Part 28: Mission #26: The Great Escape

No, I'm not going to limit what weapons people can give to pilots. I imagine a lot of the fun of this Let's Play is watching me bumble around with a squad full of failure.

Someone else asked about me doing the other branch with wanzers of my own design. no. I'm not going to do that. If you really want to see a broken wanzer in this game, you'll have to submit one yourself.

Mission #26: The Great Escape



Back to base



: They attacked the harbors and civilian airports. Cancel your trip to the DHZ. It's impossible.
: We'll have to get to the DHZ by land.
: Land? What about that ocean between us?
: There's an underwater tunnel connecting Taiwan and the DHZ. We can get to the DHZ by using that tunnel.
: Why didn't we use that tunnel from the beginning?
: You idiot. That's where the enemy wants us to go.
: There's no place to run if we're attacked inside the tunnel.
Now, you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, is the DHZ so fucking crappy that they can't even guard one fucking land link that connects Taiwan to the mainland?" Apparently, yes, yes, they are that bad.
: That's why they want us to use the tunnel.
: Isn't there any other way!?
: This is our only option. The commander of this mission is not dumb. We need to be prepared. Kazuki, get ready.
Okay, here's the thing. There is no pressing emergency that is forcing us to go to the mainland. MIDAS is gone, so it's not like there's anything we need to do other than survive. At the moment, we're reasonably safe in Taiwan. We've already beaten back one USN squadron, and unless the USN is going to literally invade the DHZ, that would seem to be enough. There's no really good reason to do this. Not that that's going to stop us.
: Are you ready?
Aye
: You don't give up, do you? Well, what happens to you is none of my business.
: All routes by air and water are under enemy control. I believe the Futai Tunnel is under their control by now.
: You're going to escape Taiwan? We're busy protecting the base and the city. Don't count on backup.
: Don't worry. We were never counting on you.
: Spoken like a top agent. I wish you a safe journey to the DHZ.



Well, then, let's do this.



: Tell our forces to hold their positions. Liu's squad doesn't need backup.
: Yes, sir!
: If Liu's squad tries to enter the city, destroy them!
: But...!
: It's okay. It's to protect Taipei.
: Yes, sir!
: They'll get killed by the USN forces anyway. Too bad, I'll never see his hostile face ever again.
Han knows that in a game with Kazuki, you really have to go the extra mile to make yourself a memorable asshole. I suppose ordering his troops to kill us out of spite qualifies.



: We're supposed to wait!
: You think he ran away?
God knows Liu could use the break.
: Ryogo, that's mean! He's been helping us. He wouldn't do such a thing.
: I know! I'm just kidding! Chill!



And a train pops up! In the future, it appears that train technology has made no progress whatsoever!



: I was tired of waiting, old man! ...Hey, whazat!?
: An armored train should help in this tunnel.
: I didn't expect that commander to lend this to us.
: Actually, I took it from a local unit. Han apparently gave out orders not to assist us.
: You're not making any friends, are you, old man?
: What're you talking about? Han's the one no one likes.
: Okay, let's use this to get through this tunnel.



That is not promising.



: Wait a minute, isn't that a military train!? The FAI didn't tell us anything about that!
This is Marcus. All you need to know about him at the moment is that he isn't long for this earth.
: What do we do? Should we chase them into the tunnel as planned?
: It wouldn't be good if they used that in the tunnel. Alright, we're going to stop the train here.
: Yes, sir!



Kazuki, Alisa, Liu and Pham are your starting four. Not the strongest lineup, but I'm trying to use all of the wanzers you guys submit.



Kazuki starts off the battle with a misleadingly good sign.



And things immediately goes wrong as it becomes clear that the Grapples in this stage are equipped with machine guns. Ouch. Although, that does mean they aren't equipped with fists, so I suppose it's probably a good thing.



The Yamato Nadeshiko isn't a terrible design. After all, most of its key features are the same as Kazuki's next wanzer, the Poor Decision, and that's been working out well. The problem is that Alisa has no levels in melee, making her less than effective in using this wanzer. Live and learn, IceMole, live and learn.



Part of my difficulties in this mission come from me wanting to show off your new wanzers. Here, I decide I might as well use the grenade launcher one of you gave Pham.



That looks a lot more devastating than it really was.



This is partly bad luck, partly a design issue. Kazuki takes a disproportionate number of hits to the torso in this mission, which is bad, but that is compounded by the weakness of the Meledyne body, which has a distressingly low amount of HP.



Kazuki goes on to die in the next rifle shot. And I'm down to three....and not a strong three, either.



Meanwhile, every single enemy in this battle has a machine gun or a rifle, meaning that Alisa has had to take shot after shot. The greatest enemy of the melee wanzer is massed short-range firepower.



Pham punches Marcus out. Things are looking up.
: Tch, we couldn't catch them. Charlie, do you read!?
We couldn't do it. It's up to you guys!
: Roger!
You know, trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.



So long as Pham lives, my victory is assured.



Fuck. And it's even worse than it appears as, the turn before this, Alisa had been force-ejected from the mostly-crippled Yamato Nadeshiko. I'll need a miracle to get out of this one.



And I get one. On the enemy phase, a rifle wanzer attacks Alisa. She defends with her pistol, force-ejecting the pilot of that wanzer. It's my turn now, and Alisa is in range of that wanzer...



...and boards the mostly-intact Rekson, a net gain of two wanzers for my side!



And then Alisa kills the pilot with his own wanzer. Brutal.



Meanwhile, Liu has been playing a game of cat and mouse with this Grapple for a while now, wearing him down with his rifle, and using his shield to minimize his damage received. It's not pretty, but it eventually gets the job done.



And Alisa finishes the last enemy off.



Ugh. If I were giving the MVP to pilots, I suppose Alisa would win, but it goes to the wanzer, and the Yamato Nadeshiko spent most of the battle as an abandoned wreck. By default, Liu wins.



: I knew they were going to stop try to stop us here.
: What's there to think about? Let's use the train and go for it.
: Oh, you're so manly, Kazuki...
: ... I'm leaving if you don't stop that.
Well, that was awkward.
: Get on, everyone! We're going!

Next Time: The second-biggest locomotive disaster in this game!