Ace Killer”! He’ll be a tough one to drop!
: Ah, I’ve found quite the strong opponent! Maybe you’ll be able to stir my soul?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-AcLKax-Lw

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: This mech’s the one belonging to Garan’s famous guest, hm?
: The visage of a skull paired with the presence of an iron fortress… Hmhmhm, you are more awe-inspiring than I expected!
: Come and face me! Hold nothing back!
u: Sure thing, guy! And you better bring your A-game too!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: Ye aggressor who’d do away with the people’s joy! I shall see to your punishment in the heavens’ stead!
: You’re the Octagon’s Volunteer Corps, yes? I’ve always wanted to pit my sword against yours!

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: This machine… it’s an Aura Battler?! Did you also come from Byston Well?!
: You know of Byston Well?! So I really wasn’t the only one to emerge in the Overworld!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend


And we get a Black Knight’s Mask out of this (Evasion and Melee +10, Skill +5).

: So there are skilled fighters even among the overworlders, hm…
: Perhaps there is something to be gained by fighting in this land after all!

: Phew, I think it’s over.
: No, it isn’t…! I’m detecting other signals headed this way!
: Huh…? One of them’s giving out energy readings on a completely different scale from the previous troops!

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: They’ve managed to repel the Black Knight… these are capable fighters, I see.
: Aah, you finally decided to show your face, geezer! Fashionably late like a badass, eh?!
: The skull devil seen on Machine Island… to think fate would provide me with a nemesis as it did to the Black Knight…
: And now my blade will verify whether you’ve the necessary strength to fill that position!
: Guess we got a surprise entry on stage…! Troops, focus all your attacks on that unit!


Kill off Garan’s Geistteles to wrap things up, but he’s hanging way back and there are plenty of mooks along the way. Take them first (prioritize Liu Bei if you still need that secret) and, then, move in.


Geistteles (Garan)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L3
Support Attack L1
All Attack L1
Mech Features:
Sword
All-Canceller
Garan’s Voice Actor: Banjou Ginga (other roles: Luozorl and Jun in Masoukishin, Fatman in Xabungle, Gihren Zabi in the original Gundam and many more)

What do you expect from a guy that looks like this? He’s a big wall of HP that hits hard, but isn’t TOO accurate. His Prevail is surprisingly low and his best attack is point-blank range (lowers mobility and movement too), so just do your best to attack from outside that.
That’s pretty much it, really: throw everything you have and whittle away at him. Garan’s got no special tricks to be wary of and you can’t debuff him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk2QHYRmeVc
Here are both Michel and Luca’s best attacks, while we’re closing in.

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

:siren: SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit

: Why’d you leave that island?! I know you could’ve lived out your lives without invading other people’s homes!
: Are you suggesting I consign myself to my limited world, growing fat in the arms of peace? That is no different from death in the eyes of a warrior!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucWlze2SlvY

:siren: SRW UX - LOVE 14 ver. HD

: The Sleeping Beauty of Machine Island…! I confess I never expected us to meet under these circumstances!
: Y o u… D o you h a v e a n idea of w h o I a m? W h a t d o… y o u know…?!
: If you wish to know the fate that’s been given to you, then go and find it yourself!
: W h a t… is y o u r problem?!
: Someone a s k s y o u a n honest q u e s t i o n and that‘s h o w y o u answer…?!

:siren: SRW UX - Obelisk

: His strength, his speed… This guy’s on a totally different level from those other goons!
: Hah, you dare size me up? I like your cheek, boy. But, unfortunately, you still have a long way to go before you may call yourself a warrior!

:siren: SRW UX - Obelisk

: So you’re the one in charge! Then we just need to take you down and…!
: You are skilled, indeed! But is it enough to claim my head?!

:siren: SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend

: What possessed you to leave Machine Island, Garan?! Why do you bring suffering to other nations?!
: Taking sword in hand and seeking challenges to better oneself is the essence of a warrior! And nations are made by warriors!
: Nay! A ruler – a true ruler – will only take sword in hand to safeguard his people’s happiness!

:siren: SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness

: Lepton Vectrer, output stable. Rising engine internal pressure…
: (What’s this I’m feeling…? Is his unit…?!)

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: Psh, ain’t you too old to be getting into fights, geezer?
: Hmhmhm. Have you the mettle and strength to be my nemesis, skull devil? If you’re found wanting, however, the price will be your life!
: Hah, have it your way… We’ll enjoy giving you ample taste of our power!


Take out Garan and we get Scarlet’s Analects on Cussing (Defense +10, Melee and Accuracy +5).

: Hrrm…!
: Hah-Hahahah… It’s been a very long time since I last felt this excited. But, of course, this is exactly what I hoped to find when I stepped into the outside world!

: Wh-What… What’s he doing?!
: Now feel the bite of my attack!

: Gwaaargh! Th-This frickin’ geezer…!
: You cannot prevail against me with the might you possess, skull devil. Such is your fate.
: Our… fate?!
: Switch to me, Kaido! I’ll kill him myself!
: Ain’t every day I see you this amped up. Alright, if you insist…!

: I can overlook the philosophical drivel you spout, and your arrogance…
: But nobody tries to say fate has any influence over me and gets away with it!
: You do not appreciate that concept, hm? But it is they who struggle against fate the most who find themselves bound even tighter by its chains.
: You son of a bitch!

: What is going on with that unit?! It’s fighting like a madman now…!
: Magami, where did your cool go?! You’re being too aggressive! Keep your distance!

: Raaaaaaargh!
: What the hell are you doing, Magami?! Back up and lemme take over!
: B-Backup…?! I’m no one’s backup! I’M NOT A REPLACEMENT!!
: What’s gotten into you, Magami?!
: Hmhmhm. I sense the turmoil in your heart, skull devil.

Beep.

: Lord Garan…
: Himiko? Why do you interrupt me?
: I’ve noticed something. The man piloting the devil right now is…
: … What?! Hahah…! I see!
: You are like us! An Erbsünde!
: …?!
: Erbsünde…?
: Shut up…! I’m me! I live and die the way I want!
: My… my life belongs to no one but me!
; Hmhmhm… then it appears we are kindred spirits. You—
: SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

: R-Rrghh…!
: MAGAMI!
: Hmph, a bit underwhelming… but still somewhat enjoyable.
: Hmhmhm, Ahahahahahaha!

: Magami, Kaido! Are you alright?! Answer me!
: Recover the damaged unit and bring it aboard immediately! Ready the infirmary for the pilots! Hurry!
: Y-Yes, sir!
: Kch… argh…! Y-You dumbass…!
: …
: Thanks to you blowing a gasket… we’re… really… Hell…!


Back to the Marseille base, an AEU mooks brings word that the Federation’s Normandy base has been taken by the enemy. That’s where they were mass-producing the new Riot Cs that would’ve been deployed in Europe, and Kati doesn’t know what they’ll do with that last ace in the hole lost.
Dog’s surprised/amused to see the famed strategist Kati Mannequin throwing the towel; seems to him that their proposal has just become even more of a necessity. Kati asks if they’re serious about reforming the Federation, and Dog confirms: this rotten shell of an organization no longer has the capacity to oversee this planet. Case in point, they’ve done absolutely nothing about Garan’s invasion.
Kati sniffs that the Martian Development Bureau is advocating for this because they were too far from Earth to know how things once got here. But she personally saw all the brutal crackdowns done in the name of “peace and security”.

Dog has heard of the A-Laws, but says that their failure was due to their flawed ideology. Now they must abandon Earth-centric notions and, instead, focus on bringing peace and prosperity for ALL of the Earth Sphere, including those out in space; and it is with the Martian Development Bureau, not under the yoke of the Big Three Nations, that this ideal will be realized.
Kati’s looking ill at ease, but Dog hopes they can count on her support when a new dawn breaks for the Federation.


Cut to the Quarter, Richard thanks Jeffrey for taking in our wounded, who in turn thanks them for the support. The SMS had never fought enemies like those before, so they wouldn’t have done as well as they did without us. As for the SKL pilots, Canaria reports that Magami’s still knocked out; they’ll be fine, but she wants them to get absolute rest for a while.
Eida wonders what the reason was for Magami’s uncharacteristic outburst back there, and Zhang Fei figures Garan poked at an old wound. Everyone’s got a part of their past that they don’t want to talk about, right? Guan Yu harrumphs that Fei shouldn’t bunch them all together – he doesn’t regret any part of his past.

Regardless, Ozma thinks we’ll need the SKL if we’re going to stand up to Garan’s incredibly powerful mech, and Tsubasa’s forced to agree. Do we know where he and his troops went after our battle? Cathy’s already received intel from the AEU saying they took over the Federation base at Normandy, where they were producing their new models. Arnie already knows what to expect from that and, yes, it’s very likely those are Riots.
Worse, Paris and London are just a stone’s throw away from Garan’s new foothold, and Scarlet fears the wrong move could endanger the cities and the local populace. Zhuge Liang isn’t too sure, though: Garan is a man who prides himself as a warrior above all, so it’s very unlikely he’d open fire on innocent civilians.
That said, Shinn knows the threat of an attack against those metropolis will keep the AEU army at bay, and Zhuge Liang posits that’s precisely what Garan wants. Why?


Because, as a shocked Burn realizes, Garan only wants the common army out of the way so he can settle things with his nemesis (though, going from that last battle, it’s not quite deserving of the denomination). But they’ve just secured the new weapons of the Overworld army and are in position to attack two major cities and consolidate their dominion of the entire region, so why?
Garan figures Burn knows the answer to that question better than anyone: there is nothing a warrior desires more than a battle that can stir his soul, and that goes double when the opponent is another Erbsünde. A what? “They who’ve been burdened with the original sin,” Himiko says. “We were marked with the stigma of that sin from the day we were born, fated to languish in a living purgatory for as long as we draw breath.”
Hearing this, Burn mulls that Himiko mentioned that the underlying truth of this world lies at the end of this battle. What could that truth be? And what about this “original sin” that’s fated them to fight nonstop?

#47

The main problem with the Europe route is that it feels… well, it feels like fucking filler. Outside of the SEPARATION stage every route gets, all it really does is change Kaiser to its eyeless sprite/animations, bring in the Frontier cast another stage already introduced, and move Miku forward a bit. Comparatively, the Japan and America routes do a lot more important things.

Given only a single secret is tied to it, that’s probably not even that far off, really. And just to twist the knife in a little further, it’s actually the best if you want to get the other routes back the earliest - see, all routes get the same 18, 19, and 20, but Japan’s series all come back after 17 (because it needs to for plot reasons) and America’s at 19, but Europe takes until 20 proper.