Part 26

Note: I bought the Upward Vulcan 3 before leaving New York. Now airborne foes will be my bitch!




the-book, missing person case.

Operation 6 is... Africa!


Information's thin on the ground, unfortunately. I've got a feeling we're not getting the full picture...

Operation 7 is... More ice!

I see...

These'll be a little more demanding than the last batch. Do your best!

Can't say I know what he's basing that on, but hey.

Anyway, I actually tried going to Sibirska first here, but found that it's a really bad idea. The game assumes you already went the other way, so the plot is pretty significantly broken. For the sake of people who haven't played this, I'm doing them in the recommended order. That means we're off to Africa.


lately, but things'd be worse if the Zambolan Prime Minister, Elgar, wasn't trying his damndest to restore some kind of peace around here. He was en route to a meeting with General Balming of Tangany when he disappeared.

It's not exactly clear who is doing the fighting around here, but I don't think we're supposed to care at this point.

And we're here to find him?

By order of the Zambolan Vice Minister, Keel.

He's the foundation of a ship?

That's terrible...

Shut up, Emil!

...Geez, this place is hot!

We're close to the equator. This is rainforest country.

You're used to the snow and cold, kid. You must be sweatin' bullets right now, eh?

My unit's got air-conditioning. It shouldn't be too bad...

I think you should be more concerned about weather MY BATTLESHIP has AC since that's where you'll be.

Geez! Your rig's just pissin' off power. My Wanzer just 'bout shuts down every time I try to crank the AC.

Maybe if you didn't blow it up all the time...

Ever consider upgrading that hunk of junk, sir?

......


That's a pretty vague level name.


Neat!

Wow! Super! Trees!

The forest seems pretty dense, even for Africa.

We've certainly got our work cut out for us, trying to find Elgar in all this.

Albert? The Vice Minister's on the line.

Welcome, Albert.

AH! What the fuck?

I'm Vice Minister Keel.

Could you fill us in on the situation?

The Prime Minister's jet was shot down somewhere near your current location.

Yeah, we can see the wreckage laying in the middle of the "dense forest" from here.

We've confirmed both pilots are dead. But Elgar himself is still unaccounted for. If he's alive, I want you to see him out of there safely.

And if he's dead?

In that case... just send me your report.

One more thing... The crash site's pretty close to the Tangany border. We may have to cross over in the course of our search... Will that be a problem?

Not at all. Tangany's General Balming is a fellow participant in the peace summit.

"The one I only just mentioned."

As such, we have clearance to cross as necessary. That's it for the time being.

Understood.

Missing persons, huh? Guess you won't be needing me, then.

Nope. Never.

Hello? That plane was SHOT DOWN. Someone obviously doesn't want the summit to succeed!

What if that someone is the Society? ....Anyway, let's go check the crash site. Maybe we'll find something.


Oh yeah, real dense.


Yes, plane crashes do tend to be messy.

What's up?

The fuselage is torn is half... I'm going to look around a bit.

"A bit" in this case is something like half a second.


No bodies... I'm guessing that the Prime Minister was able to...

I'm wondering what happened to the pilots, then.

Kill Elgar as soon as you find him!

Commander! I've found something at point E-16...

"It appears to be a sunken battleship!"

They're looking for the Prime Minister! Brenda! How do I get to point E-16 from here?

I'm guessing the answer is "Go right."

The fastest route is straight through the enemy...

The one you never mentioned before? Thanks.

I can't let them get to Elgar! Looks like I'll have to make a direct assault!


Oh. More of YOU morons.


These, too.


Haha, it looks like Clark is standing on it.


General Balming's paying good money for Elgar's head!

But he's not paying anything for them to not mention his name to everyone they meet.

BALMING? I thought he was involved in the negotiations!

You talk too much! Time to shut you up!

Ahahahaha. No, here's what's going to happen:


...but first we need to actually fight.


There are a lot of bullets, grenades, and mean names being flung around here, but all you need to know if that the main guy barely ever uses his giant cannon. It's very disappointing.


He just loves to name drop, doesn't he?

...Genoce! Here? This is serious!

Did you manage to find him?

No, but I did spot a parachute. He must have bailed out.

Well, let's try a bit of aerial Reconnaissance.




This area can be very profitable on replays.


He's alive, then?

We can't be certain just yet, but...

In that case, let's not waste any time. Find him before those mercenaries get to him! ...Pray excuse me.

He seems pretty frantic. No surprise there, though. If the peace summit collapses now, the blame falls on his shoulders.

He's trying not to show it, though. I don't think he wants us to know.

Incoming message!


You must be the mercenaries Keel hired to rescue Mr. Elgar!

General Balming!

Uh oh.

What can we do for you?

Besides shoot him in the face, of course.

I'd like to point out that your present course will take you across the Tangany border. ...Just for your information.

I thought we had permission to cross?

Yes, yes. Of course! We've made an exception for Mr. Keel's sake. But his sake only.

Did you send troops to the crash site? Your name was mentioned...

Do you really think he won't deny that?

Nonsense! I'm nothing if not a man of peace! Best of luck!

What was the point of that?

Got me. Could've just been a friendly warning.



Oh well, that's it for now!