Part 125: Mission #57: This Situation IS Getting Worse

You can direct your hate mail to: SmasherDynamo@gmail.com

Submissions are still open for Yun, Emma, Ryogo, and Jose. And, for the record, you don't have to submit designs for ALL of them.

Anyway, we've got about fifteen missions left in the main game, then I'll show off the alternate Indonesia and Philippines missions, I guess, for the sake of completeness, I should do the alternate Taiwan missions, but they're just filler and by that point I'll have done about 140 missions and God knows how many wanzer builds, so that's it. So that means I only have....over twenty missions to go. This game'll be the death of me.

Mission: #57: This Situation IS Getting Worse



: Huh!? Be careful! There's something big!



It turns out the Japanese Navy has battleships...
: We're screwed...
That's the spirit!
: It might be better if we surrender...
: This is the JDF 2nd Defense Unit, what is your ships's origin!
: I'm sorry but due to certain circumstance, we can't tell you. I'd like you to connect us to the engineering officer, Isao Takemura.
: Is there a Kazuki Takemura on board?
: Yeah, he's right here!
: ...Understood. We'll escort your ship to Sasebo.



: I brought Kazuki Takemura and his company.
Settle in, this is going to take awhile.
: Thank you. So you were in Da Han Zhong... The LST and its captain are in our custody.
: What the hell are you thinking!? Why did you start a coup?
: I thought maybe you'd grown up a little, but you haven't changed.
: What!?
: Stop, Kazuki!
: We need to hear his side of the story.
: Who are you?
: I'm Emir Klamsky. Nice to meet you.
: So you're Emma. You look like a bright young lady.
: May I ask you a few questions?
: Sure. If I can answer them...
: Did you start a coup?
: If I said no, would you believe me?
I'll say this about the other branch, you at least get a decent explanation for what's going on. Here, there's a civil war, but it's never made clear exactly what's happening.
: What was the JDF going to do by working with Lukav?
: Lukav, eh? It's true that a part of the JDF is connected with Lukav.
: Wait! What do you mean they're in contact? I thought he died in the DHZ!?
: Lukav is not dead. He's in Japan.
: He pulled a fast one on us. He was buying time for the next mission.
Raising the number of times Lukav has tricked us to roughly 10,536.
: Isao, please think this over. It's not too late. Lukav is beyond you.
Dude, I mean, at this point, I'm pretty sure Lukav is beyond the party too.
: Emma, I understand what you're saying. But it's not so simple.
: Don't give me that crap! Let's capture Lukav now!
Anything to end this game.
: Just listen to me! A man named Sasaki planned the coup and the MIDAS project.
: Sasaki?
: I was spying on him. But he got me instead.
: And made you a scapegoat.
I've never heard of someone using a scapegoat for a coup, mainly because it's the least sensible idea in human history.
: That's not all. Sasaki plans on mass-producing MIDAS with Lukav.
: But they can't make it without me or Alisa.
: No. MIDAS is almost complete.
Making all of our endeavors to this point mainly pointless.
: That's impossible!
: The coup was planned by Sasaki's group. Our forces are under his control now. Lukav will finish building MIDAS. You went to the Philippines to track MIDAS. That one was just a copy.
: There were 2 copies!?
: The original is in Sasaki's custody.
: But the engineer is with us. What's the big deal?
: Lukav is an Imaginary Number. He can figure out how to make a copy from the original.
: Where is MIDAS!?
: I don't know. MIDAS is still incomplete. It was taken somewhere.
: But that's the information we need!
: MIDAS was taken away after the accident in Yokosuka.
: You knew about Alisa's past and Imaginary Numbers, right?
: Kazuki...
: So what?
: Dad! Were you using me!? Did you raise me to be your puppet!?
: You only think about yourself. You don't care about Alisa or me!
: I don't know any details of the Imaginary Number Project, but I knew Alisa was born from it. I didn't adopt Alisa to use her. I did it because she was my best friend's daughter.
: ...
: I don't believe what you're saying.
: Alisa, Emma, listen to me. My friend loved their daughters dearly. They were a true family. That's why they refused to have you be used in an experiment. They sacrificed their lives to protect you both. Don't you understand that?
: ...
: Dad... I know. I knew all along that you all loved me. But I was scared that I might be wrong.
: Alisa... I'm glad Alisa wasn't all alone in Japan. You had a wonderful family here. I envy you.
: I'm sorry, Kazuki. I trusted you all along.
: I don't wan to hear any excuses! You could've stopped Sasaki! You wanted all this to happen. That's why you didn't do anything!
: This is the JDF's problem.
: The situation is getting worse!
: I'll take care of Lukav and MIDAS. You stay out of this!
: Isao!?
: Wait! You ran out of excuses? Aren't you trying to get MIDAS for yourself!?
: Kazuki!
: Takiguchi.
: Yes, sir!
: Please take them back to town.
: Yes, sir. Please come with me.
: I'm not finished yet!
: Stop, Kazuki. Isao is right. This is the JDF's problem. If the JDF doesn't need us, we can't do anything.
The party is awfully defeatist today...
: Damn you!
I think one problem I have with this plot is that they never really go into enough detail about why Kazuki hates his father, so he just comes off as unnecessarily petulant.
: Emma. Please take care of that idiot and Alisa.
: ? ...Sure.



: Kumamoto's 8th Division, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima are gathering in Sasebo.
: That's all of our allies... Tell them to disperse.
: What? But then we can't take control of Sasaki's group.
: It's okay. Tell them to disperse.
: Yes, sir!
: I didn't want to involve my kids.
: Colonel Takemura.
: Kawada... What's Sasebo Base's commander doing here?
: Colonel Takemura, I'm arresting you as the coup ringleader.
: ! So you were also lured by Sasaki.
: Did you know already?
: You didn't stop me when I let the DHZ LST into Sasebo Harbor. Not exactly normal for a navy commander.
: Hand over your son.
: He's no longer here.
: Where has he gone?
: ...I don't know.
: You refuse to tell us? It's only a matter of time. The Special Force are on the move.
: ...
And so Isao got captured....somehow.



Moving on...



: What are you trying to do!?
: Please calm down. I was ordered to protect you all. You'll be safe here.
: Protect us!?
: Sasaki's men are after you.
: That's who attacked us on the ocean?
: Yes.
: They're probably working with Lukav.
: Do you have any allies within the JDF?
: The corps in Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima are on our side. But I'm sure Colonel Takemura issued an order to disperse by now.
And we all now how useless the Miyasaki corps are.
: Why? Why can't they fight Sasaki?
: We planned on taking Sasaki's group from Sasebo Base. But commander Kawada of Sasebo Base turned on us.
: What!? Did my father stay behind in an enemy base!?
: Yes. Sasaki's group planned on destroying us in Sasebo.
: But Isao knew. He saved us and the allied forces.
: I'm sure he's been arrested by the base commander by now.
: No... We have to help him!
: Who's to say he isn't on Sasaki's side? You know he'd do that.
I love how Kazuki's response to, "your father has been captured by bloodthirsty militarist bent on world domination," is "he's probably happier there."
: Kazuki...
: Kazuki, that's enough! Isao knew he was in danger, but he saved us! He wanted to save you and Alisa!
And he managed to get himself captured, even though he was the only real leader the anti-coup forces had. He's not a great commander.
: ...



And the enemy moves in.
: I found them...
: Should we attack?
: No, quietly surround the weather station.
: Yes, sir!



: We can't stop Lukav if we keep running.
: We have to rescue my dad!
: Alisa, we can't do that.
: Emma!
: I know you want to save Isao . And that's what they want us to do. They'll be waiting for us to rescue Isao.
: But... What about dad!?
: We'll save him. First, we need to join our forces and take Sasaki's group in Kyushu. Then we'll rescue Isao. We need to rescue Isao and take Sasaki before Lukav makes his move.
Our chances of outmaneuvering Lukav are roughly 0%
: Lieutenant Takiguchi!
: What is it!?
: Wanzers! We're surrounded by them!
: They found us already!?
: Mr. Takiguchi, please evacuate with Alisa. Kazuki!
: Let's go!



: I wanted to avoid a fight if at all possible, but...
: Good, I'm in a crummy mood anyway! It'll take it out on them!
That would probably be funnier if Kazuki weren't about to kill a bunch of people.
: That's the target. If there's resistance, kill them all!
: Yes, sir!
: All units, commence attack!



Yun's in the Heartbreaker, Ryogo's in the Shooter Guy, Dennis is in the...I can't remember the name off of the top of my head, so let's just call it the No-Hoper, and Marcus is in the Dynamite. There are eight enemy wanzers, four Shunyos with rifles, which are threatening, and four Kasels with fists and shields which are as terrifying as any grunt unit in the game. Anyway, your forces start spread out, so clump them together before the enemy can use their numbers advantage.



Well, at least Dennis can take a hit.



And the Kasels have Shield Attack II. This could be a problem.



Still, I get pretty lucky in this mission. One of the Kasel pilots gets knocked out of his wanzer, and Yun makes sure he never gets back in.



Marcus hits like a truck...an angry truck.



And then one of the Kasels decides to quit after losing his shield arm. Well, that's nice of him.



Marcus rips out the heart of a Shunyo and displays it for all to see.



Dennis gets a skill befitting his general level of incompetence.



But today, Dennis makes good, and blows off Kuroi's rifle arm.



Dennis then engages in a brutally boring battles of a thousand cuts with an enemy rifle wanzer.



Ryogo has a pretty quiet mission, although he does get a nice combo to kill this Shunyo.



Leave it to Dennis to score a draw against an enemy with no arms.



Yun gets a nice combo of her own, three RoF Is in a row.



Ryogo forces a surrender with his new missile launcher, since he has so few levels in it that he couldn't actually kill the guy. Listen, jng2058, whether or not it's a good idea to give everyone missile launchers, it's a pretty bad idea in a game where I'm constantly shuffling wanzers in and out of the lineup, and the hivemind is in charge of building wanzers, because there's no way anyone's getting enough levels in missiles to make it worthwhile.



Dennis wins by missing. That sounds about right for him.



I ended capturing something like five of the eight enemy wanzers...but I can't capture Kuroi's Shunyo, so I let Marcus drop the hammer instead.
: Agh... I underestimated...



Glory. Marcus gets MVP.



: Good idea.
: You think there's a safe place for us in Japan...?
Gah! Fifty-fucking-seven missions into the game and we're doing the same shit we did in mission fucking five!

Next Time: Showdown at the ol' Gulch