Part 31: Chapter 31 (Battle) - Just Let Me Have The God Damned Airport

Update 31 (Battle) - Just Let Me Have The God Damned Airport



-----------~~~~THE LUCY LOG~~~~-----------

hey guys!! it's me, lucy, back to report on the second half of this battle! rose said people wanted someone more dynamic, so i guess that's me. anyway, let's see... where were we?

oh, right! the red team had just found some important intel! congrats to them~



but now we've gotta win the map, so sasha's letting jake take control! he's better with ranged units, like those rockets he's got!



meanwhile, the blue team is struggling still! it's not fair that black hole's got so many tanks. what are they gonna do about it?



first things first, kyril took a big hit, so he needs to get out of there! that's why we have sofia, so she can replace him.



but it's actually best to attack this infantry. we want to stop them getting this airport, after all, since sensei needs it!



minerva's still sneaking up north to get this base! we could pull off an exciting pincer manoeuvre with this!



and now, arqa's assault on the airport a... uh...

man, i was gonna think of a word beginning with a so it was all alliterated and cool! but i have no ideas, hold on a sec...



with the airport free, andromeda/lowell go to guard it.

oh! arqa's assault on the airport adversary! there we go!!



vanessa can't just rely on tanks though, especially with how hard they're being hit, so she deploys an artillery unit next! my boyfriend's an artillery guy, and i know for a fact that they're great against any kind of grounded unit! this one is talora!



defending this airport is going to be hard, but i believe in everyone! those tanks can't be everywhere at once, and once they've struck, you can counterattack! of course, it'd be a lot easier if i could run over in my bomber!! but that's pretty expensive to do... and i'm not sure how well i could fly in this snow, either!



ok, black hole! do your worst! that's what my dude always says, though he often follows that up with "ah f***, i shouldn't have said that" whenever they do something bad to him!



the mech goes for andromeda and lowell! that's not a good start, they take a big hit!



then the tank!! oh no!!

"Andromeda, are we-" Lowell gasps, but Andromeda looks at him sharply. A voice rings out over the transceiver.

"Andy! You can do this!"

Andromeda nods. "Lowell, you cut, saw, observed the Orange Star Army outlasting, surviving, near death during the mock battle. This is, will be how we survive, too!"

"But there's no way-" Lowell says, as the tank opens fire. He shuts his eyes in terror. "I wasn't trained for this! There's no way out! Our tank isn't going to survive!"



"I have met, faced, many foes like you... but I always fucking survive, j-just like Perry and Rose and Vanny have shown me!" Andromeda replies, staring at her foes, her ethereal hair swirling around her body, mingling with the snow continuing to fall.

"Hell yes, Andromeda!" Vanessa cries victoriously. "Looks like I can pull a Rose Kuroda gambit when I want to. Nice job out there, Andy! _{Though I dunno if I like the nickname Vanny...}"

"I've never heard you swear. That... runs counter to the kind of personality I thought you had." Lowell replies. Andromeda nods.

"Peregrine said, told me that words like that show off someone's fighting spirits, spirit! It's the, my, goddamn willpower!" she says, beaming at Lowell. Over the transceiver, Vanessa chuckles.

"Yeah, you just gotta kinda let it slide. We can't stop Andromeda saying them now, Perry's just that kind of bad influence, I'm afraid."



oh thank goodness!! everybody's ok~

but now sofia is going to be attacked by this tank! at least she can counterattack it!



whaaaaa? kindle's using her co power at the end of her turn?! that's not allowed, only eagle's supposed to do that!



what a way to end the turn, one last f.u.! sorry for the language, but it's true!!



hm, this isn't going to make it any easier for the blue team. and it'll slow down all the capturing that the red team is doing! kindle's such a buzzkill!



i guess there's nothing we can do now but figure out our next step. and i think it's going to involve ROCKETS!



see, look at our infantry units, they can't finish getting this comm tower! our communications are going to sound all garbled until we get all three of these towers!



meanwhile, ingo's in place! look at my man, he's doing so well - he's gonna make sure black hole can't deploy anything without it being crushed by rockets first!!

i've always been able to look after myself, but it's nice to see ingo doing the same! when i first met him, he was so nervous, and after what happened, could you blame him?? losing both his real brother and his blood brother in quick succession? it's why i have to be strong, so i can protect him! even if he thinks he's the one protecting me, hee hee!



and here's how the turn ends! now that the tanks are busy fighting the blue team, alfonse and inessa are sneaking back to this base to capture it! hopefully they can manage it... there's a lot of black hole troops hanging around...



i don't know how the blue team is going to hold out, though! even ingo can't help them all by himself, but what's sensei got planned?



talora's in position, to begin with! she can take out anything that gets too close. that's what artilleries are good at!



minerva's nearly capture this base, too! silly kindle, slowing her down... we'll get it next time!



meanwhile, the tanks are way too damaged to keep this up, so they join up! that's right, lowell, andromeda, sofia and kyril are all hanging out in one tank!!



even with the mountain defence, it's not safe for arqa to go for the airport. she'll have to retreat for now! you'll get it next time, arqa!



vanessa deploys another artillery next, and that's kiran! he makes such good food, i miss his cooking!!



let's hope the tank gang and iago are enough to hold off the enemy... it could be close!



oh, no, i'm so nervous i can't bear to watch!



that's a bad start, the mech's gone for poor talora! she's ok, but she can't shoot the mech at close range.



the enemy tank goes for our tank crew! i wonder who's driving out of the four of them? maybe kyril, he seems very responsible!



that wasn't part of the plan! minerva's in a tight spot now!

"Minerva, is everything alright? Status report!" Vanessa says.

"I just wanted to capture-" Minerva gasps. "I've been found by a Black Hole tank."

"Pull a retreat! That's an order!" Vanessa says desperately. "I can't have people wandering off when we're in such tight conditions. We need backup, god damn it!"



even iago's taking a beating! not that i like him, but even he doesn't deserve to be killed out here in the cold!



time for a counterattack! these next few choices are going to determine the battle, i think! although i'm not very good at seeing the battlefield as a whole, like my dude can, but i'd like to think i've picked up a thing or two from keeping my lucy logs over the last year or so~



black hole decided to deploy an infantry? ingo says NOT TODAY!



we finally get all the comm towers, too! now our communication is crystal clear!



alfonse is making a start on this base, meanwhile. it's a good job he didn't go for it earlier. he would have been hit by kindle's co power!



that's all the red team can do for now, though. it's all up to the blue team and vanessa kita farid!!



"There's gotta be a way out of this, Sensei." Vanessa murmurs. "I'm just... not seeing it. Get the airport, and then-"

"Vanessa, I can see your problem." Sensei says over the transceiver. Vanessa stares across the battlefield.

"Where?! How do I-"

"You said it yourself. 'Get the airport'. Stop thinking about the airport, and think about the battle as a whole. Do you need the airport to win?"

Vanessa looks back up at the battlefield, and suddenly sees it in a new light. "Oh, god, we've been too distracted trying to capture this airport for you, and we don't even need it to forge ahead! I can see the path forward! We strike NOW!"



as per vanessa's orders, minerva's gonna retreat into the mountains!



that should protect her from the tank! it's a shame she can't get any further away, but mountains are troublesome like that! well, unless you're me in a bomber, tee hee!



and now it's time for vanessa to do her cool strategy with sensei!

"I was right - we did need backup. We've lured the enemy near to our cities, so let's get some soldiers on the ground, stat!" Vanessa shouts.



here... we... GO!



The soldiers come parachuting down, weapons at the ready - Lysander and Dymek, the heavy infantry that Vanessa so sorely needs.

"Vanessa, we're ready for your orders!" Dymek yells. "I'm not gonna let these bastards hurt any of my friends! Lemme at 'em!"

"Hold fast, Dymek - see that tank there? Crush it!" Vanessa replies.



this tank thought it was just attacking a recon, but now there's a mech ready to attack it! what a skilful move by vanessa, wow!



even weakened, talora can do good damage to this enemy tank, too! and once she's done that...



POW! the tank squad can finish them!



in one fell swoop, the blue team's bought some time! now they have the advantage, and they can charge ahead to take out black hole!



but black hole isn't going to be happy. what will kindle do??



this mech keeps attacking talora! i guess he hasn't noticed that he's surrounded by powerful units like the tank squad and dymek yet!



"Boss! I, um-" Minerva gasps. "I'm in a bad situation! I might not-"

"Don't say that!" Vanessa replies. "Hold tight, Minerva, we'll come get you in a moment!"

"The tank's right on top of me!" Minerva shouts, watching it rumble up to her meagre mountain defence and open fire.

She leaps behind a rock, hoping to outlast the gunfire, but then there's a BOOM as the tank unleashes a full-force attack on her position, and Vanessa, with bated breath, listens on the transceiver.

"Tell Kanbei that I, I wish I could have..." Minerva says. "Tell him I died like a hero, won't you? Fighting for his cause?"



"Minerva? Minerva?!" Vanessa shouts, her voice hoarse as she yells and yells, but receives no response.

For a few moments, there's silence.

"...Vanessa?" asks Andromeda. "What do we act, do, now?"

"...It can't be helped. We were naïve to think we'd push through a whole campaign with zero losses." Vanessa replies quietly, feeling the weight sitting squarely on her shoulders. "We move forward, and we crush them without hesitation. They took one of our own. THEY TOOK ONE OF OUR OWN!"



the enemy's deployed an anti-air, too... oh, i'm just upset that we lost somebody... my dude would have- well, he's not here, so i guess we'll never know if he'd have managed it without losing anyone. but i wish we didn't have to say goodbye to people! i hate it, so, so much!



ok, we've gotta keep our cool. almost there! just need to keep black hole from deploying anything dangerous, and our rockets will do that easily!



that anti-air's got nothing on ingo~



it's taken a bit longer, but yakov is now in place too! he should be able to thin out the crowds as well!



and look, alfonse got this base! it's very near to the enemy hq, so that's useful! just in case we need some strong firepower or something!



it's a bit risky, since she'll take a lot of damage, but inessa decides to weaken this mech whilst he's busy capturing something! i guess he'll be too focussed on capturing to actually finish her off though, so good call on jake's part!



the red team is doing everything it can! just gotta make sure the blue team don't slip up now!



here we go, blue team! take out those last few enemies, and then get that hq!



kiran takes out the mech on the airport, freeing it up once more! but vanessa's not going for that anymore.



she's just out to rout the enemy! the tank crew take on this infantry unit next!



everybody else pushes ahead! man, i wouldn't want to be that anti-air right now!



maybe it'll fight back, though. i wouldn't advise it, pal, you're in dangerous territory! after all, you p***ed off vanessa!



at least inessa managed to stop this infantry from getting a base. we're not letting black hole get ANY more territory around here!



the anti-air's gone for iago! kindle does get stronger in the cities, so i guess this was sensible, but thankfully iago survives!



and now they've deployed a mech. seems like black hole has run out of tricks!



after all, i think we can stop them deploying things this turn! first, the red team needs to do this...



kaboom! ingo hurts the mech pretty badly! that's step one!



yakov takes out the capturing mech in the meantime, doing such a good job. he and his sister tag-teamed that enemy!



selena gets deployed now, just as backup in case anything goes wrong! i always feel safer when selena's one the field. she's as reliable and strong as dave or tina!

or me, i guess, but i don't like to think of myself as one of those super-strong invincible soldiers. i'm just lucy, and if i can fight to help people, then i will!!



step two of the plan to stop black hole deploying things will rely on the blue team!



so, i guess we'd better see how they go. vanessa's angry, but she's still smart. she's got plans, i'm sure!



dymek's taken out the anti-air! that's one problem dealt with.



lysander goes for the airport, just in case! always good to have backup plans like selena or bombers! you never know what tricks black hole will come out with next, the sneaky bunch!



iago can just barely finish off the mech - this is step two! because iago's the one who finishes off the mech...



the tank crew can block up black hole's only base! they can't deploy anything now with kyril, andromeda, lowell and sofia stopping them!



one foe left! does he know how much danger he's in, i wonder?



let's hope not! an overconfident foe can be defeated easily! i learned that in my campaigns!



he didn't do anything, except drive closer to us, so let's just finish it off! aw, but then i'll be done reporting. i've had fun telling you about the battle!



go on, ingo! my boyfriend's gonna make an end of this battle!

bye bye, everyone!!!



Jugger, at this rate, your incompetence will get you melted down for shell casings. (The Director already had some choice words for your performance on Bearen Island, and now this..?!

Jugger...ammo? Battle analysis indicates Kindle lost as well. Kindle also ammo?

That's it, Jugger, you tell her. You both fucked this one up, I'm afraid.

Don't be so dim. It's time to retreat. You will NOT botch the next fight!

Yeah, you better run! What's it like to get served by a com tower?!

Our strategy was perfect. Now let's head back to HQ. My nose is frozen.

You gonna let a little frostbite stop you, you big lug? I'm still good to go!

You've got energy to spare, don't you? I'm glad you're on our side, chrome dome.

Of course I've got energy! Now let's keep going!

Um, Mr Grimm... I brought my c-coat, but even I'm g-getting cold now. Might it be better to go b-back to HQ for now?

Aw, heck, if you're asking, I suppose we can. But once we're all toasty and warm, we've gotta plan our next move!

Our next move, as far as I'm concerned, is finding the location indicated on this map.



Another map over, though that one lost must sting Vanessa a bit. They're impossible to avoid, though me and Rose do our best to avoid them; you just have to take some losses, sometimes. I should've been in this battle. I could've stopped that from happening.

...I need to come back.



Pfft. At the very least, I need to come back so I can tell Jake to stop saying such stupid things at the end of each battle.



So, what's coming up next?



Lash...

Oh, and I'll put some of those little tankies over here... Goodie! Oh, no! They used a dual strike! Raaar! Boom! Crash! ...Tee hee hee!

Lash? ...Lash! Pay attention! Stop playing games on the battlefield! Carelessness leads to death.

Don't be silly. It's just a game! No, really... I'm playing a game, see? And let me tell you, this boss? Totally hard. Seriously.

Get back to the lab. We've got company, and I've got another mission to attend to. You're on your own for this one. We can't afford to have anything happen to you.

Dealing with Lash really does sound like a full-time job.

Yeah, yeah. Stop worrying about me! I DO have our brand-new weapon--you know, the black bomb? I'm more worried about this stupid boss battle than I am about... Uh-oh!

What now?

I think I dropped something when I was walking around earlier.

See? You are careless. What did you drop? Nothing vital, I hope.

Hmmm... I don't remember. Probably just bolts or lint or an egg or something...

None of these sound out of the ordinary for Lash, to be fair. I could see her carrying an egg around because "lol random".

I dunno. Who cares? I don't want to look for it. Let's just go. What's your mission, anyway?

Myself and the Director have some business to attend to. I'll tell you when I get back.

Aw, fine, keep your secrets. Watch me win this battle, and my boss fight, without even trying!



The black bomb? Hey, I remember that thing...

Yeah, that's the one that almost wasted us on Bearen Island!

That's the one. It has to be around here somewhere...

Oh! Commander Rachel! I found this in a bush over there!

Gwar! What are you doing?! You can't just walk around touching stuff! It could be a booby trap! And then you touch it and... KA-BOOM!! OOOH, YEAH!!

Grimm is the best. He's like the Jugger of the Allied Nations, top tier dialogue. _{God, he should've narrated that last battle.}

Oh no! I-I'm s-sorry, sir!

I don't see a blasting cap or trigger mechanism. Actually, it looks like a remote control for a toy car or something...

The enemy is just ahead!



The closest you'll come is when I use it to blow you all to smithereens!

Grrr! Back for more, huh, Lash?!

Tee hee hee! Heya, Max! You still cracking coconuts with that big head of yours? And where's your ACO, huh? Did he get sick of you all being so lame and leave you to fend for yourselves?

How dare you! He's--look, it doesn't matter where my dude went!

Oh, but it does matter! Without him, no one can defeat my scientific mind! All I have to do is press this button and...

...and... ...Huh?... Oh, nuts! My remote's gone!

Remote...?

Hey, Lash? Could you possibly be talking about...this?

Heeeey! Give that back! Thief! Thieeeef!

W-why should I give it back...?

Hey! Are you losers asleep or something? The enemy took my black bombs! Do you have any idea how long it took me to build all of those?

Um...w-what are we supposed to do about it?

Argh! Fine. Forget it. They probably won't be able to use them, anyway! It takes a special kind of genius to master black bomb deployment. OK, let's start the game!

And start the game we shall - next time, anyway. Here's the map:





Black Hole's got a sizeable army, though we have Black Bombs, provided we can actually get at them. Should be an interesting fight - just two COs to choose this time, and all the usual suspects: Jake, Rachel, Max, Colin, Sasha, Grimm or Sensei.

I'm ready to come back, I think. I need to talk to Rachel.

***

Update 32 (Intermission) - Surpassing All Expectations