Part 49: Mission #46: Into Thin Air

All right, I get the message: Regular updates or you guys will put this thread in the archives so fast that it'll cost $10 dollars to see how fast it makes my head spin.

Mission #46: Into Thin Air

But first, Lan gets an email.


I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a good thing or not.
: I see... Kwang is growing up.



: I see. If Takemura survives, the coup will fail. We must hurry on with our plan.
: Yes, sir. I will tell Jared to hurry up.
: Thank you. We must get going.
We're about to fall into another one of Lukav's traps, aren't we?



Now, the name 'Fukushima' might sound familiar to you....the nuclear plants that melted down a couple of months ago were just outside of this city. At least we've finally a found a place where the coming of Kazuki won't be the biggest disaster in that location's history...probably.



: Thanks. How is the situation?
: Explain, Rebecca.
: The Soumagahara division is after us. They're based in Koriyama and approaching Abukama River. We moved our forces to match their movement.
: We're on equal grounds in terms of numbers. But if we take too long, the enemy will backup. We can't let that happen. We have to act now.
: I must avoid a full-scale battle in a city.
: Then what do we do!? You wanna stay here and play stare?
No man is capable to surpass Greg in a championship contest play staring match!
: Just kill 'em all.
: You think you can avoid fighting? What's your plan?
: The main division will hold off the enemy forces. We'll also send out a squad to surprise attack their headquarters.
: Thus cutting off the line of command.
: You want us to take their headquarters?
: No. You'll command the divisions with me. Kazuki's group will take the enemy headquarters.



: First, Kazuki's team breaks through the enemy lines. At the same time the main division will advance to Koriyama. The enemy will probably stop the main force immediately. While that happens Kazuki's team infiltrates Koriyama and takes the enemy HQ.
: Do you know where the enemy HQ is?
: It's on the outskirts of Koriyama, in a highrise construction area. It's probably hidden inside some house.
: The highrise area is rather rough terrain. Be careful, there's not much room to move, and hover won't work.
So...hover won't work because the terrain is too much. Why, if only there were some sort of technology that allowed hoverpods to maintain an altitude of several feet over the ground...unfortunately, the men of the future have not yet invented the double-hover-pod, so there's no way to cross rough terrain by hovercraft.



: You must jump into the enemy territory. Can you do it, Kazuki?
: Sure, we'll take the enemy headquarters.
: Get ready! We'll begin the mission as soon as you're ready!
For this mission to succeed, Kazuki will need only the finest of single-malt scotches coursing through his bloodstream! MacCallan's or better! To the bar!



: Why don't they take it somewhere else?
: There are forces gathering here in Fukushima and Koriyama. You should leave. This is my home town. I want to die here.
Don't worry, old man, now that Kazuki's here, I imagine your wish will be fulfilled shortly.
: Are you guys soldiers? I'm so happy I'll get to see a real war with my own eyes. Who do you think will win?
: Are they serious about starting a war!? I've been living here all my life! You're going to take responsibility if this city gets destroyed!



: Kazuki, protect Alisa!
: I know! Let's go everyone!
Wait! Why are we still lugging Alisa around? Doesn't Lukav still kind of want to capture her? Shouldn't we doing just about anything other than continually putting her as close to the Imaginary Numbers as possible?



Oh, game, you overestimate my knowledge of Japanese geography at every turn!



: Will we be okay? We kinda took this job rather lightly...
: It's all good. We've survived stuff like this before.
Therefore, we are invincible in this situation. It's the same reason that the only people killed in skydiving accidents are those who've never jumped from an airplane before. Hell, once you've done it once, you don't really need a parachute, it's just for show!
: Shhh! The enemy.



More of those missile tanks, eh?



: I don't think so. It's probably just a scout. What do we do? We don't have the time to waste here.
: All right, fine. We'll have to hit 'em hard and fast.
: Alright, fine. We haveta hit 'em hard an' fast. ...Nice impression, eh?
: If you're going to be unproductive, we're leaving you.
: I was just sayin' Geez, you guys have no sense of humor...



: HQ to Eagle Eye, you have permission to engage. We'll begin fire support. Give us the target location!
: This is Eagle Eye, roger that. We're beginning our attack!



Right, it's a gimmick fight. Ryogo, Miho, Alisa and Lan get the nod. This map is basically a mountain. You start at the bottom, and have to fight your way up to clear the map. In addition, there are various points on the map where, if you stay there for more than one turn, will be bombarded by the enemy, which comes in the form of a grenade hit.



I hate enemy melee wanzers. There's nothing that can put you in a hole faster than them.



2 HP! He only had 2 HP left! Why does this game hate me so!



Meanwhile, I keep grinding down the Kasel. At least I finally have a good assortment of short range weapons to pummel it with.



Front Mission 3 has realism in the weirdest places. For example, these giant tanks, and, for that matter, any big enemy, are incredibly easy to hit because they're so big. And this applies even to end-game bosses. I think Alisa's missile had something like a 160% chance to hit. And, in another nod to reality, anything above 100% doesn't do shit for you.



Why won't anything die in this level?



Better.



And since Alisa can literally not miss hitting this tank, I let her destroy it.



On the plus side, this soldier's family won't have to pay for a cremation...



By the way, for most of the game, you should use burst weapons on foot soldiers...by the end of the game, however, your missile wanzers should have enough accuracy upgrades to make their chances of hitting a soldier decent enough. Although, obviously, I'd generally restrict this to enemy pilots who got ejected from their wanzer, if only because it effectively takes out an enemy in one shot if you hit.



Ryogo tries to gun down a missile tank from way down below...it doesn't work.



This is why I'm afraid of melee wanzers. Without shields, this could happen any time you face them. One more hit to the body, and Lan is dead...



...unless, of course, the Kasel surrenders instead.



One last missile tank guards the top of the mountain, but has practically no defense at close range, Miho eliminates it quickly.



Better. Lan gets...wait, 'submitted by Deceitful Penguin'? Ryogo gets MVP.



: Now all that's left is to head for Koriyama. Alisa, notify HQ.
: Okay.
: We only severed the frontline. The real battle has yet to begin.
'Severed' the frontline? I think the translators might have meant 'pierced.' Had we broken the supply lines of the coup forces, I'd have understood, but I'm pretty sure what we did is broken through the lines to strike at the enemy command center.

Next Time: The Enemy proves to be poor at strategy, tactics, and simple logic!