Part 147: Mission 41 - Where The Power of Feelings Leads To - Part 1

Mission 41 - Where The Power of Feelings Leads To



Morgan's orders from high command are to guard area N, a spot far from the core of the base.
Hardly sound military strategy, as both Ed and Jean note, and Morgan isn't thrilled about it himself; but orders are orders, and it seems the Neo-Wärter are to be left in charge of guarding the flag.





Of course, Lowe and Duo aren’t exactly thrilled at our seemingly independent group being forced to fight against Zaft to protect a Federation base.





That feeling deepens as Brigadier General Corbett repeats his order to Morgan and flies off in a shuttle.
Most people find it odd that he’s bailing on this base so quickly: either the brass doesn't trust our power, or they've got some reason for abandoning the place...





Morgan apologizes but is forced to comply.
Lowe wishes Jean and Ed good luck and has them promise to live through this whole mess – they answer him in kind.





After Morgan’s forces leave, we don't have to wait long for the Zaft to show.
Miguel is impressed that Zaft command kept the true objective of Operation Spit Break secret until the very last moment – to destroy the Alaska HQ, not Panama’s bases.
Mikhail notes that the old adage of "to deceive your enemies, first deceive your friends" seems to be holding up.



Yzak thinks he can take revenge for Nicol and Dearka by taking down Federation HQ, and rub Athrun's nose in it in the process.



Shiho relates that the Archangel isn’t deployed but Yzak's not worried - he's sure it's still inside the base somewhere.
As the Zaft charge into battle, about the best our people can do is try to avoid hitting their cockpits - they are fellow humans after all.



Clouseau is getting more worried by the moment, and a “mysterious masked man” goes to double check that a certain item is ready for the grand finale.



Most Zaft troops are quite far away, so I’ll only move ahead ever-so-slightly to try and bait most of them upwards.
Mind you, the Alaska HQ offers massive positive terrain bonuses.








Kouji already starts with a good bunch of morale, so it’s best to boost Tetsuya to compensate for his weaker rocket punches.



Enemy Phase!



Indeed, most Zaft units take the bait and a few actually move close enough to attack.














Good way to start things off, I think.




The CGUEs have enough range that they don’t need to move but, then again, so does Kouji.



The victory condition is to shoot down Yzak which is made easier by the fact that he will rush our guys from the start.



: If we destroy the Alaska base, the Federation’s chain-of-command will crumble…!
: I’ll finish this before the second descent team arrives!!






I’m not impressed, son.



As the battle proceeds, Forreston is also worrying about Corbett abandoning the base so quickly.
He suspects something is up and orders Michi to take Tomoru and the Solid Armor and get the heck out of Dodge - Tomoru, however, isn't in his room.



Muu is observing the fight, finding it lucky that the shuttle, with Natarle and Flay also aboard, left just before the attack took place.
He, however, finds it odd that, even though he was also slated to be transferred off the Archangel, he’s been ordered to stay on the base.



Player Phase!



Now, let’s take the fight to the enemy.



There’s a pack of underwater mooks to the east, so I’m gonna have Gai move over.
Since he can’t reach them just yet, he might as well finish Volfogg’s work.










I’ll have some other people join in on mook-fishing, just to speed things up.




To the west, Lowe spots a couple of BuCUEs and hacks away at them.



Leaving the way open for Hayato to finish them off.












Don’t worry about Yzak – we can kill him quickly but it’s better to gather morale now than later.



Kurz takes a shot at a distant GOOhN.



And we get to Sayakazinger’s debut!










Hey, that’s not bad damage at all (even though her Melee stat is still abysmal).





Moving near Kurz, Mao shoots down a crippled DINN and learning Rouse.



Kouji leaves another DINN barely hanging on.



And Tetsuya moves in for the kill.














It would be a waste to leave Mike in the back after spending so much cash getting him stronger.
We’re gonna rock the front lines, baby!












OK, so Clouseau finished the job but it’s still nice damage!





Golion and Sousuke also focus on the underwater troops: teaming up, a GOOhN goes down easily.



Kazuma moves ahead and has words with that Kouji-snipin’ CGUE.
















‘Nuff said.



Enemy Phase!



Ever the slow-learners, a couple of BuCUEs run suicide attacks on Kazuma.



It allows Kouji to activate Mazin Power, so it’s good.



One of the underwater ZnOs moves for Golion.














Your water terrain is no match for raw power!




Following that, a pitiful GINN tries to be a hero and gets vaporized by Shihomi.



Another poor choice.








Then again, it’s our own fault what with that “don’t kill them” policy; if we did apply some natural selection, Zaft would learn to stay the fuck away.



Attacking from a distance allows this here GINN to survive Sousuke’s counter.



Next is Yzak, who’s decided to chain-attack Kurz and Mao.










Despite some not-insignificant numbers, he whiffs against both pilots.




: This Deep Arms is a next-gen prototype…my mission is deliver data from this battle!



Shiho finally gets in range to do something: her unit is the prototype CGUE Deep Arms and it carries a couple of experimental Heavy weaponry.
Aside from higher attack power than usual, it’s a typical CGUE with slightly more HP (she has the standard issue Coordinator Skills, paired with Hit & Away and no Prevail).



Player Phase!



Alright, enough playing around.



: That’s the G we fought in Artemis!
: Geez! Why do these guys want this war so much?!








I’m not using valor simply due to how easy it is to destroy a Gundam in this game.




Sayaka goes for a chain-attack, killing the weakened ZnO and slightly damaging the remaining one.



Back to Yzak, Tetsuya has his Double Thunder Break to bypass his defenses.










Just a wee bit more.

Kazuma will also help with the effort.



: It’s just you today? What happened to your other Gundam buddies?
: Nicol and Dearka died and Athrun lost his Aegis…
: But I won’t lose! I’ll fight with my Duel till the very end!






Just a wee bit more.



I’ll take the all the remaining HP in one go!












That’s what I’m talking about!



Yzak is worth a level, a Super-Alloy Z and a Support Request+1.



He says his Duel Gundam will not go down so easily, but, just then, he spies his captain Creuset finishing up whatever he was checking on.





Creuset leaves "the rest" to Yzak as he flies off, with a new captive in tow: Flay, who apparently snuck off the shuttle.
He tells her not to be afraid, that their meeting was fate and that he couldn't leave her where she was lest she die; still, he can’t help but be amazed at the inner workings of the Federation…





Inwardly, Flay regrets not having a chance to apologize to Sai.





By the by, I may be going after the Zaft commanders but you really shouldn’t bother: they run away immediately after dying and don’t give anything (not even experience or money).
Either way, they die so easily from simple support attacks.



Whatever the case, Volfogg will deal with both Mikhail and that there ZnO.



: The battlefield is the affect part, the incoming enemies are the disease…beginning the operation…!






Aside from his usual evasiveness, Mikhail isn’t really difficult.





Valstork and Mike quickly bring Shiho down to critical.



Without Prevail, Shiho can be dealt with by Sousuke.












It was at this point that I realized the officers weren’t giving anything.
As such, I opted to ignore Miguel (he was also very far away).



Gatling Driver has an A rating on all terrains and proceeds to squish this GOOhN into bits.



As for the last ZnO, we’ll kill it in unconventional fashion.














With most mooks dead, we turn our attention back to Yzak.



To speed things up, Mao casts Valor and calls for a joint assault of Uruz Squad and Duo.















: We’re gonna have that Gundam Fight today!
: Kh…! Why does this guy want to fight another G so much?!




Duo wasn’t deployed but he still had that line, so...



Enemy Phase!



Ho-hum. One of the few surviving GINNs makes a run for the Valstork.












I tried to let you stay in one piece but if you prefer it like this…



At least, Tetsuya gets his Mazin Power running.




A couple more CGUEs go for Shihomi and get blasted away.



As for the very last GINN…












That’s that.



Oh? That’s mighty kind of you, kid.














Boom.



Ah, that’s also good.





Yzak STILL refuses to accept another defeat and fully heals himself.





Right then, the Archangel emerges, with Taiga and Murrue aboard and determined to protect the base even if Corbett and the brass have already abandoned it.
Miriallia is back as part of the bridge crew, still grieving over the loss of her boyfriend Tolle and her own inability to justify killing their Coordinator hostage (That’d be Dearka, whom they had captured after their battle at Orb).
All she can do is survive and she beseeches Tolle to watch over her – though that could be hard as the crew is very demoralized with the loss of both him and Kira (and Murrue is overworked, having to assume Natarle’s functions).



Yzak finally sees his prey, and dashes in to take revenge for Nicol and Dearka!
His attack is quick and the Archangel is in no position to dodge.


Behold, Jesus Yamato!

















However, he is rebuffed by a “mystery Mobile Suit” that zooms in from overhead.



It's Kira, who announces to all on the battlefield that the Alaska Base is about to self-destruct using the Cyclops device.
It’s a massive microwave emitter whose ominous legacy lingers since the Grimaldi incident on the moon; this gadget is capable of wiping out everything within a multiple tens of kilometers radius.



All the pieces now fall into place for Clouseau: the brass intended from the start to wipe out all those they considered expendable and inconvenient, as well as the Zaft invaders, with this little ploy.
Confirmation comes from Muu, still inside the base despite his reassignment, who's just discovered data about the Cyclops installation – we have five minutes before the charging is complete!
Kira doesn't want anyone from either side to die, and urges everyone to use the time they have left and flee.









But wouldn't you know it, the Radam attack (forcing what’s left of Zaft to retreat), trying to slow us down so you'll get caught in the blast.
Lance retreats to a safe distance, eagerly anticipating this place becoming an inferno that’ll erase both the “fake” Tekkamen and Neo-Wärter.
Ruri quickly contacts Murrue and requests their help in opening a way through the Radam; Kira refuses to allow anyone else to die and will use the power of his feelings to protect everyone.



Kazuma’s impressed at Kira’s newfound strength and Lowe inwardly congratulates himself on saving Kira in the first place, allowing him to grow like this.
Taiga orders everyone to get rid of the Radam on their way out of the area; Sousuke quite concurs, and vows suitable vengeance on whoever was responsible for this military clusterfuck.



Before we stop, let’s quickly end this turn. Most Radam are far away but a couple Mothers get close enough to attack Gai.










It ends quite painfully for them (though both hang on by a thread).




There was also a third Mother that went for Sayaka but she manages to hold her ground nicely.

And that’s all that happens on this enemy turn; now, the game isn’t done throwing curveballs at us, just yet.

Come next update, we’ll make use of our remaining 4 minutes (the game counts one minute per player phase, so we kinda got screwed because I killed Yzak too quickly) to open a quick way out of this trap.

Also, here’s Miguel’s line if he cared enough to move into attacking range; plus, Lowe's line if he fought Mikhail:

: Even though I recovered from Strike’s injury, he was already beaten by Athrun…
: Still, the curtain is rising on this battle! In this scene: the magnificent return of the Magic Bullet of Dusk!

: Hey, you’re that smug doctor we met in Graveyard!
: To think I would rediscover a disease during this operation!
: Perfect! I’m going to pay you back for last time!!


See you all then!