Part 24: Mission 10 (Rescue Route) - Engage, Godannar - Part 2

Moving along, with stuff softened up, we can go to town. Goh takes one, Anna guns for another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le9_vzqsuvs
Her barrier holds even better than Mira’s with her stats. Yamashita and Shizuna claim this group’s survivor.



And we need to clear the area around Ken and Lou, lest the things do too much damage for comfort.



: I’ve really been reborn this time!






Kouichi can shrug off damage just fine, but these beasties draining his EN’ll make for an annoyance if it piles on.
Jeeg, Ichitaka and Shizuru get rid of the last mooks by that area.



Iczer-1 and Yagyuu are holding the line down here. One kill for the former.



Enemy Phase!



Here come the big ones.












He takes two of the little guys when they attack.
Cut back to Ichitaka, the enemy mob is still failing to do any lasting damage – one for him, one for Miu.



Player Phase!



Lou’s already around 30% HP, so let’s deal with her quickly.



: Get off the Cosmo Diver, Lou! There’s absolutely no reason for you to be fighting!
: You have a family, Anna, so I don’ expect you to understand how I feel…!
: And don’t you have a family too? What about me and Goh?!
: … No, I don’t! Leave me alone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf6lRdJpEOU



: Why are you with the Menage Zero, Lou?! Come back to the Dannar Base!
: You never taught me anything – rather, you always treated me like a kid! I won’t go back to living with people like that!
: Quit being so selfish, Lou! You are a kid and that means listening to the grown-ups!











: Lou! Get off the Cosmo Diver and lets all just go back to the Dannar Base!
: No, I won’t…! I won’t go back until I’ve avenged my dad…!
: Lou!
: Can you move, Lou? Pull back.
: OK!



: LOU! Damn it, why aren’t you listening to us?!

With that done, we’ll simply spend the turn clearing out the remaining Beasts (focus fire the bigger ones) and move to take Ken out.

Fast forward!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HzdVxtLU1c
Iczer-1 herself gained a new strongest attack now that Nagisa’s with her!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUJbfygFjsI
And here’s the ACTUAL full power Executor blast plus DK – I’m sure the city’ll be fine.



Ken had actually taken quite a beating over the fight (he did try attacking my guys once or twice), so he’s rather close to his threshold by the time I get to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_8Co4iGjK8
Listen, it’s written the way it’s written. Best I could find was a JP forum suggesting it’s like Strike+Slash.



I actually needed to spend one more turn trying to get him into a better position. Goh can’t pull the necessary numbers without combining and Kenji’s doing pretty well, so I decided to give this kill for Kouichi.














Ichitaka: “Lemme handle this, Kouichi!”



And we get a Predict skill part and some nice cash for our troubles.



Kouichi also learns Assail (突撃 – can use pre-movement attacks after moving) and Prevail L3.


: Hmph. I won’t fall to… urk!
: (Wh-What… my body’s… Is this…?!)
: (No… I cannot die yet, not before I’ve carried out my mission. I…!)



: And that’s a wrap. The Menage Zero ran off but the town didn’t take a whole lot of damage, so I reckon that’s a pretty good way to end things.
: Hold on now. Remember last time, when there was one Mimetic Beast hiding around?
: Hm. It’s too soon to let our guard down.

*Beep, beep!*

: I knew! Got one on radar – it’s…



: Right under the Godannar!
: Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!
: What?!
: Watch out, Goh!



: Thanks, Kouichi. I owe you one!
: Sorry, Goh, I didn’t get there fast enough…!
: …
: You’ll need to use the Twin Drive to take that one out, Goh, Anna. Combine!
: But Professor…
: Sorry, Mr. Moritsugu, but can you just play along?
: …As you wish.
: Troops, support the Godannar’s combination! Once it’s complete, immediately engage and destroy the Mimetic Beast!
: Roger that! Come on, Goh!
: No! I won’t combine with someone as irresponsible as you!
: You’re still stuck on that, you blockhead?! Weren’t you so very willing to combine with Mira?!
: Don’t bring her into this! I can count on her, unlike you!
: Aargh, that’s IT! It was because of that attitude of yours that things went south for us!
: What?! So it’s my fault now?!
: Oi… There they go again…
: Who has a lovers’ spat while a whole battle’s going on…?
: I hate how rude you are! And I hate your chin! Why’s it so big for no damn reason?!
: And I can’t stand how bratty you are! Or how self-centered you are! Or how long your baths take!
: Oh, speaking of baths, I hate how you like to just get out and waltz around the house naked!
: While I can’t stand how preachy you are! You’re a senior in high school, for crying out loud!
: I hate, hate how you only change your socks after a few days!
: It annoys me to no end that you’ve so much more money saved up than me!
: And it REALLY grinds my gears just how nice you are to all women you meet!
: Um… I don’t think we should be listening in on this…
: But we should still watch them. Do you not feel it, Nagisa? The beautiful emotions irradiating from them…?
: Huh…?
: And could you not start eating dinner before I even sit at the table?!
: Well, I don’t care what you think!
: Right back at you!
: Oof... they just keep going and going.
: I don’t give a damn about whatever you say, because I already knew you inside out!
: … Alright! Let’s combine, Anna!
: OK, Goh!

*Both bots pull back.*

: Huuh?! What just happened? Weren’t you fighting?!
: Drive change, GO!
: Drive change, GO!



: AAAH!
: Crap, the Plasma Drive’s gone over level 6!









: WAAAAH!
: She really can’t control it?
: (Goh, Anna… Prove to us all the strength of the ties that bind you!)
: Get in there, Goh! Show how a big-time hero does things!
: B-But the chances of a successful combination like that are…
: Um… It’s 50%!



: No, it’s not! It’s 200% with the two of us!
: (I-I won’t let this beat me… I’ll master the Goh Okusaer… and surpass her! I… I wanna outshine Mira!)





: Keep at it, Anna! I swear I can handle whatever you dish out! If you’ve got the spirit of a pilot, then fly with all your heart!




: Goh!
: Anna!





: Dannar… ON!
: Revolveeeer… OPEN!







: Godannar! TWIN DRIVE!!
: …Hah…
: They pulled it off!
: Daaamn, their power's just filling this whole area!
: Must be nice…
: I feel it now… I’m back!
: We’ll take him out with a single punch, Anna!
: Aye, aye!
: HAAAAAH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxJTPHh87w



: We did it, Anna! … Hey, Anna?!
: Passed out, huh…?
: Do I zap her?
: No, just let her rest. I’ll keep watch ‘til she comes to.
: … Welcome back, Anna. This is where you belong.
: (Welcome back, Anna… But now your real fight begins…)
: Any Mimetic Beast signals, Yamashita?
: All clear. I think we’re good.
: Good, ‘cause I’m hungry as hell after that. Let’s get back to JUDA.
: We should, yeah. And I guess we’ll have more sushi waiting now that Goh’s wife came back.
: Hahah… Guess I’ll have to wait ‘til later to have Anna’s homemade cooking again. All the better for her to rest, I guess.
: Hold on please.
: What is it, Professor?
: I’ve something important to speak of. Mr. Moritsugu, can you all stop by the Dannar Base?
: Bad news, I presume?
: It’s about some information that just came in. I don’t meant to rain on your parade, but this needs to be spoken of.
: Understood. We’ll head to the Dannar Base right away.


Had we attacked Ken with Goh, they had this convo:

: I’ll be beating you this time, Menage Zero!
: Fool. Fight as many times as you’d like, it won’t change the outcome. You cannot defeat me!
: I’m not the same man I was when I lost back then! Come on!



Anna wakes up at the Dannar Base infirmary and is welcomed by a very relieved Nagisa. Iczer-1 greets her as well and, when she asks, Kouichi explains where they are. Anna, realizing she fainted, wonders if that might’ve angered Goh. Speaking of, Nagisa’s still annoyed that she didn’t say anything about being married and wants to Anna to come clean now that stuff’s calmed down.
Anna, apologizing again, says she WANTED to tell her but also wanted to avoid the fuss that’d obviously come if her schoolmates found out about her marriage and being a pilot. Nagisa figures having an argument that the entire town can hear would make for an even bigger fuss, but hey. Anna asks that she forget that.
Hearing that the big hero from the War of Giants walks around home naked and doesn’t change his socks kind of crushed Kouichi’s idealized CHAMPION OF JUSTICE image, though. “Oh, no, Goh isn’t anywhere near that kind of perfect superman,” Anna laughs. “He can’t do anything without me.” Well, Goh DID say that he was just a pilot before.

Kouichi introduces himself properly to her and apologizes for stealing her spotlight, saving Goh from what surprise attack. On the contrary, Anna thanks him a lot for doing so and Nagisa has a laugh at the flustered kid. Still, Iczer-1 inwardly notes that he’s acting like a fine Champion of Justice now – he’s long-time wish has been granted.
Shinobu runs in, glad to see Anna’s OK. He takes a look around and notices that Goh isn’t here. Just what is he doing? His wife just came back. Iczer-1 explains that he’s been called to the command room by Kiriko.



So, what she wanted to speak to us about relates to Max and Moukaku – Ichitaka and Miu recognize those names as other heroes of the War of Giants. Max, in particular, was presumed KIA in said conflict five years ago, but was recently-ish found in a near-death state INSIDE a Mimetic Beast and brought back to life.
As it turns out, Mira explains, she went through the same thing and had been absorbed into a Mimetic Beast five years ago. That’s the first Ichitaka’s ever heard of that, though Kyo figures making an announcement of these miraculous returns would’ve raised all sorts of inopportune questions. Not to mention that Mira had lost her memories until not too long ago and, even now, her body’s still in bad shape.
In Max’s case, however, as soon as he came back to life, he stole the Core Gunner and went to kidnap Mira (though she doesn’t remember much of the event). And the guy was acting crazy when it all went down, and while Goh figures the guy resented him some, the man he saw then was completely out of control.

Why would he resent Goh, Kenji wonders? Because Max was in love with Mira since forever, but, five years ago, she got together with Goh. Yet he failed to protect her during the war, and Max never forgave him for it.
In the end, Shizuru says they captured Max, his body displaying myriad abnormalities, and tried to figure out what had happened. Kiriko has some bad news, though: both Max and Moukaku have just died. The latter having shown the same physical abnormalities and loss of mental control as Max – it’s pretty clear that their death was caused by the worsening of whatever condition they had.



Mind you, Kagemaru remembers that Shadow, an operative of Silicon Base, also displayed the same symptoms but barely managed to survive. Yet another heroine of the War of Giants, Yamashita sees.
Kenji was thinking that that disease affected those who’d been absorbed by Mimetic Beasts, like Max, but Moukaku and Shadow hadn’t been, right? Indeed, Kiriko will explain and turns on a video: it depicts the so called “Insania Virus”, a RNA virus that infects humans and the Mimetic Beasts are its vectors. Mira’s getting worried.



Next video is of Max, taken just moments before his death. When Shizuna asks, Kiriko confirms it: he got like this because of the Insania Virus. The disease itself is called Rabid Syndrome and it is caused by the thing. Good news is that the Insania Virus is innocuous to nearly everyone, except in some specific cases.
Reiji knows what’s coming: she wants to tell us about said specific cases. Namely, the Virus becomes active when the carrier displays unusually powerful fighting instincts – thus, the Rabid Syndrome occurs. From what they’ve seen, the odds of an infected person are extremely high especially amongst male pilots. Women CAN display the Syndrome but it is very rare – Shadow was a special case in that she took male hormones.
Seems to Yagyuu that the Insania Virus is a biological time bomb the Mimetic Beasts developed to kill their natural predators. And here comes the kicker: as Kiriko said, the virus is transmitted via the beasts and, as such, anyone who’s fought the things could potentially be infected… and we’ve fought them plenty.

Yamashita freaks out: does that mean we could all be infected?! Indeed. Alice protests that she’s regularly checked everyone’s health and no one was displaying any symptoms, but Kiriko explains that the virus hides amid the host’s neurons. Plus, cases of it going active are exceedingly rare, so common exams won’t pick it up.
Meaning Kiriko wants everyone in LOTUS to undergo specific tests to check who’s infected and the chance of the Insania Virus going active. We can’t risk losing anyone else to the thing. Miu’s really scared now, but Kagemaru tells that even if we’re infected, we shouldn’t be at a big risk of it going active. For real? He wouldn’t lie about something this serious – now go get tested.



A nondescript time later, the results are in: while there are some of us who are already infected, we, indeed, aren’t at a risk of it activating… except for Goh. He’s actually very likely to trigger the Rabid Syndrome. See, Goh pilots the same kind of robot as the two people who’ve fallen to the disease and, worse, he’s by far the person who’s come into contact with the most Mimetic Beasts.
Thus, Kiriko has no choice: “Goh, you are to step down as the Godannar’s pilot. That’s a direct order.” Goh flips out, but Kagemaru reminds him of what happened to Max – if he keeps fighting, that’s how he’ll end up as. Are they ordering him to retire as a pilot?! More like they want him to take a vacation – a potentially long one – until we’ve figured out a treatment for the thing.
Goh still isn’t happy, so Reiji has some intel to relay to him: it seems that when Moukaku lost control, he went and started attacking his own allies. Unable to contain him, the Dragliner and Dancouga had to kill him. In other words, Moukaku died at the hands of his own friends.

Kiriko confirms that there was no other way, and Kagemaru raises the point: were Goh to go on a rampage with the Godannar, who would be forced to stop him? Goh easily sees his point. That doesn’t mean he’ll have to part was with LOTUS, mind, as Kiriko has reassigned him as a pilot instructor and tactical advisor for the team. Still important duties, only not in the battlefield.
As for the Godannar, Kiriko’s having Shizuru take over as its pilot – it wouldn’t do to leave the mech stored away. This may only be temporary, but until we’ve a better idea of how to treat Goh, we’ll have to treat this as a proper reassignment.
Shizuru’ll now have to undergo training to learn how to combine with the Okusaers and she promises to work hard such as to not hamper the team. With that done, Kiriko apologizes to Reiji for demanding we come over and relays her regards to Ishigami.
As we leave, Kiriko is worried about the LOTUS folks that stayed in space – specially the Combattler guys. She asks Momoka and Konami to get in touch with any and all countries – including the PLANTs – and help them set up their Insania Virus tests.



Kouichi’s very bummed out over what happened to Goh, and while Yamashita understands how he feels, staying like that won’t help anyone. Still, he can’t stand the sight of the guy getting hung out to dry as if he were some rookie like him. Isn’t there anything we can do?
Izuna says Goh’s been working by himself, wholly focused on his new jobs, so he doesn’t think anyone could get to him, really. The guy’s likely doing that to drown out the bad, and it’s hard for Ichitaka to see him like that.
That’s worsened, even, by the fact that he and Anna had finally managed to reconcile. We now need to be there for him and Tsubaki and Miu tell everyone not to look so down, lest Goh feel responsible for it.

All he has left at the moment is his work, so maybe we can lift his spirits some by working hard to improve ourselves with him. Yamashita makes special note for Kouichi not to screw things up on pilot training and disappoint Goh!
Well, he and Ichitaka figures a tag team of Reiji and Goh training them oughta make for some damn good progress on us – we’ll have both skill and strength covered. We’ll have to strive to keep that positive attitude until a cure’s found, Miu says, and Shizuna is certain it won’t take long for that with JUDA on the case.



Anna’s off in the pilot sim and the seat’s just perfect for her, compared to what the Goh Okusaer had. Well, Shibakusa says she’s still young – give a few years and she might get a butt to rival Shizuru’s. Just give him a holler if the seat starts getting too tight!
Touko and Nanae yank at his ears for talking like that to a married woman, but he swears that he didn’t mean anything like that – kids these days read too much into things. Nagisa shows up as Anna starts training (having some difficulty).

She’s working pretty hard and all signs point at Mira being the cause. From what Nagisa’s heard, the amnesiac Mira’s mind had regressed to an infant-like state and Anna took care of her during that time; she didn’t stop even after finding out that she was Goh’s ex, even.
Problem is, when Mira made a full recover during Anna’s absence, she became her rival in both work and love. The two women don’t seem ready to have an honest talk with one another, and Goh isn’t exactly in a condition to arrange that sort of thing.



Now we’re left with one woman who came back from the dead to find out he ex married someone else, and the other woman who’s developed a complex over the previous one. Complicated stuff.
Speaking off, Anna’s getting trounced by the sim. Shibakusa says he understands that she’s working hard to make up for us losing Goh, but she’s not beating an S-Rank simulation – especially considering how hard it is to handle the Goh Okusaer.

Anna’s not having it, though, saying she’ll only hold us back if she can’t deal with this – she’s got to recover from her absence and get used to her bot in preparation to combine with Shizuru. Again!
Shibakusa sighs and does as told, Touko and Nanae worried over how hard she’s pushing herself. “I’ve never seen Goh look so sad before… I wanna be able to help him. I wanna support him! And, for that, have to get a lot stronger!” she thinks to herself. “Goh… I’ll work hard, and I’ll fight enough for both of us!”