Part 5

So I bought the laser. It later occurred to me that I don't think I ever bothered using it before now, so this should be fun. I would have gotten the Upward Vulcan as well, but I simply couldn't afford it.


I also made Brenda my chosen friend. She can bomb enemies from the air, but I honestly tend to forget about it. I won't be showing her level gains because honestly I don't think they do anything.


We are going to Cenktrich because I said so. I'm afraid if I go to Al Hari I'll have to spend a lot of time grinding and I'll burn myself out and end up dead. Do you want that? Besides, it's no fun getting the coolest stuff out of the way first.


So these are the Alps... Almost like being home again.

Oh, that's right! We're close to Bergen, aren't we?

Wonder what's going on back home...

Well, the sooner we're done here, the sooner we can go back and find out. Besides, Bergen's hardly the only place suffering.

True...


Before we head in, I have something else to point out.


You can rename your carrier, but as far as I know it is never actually used anywhere else in the game. I might be forgetting, though.


Speaking of the Tadpole, it has more fuel capacity than the truck. It doesn't make much difference yet, with a max HP of only a little over 300, but it's still nice.


Things look peaceful enough from up here.

What do you expect? Giant, brightly coloured soldiers and rolling dice?

Save it for later. We still need to check in with the local military.


Roger.

It's funny because he should be able to see it. And it's not like they didn't approach from the air.


This is what the laser looks like. It needs to reload pretty frequently, but it pierces shields. Give me some time to get used to it and I might have something better to say about it.


You have a weirdly shaped head, you know that?

The name's Albert. The Kernelight Association sent me. I'm here to talk to your commander.

Oh! My apologies, sir. The Major is expecting you.

Do you have any... twin brothers? Because this guy in Bergen looked just like you.


Thanks. We're not the first mercenaries to arrive here, are we?

Neither the first nor the last, I fear.

We can be the last, we just need to take on the entire rebel army singlehandedly in the world's shittiest Wanzer. Cakewalk.

Our country is in the throes of an extraordinarily violent guerilla uprising. The scale of their attack is more than our army is equipped to deal with... We're outmatched on all fronts.

In short, you're losing.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but yes. Moreover, I fear we won't be able to protect our citizens from future attacks. Our only recourse now is to find and destroy the rebels' base of operations. ...That will be your responsibility.

The nice thing about this game, and maybe the others in the series, is that unlike most JRPGs, the rebels are very much the bad guys.

I see... Yes, sir!

This is Lieutenant Clark Wilson. He will accompany you for the duration of this assignment.


You'll be the army's observer, I take it.

Guide, actually. I know the Cenktrich area like the back of my hand. You may need my help in locating the Guerilla base.

A guide, huh?


We've got several unidentified Wanzers inbound!

Damn!


Alright, I'm ready for- HOW DID YOU GET BEHIND ME? There's no entrance there!


Eat laser you shiny bitches!

Albert, it's up to you!

Then he runs inside because he is a pansy and refuses to take on a Wanzer with his bare hands. Then I shot a bunch more enemies.


Well, that was a fun diversion.


Now the money we receive for killing actually makes sense! Hooray!




Two more special weapons. The Bazooka is obvious enough, while the bounce shot rebounds off walls. Well, I guess that's obvious too.


Didn't think he had it in him, did you?

That much was never in doubt. At least you now know just what you're up against.

A bunch of idiots all driving the same Wanzer?

Their Wanzers seemed to be well-equipped.

That's why we're counting on you.

Come, sir. I have a few sites in mind already.


Now available are the Alpine Forest and village missions. They will be conquered next time, which might be on Sunday. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's this Balloon Pokemon you can only catch on Fridays.