Part 66: Mission #3: Pick-Up Lines

Mission #3: Pick-Up Lines



: It wasn't our fault! Why is he mad at us!?
: Sure, we only took the new wanzers and went on a wild rampage.
Not in this branch, we didn't.
: We might've died otherwise!
: Hey, I was a victim, too.
: The military was at fault, too. Don't worry too much. Go home and rest.
: ...
: Stop sulking! Let's go home!
Nah, we're not going to do that.



Man, look at the desktop computer of the future. 256 color monitor, 8 GB of memory and nearly 3MB of RAM!




: !
: What's wrong, Kazuki?
: Alisa...
: Your sister? Isn't she at some college lab?
: She's been assigned to Yokosuka Base starting today.
: Alisa was inside the base!?
: Maybe she was hurt in the accident! : You're jumping to conclusions. The base is huge!
: Let's go, Ryogo! Hurry!!
: Where to!?
: Back to the base to find Alisa!
: Hey, but...
: Shut up and follow me!
: What's the hurry?
: Aren't we going to Yokosuka Base?
Excellent! It's finally time for the Kazuki rampage to end all Kazuki rampages. The blood of his enemies will stain the streets red! No man can stop his murderous-



Wait, what? Kazuki politely asking for help? No, no...this isn't right...not at all!
: No unauthorized personnel allowed.
: My sister may have been involved in the accident! Please, you have to let me in!
: I said no, and I meant it!
Okay, great, now get your wanzer and paint the walls of the base with this guard's brain.
: Then check and see if my sister is in the base.
: Look, I can't tell you anything about the base. Now get outta here!
: Damn!
: Forget it, Kazuki.
: But...
: There's nothing you can do at this point! Let's head back at once.
: ...
Okay, great, now that Kazuki's been stymied, his only response can be an act of violence...it's who he is. Foolish guard, you have sealed your own fate, for not it is time for Berz-



What? That's not how Kazuki operates! Now, then, let's proceed to the-



Fine. we'll go to the bar.
: Alisa was adopted from another country. She lost her parents in an accident. She used to cry all the time.
: That's in the past! She's a happy girl now.
: What do you know about Alisa? I need to protect her!
: Alright, alright. If that's how you feel. Lots of JDF soldiers drink here. A prime place for info!
I don't even know what to think anymore. Rational discussions? Logical plans? Not resorting to violence as a first option? What am I doing here?
http://lpix.org/200875/bartender2.jpg No one knows what caused the accident. The information is classified, I guess. They'd lie anyway. The military lies all the time. No one will tell us the truth.
: Do you know about the accident in Yokosuka? Undercover agents from another country did it. Why? They want a piece of cake! No more for you! It's classified. Hey you guys hear about the explosion in Yokosuka Base? If you can keep a secret...
: He's just a rambling drunk.
You fool! Now we won't get a piece of the cake! The cake!
: An accident at the base? What the heck are you talking about? You guys know the JDF web site? It's great for JDF enthusiast like me. I'll tell you the address. Take a look. You'll like it.
Hey, I told you the address already! You can get the latest JDF info from that web site.
: An accident at the base? There was an accident? Hey if you buy me dinner, I'll be your date. What? No money? Go away! JDF officers give me lots of money.



Hey, it's Emma! I mean, a mysterious blond woman we have never met.

: !? Who are you?
: Kazuki, don't be rude to such a beautiful lady. Hey girlie, how 'bout a date?
Oh, Ryogo, you're just not quite funny enough to save yourself from being grating.
: You're investigating the accident.
: I'd rather investigate you.
: Ryogo, shut up! Do you know something?
: Maybe. We can make a deal.
: What is it?
: I need your help.
: I'm listening.
: I'm Emir Klamsky. A USN radiation scientist.
: USN!? Wait, this is OCU, Japan! What's an enemy country's scientist doing here!?
: Hey Kazuki, business people come in and out. Scientists are business people. Hey, why are you in Japan?
Ryogo...you're not helping.
: I wanted to learn more about the accident. I need your help for my investigation.
: What do you want us to do?
: We'll take the wanzers to the accident site.
: Can a USN scientist go inside a JDF base?
: You want us to sneak onto the site?
: Yes. We'll prepare the wanzers. What do you say?
: Hmm...
: (Hey, Kazuki. You're going with her to the base, aren't you?)
: (There's no other way to find Alisa. How about you, Ryogo?)
Um, she's only been out of contact for a few hours, isn't there a plan to find her that doesn't have committing treason as its first step?
: (Can't turn down an offer from such a beauty.)
: Are you guys done?
: We'll do it, Emir. I'm Kazuki Takemura. This is Ryogo Kusama.
: Kazuki and Ryogo. You can call me Emma.
: When do we leave, Emma?
: Right away. Come with me.



: W-We're f-f-from K-Kirishima...
Kazuki isn't much of a con-man...or maybe he's having a stroke.
: Hey there! We're from Kirishima Industry!
: Right now, we can't let civilians in due to that accident.
: Yeah, we're here to deliver wanzers to clean up the mess.
: I haven't heard anything about that.
: That's strange... We were ordered to bring 'em. Oh well, if we can't go in, we'll just leave 'em here, then. Here I need you to sign for these.
: Wait, they'll get in the way if you leave them here!
: But you won't let us in. What else can I do but leave it here?
: Alright, alright, go in.
Okay, this may be the worst security guard in any video game ever.
: You sure, man?
: I don't have a choice. Just drop 'em off and get outta here!
: Of course! Thanks a bunch!



And so we stroll into the base allegedly under tight security.



: Okay, we're in.
: You're pretty good, Ryogo.
: Dude, I'm not good. You just suck.
: Sorry.
: Cut the chatter and start up the wanzers!
: Hey, this wanzer's fully armed!
: Emma, what's the meaning of this? we're only here for info!
Kazuki...what have you become?
: It's just for looks. You won't use them. We'll take the lift down. Hurry!
Yeah, we're loaded onto 20-foot tall walking tanks armed with live ammunition 'just for looks.'
: Go down?
: An underground research facility. That's where the accident occurred.
: Hey Kazuki, was your sister in the facility?
: I don't know. What do you think we're doing here!?
: Are you ready?
: What were you doing in this place?
: ...You'll see.



Okay, let's do this...



Yep, we can just stroll into the MIDAS test chamber with no one blocking our way! Future-Japan can't do anything right...
: This sure is an extravagant facility... I've got a bad feeling about this.
: We're trespassing on a military base. If we get caught...
: Things are looking bad. We're running out of options.
: What do you mean, "bad?"
: We'll talk later. I'll unlock the door. Take off and get in position.
: Get to the point. Is Japan starting a war?
: No way!? I've only ever seen wars on TV, man.
: Yeah, from the USN's view, maybe... But Japan's not like that.
Japan would never start a war!
: Then you'll have to see for yourselves. This is what your country got hold of.



: What the hell!?
: You still think your country's not up to something?
That's pretty harsh coming from the woman who built the bomb in the first place.
: What happened...? It's as if something scooped out a hole in the wall.
: What's it take to cause something like this!?
: Emma... You know what it is, don't you?
: There's no time to talk.



: We have permission to fire. Destroy them!
: They found us. What now?
: Maybe they'll let us go if we apologize.
: Don't be stupid. We're witnesses.
: Hey, easy... You're the one who showed it to us... They blocked our escape route!
: Guess we'll have to fight, then.
: Watch yourselves! Here they come!
I guess when Emma said 'just for show' she meant, 'just to show the enemy the ultimate transience of human existence.'



First real fight of the branch, which is kind of exciting. Kazuki is back in the Zenislev with its trademark shotgun and fist, which is an alright wanzer, if perhaps not quite optimized. Ryogo has the Kyojun mk107, which has some nifty battle skills, but bad movement and HP. Emma, on the other hand, has a new Wanzer, the Drake M2. It's just another missile wanzer, with a few interesting battle skills that I'll discuss when they come up. The JDF has their traditional spread of a Kasel, a couple of Jinyos and an Enyo. I can't say I'm overly impressed.



I miss being able to do damage with my troops. Ejecting pilots doesn't do much good when they can't kill a pilot before he can climb back into his wanzer.



Ejected another one...to no real effect. The early-game isn't much fun most of the time, to be honest.



Every time one of my missiles hits the legs of a wanzer, I die a little inside...you are killing me, Emma.



Better.



Nice hit...but I have no interest in letting Kazuki become a melee specialist again.



So I have Kazuki finish the enemy off with a shotgun blast.



Emma, improbably enough, manages to kill the Kasel with her bare hands. She's already been more impressive in this one mission than Alisa was in the entirety of last branch.



About time eugenics and genetic manipulation benefited me!



We'll get to more interesting missions soon enough.



I kind of hope so, since if they weren't, we just committed a massacre.
: We know their secret. We're as good as enemies to them.
: Emma! You act like you were expecting this. What's going on here?
: Get a hold of yourself, Kazuki. Just focus on surviving, for now. I'll brief you on the escape route. Even if we take the elevator to the surface, the enemy will be waiting. Let's keep going underground. We should be able to get to the surface through the cargo entrance. From there, we can proceed straight to the main gate.
: You want us to just stroll out the main entrance? It's not that easy!
: It's already taken care of. There may be more battles ahead. Did you resupply?
: Bases are great. I'm fully supplied.
: Then we're off.
: Who is this woman supposed to be?
: A little fishy to think a hot babe like her is a scientist.
Nah, I don't think Emma quite violates the Christmas Jones Rule.
: Is that all that's on your mind!? We might die here, ya know.
: Take it easy, pal. It's over and done. Let's just leave this joint.
What's over and done? You remember we came here to find Alisa, right? And we didn't do that, so-Wait, I don't even like Alisa, anything that keeps her out of the story as much as possible is fine with me! Yes, Ryogo, our work here has been successfully concluded!
: What're you doing? You're gonna stick around!?
: Shut up! I'm coming!

Next Time: For the Kazuki to win, Emma must die!

The Bulls lost again. Should they lose two more times, one of you must surely feel my wrath. Tomorrow's wanzer build may be the last for one of you...