Part 76: Mission #13: The Bandits of Tomorrow!

No. I will not be doing this. Do not test my patience, little Penguin.

The next build will probably be tomorrow night. Prepare yourselves accordingly...

Mission #13: The Bandits of Tomorrow!


: ...(Who the heck is Shizuka Jinguji? Oh well. I'll just ignore it.)

And Dennis gets an email from his girlfriend.


: Sybil...
: You got mail from a girl!
: It's nothing like... that.
: Oh, really.




: They're all too freaked out.
: ...
It's Serov! You may remember him from the other branch where he piloted a big, big wanzer and tried to murder us in the ruins of Batangas.
: You look like you can talk.
: I'm not a coward... not like them.
: W-We don't know anything! Please don't hurt us. If you need weapon information, go to the corporate web site. I don't know anything else.
: We're not here to hurt you.
: What do you want to know?
: Why so cooperative?
: I'm busy with my research. I don't have any interest in anything else.
: You're OCU. You don't care what happens to your allies?
: No. It's none of my business.
: What a mad scientist.
: You wanted to know something?
: All right. Tell us where you're going and what you're doing.
: We're going to the laboratory that's just ahead, then to Sumatra. We're investigating the recent crash of a military transport plane.
For the three of you who care, Indonesia is part of the OCU in this game.
: A transport crash!?
: What caused the accident, and what was inside the transport?
: It carried a new weapon. I hear there have been many transport crashes in Sumatra lately.
: What is this new weapon?
: I don't know anything about it.
: That's the part we need! !
: Is he trying to trick us?
: Believe what you want to believe. That's all I know. Now let me go.
: Okay. We'll leave the radio here. Call for help.
: ...
: What a creep.
: Emma, what should we do?
: It's too dangerous to stay here... Let's head back.



Back to the landing site...



: Sounds suspicious, but we should check.
: It might be a trap.
: Probably not. He doesn't know the details of our mission. How could he trick us?
: Let's go then. We don't have any other leads, anyway.
We're going to Sumatra! Why? Well....uh...why not?
: But...
: Let's confirm the accident. If it's true, there'll be information.
: Are we going back to the aircraft carrier?
: We'll head to another place to avoid losing more time. We'll also change the method of transportation to avoid being spotted.



We head to a submarine in an airplane...no, I'm not sure exactly how that works...



: What now, a submarine?
: We'll stay out of the enemy's sight this way.
: Listen, the aircraft carrier also confirmed a transportation crash.
: Where?
: Near Taranbets, in Sumatra.
: So there's definitely something there.
: Yes. Let's head for Sumatra.



I'll give Front Mission 3 this, I can't think of another game that made me dick around so many parts of Oceania. Also, had we not destroyed the cadenza last mission, we be forced to head for Sulawesi, that's Celebes for any Dutch Imperialists out there, instead. I'll show those missions off eventually...



Looks like four red, rifle-armed Reksons. The eagle-eyed among you will remember which army used these wanzers...



On the other side, some OCU forces.



: Yes. Something is strange.
: Are they fighting each other?
: No, the ones defending the cargo are not OCU.
: Why are they protecting the OCU's cargo?
: What do we do? They're gonna get killed at this rate.
Eh, they're rifle wanzers, they're going to die no matter what.
: I'm more worried about the cargo.
: So, I take it that means we're attacking the OCU.
: Sounds good to me. I was leaning towards that, myself.
Our party has no fucking idea what they're supposed to be doing, do they?



Last mission with the original wanzers. We also get three Rekson NPCs to help out, except they all have rifles, so they have no chance in hell of doing anything productive.



A better shot of the terrain. The ponds are impassable, because apparently wanzers can't negotiate water of any kind, making navigation difficult for the player and impossible for the poor AI.



Emma manages to burn two of her missiles damaging the legs and off-hand of the enemy...outstanding.



Reksons aren't usually this terrible, but the enemy starts right on top of the NPCs, and Reksons just don't have the durability to survive in close combat.



Meanwhile, Kazuki takes care of business. The gimmick with this map is that there's a forest that basically separates your troops from the NPC allies and the enemies. It's really more irritating than anything else.



You might remember this guy, whose name is Hatta, from the other branch in a mission that brutally exposed just how bad some of your designs were. He manages to get killed after two fists to the body.



And there goes another Rekson...



And Emma manages to actually get it right this time, albeit with her very last missile...



And Dennis gets his rifle smashed by an enemy wanzer, which, admittedly, doesn't make much of a difference in his capability.



And Ryogo begins the process of cleaning things up.



The AI in this game isn't quite smart enough to use bottlenecks effectively, so it manages to screw itself up pretty badly in this mission trying to jam all of its troops through the narrow gaps in the trees.



This...might be bad...
: Mission accomplished...
Well, since the party didn't get vaporized in a flash of light, I'm guessing that wasn't MIDAS, which, therefore, makes this whole mission a complete waste of time.



In the second-to-last action of the mission, Dennis finally gets killed.



And Emma immediately avenges him.



Excitingly enough, this is the last award screen where I won't be able to blame poor results on the thread and their wanzers! Hooray!



: Hang on. We haven't saved you yet.
: Hey, hey, no need to be hostile. We're not gonna fight ya.
: Who are you people?
: I'm Hatta. I'm a guerilla fighting the OCU. We attacked the OCU transport.
: The crash was your doing.
: Why do you keep targeting transports?
: The transports around here carry some valuable goods. We take 'em and sell 'em. High tech goods go for lots of money.
: You guys are bandits then.
: What's in a name? Aren't you guys doing the same thing?
Given how much of our income comes from captured wanzers...yeah, basically.
: We're just here to check out the cargo. But from the looks of it, we'll never know what was inside.
: If the cargo was MIDAS, The damage would have been far greater.
: So we just wasted our time...
: Hey, cheer up. I know someone who can help you out.
: Does this person know something?
: Yes, I'm sure you'll get the information you're looking for. In exchange of saving my life, I'll take you there.
: What should we do?
: Well, we're out of leads. We'll have to depend on him, I guess.
Meander forwards, Kazuki, for a brighter tomorrow!
: Heh, don't worry. I'm not gonna trick you or anything.
: Oh, are you sure you're not gonna sell our wanzers off?
: ...
: Hey, what's going through your mind?
: I was just joking! I wouldn't betray someone who just saved my life.
See, that's the mark of a true hero! We were right to trust him!
: All right then, take us to this person.
: Don't worry. It's all good.
: It's fine with me.
: Then let's go! It's a little far, But you can take my truck.

Next Time: Sorrow and Suffering in Singapore!