MegaMan Starforce Part #33 - The One Place That Hasn't Been Corrupted By Capitalism

Part 33: The One Place That Hasn't Been Corrupted By Capitalism

Hah. It's a Command and Conquer joke.

: You did well to retrieve the Andromeda Key.

: Mmmrrrgh! Thank you, Your Majesty!

: I will now lift the seal on Andromeda, and with it, seal the Earth's fate!!

This is the first time we've gotten a sneak peek at the enemy's base. It's a little surprising considering the frequency that we got to see Wily's evil ranting, but it makes sense once you realize that we only now get to see it because they're finally close enough.

: ...that Gemini has been deleted.

: It doesn't matter. His absence changes nothing. He was a fool. After I brought him back, he carelessly throws my efforts away. But never mind him, my warriors. Andromeda must be prepared!!

Kinda cold, for a king. But, then again, this is the FM King we're talking about.

Is he...King Cold!? Eh? Eh? I won't leave after this pun.

: Your Majesty.

: Roger!

: As you wish.

: It's time...

: You leaving now?

: I... Uh...

: What's up?

: Um, I'm sorry that you... got caught up in this fight... And I'm sorry about your old man...

: Are you OK? This isn't like you at all! Plus, this isn't just your fight anymore. This is a fight for the fate of the whole Earth. And I went along with everything because I wanted to see with my own eyes what happened to dad. So say something happy like you always do!

: You total loser...

Unfortunately, he doesn't say that. I wish, though.

Damn, you could have fooled me there for a minute. Bitch-ass Yeti didn't follow-through.

: Heh. Looks like I'm rubbing off on you! OK, let's get out there and mangle some FM-ians!

: Yeah! Actually, before we go into space, there's someplace I want to go. Is that OK?

: Your usual spot?

: Yeah... Oh, and we should say something to mom too.

How nice that he's actually thinking of his mom. Lan would just happily hop into a helicopter and ride to a volcano, or something.

Well, Lan only talked with his dad because Haruka was pretty much just...there, in almost every game. Guarantee the same thing would haappen to Geo if he had a similar family paradigm.

The screen shook a little bit. It wasn't the violent kind that heralds the appearance of a wave ball, but it's still a little concerning.

But before we hurry, let's check email.

: Currently, there are invaders approaching Earth from outer space. We are conducting an investigation, and we strongly urge citizens to be on the alert.

What kind of day would you be having to get this email, anyway? Just, driving to work, checking your work email, 'Aliens are coming to visit', time to get some coffee.

'The aliens have touched down and began firing!' Oh, shoot. Back to work.
'They have sieged and overran the state Capitol building!' Dang. What else is on?
'The aliens are demanding our unconditional surrender.' Aw man, I just wanted to play vidya games.

Anyway, like the cutscene said we have to talk to Geo's mom before we can make progress.

: Are you going out somewhere?

: Yeah...

: But those strange quakes haven't stopped. Maybe it's best if you didn't...

: I really have to go out there, mom.

: *sniffle* S-Sorry... It's just... On the day your dad left, I did the exact same thing. I asked him over and over...

: And your dad said, "I really have to go out there." Like father, like son, I guess... I saw your dad in my dreams last night... He was smiling as he faded into the distance... *sniffle*

Now, I'm no Joseph, but I think that dream might mean something. But what could it be?

Very saaaaaaad. Yeti are you a sad boy hour, yet?

It's very real sad boy hours in here.

: ...and never came back... *sniffle*

: ......It's OK. I'll come back, mom. I promise.

: Geo...

: I've really got to get going... See you later!

: ...*nod*

Geo don't make your mom sad, you dingus.

Yeah, so don't play poorly and get deleted, Yeti.

Anyway, back over to Vista Point. It's kinda nice that Geo wanted to come here and Mega didn't say a word about it. He just knows Geo needs to get it out of his system.

: Come on, Mega. Let's go.

: Right, let's go!

No drama, no complaints. Just Geo taking a minute to chill and Mega letting him relax.

It's the dork squad.

: We got a call from Mr. Boreal. Are you really going to the space station? You shouldn't have to go! Can't the adults do anything!?

: I know you're MegaMan, but going into space is too much, even for you!

: Everyone... Thanks for worrying. I know it might be a fight that I can't win, but I have to go. It may be sad, but if I fight, and spare someone that sadness in the end, then I have to at least try.

The adults CAN do something, it's just... the thing they're going to do is useless at best, and actively harmful at worst. Andromeda is a weapon designed to kill EM beings, so an EM weapon like the ones NAZA is planning to use could very well power the dragon up.

Doesn't some military force on the planet have space missiles? Or something like that? Who am I kidding, they're all controlled via EM Waves, I bet. Christ on a stick.

: Nooo! That speech was too cool! I can't counter that!

: ......Hmph! So nothing we say can change your mind!?

: Yeah... But I'm going to promise you guys the same thing I promised Mr. Boreal. I'll come back alive! You can count on that!

: You're gonna save the world!

: W-Well, I'm going to worry about you, but only a little, and as a Brother!

Luna, as a reminder, definitely doesn't have any romantic feelings for Geo. She likes MegaMan, and MegaMan ONLY. Got it?

Luna will never compete with Sonia. She can't even transform at-will. Get it through your heads, shippers.

: So you'd better come back, you hear!?

: I hear you. Thanks, everyone. I'm off!

All that's taken care of. Let's head over to Dream Island.

It really is weird to come in here and then suddenly all of the EM Wave Roads are gone.

Aaaand more email.

: I believe in you! You can save the Earth! So go get 'em, Brother!!

: ...if you don't get back safe and sound, so... ...be careful, OK?

It's the usual end-of-game well wishes from the idiot trio.

I'm glad everyone got their final say.

Ah shit Boreal's fuckin dead.

: What should I do? What if I asked for too much...?

: ...Hm? Oh, Geo! Aw, dang it... Looks like I fell asleep.

: Oh, you were just sleeping... Phew.

I give Boreal shit in the early game, but once he starts interacting with Geo less as a problem to fix and more as just, a person? Boreal's pretty alright.

: Of course! Oh, wait a sec...

You can practically hear the electronic bwoooooom as everything starts up at once.

: Hey, Geo. Put on your Visualizer.

: OK.

Neat! Turning on the satellite component created the Wave Roads for us.

: That's probably how I'll get to the station.

: Wait!

Oh what now?

I take it back, hi best character in the game.

The SUPERIOR ship.

: Take me with you!!

: Sonia... You can't, because I need you to protect everyone here on Earth. After I leave, you're the only one who can fight back against any FM-ians.

: But!

: Don't worry. I'll protect the Earth. So I want you to protect all the people.

: Geo...

: I believe in you, and I'll be waiting.

: Good. I'm going now.

No whining, no complaints, just "Sure I'll protect everyone no problem, you got it."

I guess. But if Mega Man loses up there, there won't be a second battle, right? Wouldn't going all-in be a better call?

: I don't like being powerless to do anything, but you're the only one we can count on now. Good luck!!

: Here I go!

: This is gonna be one bumpy ride!

: You bet!

The portal to SPACE. But, first we'll look around here.

A few subcards, and also some more cards we will want to pick up eventually. PoisBurst is pretty good with Ophiuca's Mega card to set it up. TyphoonDance is good area of attack, and ArboEdge is very good for reasons we'll see in a short bit.

Of course, I'm totally broke and can't afford any of it, so...

The shops in this game had very wonky prices, too. No blame.

The wave roads do extend back here, but it's just for GMW data.

Get the money you need in greens with Untrap. Do ittttt.

Those don't even exist in this game.

To the right of the wave portal is an IceMeteor3, and a Navi.

: ...wave. I've been asleep for a long time. Welcome aboard. Here is a sleeping sliver of hope... a piece of a satellite launched 3 years ago.

The Junk-O virus has its second form in this area - you might not see it if you just run to the space warp. It took me a long time to find JunkCube2 the first time I played this game.

Hah. Exclusive spawns.

Not an S.

Speaking of. I took the chance to rearrange my folder and use some cards I usually don't touch, and JunkCube was one of them. I'm trying it out.

Now that I'm done, let's head out.

: Get ready to come out of standby! We're just a hop away from the space station!

And...

Whoa.

: Yeah. Look down there.

: Oh yeah... What about air?

: While you're in wave form, you don't need air. But who knows if there is any in the Real World. I think there might be some left, but without pulsing out, we won't know...

: I hope there will be... But then, I can't turn back now! Forward is the only way I can go!

Let's go forward at a slight angle to grab this locked data, though.

Very handy, thank you very much.

Well, Geo pulsed out and hasn't immediately keeled over from suddenly being in a zero atmosphere environment, so... I think we're good.

Lucky, honestly.

"Frequency 8413kHz"

...message: "Frequency 9861kHz"

Hmm. These messages are probably important. Maybe.

There's a little extra module to the bottom here.

But, looks like they're empty.

Even more HP.

Getting you ready to face-tank some hits in the final battle.

"Frequency 2183kHz"

Darn. I wanted to look everywhere. Well, we might as well go a bit deeper into the space station.

: But I've got to get this door open...

: I guess we have to open it from the Wave World.

: Hmm... Gotta find a wavehole.

I didn't show it, but there's a wavehole behind that locked door to the left. But it's locked...

...displaying "Red Frequency".

Like with any electronic lock, we have to get KeyMan out and talk to it.

: Open Sesame!

: Alright! Thanks, KeyMan!

: Open Sesame!

I'm reasonably sure that the numbers are always the same, and don't change. But, it's also just a four-digit code, you can look at it and write it down.

Welcome to SPACE.

It's pretty empty, all things considered. Not too many Navis or Mr. Hertzes walking around.

Space? Empty? Surely you jest.

It does, however, have comp spaces.

Very profitable comp spaces! This is one of the most important weapons in the game.

It makes it so that every drop you get is a card. No more grinding for cards if I get bored!

GASP. NEVER TAKE IT OFF (except when you money grind off in the postgame). Much like BN3, we get our "Collect" ability right at the tail end of the adventure.

: ...

: It's no good... He's broken.

: ...*BEEEEP* *BEEP BEEP*

: ...

Here are two of the viruses in the comp; the other two are the Eyez virus and the Mop virus's level 2 variant. Lucis is the level 2 variant, but Magera is new. It will hide behind whatever obstacle is in the way (and the battle will always spawn with one) and then start spamming magic effects. Sending fireballs down MegaMan's column, creating Holy panels for its allies, healing them, things like that.

We know what FlickerKick does, since we have the third level already.

This one, on the other hand, is new. It'll drop a crystal in front of you, and then start summoning fireballs down random columns.

Free cards is not an excuse to be lazy with your Busting Ranks, Yeti.

Whine all you want, if it works it works.

The space station's wave roads are pretty jagged, with little spots that don't go anywhere.

: ...TO GET HERE FROM THE OUTSIDE... THE SYSTEM I OPERATE IS JUST BARELY RUNNING IN SAFE MODE. YOU'D BETTER HURRY IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE ON THROUGH HERE. BEEP BEEP...

The Mr. Hertzes are barely operating. It breaks your heart to see them like that, right?

I celebrate their deletion.

Aside from the viruses we saw in the comp space, there are also these ones in the main wave road.

TropiCoppa and Shakyboo are upgraded viruses, but McCleaver is new. It will bounce around a few times, then jump in front of MegaMan and try to cut him. It'll try three times or until it succeeds, then it goes back to the panel it was standing on originally.

It's a small upgrade, but considering that it's 9-shots (or, 27 if the enemy is standing directly in front of MegaMan) that small boost in damage adds up.

These, on the other hand, are actually really good. MegaMan will jump straight to an enemy and slash it, then jump to the next one. If it's only one enemy (like in a boss fight) then it eats all three sword attacks.

Don't these cause iframes with each hit? Or is that a different Starforce game?

The console that was displaying the red message has a comp space inside it as well.

: T-THIS IS THE SERVICE MODULE COMP SPACE... I-I DO WHAT I CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT HUMANS' LIVES IN S-SPACE ARE AS C-COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE... ...*BEEP*

Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Hertz. Rest easy friend.

And another free D. Energy subcard.

The next (and final) rank of MonoSwords is in here as well.

160 breaking damage is incredibly good. It's also something I haven't mentioned, but getting hit with BraveSword actually shoves the target back a square. In some rare cases, you can actually hit them twice with the single attack.

BraveSword3 was my jam. Use it, you fools.

And finally, the comp space above the locked door.

I'm sure everyone was expecting it, but it's the final dungeon areas.

Give the theme a listen.

: Bad vibes? What do you mean?

: There's something bad just up ahead. Heh. But I guess if you think about it, this is our enemy's home turf. It'd be odd if they WEREN'T here. Anyway, be careful, and don't let your guard down. Let's go!

: Roger!

So, the final dungeons. It's pretty simple, all things considered.

It's a bunch of long, twisty passages separated by these dash pads.

And, in the center of the area is a constellation map. Try to remember how each of the stars connect, or write it down if you're worried about it.

In one of the corners along the path, this is tucked in there.

Conveniently enough, the full list of viruses that can spawn in this area. Nothing we haven't seen before, just stronger and faster.

The new cards that drop. WideWave 3 has 120 damage, so if you're still using them then it's a nice upgrade.

JetAttack3 breaks 200 damage if memory serves. And breaks. Hint: quite useful against the big bad final boss himself.

Anyway, once you've memorized or written down the central pattern, we can take this pad at the very beginning.

Hold that thought, though. I'm gonna take that pad to the left really quickly...

They're finally giving us all these locked mystery waves. Just, remember to bring a lot of Unlockers! Honestly though, I've collected enough just by playing through the game that I haven't needed to buy any.

100 damage blocking at this stage in the game? Man, they just kept nerfing Auras since BN3, haven't they? There is no LifeAura, too. This is it.

LifeAura does exist but is a Giga Card in Leo version, and only available in the post-game.

...the stars and complete the constellation.

Right, back to this.

The only part of this that's annoying is that you have to stop on each star and lift your stylus up off of the screen. Otherwise, it doesn't draw the line.

Anyway, this constellation, as you saw earlier, is Cygnus. You can probably guess at the correct order if you look at a map of the constellation itself, since it's very accurate.

And, as we probably should have expected, the FM-ian waiting for us matches the layout of the room.

: Sorry, but you think you can let us through?

: Ha ha ha. You think I'll let you pass just because you asked!? I don't think so!

: Get in our way and we'll show you deletion!

: Wave Battle! Ride On!!

: You'll bow before my grace!

Time for a rematch with Cygnus Wing. Tom isn't here for Cygnus to prey on, but thanks to the FM King he doesn't need him.