Part 53: Mission #50: Bad Dudes

Backup Fire allows for any PC wanzers that are with the range of their weapons to fire a normal attack at the enemy. The biggest problem is that you'll be lucky to have one eligible wanzer in range when it goes off, so you're usually better off with less contingent battle skills.

Mission #50: Bad Dudes



Last time, we finally busted up the coup force's command center, and then had a bunch of guys surrender to us, now it's time to return to base.



: I'm Major Nonaka of the Soumagahara Base. I'm ready for any penalty regarding the coup. Please don't punish my subordinates.
: They didn't want to join the coup?
: They were only following my orders.
: I understand. We don't blame you. We just want to stop the fighting. This war has no meaning. Major, will you join us?
: Colonel Takemura... I can't watch the JDF fight each other any longer. I'll cooperate. I'll open Soumagahara Base and join you.
: Thank you. Thanks to Major Nonaka, we can avoid fighting the 12th division.
: I did a foolish thing. I'll do anything I can to help.
: Now we can stop the coup forces around the country.
: The coup forces still have the capitol. And something else...
: MIDAS.
: You think the coup forces would use it?
: Lukav will use it.
: Yes. There's no guarantee they won't use MIDAS.
: It's like the capitol's been taken hostage.
: Why not run the coup force out of the capitol?
Uh...does Mayer not understand the meaning of the word 'hostage?'
: We can't. Sasaki is using his allied politicians to close the parliament, effectively stalling the police.
: Where is the prime minister in all of this!?
: He was captured, probably. I don't know where they're keeping him...
He's still probably having a better time than Naoto Kan.
: If we rescue the prime minister and open the parliament, we can run the enemy out. We'll have to find him first, though.
Yeah, I don't quite get this part. What I think is going on is that if they're able to open parliament, then the government could denounce the coup and turn the public against it, which, to this point they have been unable to do. Or, maybe in the future, 'parliament' is the code-name given to an elite force of deadly cyborgs trained in counter-insurgency.
: We can isolate them with the forces we have now. But that may lead them to use extreme measures.
: We need more information on the coup forces.
: The prime minister will be at risk if we make a false move.
: You're wasting my time. You can't defeat Lukav like this! ...Too bad.
: Liu?
: I'm going my own way.
: Liu, wait! Where are you going!?
: None of your business.
: Liu!
: What's us with him?
: I don't know.
: He's probably just rushing to get to Lukav. He only has revenge on his mind. Leave him be.
Seeing as Lukav is currently implicitly threatening to annihilate Tokyo, that's probably not a great idea.
: Liu...
: You're worried? Leave it to me. You guys take care of the coup forces.
: We need as many allies as we can. Please try to get him back.
: Get Liu back for us.
I like how Liu has apparently become a father figure to Kazuki...even though we've been hanging around Kazuki's real dad for the last dozen missions.



: I'm glad the fighting didn't take place. I can go on with my business now.
: The forces in Koriyama surrendered. The commander of Koriymama chose peace over bloodshed.
Yeah, I know. What a pussy.
: That was so boring! The war was over before the fighting began. Video games are more exciting.



: Lukav, where are you?
: Thinking about something?
: ! Don't bother me.
: How cold. Can I sit here?
: There are other seats.
: Oh, don't let me bother you.
: Whatever.
: Hei Fong Liu. DHZ's elite agent. A Real Number, born in Ravnui...
: What do you want to say?
: I wonder why someone like that is so impatient.
: I'm impatient!?
: You want to kill Lukav as soon as you can.
: That's why I'm here. I only live to avenge Sir Bal's death.
: Is that so important?
: I was born for Sir Bal. Now that he is gone, I must avenge his death. Lukav is a failed subject. I'll take care of him!
: Is that how you want to live? You want to live the rest of you life as Bal's puppet? How boring. Why don't you live a more interesting life?
: I don't need it.
: Even a newborn baby has a will. You can't defeat Lukav.
I...what?
: I can't defeat Lukav!?
: With the way you are now? No. Why don't you be more honest about your feelings?
Apparently, before Liu kills Lukav, he needs to get in touch with his emotions. That, or get a beam rifle.
: I AM honest about my feelings. That's why I'm avenging Sir Bal's death!
: You're wrong. That's just an excuse. The truth is, you couldn't leave Kazuki and the others alone.
: Are you joking?
: It's no joke. Kazuki's group became your friends. You didn't want to betray them. That's why you let them escape
the embassy.
No, that's simply not an accurate retelling of the events. By the time Kazuki and pals escaped, Liu was trapped in a burning room after trying to off Lukav, the people who were trying to prevent the party from leaving were Liu's enemies.
: ...
: You know already. But you don't know what to do. You're only hiding this revenge against Lukav. Am I right?
: Why don't you become a psychiatrist? You dress too fancy for a spy.
: Spies are very fashion conscious these days.
: I'm a Real Number. I didn't think I needed any friends.
It turns out the 'one' is the loneliest real number...
: It doesn't matter. You're a human being. What's important is how you live.
: I see... You're right. But I'll defeat Lukav. I must pay Sir Bal back for raising me.
Excellent, so, thanks to Liu's epiphany, instead of getting revenge on Lukav for Bal's death, he'll be avenging Bal by killing Lukav. Progress!
: You die-hard loyalty is very human.
: What about you? What are you planning?
: I'm not planning anything. I'm only trying to protect my homeland.
: Homeland?
: My mother was Japanese. I used to live here. I moved to Australia when my mother died. Japan is filled with wonderful memories of my mother.
Yeah, Mayer's half-Japanese. Now, I know a lot of you are thinking, "Wait, I'm no biology major, but I'm reasonably sure that half-Japanese people don't typically have quite as many Aryan features as our friend Mayer here." But, well, it's complicated.
: Memories...
: I'm fighting to protect my memories. I don't want Lukav to destroy them.
: So our goals are the same.
: Yes, I'm your friend.
: Friend...
: Feeling better? Then how about a date?
: You're kind of scary.
Scarily boring, maybe.
: You realize that now?



: I was sorting through some issues.
: Oh, so you didn't run away from Lukav?
: I'm not afraid of Lukav! Maybe you are.
: ...
: What happened? You look happy.
: Grown-ups are complicated. You'll understand when you become a woman.
: Whatever!
: Can we talk business now?
Takiguchi can't help but wonder how the fate of Japan came to depend on...these people.
: Any good news?
: Yes. Soumagahara base is cooperating with us.
: Thanks to Mr. Nonaka.
: A certain person is looking for the prime minister. Let's merge with the others in Soumagahara and come up with a plan.
: A certain person?
: Yes. You all know him.
: Why so cryptic?
It will turn out to be for absolutely no good reason!
: We'll find out when we get there.
: We're leaving immediately. Get ready!



Meanwhile, at enemy headquarters...
: Other forces are also joining Colonel Takemura.
: Sasaki, can we still win?
: You have nothing to worry. We still have the capitol and something extra. Losing the forces out in the country shouldn't concern you.
: But MIDAS is not finished!
: Where is the foreigner in charge of mass-production!? Did he escape!?
Yep, Lukav has already decided to betray Sasaki and the coup forces.
: We can wipe out the capitol with the original MIDAS. Takemura knows that. He won't attack here. You just follow my orders!
: Who do you think helped you take control of the capitol!?
: Fine. Show us how good you rally are, Chief of Staff.
: Useless bastards. Kuroi, did you find out Lukav's whereabouts?
: He went to Kyushu with his forces. My men are in pursuit.
: What is he thinking? We have no time for this.
: Lukav is dangerous. I think we should cut him off now.
: We must take care of Takemura first! Get back to your post!
: Yes, sir...



Oh, it's Mori. You know, Miho's ex-boyfriend? No? Well, he's the guy that Takiguchi was being so secret about.
: Lieutenant Mori! Have you recovered from your injury?
: Yes. I'm okay.
: Tadayuki...
: Miho, don't worry about me. I can't just sit back while you fight. Let me help you.
: Lieutenant, do we know where the prime minister is being held?
: Yes. At a sanitarium, in Tomiyama-Cho, Chiba prefecture.
Er...the 'old-timey health-spa' type, not an 'insane asylum.'
: Then let's go there and rescue him! That's easy.
: It's not so easy. The entire Kanto area is under enemy control. We can't let them know of our plans until we've freed the prime minister.
: We can't take a battalion.
: Yes. This mission will be carried out without wanzers.
: Then how do we fight?
: Your mission is to rescue the prime minister. Avoid battles. If you have to fight, find wanzers in the area.
Apparently, in the future, it's common for armies to leave unguarded, battle-ready wanzers laying around.
: You must be kidding!
: I'm dead serious. Without the prime minister, we can't rout out the coup forces.
: How do we escape, one we've rescued him?
: We'll send out a helicopter.
: ...All right. Let's go!
: Are you serious?
: We have to, Ryogo. We didn't come all the way here for nothing.
That's terrible reasoning! Still...



: Security's though. We'll get caught before we can save anyone.
: Kazuki, over there!



Huh. It kind of looks like Mayer's like 6'3'' here.
: We can use the wanzers that are being worked on around it.
: Get on anything that might be handy, and confuse the enemy. But avoid unnecessary combat. Just get the prime minister back!



It's another gimmick fight, and that means that last mission was the final one for that generation of wanzers. Anyway, I take Kazuki, Ryogo, Liu and Miho because they have a decent number of weapon levels. The first goal of this missions is boarding the vacant wanzers and vehicles.



I guess this mission is supposed to be challenging because, by this point in the game, the typical player's wanzers will be way superior to the stock Jinyos and Kasels available in this mission. That's probably normally true, but, given that you guys are designing the wanzers for me, it's a fucking vacation.



Your pilots do, however, bring their computers along, so they still have access to whatever battle skills you saved.



Kazuki shows that the true spirit of Berzuki resides within the heart of the pilot, not the wanzer he pilots/



Victory.



Miho has a tougher time of it, as she doesn't have many levels in Machine Gun, and there are no wanzers on this map equipped with shotguns. She's still serviceable though.



Ryogo, on the other hand, is right at home, even though the Jinyo is not the most durable wanzer around.



There are only three wanzers, so Liu has to use a helicopter, which he uses to end the mission by blasting the last remaining Jinyo out of existence. You can also win this mission by getting all of your surviving pilots to the sanitarium, but given that all of the enemies are in the way, I'm not sure how practical that is.



Freed from the shackles of thread-wanzers, there is no limit to what I can achieve. Since I couldn't use any of your wanzers, you could say that no one wins MVP, but I prefer to think of it as everyone losing instead. Also, Deceitful Penguin, I'm thinking of rescinding the rule not allowing you to win MVP, if you're interested, tell me in the next day or so, otherwise, I'll probably just leave it the way it is.



: Who are you!?
: We're here to save you. We have to escape!
: Save? Are you JDF!? From which unit?
: We don't have time to talk. We're just here to stop the coup.
: Coup? ...Oh, you're on our side. How are we to escape?
: We'll use a helicopter. This way! Hurry!
: I see.



: It's about time.
: Hurry up, Kazuki! We're getting out of here!
: Hurry up and get on!
: This way, Prime Minister. Liu, c'mon! Gun it, Lieutenant Mori!
: Hang on tight, everyone!

Next Time: Liu Gundam: Endless Waltz