Part 55: Chapter 55 (Battle) - This Black Bomb Has Crippling ADHD

Update 55 (Battle) - This Black Bomb Has Crippling ADHD



Welcome back, all. Long update today, so let's just jump right into it!

The winners of our vote were pretty close, but it ended up being Sasha/Colin for orange team, Hawke/Lash for blue team, and Sensei/Jake for green team.





Pathfinder on Sasha is pretty crucial, since we need to run rings around a couple of tough enemies, and there's a huge patch of woods in the orange team's section. Colin's just here for moral support - he's not actually going to see much combat.





Hawke and Lash have exactly one (1) dangerous enemy to fight in the whole battle, and we'll be using artilleries to take care of it, hence Sniper. Otherwise, we'll be using cheaper units and better APC movement to get our troops exactly where they need to be. Lash, again, is just moral support.





Sensei and Jake arguably have the toughest time, since they've got a big open space and a lot of motherfuckers to fight. There's a ton of plains, hence Prairie Dog, and Cannon Guard is for the couple of times when we HAVE to sit in the Black Cannon's range. We also need more money and cheaper units - we need bombers, you see.



I think we're about ready, though, so let's move in.

Today’s Deployments
Orange Team
Diana, Infantry
Boris, Infantry
Ivan, Infantry
Ludmilla, APC
Dimitri, Tank
Zlata, Medium Tank
Inessa, Artillery
Yakov, Rockets

Blue Team
Alfonse, Infantry
Vanessa, Infantry
Michael, APC
Lena, Tank
Ingo, Artillery
Rin, Artillery
Shaia, Battleship
Selena, Submarine
Aanisah, Lander

Green Team
Mulligan, Infantry
Howard, Infantry
Wallace, Mech
Otis, Mech
Fliss, Anti-Air
Conrad, Tank
Carter, Missiles
Lucy, Bomber
Peregrine, Bomber
Petra, Battle Copter
Fleur, Transport Copter



Lead on, Colin! I'm right behind you!

Except not, because Sasha is going to be in charge for this whole fight.



Before I get to talking about my strategy, let's find out what the goal is this time around.



Black Onyx is equipped with a state-of-the-art particle defense system. The barrier field it projects shields the black obelisk from fire.

Oh, god, like the Black Arc and that sea fortress, but on a bigger scale?

Exactly. Our first order of business is to take out the Onyx and drop that shield.

Whaa?! It's in outer space, it's huge and...it's in outer space! That's far!

Hmm...it is beyond the reach of our air forces, and even my copters.

It seems we are at a strategic impasse. Hawke, Lash, could you tell us of the Black Onyx's weaknesses?

Not a problem. The missile silos here are not armed with ordinary missiles.

Huh? How's that work?

Allow me to explain. The missiles here are specifically designed to seek and destroy satellites.

Wh...why the fuck would Black Hole build those?!

They're part of the ASDS--our anti-satellite defense system.

I see. These were designed to shoot down satellites that could threaten Black Onyx, not designed for taking down Black Onyx itself?

Correct. Black Hole feared that the Allied Nations might try to launch a satellite in response to Black Onyx, so they developed the ASDS.

Anti-satellite defense system?

I don't know how they work, but I'm happy as long as they blow it to pieces!

Let's get our infantry and mech units out there and capture all the silos. There are...nine silos in all. If we can hit Black Onyx with all nine in under fifty minutes, we can destroy it.

I don't know if I mentioned this during the first timed mission, but why the hell are the turns still called days when it is very obviously all on the same day?

That's a tall order, Rachel. The minute we start gunning for those silos, the enemy's going to know what we're up to.

We absolutely can't let those silos fall into enemy hands! You understand, my dude?

Oh, god, I suppose so. I'll do my best.



So, quick overview of the strategy before we get started proper - orange team will be nabbing the silos in their area and then playing things defensively - there's not much else they can contribute, and getting to the black obelisk will be easier done with another team. The main thing they have to fear is the megatank, which will head straight for them. Zlata, Dimitri and Inessa on the artillery will be there to welcome it.



I also deploy Diana and Ludmilla, who will be our resident get-the-fuck-over-to-the-silo-ers, and with that, orange team's first turn is all done.



Calm yourself, Lash. We are in control here. The advantage is ours.

Oh, boo. You get me, right, Madam Director? We've gotta crush Kindle!

It's just Lena now. I...have to admit, Hawke, I want to rush in and destroy that woman. But I'll hold back for now.

Good. I am pleased you are here, Madam--Lena.

You...you are?

Strategically speaking, yes. Your defection was a huge blow to the Bolt Guard, and without a competent ACO, we are at the advantage.



So, blue team! There's a couple of silos down south, but we can't go for them yet - there's a medium tank lying in wait. The plan here is to build a second artillery, let the medium tank blunder into the murder circle, and then go get the silos once it's gone. There's very little else threatening the blue team, so they don't really have to worry.



I send Vanessa to nab this port, too - she'll be taking a lander over to the island with the silo on it, before any goddamn copters get an enemy infantry over there.



And we get a second artillery to back up Ingo - it's Rin.

"It's so strange to be working under Hawke and Lash, still!" Rin says, shaking her head. "Still, I'm excited to be deployed alongside you, Lena! Let's do our best out there!"

"Y-yes..." Lena says. "I've got to atone for what I've done. That much is obvious."



Our other infantry, Alfonse, will be taking care of the lower silos, but since we have a few turns to sit and wait for the medium tank to come to us, he'll capture this city nearby in the meantime. And with that, blue team's first turn is also done.



You are NOT going to ruin this land anymore. It's on, now! I've got my best battle mix playin' too!

Hey, my dude! Let me guess--you’re the one who showed Jake that Eurobeat stuff, aren’t you?

Oh, not a fan?

Listen--if I have to hear about a “speedy speed boy” or a “night of fire” just one more time, I’m going to scream.



So, green team! Like I said, they've got the toughest time - they start with the fewest units but arguably face the greatest numbers of enemies. Our plan is to deal with the early motherfuckers coming to harass us - two battle copters and two recons, then get some infantry units over to the silos. They're pretty far south, so it's going to be a tough time to hold the territory long enough to fire the silos, but it's what we've got to do to win.



Fliss heads south, and Carter heads... less south. He's in the perfect position here to snipe the battle copters on day 3.



I deploy Mulligan, and Fleur to carry him south, and that's my turn.



Now let's see just how much bullshit Black Hole's got for us.



First, this fucking thing. The black obelisk works like the crystals, restoring HP, ammo and fuel, but it has a motherfucking 4-tile range. Thankfully it's not going to play into our plans very much, since we won't be directly fighting the units around the obelisk. Because, you know, that would be suicide.



The megatank moves into the lower area to bother the orange team, and the medium tank makes its slow way over to the blue team, as predicted. Thankfully, this is the only big threat either team has to worry about, really.



Even green team's group isn't too bad, since the copters come way quicker than the recons, and you can take them out before you have to worry about the recons.



The black bomb speeds off, and an infantry is deployed where it used to be - this infantry is going to capture the airport nearby, which is actually really important for us. As for the black bomb, where is it going, you ask? It charges for the most expensive group of units on the map, which is currently the orange team's tank and artillery crew. As you can imagine, an AoE 5 HP hit could be ruinous, so we're going to be playing with this black bomb a bit to render it basically useless.



So, let's get on with the silo-nabbing already.



Diana gets into Ludmilla, who's already ready to go.

"Farthest silo first, according to my dude's orders." Ludmilla says. "Are you ready?"

"Of course. I just hope Dimitri doesn't get into too much trouble whilst we're doing that."



"He's putting himself on the line to buy you the time you need to get the silo, you know." Ludmilla replies, winking. "Worry about yourself for a change, Diana, alright?"

Diana pulls a face. "...I guess. I could do that."



Moving on, the blue team needs Rin to get into position. She's got more than enough time to get there, thankfully, so it's not a huge concern.



And after moving Rin, I finish capturing the port with Vanessa.

"Come in, Rose. Port's been taken - I'll get a lander deployed as soon as possible." Vanessa reports.

"Very good." Rose says through the transceiver. "I'm taking care of the orange team's battle - can I rely upon you to handle the blue team's silos?"

"Of course! We'll crush anything that gets in our way. You can count on me!" Vanessa replies.



And Alfonse just starts capturing in the meantime. The medium tank's going to be another day or two, so hey, let's move on.



Time for green team to start doing things.



Fliss is very adorable, and the bro copter explodes after having a cuteness overload.



Mulligan prepares to fly, but not too far.

"Ah, Monsieur Mulligan! It has been some time." Fleur says, smiling. "We will be flying shortly, once my dear sister has removed those offending copters."

"Good to see you, Fleur. I'm looking forward to it. Let's get those silos as soon as we can." Mulligan replies, saluting.



I deploy Howard also, just to capture some stuff and have a backup infantry if anything goes sideways. Mulligan is good, but he can only fire one silo per turn.



Right, Black Hole, hop to it.



Oh, right. Forgot you just did this all day.

This Dick Captures A Property: 45



The megatank, meanwhile, has made an error by blundering right into artillery range.



As predicted, the second bro copter headed north, but is now in Carter's missile range. And the recons are catching up. We'll have to deploy some stuff to deal with them shortly.



The black bomb is still en route to orange team's units. Thankfully, I have a great plan for this.



It is called Operation Talk Shit, Get Hit.



First, we talk shit by shooting this megatank with Inessa. Thanks to Sasha and Colin's broken-ass extra luck, this does three fucking damage. To a megatank.



Ludmilla drops off Diana, too. So, now we've talked shit...



Zlata and Dimitri will be attacking the megatank directly.



This works out really well in a number of ways - firstly, we're damaging the megatank. Always good. Secondly, the megatank counterattacks, and with it having limited ammo, any ammo it can waste is good. I'll explain the final fun thing in a moment.



"Think I'm gonna let you show me up, Zlata?" Dimitri says, grinning. Zlata giggles.

"Of course not, darling! But please... you're only in a little tank. Don't go biting off more than you can chew!"



"Bah!" Dimitri shouts. "You underestimate me. The megatank's weakened, Commander Rose!"

"Excellent." Rose says, without saying anything more.

So, the final fun thing about attacking into the megatank? Talk shit, get hit: we've taken enough counterattack damage (i.e. we've got hit) badly enough that our group is no longer the most expensive group of units on the map. So that black bomb? It's gonna have to go and find something else to blow up on.



I also deploy a couple more infantry to help capture stuff and fire silos - Boris and Ivan, of Dimitri's Mercenaries.



Now for blue team to prepare for Tank Day tomorrow. Tank Day is my favourite holiday.



We also deploy Aanisah as a lander, so that Vanessa can nab the silo ASAP. Thankfully, Black Hole takes a bit of time to mobilise a transport copter and foot unit to get to the silo, so it's not actually too hard to get it first.



And hey, Alfonse captured his thing too!

"City captured! You got the port, didn't you, Vanessa?" Alfonse says.

"I sure did! And now I'm sailing off to get a silo - bet I get to mine before yours!" Vanessa replies, with a characteristic competitiveness.

Alfonse nods. "Probably - but I'm going to get two silos if all goes to plan, so I think I've got you beat!"

"We'll see, Mr... huh. I don't think I know your last name." Vanessa says, pausing.

"You're not the only one," Michael says, shaking his head. "I don't think you've ever told us, have you, Alfonse?"

"I mean, is it important that you all know..? It's not that exciting..."



Our units are perfectly positioned that the medium tank can't reach them, and it will wander right into the range of Ingo and Rin. Lena's just here for moral support, really - artillery plus tank isn't quite enough to one-turn the medium tank, so we have to use two artillery if we want it dead right away. And we do, otherwise it'll harass our APC when we're off capturing the silos down south.



Green team's got its hands full, in the meantime.



And I wasn't referring to this copter, which just gets deleted by Carter. We've got to make preparations for the incoming recons.



And to that end, money would be useful, so Howard gets on with capturing.



Kindle's CO meter is rising fast, too. We need to delay their Tag Power for as long as humanly possible, so we need to be really fucking careful about picking our battles.



To fight the recons, I deploy a few reinforcements - our tank, Conrad, and our bro copter, Petra.

"Hey, Petra. Ready for the fight?"

"If it's besides you, I've nothing to fear!" Petra replies, smiling. "Now let's make them regret trying to mess with us!"



And this is how our units shape up. We'll let the recons come to us - we don't have to worry about the silos quite yet, but we've got to move fast once the foot units show up.



Let's just hope that weakened megatank doesn't cannon anybody in the orange team to death.



Two properties get captured this turn. I continue to not care about it.

This Dick Captures A Property: 47



This is important, though. You can feasibly get an anti-air down there to stop this capture, but remember what I said about picking our battles? I'm leaving him be - Black Hole don't really have the money to make good use of the airport, and we have enough anti-air options that it's not an issue anyway, so we're saving CO meter buildup by just letting them have this airport.

But let's not forget that This Dick Captures A Property: 48



The megatank attacks Zlata with a megacannon shot...



...but she shrugs it off just fine.

"This thing should be out of ammo now! It's a sitting duck!" Zlata says. Inessa and Dimitri salute in their vehicles.

"Right!" Inessa says. "Time to counterattack, then!"



Main thing to note here: the black bomb is moving north, since the amassed units in blue team are the most expensive thing now.



Looks like they're swapping.



Guess they want that Tag Power as soon as they can. Don't worry, we'll deal with that.



First things first, we've got some missiles to fire and a tank to murder.



The RNG is unfortunately against me here, and this doesn't end up being a kill.



Zlata's got us covered, though, and blows up the megatank. Hell yeah! That was... not as bad as I was fearing. Orange team don't really have much else to worry about now, besides like, a recon and one oozium.



"Firing first missile. Let's destroy this Black Onyx!" Diana says as the missile roars into the sky, shooting into the wild blue.



"Direct hit." reports Rose. "Excellent work, Diana. Eight more silos to go; that shouldn't be too much trouble."



My other infantry decide to just capture some stuff. The silos can wait for at least another day or two - we're still well within the time limit, and it's gonna take the other teams a while to get their silos anyway.



Now. Sasha does have her CO Power, but if we want to get the best use out of it, we really want more money. As such, I'm holding off this turn - we're going to try and attack as few units as possible to prevent them from getting their Tag off.



Uh, though, admittedly...



We are attacking an entire medium tank, but we kind of have to, there's no avoiding that.



With Rin weakening it, Ingo's pretty easily able to finish it off, and thus, the blue team are pretty much done on the combat front.



And look! Their CO meters aren't fully charged yet. If we'd been more aggressive with the green team, we'd have damaged the infantry and the recons, which would have given them the Tag. By holding off, we buy ourselves an extra turn to build up funds with Sasha before hitting them with Market Crash!



Vanessa hops into Aanisah to head for her silo.



And gets dropped off!

"I'm at the silo! Just preparing to fire it now!" Vanessa says. "I'm beating you, Alfonse!"



"Hey, I'm down here too - thanks Michael - so don't count me out just yet!" Alfonse replies, chuckling. He briefly wonders why he's enjoying this sort-of rivalry with Vanessa, but casts the notion aside.



You'll notice, also, that all of our nice expensive units have split up now. What does that mean? Once more, the black bomb's not got a target, and will have to find another one.



Let's see how much we can get away with not shooting things on green team's turn. We really don't want that Tag Power hitting us right now.



Well, Howard very pacifistically captures another base. Probably not going to be useful to deploy from, but the extra funds are nice.



Those recons are getting awfully close now, so I establish a wall to block off Carter, and Mulligan in the copter. We wait here instead of firing, just to ensure that we don't fill that meter any further.



They may have big movement on roads, but they've got none on plains. We're safe!



So we can move Fleur and Carter in, and end our turn. Carter's heading south mostly to kill anything that comes out of the airport they captured down below.



And no Tag for you guys, fuck you.



Oh, god, they never stop with the capturing.



The black bomb is now off towards our green team, and as you can see by the fuel indicator, has expended rather a lot of fuel on it's ADHD-esque tour around the map. It's almost done - we just have to make sure it doesn't hit anything super threatening, and I have a plan for that.



This enemy recon comes charging into orange team's territory. It's not a huge threat, but I don't want it attacking Diana, so we'll have to play around it a little carefully.



So, let's get on with that, shall we?



First, we'll finish some capturing with Ivan and Boris, more money for the Sasha god.



And Diana hot-foots it back into Ludmilla's APC, off for the next silo.



I arrange the crew like so - the recon can't hit Diana or Inessa, and if it chooses to attack Ludmilla, it'll be in Inessa's artillery range, so not a threat either way. And we have the next silo!



Of course, there's also something else we need to do. Those CO meters are looking very full, guys...



Let's bring you down to size.



Boom! Perfect. That's not gonna hold them off forever, but it'll do for now, definitely.



The only thing blue team really need to do is fire silos, so let's get on with it.



"Firing silo!" Alfonse says, and he hears a sigh of frustration on the transceiver.

"Argh, I'm still figuring out the controls for mine..." Vanessa mutters.



BOOM! Direct hit!



"Got it working!" Vanessa cries. "Right, here we go: eat this, Black Onyx!"



And another! I will probably omit the rest of the silo screenshots, but you get the picture, there's a little explosion on the top screen.



Now, personally, I'd like to lure this thing BACK over to the blue team, and run it out of fuel that way, but I dunno if I have the funds to pull that off. Missiles are expensive, which makes the green team very tempting.



We'll do our best, though - we deploy Selena as a sub, specifically for just sitting there and looking pretty. _{And she does a great job.}

"S-Selena!" gasps Lena. "You're here, too..?"

"Of course. I couldn't let you face this first battle alone." Selena replies. "Thank you for working with her, everyone. Let's keep up the good work!"



I move Aanisah over, briefly abandoning Vanessa, to make this pile of funds look more enticing for the black bomb. Hopefully it takes the bait.



And since we hit Black Hole with Market Crash, we can freely go nuts on these recons without worry now, so let's do that.



Ooh. Problem. Infantry.

If a single enemy infantry makes it to a single silo, we lose the map outright. We've got to block off those silos as well as fighting the recons. Let me think...



Fliss goes for the lower recon, doing solid damage to it.



Petra does even better against the other recon. Man, I forgot how strong Sensei's copters really are.



Fleur then drops off Mulligan like so - she sits on the silo itself, since if we block it off with Mulligan, he'd take a cannon hit and then an infantry hit, and I'm not super confident he survives that. This is safer.



Lastly, Conrad finishes off the higher-HP recon. Our formation here prevents the infantry from getting the silo, and stops the recons from harassing Mulligan.



I move Carter further down, too, making slow progress towards the southern airport.



At least nothing's going to go to total shit. You should have seen my first attempt, where I was in about this position and then they ruined me with a Tag Break. Learned that lesson pretty quick.



The Black Cannon notices a sexy copter pilot sitting in its range and slams the wrath of fucking Thor onto her...



...but only does 3 damage to Fleur thanks to that cannon guard passive we took. This is why we needed it - because we have to defend this silo, but it's right in the range of the Black Cannon, so a few of our units are going to be eating hits.



This Dick Captures A Property: 49



The theme of today's enemy phase is "recons shooting things for basically fuckall damage". First this one does like 2 damage to Ludmilla.



And then this one doesn't even do a point of damage. Excellent.



The infantry hits Fleur, and though it brings her to 4HP, she shrugs it off just fine. She's done her job of dropping Mulligan off now, so she can just retreat without much worry.



Tragically, the black bomb did not take the bait. That's alright - I have a backup strategy which is a bit more annoying, but it can't be helped.



They're swapping again.



Not really much of an issue either way. I think Kindle first is generally better - if they get their Tag, Koal going first means he can use his BIG MOVE to shift his units into advantageous places, then Kindle can utilise that to do huge damage. This way, Koal's extra movement isn't quite as useful.



Obviously the ideal plan is that they don't get to use their Tag Power at all, but unfortunately, we may not be able to Market Crash it a second time before we fill up that meter.



Because, for example, we have to shoot stuff like this dickhead recon. Inessa does a number on him, just shy of a kill.



But Dimitri can finish it easily enough, absolute chad that he is.



So! Let's missilinate the fuck out of that Black Onyx.



"Good shot." Boris says gruffly. "Let me finish it!"

Boris fires off his silo too, for another hit on the Onyx.



That's all of orange team's silos done now! Blue is almost done too, and green... look, I did say green team has the hardest time of things. This is what I meant. We'll be on it soon enough.

In the meantime I start retreating my units - the second phase of orange team's fight is just holding the line pretty much, so we have some time to heal up before the enemy (and this slow-ass oozium) to get to us.



Irritiatingly, the south silos are 4 tiles apart, so one infantry can't get both in two days.



They did that on purpose to annoy me personally.



Since the black bomb got confused and didn't come back for the blue team bait, Aanisah heads back to pick up Vanessa.



Selena shifts out of the way, so they can head into port.



Right, green team! You have a lot of catching up to do.



Again, though, we have to be careful with those CO meters. Let's hope we don't fill them up by murdering everything in a four-tile radius.



There's this asshole too. I can't wait to blow this stupid cannon up later.



We can pretty easily sort all of our problems here, though - Sensei-powered Petra just kind of eats other bro copters for breakfast.



Mulligan fires the first silo, giving us a proper foothold!

"Silo fired! We've got a second and third to do, but we'll get there." Mulligan says.

"I'm coming down to help you!" Howard replies. "This is one time where we won't get a second chance, right? I'm not gonna put that all on your shoulders!"

"Howard... thanks." Mulligan murmurs fondly. "I'm very grateful to have you beside me."

Conrad hears the exchange and thinks about Petra, but he tries to shake it off and focus on the battle. Gotta win. Stop thinking about her.



As you can see, their CO meter is nearly charged now. Taking out both infantry would probably do it, so instead, I'm going to play mostly defensively and not kill them.



Conrad moves onto this silo, but we'll need to replace Fleur - she won't survive another cannon and infantry combo.



And then we can move Fliss in to block it.

"Don't worry, s-sister! I've got this!" Fliss says. "I won't... l-let them get these silos!"

"Felicity... I am so proud of you. I know you'll win!" Fleur says, flying away to safety.



...OK, I know what I said, but what the heck, we can probably kill one of them and be fine.



See that tiny pixel of Koal's CO meter that isn't full? Yeah.

Never fucking punished.



I then deploy a bomber, Lucy. We need her for obelisk-breakin' things later on, but right now her job is to be big and expensive and get a bomb to the face.



And there we go! Our infantry and silos, protected, and no Tag Power to fuck me over just yet.



Let's watch them flail uselessly at my superior intellect.



The cannon opens fire, but this time it's on Fliss.



And unfortunately for the enemy infantry, even a 7HP anti-air will gut them like a fish, so they will not fuck with her.



At long last, our very confused, easily-distracted black bomb goes off in Lucy's face, doing 5 damage to her and only her.

And she's on an airport. So she can heal 2HP per turn.

What I'm saying is this black bomb was useless and I am a genius.



The infantry both bully poor Carter, but that's fine.



They don't do much damage, and they'll be dead next turn.



Aw, look, their CO meter is charged and everything. It really is so good that Black Hole can't use a Tag Power unless they start the turn with it charged.



So, there's no avoiding it now, unfortunately. As per usual, then, our backup strategy is to kill everything that's remotely a threat to us and let the Tag Power achieve nothing.



Thankfully, that's not going to be very hard. A lot of the difficulty of this map is frontloaded, so Black Hole has very little to actually threaten us with now; none of those dangerous units in the centre there actually move, so that medium tank and Neotank will be useless.



I pull a retreat here. If they move the artillery forwards, it'll be able to shoot one of my units on the second Tag turn, but that's just a calculated risk we'll have to take.



Blue team have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Tag Powers, so they just roll on as normal.



Alfonse fires off the final silo in the blue team's area, leaving just two of the nine left to shoot! And also leaving blue team with little else to do for the second half of the map.

Whaaaaat? We just sit here now?!

I know it is hard for you to understand, but our work is done. It falls to the others; we do nothing.

Hey! I understand doing nothing! That Colin guy once beat me in a battle by doing nothing. _{I really need to ask him how he did that…}



The Black Onyx now begins sputtering every now and then, showing its damage. Don't worry, we'll put you out of your misery soon enough, Onyx.



And everyone else just kinda sits around. That copter is going to drop off a foot unit when the Tag happens, but unless it's got a fucking medium tank in its pocket, I think we'll be fine.



Green team is under the greatest threat of the Tag Power, so let's start killing things before they kill us.



Petra puts paid to this infantry. You could probably do this much damage to an infantry just by landing a copter on top of them, honestly.



Conrad attacks this infantry in the meantime - if we let it live, it'll get this airport in one fell swoop thanks to the two turns of Tag Power. Doing any chip damage at all lets us avoid that.



And finally, Fliss finishes off this recon. The green team is (mostly) safe now! That took way longer than it should have.



Mulligan fires the penultimate silo...



...and Howard gets the last one.

"Here we go! I'm not going to let you stress my friends out any more! This... should be IT!" Howard cries, launching the missile skyward.



It begins to sputter and explode...



And then falls out of orbit completely.

They used our own missiles against us. It seems someone among them has a brain. The Director and those little runaways are intent on causing trouble for Lord Von Bolt, it seems.

Yet, we still have the upper hand as long as we have the black obelisk. After all, it can resupply and repair two HP of damage to all units within four spaces.

Look at them fight--it's adorable. They don't have a chance! Aha ha ha ha ha!

This all sounds strangely familiar. What the Director said about the Embodiment of Victory...I fear she may have been correct. This does not augur well.

There's a cheer from the allied forces as they see the wreckage of the Black Onyx spiralling towards the ground, sputtering and exploding violently; the field around the black obelisk drops, and renders it vulnerable, renewing the soldiers' hope as they prepare for the second half of the battle.



And thus we organise our troops like so. There's one last thing we need to do before we finish...



...survive that Tag Power.



Also this cannon I guess.



Mulligan takes a hit, but he's OK. He's done his job for now, so he can just head back up to HQ and heal up.



Do your worst, Kindle. Face it - I've completely outsmarted you.



You've had every advantage - money, funds, more meter charge, a better position, and where did it get you?



This Dick Captures A Property: 50

50! Big number. Not as high as I was expecting, though, actually. That's just over 2 captures per mission.



Kindle makes a crucial mistake - the oozium moves into the position where her artillery should have gone, so she can't put it in place to shoot any of my units on Koal's turn. Absolutely fantastic for us!



And Koal's not going to be much better. The transport copter did drop a mech off up where the blue team is, but...



Let's be real. If the total damage of your Tag Power is just 7HP to an artillery, I think that's a pretty unsuccessful Tag Power.



There's a few more units sitting around, but that's the huge threat out of the way - another Tag Power survived, and no more Black Onyx!



Next time, we'll move on with the second half of the map, shattering the black obelisk, and maybe destroying that Black Cannon if it continues to piss me off with its chip damage. See you all then!

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Update 56 (Intermission) - Desert Heat