Part 45: Episode XLIV: Pearl Harbor

Episode XLIV: Pearl Harbor



Back at it again at the sidequest train. We’ve got a couple sidequests to clear out the Resistance Camp’s NPC woes and both involve aiding Anemone. Having a mainline quest and a sidequest request back-to-back seems rude to me. But I suppose we’ll just have to deal with it. Let’s head on back to the camp and see what she needs...


Music: Peaceful Sleep (Vocal)



I need a favor from you both.
What is it?
We’re planning a recon expedition of the forest region. But before we can start, we need someone to head in there and set up a satellite camp. The enemies are tough, and I’d lose a lot of good people if we tried to clear them out. But you two seem like you can handle yourselves, so...
Got it. Head to the woods and clear out any enemies.
That’s the long and short of it, yes. Thank you.



Simple new quest: Go beat up some more of the Forest Kingdom. Or... I suppose they’re the Forest Kingdom survivors at this point. 2B and 9S must have done a number on their ranks their first trip through the area.



Our target isn’t actually the Forest Zone proper (i.e. where the game dropped the zone title card.) It’s actually the buffer region between the mall and the forest. Welp. May as well start heading in that direction. It’s a short job and there’s a couple conversations to trigger along the way.


Music: Rays of Light (Medium)



It’s like they see us as a couple of gofers or something.
No complaining about your work. Exchanging information with the Resistance is a vital part of our mission. Besides, being a gofer is safer than being locked in combat all the time. Not dying beats dying any day.
Yeah, that’s true.



Onward to the mall. A Goliath Biped decided to spawn outside the main entrance past the bridge. I’m pretty sure it smacked 9S straight off that cliff. Surprised he came back from that like it was no big deal. The real reason we’re on foot is there’s a unique conversation if the androids pass through the mall again. Of which there’s no reason to really do outside of sidequests.



I bet it was fun to shop back when you had so many choices.
We don’t need such things.
Don’t be sure about that. Once we eradicate the machine lifeforms, us soldiers won’t have anything left to do. We’ll enter a new age of peace. And when that happens, we should go shopping together! I could buy you... I dunno. A T-shirt, maybe? Something that looks good on you.
A T-shirt?
What? Not interested?
Hmm... When that day comes... I’m all for it.
That’s a promise, right?!
Yep.



It’s a real missed opportunity they didn’t have Emil sell t-shirt alternate outfits for 2B and 9S out of his truck.


Music: Forest Kingdom (Dynamic)





This is a very short quest. All we’ve got to do here is clown a group of the same Forest Kingdom knights we’d already mowed through in droves during our massacre investigation into the Forest Zone. This sidequest technically unlocked as soon as Emil opens the way to the Forest Zone. So all the enemies here are static Level 20 boys.



It doesn’t go well for them. Well, at least they can join their Forest King in the great beyond. Or... getting reset to another robot body downloaded off the alien internet. I’m not really sure how that works.



After the first batch of knights is defeated, a Leg-Enhanced Goliath Biped joins the melee. So there’s nothing much to add about this battle. But...



If you want some indication as to how powerful the Bomb Pod Program is on a sample study. A Level 2 charged Bomb fully bombarding the machine took this Goliath Biped from 100% to just hovering around 10% total HP. And remember we’re still missing a Pod and a Level 3 Charge for our Pod Programs. It’s pretty potent.



The Resistance should be able to set up camp now.
Right! Let’s head back and give ‘em the good news.



Back we go. Upon completing this quest the Resistance will indeed pitch some tents and set up an outpost in this area. They’ll even provide a sidequest in the future.

......

Frick... Now we’re just doing sidequest to unlock additional sidequests... This is a mess. Oh well... Back to Anemone to at least close out this one.


Music: Peaceful Sleep (Vocal)



I’ll let you know if we need anything further.



A couple of semi-uncommon materials, a stat boost we’ll never use and “Down-Attack Up” chip. The phrasing of that is kinda unclean. Down-Attacks aren’t 2B’s downward slash. They’re the stunned enemy and hitting the interact button special attacks. You know. The ones I said become a rarity since almost all enemies from about a quarter of the way through the game onward are really resistant to stunning... We won’t be using that chip...



In any case, that ends the Camp Development sidequest. Simple stuff. However, before we can leave to attend to other additional content adventures, we’re immediately thrust into a follow-up conversation with Anemone.



Well, not to brag, but we ARE state-of-the-art units. Not like the A2 or those other old mode—
A2? Attacker Number 2?
You know her?
No, not...
......
I’m sorry. Can I ask one more favor of you? Can you give me any information you have on that old A2 YoRHa unit? Anything at all.
That’s funny—we’ve been trying to find more information ourselves. Why are you asking?
I just... need to be sure about something.



And so we immediately jump into a new quest from Anemone. So at the end of the day we’re going to have exactly one less total quest available to complete compared to the number available when we started this update. Great...

Initially we’re given no direction as to where to search for more info on A2. We’ve got to leave the camp, whether it be on foot or through a teleporter, in order to trigger some notion of where to begin.



We could check out the energy reactions generated during battles. The fusion reactors of androids and machine lifeforms shut down when they’re destroyed. And we can detect the energy released during the process. We’re the only units doing any combat missions in this area, right? So if we detect any stray energy reactions, it probably means A2 is involved.
......
...Yeah, okay. We’ve got some readings around the abandoned factory. I’ll put it on the map.



Great... back to the factory. Anemone seems cool and all, but do we really need to go digging up A2’s past that badly?



Fine... FINE! Let’s go! Maybe we’ll only need to investigate something at the entrance and not run the entire length of area. Again.


Music: Wretched Machinery (Quiet)





That’s A2’s handiwork, I bet. But I’m not picking up any sign of A2 herself.
*notices big glowing item next to machine corpse* Hmm... What in the world...?

The androids take a closer look.



Analysis: It is believed to be a data log related to YoRHa unit A2.
What’s the data?
The data log has been irreparably damaged. Further analysis is impossible.
Why do a bunch of machines have A2’s data?
Hey, 2B? I’m picking up other reactions. We should check them out.



OK. So we’ve collected Data Chip A. Unfortunately...



...there is a Data Chip B, C, D and E still somewhere in the factory. And given the factory is entirely just a linear series of corridors, catwalks, and stairways that means... yep. We’re just going to have to run through most of this area again.



All the enemies in the region are still at their Prologue mission Levels 1-3 so 2B can annihilate most everything in a single hit or two while they literally cannot do more than about 1% damage to 2B’s health. We could just run past most of them without losing anything. But, man they did make machine lifeforms explode in a satisfying fashion...



But I’ll skip all the filler battles and get to the point. Data Chip B is located next to a dead machine on the southern edge of the factory smelter pits.



Data Chip C is found in the room where machine lifeforms are being loaded into cargo shipping containers. Hey, YoRHa... have you ever considered just... I dunno. Blowing this place up? Just throwing that out there. Blowing up a few Engels units didn’t really seem to accomplish too much.



Chip D is on a raised platform along a nondescript catwalk leading towards the outdoors back end of the factory.



Finally, Data Chip E is on a catwalk on the tower at the far end of the factory. Alright, so they only made us revisit 85% of the area. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t just stick the final chip back where the first Marx unit was fought. I suppose that dead YoRHa deserter claimed that as its sidequest territory.



Pod, analyze and collate the information from those chips.
Analysis complete: Data set contains information about YoRHa unit A2. Collating with data from other chips. Stand by... Collation complete. The contained data is a debriefing report for the Pearl Harbor descent undertaken during the 14th Machine War.
No kidding.
That operation was carried out by the YoRHa generation that came before us, right? Anyway, mission complete, I suppose. Let’s get back to the Resistance camp.



Back we go the way we came. At least we opened the shortcuts earlier so we can save a few minutes of commute looping through the twisting scaffolding and walkways of the factory.



Unfortunately, that time saved is going to be negated by the actual challenge of this sidequest: A bunch of Level 30 Stubby machines of little consequence and a new type of enemy. Meet the Crab Battle Multi-Legged Medium Model machine lifeform. That’s a mouthful. You all really need to workshop that title.





These are probably the rarest standard type machine lifeform configuration. If we see over a dozen of these amongst the several thousand machines we wreck during the course of this game, it’d be a lot. Crab Boys attack by just kind of lunging with their pincers or doing a great wide forward sweep. Honestly, it’s kind of the same move set as Father Servo’s dual-axe medium biped configuration. Just with extra legs. One unique move to them is spinning around like a top and slowly pursing 2B or 9S. This is evaded by just walking at a brisk pace in the opposite direction.



There’s a reason there’s not a lot of these machines. Those extra legs are a huge waste of resources. Moving right along...





Once we make it to the Factory entrance room, where we found Data Chip A initially, we’re locked in with some Level 30 flying gunners of little note and the gunner configuration of the multi-legged boys.





The gunner crab battle stance mostly involves picking either the orb or laser ammo type and... then spinning. That’s err... that’s kinda it. It uses its extra legs to spin. That’s the best it could come up with for double the feet. It can also fire the orbs/lasers from a stationary position. But where’s the fun in that? A machine with two legs or even just stubby nubs can do that. Shameful.





As soon as we trash the crab machines, we’re free to exit the factory and return back to the Resistance Camp to complete this quest. Let’s give our findings to Anemone and see what she has to say about A2 and her apparent past.

Music: ENDS



That’s... It’s Number 2. It really is her.
You know her?
YoRHa unit Number 2. She’s an older model, but the same type as you. We... worked together.
The Pearl Harbor drop?
Yes. The operation itself was a success, but the YoRHa fighters were completely wiped out. Their commander was Number 2... A2. Have you met her? Do you know where she is?
Actually, we have orders from the Bunker to... destroy her.
What!?
She’s a deserter. She also wiped out an entire team that was sent to bring her back.
A2...? No... I’m sorry, I...
......
Let’s go, 9S.



So that business with the Pearl Harbor operation that Anemone and A2 fought in is all in reference to the YoRHa Stage Play. A2 and several other YoRHa members appeared in that all dressed like they were in a J-Pop idol group. As did Anemone and several Resistance members who were splitting the difference between 80s anime punk girls and military cosplay. This being a Yoko Taro story, everyone but A2 on the YoRHa side and Anemone on the Resistance side all died horribly by the end.



Anemone’s role in the play ended much earlier than A2’s hence why the Resistance leader is surprised to hear A2 is still around. We’ll be hearing more about that backstory in-depth much later in the game when A2 gains an active role in the game’s plot and isn’t a two minute cameo where she barely takes an interest in our protagonists. But that’s for later. As we walk away from Anemone, there’s one final debriefing conversation.



......
Some things just aren’t easy to talk about. Especially for a soldier who’s been fighting that long.
I guess so.
9S, you...
Huh?
...You might understand yourself, someday.
Right...



And that concludes today’s session of sidequests. Tune in next time when we go on a field trip for some fresh sea air and go broke in the process as NieR: Automata continues.






Video: Episode 44 Highlight Reel





Multi-Legged Medium Machine Lifeform Concept Art – You think cows still exist somewhere after all these centuries of war?