Part 111: Mission #43: Peaks and Valleys

I think, at this point, after over 100 missions, everybody's about ready for this game to wrap up. Of course, I've still got about thirty missions left...

The next parts list will be posted on Saturday, with the build on Monday. It will be the penultimate wanzer build.

Mission #43: Peaks and Valleys

Here's a quick bonus image from the internet. It's an image you get in the Emma branch or if you don't cheat to let Alisa win the Miss Teihoku contest in her branch.



Would it make me a horrible Let's Player if I admitted I never actually finished Xenogears?



: How are the other squads doing?
: They can't hold out much longer.
: Send some members of Bibing as backup.
: But the enemies are on their way!
: Our allies are under attack! Don't worry, they can't get to us until they break through the castle walls.
This game takes place in 2112, and the protagonists pilot walking tanks armed with a variety of giant weaponry. I don't think we're really going to be stymied by a medieval castle.



: Dude, are we really going to try to plant a bridge here!?
: You can depend on me as long you cover me good! Okay! Let's get it together guys!



: I just located some enemies behind the base!
: What!?
: An enemy wanzer squad is moving across the mountain.
: What is this...? Follow me! We'll attack them ourselves!



Floodlights, eh? That does not bode well.
: So they plan on getting in by placing a bridge! All units, prepare to intercept!
: Watch out! Boss, they've begun hittin' us!
: Calm down! Kazuki's out there, and he'll protect us. Just think about your job!
: It's started! All units, commence attack! Don't let them lay a finger on the engineers!

Before we begin, let me make one thing clear.



Your wanzers need shields for this mission. There can be no question on that point.



Okay, this one is kind of a pain. There's a narrow gorge that, for whatever reason, your wanzers can't get over. The solution is to have two Reksons build bridges for your wanzers. If they die before they're done, which will be on Turn 4, it's game over. And the enemy knows this, so they'll hit the Reksons with everything they've got. In addition, even after you get across the gorge, the architecture of the wall will force you to spend a few turns getting into the castle proper. That's exacerbated by the fact that there are loads of missile wanzers in the castle.



There are a few machine gun emplacements on the wall, they'll tear up the Reksons unless you take them out quickly. Linny, of course, fails once again.



Even Jose does better. Christ, Linny.



Of course the machine guns aren't the biggest problem, the missile wanzers are, but they'll hide behind the castle walls, out of range of all of my wanzers except Emma. And so I lose a Rekson, still as long as one survives, it's not a problem.



Beautiful. At this point, the mission is basically over, at this point, all you need to is close in on the missile wanzers and smash them to bits. If you don't have a shield, you'll probably get blown up, of course, but, with a shield, there's not much the enemy can do.



Once these Laiyings get close to your wanzers, it's hunting season.



Unless, of course, you're Linny, in which case you'll be as useless as ever.



Getting into the castle can be a minor inconvenience, as you'll need to move your wanzers along the wall so that the vertical drop is less, so that they can make the jump.



Even Emma is more effective with her machine gun than Linny is with his flamethrower. That is not a good sign.



And she kills another one. She's on fire!



For the sake of tradition, Yun gets force-ejected.



Endgame. There is one grenade launcher in this mission, but since grenade launchers have shorter range than missiles, it's not a particularly threatening unit.



How is it that Linny is constantly able to find new ways to disappoint me?



Yun cleans up a straggler...



And Jose kills the last enemy.



Another platinum. In case you're wondering why I'm doing so much better this time around, Emma's branch is considerably easier, and you're designs are slightly less demented. Emma gets MVP.



: The other units have taken control of their areas. Kwang is headed this way now.
: We're going to hold a briefing as soon as Kwang arrives. We're going to take the DHZ's back and head straight for Shanghai.
: Awww, let's rest for a little bit.
: We can't. You should know that time is working against us.
Actually, it's not, since Lukav is waiting for us, and, for that matter, it's not like there's really been any sense that there's a ticking clock.
: You don't have to get so riled up about it...
: Emma...

Next Time: The worst mission yet!