Part 8: Mission #8: Officer Friendly

Give me a decent build for his wanzer and I won't. His future is in your hands. Besides, at worst  Miho is the third-most irritating character in this branch, and, as we'll eventually see, there's some other stuff going on. 

Mission #8: Officer Friendly



Right, so we need to get to that blue point so we can rendezvous with the DHZ sub and escape Japan.



We don't even make it halfway...



Liu is allegedly a super-spy. Now, I am no expert on covert action, but if your plan can be foiled by a simple police checkpoint, you know, the same shit they pull to stop people from driving in fireworks from out-of-state, it's probably not a great idea.



: I'm fine, thanks. And thanks for the cooperation, too.Please drive safely... !



: Shoot, what do we do?
: Looks like just one wanzer, and no back-up either. We can force our way through if we must. I'll check it out.
: Um... Excuse me.
: What's wrong? Was there an accident?
: No, not an accident... Um... Could you please move to the service elevator?
: Uh... Sure.
: Thanks for your cooperation.
: Strange... Why is she making us move?
Uh...is there any reason for making you move that doesn't end in shots fired?
: Is it a trap?
: I just don't know. Better get ready for a fight.
: All right.



Why are we going along with this? Shouldn't we be speeding away? I mean, does the party think that this police officer is pulling us off the road to give us medals for our exceptional cooperation? They are probably aren't even very nice medals!



: They're more alert than usual.
Yeah, it's almost as if some renegade group of wanzers has been repeatedly attacking military installations!
: Jeez, why don't we just write BAD GUY on our foreheads?
: It's probably something they're doing to catch us off guard.
: Um... Excuse me. There's something I have to ask you.
: What?
: Well, actually... !



Chopper Attack!

: Look, the JDF!
: Dammit, a trap!



Except they apparently aren't after us...

: Hold on, something's odd.
: Ahh, why are you attacking the police!?
: No time to explain. They're headed this way. Get the wanzers out, now!



: All right, let's go, Ryogo!
: Yeah, yeah.



Okay, battle time. It's the party plus the police officer against five helicopters. They're a bit irritating to fight, if only because it doesn't really matter where you deploy, they can hit whoever they want, whenever they want. Realistic? Yeah, but it does kind of fly in the face of sRPG tradition. I'm not overly concerned to be honest.



Why? Well, the NPC Police Officer has a shield, the nemesis of all missiles. This means that she can use it to direct the damage to her shield arm, and halve that damage, to boot!



Also, because if Alisa's first missile doesn't kill an enemy....



...there's a good chance she'll fire another one to finish the job.



And Liu actually manages to kill a helicopter with his rifle! It's a miracle! It's also the only shot he actually hits this entire mission. And you wonder why I'm going to replace him as soon as I can. Oh, and you can also see the level up screen. In this game, you start out at 'A' rank for a weapon, and then move on to A with one star, two stars, three stars, and then down to 'B' where it starts up again. I think it tops out at 'F'.



The Police Officer's wanzer. I do like the little sirens on the shoulders.  For whatever reason, she'll get a shotgun and a club to replace her machine gun and shield combo after this mission. 



At this point, the helicopters have stagnated, and we've gotten stronger, that's right, leveling up increases the amount of damage your weapon does. I guess because we're better able to target weak locations? Although overall accuracy doesn't change...Anyway, that was the last helicopter.



Seeing as the next mission features the debut of wanzers built by you guys, that'll probably be my last platinum for a while.



Time to put our toys away.



Anyone younger than twenty years old isn't likely to believe me, but there was a time when these graphics were considered good. Granted, that time was several years before Front Mission 3 came out...
: Damn, these guys are persistent. And not too popular with the ladies, either!
: Oh, thanks. You saved me.
: We weren't helping you.
: You're a police officer, right? Why is the army attacking you?
: Well, that's...
: A bit slow for a cop... Can't you speak more clearly?
Ryogo is only cool relative to the other characters in this game. In any other game, he'd probably be the biggest asshole in the party.
: Cut it out, Ryogo.
: I think the JDF is hunting me.
: Why!? Why would the JDF be hunting you?
: Um... Well, really, I have no idea.

Next Time: Hook, Line, and Sinker! Also, the debuts of Orange Julius and the Yellow Wallflower!

I'm still accepting builds for Liu, Ryogo, and  Miho !