Part 5: Mission #5: Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

Mission #5: Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

Last Time: The gang decided the best way to escape the Japanese army was to set their wanzers out to sea...



Yeah, we're not really going to just cruise around the ocean on hover-wanzers, as awesome as that would be.



We're going to Miharu! Yeah, I don't know where that is. I'm going to honest, despite both this and my first LP being jRPGs, I don't know anything about Japan or Japanese culture.



I suppose a good example of that would be that while I personally find Kazuki's compulsive need to protect Alisa is kind of creepy, that may just be because people in Japan have a different view of protecting their women-folk.
: I'm fine.
: Hey, what about me?
: Keep your guard up. The JDF is after us.
: Liu. Who are you? Why are you helping us?
: I'm an agent for Da Han Zhong.
Hey, does anyone in this thread have enough knowledge of Chinese to know what the hell that means? Anyway, as I said before, the DHZ is future-China.
: A DHZ Agent!? First the USN, now the DHZ... What's going on?
: What was the DHZ doing at a JDF base?
: Don't be so uptight. I could've left you behind, but you wouldn't have liked that.

Man, what's going on? Could this be the beginning of a crisis that will engulf the entire world?



First things first, though, we need check our email, after all, it's important to get back to people, even if you're about to commit treason.




: Hmm...
: What's wrong?
: It's nothing.



Oh right, the big secret that hss the world possibly on the edge of calamity. I suppose we should find out about that.

: What's going on? Will someone explain!?
: USN and the DHZ... They must have something to do with the explosion.
: I appreciate you helping us, but I don't trust you yet.
: You're being cautious, huh?
: They tried to kill us. Of course, I'm cautious.
: You know about the accident at the base, right? I'm here to investigate it.
: Why would another country send an agent out to investigate an accident?
: I wouldn't be here if it were just an ordinary accident.
: You're saying it's not?
: Kazuki, he's telling the truth. It was a net type of bomb that accidentally exploded. Take a look.



It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures, or even in the game, really, but it looks like the entire wall of a building was wiped out.
: What's this?
: Whoooaaa...dude.
: This is footage from the accident. So this is where they tested the bomb.
: I see. It's more powerful than I thought...



: Was the USN investigating the accident, too?
Yeah, that's how people investigate things...by getting into walking tanks and trying to kill everybody.
: No. The USN was probably there to retrieve the bomb.
: To retrieve it?
: A new weapon was stolen from a USN lab not long ago. It was a new type of bomb called MIDAS.
: And that caused the accident?
: The USN learned about MIDAS's whereabouts after the accident and came here.
: Did Japan steal MIDAS from the USN? Then Japan must be at fault.
: MIDAS...
: You know about MIDAS?
: Yes. I was assisting on part of the research.
Yep, poor innocent Alisa was helping the Japanese government secretly develop a bomb of incredible power. I'm sure she was doing it for peaceful purposes, though!
: Are you here to steal MIDAS, too?
: No. That's not our goal.
: What else would you want!?
: We're here to destroy MIDAS.
: To destroy it?
Well, I mean, technically whenever you use a bomb, you are destroying it, in a sense.
: Whether it's the OCU or the USN, they only think of using MIDAS to gain supremacy over each other. But MIDAS is too dangerous. That's why we're here to stop it. We must retrieve MIDAS ourselves and stop its production.
: And you want me to believe that?
: Let me ask you this. Is the JDF doing the right thing? They'd kill civilians to maintain secrecy. Is that right?
Yeah, come on, Kazuki, all the cool kids are spying for China!
: ...
: Kazuki, Liu is right. If MIDAS is used, the results will be disastrous.
: The JDF wanted to kill you. Do you still believe in them?
: Can't we ask your dad to help us?
: He'd never help me.
Number of missions since Kazuki's dad last helped him: 2.
: Kazuki...
: Here you go again. Why would he not help you?
: He'd abandon his family for the JDF. Maybe he even had something to do with the accident.
: No, Kazuki. He had nothing to do with it. He was the one who asked me to find out about the research.



Oh, Kazuki...first you get angry at your father for causing the accident, then you're equally pissed at him when it turns out he wanted to find out what caused the accident. If he saved a puppy from being run over, you'd accuse him of creating an unsustainably high puppy population.
: Kazuki, please trust him.
: No! Maybe he wants the bomb. I can't believe he pulled Alisa into this!
Yeah, he might want the bomb! Fuck him! Let's stick with the mysterious foreign agent we just met who definitely wants the bomb.
: You're reading into it. He doesn't seem like a bad guy.
: We wouldn't be here with these photos if it weren't for him.
: You guys don't know him like I do. He only thinks of himself.
: Kazuki...
: Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? You have some issues, man.
: Please trust dad, Kazuki.
: I'm leaving Japan. What do you want to do? If the JDF captures you they might kill you. Especially the young lady who knows about MIDAS.



: That's fine. So you'll trust me?
: You seem okay.
Not like Kazuki's asshole father who only thinks of himself and not letting his children get captured by the JDF.
: I'm going to Kurihama Harbor. You can come with me.
: Kurihama?
: There's a submarine standing by, Let's go there first.
: Okay.
: Get ready. We can set up the wanzer here.
: Kazuki, you suck at setting up. Why don't you let Alisa teach you?
: Shut up!
: I'll tell you whatever you don't know. Try setting up.
Tutorial time! Since this tutorial is almost entirely based on how to use the menus in this game, I'm going to skip it.
: Resupply any items. Don't forget, you can buy from the network, even if there's no shop in town.
In the future, we will be able to transport items and wanzer parts through the internet! Or something, I honestly have no ideas how this is supposed to work. We could be hundreds of feet under the ocean in a submarine and still be fully capable of getting entire wanzers sent to us.
: We can't stay here. Let's get going.
: Don't worry about me, Kazuki. Let's go somewhere safe.
: We'll use the trucks outside.



Meanwhile, Kazuki's dad, the asshole who thinks only of himself, is hoping his adoptive daughter is safe. That uncaring prick!
: Isao: ? A dispatch from outside...Who is it!? This line strictly for emergencies!!...Emir!? I see, you want to make a deal... Hmm...Okay. I'll contact you again
If Killer 7 taught me anything, it is to never, ever trust anyone named 'Emir.
: Excuse me!
: What is it?
: The Chief-of-Staff is asking for you.
: Sasaki? I'll be there in a minute.



We're headed to a Japanese power plant! I'm going to let this opportunity for a joke go, I think.



By the way, one question that this game never really answers is why, if we're on the run, we are compelled to lug around wanzers. I understand that if we're caught they may be helpful, but it means that we have to cruise around in two gigantic semi-trucks.
: What's this?
: The power plant.
: Yeah, there's a civilian bay that leads to the sea at this generator.
: A JDF chopper!
: We've been found...



: Target is moving to the power plant.
: This is OMEGA. Roger! Hold them until we arrive!
: HUNTER 5, roger that. Beginning attack!



Us versus three choppers. If we can kill them in three terms, the mission ends...Now, you can see that the odds of hitting the chopper are low, but remember, what's being shown is the percentage chance of any one of the shotgun's shots hitting the helicopter. We're shooting 12 of them at once, so at least some are apt to hit.



Ryogo's next go, although you can choose which order your wanzers attack in with the L2 and R2 buttons. Anyway, during Ryogo's turn, it happens for the first time. Zoom I goes off, but then....



It goes off again! And then once more. Three turns of enhanced accuracy shooting in a row! That's pretty fucking awesome, and it won't be the last time that the broken chain battle skill system saves our asses. It's still scaled back from Front Mission 1, where I distinctly remember my version of Clive using the switch skill seemingly several dozen times in a row. Anyway, the chopper dies.



Action pose! I colored the team's wanzers so I could more easily distinguish them on the battlefield.



Meanwhile, Alisa unlock Skill +1, which ups your weapon level for the length of the attack on which it pops up. It's alright. Over the course of three turns, I'm able to kill two choppers and knock the last one down to 50 health. I'd have done better, but whatever the merits of the rifle may be, hitting helicopters isn't one of them. Well, then, I deserve my punishment, I suppose.



: Finish this off before Lt. Kuroi arrives!
: Enemies on our tail!
Do a barrel roll! (Tap Z twice on the game pad)
: This took too much time.



Three Jinyos? Not a big deal. But, hey, look at me! I'm using tactics! I put Alisa up on a raised platform that reduces the enemies' chances of hitting her while increasing her accuracy!



I send Kazuki into melee range to try and unlock one the Zenislev's battle skills, some of you can probably guess which one I'm talking about. It doesn't trigger.



Ryogo chains together another few Zoom Is to drop one of the Jinyos.



Liu finishes off the battle by forcing one of the enemies to surrender. I end up capturing two of the three Jinyos on this map. I now have three of them in total.



Another platinum. I could probably get enough platinums to trigger the secret, but you don't get much out of it, so I'd rather use your suggestions for wanzer configurations instead.



: I'm dead tired...
: Me too, no more fighting...
: Hold on, just a little more! Liu, a little further and we can get out, right?
: Friends should be waiting for us. Follow me.

Next Time: One step forward, two steps back, 3 AP lost.

Build a Wanzer and Prove You're Better Than Me!

I'm opening up for you guys to choose wanzer builds for me. Building a wanzer is pretty simple. Each wanzer body has a certain amount of power. This number represents the amount of weight it can carry. Wanzer parts and weapons each have a set amount of weight. So long as weight does not exceed number, you can build it. I've listed the materials I have at the moment and will be periodically updating.

A Wanzer is composed of a Body, two Arms and one Legs unit, and as many weapons as you can cram on it. Have at it!

Wanzers
(Power/Weight:Body/Weight:Arm/Weight:Legs)
(HP: Body/Arms/Legs)

1x Kyojun mk 107 (254/60/36/43)
HP: 340/212/280
Acc: +10%
Move: 3
1x Zenislev (231/42/20/55)
HP: 452/284/372
Acc: +5%
Move: 5
1x Shangdi 1 (269/38/51/38)
HP: 276/172/228
Acc: +14%
Move: 3
1x Meledyne M1 (344/60/45/18)
HP: 292/184/240
Acc: +12%
Move: 2
1x Kasel M2 (206/39/15/59)
HP: 464/292/384
Acc: +5%
Move: 6
3x Jinyo mk 110 (254/42/36/43)
HP: 340/212/280
Acc: +10%
Move: 3

Weapons (Name/Type/Damage/Weight/Accuracy/Range)
1x Odin M98/Shotgun/12x12/42/75%/1-3
1x KodoSN990/Machine Gun/11x10/48/80%/1-4
1x Franbar FF/Rifle/58x1/45/75%/1-6
1x Quill/Missile/73x1/81/80%/3-9
1x Bone Buster/Fist/76x1/22/100%/1-1

Also, include a name and a paint color to really make your wanzer stand out.

Battle Skill List

Another Equipment List