Part 36: Mission 13 - A Reason to Fight - Part 1
And we’re back, Ichitaka having secured a rather comfortable lead up top while Quatre and Kenji remain tied. I’ve yet to grown used to seeing Quatre’s face here.
On the money side of things, Daiya (weapons, HP, armor), the Nagahama duo and Dancouga took most of the rest (+1 to main stats).
Skill parts, Kenji’s still hogging Infights, while I remain uncertain if I want to save my Gunfights for when Heero and Kira EVENTUALLY join, or if I’ll keep handing those to Alto (who’s already at L3). Maybe I’ll give them to Shinji, since all but his knife and absolute strongest attack at ranged? Hmm…
Kouichi, Shinji and Ichitaka are deploying as event units, so we adjust accordingly:
Jeeg/Kyo
Reiji/Quatre
Dancouga/Miu
Iczer-1/Puria
Kouji/Yagyuu
Tetsuya/Canaria
Ozma/Luca
Alto/Michel
Zechs/Noin
Daiya/Yanma
Shizuru/Anna
Dick/Klan
Combattler/Deceive
Voltes/Mira
Tetsuya Kouji/Yamashita
Forward!
The mechanics are having breakfast and are hyped to get to work. They need to stay well fed too as, like Shizuka points out, the whole team’ll be in trouble if they’re starved and down for the count. Johnny himself is also sharing the meal and finds it quite good – he’d like to get the recipe for it.
And with Team D’s arrival, Shibakusa has a warning to the other mechanics: see, they’ll also be handling the Dancouga’s maintenance and the thing, like so many other mechs, has a bunch of black boxed bits. Meaning everyone’ll need to be extra-careful as they start tinkering with it.
Touko and the others are up for it, which is good as Kurara and the others can’t really tell them anything about the stuff. That’s fine to Shibakusa – it comes with the territory.
A girl walks into the dorm right then, though she’s not another of Daiya’s friends as Shizuka assumes. It’s Ru Riruri, of course, the Dragon’s Hive psychiatrist and she’s just been sent over to join the rest of Team D. Ruriruri? No, Ru Riruri!
Shibakusa scratches his head at another kid, but Ru says she’s 15 years and 3 months old, so she’s no kid! Regardless, she was planning on getting to work straight away and asks where the rest of LOTUS us. At school, Johnny points out, since so many of them ARE students.
A shame, since Ru had everything ready to start her work on Yamashita and Shinji especially – indeed, Shizuka agrees that everyone’s been somewhat concerned for those two. Well, best Ru can do is wait by her office.
Cut to Ishigami’s office, Emi’s just been informed that she’s being assigned to the Daiku Maryu as an operator. She’s rather surprised by this, but Reiji says she’s the only one who could take Yamashita’s place handing the flow of battlefield intel; mind you, Yamashita isn’t losing his job, but Reiji wants to take precautions in case we see a repeat of what happened last fight. Rachel’s sure Emi can handle it just fine, and the girl agrees.
While Kouichi ponders this shift, Goh apologizes for holding them both here – they’ll be rather late for class now. Still, Emi says this was important. Kouichi ask what she’d like to do, as they’ve already lost a chunk of today’s class, but Emi still wants to experience as much as this world’s school as she’s able to.
Kouichi’s still wrapping his head around the fact that she’s from a parallel dimension, but his mind’s brought back to reality when Emi insists that he won’t learn anything if he doesn’t go to school.
What’s she getting at by that? Well, Ishigami’s told her that boys, Kouichi included, lose touch with their humanity as they grow – so Kouichi needs to work hard to use his intellect and maintain his reasoning and self-control! Indeed, Ishigami nods that, at the kid’s age, he’s less of a human and more like a wild beast.
“Could you please stop teaching her nonsense, Mr. Ishigami? You’re confusing her,” Yui sighs, and, indeed, Emi doesn’t understand how she’s confused.
Over by the mess hall, Tetsuya’s busily lecturing on how to deal inscrutable foes. It’s advisable to make simple strikes, though that doesn’t mean doing so haphazardly – as our more melee-educated fighters know, it’s very important to manage your center of gravity.
Alto isn’t melee-educated, but he knows the importance of your center of gravity when dancing… and is very annoyed with himself that his mind always drifts towards that. Nagisa pokes him, asking what the connection between center of gravity and attacking is, but he tells her to ask Anna. The Goh Okusaer should handle more similarly to the Iczer Robo than his Valkyrie.
Well, she would’ve asked Anna but the girl is currently soundly asleep by her corner. Also tries shaking her awake, but all that gets is her wishing Goh a good day – seems like even asleep, she’s always thinking about her husband.
Michel and Tsubaki tell him to let Anna be, as she’ll likely be studying all this stuff during her regular training. Tetsuya himself sees no issue with letting her rest since she’s been training extra-hard every single day. Yeah, he could hear them whispering and is not happy! 20 laps for everyone – 5 for Naoto and Nagisa since they’re not military!
What, Kenji too?! But he didn’t do anything! There’s no “I” in team – in the battlefield, one person’s mistake can lead to all their deaths! Boss groans that Tetsuya’s spending too much time with Sakonji, but the man isn’t picky of who he learns training techniques from if they work.
Well, Daiya won’t complain and dashes out the door to do his laps. Naoto explains that he’s been training a lot, so he’s getting plenty strong – Tsubaki suggests they get to it as well, as the sooner the laps are done, the sooner they can rest.
Cut to Neo Tokyo 3’s middle school, Shinji’s not really enjoying it too much. Misato said he’d make new friends here, but all he got was a bit of chit-chat from random folks when they found out he was with LOTUS – they don’t really CARE about him as a person. Rei, now healed, isn’t speaking much either.
And, after this, Shinji’ll have the same routine as yesterday: train, get a little pat on the back… then he’ll likely have to fight, and be scared, again… But his grumbling is cut short when a boy, Kensuke, comes over and asks him to come with for a bit.
What’s going on? It’s Touji, who really, really wants to kick Shinji’s ass some. Kensuke explains that his sister got hurt during the Angel’s attack; and while Kensuke himself figures it wasn’t Shinji’s fault, Touji doesn’t really have anyone else to vent on, so…
“I… I didn’t even want to be piloting that thing,” Shinji grunts, “And I still did everything I could to protect this city…!” Touji doesn’t appreciate that and, yelling that Shinji didn’t protect jack, knocks him to the ground.
“… Why did I get beat up just because I piloted the EVA…? And aren’t there so many people who can fight even if I don’t do a good job…? Why do I even have to go through this…?”
And the Misaki Middle School kids have just made it back to JUDA. Kouichi groans that Domyoji’s been going crazy with that “Hayase Corps” thing, and approached him today looking to put some big event together. Ichitaka figures it’s all good and, from what he’s heard, he’s looking at doing a party with Risako and Furuya (who’ve also joined the Hayase Corps).
This party talk is sounding too much like Ishigami for Kouichi’s taste – hopefully Domyoji won’t ask to make a crapton of sushi. On the flip side, Miu comes in and she thinks all that sounds like fun. Yamashita’s also came back with her, and Ichitaka asks if he’ll be coming for today’s later training session? He thinks he and Alice have been getting pretty good!
Unfortunately, no, Yamashita passes on it – ask Miu to spar – and takes off then and there. He’s not as bummed out as he was yesterday, but Kouichi can see that he’s far from better. That’s no surprise to Ichitaka, of course, considering everything Reiji said.
Miu herself wonders if he’ll be alright, as she’s never seen him like this. Have they known each other for long? Yes, though they didn’t speak much back then: “I was with him at JUDA’s medical institution before we became Factors. It was only kind of recently that we actually started talking to each other.”
And what was she doing in a medical institution? She tells Kouichi that she was really hurt after an accident, and it was JUDA that treated and helped her recover to full. Her fighting with a Machina has been sort of how she’s repaying them for all that.
Emi presumes that Yamashita’s bound to have some story like that as well…
By the Dannar Base, Luna’s relating that a batch of MSs has gone haywire and it’s looking like the things got jacked by Mimetic Beasts! Sounds unbelievable, but Kiriko posits that they’ve evolved to develop this ability, just like that one before with jamming capabilities.
None of the Mimetic Beasts fought 5 years ago, in the War of Giants, had any skills like that, so the only explanation is that the survivors have been adapting themselves to better fight their natural enemy – humanity. The speed with which they’ve evolving is mindboggling to Yotsuya.
Regardless, Luna says that the batch of haywire MSs fled from an Earth Alliance base in North America and was headed towards Japan – we should be careful. Kiriko thanks her for the info, and will pass it on to JUDA. Here’s hoping the Mimetic Beasts are done evolving.
Kouichi finds Yamashita sitting by himself, and takes a seat nearby. Hey, why did he become a Factor? Well, that came out of nowhere. Still, Kouichi heard of how he was hospitalized at JUDA and stuff.
Yamashita confirms: “I was born with really crummy health… I went through a bunch of treatments, but, in the end, becoming a Factor was the only way I could survive.” So he’s also doing this to repay JUDA for helping him?
Somewhat, but there’s something else: “When I was undergoing treatment, one day I saw Reiji piloting… and that made me want to be like him,” Yamashita ponders. “I wanted to be strong enough to stand rock solid even with no one else around… to be strong like him…”
Still, he’s ever grateful to what Ishigami did to him – it’s the only reason why he gets to enjoy high school nowadays. Wait, HIGH school? Yeah, he’s a freshman. Th-Then, he’s one year older than Kouichi? He was sure the guy was at the very least the same… And he’s been acting all casual-like with him, dropping his honorifics and stuff. For shame!
Yamashita doesn’t mind that at all, of course, but Kouichi’s now reflexively appending honorifics; he tries making small talk, but his newfound formality doesn’t feel right to Yamashita. “Bah, everyone’s worrying too much about me just because I got a bit bummed out,” he grumbles. “Listen, I’m fine already, so you guys can chill. Alright?”
Well, Kouichi’s relieved to see him getting back to his usual self… which only makes the formality all the more irksome. What did Kouichi eat that made him such a mother hen?
“Oh, don’t say that. What kind of a man do you take me for?” Kouichi balks; “A stupid one, that’s what,” Yamashita fires back… “I’m just kidding. Thanks, Kouichi; I am feeling better now.”
Some time later, word’s gotten around that Yamashita’s doing better. Thank goodness, as it was really hard for Nagisa to watch a friend hurt like that – still, she thinks Reiji could stand to mull over how he gets his point across.
Either way, Ichitaka’s off to try and convince Yamashita to spar with him one more time. When Hyouma asks what’s gotten him so gung-ho, he says watching how hard Anna’s been working kind of lit a fire under him.
Kouji just hopes Anna won’t take things too far.
Speaking of, Anna and Shizuru are in the hangar… and it all sounds rather sexual (as you’d expected from Godannar; but I am nothing if not professional, damn it!).
Things are going a bit too fast for comfort for Anna. They’ve only just started, though; it’s a bit strange because it’s her first time – she’ll get used to it. It’s not that simple, though… Ah—
See that, Anna needs to pay attention. But it’s so sensitive… Don’t be scared now – time to take things up a notch! No, wait! She can’t handle this! *CRAAAAAAAAAAASH*
Yeah, it was the simulator and Anna’s just caused her Plasma Drive to explode. In real life, she’d be dead now, Noin says. Seems to Goh that she’ll need more time before she’s fully acclimatized to the Goh Okusaer’s Drive.
“It’s like trying to play the piano and cook at the same time,” Anna grumbles. If she can’t handle it, Noin figures they can always ask Mira to take her place. NO, she’ll do it! SHE’LL BE FINE! Shouldn’t she take a break, at least? No!
Shizuru objects that overextending won’t make her learn this any faster, but Anna says she’s doing so such thing. “This is all I have left… If I can’t do it, then I wouldn’t deserve to be here!” she proclaims.
Noin likes what she hears, and asks if Shizuru’s good to keep going. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I’ve been piloting since you were a child,” Shizuru boasts. Hah, apologies then – they’ll start over from the Level A program!
So off they go, and it’ll be a while: Anna’s movements lack control, and the only when the pilot’s flying well will the machine move well. Furthermore, she needs to keep her flow of energy under control. Goh watches on, quietly wishing Anna good luck and apologizing to Shizuru – this is all he can do while grounded, and he’s not happy.
But the alarm starts sounding, Yui informing that the Mimetic Beast-hijacked MSs have just been spotted on radar. Noin tells Goh to board the Daiku Maryu while everyone else gets ready to launch.
The fact that the things developed the capacity to hijack MSs bothers Shizuru, but Anna’s sure there’s no enemy we can’t beat if we work together!
Cut to NERV, Rei and the EVA-00 have officially been handed over to Misato’s care – the Daiku Maryu should be coming over soon, so they’ll leave when it gets here. While they wait, Ritsuko asks how Shinji’s doing. Misato tells her not to worry, as there are plenty of kids his age with LOTUS: she’d like to think that those fellow teenagers will manage to help him out.
And Shinji’s certainly not doing so hot after his run-in with Touji, back in the simulator and mumbling his “Target in the center, pull the switch” chant over and over. Getting beat by a classmate during his first day in the new school isn’t great, and Ritsuko wonders if the security team’s doing their job. Misato confirms they are, yes.
Mind, Shinji didn’t get hurt too badly, and she figures they shouldn’t intervene in his personal life if they can avoid it. The issue here is that the kid’s more problematic than she anticipated, and Ritsuko sees what she means: it could be than Shinji’s simply not suited towards making friends.
She compounds her point by pointing at the “Hedgehog’s Dilemma”: even if a hedgehog wants to snuggle with another for warmth, the closer they get, the more their thorns hurt one another. The same applies to humans in general, and Ritsuko ponders that Shinji may be unwittingly keeping others away in order to avoid that pain. Still, dealing with all that is part of growing up.
But this conversation will have to wait, as the alarm sounds: Maya reports an unknown being spotted, with a Blue Analysis Pattern. That means the next Angel has come, so Misato orders everyone ready to launch.
Rei quietly confirms, even she’s saying more than Shinji is. Misato says LOTUS’ll be here soon and asks him to lend a hand with protecting Neo Tokyo 3; the best answer she gets is an “…Understood.” Not looking good.
Mission 13 – A Reason to Fight
: (Why am I piloting this thing again? I’m even being hated because of it…)
: Intel sent by HQ tells that those MSs hijacked by the Mimetic Beasts are apparently also headed this way. All in all, we might have an ambush in our hands, so everyone make sure you don’t get tunnel vision with the Angel.
: Psh, talk about a heavy workout to have after lunch.
: Well, I figure you’ll be fine if you’re making jokes about it. 
: Emi, this will be your first real engagement. How are you feeling?
: I’m fine, ma’am, and happy to be here.*Beep!*
: The 5th Angel has entered the combat zone!
: Here it is…!
: And we don’t even know how useful the data from the previous Angel will be against this one. What an annoying enemy…
: Hey, Shinji. You’re gonna have to finish this one off too, so show us what you got!: Target in the center, pull the switch… Target in the center, pull the switch… I’ll try my best.
: And here’s our first official fight as part of LOTUS. Get your head in gear, Aoi!
: All four of us also need to bring our A-game for this!
: Yeah, this isn’t your everyday enemy!
: Alright, I hear you! Now let’s go wild!
Take out the 5th Angel, don’t lose Shinji, Rei, Kouichi, Ichitaka OR any ship. Quite the list of guys to watch over, but they are all very survivable… provided you bring in your ships to bait Shamshel. If you don’t, he’ll likely tear Shinji a new one!
And, same deal with Sachiel, we can’t really take the thing out until we get a morale boost, so we’ll instead work towards the sure-to-arrive Mimetic Beasts – send everyone due west. It’s quite the long trek, so you’re advised to at least have your land-bound units hitch a ride aboard a ship.
Shamshel, the 5th Angel
Mech Features:
A.T. Field (Strong)
30% HP and EN Regen
Same deal as Sachiel, though it exchanges slightly less range for more everything else. Bait it to follow your group with the ships and, once your morale is good enough, swarm and destroy.
Evangelion Unit #00 (Rei Ayanami)
Pilot Skills:
Sync Rate
Shoot Down
Shield Defense
Guard
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Iron Wall
Attune
Mech Features:
Gun
Repair Module
A.T. Field
Umbilical Cable
Squad Bonus: Armor +100, HP +500, Money Earned +10%, Land Terrain Rating = A
This might well be Rei’s best outing in SRW, and simply because the devs understood what players will have her be 99% of the time: a defensive support. She’s tough as no one’s business and makes an absolutely perfect partner for pretty much any Super.
Repair Module gives her a 10% regen to the squad, the armor and HP bonus further bolster her group (if the leader is focus-fired, she can support defend to all but certainly no-sell any attack that isn’t a boss’) and the cash bonus means you can use that extra bulkiness to send someone forward, tank-kill everything and rake in.
Her only weakness is that the #00 lacks in attack range (best is 1-3, with her rifle), but I’m still inclined to say that she’s the best defensive support in the game.
As everyone moves onward, I have Shinji and Rei unplug from the nearby building and switch to this power station over here.
Enemy Phase!
And Shamshel’s already taken the bait.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNo7b9KpKvI
Here’s its only attack – it HURTS.
Player Phase!
From the cliff-face on the northern edge of the map…
: Woow! This is 100% awesome! It was so worth stepping out the shelter to come here! : Look, there’re the Machinas and the Macross! And a bunch of other mechs I never even seen before! Aah, someone pinch me!
: Least you’re clear ‘bout what you like…: Listen, we’ve no idea when there’d be another attack, so we couldn’t let this chance slip by!: Psh, guess not… And the new guy’s piloting that purple thing with the horn?: Yeah, that’s the Evangelion Unit #01!: Then I reckon we’ll see if he’s actually busting his ass to protect this city.
: The Earth Alliance?! They must be here to help us!
: Easy there, Naoto. What’s the read on them, Shizuru?
: We’re detecting Mimetic Beasts… Looks like those are the jacked MSs. 
: They got here pretty fast, didn’t they? I didn’t know Mimetic Beasts could be in a rush. 
: Seeing how they can now hijack units, we should presume that they’ve developed other unknown skills. Exercise extreme caution, people!: But remember that the priority target is still the Angel.
: OKAY! Let’s get to work!
Since Shinji and Rei are already there, they’ll be leading the charge.
By the by, none of these mooks will ever pop either of the EVAs Fields (when they manage to connect).
Kenji’s the only one who gets in attack range, and he finishes Shinji’s target.
Enemy Phase!
Rei’s a VERY tempting target for the enemy AI, which is annoying with her short range. She weakens a handful, but most mooks are too far away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IsdsnYyRv0
By the by, these mooks are called Fat Boys.
Hyouma and Shizuna take a kill.
Player Phase!
There are a handful of dangerous mooks here in the form of sniping Zamza-Zahs, but they’re far behind enemy lines. Considering how bulky they also are, making a beeline for them with low morale is risky.
So we’ll just grin and bear it.
Rei’s weakened mooks make for easy kills at least – our morale’ll rise pretty quickly.
Ozma, as always, is leading the charge, so Zechs hops into the command aura to follow up.
Following that, Alto and Iczer-1 each take a Windam.
Finish this one off, why don’t you.
: … Take a look, Anna. I’ll show that no matter how hard you try, you cannot surpass me as a pilot!
Bam.
Kenji, Rei and Shinji each pick and destroy a Taurus.
Enemy Phase!
Seems I brought Daiya a bit too forward, and the Zamzas didn’t like that – they all converge on him.
It leaves him hurting a bit, but nothing he can’t handle (he at least hits back twice as hard).
And the weakened mooks fall in droves: one for Quatre, Shizuna, Hyouma, and Noin. Shinji and Aoi, meanwhile, are cleaving through the MSs left and right (each takes three kills), as they can oneshot them even in regular hits.
Hey, thanks, Lulu still needs some levels.
We’ll just be one level short of her learning Bless by the time this mission ends.
Player Phase!
: Ah! That’s—!
: Yes, it is! The Straybird!: Yuu! My bro!
: That’s the bot Ichitaka told us about?
: …*Ichitaka moves by the Straybird.*
: Bro, did you find the… No, wait, that’ll have to wait – we’ve a bunch of enemies over there! Lend us a hand, alright?: Haruno, I’m sure we can defeat the Angel and the Mimetic Beasts with your help—: … Is this all the resolve you have?: Huh?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IyC-0STJE
Yuu: Haruno, are you ready?
Haruno: I am, Yuu. Let’s begin…
Yuu: See now how weak you are…!
Haruno: Shifting into the Imaginary Road.
Yuu: Here I come, Ichitaka…!
Haruno: So that really is all it amounts to with Alice’s support?
Ichitaka: Wha—
Alice: Haruno, what are you doing…?!
: Urk! B-Bro?!
: What the, a sibling rivalry now? 
: Ichitaka… your fighting days are over.: Wh-What are you doing, Yuu…?
: You two can’t make proper use of the Rushbird. You’re an amateur as a pilot… and Alice’s AI is nothing but lacking. : Haruno, what do you mean?: We’re telling you to surrender and hand over the Rushbird. Surely you can presume that much.: We can’t do that, no way! I need the Rushbird!: Then I guess we’re done talking.: If you won’t accept our terms… then we’ll have to take it by force.: Wh-What the hell are you thinking?! There’s an Angel right there! If you don’t know what that is, we can tell you!: I told you: we’re done talking.: … All units, the Straybird’s a threat to our current operation. You are to treat it as you would any other enemy – and that’s an order.
: I guess there’s no other way around it. Humanity’s hanging on the knife’s edge here, so anyone who gets in the way has gotta go.: You… You’re telling me to attack?! Just give me one more chance to talk to him!: They themselves have declared that they won’t parlay with us.: Still, I know there’s something going on with him! You can’t tell me to just take him out!: Nagumo, can you even afford to worry about others right now? The Straybird has got its sights fixated on you.: If you’ve got time to mull over nonsense, then pull yourself together and focus on the task at hand!: “Nonsense”?!: And if you can’t do that… then leave. LOTUS has no place for those who can’t fight.: R-Reiji…!
: Heey! You can’t talk to him like that!: This is not the time, Hayase!: Oh, no, I’m saying it! Ichitaka’s always took Yuu as a brother-figure and he’s worried about him! : Are you really so thickheaded that you don’t get what it feels like to care and worry for your family?! That’s not something you can just tag as “nonsense”!
: …: Kouichi…: Or maybe someone like you can’t feel the pain of others too?!: … Eliminating the Angel is our top priority. All troops are to form up around the #01. : Heey! I was giving you crap, you know!: Yes, I could see that.: Psh… Fine, then I’ll handle this! Ichitaka, you absolutely can’t take out your brother… or, rather, that crazy Prof.’s grandkid!: Huh?: Just fight him and look for a way to wrap this up without dropping the guy! Let’s show him what our justice’s all about!: Sorry… And thanks, Kouichi!: But how will we go about this…? The Straybird’s performance is beyond my ability to process.
: Then we’ll think of something together!
: Yeah, didn’t the lesson go that melee hits are good when you’re fighting someone and don’t know what tricks he’s got?
: Pretty sure he was talking about enemies with barriers and special armor, numbskull!: No… that’s not a bad idea actually. It’s a lot easier to kinda hold back a punch than a shot!
: Still, it’s gonna be real tough pinning that guy down while dealing with the Angel.: That doesn’t sound like you, Mister. Those who don’t give up always win, right? You’re not going to be saving your dad from the Darius with that wimpy attitude.: Dick… Yeah, you’re right. The second you give up, then it’s all over!
: Get to it, people! Don’t make the same mistake I did!: ……: But be very careful, everyone! The Straybird’s speed is extraordinary!: Here I come, bro…!So now we got two bosses to deal with, but I reckon this is enough for today.
Rest of the mission is nearly done, so keep an eye out for it tomorrow.
See you all then!