Part 21: Mission #20: United States ex. rel. Purple Haze v. Takemura

Hey, that's not a fair. A big committee would be able to meet and coordinate their efforts. You guys just give me a bunch of pieces and then I have to fit them into a coherent whole...with mixed results. And for the record, the worst wanzer so far, Nick Buntline's Aegis Knight, was built with full knowledge of how terrible it was.

It's definitely more fun this way, though.

Mission #20: United States ex. rel. Purple Haze v. Takemura

First, an email for Liu!


I should probably read that...



Last time we broke into Taal Base only to find out someone had beat us to it. This may be the worst RPG party ever.



Those are some ominously-familiar wanzers.



That's right, it's the USN squad from waaaay back in Mission #3
: I don't know. Why don't you ask that jack-ass!?
: Emma and Lukav are infiltrating the base. We have to draw the enemy's attention until they are done.
: Dennis, more of them!



It's the Berzuki...and he is not pleased...
: ...Anti-government rebels?
: What do we do, pull back?
: No, we can't abandon Emma.
: Then we have to fight. Let's rumble!



: Some early visitors.
: Hey, they're USN!? They knew about this base, too!
: What do we do!?
: I think they'll answer that question.
: They're after MIDAS. We can't back down. Let's go!
Only the communist Chinese deserve MIDAS! Death to all others!



The starting lineup: Berzuki (Kazuki), Riot Gear (Miho), Good Friday (Pham), and The Yellow Submission (Alisa)



The enemy trots out two Rekson M4s, and two Grapple M1s, and they're all upgraded beyond what we have access to at this point in the game. On the plus side, since Pierre's here, we actually outnumber them. That, and half of their team having rifles makes this mission not so difficult.



Still, the two Grapples are pretty damn tough, especially since our team isn't exactly hearty. I fire some missiles, but the map isn't so big that it'll take them long to reach our wanzers.



That's a lot of damage, and it's not like Pham is going to get many opportunities to attack without being countered. Damn.



Miho isn't great at using either melee weapons or missile launchers, so she's not really capable of dealing enough damage to do anything worthwhile.



Looks like it's up to Berzuki! Looking back through my screenshots, it's not even clear when he lost one of his arms, I think that Kazuki might have been so enraged at a hypothetical thought of someone dating his sister that he ripped an arm off of his own wanzer in response.



Meanwhile, Pham just barely manages to survive an epic duel with an enemy Grapple.



The blood of one soldier does not satisfy the Berzuki. More must die in tribute to its dark and vengeful god.



That's two.



And that's three. All that's left is to hear the lamentations of their women...



Nice. Kazuki wins MVP for taking out 75% of the enemy wanzers.



: What happened? Did the USN take MIDAS!?
: No, they would be withdrawing. I'm certain they don't have MIDAS yet.
: So then we must get MIDAS before the USN. It's simple. Right, Pierre?
: Exactly as you say, my lady.
: See?
: What's so simple about it?
Outstanding, Kazuki and Pham are literally arguing about nothing.
: Anyway, let's change our course to avoid a conflict. We move hillside and enter the base. We're lucky the USN has drawn out the enemy.
Well, seeing as most of the enemy was actually drawn off by the rebels, and we've already fought one squadron of sentries, and then we had to fight the USN unit, I don't think we're that lucky, to be honest.

Next Time: Kazuki Takemura, Master Electrician!