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

Click to see the mission


And we’re back, having wrapped up the Heroman plot and convinced Will to hang around. There’s a lot to go through today, with Arnie, Saya and Aesap deploying as event units. Depending on previously unlocked secrets, your slots can range from 18 to 15 – since I got everything, we’ll be going like this:
Joe/Aesap
Liu Bei/Rennie
Kurou/Deceive
Shou/Tsubasa
Mazinkaiser/Soubi
Alto/Luca
Fei-Yen/Lockon
Maya/Akira
Heroman/Shouko
Kouichi/Kiki
Cao Cao/Moritsugu
Kira/Graham
Setsuna/Yulianne
Shinn/Lunamaria
Kazuki/Miu
Sun Quan/Domyoji
Tactician: Fei-Yen (I figured I’d give Kongming a rest, and, among the names given to me, Fei won the coin toss.)

Off we go.

: …

: Y-You want me to become the Stray Machina’s Factor?!
: I do. This Machina appears to be special, you see.
: Our analysis shows that this unit was a rather central figure among the future Machinas…
: Put it simply, we’ve determined that it’d serve as the Machinas’ ‘brain’.
: Wow… that is quite the special mech we found, then.
: And the information that Machina possesses will be extremely valuable to our plan of destroying them.
: I can see why. If that thing used to be the brain of the Machinas in the future world, then it should have the whole truth in its data banks.
: Precisely. You understand why I’m asking this, then, yes…?
: Hm. You want me to become its Factor in order to extract all that information it has.
: …
: I truly regret imposing this heavy a burden onto you. By rights, I should’ve been the only one to have to endure it.
: But I need someone I trust to do this… and I have no one else other than you, Ishigami.
: …
: We’ve known each other since before the war broke out. I was just a stammering junior officer back at Nagasaki, but you took me under your wing.
: Honestly, I’ve been expecting this to happen ever since.
: Ishigami…
: Do you remember the story about that 3rd A-Bomb? The one that was supposed to have been dropped at Kokura?
: Of course. I heard it was stopped by a young pilot of the kamikaze unit.
: I wonder what that pilot would think if he saw the current Japan – a nation that’s long since lost its imagination…
: Granted, our country’s leaders never had much imagination to begin with. I doubt that war would’ve broken out if they did…
: Hah, you have a point there…
: Japan… Rather, mankind has to change.
: And if becoming a Factor will help bring that about, then it’s something I, Kunio Ishigami, will gladly accept.
: Thank you, Ishigami. I’m counting on you.
: Sit back and wait for me. I won’t be long.
: Oh, but before I go, can I ask just one question?
: What is it?
: This Stray Machina…
: Was it one of the ‘human’ ones?
: I believe so, yes…
: It introduced itself when we tried to make contact with it.
: J-U-D-A-H… it said.
: “Judah”…?!
: Right… the Hebrew spelling of the name Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ.
: Mind you, we don’t know whether that implies it’s a traitor to its fellow Machinas or to mankind.
: But, regardless, I’d wager there’s a significant reason for it to name itself that way.
: …
: A traitor Machina…

: …
: (Ishigami… what did you discover when you entered Judah’s cockpit? What did you see…?)


Location: Army of Mankind Base

: Katou’s losing his footing…?
: Hmhmm. The Advancers are being weakened daily due to Christopher Rubens growing political influence.
: I doubt the Katou Organization has the capacity to even carry out the schedule anymore…
: But Katou should still have one last ace up his sleeve, no?
: The last existing Machina…?
: While that’s true, I’m afraid Katou cannot use it.
: Why?
: Because the one thing Katou absolutely does not want happening is for all existing Machinas to have a Factor.
: That’s why he and his Organization went to such lengths to try and destroy every single one that wasn’t under their control.
: But now all of them have Factors of their own. All except the last one…
: Meaning he’s now caught between a rock and a hard place. He can’t give the final Machina a Factor, but he also can’t destroy it…
: Ah, I understand. Destroying the final Machina would leave the other Machinas as the only ones left. That would mean that all existing Machinas have Factors of their own – exactly what he’s trying to stop from happening…
: Precisely.
: That said, I don’t see the Katou Organization turning things around with their current forces.
: I don’t either, which is why I believe Katou’ll make one final play to clarify whether it’s he or Judah who is correct.
: He’s going for one last showdown with the UX…?
: Yes, and I want you to stop that from happening.
: You want us to finish off the Katou Organization?
: The opposite, actually: I want you to save Hisataka Katou.
: Save him…?
: Katou absolutely cannot be allowed to die here. If he does, all possibilities die with him.
: Which would, in turn, signify the destruction of mankind.
: …
: Understood. We’ll set out right away.

Jin and Ayul leave.

: …
: Are you certain of this?
: Of what…?
: Their units have seen quite the significant increase in power now that I’ve added my Aura Converter technology into them.
: However, that essentially means that their machines are consuming their Aura Power… that is, it’s consuming their vital energy.
: Synchro-Overdrive on its own is already hazardous to the pilot’s life. What do you think will happen if they do that with these machines…?
: …
: I suppose the only way I see that ending… is with their deaths…
: And you’re still going to send them into battle?
: …
: That is the path they chose to trail…

:siren: SRW UX - Prologue

: …
: Something on your mind…?
: No, I… I’m just wondering if Ishigami’ll actually tell us the truth…
: I hear ya. The guy’s been giving us the run-around since forever…
: And there’s also the fact that the old man used to roll with the Katou Organization…
: He was the captain of their 1st Unit, Katou’s right-hand man…
: …
: And, yet, he decided to become Katou’s greatest enemy. Why is that?
: Who can say? I can’t really imagine what happened between the two of them, but…
: If anything, I know what a sad affair it is when people who once trusted each other like that are forced to fight…
: Athrun…
: You go your separate ways, and the next time you run into each other, you’re on opposite sides…
: And regardless of how close you were before, now you each have different people to protect. And that means you need to kill one another…
: But I suppose I don’t need to tell you that, right, Arnie?
: …
: Once this battle’s over and peace has returned…
: What then…?
: I wonder if Jin and I’ll be able to greet each other with a smile… as we did so long ago.
: Ensign…
: We may never know what the right thing to do in these situations is… but giving up is the last thing we should do.
: …
: Because we can always choose what path to follow – and, so, we can start over…
: Yeah…
: (A battle between people who once trusted each other…)
: (Is that how both Ishigami and Katou look at this…?)

: Okay, looks like everyone’s here…
: Now, where should I begin?
: We do have a ton of things we’d like to ask you about…
: I suppose we’ll start with this: why did you cut ties with Hisataka Katou?
: Oh, that’s easy. We each have different visions of the future. End of story.
: That doesn’t answer anything-robo!
: Let’s approach this from another angle, then.
: You say you have ‘different visions of the future’. Now, we know for a fact that Katou has personally lived in the future of mankind’s extinction.
: However, such is not the case with you. You merely learned of the possibilities given to you by Judah and the expected outcome from those.
: Thus, my question is this: is your vision of the future truly correct?
: Are you suggesting Judah’s lying to him?
: Either that, or…
: It could be that the information within Judah is already misaligned with reality.
: Huh…?!
: …
: Wh-What do you mean by that?
: You see, there is a matter that has perplexed me for quite a while. Namely, the fact that these Machina are even here.
: Consider: humanity was extinct in the future society, so who sent those into our time, and how?
: Oh…
: Setting aside the Linebarrel, which had been united with Prof. Kizaki, and Katou’s Shangri-La, none of the other Machinas had Factors of their own.
: It’s inconceivable that they would have traveled through time by themselves.
: Then, who…?
: As we were told, the Machinas of the future began fighting one another in a bid to cognize the notion of death and acquiring imagination.
: However, I do not believe that was done solely to enable them to become ‘human’.
: At the end of the day, Machinas are still pieces of machinery. And machines only exist because they’ve masters who’d put them to use.
: But the Machinas would-be masters, humanity, had died out…
: So, they went on to try and make themselves a new master.
: A portion of the Machinas came to acquire imagination, and, so, became human…
: And from those, their new master was born.
: And that master’s the one who sent the Machinas to our time…?!
: But why?
: To observe mankind.
: Observe…?
: The Machinas sent from the future all have a bit of a trap set within.
: When all existing Machinas have a Factor, that trap’ll be triggered and cause… a certain something to occur.
: What something?
: That’s—

Alarm!

(TV): Guys, we’ve multiple heat signatures on approach!
: We’ve ID’d them as the Katou Organization!
: Here he comes.

Beep.

(TV): Do you hear me, Ishigami…?
: Katou…!
: …
: Ishigami, what are you after?
: What I’m after? Why, that hasn’t changed since this whole shindig started.
: I want to save humanity.
: Are you joking?! How would you save humanity by pushing it to destruction?!
: D-Destruction?!
: Hah…
: That’s a great speech coming from someone who’s killed God knows how many people to bring about his ‘dream world’.
: Hrm…!
: Let me ask you just one thing, then…
: Why didn’t you ever try fighting the Machinas that’d become human?
: …!
: I’m sure you could’ve done it, especially since you have that final Machina…
: I did try to fight them!
: But I could never reach them! They… The Human Machinas are all deep inside the moon!
: I-Inside the moon?!
: Huh? There are Machinas all the way up there?
: But that’s not possible. How would those Human Machinas even exist in this era?!
: No, he’s right. The master of the Human Machinas has always been camping out inside the moon, observing our civilization.
: W-Wait, that sounds just like…!
: Like Moon WILL!
: Ah, yes… The inorganic being that was based at the moon until the Dancouga destroyed him…
: We still do not know what connection there was between Moon WILL and the Human Machinas, but the fact is that they’ve all been on the moon since before our civilization even began.
: We can’t even begin to imagine how much they’ve evolved, what kind of technology they’ve developed, since arriving.
: And, so, you’ve chosen to just capitulate to them?!
: I don’t really care what you call it.
: …?!
: Ishigami, what the hell are you…?!
: Tsk… I knew it, Ishigami. Judah was a traitor to mankind!
: Only I was wrong who it was. It’s you… you are the real Judas!
: …


Mission 45 – Judas

: I’m putting a stop to your plan, Ishigami!
: The final Machina is still squarely within my grasp, and so long as it’s there, your insanity’ll go nowhere!
: Oh, yes, you’re quite right…
: Which is precisely why I’ve a plan to take it from you.
: What…?!

: Wh-What’s going on…?!

: Heheheh…
: The Idaten…
: Sawatari, what the devil are you doing?!
: Sorry, Hisataka, but that final Machina’s mine.
: What did you say…?!
: Sawatari! The final Machina’s at the bottom of the Shangri-La’s third shaft!
: Yulianne…!
: Yulianne, you traitor!
: Rrgh… Fire! FIRE! Destroy him, Shangri-La!

: Urrgh…! Heheh… Yeah, that’s the ticket!
: I’m gonna have to die if I wanna be a Factor anyway! Shoot me up all you like!

: D-Damn it, he made it inside!
: Hmhmhm… Looks like victory is mine, Katou!
: Y-You son of a bitch!

Beep.

: No, this battle isn’t over yet!
: …?!

:siren: SRW UX - The Proud Challengers

: Jin…?!
: We’ll take care of things here, Cmdr. Katou!
: Pull back and deal with the situation at the Shangri-La!
: The Special Mobile Troop of the Army of Mankind… Why are you helping us?!
: Prof. Novel’s orders! Now hurry!
: Novel Dylan?! Very well!

: (Why is Prof. Dylan helping the Katou Organization…?!)
: (Hmhmhm, I see how it is. One final trial before the True Override can happen, hm?)
: Okey-dokey, my UX friends!
: I’ve a new request for you: get rid of these guys, if you would!
: I-Ishigami…!

: You actually expect us to fight like this?!
: Any way you slice it, you’re the most suspicious guy here by a mile, Ishigami!
: You’re free to think whatever you want of me…
: But I don’t think the enemy up ahead’ll care much for your doubts, hm?
: …!
: Ayul, Knack, Colbie, are you guys ready?
: Neutrino Generators are all green!
(Knack): Ready to engage on your command, captain!
(Colbie): We’ll pay you back in full for that last defeat, UX!
: Jin, you…!
: … I don’t really get all this stuff that’s going on…
: But, whatever, we need to do something about the enemy first!


Take out Jin or Ayul, don’t lose a ship, Arnie, Saya or Aesap.
Downing either of them’ll trigger the plot and any enemies you haven’t killed’ll leave, so make sure you grab everything. Send your guys up north, but try and keep the slower units angling a bit due west – we’ll need to head that way later.
But this is still the same battle we’ve had before. Watch for Jin and Ayul’s MAPWs, draw them in and swarm.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

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

:siren: SRW UX - The Proud Challengers

: The world Katou imagined… If there’s a chance that it’ll bring about a possibility, then I know what I’ve to do…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noWcPCiTEeQ
Heey, I finally got him to use another of his smaller weapons.

: The possibilities of this world won’t be extinguished… we won’t let them…!

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina

(Knack): (Mom… I’ve finally got her parents’ blessing!)
(Knack): (We’re going to get married next month… I have to get through this no matter what…!)


Knack, what the frick is you doing?!

(Knack): Uwaaaaaah!
: Knack…!

(Knack): A-Aah…! My unit’s on fire!
(Knack): N-No…! I can’t die yet…!
(Knack): My fiancée’s waiting…!

: KNACK!
: C-Captain…!
: Rrgh…! Damn you, UX! You’ll pay for this!

:siren: SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN

(Colbie): (Heheh… I just have to put in some good work with this unit and I’ll be on the fast track to a squad of my own!)
(Colbie): (Take a look… I’m making it all the way to the top!)

(Colbie): Gch… Th-The Proton Generator’s been hit?!

Power uuuuup!

: Particle Acceleration readings are spiking rapidly!
: At the rate it’s going, the anti-particles’ll run wild…!
: Colbie!

(Colbie): Uwaaaaaah! C-Captain… I can’t control it!
(Colbie): H-Help me, Captain!
: …
: Colbie… luck was just not on your side… (Area 88 reference)

(Colbie): A-Argh…!
: …?!
: C-Captain…!
: Forgive me, Colbie…

: Jin… How could you…!
: …

:siren: SRW UX - The Proud Challengers

: I’ve chosen to embrace any fate, no matter how dire, if it’ll help us create possibilities for our future…!
: There’s something flowing from his machine… It shouldn’t be possible, but…!

: A machine that houses the light of life… That power will lead us to the Beginning of Life.
: The Nanajin’s shaking… No, it’s… reacting to something?

:siren: SRW UX - Roaring Deathblow

: Arnie…! Our paths may be similar, but they really aren’t the same…
: Come on. We’ll have to determine a winner and a loser eventually, so we might as well do it now!
: I don’t know what is the sorrow Tsubaki mentioned you were familiar with, Jin…
: But I still have answers to find with Saya. And if that means having to bury my past for good, then so be it!


Jin drops another Alex’ Sunglasses.

: Hrm…!
: Cpt. Spencer!
: D-Don’t worry about me! This is nothing…!
: Now, come over here, Ayul! Give me synchro-overdrive on the Neutrino Generators!
: R-Roger…!

Had you dropped Ayul:

: Rgh…!
: Ayul!
: I-I’m okay… I’m still good to go!
: Come over here, then! Give me synchro-overdrive on the Neutrino Generators!
: R-Roger…!

Ayul tags in with Jin’s team.

: Neutrino Generators, emergency acceleration!
: Synchronization coefficient 97, 98… Pressure set, safety lock released!

: What… That light is…!
: It’s just like Aura Power’s…!
: I don’t think so, Jin! This ends now!

If the Orphes is still separate:

: Saya, we’re combining!
: Roger!

: Haaaaaaaaaaah!
: Here I come, Jin!

: Haah, haah…
: That’s far enough, Sawatari! I don’t know what nonsense Ishigami filled your head with, but surrender now and—
: Heh… Heheheh, you’re too late, grandpa!
: Wh-What…?!

Linebarrel OST – The Other Linebarrel
:siren: :siren:

: Gwaah!
: Aah! C-Captain Sanada!

Beep.

: What is it, Sanada?! Did something happen?!
: Urgh… Th-That blasted Machina… It’s already accepted Sawatari as its Factor!
: What…?!
: Hmph, and I might as well kill you since I’m in the area, grandpa.
: …?!
: S-Sawatari, stop… SAWATARIII!!

: Rrgh…!
: Haah, haah…
: Shou, was that light just now…?
: …
: (If I’m right and their units are running Aura Battler tech, then…)
: (Shot, did you…?)
: H-Hrrgh…!
: Cpt. Spencer…?!
: Gch… Gwaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
: A-Aah…! This is… It’s my fault…! I just can’t control the engine properly…!
: Jin…!
: Kch… I-I’ll…!

: The Katou Organization…?!
: Y-You idiot…! Why did you come back?!
: …

: The Shangri-La’s…?!
: Sanada, do you copy?! Please answer…! Sanada!

Beep.

: Hahahah…
: Sawatari… You did not!

: Ishigami… I did good on my mission!
: The Lostbarrel’s all mine!
: L-Lostbarrel…?!
: Then, that’s…
: The final Machina…?!

RUUUUMBLE!

: Is that…?!
: A De-Fold?! No, I’m reading a far bigger space-time distortion…!

: Wh-What is going on?!
: …
: At the moment all existing Machinas have a Factor…
: The True Override will occur…
: Override…?!
: That’s like the Linebarrel’s chain teleport ability, then…
: No… The Override is a warp through time and space…
: And at the other side of the spatial anomaly… is the moon.
: Better put, it’s the world of the Human Machinas!
: W-W-Whaaat?!
: Then, what Ishigami was after…!
: Was to link the world of the Human Machinas to Earth…?!
: …
: It’s over… Everything is over…
: Not at all! This is where it begins, Cmdr. Katou… A battle for mankind to, once again, walk with its own two feet!

:siren: SRW UX - Rebellion Against Fate

: What…?!

: Space-time anomaly detected within the moon! We’ve a lock on the source!
(TV): This is the ZAFT Lunar Fleet! Relay Colonies Fauré and subsequent have begun to reposition! 30 seconds until it’s complete!
: It’s time…
: …
: Does your heart ache at the thought of firing that hateful weapon yourself, Chairwoman?
: I…
: REQUIEM, the gigantic tactical beam cannon built by the Earth Alliance during their war with the PLANTs…
: Just a single shot of it took the lives of millions of Coordinators…
: …
: Lady Aila, is your mind showing you anything right now?
: …

Tzeeeeep.

: Fragments of hope reflected in their eyes… will transcend time… and depict our bonds into the future… (Proud lyrics.)
: Yes… This shot will embody both our hope that mankind shall yet earn its future…!
: As well as our requiem for their false god!
: …
: If this is the fate we are meant to choose…
: Then, let us play this accursed requiem! And may it bear joyful undertones!
(TV): Repositioning complete! Angle of fire is set!
: Here it is, Ishigami… We are now even!
: REQUIEM, fire!

Flash! And distant rumble!

: We’re reading a REQUIEM blast! It struck the moon!
: “REQUIEM”?!
: (Lacus… You’re also taking a stand against fate in the name of mankind’s future…!)
: Wh-What happened…?! They fired at the moon…?!
: It can’t be…!
: Yes, this is what I was after from day one.
: As you yourself said, we simply could not reach the Human Machina’s hideaway inside the moon.
: So, I figured our only option was to have them unlock the door for us.
: You used the warp field from their Override against them?!
: Yup; all we needed was a way to determine the location of their base. Once we had that, humanity was more than well-equipped to blast a hole right into moon…!
: Oh, boy, I’m so glad that worked! They’re pretty much defenseless now!
: …
: Then, you had never capitulated to the Machina…?!
: I did tell you way back when to “sit back and wait for me,” didn’t I?
: Ishigami… you—!
: Alright, we better save the rest of this chat for later.
: The Human Machinas aren’t so weak that a single REQUIEM shot would do them in, see…
: …?! They’re coming…!


:staredog:

: Wh-What the hell…?!
: …
: Those’re the Human Machinas?!
: T-They’re all ginormous babies!
: aaaaa…

All of Jin’s troops get blasted. Were they alive, Colbie and Knack would get killed here.

: Uurgh! H-How’re they so strong…?!
: W-We’re supposed to fight against such monstrosities?!
: Fight?! Giant or not, they’re just babies!

: Do not hesitate!
: You are allowing their appearance to bewilder you! That is precisely what they want!
: Reznor?! Jack?!
: Ishigami’s told us everything. Our enemies are one and the same!
: The same…?!

Beep.

: Masaki…
: I’m really sorry for leaving you alone all this time. No excuse could ever make up for it.
: Mr. Ishigami…
: And I suppose I should also apologize in advance, but I’m going to have to take back the position I gave you.
: The position you gave me…?

:siren: SRW UX - Proud

: That’s…!

: I am the captain of the Katou Organization’s 1st Unit… Kunio Ishigami!

: To battle…!

And I’m ending this part here because there’s still plenty to do.
We did miss one convo by going for Jin:

: Our lives might’ve been built with the same purpose in mind, Ayul, but…
: But now we have to fight! The future you two envision is completely different from ours!
: Then, I won’t think twice about this… The Major and the Ensign both put their trust in my life, and, together, we’ll earn our future!

Ah, Lostbarrel. Such a painfully lame mech with a cool design.
Can’t really be upset that it’s just a momentary map sprite, especially considering the only thing it ever did was kill a guy off-screen and run off by the time of UX’s release.

Man, you know shit’s off the rails when Shot Weapon - fucking SHOT WEAPON, the guy who nuked two worlds because he could and wanted to conquer the world through sheer butthurt - is going “maybe this is a bad idea”.

And here’s where Ishigami and Juda’s plan finally comes together. Everything - EVERYTHING - he did up to this point, was to set up for this exact moment. If not for Deus Ex Machina doing something completely unexpected his plan would have been a complete and utter success… unfortunately, things didn’t quite go to plan, but I’ll go over the timeskip after next stage.

Also, though I’ve mentioned why the Machina pilots have their eye colors at this point, let it officially be said: Sawatari’s are Red, Ishigami’s are Yellow.

So, fun facts: Jouji Nakata really wanted to voice some of the stuff from this part, because it’s pretty much inarguably Ishigami’s finest moment and way better than anything from the anime, and he obviously didn’t get a chance to do it before now.

But here we go - we’re at the top of the hill, and it’s all tumbling down. Grab your popcorn.

I can only hope that the image of the Machina-Humans one day disappears from my mind. Sweet lord, those are terrifying.

Click to see the mission!

:siren: SRW UX - Proud

: That’s…!
: I am the captain of the Katou Organization’s 1st Unit… Kunio Ishigami!
: To battle…!

: Wh-What’s the meaning of this?!
: He… He just introduced himself as a captain of the Katou Organization, didn’t he?
: Don’t tell me the president’s just turned on us?!
: No, he didn’t!
: But the Katou Organization is the enemy…!
: What’re you on about?!
: Look at that up ahead and tell me those aren’t the real enemy we should be fighting!
: …?!
: The real enemy…!
: Toooh!

: What about you, Katou?! What’re you gonna do?!
: Are you still gonna keep fighting us?!

Katou’s unit faces left!

: …
: To all units of the Katou Organization! We…
: We are going to help the UX!

All Katou units face left!

: H-He…!
: He’s teaming up with us…!
: I was waiting for that answer, Hisataka Katou! Things are looking up already!
: Jack, would you form up with me?
: Hm… Aye!
: Reznor, board the Shangri-La! Provide us with airborne support!
: Yes, sir!

: (Psh, what a pain this whole thing’s become.)
: (But I got the final Machina. Better blow this joint for now and take a stab at ‘em later!)

: Sawatari…?!
: Forget about him! Our priority now is the Human Machinas!
: …
: Back off, Jin! This is hardly the time for us to keep fighting!
: Hmph, do you take me to be that stupid?
: Even I can tell that they’re the real threat here!

Jin and Ayul turn into allied units.

: Ayul, ignore the UX troops! Our target’s the Human Machinas!
: Yes, sir!
: Jin…!
: Everyone, there is only one thing we must do at the moment!
: Yeah, and we all know what that is!
: We have to bash the Human Machinas into the ground!
: All troops, FORWARD!


Arnie and Saya aren’t essential anymore, but you can’t lose Ishigami or Katou now.


Judah (Kunio Ishigami)
Pilot Skills:
Factor – D-S.O.I.L. baseline is 60
Prevail L8
Support Attack L2
Support Defense L2
Predict
All Attack
Command L2
Spirit Commands:
Sense
Mercy
Exhaust/Daunt
Justice
Soul
Mech Features:
Sword
10% HP Regen
Squad Bonus: Exp +10%, Accuracy +5 (Exp +30%, Accuracy +30, 35% Double Image, Melee weapons attack +100)
Ishigami’s voice actor: Joji Nakata

Ishigami’s pretty dang good. Judah only knows how to attack with its sword, but it has decent range and hits hard – its strongest attack is only 100 points weaker than the Vardant’s new finisher, but costs 30 EN instead of 50 and has longer reach. More importantly, Judah has a frickin’ Pattern A on its weapon upgrades, meaning it’ll eventually be STRONGER than the Vardant and it’ll take a lot less money to get to that point!
It costs a measly 190k to max out Judah’s weapons from 0 to 10, whereas the Vardant (who’s a Pattern C), takes 410k! And Judah already comes 50% upgraded, so it’s even less!
And Ishigami himself is no slouch, having stats pretty much on the same level as Moritsugu (just, like, 1-2 points less), meaning he’s just shy of being the best Linebarrel pilot. All in all, Ishigami is a great short-to-medium range character.

Katou’s Tsukuyomi is a Pattern B bot itself, so it’s still pretty cheap to upgrade, but he won’t quiiite overtake the Vardant (unless you’re in Special Mode, with 15 bars of upgrades to close the power gap enough that Katou’s bonus can cover the difference). Still, he and Ishigami are pretty much tailor-made to be each other’s squadmates, so there you go.

As for Masaki, Jack and Katou, we already know what they have, so here’s just what their squad bonuses are:

  • Masaki: Armor +100, Ranged/Melee Attack Power +100, depending on whether he’s using the Glain-Neidr or the Naked (Armor +200, Ranged/Melee +300, S in Sky, EN +75)
  • Jack: Melee +100, Crit +10 (Melee +300, Crit +30, S on land (Akurasu says Sky, but that’s a typo), HP +500)
  • Katou: Money +10%, Mobility +5 (Money +30%, Mobility +30, 1500 Barrier, Melee +100)


The Human Machinas are pretty beefy for mooks, packing not only 30% HP and EN regen and nearly 50k HP, but a beam shower that’s both a very long range attack (1-8) and a 1-6 MAPW that strikes all around them (mind you, as BEAM weapons, they can’t really do anything against the Glain-Neidr).
They’re L size, too, which means a lot of our units’ll take added damage if you’re not bypassing the size difference. Mind you, that size means their accuracy takes a hit and their stats, while good, aren’t too stellar. Also, despite the HP pool, they are not very good on defenses.
Focus fire them one at a time to prevent the superlative regen from undoing a lot of your work and keep defensive spirits up just in case, especially if they’ve the morale to MAPW and you can’t Daunt them. Be very careful with your ships, because that’s a lot of range and firepower that can take you unawares and sink one of them.

:siren: SRW UX - You Are Similar to Me

: They were on the receiving end of a REQUIEM blast and that did nothing to stop their invasion…!
: But we’ll still fight them! We’ll confront our fate just as Lacus and the others did!
: Yeah…! That is what our battles are for…!

:siren: SRW UX - LEGEND OF KAISER

: Heh, these things sure picked the right look. They’re just about ready to break everything in sight with their tantrum.
: Then, get over here, kiddies! Uncle Kaido and Uncle Magami’ll play with y’all a bit, and then it’ll be nappy time!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: Mankind’ll never truly be saved until the Human Machinas are destroyed…
: Meaning there’s only one thing for us to do! Let’s get to work, Judah…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8nbkd4mwPw
And here’s Judah’s best weapon, plus its swanky DK.

: Their appearance as infants could well be said to symbolize power devoid of any and all restraint…
: This rampage must be stopped! Muster your courage and sever any compassion their form invokes within you!
: Ye Humans descending from the distant skies, the tip of our blades shall demark the end of your offensive!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: Jeez, what a roller coaster this is… I haven’t even had time to catch my breath. I didn’t think things would get this crazy.
: Indeed… However, our task now comes down to one thing and one thing only!
: And that is to make them imagine their deaths at the hands of the Katou Organization…!

: You’re really outdone yourself, Ishigami… I suppose my imagination was also lacking.
: …
: My days of fleeing from your shadow end now… Human Machinas!

When you kill two of the Human Machinas, the plot kicks in.

: Oh, what’s the matter? You’re not enjoying us working together for the first time in ages?
: …
: Ishigami, tell me the truth about your plan. Why did you need to keep me in the dark for so long?
: Ah, it’s about that.
: Well, as we first suspected, Judah is a traitor Human Machina. It went against the plan cooked by its brethren on the moon.
: …?!
: On that day… When I first entered its cockpit, a massive amount of information on everything poured into my head.
: But Judah determined that I shouldn’t tell you. Doing so would’ve greatly increased the odds of our plan ending in failure… making it impossible to save mankind.
: And that’s why you decided to keep everything a secret from me?!
: Eeh, I guess I should just come out and say it now…
: But your way of doing things is wrong, Cmdr.
: What…?!
: Once you figured it was impossible to attack the Human Machinas directly, you chose to hide the Lostbarrel and keep their Override from ever taking place.
: Then, you used the Advancers to manipulate the world, setting the Katou Organization as an ever-present symbol of death dominating the people.
: And you didn’t care how many lives you’d have to sacrifice to accomplish that…
: That’s right… Because, in doing so, I’d save mankind from going down the path of ruin…
: But is that what Amagatsu Kizaki really wanted?
: …?!
: What my father really wanted…?
: Mr. Amagatsu told you back then: what he wants is for us to ‘destroy the future penned by the Machinas’!
: The future penned by them…
: Another space-time anomaly’s been detected nearby! Another warp field is forming!
: Psh, they’re still coming!

: Aah…! Th-There’re so many of them!
: aaaaaa…!

: Aaaieeeeee!
: Kch… They’re kicking our asses!
: How are we supposed to fight against this…?!

Tzeeeeeeep.

: Do not falter!
: Th-This voice… It can’t be!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: Th-That’s…!
: The Oukaou… Sakomizu?!
: The voice of Poseidon has given me the strength to live… and showed me the fate I’m to conquer!
: My mind is now as clear as the morning sun!
: Father…!
: Warriors who would confront the tides of fate! Open your ears and listen!

Tzeeeeeeep.

: Urk… Th-That’s…!
: Is… Is Sakomizu summoning the Yùxǐ?!
: Nay… This is!

Dynasty Warriors 9 - Theme of Lu Bu -DW Epic Mix

: Do you hear the will of the land…?!
: L-Lu Bu and Diaochan…?!
: They… They still live?!
: While the fires of battle rage, the Shura know not death!
: Hmph, I understand. ‘The blade of the heavens shall emerge within the shadows… and as that blade is imbued with golden light, it shall turn into a heavenly fang to rend darkness asunder’!
: S-Such is a passage in the G-Records…!
: Then… General Lu Bu, a Shura, a being of shadows, has touched the light and been reborn as a blade of the heavens?!
: It is time! Gather at the beginning!
: Th-Those words…!
: (They have also crossed space and time…!)
: Haaaaaaaah!

: Young Suzuki, can you keep up?!
: Absolutely… I am a Holy Warrior!


We’ll see this attack properly in a jiffy because the DK deserves it.

: Your end comes! Behold— MY SOOOOUUUUL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_hY2wwV8yk
Lu Bu has a ton of DKs in his attacks, so here’s the first one.
“The heavens themselves bow before me!”

: J-Jesus… They took out a Human Machina without even breaking a sweat!
: Ha-Hahah… First the Katou Organization, now King Sakomizu and even Lu Bu and Diaochan!
: All these old pains-in-the-ass are taking the day to start helping us out. Well, I’ll be damned!
: Hear me, Ultimate Cross! If your will to fight remains strong, then follow us into battle!
: The hammerblow of we, the hellish Shura, shall carve open your path!
: Folks, I don’t think we’ve anything to worry about anymore! Throw everything you have at them!
: Aye, aye!
: Let’s go wild!

Aahahaha, success! That’s another two secrets down, and two great units added to our roster (plus Diaochan, who’s just okay). Getting a secret, mind you, brings in another 4 extra Human Machinas to fight… but I consider that to just be more cash for us, so it’s good.


Sakomizu’s squad bonus is HP +500, Crit +10 (HP +1500, Crit +30, Range +2, Armor +100); spirit commands are Sense, Drive, Fury/Direct Hit, Ideals, Soul.
He remains a big huge powerhouse and about the best Holy Warrior we have: the Oukaou still has ridiculous range for a melee unit, and, by itself, hits just as hard as the Bilbine… but its combo attack with the Nanajin is stronger than anything the classic Aura Battlers have (plus, the Oukaou regens 20% EN, takes reduced damage at range, all that good stuff!).
Better yet, Sakomizu knows Soul and his stats are all great, so that’s a lot of firepower on a very worthwhile secret.

But that’s not who we’re really interested in, is it?


Lu Bu Tallgeese
Pilot Skills:
Soul of the Shura (修羅の魂) – casts Soul for free when HP goes under 50% (once per mission).
Prevail L9
Support Attack L2
Break Morale Limit
Counter
Predict
All Attack L2
Spirit Commands:
Soul - IT’S HIS FIRST SPIRIT COMMAND! He knew it at level 1!
Invincible
Strike
Fury/Direct Hit
Drive
Mech Features:
Sword
20% HP and EN Regen
Lu Bu’s Squad Bonus: Melee +100, Crit +10 (Melee +300, Crit +30, Armor +150, Mobility +5)

Diaochan’s spirit commands: Alert, Tailwind, Attune, Confuse, Love
Diaochan’s Squad Bonus: Exp +10%, EN +50 (Exp + 30%, EN +150, 1500 Barrier, Accuracy +5)

You don’t need me to tell you that Lu Bu is great and should have a spot on any team if he’s available. One of the hardest-hitting units in the game, he packs good range and that 20% EN regen means you can be a lot more liberal with him than you can with the other guys. Add in EN Save and, potentially, Infight, and you’ve a powerhouse.
Not much in the way of defenses, but his stats are still in the stratosphere which, when paired with an S rank, means nothing short of a boss should have good numbers against him (and it probably won’t kill, but, rather, send him into Prevail land and maybe trigger SOOOOUUUUL).
And he might just have something else in store for us as well…

As for Diaochan, she’s still the same as ever: good and reliable, with her main draw being the big debuff her Funnels apply… but with how prevalent All-Cancellers are, that’s not too significant. Still, her Squad Bonus is pretty great and she DOES come with 50% upgrades, so you could consider her for a squaddie to snipers like Fei-Yen. An extra Tailwind caster is never a bad thing, either.

Now, let’s go to town!

:siren: SRW UX - Azure

: Even if you needed things to happen in just the right way, that doesn’t justify keeping everything to yourself…!
: You’re gonna have a lot to answer to when we beat the Human Machinas, Ishigami!

:siren: SRW UX - The Will of Man Awakens

: Now we see what Mr. Ishigami was truly after… It was all for this moment…!
: These emissaries from the moon, another type of Humans born from our future…
: You’re not welcome in our planet, Human Machinas! Mankind does not need your surveillance!

Dynasty Warriors 9 - Theme of Lu Bu -DW Epic Mix

: Humans and Inhumans… All different possibilities beckoned by the heavens…
: Which are headed towards oblivion? I have no qualms with answering that question through deadly combat! Muster your life and showcase the essence of your very existence to me!

:siren: SRW UX - My Fate

: This phantom of the past was satisfied with entrusting all to the new generation…
: However, if I must wield my strength once more to assure that these children have a chance to create a better future, then I shall not hesitate to take up arms!

: Aesap…! I don’t see any Aura – any of the emotions of life – in them!
: How come? Didn’t all these Machinas become Human when they found the fear of death?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gPz_M_4pNY
Captions are available because it’s so pretty.

:siren: SRW UX - Azure

: The Machinas started fighting each other in order to gain imagination…! Were they also just trying to find a way to be, to exist…?!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: These are our enemies, right…?
: Yes, the Human Machinas that’d destroy mankind… We must work with the Katous and put a stop to them!
: If it’ll help save everyone… If it’ll help save mankind, then fine. I’ll do whatever’s necessary!

:siren: Final Mission ~ Quantum Burst 1

: Human Machinas… If your surveillance’ll bring nothing but chaos to our world, then there’s only one path for me to take!
: It’s up to the Celestial Being to destroy you and your surveillance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h63iKzLCNM
It just hit me that I never shown off Setsuna’s absolute best attack since it chugs so much EN. Here it is, plus the DK.

:siren: SRW UX - Believe ver. HD

: Every now and then I’d get the feeling that I was being watched. That was you, wasn’t it?
: Which means… You Human Machinas are a bunch of creeps!

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina

: …
: This guise of a child… In a way, I suppose ‘tis representative of the end of life and the start of new ones. Do you find it difficult to face these, Kurou?
: No, none of this changes the fact that they’re enemies…! Time to put these babies to sleep the hard way!

:siren: SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN

: Thank God Mr. Ishigami didn’t turn out to be a bad guy…
: Come on, Heroman! He’s been fighting this battle all along, and now we’re bringing it to a close!
: Oooooo!

:siren: SRW UX - Dunbine Flies

: …
: Um, Shou…! That’s a baby! A huuuuge baby!
: Don’t let their looks get to you, Shou Zama… These are monsters coming to destroy the entire world!

:siren: SRW UX - Lion

: I’ve no idea what you’ve been observing us for…
: But I’m shutting you down if you’re coming to make a mess out of this world!

:siren: SRW UX - Tobikage Appears!

: Ishigami’s been working to take out these Human Machinas all along, huh…?
: Well, that’s a load off my back. Now let’s go and drive these monsters off our planet!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

: These are our enemies… The enemies of all mankind!
: Come on, Linebarrel! We’re going to fulfill Mr. Amagatsu’s wish!

: W-We did it…!
: We beat the enemy!
: We’ve saved mankind…!
: …
: Ishigami, you said my way of doing things was wrong?
: That was why you…
: Do you want to know the first thing Judah told me? It was that I could never save mankind…
: However, what I could do was save the person capable of doing so.
: That person, the one who can save mankind, is you, Cmdr. Katou.
: …?!
: That’s why I never took steps to bring down your Organization.
: But by becoming your enemy, I could keep your attention set on me, which would let me guide you in the right direction.
: Y-You… were guiding me?
: Commander… I really do want to save mankind.
: And that includes you, too. You’re one of the people I want to save the most.
: …
: Then, your plan was…
: It was to save me from myself…?
: Yes.
: I-Ishigami…
: …
: You do not want to fight, but there are those you cannot protect without doing so…
: Our capacity to both hurt and support one another all comes from that desire to protect something…
: That’s why we keep on fighting, despite how difficult it is…
: (Humans bear so much sorrow, but they still carry on…)
: Then, all this time, I…
: We’ve both dirtied our hands plenty to get to this point.
: But I’m afraid we’ll need to save the soul-searching for later. It looks like things are taking a turn for the worse…
: What…?!

: T-The warp field’s open again…!
: Damn it, is there no end to this?!
: …
: I see… This is why I could never save mankind, isn’t it?

Ishigami moves towards the portal.

: Mr. Ishigami…?!
: Relax. I’ll have their warp field broken down in a jiffy!
: You’re going to destroy it?!
: Is that even possible?!
: I’ll deploy Judah’s own warp field at full power and crash into theirs! That should be more than enough…!
: You don’t mean…!
: You’re going to trigger a particle annihilation between your fields?!
: A-Annihilation?!
: Mr. Ishigami, your big plan is to follow on Maj. Richard’s footsteps?!
: Sorry, Ensign Berge…
: But it’s looking like my death is another necessary event for mankind to be saved…
: …?!
: This is the answer Judah and I found among countless possibilities.
: We’re to lay down our lives as foundation for a new future…
: Hahahah, a very fitting climax for an old Champion of Justice, no?
: M-Mr. Ishigami…!
: You…!

: Deploying field! Maximum output!
: DON’T DO IT!!
: …?!

Lisa Komine – Follow Your Heart
:siren: :siren:

: What’s wrong with you?! Why do you always act like you’re the one who has the right answers?!
: But I’m here to say that you’re wrong! If you really want to build any future, then you need to live!
: Live, fight, and take hold of your destiny!
: Y-You…!
: Hope for the future is a power given to everything. It’s what allows us to keep living, so don’t stop now…!

: It’s only by living that we can bring about the world of our dreams!
: Don’t walk away from it! Life itself is the real battle! (Cagalli line from SEED)
: Kira! Athrun…!

All three Gundams go after the portal!

: What are you doing?!
: We’ll unleash energy on par with a particle annihilation and break down the portal!
: Wh-What…?!
: Ishigami, if you’re another prisoner to fate…
: Then we’ll break those chains here and now!


: I-It’s still not enough…!
: We need more if we’re going to cancel out the energy of the warp field…!
: Then, they can have ours as well…!

Everyone gets around the portal!

: Haaaaaaah! Show me what you got, Tobikage!
: Demonbane, full power!
: This portal ain’t got nothing on the Kaiser!

Power uuuuuup!

: Neutrino Generator, emergency acceleration! Rgh… A-Aargh!
: Cpt. Spencer?!
: Forget about me! Rrgh… Raaaaaaaargh!

: Aaaieeeee!
: Stand down! There’s no reason for you people to also get hurt! This is my fate—
: The future has already been changed!
: …?!
: We told you before: reality is progressing in ways far beyond what Judah predicted.
: So, we know our wills are strong enough to make our own future… our own fate!
: Y-You…!

: Tsk… We’ve got more Human Machinas…!
: Liu Bei! Cao Cao! Sun Quan!
: The time has come to manifest the full power of legend!

: Aye!
: Quèshùn! Grant me strength!

: Ye soul of Hǔxiǎo dwelling within the Koteito… Bless me with your power!

: Ye light of Lóngdì… Entrust your power to me!

: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om-hnWF6DSg
Captions are available for the absolute strongest attack in the game.

: They beckoned all four Celestial Armors at once…?!
: Th-This… This is the work of the will of man, of their unfaltering resolve?!
: …
: With me, Ishigami!
: C-Commander…!
: While our wishes were the same, our eyes were set upon different futures…
: However… I know our eyes are now set upon the same world!
: The same world…!
: And will not turn from it ever again!
: Come on! We’ll live for the present, not for the future!
: …
: Yes, sir!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iSF1Erz8FU
And here’s the DK for Katou’s best attack.
Katou supporting Ishigami: “Hah… There’s no time for reminiscing, Ishigami!”

: Now! Send all your energy into the warp field!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

: …
: Wh-What happened…?!
: The warp field is gone…! We’re not reading the Human Machinas anymore!
: W-We did it…!
: We won! We pushed back the Human Machinas…!
: (The future has changed, hm…?)
: (Judah… I guess not even you could see this far…)
: …

: Where’re you going, Jin?!
: …
: Unfortunately, Arnie, our eyes are set upon different worlds…
: You’re still being like that?!
: You were standing right there! I know you realize who we’re really supposed to be fighting…!
: A-Aargh…!
: Jin…?!
: Stay away!
: …?!
: I-I told you before… There’s no turning back the hands of time…
: Our fates… have taken different turns…
: Cpt. Spencer…
: …
: Goodbye, Arnie…

: …
: Jin, you…

: Welcome to the Army of Mankind…
: …
: Why’d you call me here…?
: Why, I just thought to give you a new role to play.
: A new role…?
: Hah. What are ya, a casting director for the world? Where’s your couch?
: I don’t have one. And you’re free to interpret what I say however you’d like.
: That said, you do not want to exit stage having played nothing but a fool, yes?
: …
: Go to this location, if you would.
: Hm? This is the old Russian…
: Are you telling me to go into hiding?!
: Just until the right moment…
: The right moment…?
: Yes, you’ll take to the stage right after everything is over…
: Or, better yet, after everything has begun.
: …
: Who the hell are you…?
: Don’t worry about me. Just head underground and save your strength.
: You’ll need it for when the curtain rises on the new stage…
: …

:siren: SRW UX - Rebellion Against Fate

: And I think everyone’s here.
: What’s this about?
: You can probably guess, but it’s about our showdown with the Human Machinas.
: This really isn’t over yet, huh…?
: We succeeded in destroying their warp field, but that is simply a temporary setback for them.
: There are still a lot of them within the moon…
: As well as the Human Machina’s ‘master’, the cause of this entire conundrum.
: The Human Machina’s master…
: And mankind will not truly be saved until we defeat him.
: Mind, we speak of a being that has been observing mankind since time immemorial. Thus, we speak of something quite akin to God. Their powers are wholly unknown to us.
: Y-You’re going to fight God…?!
: Um, can we even win against a guy like that?!
: We have a plan. But, first, we’ve spoken to Cmdr. Katou and have something to tell you…
: …
: The Katou Organization is joining the UX – effective immediately.
: C-Come again?!
: What… Wasn’t our alliance with them just a temporary thing?!
: He’s after the same thing as Ishigami and the rest of our team. There’s no reason to break this alliance now that we know that.
: But…!
: You’re free to complain about it, but it won’t change the situation.
: …
: We have to focus on the Human Machinas, as they’re not going to wait around for us…
: But the problem is that to beat their boss, we’ll need to break into their lunar stronghold…
: Good news is that the REQUIEM shot opened one huge passage into the moon.
: Bad news is that we can’t get an exact location of their GHQ from the outside.
: Our guess is that there’s a powerful jamming facility inside the moon.
: Then, if we want to take the fight to their leader, we’ll first need to destroy that facility…?
: Exactly. But the passage leading into the moon is very narrow and irregular…
: Thus, we have decided that the destruction of the jamming facility must be carried out as a solo hit-and-run mission.
: A-A solo mission…?!
: You want to send someone, alone, into the Human Machina’s territory?!
: All we need is a few seconds…
: If we can detect their stronghold’s position for just a few seconds, we can get its coordinates.
: And if we have its coordinates…
: We can Fold over to it!
: O-Oh, I get it…!
: We just need to know where their GHQ is located, and then we can Fold our whole team over there…!
: Hmhmm, sounds good. And I reckon that’s our job to tackle, right?
: Our Valkyries are mobile enough that even going into the moon shouldn’t be too much…!
: No, I’m afraid I’m not letting anyone but me take on this mission.
: Y-You’re…!
: …
: E-Eiji… Kiriyama!


Three new tacticians for us! Here’s what they bring to the table:

  • Sakomizu: Melee weapons’ attack power +10%, Crit rate +30%, Ignore Size Difference
  • Ishigami: Pilot Debuff Immunity, Melee weapons’ attack power +10%, gain a random Skill Part at the end of the mission
  • Katou: Chain-Attacks damage +10%, Defense +10%, 10% HP Regen to everyone.

Furthermore, here are the battle convos I didn’t get:

: There were things like these hiding out on the moon…? I didn’t notice anything strange the last time we were up there.
: Well, we didn’t really have time to look around back then…!
: All the more reason why we need to set this right today. Let’s go wild!

: Look at the size of these buggers. Maybe we oughta close the distance and start pestering them by their feet?
: Careful. Move in carelessly and they’ll grab you. Long-range attacks are our safest bet…!
: The basics of battle are the same regardless of the enemy. We’ll have them routed in short order if every unit capitalizes on its strong points.

: I’m a bit worried that shooting at these is bad karma, but I guess this really isn’t the time to think about that, eh?
: And then some. You can put together a soul cleansing ritual for us later.

Phew, that was a lot to deal with, but there’s still more. If you couldn’t tell, Ishigami surviving was the Linebarrel’s secret, so that’s a big event changed. Sakomizu and Lu Bu arriving also changed stuff a bit, so let’s take it one step at a time.
First and foremost, when you kill two Human Machinas WITHOUT having saved either Sakomizu or Lu Bu and Diaochan. Ishigami and Katou’s convo is the same, Kouichi reminds him what Amagatsu really wanted and then it wraps up like this:

: The future penned by them…
: Yes, what he said…
: …
: Come on, folks! What say you we deal with these Human Machinas lickety-split and go secure ourselves a future?
: Absolutely! Observe the strength of humans and our pride, fiends!
: You heard him, maggots! Get your asses into gear and shove strength and pride down their throats!

And if you saved only one secret, you get the extra four babies and then the backup arrives. If you saved Sakomizu, it goes the same up until he says his mind is clear and then it goes like this:

: Father…!
: Shinjiro Sakomizu…!
: Admiral Katou, sir! I will now fulfill the vow I made before!
: Haaaaaaah!

Morale up!

: Young Suzuki, can you keep up?!
: Absolutely… I am a Holy Warrior!

Combo attack!

: Hah… Not even a Human Machina can withstand the combined might of two Holy Warriors!
: Oh, wow! There’s no way we’re losing this now, Shou!
: Yeah, having even a warrior of Sakomizu’s caliber helping us is a sight for sore eyes!
: Our counterattack begins now, Ultimate Cross! Charge!

And if you’ve only saved Lu Bu and Diaochan, the scene goes the same up until the new Human Machinas start blasting us:

: How are we supposed to fight against this…?!
: Is this all your souls amount to?!
: Th-This voice… It cannot be!

Appear!

: I-It’s…!
: They… They still live?!
: My name is Lu Bu! The warrior chosen by the will of the land…!
: The will of the land…?!
: Warriors who would confront the tides of fate! Open your ears and listen to the will of the land and of the heavens!
: …!

Tzeeeeeeep.

: Urk… Th-That’s…!
: The voice of the Yùxǐ again…?!
: Nay… This is!
: Indeed…!
: Gather at the beginning!
: Th-Those words…!
: (They have also crossed space and time…!)
: Haaaaaaaaaaah! Behold— MY SOOOOUUUUL!

TAMASHIIIIIII!

: H-He took out the Human Machina with a single attack?!
: Hmph, I understand. ‘The blade of the heavens shall emerge within the shadows… and as that blade is imbued with golden light, it shall turn into a heavenly fang to rend darkness asunder’!
: S-Such is a passage in the G-Records…!
: Then… General Lu Bu, a Shura, a being of shadows, has touched the light and been reborn as a blade of the heavens?!
: Ultimate Cross! If your spirit has not fizzled, then do battle beside us!
: The hammerblow of we, the hellish Shura, shall carve open your path!
: Ha, hahah… I can’t believe those pain-in-the-ass Shuras are now on our side!
: We’ll gladly borrow your strength once more, General Lu Bu!
: Troops, CHARGE!!

Now, at the end of the mission, if you didn’t unlock Ishigami, it carries on as you’d expect:

: Deploying field! Maximum output!
: STOOOOP!

: …

: My beloved friends… Goodbye.

: …
: Wh-What happened…?!
: We’ve lost Judah’s signal…
: It and the warp field… have both disappeared…

: N-No…!
: The president… This has gotta be a sick joke!
: Mr. Ishigami…
: …
: ‘An old Champion of Justice’… A-Are you joking?!
: A real Champion of Justice… wouldn’t make people hurt like this!
: Kouichi…
: Rgh… damn it… damn iiit…

: This is why… I can’t stand old people…

Jin leaves the same way, but there’s an added scene back at Judah before we cut to Novel and Sawatari:

: …
: Cmdr. Katou…
: You are Ishigami’s…
: Mr. Ishigami didn’t tell a lot of things…
: So I was a bit unsure if I really should deliver this to you.
: What’s in the case?
: It’s… Mr. Ishigami’s final message.
: …?!
: Alright. I’ll hear it.
: …
: …
(TV): Oh? It’s recording already?
: Umm… Well, I guess it’s been a long time since we’ve had a friendly chat, right, Commander?
: And I am truly sorry for everything I’ve done to you over the years.
: Ishigami…
: Since you’re watching this, you probably already know everything but…
: Regardless, I think the future we know is slowly but surely changing for the better…
: Of course, that’s certainly related to Kouichi becoming the singularity of our possibilities…
: But I think an even bigger reason is all the various overlapping possibilities we’re seeing.
: Overlapping possibilities…?
: I suppose we could chalk it up to the underlying truth of the world…
: That great unseen will tying all our fates together…
: But, regardless, I… Ah?! H-Hey, what gives?! I told you: no one can come in right now!
: …?
: Heh… That’s just like you, Ishigami…
: I’m recording a very, very important video you know!
: …

(Katou): Ishi…gami…

Finally, over by the final scene, it changes a bit if you didn’t save Ishigami:

: Everyone’s here, I think.
: …
: …
: I know no one’s in the mood for this, but we need to keep facing onwards right now.
: Our showdown with the Human Machinas depends on it.

And the rest is the same.

I don’t know if this counts as post-timeskip spoilers or not, but what are Lostbarrel’s capabilities and special features? (Besides making a good getaway vehicle for Sawatari)

Two beam sabers, Linebarrel’s Overdrive system, and Sawatari kills Miu and takes Pald and Roc

So, unless I’m totally wrong here, I think a little of what Ishigami said about Juda wasn’t revealed until after the timeskip. Neat!

Lu Bu knowing Soul at level 1 will never not amuse me. Anyway, silliness aside, all of the units in this stage except arguably Diaochan are very much worth taking to the endgame, and honestly it’s not even that she’s all that bad… just kinda outclassed at this point. I’ve taken her all the way easily enough.

And yeah, the Red Nanajin/Oukaoh combo is fucking beautiful, especially since MY FATE kicks in right as the DK starts rolling. It’s probably my favorite move in the game.

um.

I really do like Ishigami and Juda’s plan, at the end of the day. Didn’t quite work out, but they made the best of a terrible situation, to the point where some of their enemies even admitted it was probably a better plan than what they had. More on that after next update.

But oh man, THE FOUR GODS ARE UNITED. This is how you mulch the endgame. Because of the many multipliers the SD Gundam cast tend to stack, including Soul, and the absolutely fucking absurd base power of the attack, it is pretty much the only comboattack that you can always justify using over any “move + partner’s move” for bosses. It is absurdly, brokenly overpowered, and you absolutely can slap down any boss with it. That attack can 2HKO the final boss without an absurdly large amount of setup, something only one other person can do, and while we’ll get to him - any one of three people can do that for the SD Gundam group and without Zeal use (I think Sun Quan barely misses out, and you don’t want to do that, as the last boss can get tanky at higher Prevail levels).

Also, have probably said it at this point, but Jouji Nakata wanted to voice Ishigami’s farewell line, and UX gave him the chance.

It’s basically Linebarrel -, as it is the prototype of Linebarrel (and not the thing the game calls Linebarrel Prototype, which is just Kizaki Amagatsu going “I AM ANGRY! ANGRY ABOUT MACHINA!”). It has two beam swords, but more in the Gundam sense than the Linebarrel sense, and the Override system, but not the big ranged beam cannon that SRW always dials down the power on and it can’t do some of the absurd things caused by said cannon. Also, the thing in NotoriousFAP’s spoiler, but we’ll Talk about post-timeskip next time, after Linebarrels of Iron officially wraps up in UX.

It is supposed to be Shou’s portrait there, yes. He’s just talking to himself.

Or are you pointing out something else I’m not seeing? :staredog:

Click to see the mission!


And we’re back, after one hell of a mission where we unlocked three of the best secret units in the game. But now I have a problem because I CAN’T HOLD ALL THESE POWERFUL UNITS and the game sure isn’t making it easy for me to deploy everyone I want.
That calls for some readjustments to condense my main team, as the finale only allows for 21 slots (though Arnie and Saya’ll deploy as event units). But that’s still off in the distance; Kouichi, Shou and Kiriyama are deploying as event units today, so here’s how we’re going:
Joe/Setsuna
Aesap/Sakomizu
Liu Bei/Rennie
Kurou/Deceive
Mazinkaiser/Hebi
Alto/Masaki
Lu Bu/Kiki
Ishigami/Katou
Arnie/Saya
Fei-Yen/Lockon
Maya/Akira
Dancouga/Eida
Heroman/Miu
Kazuki/Graham
Cao Cao/Moritsugu
Kira/Kenji
Shinn/Lunamaria
Sun Quan/Domyoji
Jack/Yulianne (just because I still need to show off his DK)
Tactician: Zhuge Liang

Also, keep in mind that this mission is the cut-off point for Kazuki to have 200+ kills if you’re going for the last Fafner secret.

Off we go.

: …
: …
: Reiji, I…
: You don’t have to say anything to me.
: I just need to look at you now to see what a different person you are.
: Whatever life you’ve been leading since that day has obviously changed you…
: Reiji…
: …
: Welcome back, Eiji. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve already earned my trust.
: !
: Thank you, Reiji…
: Thank you… so much…
: But are you sure about doing this? Your mission’ll be extremely dangerous.
: If a man like me can still be of some use, then I’ve no problems with playing sacrificial pawn. I’m ready to do as necessary…
: You’ll be fine.
: I guarantee that you won’t die.
: Reiji…

: …
: Hey, still with the silence? How long ‘til you get tired of that?
: …
: Do you need something…?
: We understand that we’ve fought against one another on several occasions.
: But now we are allies. If there is something bothering you, we are more than willing to help.
: There is nothing bothering me.
: Suppress your emotions and carry out your mission. That is how I live my life.
: …
: Still…
: Yes?
: …
: I confess I’ve grown emotional watching you people fight.

: I shut off my heart because I believed Mr. Ishigami betrayed me. But, then, he sacrificed himself and entrusted the future to us… I suppose he just couldn’t help causing trouble. (You only get these lines if Ishigami’s dead, of course.)

: Thanks to that, after over a decade of suppression, my emotions have found their way back to the surface.
: Masaki…
: And what worries you is that you’’ll be unable to fight in the same way you’ve been doing now that that’s happened, hm?
: I know you believed that being unfeeling on the battlefield gives you great strength, but–
: Embracing those emotions as you fight is what leads to even greater strength, hm? I suppose that’s how your group has always been.
: Heh, very much so…

: …
: King Sakomizu…
: Hm? Is something the matter?
: No… It’s just that…
: You… Come to think of it, you are Americans, right?
: …
: We all know that you’ve hated the US ever since WWII, but we…
: Do not worry. Americans, Japanese… the distinction doesn’t matter to me anymore.
: We are all people who call this planet home… Better put, our lives are the same – all born into the same universe.
: Father…!
: It was you, the UX, who helped me see that.
: I’m very glad to hear you say that, King Sakomizu!

: …
: …
: What is it? Do you, a living mouthpiece of justice, find allying with us Shuras so displeasing?
: Now what’dya mean by that, eh? We are Hell and folks’ve been hanging out with us just fine.
: I doubt anyone here’s gonna bat an eye with a couple of Shuras tagging along.
: Hah… You are Hell?
: There is something I’m a bit curious about, though.
: How did you two come to know about our world’s history and civilization?
: Your history…?
: You mentioned Penglai and the disorder between Yin and Yang. While those are featured in both the G Records and historical manuscripts in our world, we found it a bit odd that you were familiar with them.
: …
: There is a truth that can only be uncovered by those who have reached the heavens.
: You will understand in time, provided the heavens are where your gaze is set.
: …
: (A truth, huh…?)

: KOUICHI HAYASEEEEE!
: Wh-What in blazes?!
: Tell me… Why did you pilfer my rightful glass of milk?!
: G-Glass of milk…?!
: W-Well, this is kind of the break room, right?
: I figured anyone could help themselves to what’s in the fridge…
: But I had claimed it as my own by inscribing my name upon it!
: See here! Look well! What does it say?! It is ‘Jack’, is it not?!
: I-It says Jack…
: Hrrm! This is an outrage! You will pay for this offense with your life!
: Whwhwhaaa?!
: Would you people just quiet down? If you want milk that badly…

: Maybe you’d like to make do with some of mine?
: ?! O-Ooh…!
: Wow…!
: Where, exactly, are you ogling at, you gigantic fool?!

Cast magic missile!

: Waaaaaaaaaaah!

If you saved Lu Bu:

: Hmhmhm… Ye shameless wench. Do you seek the proof of life so?
: Huh? Wh-What’re you…?
: In that case, I shall grant it to you!

THUNDER!

: Behold— MY SOOOOUUUUL!
: Nooooooooo!
: F-Fengxian, please! Do not provoke needless misunderstandings with the dwellers of this world!
: Wh-What misunderstandings…?
: I don’t even know what I just saw…
: Hmhmm… That’s a Shura for you!
: It’s quite the fearsome man that’s joined us…

If you didn’t save him:

: Oh? Would you care to take a closer look at them, honey?
: M-Me…?!
: MS. YULIANNE!
: Go get ‘er, Emi!

: Jeez… doesn’t even look like our final battle with the Human Machina’s right around the corner…
: …
: This is too weird…
: What’s weird?
: Look at them. They’re all trying to strike up conversation, trying to be all friendly to people who were their enemies not too long ago…
: I guess… everyone’s just trying their best to be positive…
: I… I don’t see anything positive here. It’s just a sham…

She leaves.

: Kujo…


Location: Army of Mankind Base – Infirmary

:siren: SRW UX - Prologue

: Hm… Wh-Where—?!
: You’re awake… Thank goodness, Captain.
: I… I blacked out inside the cockpit, didn’t I…?
: I’m so, so sorry. If I could just…
: If I could control the Accelerated Particle Engines flawlessly like Saya, this would never have happened…
: You’ve done nothing to apologize for.
: This is the fate I wanted – the fate I chose of my own free will, remember?
: But…
: …
: Do you know the words ‘memento mori’?
: Memento mori?
: A literal translation would be something like ‘remember that you will die’.
: That’s…!
: Yeah. It’s pretty much what the Katou Organization said to all of humanity.
: I didn’t have the time to think about what Katou truly meant back then…
: But now I understand. It’s by imagining our deaths that we, humans, first come to understand life.
: Death lets us understand life…?

Door opens.

: The looming death in your fate has made you reflect on your own mortality, hm?
: Prof. Shot…
: Death, fate… God…
: It’s when we’re faced with an unopposable, absolute force that we, humans, understand how weak we truly are.
: However, that’s also what makes us strong. That will to face that obstacle, that strength to try and overcome it…
: I believe it’s when those finally manifest that our lives become something to be proud of.
: Proud lives…
: …
: (The core of Tatsumiya did everything in her power to show Arnie and his team what life meant…)
: (In that case, what I have to do for Ayul is…)

:siren: SRW UX - Rebellion Against Fate

: We’ll be arriving at the rendezvous point shortly.
: The Federation Army’s Space Fleet is already orbiting the moon on standby.
: Oh, the Feds’ll be helping us?
: I had The Advancers rally their troops to reinforce our front against the Human Machinas.
: Aah, yeah…! Now we’re all on the same side.
: So, I guess those Advancers’ll start helping us too.
: Despite the issues they caused in the past, it is certainly reassuring to have such a lot on our side.
: (The Advancers… the clones of my father…)
: …
: Once we’ve arrived at the moon, Kiriyama will depart with his Pretender to carry out his solo mission.
: Are you clear on what to do?
: Yes: break into the Human Machinas’s stronghold, find the jamming facility and destroy it.
: I swear I’ll see it through, even if it costs me my life.
: Your comms’ll go down once you’re behind enemy lines. We’ll be unable to give you any instructions.
: If you believe it impossible to carry out your mission, then you are to retreat immediately, understood?
: Very well…
: Are you really going to do this…? You’re actually going kick off this ridiculous operation and oppose God?
: Hmph, ‘oppose God’? Perhaps we are…
: A false God that has observed mankind since ancient times…
: Yes, this is an act of defiance against that God. It’s a battle to free ourselves from its dominion, and we stake our dignity as humans on it!
: But…
: Mr. Ishigami, your Machina can see the future, right?
: Can you tell us if this operation’s going to work or not?
: The operation will fail.
: Huh…?!
: … Would you just give up if I said that?
: Is that a joke? We ain’t a buncha quitters!
: If you said that, it’d only make me even more amped up.
: Heh, that’s exactly what I figured you’d say.
: Whatever future Judah and I saw is already meaningless.
: No one can say for sure what awaits us down this path…
: Not even God.
: …

Beep.

:siren: Final Mission ~ Quantum Burst 1

: Guys, we’ve just received an urgent transmission from the Federation Fleet!
: They’re saying a massive number of Human Machinas have come out from the Lunar Pit!
: Tsk… They’re already getting to work!
: The Ptolemy and the Macross Quarter are headed for the Human Machinas!
: While they’re busy, you guys get ready to carry out the op!
: Understood! Sir Kiriyama, board the Pretender and prepare to depart when we give the word!
: Yes, ma’am!


Location: Lunar Orbit

: Gyaaaaaaaaaargh!

Boom!

#2: C-Captain! We’ve lost another three units!
#3: Kch… These are the Human Machinas?! The UX managed to beat these monsters…?!
: …

Prepare to fire!

#3: U-Uwaaaaaaaaah!

: Trans-AM… RAISEEEEER!!

Boooom!

#2: I-It’s… the UX! The UX are here!
: Skull Leader to all units! Cover the Fed troops and push back the Human Machinas!
: A mob of enemies are moving in! Engaging!

Swooosh!

: Okey-dokey… Time to roll up our sleeves, Haros!
: Roger! Roger!
: Deploying Rifle Bits! Deploying Rifle Bits!
: Random firing!

Blast, blast, blast! Booom!

: We’ll show these damned Human Machinas how the Zentradi do battle!
: Nene, Lalamia! Pixie Formation!
: Esekes (Roger)! Dispersing!
: We’re not going down here! We will come back alive!

Swoooosh! Booom!

: …?!
: Now, sis!
: Eat this and die!

: …
: The Lunar Pit… Whatever could be waiting in there…?

Beep.

: We’ve broken through the enemy’s defensive perimeter! It won’t last for long, but we’ve secured your way in!
: Kiriyama, are you ready to go?!
: Yeah. I’m all set!
: Catapult standing by for deployment! Igniting boosters!
: Mr. Kiriyama… Please be careful!
: 3, 2, 1… Commence the operation!
: Pretender, launching!


Mission 46 – A Beautiful Dystopia

: Kch…Rrrgh!
: Phew… I’ve made it…
: ?!
: Wh-What is going on here…?!
: This is supposed to be inside the moon, but…

: That looks just like Tokyo Tower!
: Why is there a broken-down Tokyo in here…?
: Plus… every part of this city is slightly different to the Tokyo back on Earth…

: Gch…?!

: It’s those new Arma models…?!
: …
: No, these have been equipped with AIs… They’re proper Machinas!
: Radar is still out, so I’ll have to eyeball this.
: As for the jamming facility…

: The Tokyo Tower was built to transmit radio waves, and even the location’s still the same. That’s got to be the target!
: Hold on, people. I swear I’ll pry open your way in here!


First step is to get Kiriyama over to the tower, and you obviously lose if he gets dropped. Downing all the Machinas’ll also make him auto-move there, if you care to squeeze out some extra cash from this mission (I don’t really need to).


As for Kiriyama, his spirit commands are Strike, Accelerate, Focus, Assail and Valor, with a squad bonus of Mobility +5, Accuracy +5 (Mobility +30, Accuracy +30, S in Air, Movement +2). Kiriyama’s a squaddie through and through, being on par with the Painkiller and Naked on terms of firepower; his stats are still good overall, but he just doesn’t have the capacity to stand out among the crowd.
Still, an Accelerate caster that boosts Air rating is a good fit with a lot of people (even more so if you get his 3-4 squad bonus, which also boosts movement).


I moved over here since I expected to get mobbed… but, as it turns out, the Machinas won’t actually chase after Kiriyama if he’s outside of their attack range.
But he does have a pre-battle convo for this bit, so assume that mook there took a stab at him:

: These people were willing to put their trust in me, despite all my past wrongdoings…
: I’ll see this mission done for them and for the one man I could call my true friend!

And the next turn…

: A brute-force strategy? That’s oddly old-fashioned of the Human Machinas.
: But they’re underestimating the Pretender’s mobility and that’ll be their doom!

(TV): That’s the first wave dealt with! Return to the ships and resupply quickly!
(TV): How’re things going on your end?
(TV): We have yet to hear from Sir Kiriyama!
: Do you think something happened to him…?
: …
: That’s enough waiting around! We gotta bust into the moon ourselves!
: No. We move in now, and our forces will be completely disorganized.
: We’ll wait until the jamming facility’s destroyed and, then, Fold everyone in at the same time!
: B-But…
: We must have faith in Kiriyama. That’s all we can do at the moment.
: Kch…!

: Haah, haah… I’m not pulling back!
: Running away now would be even worse than dying!


It’s fine, as the new wave of Machinas are also uninterested in pursuing him. The turn after the next, he’s already made it.

: Okay, I made it!

: …
: What…?!

: Urk…!
: But I’m sure I damaged the tower…!
: Just one more hit and it’ll—

: Urgwaaaaaaargh!
: Th-This can’t be…!
: …
: Did they know we were coming and had these lying in wait…? That’d mean…
: Is this… Is this whole thing a trap?!

(TV): Do… ead…
: There he is…!
: Do y… read me…?
: Kiriyama!
: You’re safe, thank goodness! What’s your status?!
(TV): It was… a trap…!
: A massive army of Human Machinas… inside the moon…
: What’d you say?!

Boom!

: Rrrghaaah…!
: Ki-Kiriyama…!
: Damn it…!
: Moritsugu, are you still going to tell us to just sit on our hands?!
: …

Alarm!

: A second enemy wave has emerged from the Lunar Pit!
: What?!
: Tsk, and at the worst possible moment…!
: Wh-What do we do?! Should we get out there again?
: We can’t! All units are to maintain level 1 alert status and stand by!
: The Federation Army’ll deal with the enemy!
: But those are Human Machinas they’re up against!
: We’re supposed to just watch as not only Kiriyama but the Federation Army gets slaughtered?!
: Settle down and think for just a second! Do you still not understand what they’re risking their lives for?!
: ?!
: ‘Tis all so we can successfully Fold into the interior of the moon! They are throwing their lives into the conflagration of battle solely to enable that!
: Are you going to make their resolve for naught?
: B-But that’s…!
: … Thank you, Hayase…
: Kiriyama…!
: Just the fact that you’re willing to help the man who once tormented you so… that is already more than enough for me.
: Wh-What are talking about?!
: …
: Sorry, Reiji… It doesn’t look like I’m going to make it…
: Eiji…
: But… I will get one last attack in…!
: I’ll destroy that facility… whatever the cost…!

Bloop.

: Kiriyama! Please respond, Kiriyama!
: Kch… Moritsugu, are you really okay with this?!
: …
: I…
: I also think this is wrong!
: …
: We’ll sacrifice a few but we’ll save many. Sometimes acceptable losses are just inevitable for the greater good…
: Says you, but I don’t give a crap about that!
: …!

: Uurrgh…!
: I-I’m not dead yet…!

: Yes, that’s it… come a little closer!

: Now…!

: GO!

: Haah, haah… Target confirmed destroyed…
: I-I did it… Reiji…

: Graaaaaaaaah!

: …
: Game, set and match, huh…?
: But I could help them see this through… I’ve no regrets…

Charge up beaaaaam!

: …
: …
: (Goodbye, Reiji…)

: Wh-What…?!
: If humans are so limited that saving one man would mean being unable to save many more…

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel (Full Intro)

: Then, I… I’ll surpass my humanity!
: Th-The Linebarrel…?!
: Why… Why are you here?!
: Isn’t it obvious…?
: It’s because I’m a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!

: …?!

: Haah, haah…
: …
: Hayase… Just what are you?!

: …
: Vardants?! The Human Machinas even have those…?!

: Gaaaaah!
: Forget about me, Hayase! Get out of here NOW!
: Are you kidding?! I’m not leaving without you after coming all the way here…!

: Huh?! I-It’s…!

: The Ultimate Cross…!
: Looks like we made it in the nick of time!
: How did you guys…?
: Did you forget what I said?
: If we can detect their stronghold’s position, we can get its coordinates. And if we have its coordinates… we can Fold to it!
: …!
: Sheesh, that was a very crazy stunt you pulled!
: Still, with Hayase warping ahead of us, we just had to ping him and there were our precise coordinates.
: That’s our Champion of Justice for you! As you say, things are looking up already!
: Hah, hahaha… Oh, you guys!
: Never mind him, what I wanna know is why there’s a city inside the moon!
: Not just any city – this is Tokyo, isn’t it?
: It a little bit different, though…
: (Huh… Have I seen these ruins somewhere before…?)
: Hey, Shou… This city…
: Yeah, it sure looks a lot like it…
: But what’s it doing inside the Human Machinas’ lunar world…?
: I am very curious as to what mysteries lie within this land, but any investigation will have to wait until later!
: Our priority now is the elimination of the Human Machinas! Show them all the boundless possibilities of humans!


Kill everything, don’t lose a ship, Kouichi or Shou. Only beefy units for us to face, including the new MP Vardants; they can hit decently hard, but don’t have a MP Moritsugu to match, so they can’t use any of the bot’s best tricks (or even dual-wield swords!). Still, the Vardants and the Machinas (actual name) all come with over 10k HP, so don’t expect to oneshot them with big hits… or a FUB’d Demonbane sneezing in their general direction. As before, be wary of the giant babies and their MAPWs.
Now, do be mindful that the plot kicks in after you’ve wiped out 12 enemy squads, and it’ll result in all your guys taking a -30 hit to their morale. That said, UX is nice and any systems that you trigger BEFORE that will stay active, so, in the interest of making things easier on you, try and spread out morale as best you can and make sure to combine the SKL, Dancouga and Odyssea as soon as can be.
Oh, and Kiriyama is still waaaaay up top, so pull him back right the next turn.

:siren: SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4zN84kpxUg
Hahaaa! I like how Kurou actually conjures the Scimitar of Barzai to parry instead of just pulling it out of a back-pocket as it usually happens.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel


Accept no imitations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIA4Wj6WLRc
And here’s Jack showing the MP bots how to make proper use of their swords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knOzr8Ew2sc
Also, the DK for Sakomizu’s second strongest solo attack.

:siren: SRW UX - Believe ver. HD

:siren: SRW UX - A Bird’s Song

And then 12 squads have been taken out.

: I knew it…! This place is…!
: What’s the matter?
: This is what I saw when I was inside the Linebarrel’s cyberworld…
: It’s the world of the future that Mr. Amagatsu showed me!
: Th-The world of the future?!
: Yeah, I remember now! We saw this city when the Wings of Rean showed us the destruction in our future!
: It most certainly is… I remember this dilapidated landscape well!
: W-Wait just a minute-robo! If this is from the future, what’s it doing in the present…?!
: And inside the moon, of all places?!
: The Human Machinas came from the future, so do you think they built a replica of their world in here?
: No… That’s not what this is.
: Hm? Did you realize something?
: Y-Yeah… This city is…!
: …
: This is the Tokyo I knew…!
: This is THE Tokyo from our parallel universe!
: …?!
: S-Say what…?! But I’m sure this is what I saw before…!
: What’s going on here?!
: There’s a Tokyo from the world of the future inside the moon, but it’s also the Tokyo from a parallel universe…?
: Alright, I’m officially as lost as a nun on a honeymoon!

Ruuuuumble!

: Huh…? What was that?!
: We’re detecting an Override signal! Something is warping over!
: An Override?!
: Can it be…!

: …
: Th-That’s…!
: A Machina… No, it looks like!
: That’s right…
: If Judah’s intel is correct, that’s the being who oversees all the Human Machinas…

: He’s the cause of everything…!
: Then, that’s…!

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel (Full Intro)

: The boss of the Human Machinas?!
: Aye… He is that which, by rights, ought to not exist. A mechanical god made by the hands of man…
: An Extra Deus Machina… That is to say—!
: A Deus Ex Machina…! A god comes to bring down the curtain onto our world…!
: …
: Ah, so that’s what it was…
: It took a while, but I finally see why Hisataka sent us to take look at Arkham City back then.
: Deus Machina, a mechanical God, and Deus Machinas, godly machines born of sorcery…
: They are alike at first glance, but their essence is very different…
: …
: At long last, you have made it here, humans…
: H-He can talk…?!
: You have so much strength…
: Yet you insist on heading towards your destruction? Why?
: Our destruction?
: Nature does not allow creatures who have lost their imagination to exist…
: Thus, death is the sustenance of imagination…
: Death is the beginning of life…
: …?!
: By taking away that sustenance, humanity will once again head towards its end…
: Wh-What’re you talking about?!
: The sustenance that is death – that is, life-threatening crisis…
: W-Wait a minute, do you mean…?
: …
: That the closer we humanity gets to peace… the closer we also get to our destruction?
: Correct. It is not we who would be the end of mankind.
: No, that is you. You will be the cause of mankind’s downfall.
: Wh-What…?!
: Again, and again…
: You understand nothing, and, in your ignorance, doom your kind…
: By fighting and prevailing against threats to mankind, we slowly but surely earn a lasting peace…
: And, in doing so, we set humanity closer to eventually flipping its Suicide Switch… We’re the ones who initiate the countdown…
: …
: Then…
: Everything we fought for…


Everyone loses 30 morale!.. Except Kaido and Magami, who get +30 morale (this could be a bug, but I like to think it isn’t)!

: Sophistry! Do not let his words dampen your spirit!
: C-Cao Cao…!
: Yeah… Why is it that we simply can’t have peace?!
: A world without war has always been the dream of not only us, but of so many!
: B-But… that stuff about the Suicide Switch in our DNA is all true, right?
: Which would mean…!
: Kch… Damnation! These people held such conviction in their battles and now…!
: His words have shaken them to their core…!
: We’ve been given a proper portent of doom…
: How are we supposed to fight him like this?!
: Come, humans…
: I will grant sustenance to your imaginations once more…


Deus Ex Machina
Pilot Skills:
Double Movement
Prevail L9
Support Attack L3
Break Morale Limit
Counter
Predict
All Attack L3
Command L4
Mech Features:
Override
30% HP and EN Regen
All Canceller
Deus Ex Machina’s voice actor: Tessho Genda (other roles: Gu-Landon in SRW OGs, Kirks in Masoukishin, Ryujinmaru in Wataru, Sleggar and Dozle in the original Gundam, and a ton more)

Now that’s a big boss: stats are massive all across the board, 200k HP plus a ton of defenses, Override and that Skill stat means your hit %s’ll take a big hit and, of course, he hits like a truck.
We haven’t had a boss with a properly threatening MAPW yet, and Deus comes to change that with one that blasts anywhere in 2-8 range with a 4x4 AoE (only blind spot is at point-blank range). Thankfully, his AI seems hard-wired not to use both movements on that – he’ll pop it and, then, move in to bash someone’s face in. Not that he needs to weaken a unit, because his strongest attack – appropriately named Overkill – is strong enough that it can probably oneshot anyone except our beefier guys (good news is that its range is only 1).

Confuse is the name of the game, because you absolutely don’t want to risk him tagging folks with that MAPW – especially if you don’t have Kongming boosting their dodge rates with S ranks. We need to take care of him to beat the mission, and with everyone’s morale effectively reset back to 100, you’ll need to get back to work on the newly-arrived mooks. Deus’ll give you one turn and then he’ll start closing in, so spread out and kill as much as you can (this is why activating all those skills prior to the morale hit is very recommended).
Get him under 70% for the plot to progress.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

:siren: SRW UX - LEGEND OF KAISER

:siren: Final Mission ~ Quantum Burst 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26H-WQEQ1ME
And here he comes.
Deus vs. Kurou: “You, just as humanity, cannot escape the curse that binds you.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRpv0HjlQKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B3nlwLNGoU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWvdcqoMc9U
And while we’re at it, here’s a couple of more DKs from Kiriyama, Lu Bu and Sakomizu. I particularly enjoy the sight of a giant space baby getting judo flipped.

And when the morale’s good enough, turn your sights back to Deus. He’s likely already in your face.

:siren: SRW UX - Azure


Deus vs. Fafners: “The moment you lose your imagination is the moment you’ll cease to be there.”

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


And after more than a few overridden attacks, because I’d apparently forgotten what happened with Amagatsu…

: This strength…
: It’s because you have this strength that mankind will be destroyed.

: Wh-What the…?!
: All the damage we did just vanished!
: His regeneration is off the charts… This goes way beyond the level of nanomachines!
: ‘Tis… a power in the realm of the divine!
: Why are humans incapable of existing as humans ought to be…?
: Why do you not embrace the paradise that was granted to you…?

BLAAAAST!

: Gwaaaaaaah!
: Do you wish to live? Does death frighten you?
: That is imagination… That is life.

: Aaaiieeee!
: Stop! Don’t kill them!
: Th-This pain… This anguish, this is what life is?!
: Why are you so set on opposing God that you’re willing to suffer like this?!
: Sh-Shut up, Kurusu…!
: …?!
: “The paradise that was granted to us”… What a load of bull!
: A world where people are fighting nonstop, where they’re kept up at night for fear that they might end up dead…!
: What the hell kind of paradise is that?!
: B-But…!
: He’s right… We’re not puppets to be controlled! We’re humans!
: Peace will lead us to destruction?! I…
: I’ll never accept anything as ridiculous as that!

:siren: SRW UX - Dunbine Flies

: Shou…!
: Aura Power… that which can actualize human beliefs…
: Yeah! If wanting to live is the essence of life, then so is the wanting to have peace!
: Because Shou… Because humans all have the capacity to give form to those wishes!
: …
: Give form to…their wishes…
: I won’t be beaten!
: You wish to face me, human…?

: It is useless…

Flash!

: Aaargh!
: Shou…!
: He defended himself with a compressed warp field…!
: Not even Shou Zama’s Aura Power could pierce that barrier…!
: No, there’s still something we can try!
: Kouichi?!

Kouichi moves over to the Dunbine.

: Shou, I’ll go in right after him!
: He’s using a compressed warp field, so if I can hit him back with the exact same thing…!
: The same…?! That’d trigger a particle annihilation between them…!
: Ooh, I get it! Both fields will neutralize each other, leaving him exposed for a split-second…!
: A separate energy blast right at that moment could get through…!
: That’s a really small window, though! Can they pull it off…?
: We can and we will! No one’s ever won a battle by thinking it’s already a lost cause!
: Isn’t that right, Kouichi?
: Yeah! This isn’t about what we can or can’t do!
: We just have to do it!

: SEEEEIIIIII!

: Get him! Gooooooo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZCiWWe9sQA
Captions are available because why not?

: Hrrrmm!
: They did it… They pushed Deus Ex Machina back…!
: Haah, haah… You guys saw that?!
: That’s the power us humans have! There’s nothing we can’t do!
: Hayase, you’re…!
: He’s right… What did we get through all those battles for?!
: It was so we could protect the lives of others… and so that human hands could create a future where they may go on living as humans…!
: There’s only one solution for this, then!
: Don’t be afraid, and don’t be sad!
: Take the faith in your heart… and turn it to a force of justice! (Variations on lyrics for Dunbine Flies)


Everyone maxes out morale!

: Th-This… This is the strength of humans…?
: These are the possibilities of humanity?!
: And I’m about to teach you something else, Deux Ex Machina!
: That justice… justice always wins!


Take out Deus Ex Machina to finish the mission, but chances are he’s too far away for you to manage that on this turn. Just pop another Confuse, bunch up your guys together so he’ll come to you and then go to town on the next turn (he’ll regen all the damage he took from Shou, but 200k is more than doable in one turn).


Bah.


“So that Earth may be safe from ‘the enemy’.”


But he only went after either dodgy or protected folks, so it’s fine.

:siren: SRW UX - In the Blue Sky ver. HD

: You seem to grasp the meaning of life… but peace will have you forget that.
: I sense what your feelings are… You’re a bit of a knucklehead, aren’t you?
: Still, I think you can turn over a new leaf!

: It’s this willingness to resist their fated destruction that gave humans the imagination with which they weave their future…
: Come to think of it, the Dancouga was also meant to be a way resist destruction.
: Granted, that original plan went out the window a long time ago.
: Well, duh! No one here buys into a plan of surviving by running off with your tail between your legs!
: And that hasn’t changed now…! It’s by standing our ground and fighting that we’ll win our survival! Let’s go wild!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUjWaH9hgb4
And here’s his absolute strongest weapon. Note that it did 1500+ damage on a 50% upgraded Dancouga WITH Iron Wall and Guard – as I said, only your bulkiest guys will survive a clean hit from this.

And now we go!

Lisa Komine - PROUD
:siren: :siren:

: You remain adrift in an endless cycle, yet you do not allow despair to grip you…
: But it will happen sooner or later. The faceless one will see to it.
: I’ve no idea what you’re on about, but we’re never throwing the towel!
: Display your might unto him, Demonbane!
: Erase the Extra Deus Machina that the hands of man have wrought!

: Lose your capacity to imagine death, and soon your capacity to express any and all emotions will follow.
: Even if that’s what’s waiting for us, the strength of our hearts… the music of our souls has the strength to overcome any obstacles! That’s what I believe!


Deus vs. Alto or Fei: “Song could never exceed the fear of death as the root of imagination.”

: You know of the despair that awaits mankind in its future, so why…?
: Because what I saw is meaningless, especially considering I’m standing here right now.
: Man’s will to survive is capable of overturning even the future as it’s been written… and it’s your turn to realize that!


:argh:
Deus vs. Ishigami: “The events you were taught all lead towards destruction.”

: What was I afraid of? Even he is just another being in this world.
: You must imagine death… It’s the only way for life to endure eternally.
: Hope exceeds fear, I’m afraid. Now let me show you the strength that resides in someone who’s overcome that fear!


Deus vs. Katou: “The solution you had found was the correct one. How unfortunate.”

: The sustenance of death that we offer is the gospel of your salvation…
: Death is all the future holds for those who’d reject that.
: Alright, I’ve had it up to here with your yammering!
: We’re all trying to save mankind in our own way, so let’s just throw down and see who’s more stubborn about it!


Deus vs. Joe: “The righteous sun, and the righteous moon… not even those could avert the extinction of mankind.”
The first half of the phrase refers to a passage in the Ninja Legend of Ladorio. The sun refers to Tobikage – look at its headband!

: You would reap the sustenance that is death… It is you who corrupts this world. You are a destroyer, beckoning all towards despair.
: Mankind does not need conflict. As long as there is dialogue to be had with others, humans will never lose their imagination!
: I see a bright future beyond the end of our conflict… and I’ve faith in that future!


Deus vs. Celestial Being unit: “The peace that lies beyond conflict… is the way for the death of mankind.”

: How far a Machina that failed to become Human has come…
: Is this the strength of a man who’s willing to die for his cause…?
: I’ll admit that I didn’t mind dying if meant accomplishing my mission…
: But it looks like the local Champion of Justice wasn’t having it. Now I’m going to fight tooth and nail for my life…!


Deus vs. Factors: “I see you have acquired some measure of imagination, Machina.”

: It’s impossible for you to save mankind piloting Machinas that failed to become Human, even if they have learned to imagine.
: Yikes. Those’re some powerful words coming from the top dog among not only Machinas, but the Human Machinas.
: Looking at Hayase, though, I get the feeling he doesn’t give a crap about this guy’s arguments.
: Well, sure, he’s too stupid to understand ‘em anyway!
: Sis, please, be nice…
: But it’s that attitude of his that gave us the courage to get back on our feet!
: He showed us that people still have hope inside them, even when they’re surrounded by despair!
: But that’s not something machines who shut themselves inside the moon because they believe the future is set in stone could ever understand!
: The ability to constantly change and keep moving towards your dreams is a strength found in all humans…
: Come, Deus Ex Machina! We’ll teach you just how strong the will of humans can be…!

: Human hands cannot overturn the tides of ruin… you may employ weapons similar to us, but that will change nothing.
: Hmph, what a grandiose speech…
: Then, open your eyes and observe, machine God!
: This is the strength of the humans who pilot these!
: It won’t be the power of the machines we control that’ll defeat you! No… it’ll be the will of humans determined to stay alive!


Deus vs. Armas: “Humanity has come so far as to even create copies of Machinas…”

: If it really was the will of the planet that gave life to Heroman, then I’m sure we can demolish the destruction in our fate…
: Actually, no, that has to happen, and we and our friends’ll make it so!
: Hrmm…!
: The will of the planet…?


Deus vs. Heroman: “The world cannot be saved by a lone hero.”

: Regulate life as it trails its preset path. That is one of the tasks I have performed for human civilization across the generations.
: Maybe you did, but it was together that we suffered and made it this far! That’s how we’ve come to share in the same vision for the future…!
: Mankind won’t be saved through some God’s “regulation”! Rather, it’s by supporting one another that we’ll make even fate change itself!
: First we’ll go through you, and then we’ll win ourselves the future waiting beyond your so-called fate!


Deus vs. SEED folk: “What awaits at the terminus of your evolution… is destruction.”

: The samsara, the cycle of life and death… That is the immutable order that has been instilled upon the universe.
: Yeah, and that’s why people try and live life to the fullest!
: But they’re not doing it in order to escape from death…!
: People are here, in this world, because they want to be with all those they love…!


Deus vs. Fafners #2: The loss of self and the loss of imagination… both are very similar in my eyes.

: The light within you will also disappear face the destruction carved into every single human being.
: Time and again, we’ve seen the strength of man’s will to survive.
: And that’s how we can tell you with absolute certainty that mankind would never surrender…!
: Take a look, Deus Ex Machina! The light of our lives will blow away even your despair!


Deus vs. Arnie and Saya: “That light will fade along with your imagination.”

: Whatever path man takes, he will sooner or later be forced to accept his future…
: I’ve felt all the light of life when the Wings of Rean whisked me away!
: That’s how I know that life isn’t so fragile that it’ll break down if someone stops imagining their own death!


Deus vs. Aesap and Shou: “If all of mankind had your attachment to life, then…”

: A mighty will to save your lives from falling to nothingness. That is imagination and it is through it that humans may avoid their destruction.
: Hmph, do you actually expect us to live with sort of worry in our minds?
: We fight and we crush because we want to! And if we ever run out of folks to fight…
: Then we’ll go and take a stab at God and the Devil too!

: You may call yourself God, but you, yourself, are still a byproduct of human beliefs and emotions!
: And it’ll be those very human emotions that’ll lead mankind to ruin, just as you are all so intent on accomplishing…
: Maybe it would, but humanity’s will to live is strong enough not to accept that! We won’t stop until we’ve saved our future!
: Yeah! And nothing can beat an Aura Machina being empowered by its pilot’s will to live! Get him, Shou!

: The possibilities of humanity… could it free man from the destruction imposed upon them…?
: Championing all life as it carries on its trek to the future… That’s a pretty tall order, but…
: I like it. Save the world, protect mankind… That sounds pretty good to me!
: Go, Kouichi! Show him that reality exceeds his imagination!
: Come on, Linebarrel! Surpass all your limits!


Deus vs. Kouichi: “You may be a singularity, Kouichi Hayase, but that will not change the outcome.”
Kouichi attacking: “I’m ending this now, Deus Ex Machina!

: Without the sustenance of death, humans will forsake their lives and head down the path of destruction… Such is the will of the heavens.
: Our struggles to defend others… to spread life across the planet are not mistaken! I refuse to believe that it is so!
: And the wills of the people are not so weak that they would submit to destruction after all the blood that was poured to earn their future!
: The glorious will to carve out a tomorrow for oneself! The tenacity found even in the commonest of folk! ‘Tis through those that eternity shall be ours!
: The strength of the will… the strength of the soul is capable of remaking the very fabric of karma! May its brilliance burn into your mind as you fall! Behold— MY SOOOOUUUUL!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t-C0NiSPBw
And I figured, what the hell, let’s have Lu Bu literally stomp the big bad into the ground!
Deus Ex Machina drops another Fei’s Disk.

: Gch… Uurrrgh!
: How can this be…? Is this what toppled even Moon WILL – the possibilities within humans…?
: Moon WILL…?
: Now that you mention it, he also had a habit of selling humanity short.
: Yeah, he tagged us as ‘flawed creatures who lacked self-control’…
: Was he wrong? You understand that yours is the way of destruction, yet you do not reconsider your current actions…
: That is why we…!
: What, you’ll keep us alive like we’re a bunch of pets, feeding us some bites of “fear of death” every now and then? Come on, dude!
: Mechanical God or whatever you are, we’re not giving up control of our lives to over to you!
: Idiocy…! You are all fools.
: It’s that conceit that will eventually be the end of the entire human race…

:siren: SRW UX - Proud

: If that’s the case, then we’ll just change that!
: What…?!
: …
: It’s true that, at first, the possibilities within us are as tiny as they come…
: Our individual wishes, by themselves, are just small, isolated, dots…
: But humans are capable of reaching out to one another, running a line from one dot to the other…
: And as those lines overlap… those wishes are given form and become something real!
: …?!
: Those wishes are without limit, growing into infinity…
: And, in time, they become a force capable of changing even fate itself!
: …
: The lines drawn out from every individual possibility… and the aggregation of those lines gives life to an all-encompassing form…
: Line…barrel…
: And nothing’ll ever get the better of us so long as that will remains strong!
: That’s our justice, and the future’ll bear that out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdTqmuEkrmA
Captions are available.

: …
: You’ll force the fate carved into all life to change through the strength of your wills…
: That is your answer…?

RUUUUMBLE!

: Wh-What’s going on?!
: Space-time anomaly detected! This whole area’s falling apart!
: S-Say what?!
: …
: Go, humans.
: Muster the strength you’ve shown us and face the end of the Yuga.
: (The end of the Yuga…?)

RUUUUMBLE!

: W-Whoaaaa!
: We can’t stay here! Emergency retreat – all units, return to your ships at once!

: …
: Whatever future’s lying in wait for us…
: We will find a way to live on…

: …
: The future will bear that out, hm…? (These words are significant because they were the last words Flower of Steel Kouichi – the one we saw in L’s Animebarrels finale – said to Deus Ex Machina)
: Kouichi… Hayase…

BOOOOOM!

: We’ve confirmed that the Lunar Pit is destroyed. There is no way of knowing how things are inside, but…
: I don’t think even Deus Ex Machina could survive getting dragged into a space-time anomaly that size…
: We really beat that big God, then?!
: Who can say…
: But, if anything, I think we convinced him to accept us.
: Hah… All that fighting, and ‘convincing’ him is the best we got?
: You have our thanks, Eiji. I doubt we could’ve pulled this off without your resolve.
: Please, my resolve is minuscule compared to your and your allies’ spirit.
: Minuscule it may be, but great strength is born as it all joins together.
: And I hope we can count on you to continue assisting us in future battles?
: M-Me…?!
: There isn’t a single person here who’d be on your case over past mistakes.
: After all, what matters isn’t what you should do. It’s what you want to do.
: …
: Thank you, everyone…
: That’s the threat of the Human Machinas dealt with, but there are still many questions left unanswered.
: And despite everything we said, it doesn’t really change the fact that humans do have that Suicide Switch in them.
: Every step towards peace is another step towards our destruction…?
: Don’t go there, I say. Brooding over it ain’t gonna get us anywhere.
: We’d already made up our minds to keep on fighting, come what may. Isn’t that good enough for now?
: I guess so…
: One thing that still bothers me, though, is that Tokyo inside the moon.
: Oh, yeah, and you said those ruins were from the one you knew.
: Does that mean that your home is already gone, Shou?
: I don’t even want to think about that. The aesthetics and layout of the buildings were the same as our Tokyo, though.
: A Tokyo from a parallel universe… I suppose it’d make sense that it’d be a bit different from the one we’re familiar with…
: But didn’t Aesap and Kouichi say that they also saw that city in their vision of the future?
: Yeah, we did…
: Then, Shou and the others didn’t come from a parallel universe, but from the future?
: Have some care before you open your mouth. You’re suggesting Shou’s world really has been destroyed.
: O-Oh, right … But, wait, if that’s the case, how did that city even get there?
: I may have an answer…
: It came from neither a parallel universe, nor the future…
: Huh…?!
: Am I wrong, Mr. Ishigami?
: Hah… Your wit never disappoints, Master Kongming.
: Wh-What do you mean?!
: I mean exactly what I said: his theory is right on the money.
: The Tokyo inside the moon wasn’t from the future or a parallel universe.
: Where, then…?
: It was from the world that existed before everything was reset…
: In other words, it’s the Tokyo from the previous universe.
: …?!
: Wh-What?!
: The previous universe…?! That’s nuts!
: …
: The universe has already been destroyed once before, and the current one began after that happened…?
: I get it now…! That’s what General Lu Bu meant back then…!
: …
: You called this world Penglai…!
: And it really is… it’s the land that exists beyond death – beyond the destruction of the previous one!

: Hmhmhmhm…
: They’re also getting pretty close to the truth, I see…
: Karma flows in a circle, coming to fruition at samsara’s end…
: Come on, come on! Show me what lies beyond the end and the beginning!
: Show me a brand new Yuga…!

: Cmdr. Makabe, we’ve received a message from the UX.
: They’ve completed their mission at the moon and are headed back here.
: Excellent. Looks like they might just make it in time.
: The enemy Mir’s drawing closer and closer to Tatsumiya. It really wants to assimilate our own Mir, hm?
: But I doubt it’ll just listen to us even if Misao Kurusu does come back.
: Soushi, Tsubaki and Akane are all gone. How are we going to communicate with their Mir, Makabe?
: …
: The hope that was born onto our island. She’s our final option…
: You don’t mean…!
: …

: Mommy, why are we going to the ALVIS doctor? I’m not sick.
: Hmm, why are we going? Can you guess, honey?
: Hmmm…
: (Don’t worry, Miwa. I swear I’ll keep you safe…)

Now, with only a handful of missions to go and not many more units to grab, it’s time to pick another three units to get maxed out. Don’t worry about that secret powerhouse or the Odyssea, since I’m going to max them out anyway; I don’t think any of the other secrets would get picked… but if the outcry is significant, I’ll do it anyway.

Here are your options:

  • Linebarrel, Vardant, Painkiller, Judah, Tsukuyomi, Glain-Neidr/Naked, Jinrai
  • Destroyer Robo
  • Mark Sein, Mark Fünf, Mark Destiny, Mark Sieben
  • Nanajin, Oukaou
  • Tobikage
  • Bilbine, Zwarth
  • Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice
  • 00 Qan[t], Zabanya, Harute, Brave
  • Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Lu Bu
  • Mazinkaiser
  • YF-29 Durandal, Macross Quarter
  • Dancouga Nova

Either post here, on in the other thread, or make a comment in a youtube video for mission 46 - whichever suits you best.

Voting will remain open until Tuesday, August 7th.

This is fantastic! I have to thank you for your hard work for delivering this. I do have a few questions.
What is the difference between the Linebarrel guys’s override and overdrive? Are they the same thing?
I might of missed it, but what was Joey’s red mode thing exactly?
How is Miku talking with the cast in these buildings when she’s a giant robot?
Nero and Ennea are the same person, but also Master Therion’s reincarnation, but then he reincarnates from them? I’m a bit confused.
Thanks again for your hard work, though!

1- Maybe you misread something? The Linebarrel, at least in UX, doesn’t have anything called ‘overdrive’ - there’s only the Override, which is essentially a system that allows it to warp through space and time.
2 - I haven’t watched Heroman, so I can’t say much as UX didn’t go into detail… but, from what I can surmise, it’s his gauntlet running out of control in respose to his raging emotions. In essence, his plan was to unleash all that wild energy on top of Gogorr and kill him in the explosion.
3 - Fei-Yen HD, unlike the MP Fei-Yen we usually see in SRW, is the same height as Miku and Fayubu (Fei’s human form), which is, if I remember correctly, around 1m60cm?
4 - I dunno what kind of being Ennea/Nero really is, but maybe that’s expanded in the VN. But, from what I can see here, they’re not REALLY Master Therion, but something akin to him? Maybe she’s got some Therion cells in her? I can’t say…

As for Nero/Ennea. For starters, Ennea was just an alias. She couldn’t very well go around calling herself Tyrant or Nero in front of Kurou and Al. As for the nature of Master Therion’s reincarnation, recall the talk of the “C Priestess” in the Demonbane stages.

So, the Black Lodge’s goal was to summon and control Cthulhu (The entire plan for this was dubbed the C Project). For that, they needed a human who would be able to interact with Cthulhu’s consciousness without going insane. This human was the C Priestess.
Thus, the Black Lodge began the Moonchild Project, which would seek to create humans who could assume the role of the C Priestess (the ones that couldn’t ended up being magic cyborg killing machines. At least, that was the plan).
Vespasianus (the old guy Augustus backstabbed) was in charge of the Moonchild Project. There were initially eight test subjects/ Moonchildren. Stuff went wrong, of course, and the fifth Moonchild, Ryuuga (mentioned by Leica in one of the Wings of Rean stages EDIT: or it may have been a Fafner stage), killed all but one of the Moonchildren. This happened to be the fourth Moonchild, Leica. Leica killed Ryuuga and deserted the Black Lodge. In the VN, she gave herself the superhero name Metatron and fought against the Black Lodge.
Of course, Leica was also planned to be the C Priestess. Because she left, Vespasianus had to make a ninth Moonchild based on Leica’s design (though he goes out of the way to develop precautions so that the ninth Moonchild won’t runoff and become a “hero”). The ninth Moonchild was Nero (if you wondered why she called herself a villain all the time when the UX fought her, it’s part of Vespasianus’ aforementioned precautions)
However, this is the Black Lodge and nobody’s in it for the team effort. Vespasianus himself is just using the Black Lodge to fulfill his own ambitions. By his words, he “wishes to summon the ultimate being” noted in his grimoire and “reach the realm of the Gods.”
Thus, behind the back of everybody in the Black Lodge, he intends to use the C Priestess for his own desires. For this, he studied a certain event at Dunwich (look up The Dunwich Horror and read the synopsis if you want) and had Nero impregnated by Yog-Sothoth.
He dubbed the embryo the Tenth Moonchild; however, he didn’t realize that the “ultimate being” in his grimoire was Master Therion (Master Therion is just one of a few incarnations of what he really is. One of his incarnations, Zsa-Wia, is worshipped by a tribe in Manaus. His Deus Machina Liber Legis is another of his incarnations). In otherwords, the Tenth Moonchild, and what Vespasianus sought to summon, was Master Therion.
Hope that clears that up.

With only a handful of missions to go and not many more units to grab, it’s time to pick another three units to get maxed out. Don’t worry about that secret powerhouse or the Odyssea, since I’m going to max them out anyway; I don’t think any of the other secrets would get picked… but if the outcry is significant, I’ll do it.

Here are your options:

  • Linebarrel, Vardant, Painkiller, Judah, Tsukuyomi, Glain-Neidr/Naked, Jinrai
  • Destroyer Robo
  • Mark Sein, Mark Fünf, Mark Destiny, Mark Sieben
  • Nanajin, Oukaou
  • Tobikage
  • Bilbine, Zwarth
  • Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice
  • 00 Qan[t], Zabanya, Harute, Brave
  • Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Lu Bu
  • Mazinkaiser
  • YF-29 Durandal, Macross Quarter
  • Dancouga Nova

Either post here, on in the other thread, or make a comment in a youtube video for mission 46 - whichever suits you best.

Voting will remain open until Tuesday, August 7th.

Pretty much the only series I’ve any direct experience of in this roster is 00, so two of my picks are going to be from that.

Namely the 00 Qan[t], because protagonist… and also the Brave, because Graham’s a pretty good guy… and also because I’m a Jojo fan - Graham’s VA is confirmed to be voicing Bruno in the upcoming part 5 anime.

And my third pick would be Lu Bu… because since you’re already giving him one version of his Dynasty Warriors theme, it’s only fitting that he has the strength to match it (I got into the series with 8 a few weeks ago). And so that more foes can behold his SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!

I’ll have to cast my votes to…
Our favorite Prime Minister Cao Cao
Manipulator-in-chief Judah
And while he isn’t on the list, I will defy fate and vote for my boy Jack Smith

First off - do not go into this mission thinking you can kill all of the Machina. You cannot. Or at least I think you would have to be cheating to do it - I tried so damn hard to manage it, but they hit too hard and they hit too often, and Deceive IV isn’t exactly a tank.

It’s not properly explained in Heroman, and UX doesn’t go into more detail about it as far as I know. But it’s some sort of backlash caused by either Heroman or Joey getting taken out that makes the other go completely berserk (Heroman went into that mode back during the original Gogorr battle, remember?). Joey’s original plan was to basically selfdestruct on Gogorr, but the power of love and Heroman not being dead made him not do it.

Anyway, as for my vote, I choose DOCTOR WEST, because he is Doctor Best, LU BU, because he’s Lu Bu, and MAZINKAISER SKL because I want to see so many Hot Blood/Zeal shenanigans happen.

So, as promised, time to do the “what happened after the end of this” segment. First off: Kouichi kind of fucked up by teleporting in. No one was able to teleport after him (no Fold tech, and the guys on the Shangri La and the Glen Neidr were getting gangbanged by giant baby Machina so they couldn’t support), so Deus Ex Machina showed up and activated his own compressed warp field, and the collision jumped both of them into the future, thus causing the timeskip. And from there… well… spoiler territory. The manga jumps around the timeline a little so I’m going to attempt to order this in chronological order.

Linebarrels Of Iron, Post Timeskip

The big thing to know is that Kouichi getting shot to the future was almost certainly not intended, and he was intended to kill Deus Ex Machina on the moon. There’s a lot of shit that goes wrong because of Kouichi’s absence that it is almost certain Ishigami didn’t prepare for. So when things go south here… well, he might not be to blame.

Anyway, in more plot relevant details, Katou being kind of evil and everyone joining him resulted in everyone getting somewhat branded “villains who we begrudgingly trust”, which killed Miu’s marketability, so she’s lost her job. She’s clearly going even more off the deep end because of that and Kouichi being missing. There’s an actual heartfelt conversation between her and Katou that points out their similarities to establish “oh yeah, so Miu absolutely had her suicide switch flipped.” This ends when the Machina launch their invasion on Earth, leading everyone back to the fight. This also caused a few Hitomachina infiltrators to Earth to turn against their side.

The posttimeskip begins in terms of “what you see first” with Emi, Yajima, and a few others fighting Hitomachina in a city, because there’s kind of a large scale invasion going on. In the middle of this, a unit shoots down from space. Codenamed “Lovebarrel”, it turns out to be essentially power armor for a small fully humanoid Machina named Ohba Makishi. She is a small child and acts like one, but in the fight against her we are introduced to the true hero of Linebarrels of Iron - Yamashita got some mods to his unit, so now it is the HINDTANK!

(that was a thing mentioned in a few joking panels pre-timeskip. It became a thing after the timeskip. Truly HINDTANK knows no boundaries)

Anyway she’s one of the traitor Hitomachina and she decides to go with them after seeing Reiji’s face and crushing on him hard, which starts a rivalry with Yamashita that is eventually ended when it turns out she likes the same silly manga that he does and so they become friends. Truly riveting. Her plotline is mostly unimportant overall so I’ll just spoil that she ends up with Furuya to try to give him a reason to exist. On that note, Yajima got together with Risako. In more important news, Ohba notes that the one who sent her to Earth, her “grandfather”, wanted her specifically to try and figure out how to save the humans, and her Grandfather is absolutely not Deus. Also, the evil people who were manipulating human history (Accelerators? Fuck if I can remember their names) killed JFK. Little random shit like this happens over a lot of exposition that is generally the reason the timeskip is so hated (that and the focus on plots that Do Not Matter That Much.) On an unrelated note, Ohba’s grandfather shows up and lands near the White House in a giant disk UFO, and he’s literally Evil Robot Abraham Lincoln.

Cut back to the Shangri La, where Izuna and Miu start getting a suspicious amount of focus. Miu’s still spiraling out of control and very clearly barely holding on, while Izuna tries to help… with some advice that will cause problems later, but eh. Also Sawatari is a horrifying mass murderer right now and they can’t find him.

Oh, and here we get a big flashback to Izuna’s past. Turns out his dad worked on Deceive and was a bastard to the point where Ishigami didn’t really like his shit, and before he got paired up to the machine he was quite a downer and had the ability to see death. When he was forced to go near Deceive it saw this as what it was - a defected flipped suicide switch, and tried to save his life. Except that when he connected to the machine, the exact thing he saw would happen did happen - in a brief bout of insanity, Izuna and Deceive murdered his dad. At this, Deceive locked away this ability from the both of them to save them.

That bout of horror aside, the two are actually seemingly helping each other, and Izuna goes to Miu’s last concert… which is a complete fucking bomb because everyone thinks she’s a villain. Domyouji and Jack, in conversation, happen to hit on at the last moment something horrible - Deceive sealed that ability away to help Izuna live, but if it ever decided he needed it to survive… and then Izuna regains his ability and sees his immediate death.

Deceive has gone completely insane as the two are fully resonating in terror of “oh my fuck I’m about to die.”, which causes it to rampage. Izuna manages to get Shizuna to run the fuck away, but everyone in that concert hall… well… Miu summons Painkiller, and Izuna tells her that Deceive is fully a Humanoid now - it knows its own death intimately, and it is afraid. Miu’s clearly fucking baffled and Domyouji points out that he knows the score, and something is off - Miu was JUST ABOUT TO SNAP, and only the attack saved her from that… so basically Izuna killed everyone because Miu was about to. Fucking whoops. They tell this to Miu too, just to hammer it in. And Deceive is holding Izuna hostage with their life. Izuna tries to give her some advice to get her to stand on her own, which sort of works… except it causes her to go completely out of control herself, double fucking whoops. Painkiller combines with Pard and Roc to form a mode I forget the name of.

What follows is probably the most horrible and terrible chapter in the manga, which I have like eight pictures from and which I will post none of them because they make me cry bitch tears sometimes. Izuna apologizes to Deceive for turning it into a murderer, as it flings Domyouji out of the way to save his life from the rampaging Miu. Izuna then says goodbye to his sister as Decieve is gorily disemboweled by Painkiller. Following this are two pages of a small kid in a large shadow crying soundlessly by itself. Izuna shows up, offers it a hand, and the two walk off into the blank nothingness, out of the shadow of Deceive. Following that bit of abject fucking horror we see what Deceive and Izuna originally saw, transmitted to Domyouji as it was flinging him away, and Katou responds to a “…was that part of what was needed to save the world” with “god I fucking hope so.” Miu escapes in the madness, and Domyouji comforts a Shizuna who is desperately trying to cope, which is the origin of their entire ship (and also why the last episode of the anime hinted at them getting together!)

That chapter was basically the best thing to come out of the post timeskip of Linebarrel, so sorry for devoting an entire paragraph to it. It’s all downhill from here.

Lincoln says some mysterious shit to Sawatari, who shows up in full LET’S MURDER PEOPLE style during the ‘final offensive against the Machina on Earth’. The enemy opens up a massive compression field, but this turns out to be a part of Katou’s plan, because interrupting their reinforcements… is Kouichi! TWO FUCKING CHAPTERS TOO LATE. Turns out this was part of Lincoln’s plan too. He meets everyone, they talk about what’s happened, and it’s revealed that Shizuna is helping to make a new Arma - spoiling it early but it’s the Deceive V.

More shit happens. Shizuna reveals that she was partly behind her father’s death, which clashes with what we read literally four or five chapters before, and Domyouji decides to pilot with her. Lincoln shows up with a force of his own, and takes to the field with the best mecha design of the second half, the all-nanomachine exoskeleton known as the Rail Splitter. Sawatari decides to help Kouichi fight this time because the Machina want Kouichi to live and he wants to kill Kouichi. (LOGIC) Abe uses Override right when Kouichi does and the two get stuck in a giant ball of nanomachines, letting him connect up to Linebarrel, so he can do a giant exposition dump, featuring Nano and Machine again.

He shows Kouichi some of the rebuilding. See, at this point in the manga it’s been revealed that everything from the machina time was the past, with no time travel involved, and the reason turns out to be that the Machina forcefully took apart everything and rebuilt the entire world to the state it was in in 1871. They then vat-grew cloned humans to refill the world - as Lincoln puts it, “humans created Machina, so Machina created humans.” They also created a giant simulator machina to figure out how to make everything work out properly which is very clearly shown to be Juda, though it’s not named yet.

…It’s at this point that Katou showed up, and found the thing. This is where he got the time to make all of those Kizaki Amagatsu clones. So they made the machina re run everything to make sure it still worked, except that when it did, it saw its own death as a possiblity, causing it to go Humanoid. So it hit upon a new plan - the backstory of the manga, where the various Machina were dropped onto the planet and Katou was basically told “if every one has a Factor, we’ll come down there”. The plan was that Katou would activate some, others would activate others, Juda would go down to check on things ahead of time, and when the time was right the Machina would descend to Earth and save the world from all the various humans fighting. Being recognized as ALLIES OF JUSTICE, they could then lead humans into a time of relative peace.

And then Juda met Kunio Ishigami. It betrayed the rest of the Machina, taking up the name Juda (after Judas, of course), and worked with Ishigami to make a new pathway, and basically gaslighted the entire Hitomachina force. And so when the Hitomachina came through, and every Machina on Earth attacked them, they realized - Juda had turned them into the common enemy to get humanity to work together and save themselves. Lincoln didn’t realize precisely what it meant for a while though, and like all of the Machina saw this as a situation that required another reset. But then he realized - Juda did create an ally of justice to unite humanity, it’s just that it’s Kouichi Hayase.

In imparting this, Lincoln notes that he’s the villain, and Kouichi is the hero, so his death is needed. Deus Ex Machina is going to reset humanity again, and Kouichi is needed to stop that. He tells Ohba to carry on his will, and dies when he hijack’s Linebarrel’s Executor to kill himself.

Sawatari meets Miu, who is now an insane mass murderer. She wants to join him. Lots of talking happens all over the place. It looks like Sawatari and Miu are going to join, and then Sawatari blatantly murders her and Painkiller and steals Pard and Roc because he’s an asshole. Also because he’s an asshole - his first command is for them to eat her and Painkiller’s remains. Lots more talking. Cut to Deus still doing that fucking cross armed and legged pose. Kouichi and Emi are totally together. There’s a giant battle against an invading force from the moon, the start of the last battle, and facing against a Machina that’s honestly easily 3L size and is literally just called “Death”. It summons a massive horde of the giant babies, but Deceive V takes control of most of them through NERVE CRACK shenanigans. Things then take a turn for the worse when it shrugs and just summons another one of itself.

The plan for the allies on that fight were to essentially get something through one of their summoning portals and transmit the location of the enemy so they could get reinforcements up to it, like last time except actually successful. Ohba sacrifices Lovebarrel to make it up, but just before Kouichi can teleport, he is SURPRISE BACKSTABBED by Sawatari. Turns out Lostbarrel had something called the Overdrive system that makes it a lot more powerful.

Sawatari does a motive rant, Katou goes “bitch you’re ten pounds of nope in a four pound bag”, and then Kouichi, who has half his body fucking dissolved down the middle, gets up, teleports himself into Sawatari’s cockpit, and goes “you’re a fuck, stop being a fuck”. All of the Machina bow down to him and proclaim him their king (no, seriously, this is basically what happened), and to make up for that whole “he got sliced in half” bit he decides to stick his brain inside Linebarrel so he can fight injustice forever. This makes both Emi and Reiji very sad, as well as like everyone else.

While he’s acclimating, they upgrade Linebarrel with a fuckload of equipment, in a form called the EX Linebarrel. Everyone goes to the moon and finds Ohba is kind of stuck there getting attacked for being a traitor, so they save her. Giant fucking last fight, and all of the Arma users are revealed to be remote-controlling their machines so as to let them accumulate damage and not feel it (to give them an edge). Deus Ex Machina shows up, EX Linebarrel wakes up, and… unfortunately the place I’m getting the translation from lacks the rest, so I’ll have to go with what little I know about the rest.

The two fight, stuff happens, Linebarrel ditches the EX equipment at some point and stuff stuff it suddenly goes red as the Override system goes nuts, assuming its true final form - Linebarrel Overlord. Deus gets shitcanned. Everyone celebrates, goes to rebuilding, Katou IIRC ends up in jail but survives the series and is the only person with a flipped suicide switch to do so, people get married, good stuff happens, also Kouichi is still Linebarrel and poses on the moon for an eternity as a true ALLY OF JUSTICE. Oh, and, uh, I guess his life is literally tied to Emi now? Since she’s Linebarrel’s only Factor now that he’s a part of it. Huh.

The full scanlations are up for those final chapters. You can check Mangadex or SMGs website. But to fill in the blanks that you missed:

Linebarrels' finale

In the final fight, Deus reveals the true motivations of the Machina. When they became “human,” they became self-aware of the fact that they were merely machines - tools for humanity. This is the reason for their entire plan.
If they, tools, had nobody to use them, there would be no use for their existence. To them, it’s the same as not existing at all. Thus, they needed to make a world in which humanity would rely on and use the Machina, which would in turn confirm their existence.
They wanted to reset the world because people still lacked imagination and wouldn’t accept the Machina. And also because Kouichi was there. Essentially, Kouichi was fighting for humans he never met, and people were putting their faith in Kouichi. And they (the Machina) hated that. I think their problem was that people put their faith in Kouichi this time, and not the Machina. (Hard to get a read on this because this is Linebarrels and the cast needs to expand their vocabulary and philosophizing beyond “SEIGI NO MIKATA”)
Then Deus realizes that Kouichi is just a brain in a jar/Machina and not really human anymore. So he lets Kouichi kill him because he realizes that Kouichi’s existence proves the Machinae’s existence.
Also, Emi only finds out that Kouichi is a brain in a jar after the mission. In the end, she and Katou retire to some farm in the middle of nowhere (also, Katou isn’t imprisoned or anything).

They published a new version of the final chapter n a recent edition of Monthly Heroes. We still don’t have scans of it, though

So many choices, but here’s what I’m going for:

I’m with @BrassSaturday here, and voting for the Union’s pride and joy, Graham in the Brave. Guy’s going to need and the help he can get to avoid becoming ELS chow.

For his contribution to being the lovable villiain-turned-hero, as well as his electric guitar, Dr. West is my second vote.

And finally, for showing an amazing display of ham and OP-ness, my final vote goes to SOOOOOOOUL!!! Lu Bu.

Click to see the mission!


We’re back, having officially wrapped up the Linebarrel’s plot and convinced Deus Ex Machina to take a chance on CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE. Today, Kazuki, Rina and Akira are deploying as event units, and the game continues its quest to drive me insane trying to fit as many relevant folks on my team as possible. We’ve 19 slots to go with, which means I had to further rearrange things:
Joe/Setsuna
Aesap/Sakomizu
Liu Bei/Pretender
Kurou/Deceive
Sakura/Maya
Canon/Marvel (Zwarth – she can also do the combo, and gets the Holy Warrior attack bonus)
Shou/Lu Bu
Mazinkaiser/Moritsugu
Alto/Fei-Yen
Ishigami/Katou
Arnie/Saya
Cao Cao/Domyoji
Shinn/Lunamaria
Dancouga/Eida
Heroman/Miu
Mamoru/Shouko
Kouichi/Kiki
Sun Quan/Rennie
Mike/Kenji
Tactician: Zhuge Liang

Also note that this mission is the cut-off point for both Setsuna and Graham’s kill count related to the 00 secrets. By the end of this, they must have, respectively, 150+ and 50+ kills.
Today’s mission is also your last chance to use the HAE Twin Dog and Senior Cross Dog combos if you’re going for the final Fafner secret (of course, if you didn’t use the Junior’s combo before Seri became the substitute core, then you’ve already lost that one…).

Off we go.

: Director Hazard, we’ve received word that the UX have returned to Earth and met up with ALVIS.
: Hmph, they’re likely going to try dealing with the Festum moving in on the island.
: Of course, knowing that crew, they’re probably going to try and ‘communicate’ with the blobs, or something equally stupid.
: Calling it stupid is putting it mildly. There’s only one way for mankind to secure its future.
: Right you are, madam Secretary General.
: Still, now that The Advancers have taken their side, a change of course is necessary.
: …
: The founding of the new utopia…
: Indeed, and I’ve already taken steps to secure a trump card to help with that.
: A trump card…?

Door opens.

: …
: Prof. Shot…!
: Hmhmhm, welcome back, Shot Weapon.
: Did your friendly chat with Novel Dylan help you find the answer you’d been after?
: It did, yes…
: I’m glad to hear that. However, I’m going to ask that you keep your curiosity on a leash for now.
: Dog, give him the file.
: Yes, sir. Here.
: Is this…?
: Dr. Minami’s experiment data.
: Unfortunately, he’s been arrested again, so I’d like you to carry on with his research.
: …

Flips through pages.

: What an insignificant research. What’s there to be gained by carrying this out now?
: I’ll have you know that there’s much to be gained.
: Remote control via brainwaves is merely the 1st step of the experiment. Its true purpose is…

Flips more pages.

: Th-This is a plan for…!
: Hmhmhm, you understand now, yes?
: While Minami was only a self-proclaimed genius, he did have some very interesting ideas.
: If we can successfully implement this plan, our new utopia will be all but a reality this time.
: What do you say, Prof. Shot? Will you accompany us as we head for a new world?
: …
: (A new world, hm…?)

: First things first, I’d like you to take a look at this.

Beep.

: Is that a carrier from the Army of Mankind…?
: The Bollearios, yes. Apparently, the Festum took it for themselves after kicking the Army of Mankind’s ass some.
: And the ship, now a nest for the Festum, is headed towards the island?
: Yes. Worse, the Bollearios has even deployed an optic camouflage and Welle Shield of its own.
: Aren’t those the same defense systems Tatsumiya uses…?!
: I guess they’ve learned enough from their battles with us to grow into a bona-fide invading force.
: …
: Our God has reached the limit of its patience. It’s determined to erase all the pain.
: In that case, you—…!
: I know!
: …

:siren: SRW UX - Separation

: The light Liu Bei and his allies showed… the light of the GN Particles…
: And, also, Kouichi and Shou’s spirit when facing against a God…
: Kurusu…
: I know that humans are capable of changing…
: But, I…

Door opens.

: But you could you talk to your God if I’m with you, no?
: …? You’re…
: Mi-Miwa…?
: …
: I heard them, in that big ship. They’re all in pain, aren’t they?
: You… You understand our language?

Tzeeeeeep.

: Hm?! H-Hrk…!
: H-Hey, are you okay?!
: Sh-She…
: She is our final hope…
: Th-That voice…!
: Sou…shi…?
: Yeah…! I see Soushi’s aura inside him!
: Sh-She’s the only one… who can communicate with the Mir… in their own language…
: Soushi, stop! Your mind’s going to disappear!
: I’m sorry, Kazuki… It’s all up to you.
: Soushi…!
: They’re going to reach… what we sealed away… A-Aaargh!
: Please, stop! Why are you making yourself suffer?! Is your Mir ordering you to do this?!
: No, Misao. He’s talking to us because it’s what he chose to do.
: What he chose…?
: The place where everybody lives is something everybody protects. That’s why we’re in it.
: Because we have a desire to be here. Because that’s our place to come home to!
: The place… to come home to…
: Did you protect Soushi because the Mir told you to?!
: N-No…! I just didn’t want him to disappear…!
: Then, why don’t you start fighting like we did?
: Stand up to your God, Kurusu!
: I…I—!
: Rrk… I-I can’t! The Mir is calling me…!

: Kurusu…!
: He disappeared…?
: Kurusu, you…

BOOOOM!

: Wh-What’s going on…?!

Beep.

(TV): Makabe, we’ve got a big problem! The…

: The Mark Nicht just came out from within the Mark Sein!
: What did you say?!

: …
: Mark Nicht… The Fafner Kazuki and his friends sealed away…
: Did the Mir give me a human form so that I could pilot it…?

: …?!

: The pain… it’s growing…!
: This is… hatred?

: Kurusu!
: Ka-Kazuki…!

Kazuki grabs him!

: S-Stay away…!
: Why are you choosing this?! Why don’t you stand up to a God that’s doing nothing but add to the pain?!

: Kch… Graaah!
: Kazuki’s undergoing rapid assimilation from contact with the Mark Nicht! At the rate it’s spreading, he…!
: Kazuki, stop! You’re going to disappear…!

: Stand down, Kazuki! Get away from him or you…!
: Mr. Asuka…!
: Take care of the island… of everyone!
: Kazuki…!
: N-No… the Mir…!
: Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!

: Th-The Mark Nicht…!
: Absorbed the Mark Sein…?!
: A-Aah… I… Kazuki…!
: I never wanted any of you to disappear…!

https://gfycat.com/BelatedHomelyIndusriverdolphin

: No… K-Kazuki…!
: KAZUKIIIIIII!


Location: Inside the Battleship Bollearios

Sweeesh!

: …
: I’m back, everyone…
: …
: …

: I feared this is what I’d find… Nothing is being born… everyone’s still dying…
: The current state of your Mir is not the possibility I sought.
: And, due to that state, no other individuals are diverging their possibilities.
: That’s why the Mir captured you. You could give us a new possibility, right?
: You gave one to Kazuki and his people, after all…
: I have already fulfilled my duty. Keeping me here will not create new possibilities.
: …

Tzeeeeep.

: Rgh… The pain won’t stop growing! I’d take your pain upon myself if I could, but I’m not strong enough…!
: Maybe Soushi Misashiro could have, but I can’t… I’m so sorry, everyone…
: Pain was Soushi Minashiro’s blessing. Life was Tsubaki Minashiro’s blessing.
: But what about you? What blessing will you bestow upon the world?
: Why are you even asking me that?!
: You are the first of your kind to have desired to exist in the absence of a Mir.
: Tell me, why are you there?
: …
: I just… I just wanted to see the sky…
: But all I found is sadness… I can’t bear this existence anymore…!
: …
: If it’ll get rid of the pain everyone is feeling… Then, I…
: I’ll erase Soushi Minashiro, Kazuki… and myself…

: A girl holding a baby?
: Yes. They’re asking lots of things about her: why she’s hurting, why she’s now sad…
: Anyone wanna explain what’s up? Because I’ve no idea.
: Miwa’s the first child born on the island after our Mir learned of life and death from Tsubaki Minashiro.
: We believe that Miwa can sense Tsubaki’s presence.
: Tsubaki’s presence…?!
: In essence, Miwa’s mind, like Kazuki’s, is in a constant state of Crossing.
: Only her mind is crossed with the island’s Mir.
: She’s crossed with the Mir…?!
: Is that even possible?!
: Solomon’s detecting an enormous flow of information being exchanged between her and the Mir.
: It’s an extremely complex sequence of data comprised of unknown transfinite numbers.
: “Unknown transfinite numbers…”?
: To put it simply, it’s what Misao talked about: the Festum’s language.
: And Miwa’s learned it intuitively, no different from how she’d learn her parents’ language.
: …
: I think Miwa’s been chosen as Tsubaki’s successor. That little girl has taken up all the joy and sorrow of life… and a brand new possibility…
: A possibility for coexistence with the Festum…?
: Exactly. She, alone, can communicate with the Festum.
: She is our final and greatest hope.
: …
: And, so, you’re going to take her into battle, aren’t you…?!

  • :tfrxmas: *

: Wh-What’re you doing, Yumiko…?!
: Put the gun down, Yumiko…!

:siren: SRW UX - Prologue

: …
: Miwa’s just a little girl… You can’t bring her into this!
: But she’s the only one who can save the island right now!
: She’s my only daughter. I love her more than anything in the world!
: Please, don’t take her from me!
: Mommy…
: Yumiko, I understand how you feel. I really do.
: I know how much it hurts to see people you love being put in danger…
: …
: But remember the joy you felt the moment a new life took shape within you…
: …?!
: And I’m sure Miwa wants to pass those emotions to the Festum, in her own words, in her own song…
: The joy of life…
: Mommy, can I talk to them?
: The sky would be pretty again. That would make you happy, right?
: …?!
: Mi-Miwa… * sniff *
: Uwaaahaaaaaaa…!
: Sis…

: Daddy, why is mommy crying?
: Don’t worry, honey. She’s going to be okay.
: Daddy’ll keep you both safe – that’s a promise.
: So, how about we all head on over to our ship?
: Okay!

:siren: SRW UX - Rebellion Against Fate

: So this is the Ægir Model, the Zero Fafner…
: And we’ll be using it to get through the enemy Mir’s barrier?
: Right. It’s more than strong enough to neutralize the thing in short order.
: While the plan’s to try and communicate with them, we’ll need to weaken the Festum’s forces a bit before we can give that a shot.
: You’re far stronger than me, Tamotsu. You never once turned your back on the Fafners.
: Ma’am…
: This machine took my daughter and son-in-law from this world, and I’d been avoiding it ever since…
: But you’re helping set it up now. Thank you for doing this for us, grandma.
: Your parents left the Zero Fafner behind for you. I’d like to think it’ll protect you both.
: Yeah…!

: Things have taken a turn for the worse at the Valkyrie’s Cave…?
: Hm. It looks like the system was damaged during the Mark Nicht’s escape…
: What’s going to happen to Seri, then?!
: Dr. Toumi’s attempting to restore the system, but it doesn’t look good…
: Oh, no…!
: Alright, then Prof. Denton and I’ll stay here to help with that.
: While this isn’t our area of expertise, we’ll do whatever we can to help Seri and the island.

: …
: You’re not going to have me arrested…?
: Any mother would’ve done the same in your position.
: I don’t know if Miwa would see it that way…
: No, she knows that you were just trying to protect her.
: …
: She spoke to me about Kazuki. That he’s not really gone, and that he’ll come back to us.
: Yeah, that’s what we believe as well.
: You should do the same, Yumiko. Believe in your daughter…
: …
: Princess Romina, could I also come aboard the Elshank?
: You…?
: I might not be of much use during this… but I at least want to be there to hold my daughter’s hand. It’s the least I can do as her mother.
: Yumiko…
: Very well. You may come with us.
: Thank you so much.
: Our mobile troops will ambush the Mir’s vessel as soon as the enemy initiates its attack.
: We’ll only have one chance to do this. Godspeed, and may you all return safely and victorious.
: Now begins the second Operation Azure!


Mission 47 – Heaven and Earth

:siren: SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens

: L-Look at all of them…
: And we’re detecting even more Festum headed our way!
: Our current hypothesis is that they’ve bolstered their ranks with a large number of Festum that had, to this point, been non-combatants…
: They’re bringing even their civilians into this war…
: But we can’t let them push us back…! Now it’s our turn to reach out to them!
: Wait just a bit, Kazuki…! We’re coming to save you!
: As the previous briefing mentioned, the Zero Fafner must head towards this spot in order to neutralize the Mir’s shield.

: All other units are to provide support! Our strength will pave the way not only for them, but for our dialogue with the Festum!


There’s your first order of business: get the Zero Fafner over to the tagged area. The unit moves just fine on water, which is good because there’s a TON of it on this stage. Try to get as many guys airborne or paired up with folks like Dr. West and Mike as can be, or those squads’ll have a much harder time than necessary.
As for the Festum, treat this as you did the first Operation Azure and you’ll do fine – same strategies apply, only the terrain is a lot worse and you now have those strong Eurus Types harassing you.
Clearing out all the Festum’ll also get Rina into position, and I’d say that’s the recommended approach, as you’ll want to have everyone maxed out on morale when you do that. Get all your guys up to the North/Northwest section of the map, kill everything except one enemy and take that one out with a ship so that everyone is ready to go after the plot hits.


The Zero Fafner not only looks very different from all its sibling mechs, it also functions very differently. First off, it’s a two-seater for the twins and it can’t dodge worth a damn. On the other hand, it’s surprisingly bulky, has a MAPW that blasts everything around it up to 5 squares away and packs a good punch (looking at it solo, it’s got the highest attack power of all non-Sein Fafners and is L sized).
Its durability does take a hit from the fact that Rina isn’t really tank-specced, so you’ll likely want to get her some Guard and Prevail just to be safe. But, from what I see, the biggest demerit of the Zero Fafner is the fact that it DOESN’T have the Crossing System, meaning you don’t have any of those boosts that Rina and Akira would normally get… which, in turn, weakens the unit in relation the other Fafners.
You can still set Rina and Akira back in their original units, though. If you’re deploying a bunch of Fafners, then that’s the better choice; if you’re only deploying, like, Kazuki, then the Zero Fafner will probably come out on top (though there are likely better squaddies).
Regardless, it’s squad bonus is: Armor +100, EN +50 (Armor +150, EN +100, HP +750).[/i]

:siren: SRW UX - Azure

: This Fafner bears the wishes of all our family!
: And we’ve taken those wishes upon ourselves! The road for coexistence might’ve been destroyed before, but we will bring it back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rPeRpLH1k0

:siren: SRW UX - Tobikage Appears!

:siren: SRW UX - Azure

:siren: Dynasty Warriors 9 - Theme of Lu Bu -DW Epic Mix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hiefUDLv8
And here’s the Zero Fafner’s best weapon.

:siren: SRW UX - Obelisk


There goes the last of the first wave, and the Zero Fafner auto-moves to the spot.

: W-We made it!
: Rina, get the shields’ wavelengths sync’d up!
: Right back at you! Don’t screw up your end!

Power uuuup!

: …! Get back, you two!
: Wha—?!

: We’re surrounded…?!
: …

Crick, crack!

: Ugh-Waaaaaaaaah!
: Akira…!
: The Zero Fafner’s starting to break apart!
: The Festum are trying to assimilate them!
: Zero Fafner, come in! Akira, Rina!
: Hrrk…! Th-This is what… assimilation is like…?!
: My mind’s fading away… Dad, mom… Rina…!

: …
: This isn’t working… We can’t ease the burden on the substitute core unless we can find a way to parse the central coding.
: Isn’t there anything you can do?!
: The Mark Nicht’s activation has caused their language to overwrite a portion of her system’s data.
: And it’d take too long to isolate and restore the overwritten sections…
: Seri…
: …

Crick, crack!

: The assimilation’s started…!
: Damn it! Professor, access the SC Code!
: R-Roger!
: A-Aaah…! Why… Why can’t I save anyone…?!

: U-Uwaaaaaaaaah!
: Gyaaaaaaaah!
: Akira…! RINA!

: A long-range blast?! Who…?!

:siren: SRW UX - Shangri-La

: …
: Is that the Mark Vier?!
: But, that unit was…!

: I-I know that fighting style…!
: So do I… it’s Koyo!
: I don’t believe it! There’s no one aboard, but we’re detecting control data being transmitted from the unit’s core itself!
: It’s really Koyo…
: He came back to protect our island. He’s turned himself into the unit’s core…!
: …
: Thank you, Kasugai…
: Koyo, you’re something else…!
: …
: L-Let’s go… Rina!
: But you’re…!
: Everyone’s putting their lives on the line here! Just like our parents did…!
: If we don’t do this, someone else’ll have to pick up our slack!
: Akira…!
: Alright, we’ll do it together!
: Haaaaaaaah!

: The enemy Mir’s Welle Shield is gone!
: They’ve succeeded!
: Proceed to phase 2 of the operation! Move in and seize the Mir’s vessel!
: …!

Alarm!

: Got an energy reading above the Mir ship! It’s…!

: …
: Kurusu…!
: I’m here to erase everyone’s pain…
: You’re still hung up on that?! You…
: Don’t worry. I’ll disappear as well… as soon as I’ve erased the pain.
: “Disappear”…?!
: You idiot… that’s the solution you found?!
: What the hell did you spend all that time with us for if this is what you’re doing?!
: …
: We need to deal with him before we even think of getting any dialogue rolling!
: Troops, focus all your fire on the Mark Nicht!


Mark Nicht (Misao Kurusu)
Pilot Skills:
Mind Read L3
Prevail L9
Support Attack L3
All Attack L3
Mech Features:
Assimilation L2
All-Canceller
Misao’s voice actor: Ryohei Kimura (other roles: Psy in Heroman, Daryl in MSG Thunderbolt, Sorey in Tales of Zestiria, and a bunch more)

Here we go again: Purple Mark Nicht, comparatively, has worse specs than Idun’s version (the 230k HP count is way higher, of course) and Misao doesn’t even come close to matching Deus Ex Machina in terms of pilot stats or in raw firepower.
On the flip side, the Nicht still has its big 1-6 MAPW which can still assimilate and Mind Read L3 is a big boost to his hit % against anyone that isn’t a Fafner or Heroman, so still be careful with folks around him. His morale gains aren’t the best, mind, so just one Daunt/Exhaust cast should be more than enough to keep him below 130 (provided you killed all the Festum before triggering the plot) while you approach.
Oh, and unlike Idun’s Mark Nicht, Misao’s strongest attack is at melee range (1-2) and is his most accurate weapon, so be mindful of that. My advice is to clear out the other Festum, since you don’t wanna risk them getting lucky and assimilating someone that Misao’s nicked, and then move in on him – pop Confuse to give yourself more leeway.
The plot kicks in once Misao’s under 70% HP.


And here’s Koyo again, back on our team. His Synergetic Code’s been replaced with Mind Read L3, his stats have all been boosted and the Vier’s been equipped with the Crossing System, so that’s something to help him catch up a bit. As for the unit, it’s still the same as it was back in Act 1 – essentially a combo-less Acht, now that Kenji’s decided to ditch his Lance – so use him as you did there if you’re looking to hit that full +30 stat up from deploying 11 Fafners with the Crossing System equipped.
Spirit command list is: Focus, Alert, Ideals, Zeal, Love.

:siren: SRW UX - Linebarrel

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


Oh, Misao, you silly kid.

:siren: SRW UX - Deus Machina

: Are you really okay with this, Kurusu?! Your ‘God’ is going to take away our sky! How can you just accept something so wrong?!
: I don’t care anymore… It won’t be long before I disappear… I’ll disappear together with this sky…
: I can’t believe how easily you give up…! That’s a godawful way to end things and everyone, including you, deserves better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B8E8SfOQSQ

:siren: SRW UX - Azure

: I know how you feel… You want me gone, don’t you…?
: That might’ve been the case before… but not anymore!
: We put our faith in the path Tsubaki, Seri and so many have built for us – the path our parents hoped to find!
: What we want is to live alongside all of you!
: Because you, like us, are here right now! You exist!


Rina attacking: “That Fafner is…!” > Akira: “The Mark Nicht! We can’t hold anything back, Rina!”

:siren: SRW UX - Dunbine Flies

: So much pain was forced onto us and you still…
: You got it all wrong! We’re no different from you in that regard!
: Pain is something everyone carries within themselves. But, despite that, we all carry on living, keeping our eyes locked on the future!


Shouko attacking: “I’m making you stop with this attack, Kurusu!”
Maya attacking: “The Salvator Model…! I’m not letting you take away our peace! / Give back our blue sky! You thought it was pretty, didn’t you?!”

:siren: Dynasty Warriors 9 - Theme of Lu Bu -DW Epic Mix

: Look deep within your heart and ask yourself: what are the ideals I pursue? Do not avert your eyes from that sizzling flame!
: Muster your courage and embrace the wish rising from within you! I’m certain you hear it calling out to you!
: ‘Tis the cry of your soul, demanding that you oppose the fate imposed upon you! That cry is the radiance of life given form!
: Enough… All I want is for the pain to go away.
: I don’t have that light of yours inside me…
: Nonsense! Festum, humans – that distinction matters not! There is a fate you desire, so you ought to go and claim it for yourself!
: All that are alive, all who possess the brilliance of a will, are capable of carving out their own destiny!

:siren: SRW UX - Dunbine Flies

: Why are you so fixated with staying the same?!
: If anything, that stubbornness of yours only goes to show that you ARE someone, don’t you think?!
: No, I’m just one of the Mir’s fingers! That’s why I assimilated Kazuki…!
: Baah, for how long is this kid going to keep sulking like that?! Shou, let’s give him a slap or two and pry his eyes open!
: Not beating around the bush today, are we, Cham…? Still, that might just be our only option!

:siren: SRW UX - The Eternal Soldiers

: We should have gone straight to Hell. It would have been better for everyone…
: Hah! Then you can relax, kid, 'cause you’re already in Hell!
: Life is wasted on those who can’t even speak their own mind!
: So, we’ll just give you what you want and send you spiraling into the abyss!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_fLVKwB4Yg
And here’s Misao’s best attack.
Misao vs. SKL: “Hell must be a lot of pain, right…? In that case, I’ll bring you all with me to nothingness…!”

: R-Rrgh…
: …! Do I hear the Festum’s voice?

Swoooosh!

:siren: SRW UX - Prologue

: This… This is hatred…! The pain that comes with living…!
: It’s the sorrow of life… of all the hearts that could not so much as be born!
: Mir, stop! Don’t make me bear something like that!
: Mommy… he’s crying.
: Crying…?
: Uwaaaaaaaaaah!

: Oooorgh!
: Pull yourself together, Kurusu! This isn’t how you could ever make the pain go away!
: …?!
: Open your ears to the Festum’s voice!
: That pain is proof that you’re alive!
: Proof that we’re…
: Gch… Aaaaaaaaaah!

: …

: Seri, I…
: It’s alright, Tsubaki. I’m not afraid one bit.
: Do you know why? It’s because I’m right here next to you. I can feel your voice, your life…
: Seri…!

: …
: I’m pinging a flow of information between Seri and the island’s Mir! Professor, can you parse the protocols?!
: I’ve managed to get access up to level 2, but any more than that is…!
: Her assimilation’s speeding up!
: Seri…!

: …
: A-Akane…!
: Your attempts at contacting their Mir have allowed me to free myself.
: Synchronize me with your Mir. I’ll preserve the core’s life.
: Huh…?!
: Akane…!
: This is my final possibility… No, this is what the former core told me…
: Told you what?
: …

Fades into the tube.

: That this island is where I ought to come home to.

Angela – Azure
:siren: :siren: :siren:

: Sob…No, no, no…!
: Think back to everything Kazuki told you!
: I’m sure his words still echo in your ears…!
: I haven’t forgotten them!
: B-But… Kazuki’s…
: His life’s broken, scattered to the four winds… (All these are lyrics for Azure, with a twist.)
: I’m here, Kurusu…
: ?!

: …
: Wh-What… This pulse… His light should’ve been dissolved, but…!
: I know… I know what that is…
: Those are wishes who long to be born… it’s the light of life…!
: The soul changes its shape…
: And heads back to where his heart is meant to come home to…! (Also Azure lyrics)
: Kurusu, I…

: I am here!
: Ka-Kazuki…!
: We never lost faith in you, Kazuki…!
: B-But, how… You were supposed to have disappeared…
: The self does not vanish so long as the heart remains…
: We all remembered that Kazuki was here. And, so, he came back!
: He was here… the place he’s to come home to…
: You should understand by now, Kurusu!
: Life may be filled with pain, but we’ll always choose to carry on with it…
: Because for as much pain there is, there’s just as much joy over being born!
: Kch… I…I!
: You are there, Kurusu! You exist! And we’ll help you see that!

:siren: Secret Alert! :siren:
Fafner secret #4 – 3rd step: take out Misao with Kazuki.

And don’t forget about this, if you took care of all the other requirements.

: …
: You’ve split yourself from the Mir’s will and became a vessel for everyone’s wishes…
: If only I could be as strong as you…!

: Why are you shutting out what everyone’s trying to tell you?!
: I’ve had enough of pain and suffering… Don’t get in my way! I have to do this!
: If you’re in pain, that’s because something inside you hurts and is crying out for help!
: Reach out to that something, Kurusu! Save yourself!


Misao vs. Shinn: “This isn’t about any destiny! I’m like a finger, and nothing more!”
Also, vs. any SEED characters: “I feel something just like that huge flame inside you…!”

: Kouichi… you’re a truly amazing guy. I saw every minute of your struggle against God.
: But I can’t do it. I’m not capable of opposing my God…
: If you say you’re so limited that you can’t do that…
: Then you have to go and surpass that limit, Kurusu!


Misao vs. Kouichi or Kira: “You might’ve chosen this, but I’m not like you!”
Also, vs. Kouichi and Shouko: “I thought we could be friends, but…!”

: How long until you stop being such a wimp?! You’re a guy, so put on a stronger face than that!
: I’m not like you humans… A finger can’t be anything but…
: Even a finger can go and work together with other things to make stuff happen!
: Stop looking at your feet and take a look at what’s around you, moron!
: If you want everyone to be safe, then don’t give up! Keep going, no matter how faint the light of possibility looks!


Mamoru attacking: “This data… it’s even stronger than it was before?! Still, I…!”
Sakura attacking: “If you really don’t want to be fighting us, then tell that to your Mir!”; “The Mark Nicht…! We gotta do something about it before it captures someone!”
Kenji attacking: “We beat it before… and we’ll do it again!”; “You don’t wanna fight us, right?! Then do something about it!”

: I’m a bit jealous of the freedom with which you can live your life…
: As for me, I just couldn’t do the same…
: Why are you talking in the past tense, hm?
: If you don’t like the place you’re at right now, then just jump out of it!
: Fight against your God and go on living your life!
: That blazing spirit’ll more than fill up the emptiness you feel inside!

: Joey… maybe I would be stronger if I could be together with everyone else, like you can…
: But you can’t just go and disappear! You still have a place to come home to!
: Stay and live out your life with us until the end! As for your friends, we’ll save them together!

: Setsuna… I wish I could’ve touched that light you showed me.
: You have to carry on with your existence, Misao Kurusu! The light of the GN Particles embodies all emotions of life!
: It’s the will to live through the day that’ll lead you to that light… and to the future!


Misao attacking Setsuna or Alto: “I’m not the Mir! I can’t communicate with it!”

: I can’t do this… just accept it and leave me alone!
: No, that’s not true! I’m sure you know just how important it is to explain how you feel with your own words!
: So, try talking to me first! Say as much as you’d like – I’ll hear it all!

: What makes you think there’s only one role you could play?!
: The kid who wanted to save his friend, who thought the sky was pretty, that was all the same Misao Kurusu, wasn’t it?!
: I’m not like you! I can’t be that way!
: But you still have to try! You’ve a will of your own, don’t you?!

: Being forced to change doesn’t always make for a good outcome.
: So, we want you to decide for yourself what kind of a person Misao Kurusu is!
: You give me too much credit…! My destiny’s been set ever since I was born!

: I had once resigned myself, just as you’re doing right now…
: You understand, then?! A choice can’t just be undone once it’s been made!
: And I’ve already been forced to make a choice!
: But I could choose anew, and I know you can do the same! That is, if you still have something you wish to save!

: Change isn’t something you need permission to do, and it doesn’t mean letting go of who you are, either!
: Don’t walk away from your own existence, Misao Kurusu!
: But it hurts… It hurts too much! I can’t take it!
: You’ve got something you wanna protect, don’t you?! Something so dear to you that it eclipses even the pain?! Then, turn your thoughts to it!
: We can always make our decisions, and you have to make one now! And if you say you still want to disappear…
: We’ll take matters into our hands and wipe you out ourselves!


Canon attacking: “Mark Nicht…! I’ll erase every trace of you this time!”
Michio attacking: “I’m sure you can make a choice, Misao Kurusu!”

: Misao Kurusu, what is welling up within your heart?
: You witnessed so many different fates diverging, you understand the power of the possibilities within us. What is your heart telling you right now?!
: Are you asking me to continue to suffer?! Our possibilities vanished from within us by that hellfire! What could we ever do?!
: Life and possibilities walk hand in hand! One’ll never vanish while the other remains!
: And I’m sure there’s a life inside you capable of carving out a new fate for yourself!

Kazuki gets a catch-all line for all enemies, and one for Misao:

: All their emotions brought me back to this land!
: So, now, it falls on me to show him two things: how hard it is when something dear’s taken away… and what it’s like to be determined to protect that something!
: That’s what I’m here for!

: Don’t come any closer, Kazuki! The Mir won’t stop fighting! If you keep with this, you’ll just disappear again!
: Your Mir’s the only one here looking for a fight! That means you can put an end to this, Kurusu!
: You’re asking too much of me! I can’t make that sort of decision!
: Believe in your own strength! There’s no way Soushi would take a chance on someone powerless!
: You saw how pretty the sky was, so I know you understand how fleeting and precious life is!


Misao drops a Kazuki Curry (+10 to Melee, +5 to Defense and Accuracy).
Kazuki attacking: “Stop your Mir, Kurusu!”; “Stand up to your God, Kurusu”; “Mark Nicht… The machine Soushi and I sealed away…!”
Misao attacking: “Stop your friends, Kazuki!”; “Just surrender, Kazuki!”

: Grgh…!
: N-No…! Why do I have to suffer like this…?!

: Don’t do it!
: …?!
: Don’t do it, mister…
: Come and talk with me! Let’s talk about lots of things!
: …
: I-I… I’m not like you…
: Why are you giving up?! Are you just going to erase everything you don’t like?!
: The Mir was supposed to have been reborn, but it didn’t! The fire of mankind changed everything!
: Then, go and change again!
: Soushi bet everything on you! He sent you to meet with us!
: All so that you and the other Festum could change again!
: I’ve already been forced to make a choice!
: I’ve hurt you people… It’s too late for me to be able to change!
: No, it’s not! You can change as many times as you’d like!
: …?!
: People can always choose their fates…
: And that also applies to you!
: An endlessly evolving human will has also taken root within you!
: I-I’m… the same as you…?
: I… I also hurt Soushi before.
: Huh…?!
: So many times I pained him… But he always believed in me.
: …
: You are me…
: And I am you…
: Kazuki…
: You’re always free to choose – as many times as you have to…
: Don’t just give up because you’re hurting. Never stop choosing to be there!
: …
: I-I…
: Mir… I don’t want to fight anymore…!
: Kurusu…
: You finally talked to your God, mister. I can tell…
: …

ALARM!

: Huh?! We’ve a hit on radar! Several heat signatures are moving in!
: What…?!

:siren: SRW UX - Mark Sein

: Those are from the Machine Island gangs…!
: What’re those guys doing here…?!
: H-Heeeeelp! My controls ain’t working!
: What?!
: W-We cannot stop them! Our machines are moving by themselves!
: Doctor, I’m detecting remote control brainwaves around those robots!
: Whaaat?! Someone else is controlling them?!
: Waaaaaah! Make it stoooooop!

One of the bots rushes the Elshank down!

: Aaaaiieeeee!
: Gch… The hell are they doing?!
: They’re… they’re being used as suicide bombers!

Beep!

(TV): Do you like my little gift, UX?
: Hazard! You piece of crap!
: These are all Alcatraz prisoners who tagged along during my escape, see.
: Unfortunately, they’re just a complete waste of space. The absolute dregs of society, who’d never amount to anything beneficial to anyone. They do serve for this, though.
: You’re sick! What you’re doing is—
: Please, please, let’s not stand on formality. Consider this to be a small blessing from us, as we start our trek towards the new world.
: No need to thank me – seeing your pretty faces is all the reward I need. BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!

Bloop!

: Hazard! Get back on the line! HAZARD!
: Did he say something about a “new world”?!
: He-Help meeeeeee!
: Lord Garaaaaaaaan!

Another two bots go after the Elshank!

: A-Aaaaah…!
: Th-That imbecile… even they are still human!
: They’re people like us…!
: Magami…
: We’re all humans! We’re all here, damn it!

And the last three!

: I-I’m going to be sick…!
: This… How can any person do something like this?!

: That’s…!
: This reading is… That’s a nuclear missile!
: A nuke?! They’re doing that again…?!
: I’m scared! Mommyyy!
: …?!
: S-She…
: SHE CAN’T DISAPPEAR!

https://gfycat.com/relievedpoisedamericanblackvulture

: Kazuki, I…

: I know. I also think it’s pretty…
: Thank you…
: Let’s all be born… together…

:siren: Angela - Separation (Piano Version)

: Th-That’s…
: He… stopped the fire of mankind…
: Kurusu…
: Look! The sky’s…!
: The red aurora’s gone…
: …
: (Our blue sky is back, Seri…)
: Hmhmm, yes…
: I’m happy that I was born too.
: Mi-Miwa…
: Mommy, the sky… it looks so pretty…

: …
: Hrk… It’s too bright…!
: …?!
: It’s… bright? The light…
: I’m glad everyone’s safe…
: Kurusu…?
: I wanted to at least erase what was keeping you from seeing the sky. Sorry that I didn’t run it by you first.
: But I’m glad you can see the sky again…
: …
(new portrait!): His consciousness is gone now…
: You’re…!
: You might eventually find the place where he’ll be reborn.
: He’d be sad if you couldn’t see the sky then. That was his final thought.
: Aah… Is it really you…?
: All this time he’d protected my being.
: He struggled against the Mir even as he obeyed it, leading us not to the assimilation of one or the other, but to a harmonious coexistence.
: I can see… I can see you!
: Soushi…!
: Thank you, Kazuki.
: Thank you for the protecting the island… the place I’d come home to…
: Welcome back…
: Welcome back, Soushi!

(To clarify what happened, since the SRW format doesn’t quite make it 100% clear: Misao was keeping Soushi from getting assimilated by the Mir by keeping his soul/mind stored inside him. After Misao tanks the nuke, he rejoins with their Mir and becomes their new core (like Tsubaki) as the Mir is reborn.
As you see in the webm, Misao reverts back to his Festum form to go after the nuke, leaving both a crystalized body and the Mark Nicht behind. Whether that’s Misao’s body which transformed into Soushi, or if it was always Soushi’s body made to look like Misao due to Festum shenanigans is unclear, but the point is that Soushi got a new body to use.)

: …
: This really is goodbye, Seri…
: Tsubaki…!
: Thank you for staying with me until the end.
: And thank you, too, Akane. This is all because of you.
: Let us return to our peaceful homeland…

Flash!

: I-It’s…!
: The core… has finished its growth phase…

: Akane’s prayer helped ours be granted…

: Sob… Thank you…
: Thank you so much, Akane…

: Welle Shield output and Biosphere functions are showing no signs of reduction. There’s no fallout from the bomb either.
: The Mir’s become the air…
: The island and the Festum protected us…
: …
: What is it, Akira?
: During the battle, I… I saw the nothingness in the Festum…
: …
: It was just like when our parents disappeared…
: I thought they’d be in there, somewhere… but they weren’t anywhere…
: Well, duh, you idiot! Why do you figure we started fighting in the first place?!
: What were you thinking, heading into the Festum’s domain…
: What if something happened to us?! Grandma would be left all alone! It’d just be her, inside a house that none of her family’d go back to…
: …
: I’m sorry…
: Sniffles … You idiot…!

: What do you think’ll happen to the remaining Festum now?
: I’m sure what we felt got through to them, so hopefully…
: All that’s certain is that this planet’s just become their homeland…
: Their homeland…?
: Either way, for the time being, our long war with the Festum has come to an end…
: …
: And, with it, humanity gets a bit closer to destruction…
: Kujo…!
: I-I know I shouldn’t be saying that when everyone’s fighting as hard as they are…
: But I can’t stop thinking about it…
: What if it’s true, and when all conflict is gone and we’ve peace…
: …
: There’re still many things we don’t understand: like that voice we heard across space and time, or about the previous universe…
: But, if you ask me, we have to keep moving onwards.
: Ensign…
: We can’t be afraid of restoring peace, much less giving up on it…
: We owe this to all those who lost their lives along the way…
: …
: Yeah. We’ve got too much riding on us to stop here…

Door opens.

: And would you be fine with letting us help you through those battles?
: Soushi…!
: Is your body doing better already?
: Not so much that I can cross my mind with others with the Siegfried System as I did before…
: But I believe I could still make myself useful as a tactical officer.
: Just as a tactical officer, huh…?
: Then, the Fafners will continue to operate with the UX…?
: Yes. We’ve talked to my dad and the others and they’ve agreed to it. (His eyes aren’t red anymore!)
: Moreover, the will inside the Mark Vier’s core hasn’t disappeared yet…
: Kasugai is still…?!
: I suppose he knows that there are other threats to mankind prowling about…
: Threats to mankind, eh…
: …

: Th-This is an ELS…?!
: It looks more like a planetoid than one of them!
(TV): Worse, the ELS are fusing with everything around them and progressively growing larger.
: The big ELS there has a diameter of 3000km, which is on par with the moon.
: And this is the ELS swarm that’s headed straight for Earth?!
(TV): Not just heading – they’re gaining speed.
: We’ve revised our numbers and they’re now projected to reach Earth’s final line of defense in seven days, give or take…
: S-Seven days…?!
: That’s insane… it’s way too fast!
: And the Human Machina and Festum have just stopped menacing mankind…!
: Wh-Why…! Why is God presenting so many trials for humanity?!
: …
: (The ELS are finally approaching Earth…)
: (Setsuna…!)


And Soushi’s back as a tactician, having unlocked his final bonus: he makes everyone immune to evasion decay.

And the FUB vote is still ongoing for another couple of days. Current standings show Lu Bu crushing the competition (15), with Shinn (10), Kouichi (7), Cao Cao and SKL (6), Tobikage and Ishigami (3) trailing behind. If you haven’t voted yet, here’s your chance to help sway things in their favor.