The Let's Play Archive

Front Mission 3

by Smasher Dynamo

Part 116: Mission #48: Moral Ambiguity 101: Introduction to Grey Areas

Mission #48: Moral Ambiguity 101: Introduction to Grey Areas



: Dammit, what's going on!? The civilians haven't been evacuated yet!
: This isn't good, there are still people left.
: Huang! Can you hear me?
: Cut the transmission! We're in the middle of battle!
: We can't fight! There are still civilians left!
: Don't be stupid! We've gone this far, we can't stop!
: If we don't stop there will be civilian casualties!
: This is war! Some sacrifices are expected!
It wouldn't be Front Mission if every faction weren't ultimately evil!
: You want us to fight at the cost of civilians!?
: If we back off now, we won't be able to take Shanghai. We can't let our efforts go to waste now!
: Human life is meaningless to you, isn't it!?
Hey, that's not fair. As firm believers in capitalism, human life has a very specific meaning to Huang that can be readily expressed in monetary terms.
: There is no change of plan! Take the city! Over!
: Huang!? Huang!
: This doesn't look good.
: This is stupid ! What is everyone thinking!? These are your own people! How can you do this!?
: I never thought I'd hear those words coming from a merc.
: Liang Hua!?
: I put my life in your hands. Take care of it!
Don't tell me what to do!
: Liang Hua, what're you doing!? It's not yet secured!



: Don't be foolish! Get out of here!
: We have no choice now! Or would you rather us all die!?
I can accept that if it gets me out of an escort mission.
: All right! I'll make sure no one lays a finger on you. Let's go, guys!



Another escort mission. The problem with escort missions in Front Mission 3 is that there's usually not a lot you can do to keep the enemy away from the units you're escorting, the only solution is to take out the enemies as quickly as possible...except I'm forced to take Dennis along.



God damn it, Dennis. He's got a ton of ranks in rifles and has top of the line equipment, but, well, it's still not working.



Ryogo kills another tank. In the Front Mission 3 universe, being made a tank commander has replaced lethal injection as the favored method of execution.



These spider-tank things are back, but aren't any stronger than they were the first time we faced them, so are considerably easier to deal with this time around.



Unfortunately, I think the enemy knows our loss condition, so they will relentlessly hunt down our choppers. Fantastic.



Damn it. That's a real problem seeing as that tank is about to pelt one of the helicopters with a missile.



: Don't be stupid! There are still people left.
: Yeah, but if we die, it'll all be for nothing.
: If you want to run, you can run by yourself. Even outsiders like them are fighting! I will not run!
: Commander...



Hey! Double Shot triggered! Against a tank! That would have been killed by a single volley of machine gun fire! I'm sorry, Successful Student, I just don't think this design is working out.



Then again, Ryogo's still doing better than Dennis.



: Cut the chatter!
: Commander...



Hmmm...better. Then again, I was never really concerned with its ability to deal damage, more with its fragility, and that problem hasn't really gone away.



Oh, Dennis...



Oops. Oh, well, we only need one of the two helicopters to survive the mission. Although I guess this means that a whole ton of civilians just died because Dennis is that bad at killing people.
: Ahhh! Commander, I can't hold it!
: Calm down! Bring everyone to my chopper!
I have no idea how they are going to get people from one helicopter to another helicopter in the middle of a battlefield.



This is not going well, but fortunately, it's been six turns so...



...I've done all I need to.
: All right, we're done! We've got the civilians. We're taking off. Good luck!
: Roger!
At this point, it turns into a normal mission, but if the helicopters are still alive by this point, it means that you must have killed just about all of the enemies next time, so it's just mop-up work. Anyway, Dennis, care to show us the only thing rifles do well?



Low power and accuracy may be a problem 95% of the time, but there's no better weapon to use in order to force an enemy to surrender.



Good enough. Dennis wins MVP....are words I'm not likely to type again in this LP. Kazuki wins MVP.



: I don't like it. I don't like the way they handle this!
Listen, Kazuki, it's Front Mission, death by wanzer is the most common cause of death for civilians. Well, that and heart disease.
: ...

Next Time: Kazuki yells at people! So, status quo, then. Oh, and there's a wanzer build tomorrow, so get your page refreshing fingers ready!

Bonus Video

This is how to do this mission right