Part 25: Mission #23, Last Stand For a Gentleman's Gentleman

Mission #23, Part 2: Last Stand For a Gentleman's Gentleman



Last time: The rebels and the DHZ fleet got blown up by MIDAS, tying up basically every plot-thread in the game...except we're only a third of the way through this branch, so everyone decided to go to the DHZ with Liu. I don't know, I guess you had to be there. As everyone was celebrating the discovery of a raft of new motivations that would make such action even slightly reasonable, a giant wanzer attacked the ruins of Batangas.



: They plan on squashing the rebels once and for all. They're definitely not taking any prisoners.
: My lady, I've called for the transport.
: You heard him!
And then everyone hears a large explosion.
: ...An explosion?
: Hey, did you hear!? Military wanzers are hitting the city!
: That's ridiculous!
: The skirmishers! They've made their move faster than us.
: They're crazy. Are they going to destroy the city?
Nah, MIDAS already did that, they're just here to blow up what's left.
: I don't think it's safe to stick around. Let's leave...
: Wait, we can't leave! The city will be torn into shreds!
: You're crazy, dude! Remember, they're looking for us.
: He's right. It may be better just to make a run for it.
: The residents are being attacked because of us! I can't run!
You may have noticed that Kazuki's been acting a bit odd lately. Well, his motivation for the first part of the game was finding MIDAS so that the Japanese government would stop trying to kill him. Now, that's kind of out the window, so the designers realize that he needs a new reason for doing all of the stupid shit he does. They've apparently decided on Kazuki Takemura: Angry Savior of Mankind! For what it's worth, it seems kind of clear that the designers
: Kazuki, don't be stupid!
: ...Oh well. Let's go out there!



: !
: This is horrible...
: Come out, rebels... before there's nothing left of this city. C'mon, entertain me a while!
: Professor, take it easy or we'll be disciplined.
: Who cares!
: Our orders are to stop the rebels. You've gone far beyond those orders!
: Shut up! My job is to gain data from this wanzer! Stay out of my way!
: Hey!



Who, indeed?
: We have to stop him!



: It's about time.
: You've done enough! The people of this city have nothing to do with us!
: Interesting... You've done the same thing. How many people do you think died in Batangas?
: It was you who used MIDAS!
: Batangas would still exist if you hadn't come.
Okay, granted, one of our party members helped build MIDAS, and granted, another of our party members ordered the invasion of Batangas, and granted, the commander of Taal Base only used MIDAS because we tried to steal it from him, but, uh...where was I going with this?
: ...
: Did you get sentimental when you saw Batangas's spectacle? Heh... How stupid. How stupid indeed. If that's how you felt, you shouldn't start any wars.
: ...Tch...
: Well, I couldn't care less about you or this country. You'll simply be my guinea pigs.
: Guinea pigs!?
: You're insane!
: Hehehe, of course. I'm here to prove them I'm no failure.
: ...Failure...them... What do you mean?
: You don't need to know.



Oh, man...Can I opt out of whatever bullshit transhumanism is a-coming?
: Not a normal human!? What do you mean?
: Heh, this wanzer was created just for me. It is the ultimate weapon. No one else could ever pilot it. Heheh, there's no one that can defeat me!



That's a lot of HP, but not so high that I'm really concerned.



And that's a load of weapons, but it seems rather clear that if I get within melee range, his only weapon is his weak machine gun. No, I am not impressed with the ultimate weapon. It may be the most disappointing ultimate anything in the history of the word ultimate, or any of the Latin roots of the word.



Still, Serov has a few Jinyo and Kasel friends to make this more of a challenge, I only technically need to defeat him....but I'd like to capture a couple of suits for the money and gain some experience, so I'm going to kill as many enemies as I can. It's a small map, so I'm going to sit Alisa out, and I'm going to sit Liu out because the Aegis Knight is a terrible, terrible design.



So close to neutralizing that Kasel in one hit...damn.



Meanwhile, I send Kazuki forward to take care of a couple of Jinyos, and he gets missiled by Serov for his troubles.



Pham doesn't miss twice. Also, this is the power of the Shield Attack battle skill. 500 damage at this point in the game is enough to kill any wanzer short of the Genie Arms or a melee wanzer. And guys, that's Shield Attack I.



As you can see, there's no real coherent strategy in my positioning of my wanzers. There's no real way to keep all of them out of Serov's range, so I'm happy enough to just pick off the other wanzers one-by-one until I'm ready to deal with him. Also, most of the time I can figure out how to use your designs...Miho's Riot Gear? Not so much. Miho has no levels in missiles, so she can't do any damage that way, and the wanzer is a bit too fragile for me to confidently march it into the front lines of the battle.



The Berzuki loses one of its arms again...and it's the same needle arm that it loses every time I trot him out in this design. Why is that?



Meanwhile, Pham continues cutting up wanzers like there's no tomorrow.



Shit. Well, this isn't going to end well.



The Berzuki is completely fucked if a battle lasts for more than about five turns. It always starts out fast, but with no shield and only melee weaponry, it doesn't have much in the way of staying power.



Another view of the tactical map. Almost done with the grunts.



And the flaw in my, 'Kill Serov last' plan become all too clear. Not a single wanzer on this squad is particularly durable.



49 HP left in the body? That is grim. Okay, time to take care of Serov.



Yeah, okay, I don't think I'm going to be able to beat him with missiles. What's Plan B?



That, on the other hand, looks quite promising.



Serov isn't much of a boss. As long as you can get close to him, he's basically powerless to stop you.



And now he's dead. Splendid work, team, I do beli-



: I cannot lose! Ugh... What the!? It's not moving...W-Why? Why can't I con...trol...? M-My head...Uaaaahhh!
: What're you...!?
: What's wrong!?
: He's totally trippin' He's gone, man.
Thanks, Ryogo...really helpful.



At this point, Serov gets up with about 500 HP and starts shooting at both you and his own men.



So I go back to work on him.



And Ryogo finishes him off. Definitely not the cleanest battle, as Kazuki bought it, and Ryogo and Pham almost died, but I'll take it.



The game is less tolerant of mediocrity. Pham gets MVP.



Why won't you die? I guess when Liu said he wasn't a normal human, he meant Serov was the fucking Highlander!
: Heheh, I...am the...ultimate...Heheh... I...I am...I am...
: What tenacity... He still wants to fight...



Liu finishes the job.
: Stay sharp if you want to live!
: Sorry...
: Man, this is going to suck! Enemy reinforcements! We're gonna get flanked!
Hey, would "Man, this is going to suck! Let's Play Front Mission 3!" have been to generic of a title?
: We wasted time fighting off the prototype...
: It's not over yet.



Yay! We finally get to leave the Philippines! Uh...no offense, to my readers in the Philippines.
: !
: ...A transport?
: Hey, is that Pham's family transport!?
: Yep, I'll have it land on the outskirts of the city. Hurry!



: Is everyone on?
: Whew, I thought it was over for us, man...
: I think we've got everyone.
: That's strange. Why aren't they pursuing us?
: Pierre? Where are you? ...No, he didn't...



: I'm sorry, my lady. This is where our paths diverge. I've enjoyed the time I spent with your family. No one shall go beyond this point!



And then, to complete the most depressing mission in the game, ten million puppies died.

Next Time: Misery

Important Wanzer Building Update!

As you guys know, I've been using your designs to play through the game. I think it's worked out pretty well so far, but it does severely limit my ability to play ahead in the game. Anyway, by necessity, I've been asking for new designs every time we get access to new parts and weapons, because, otherwise, I'm going to get killed seeing as most of the time I'm not using optimized wanzers, and, increasingly, pilots don't have enough levels in the weapons they're using.

There is also the problem that I need to grind for cash to be able to afford completely overhauling the entire team every few missions.

So, for those reasons, I'm probably going to open up another round of wanzer building this evening, even though I haven't yet debuted the last batch of designs. Not ideal, I know, but there's not much I can do.