Part 35: Update XXXV - I believe it's time we put Reploid potential to the ultimate test.

Update XXXV - I believe it's time we put Reploid potential to the ultimate test.

Music: Judgement of the Truth


First thing's first.



I grab these items that have been laying around. They hold a Build Hyper, two tokens, and a Tank Part.



Turns out I had two Build Hypers on hand, so I give one to Cinnamon to finish getting her and Zero to 6, and the other to Axl in case I need a Bait bot in the future.



With three bosses left, I keep going in order and take on Dr. Psyche.



The refight immediately skips to Mad Nautilus, for some reason.



Well, well! Who’d think that we’d meet you again? Dr. Psyche! We're sending you back where you belong!

And I'm not just a helpless little girl any more!





You'll never beat my evolved form!

Music: Final Battle


Nautilus is still the same jerk as always. As a reminder, he has a permanent barrier until he uses Mad Ecstasy to raise his shell.



Massimo comes in one last time, as Zero is a C-type and would whiff against Nautilus.



Get everything ready before Mad Ecstasy hits.



And now I have an opening.



One.



Two.



Dead.



Done.



That was Massimo's last time in combat, we're now on the X and Zero Power Hour for the rest of the game.



Up next...



Is Jentra.



Him again? He really doesn't give up, does he? You sure you don't need the help of your Mechaniloid hordes? Here goes nothing!



It is all for the ideal!



The plan here is to wait for X to get a turn before Zero, then use his AT to knock down Jentra for Zero.



Despite what Axl said, Jentra still has his summons.



Although they haven't been scaled up by now, and are completely ignorable if he doesn't summon a Preon Soldier.



Anyways, a Boost Speed gets the turn order to work out.



As a reminder, Absolute Zero is 90% Water attacks.



At least he explodes in battle this time.



Done.



Next.



Finally, we have Incentas.



You! Hmph! Very well... You owe us more than you could know. And payment is due, right here and now! Face your fate!





Get what's coming to you!



Changing to Water first thing means I just have to wait till he cycles back to Fire.



A few normal attacks while I wait makes Zero's AT kill him on the spot.





Done.

Music: Judgement of the Truth


With all of them dead, I can progress.



The door out unlocks when I re-enter the main room.



I make a quick stop to heal first.

Oh, and those are the only refights, by the way. Botos, Ferham, and Scarface just don't show up for whatever reason. Which is really odd when we're at 5 refights, and adding them in would put us at the usual 8.



Past the door is yet another elevator.



With some new guy on the other side.

Video: Battle with Depth Dragoon


First, you fail to steal the Supra—Force Metal... I thought Colonel Redips finished you off... What are you doing here?!

Move aside. Our business is with Redips. We're not interested in wasting our time with small fries like you!

Well, even if you don't want to fight, I do! Stories of you Class S Hunters have always fascinated me... Now let's see if you live up to your name!





I'll take ya on!

Music: Steel Massimo


Depth Dragoon here is the last boss that got his chapter cut, alongside Rafflesian and Duckbill Mole. I highly recommend watching the video for this fight, just because his voice is hilarious.

The Beast Lancer is Massimo's ultimate weapon, beating out the Interceptor at 120 Power vs 93. It's also a Fire-element weapon for the handful of times you fight a Fire-weak boss. Except Dragoon here is the second last boss in the entire game with a Fire weakness, including post-game, and you can't swap weapons mid-combat so you can't even take advantage of Dragoon's weakness. The Beast Lancer also deals recoil damage on normal attacks, but only on normal attacks, you can AT as much as you want and never feel a thing.



Hey!

Thunder Clap tickles, but has a chance of canceling the target's next turn.



Attack!

Destructive Blow is the usual multi-target affair.



The guilty... shall be punished!

While Thunder Brigade is the usual multi-target but stronger affair.

Beyond that, he has a full set of Boost items, Tera/Ultra Giga Thunder, and Hell Gravity.

He also has a bizarre AI setup, where if the fight lasts more than 32 turns he'll stop using anything that isn't Hell Gravity, Thunder Brigade, and Destructive Blow.



Marino does her thing.



I mean, I'm not going to use it, but why waste a perfectly good weapon, you know?



Then he suffers the fate of all Command Mission bosses.



The difficulty really could have used some tuning.



He doesn't last long.



It seems I have lost...

Despite his body still being around, he vanishes after this fight.



Axl picks up Thunder Brigade as his second last upgrade from this, putting his current AT choices at:

-A Fire-type multi-target move.
-A Water-type multi-target move.
-A multi-target move that inflicts status ailments.
-A non-elemental multi-target move.
-A fixed damage multi-target move.
-A Thunder-type single-target move.
-And now, a Thunder-type multi-target move.

Just to add insult to injury, there are no more Thunder-weak enemies between here and the credits, meaning there's no real difference between any of the multi-target moves at this point.

Music: Judgement of the Truth


The room Dragoon was in is huge and has all these monitors, but nothing else happens here.



Another elevator keeps us moving forward.

...Christ, how many of these things has X been on? How high up are we right now?



The final save point in the game is off in the distance.



The Final Gate has a number of branches, each with loot at the end. This set has 10000z and 5000FME.



This set has two tokens.



And this one has a Cure All and a Backup.



Plus the obligatory Tank Energy 100 and Gain Hyper.



Here we go.

Video: Battle with Redips
Music: Resistance Line


Incredible. You’re still alive.



Me? Well, let's just say that... I’m in charge. I am the ruler of all Reploids.

You’re what?!



Under your orders, we went to Giga City, fought Epsilon, and sucessfully quelled the Rebellion Army. So that was all just a set-up?

I guess you could say that. But I really must thank you for defeating that pesky Epsilon... Making it possible to achieve my goal!

Answer me! What are your plans here?!



Music: The Rebellion's Fate


My, you Maverick Hunters are brave.



Redips! You... You...



X, you really need to step up your insult game.



But that was actually enough to make him turn around!



And start the fight.



Foul Mavericks! You shall perish!

Music: Redips, First Movement


Redips always opens with Code Red.



Which summons two Red Hubcaps



The Hubcaps have a full set of Mega/Giga/Tera elemental attacks, starting on Mega and upgrade for each 1/3 LE they lose. They can also shoot the entire party with Zapper.

The Limit Buster MKII is an upgrade to the original Limit Buster, which makes X deal non-fatal damage to easily set up a Final Strike.



The Hubcaps are also the final redacted enemy from the Eternal Forest.



While Redips holds a Beam Sword and Rei Ichimonji, which are upgrades for Marino and Zero, respectively.



Fall!

His normal attack is a cool energy wave.



Taste my strength!

Ballistic deals two hits, with a chance of inflicting DOA on the first.



Not over yet!

And Vicious Assault hits the entire party with Fire damage.

Redips is a bit like Botos, and will always summon more Hubcaps if both are dead. He'll also always Defend if two are on the field and he's above half LE.



Marino Marino's at him.



When I said 'like Botos', I mean it. If you wanted you could easily kill the Hubcaps each turn and get him stuck in a permanent loop of summons.



But he only has 51K LE, which is less than the refights (aside from Nautilus, who had around 30K). Even Depth Dragoon had more, and he was just two rooms ago!



Two ATs nearly kill him.



While a third finishes him off.



Hmph, so it takes more to beat you!





Music: Resistance Line




Blast!



For everything, my Maverick Hunters. For your new ruler.







A familiar sound plays.

Music: Stops




Spider turned out to be Redips all along! How could we have known!?



Turns out that even this was foreshadowed! Spider was always conveniently out of the room whenever Redips called, and the intro for Chapter 6 even showed him transforming back after a call, not even five minutes after Axl used the same effect and sound when transforming into Jentra to stop Duboar! And, most obviously, Redips is Spider in reverse.

This also opens up several cans of cyber-worms. Was Spider always Redips' alter ego? He couldn't have made him up for this mission, Spider was already known as a good friend of Aile's. Was there an actual Spider, only for Redips to kill and replace him? It would add a reason for Spider to indirectly get Aile killed, as he would be the only one who could see through the ruse. Hell, is Redips the fake? A Maverick Hunter commander has a lot more assets available than a lowly bounty hunter, which would make a bid for world domination much easier to pull off.

As you might expect by now, this is Command Mission, and absolutely none of these questions will ever be answered or acknowledged.





Music: The Rebellion's Ambition




His voice swaps from Spider to Redips mid-line.

It was for my ideal; for Supra Metal! Not a bad actor, eh?

That ability is the same as mine...

You foolish Maverick Hunters didn't realize it.



and increase my power to unimaginable levels!





Turns out that thing to the side was a teleporter all along.





X and Axl chase him, but Zero holds on for a moment.



How badly have we been duped here?!

We can’t let Redips get away! He must not use the Supra-Force Metal!



And then it just cuts to a new area, with no teleporter in sight.

Next time: