Part 26: Mission #24: Misery, or To Live and Die in Taiwan

Mission #24: Misery, or To Live and Die in Taiwan

Before we get to the action, Ryogo gets an email!


: She's moving in a bad direction.
: Is she a good-looking woman?
: Kinda.
: I knew it.
Now, Ryogo has a choice of emails. He can choose to cut her off, or...


And, Miho gets an email as well.




Off to Taiwan! In the future, Taiwan and China have been united, so, theoretically, we're safe.



: Hey, don't be sad. I'm sure he's still alive.
Or, in the alternative, he had a good run.
: Are you trying to make me feel better? I'd hate to think I sank so low.
: Why are you such a bitch? I'm trying to be nice.
: What did you just call me!?
: Oh, I'm so sorry! No, you're not selfish, or potty-mouthed, or... uh... bitchy and stuff. Forgive me.
: You must have a death wish. Do you want to be thrown off the transport?
: I said sorry, all right?
: Um... Is Ryogo going to be okay?
: Yeah. It's just his way of making her feel better.
: Oh, I see... He's willing to risk his life to make her feel better.
Yeah, either that or he doesn't want to spend forty more missions hanging around Kazuki and Pham and would prefer the sweet release of death.
: We're approaching Taiwan. We should be safe now.
Well, we were safe, now, by law of dramatic irony, we're doomed.
: No, not yet. Be careful.
: Yes, sir.
: We're almost in DHZ territory. Why are you so worried?
: Da Han Zhong is not politically stable. Besides, the USN wouldn't let go of anyone who knows how to make MIDAS.
: USN...
: I can't believe Alisa's sister made MIDAS.
: Yes. Brainy sisters.
: ...
: Stop it, you two! Alisa was shocked about it.
Yeah! How could Alisa's sister be responsible for making a horrific weapon that Alisa herself helped to reproduce?
: Kazuki...
: Hey, Alisa. Don't worry about it.
: Yes. I'm sure your sister had a good reason.
: Don't worry about me. *smiles* I'm okay.
: Alisa...



I don't suppose we're getting an outside view of the plane to see it successfully land, are we?
: Radar response! We've got anti-aircraft missiles!
: Enemies!?
: They've locked on!
: Evade!
: Incoming missile! It's no use, I can't shake it!
This could be a problem.



Our party is not having the best luck of late.



: What the...!?
: Liu! What happened!?
: We've been hit! Let's escape before it crashes!
: We're jumping off the transport!?
: I don't have time to explain! Just get on your wanzers!



: Ever been air-dropped!?
: Of course not! I'm not a soldier!
: Don't worry. There's a first time for everything.
: ...Are you sure it's safe?
: We're dead if we don't do it. Hurry! You're holding us up!
It's got to be awful to be Liu. You're standing on a burning airplane about to smash into the ground, trying to save everyone from being pulverized in the crash, and this is what he has to deal with.
: Okay!



There is no situation so grave that jetpacks cannot save it.



It'll take a bit more than anti-aircraft missiles to take Kazuki down!



: Yeah, I think I'm okay...
: I guess anything is worth a try!
: We're surrounded by enemies!



: Nothing really valuable here. You sure the info's accurate?
: I'm sure. It's the ones we heard about.
: Fine, we can't just go home empty-handed. All right, let's do it!
: Yeah!
Oh, come on, believe me, these wanzers are worth nothing! Not even as scrap!



: Do you know, Liu?
: ...The Hua Lian.
: Hua Lian?
Well, we have needed another army to fight after the whole Philippine thing fizzled out.
: I'll explain later. We're going in!



And this where things go terribly, terribly wrong. You see, the Hua Lian units are a step up from the wanzers we were fighting in the Philippines. Which is a problem, because I'm still using the same designs as before, and, it must be said, a lot of those designs were not so good. We have to contend with two Grapples, a few Reksons, and, worst of all, a four-legged wanzer armed with a grenade launcher. Even worse, the terrain makes it hard to hit with anything other than melee weapons and missiles. My first attempt involved Liu, Ryogo, Alisa and Pham, with the thought that I could keep the enemy at arms length and slowly wear them down.



Except they slowly wear me down instead. Even with 12 missiles, Alisa eventually runs out. The other party members get ripped apart by the Grapples, and, well, it comes down to Alisa desperately trying to punch the grenade-launching wanzer to death before it levels her. She fails.



Take #2! I take Kazuki, Alisa, Pham and Miho. That's about the sturdiest group I can assemble at the moment. Not much range between them, and Miho still can't do any damage with her missiles, but I figure if I can just destroy that damned grenade launcher, I might be able to take down the rest of the wanzers eventually.



It doesn't work. Kazuki takes two quick rifle hits to the body and only makes it to turn 4 before a Grapple demolishes him. Miho eventually succumbs trying to screen Alisa from the Grapples, and Alisa follows soon after. It's up to Pham, who manages to kill both Grapples, but then gets picked apart by the massed rifles of the Reksons. Crap.



Take #3: Kazuki, Ryogo, Miho and Pham. No fucking around. The Grapples are the real threat. Letting myself get distracted by the grenade launcher and the rifle wanzers is what got me killed last time.



Turns out I should have been at least a little distracted by the grenade launcher. Fuck.



Okay, enough fucking around. This is my fourth try, and the first one to actually work. Before, I'd been trying to use a sound strategy, which assumed that I had sound wanzers to execute my plans. Obviously, these kind of suck. I choose Kazuki, Ryogo, Alisa and Miho. Alisa and Miho will launch missiles at the grenade launcher until it is very, very dead. Kazuki is going to make sure the Grapples aren't able to kill Alisa and Miho. Ryogo is going to act as a decoy, tying up the rifle wanzers until I'm ready for them.



But, before I execute that plan, I need to take care of the named character. According to the game, his name is Hatta. I don't care, except his stats are slightly too high for my liking, so I lob a couple of missile his way. That blows off his rifle arm, making him a non-factor.



Now, then, it's time to blast this fucker back into the stone age. Over four tries, it feels like this guy launched roughly twenty billion grenades at my troops.



And then I start taking care of all of the other wanzers



The Berzuki does its best to make its swan song memorable.



The Berzuki will hold the line!



Almost done. Let's finish this!



Ryogo's spent the entire mission flanking the enemies rifle wanzers and distracting them from Miho and Alisa. He's done a fine job. He also finished off Hatta, who had something to say.
: Damn, we were so close to the loot...
Not the most exciting job, but definitely necessary.



At this point, the Hua Lian are down to their last Grapple. Miho promptly get taken out. Fuck.



But I've still got three wanzers left, and that's more than the a single Grapple can bear.



Finally. Ryogo gets MVP for being the wanzer who made me the least furious over the course of my multiple tries at this mission.



: Guerillas working against the Da Han Zhong government.
: Why are the guerillas attacking us?
: I don't know. I know it's not a coincidence.
: You think there's something to this?
: I don't think the Hua Lian just attacked us out of convenience. Someone wants us.
: Why would we be targeted?
Holy fuck, Kazuki, do you not pay any attention at all?
: The reason's probably the little lady.
: ...Me?
: You're the only non-USN scientist that knows MIDAS well. There are many countries that would want that.
: ...That's horrible...
: Who do they think they are?
What are you talking about? This isn't news! We've known this since about fifteen minutes into the fucking game! Remember? We were hunted throughout Japan? And we kept running into that USN squadron?
: So what do we do now!? I don't intend to camp out here!
: Let's head to Taipei. There's a DHZ base nearby. I don't like the commander there, but we've got no choice.

Next Time: Kazuki vs. Purple Haze III: The Final Bloodening!