Part 22: Mission 9 (Rescue Route) - A Will to Fight - Part 2
Our guys FINALLY arrive, including the folks from the other bases. As Kenji proclaims the certainty of our victory with their arrival, Goh’s raring to give the baddies a taste of the fully-repaired Godannar (courtesy of Shibakusa). Time to clean house.
Losing Kenji or Iczer-1’s a game over, so keep an eye on them (especially Iczer-1, what with that bug).
Off we go, with Kenji, Shizuru and Miu each taking a weakened Dilos. Reiji jumps right into the fray to spread his command aura, taking a Boya Kaengu.
Get to it, Yagyuu.
Just short of a kill but that’s fine – Kenji and Kyo take both.
Pop a kill for Shizuna, Iczer-1 wrecks a Haniwa with an assist from Ichitaka and Quatre gets this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvdaHc-gptA
Here’s the DK for his Heat Shotels as well.
Cha-ching! Here we go… but he doesn’t have enough SP to use it!
And you’ve got the idea, so let’s save some time. Long story short: the Boya Kaengus made the mistake of attacking stuff and got promptly wrecked by pretty much everyone, the Dilos were already on their last legs and all died to counterhits.
Player Phase!
By the time Mimashi got here, only a handful of his troops are still standing. Let’s get him off our hair before dealing with them.
: You came all the way from Kyushu just to get your ass beat by me? Oh, you shouldn’t have!
: It is you who came here only to meet your end! I’ll be taking your Bronze Bell as an offering to Her Majesty!: Well, we can’t have both of those flying, so you’re gonna have to run back to mommy with a whole buncha nothing!
Hits from Ichitaka and Iczer-1 bring him down to size.
And considering I can’t have Quatre use Bless, I’ll just cut my losses and have Tetsuya kill him with Luck cast.
: Curse you all… How am I to face Her Majesty with just another failure?!: Hah, that’s what you get. Now grit your teeth ‘cause we’re about to rain a lotta pain on top of ya!: Hrrrgh… retreat!
: Alright, that’s the fatass taken care of, so let’s go and wrap this all up!
: Hold on! There’s… something else?
: Enemy reinforcements?!: What, they sent a tiger Haniwa now?
: They can send whatever, it won’t change jack! If it’s a baddy, it’s going down!
: Is that… Baruba? Stop – he’s not an enemy!
: Are you sure about that, Kyo?: I am. But if there’s no one controlling it, then…: Ah?
: Grrroowrr!
Kenji: “Whoa! Just like that?!”
: What the hell! The thing just attacked me, ya moron!: Easy, Kenji. He’s just testing your strength.
(Does Kyo know that tiger? He’s so familiar with it…): What, so the thing wants to know where folks stand in the food chain? Sound good – I’m gonna have to teach him who’s king ‘round here!: As for everyone else, do your best to avoid engaging him!
: Copy that, but if it looks like Kenji’s life is in danger, then I’ll defer to my own judgment. Is that fine?: Yes, thank you.: You heard him, troops. Do not engage.
: Aye, aye!
You don’t actually NEED to deal with Baruba using only Kenji, but we’ll get there in a sec. Iczer-2 had already lost a handful of HP from Iczer-1, so adding in Reiji, Goh and Yagyuu gets her right in the red. We don’t have enough attacks to kill this round, though.
Enemy Phase!
As Iczer-2 gets no-sold by Ichitaka blocking her attack on Iczer Robo, Reiji shoots down a weakened Haniwa. Last Boya Kaengu goes to Jeeg, while Quatre shivs the other two Haniwas.
Player Phase!
And out you go.
Iczer-1: “I don’t want to hurt a sister of mine!”
: Your defeat is sealed, Iczer-2! Prepare yourself!
: You underestimate the Iczer-Σ if you think you’ll best us so easily!
: Their power’s unbelievable…!
: They still got that much juice left?!: Your end comes, Iczer Robo!
: AAAH!: Hahah… How’s that, Iczer Robo? You cannot best the Iczer-Σ even with the help of all these worthless Earthling weapons!: Urk…: Yours won’t be a pleasant death. Sepia, go and sate your hatred!
: Look on, Cobalt. Victory will be ours!
: …I won’t be beaten by you. I can’t!: Nagisa..: You killed my mom and my dad… I will NOT let myself lose to you monsters!!
: (What… what is all this strength…?): Hmph, you waste of oxygen… Now we end this!: Stand firm, Sepia – concentrate!: Roger, Iczer-2!: We’re going, Nagisa!: OK! I’ll keep you safe, Iczer-1!: Haaah!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCdcr_q-L0
Iczer-2: “Die alongside your partner, dear sister!”
Sepia: “You killed Cobalt, and now I’ll kill you in turn!”
Iczer-2: “Not even ashes will remain! Disappear!”
Iczer-1: “Nagisa’s granted me her strength…! I will not fall to this!”
Nagisa: “I can’t lose… I don’t want to lose!”
Iczer-1: “Nagisa!”
Iczer-1: “Iczer Robo...!”
Nagisa: “Lend us all of your power!”
: Sepia!: Cobalt… forgive me…! Hrk…!
: Tch! I have to stand down…!
: Iczer-Σ... Truly a foe to be respected.: Hm…
: That was the Iczer Robo’s true power…?
: It heard Nagisa’s heartfelt wish to help and fight with Iczer-1 and answered in kind.
While we wait for Baruba to close in a wee bit more, we clean up the remaining Haniwas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZxEbfAw7t4
And here’s the DK for Kouichi’s hanzo steels. Looks pretty slick.
Fast forward a bit and Baruba’s right upon us. And if you ignore Kyo’s warning and try to attack with anyone besides Kenji:
: Grrrrr…*Casts Iron Wall, Focus and Vigor!*
: I think we made it mad…: No, on the contrary. It’s just answering our tactics in kind.
: To test the strength of every one of us?: …Him casting Iron Wall could be a problem but Baruba only has 8.8k HP, so you can still blow past all that with your available troops.
The plot kicks in under 30%, though, and you’ll want to take him out all the way for a B-Save part, mind.
: Grrrr…: Whoa… This thing’s looking like it wants to chow Jeeg whole…! : Heh, now things’re getting interesting! If you wanna wrestle, I’m game!
: Grrr…: Yow, he just took all that on the chin and didn’t even care.: Groowr!*Baruba charges after Kenji!*
: Whoa!: Grrrooowr!: This crazy cat…!: Fight him hand-to-hand, Kenji! Show him how strong you are!: Yeah, fine! C’mere, kitty! Dynamite Kiiiick!!
: Grrr…: O-Oi… he’s looking like he’s just toying with me…!: Grroowwr!
: He took off?!: And, damn, is he fast. One second and, poof, gone.: The hell’s up with that thing…!: Is that everything? Anything else waiting to jump out the woodwork?
: Radar and sensors are all looking clear, so I think we’re good.
: Yeesh… For a second there, I thought that would’ve been it for us.
: Thank you so much for your help, Kouichi!: A-Aw, stop. You’re embarrassing me now…: You’ve my deepest gratitude as well, Nagisa…: No, I should be the one thanking you, Iczer-1.
: What about you, Alice? How’s the head?
: I’d detected several spikes in temperature during the operation, but no problems overall!: Glad we managed to get here on time. We were already en route to JUDA when news of the enemy attack came in – I was on pins and needles the whole way.: Hell, I was even expecting to find the Dancouga around here when we came in…: Maybe it needed extensive repairs just like our units did?: Or maybe they’re off on some other mission – we didn’t see them show up during the Junius Seven drop, remember?: I guess even Champions of Justice aren’t omnipotent. Too bad.: A very fine job today, ladies and gentlemen. Why don’t you return to JUDA and we’ll give our new members a proper “welcome aboard” party?: Kouichi I understand, but aren’t you jumping the gun with Nagisa, Mr. Ishigami?: No, it’s fine. I’ve already made up my mind to fight with Iczer-1.: Ah, Nagisa…: Hey, Kouichi, I dunno how friendly you two are, but how about taking it down a peg?: Whuh…?! What’re you suggesting with that, huh?! Didn’t I just bail you two out, even?!: And, FYI, we literally ran into each other on the street – you’re reading way too much into it…
: What exactly happened, Nagisa?: Um… I just had a talk with him about stuff, you know? : Oh! And, Kouichi, keep all that embarrassing stuff between us, okay? Can you do that for me? It’ll be our dirty little secret!: … Hm?: W-Why’d you have to say it like that?! And why’re you glaring at me, Miu?!: Kouichi… I can’t believe you…: N-Now hold on, Emi! This is a huge misunderstanding!: Hahahah!: (At last I see you laugh, Nagisa… Come what may, I promise to defend both your smile and your planet.) : (Even if you are my sister Iczer-2, I will not falter.)
Ishigami makes good on his promise for a party and with copious amounts of his traditional sushi, too. Quatre hoped he’d have chosen to switch things up, but nope – he’d already had to eat the stuff yesterday, too, while Ishigami was welcoming Kouichi to JUDA, and has yet to recover.
Still, Nagisa was blown away by the tremendous amount the guy brought in and Yamashita explains that Ishigami’s got this habit of making sushi for ANYTHING even remotely worth celebrating. As she flinches over the thought of having to eat so much of the stuff, even Goh admits he couldn’t handle it either.
And that’s not even mentioning all the calories that kind of food has – Nagisa’s already worried at all the kilos she’d take in with the president serving this daily. Goh’s a bit surprised she cares about that sort of stuff, but of course she does. Is something wrong with that? No, Goh just throws his hands up in the air and leaves the subject be: “I just can’t wrap my head around the minds of teenage girls.”
Shizuru pokes him that that’s not really an “age” issue – maybe he ought to try and understand how women feel? As Goh harrumphs, Tetsuya says that that’s why his wife took off. N-No, that’s neither here nor there.
Nagisa didn’t expect the Godannar’s pilot to be a married man and wonders who could be the wife… but, since she left, that’s obviously a touchy subject that she feels is best not pried into. Iczer-1’s looking from afar and is so very relieved to see her partner getting along with everyone. Alice quickly brings her off her reverie to also partake in some sushi. Alright…
Kouichi himself is being welcomed aboard by Tsubaki, who introduces herself and tells him to ask if there’s anything he doesn’t know. They’ll all be working as a team and fighting for Earth as a whole!
The other shoe still hasn’t dropped on the fact that he really is fighting for Earth now, instead of a nondescript ideal of justice. Same for Nagisa – she knows she has much to do but it all feels so surreal. Still, Goh says that, as they fight, they’ll come to understand why they were given this strength and, in the meantime, they ought to just set their own goals and work towards them.
Kouichi’s so very touched to get advice from a big-time hero like Goh, but the guy tells him not to worry – he’s just a pilot like any other. As for Izuna, he takes the time to thank Kouichi in person for his help and even bows his head, making him all bashful.
Shizuna yells out that Izuna doesn’t need to thank him that much – Reiji and Nagisa could’ve just as easily saved them even if the kid didn’t step up to the plate. Only reason Kouichi got to do it is because he beat the others to the punch. He just got lucky, see!
Still, Izuna says it doesn’t change the fact that he DID help them out and didn’t she herself ask him to? Th-That was just a ruse to throw off the enemies! Who in their right mind would come to this dumdum for help?!
Izuna sighs that she’s being unreasonable and that really ticks her off. He’s done it now and Shizuna’s gonna give him what-for! Kouichi gets in-between them and says that, one, she shouldn’t be hitting him, siblings or not, and, two, a pretty girl like Shizuna should stop channeling that hot-headed boy inside her head and try letting her other side through.
He compounds his point by clipping her hair a wee bit up with his tie clip – nothing wrong with a teenage girl styling her hair every once in a while, right? Shizuna’s stunned for all of five seconds before yelling at him to piss right off. And, FYI, fixing her hair doesn’t change jack – he’s still a huge dumdum!
As she stomps off, Izuna following, Shizuru and Mira see that despite the kid’s admiration for Goh, he’s got a more deft touch with girls than the guy does. There’s some good potential there. Kouichi eagerly asks if they mean he could grow up to be like Goh and they confirm – though he might not want to do so on a few subjects. That goes way over the kid’s head.
And now that things have calmed down, Kenji and Tsubai want Kyo to explain what he knows about that tiger thing. Well, to start, Baruba is an Animal God – an extremely ancient man-made creature.
Kenji’s blown away by all the info he’s got but Kyo simply says he’s simply spent more time studying than others. But, regardless, the big question: is the beastie an enemy or a friendly? That all depends on whether we can actually control it or not. Sounds like a pain in the ass to Kenji but he’ll be ready to tangle with it one way or another.
The door opens up then, Emi coming in and calling Kouichi over to the infirmary – it’s standard practice for all Factors to undergo and medical check after each battle to make sure they’re all in good health. He can’t well say no, so off they go.
: Um… Kouichi?: Wh-what?: I… I’m sorry for what I said yesterday.: Ah? What’d you mean?: That it was your fault that your friend died…: O-Oh, right… But, really, I should actually be thanking you for that.: Huh?: It was only because you said what you said that I realized how wrong what I did was. That’s what helped me really think of how a Factor should be and turn my life around.: I wonder if Yajima would forgive me now…: Kouichi…: I see now how arrogant I was, tagging myself as “justice incarnate”… Talk about ridiculous, huh?: So, starting today, I’ll be fighting and thinking about what justice really means.: (He really is growing… bit by bit…): Then I also have to try my hardest…!: Ah?: O-Oh, never mind me – I’m just thinking out loud. Come on; you need to get yourself checked out and ready for the next battle.: Y-Yeah, alright. Thanks for showing me around.: Come to think of it, you’ve also been through a lot, yeah? Don’t forget to take care of yourself too. You’re looking a bit pale, I think.: Ah… J-Just worry about your own business, thank you very much! You despicable little man!
Cut to the Cthulhu Fortress, Big Gold isn’t happy over Sepia’s death; Sir Violet begs her forgiveness and orders Iczer-2 to explain herself. Theoretically, the Iczer-Σ, with her and Sepia, should’ve been wholly superior to the Iczer Robo... but the thing went and somehow displayed far more strength than expected.
Iczer-2 also ponders that maybe’s Sepia’s unstable mind could’ve had a negative effect on the bot’s performance – she’ll try and draw out the full might of the Iczer-Σ by herself and, if successful, Iczer-1 and the girl are as good as dead.
With that, Violet dismisses Iczer-2 and orders her to heal her wounds in preparation for her next deployment. As she goes, Iczer-2 silently promises Iczer-1 to make her pay for this humiliation.
Big Gold then turns back to Sir Violet and raises the subject of the Jama Kingdom – she wants them contacted.
Back at Shangri-La, Masaki reports Kouichi’s entry into LOTUS. That’s gonna make it harder for them to capture the Linebarrel. Crazy-looking fat guy Riku grumbles that Katou should’ve let him handle things from the get-go instead of folks like Sawatari or that rookie.
Katou says it’s precisely because he puts so much stock in Riku’s strength that he’s assigning him a different job – after all, he should know that capturing that Machina isn't their SOLE objective. Riku ought to use his imagination to figure that out.
The more average-looking guy, Soubi, seems to get it and has a fun thought: LOTUS as a whole fights with so much faith in their ideals and in their righteousness. And as we're made to fight on and on and on to the point of exhaustion, they’ll show us the powerlessness of justice and drive us into despair. That is what their mission is.
Riku sniffs and asks if Soubi’s implying his imagination’s lacking; no, he’s just suggesting he use it to also think up some fun stuff. Regardless, Katou’ll let both Riku and Soubi have their shot soon enough and Masaki sees no issues with that.
Riku’s all giddy, eager to display the power of his imagination to Kouichi; whereas Soubi wants to make him realize how, ultimately, justice and ideals are all illusions. Wufei’s looking on with a (deeper than usual) scowl: “This man… why does he loathe justice and ideals this much?”