Part 82: Mission #19, Shit Got Worse

Okay, vote over! The Lancer wins 6 to 3. Damn it. Come on, Dynamo, keep it together, only...over 50 missions left.

Mission #19, Part 1: Shit Got Worse

Email!


: (An interview, huh? I guess I should send a reply saying no.)


Awesome, I'm sure this exchange will be just as riveting as last time.



: ...(This guy again. Why is he so nice? Who is he?)

Okay, enough of that. Now, as you'll recall last time, Purple Haze got massacred, and Kazuki and Emma tried to stop MIDAS. And really, isn't that all you can ask? Still, with the bomb detonated, and Alisa safely in USN custody, it looks like the crisis is over...



Back to the U.S.S. Richard M. Daley!



: We couldn't stop them...
: I'm sorry, captain. The mission failed. MIDAS was used by the OCU, and we lost it.
: We confirmed it. It was quite powerful. It destroyed an entire city. Right, Emma?
: ...
: You finished your mission, though.
: Finished!? We needed to seize MIDAS!
: MIDAS is gone. We have custody of the Japanese scientist. No other country can reproduce it, now. Mission accomplished.
A declaration of 'Mission Accomplished' with so much game left? And on an aircraft carrier, to boot? And this game came out over three years before then-President Bush's unfortunate photo op...
: People died! Why are you so nonchalant about it?
: Stop, Kazuki.
: But...!
: The OCU is responsible for that. It's of no concern to us. Besides we did major damage to the DHZ fleet. It was better this way. Right, Emma?
: Excuse me. I don't feel well.
: Emma!?
: I'm sorry.
: Do you have something against Emma!? She's feeling hurt from all this!
: You're a noisy child. I only stated the facts. It's not your place to question me.
In the Captain's defense, he neither built the bomb, nor dramatically failed to prevent its use, unlike a certain scientist.
: Fine. I give up.
: Captain, it's the submarine.
: Open communication.
: Captain! Lukav and the Japanese scientists disappeared.
Of course they did.
: What do you mean!? I thought Lukav headed for the submarine!
: The submarine didn't collect them. The vanished without a trace at Taal Base.
: Did you guys look hard!?
Okay, that's the funniest line in the entire game, if only because you know Kazuki is being dead serious when he said it.
: Calm down, Kazuki! We looked. But we can't find them!
: Damn it! Captain, take me back to the Philippines!!
: Calm down, Kazuki. We're joining you. Let's come up with a plan.
: ... They're with Lukav. They should be fine with him.
: Kazuki, wait for us.
: ...
: Why don't you train? It'll calm you down. We now have the Taal Base data for the simulator.
: This was unexpected... If those scientists passed on their knowledge to other countries...
: Do you ever think of anything besides MIDAS?
Yeah, what kind of monster is worried about the knowledge of a new super-deadly weapon being distributed throughout the world at a time like this?
: I'm only doing my job.
: You jerk!



: ... If... If only I hadn't made MIDAS...
: Emma!?
: ! Kazuki?
: Emma! Are you okay?
: Yes...
: We have a situation.
: What happened?
: Alisa is missing.
: What...!?
: Lukav and Alisa disappeared after they left the base.
: Oh... It's my fault. Alisa is in danger because of my invention.
: Calm down, Emma! It's not your fault.
Er...no. It's definitely her fault. I mean, she built the damn bomb, and that was the inciting cause of the action of the plot.
: Of course it's my fault. So many people were killed because of my MIDAS! I'm killing people for research. Now Alisa is in danger because of it!
: Emma! Pull yourself together.
: What did Alisa or the people of Batangas ever do?
: What's wrong? Are you okay, Emma?
: Kazuki, I kept a secret from you.
: What secret?
: Alisa... Alisa Takemura is my sister.
Wait a minute. Alisa is Emma's sister. Alisa is Kazuki's sister. Therefore, Kazuki is Emma!
: !? What are you saying!?
: It's true. Her real name is Aliciana Klamsky. We were separated when we were young.
: ...!?
: Remember what I told you about my parents?
: Yeah. They were scientists, and they died when you were little.
: My parents were murdered by a certain organization.
She'd tell us more about this shadowy cabal, but she needs to save a few drama bombs for later. For pacing.
: !
: My parents knew they'd be killed. They tried to escape with me. Alisa was still too young. My father left Alisa in a friend's care in Japan. We escaped, but a helicopter came after us.



Okay, so this is a flashback, and Front Mission 3 being Front Mission 3, that means that cars in the year 2100 look like they're from 1987.



And, as you know, cars from 1987 featured neither anti-lock brakes nor four-wheel drive. Hell, they proudly trumpeted features like "dual overhead cam shafts." It's a wonder mankind survived.

Emma... Run!


But... daddy!


Just run, Emma, We'll be okay.


Mommy.


Run. Emma!



And then a helicopter kills Emma's parents.



And the helicopter is then shot down by a wanzer. Here's the thing, for all of the crap I just gave the designers for the suspiciously old car, they manage to give a pretty good representation of what wanzers looked like in Front Mission 1, with a shield on one shoulder, and a gun of some sort on the other.



: And it was my father who adopted Alisa.
: I know Alisa was adopted by Isao Takemura. And that you were Takemura's son. That's why I asked you to join me.
: ...
: You'd know about the JDF and provide a link to Isao Takemura. And I thought it would be easier to take Alisa back if you were here.
: Take Alisa back?
: Alisa is my only family. I planned on taking her back to the USN.
It's a good thing this isn't the other path. Ol' Berzuki would have immediately declared war on the USN...while still aboard one of their aircraft carriers.
: Does Alisa know?
: I don't think so. Even if she did, she wouldn't acknowledge a murderer as her sister.
: You knew everything when you hired me in Yokosuka...
: That's right. I used you. I'm a horrible person. If I hadn't made MIDAS, none of this would've happened.
: I'm not really good at making people feel better, but... Just think about what you can do to prevent another tragedy. What's done is done. Only thing we can do is to move on.
: Aren't you angry? I used you!
It's simple really. Two worlds, two realities. Each with its own Kazuki, but at the moment Kazuki made his choice about whether or not he went with Ryogo, at that nexus between the two timelines, a link was formed between the two Kazukis. All of this Kazuki's anger, all of his rage, flowed into the other, transforming that alternate Kazuki into a dread figure of anger known only as Berzuki. Here...peace reignss in the heart of Kazuki.
: I knew you really cared about stopping MIDAS. I don't feel used. You're Alisa's sister. Of course I trust you.
: Kazuki...
: We need to focus on Alisa. We have to find out where she is. She's waiting for us.
: You're right...
: Emma, your friends are here. Come up to the bridge.
: You need to come up with one of your brilliant plans!
: Sure.

Will Emma come up with a brilliant plan? Can Kazuki save his sister? Found out next time in Mission #19, Part 2: No One Gets Saved Due to Emma's Crappy Planning!