Part 40: Mission 15 (Alliance Route) - Our Path - Part 1

Here we are at the Alliance Route, Kenji’s absence letting Hyouma take the spot of our 3rd top ace. Iczer-1’s far closer to Ichitaka, though.



Cash upgrades were given to Alto, Tetsuya and the Nagahama duo to boost their weapons overall.
As for Skill Parts, Kouji took Guard and Infight.



The Godannar officially has no one to pilot, and while we DO have the Cosmo Diver available, none of the other guys can actually be switched into it. Thus, we’re going like this:
Ichitaka/Anna
Voltes/Mira
Dancouga/Tetsuya Kouji
Iczer-1/Klan
Kouji/Jun
Tetsuya/Canaria
Combattler/Boss
Alto/Michel
Ozma/Luca

Initially thought to have Tetsuya Kouji go with Ichitaka, but only the Maser Eye’s an actual ranged attack.

Now, let’s see what we can do about those uppity Blue Cosmos.



Shinn’s just getting news that the Earth Alliance’s launched an attack at the Diokia base, destroying the place and other cities in west Eurasia. What about Stella? Is she safe?
We’ve no way of knowing, unfortunately, as it’s hard to get intel from Diokia with how chaotic things are right now. That’s not what Shinn wanted to hear.



And, as we knew, Stella was brought back to the Phantom Pain and Neo’s presenting her with her new mech. “You’ll need to fight again, or else some bad men will come and kill us,” Neo says and easily triggers the girl. “Kill us… Kill me? No… No, I don’t want to die!”
Then there’s only one thing to do: destroy all bad men. Stella mulls her orders and Neo tells her to get ready to sortie. As she goes, Neo notices that Trowa isn’t looking too happy with all this. “Her mental state is too unstable to pilot anything – much less a Destroy, and so soon after she’s made it back here,” he notes. “Though I understand that I, being the rookie, may be out of line saying that.”
Neo won’t chide him, though, as Trowa is still an ace and, as such, has a right to speak his mind… mind you, whether Neo will agree with him or not is a different matter. As Trowa glares, Neo turns to Sting and assigns him the other Destroy – he’s to watch her back just in case.

That’s fine with him, though he asks where she’s been all this time. Neo tells of her and the Gaia’s recover by the Minerva, and how they took her to the base at Diokia – they managed to take her back during the disturbance of the Alliance’s attack.
That’s a relief to Sting, who figures ZAFT would’ve used her as a guinea pig or something if she stayed there: “With Auel gone, I’m glad at least she made it back in one piece.” Off he goes with Trowa to prep for launch as well.
Neo, meanwhile, gets to do some soul searching: “Stella… Was bringing you back here really for the best?”



Back to the Quarter, our folks have analyzed the Alliance’s current vector and figured out where they’ll be attacking next: Berlin. A fuming Tetsuya Kouji sees that they’re not done tearing through the countryside – and that’s especially bad, adds Ichitaka, since there’re too many other threats for humans to waste time fighting one another.
Tetsuya agrees and that’s all for more reason why we need to put a speedy end to this war; as such, we’ll be linking up with the ZAFT forces and stopping the Alliance’s offensive.



Speaking of, Dearka’s just delivered Durandal's orders to the Minerva: stop the Alliance’s attack at Berlin. And, yes, Dearka confirms that they’ve already petitioned LOTUS for help with this.
One thing that strikes Talia as odd, however, is why didn’t Durandal transmit these orders himself and, instead, used Dearka as a mailman? He doesn’t really know either, so Talia thanks and dismisses him.
Talia smells a bit of fish around all this, but that’ll have to wait until later – full speed ahead to Berlin!



*Alarm!*

: Yeesh… I just got here and I have to deploy already?
: Dearka, is that you?!
: Yo, Athrun. I heard you got dropped by some Unknown, but at least you’re looking alright. And the Freedom also got beat up pretty badly, right? What happened there?
: Kira’s group came to our rescue after we’d been cornered by Alliance and Orb troops. Cagalli was also with the Archangel. After that, some unknown mobile weapons showed up and went after her and Shinn…
: And you trashed the Savior protecting them, didn’t you? Psh, I see you and the Freedom guy still don’t know how to look before you leap.
: …?!
: But what’s important is that you’re alright. And, hey, is Heine around?
: Hm? Need something?
: The chairman’s sent you a new MS prototype. I got its manual here for you.
: You—…! Isn’t this the GOUF Ignited? I heard these just started being rolled out!
: Well, someone looks happy.
: Who wouldn’t be? This here’s no ZAKU, boy, no ZAKU! C’mon, we gotta get to the hangar!
: Alright, alright, I’m going.

*Heine and Athrun leave.*

: Um, Dearka… Do you know the Freedom’s pilot?
: Hmm, a little bit, yeah. Why, you got something on your mind?
: Can you tell me what kind of guy he is?
: I guess. His name’s Kira Yamato, and he’s an overall good guy, if a bit awkward… and kind of stupid.
: A good guy?
: You’d see it if you met him. He’s the sort that absolutely doesn’t enjoy fighting.
: Rather, he values human life above anything else… That’s the sort of guy he is.
: He values human life, hm…



At the Archangel…

: …
: What’re you doing here, Kira?
: Murrue…
: Are you alright? You look like you’ve got so much on your mind.
: I… I’m just trying to figure out how it all came to this. Things are happening out of our sight, and we’re chasing these shadows completely blind…
: Again and again we’ve fought an enemy we can’t identify, whose goals we don’t even know…
: Kira…
: What if what we’re doing is wrong? What if this is all nothing but nonsense?
: Trying to keep those that are dear to us safe is neither wrong nor nonsense. It never is, I say.
: Huh…?
: I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything that’s going on with the world… But since people we love call it their home, why not love this world as well? That’s what I think.
: Murrue…
: I’m sure that, someday, humanity will come together in peace.
: So don’t give up. We’ll just keep on doing whatever we can in this.
: Right!

*Beep!*

: Captain, Terminal just sent us an emergency transmission!
: What happened?!
: The Alliance army’s just reached Berlin! They’re opening fire on the entire city!
: What?! Can you get me a video feed?!
: Right away! Here it comes!

*Beep!*

: It’s…!
: Berlin… It’s ablaze!



Mission 15 (Alliance Route) – Our Path








: Really digging the new Destroys! We’ll have Berlin down to a smoldering crater in no time!
: How are you doing, Stella?
: I’m alright. I have to kill… kill all the bad men!





: It’s… the Archangel!
: A bit sooner than expected. Stay frosty, Stella – they’re pretty strong!
: That doesn’t matter. I’ll…!





: That’s quite the monster they have. Putting a stop to it by our lonesome won’t be easy.
: But we’ll have to manage! They can’t be allowed to take any more innocent lives!



: ?! The Minerva?!
: It’s the Archangel! What are they doing here?
: Voices cried out for help, and here they are. They’re living up to their fame as heroes, I suppose.
: And we cannot let them leave us in the dust. Deploy all troops!



: How’s the GOUF doing, Heine?
: Just swimmingly. Taking on those huge guys will still be a major headache, of course, but the bot’s fine...
: But we’ve no other choice. If we don’t, that’ll only mean more people suffering.
: Tsk, and now the Minerva’s here too… Still, we can’t back down today. Sting, Stella, Trowa, are you ready?!
: Always! We’ll go and throw in a few shots for Auel too!
: Captain, what do we do about the Archangel?
: I’ll try and get in touch with them in a bit. Just ignore them for the moment and carry out your mission.
: Roger that! We’ll start with that big guy up front!


Mission Objective: Bring Stella’s Destroy Gundam below 10% HP
Mission Failure: Any battleship, Shinn or Stella shot down

Our guys’ll be getting here soon, so don’t go too crazy. Just inch the Minerva crew forward to start weakening stuff – you can’t control the Archangel, but they’re not in any immediate danger.
Of note is that you should try and get Talia just in range to shoot at Stella at the start of the next turn.


And Heine’s got his slick GOUF Ignited to replace his old ZAKU. It’s pretty much a direct upgrade in everything and gives him flight, so it’ll work nicely.
On the flip side, Athrun is back in his crummy ZAKU!

With that, everyone moves onward and we wait.



Enemy Phase!



Of course. Now, make sure you DON’T counterhit Stella here; doing any damage triggers the plot, and you’ll have an easier time doing that on our turn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okB1N0GaDkU
All good.



The northern flanks starts heading after the Archangel team.












No need to worry about Cagalli or Waltfeld getting hit, FYI.
All of the Alliance mooks get their leader weakened.



Down south, the same happens but Luna and Rey do manage to bring one guy down.



Player Phase!



Let’s get this going.

: AAAH!!
: ?! That voice… Stella?!
: Who are you…?!
: Why… Why are you here?! You were supposed to be at getting help at Diokia’s hospital!
: I don’t want to do… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!





: Stella! Damn it, why’re they doing this to her…?!

*Shinn goes after Stella’s Destroy.*

: ?! What’s he doing?!
: Stella! It’s me, Shinn!
: Get back, Shinn! You’re being targeted!
: Stella, don’t you recognize me?! I… I…!
: NOOOO!!



: Hrk! Can I make it?!












Kira: “Stop, ZAFT MS! That's is crazy!”


: WAAAAH!



: Stella?!
: Rrgh, Kira Yamato… What the hell do you think you’re doing!?








Shinn: “I promised Stella that I’d keep her safe!”

: Uurgh…!
: You don’t even got a clue about what’s going on! It’s… Stella’s inside that thing!
: Stop it, Shinn! The Freedom isn’t our enemy!
: Shut your mouth! He just tried to kill Stella!
: I can’t go down here – not now. If that’s the way you want it, then…!

*Kira and Shinn fly to the northeast.*

: All units, cover the Freedom!

*So do Waltfeld, Murrue and Cagalli. The entire Archangel team turns neutral.*

: ?! Captain Ramius…!



: Are they…?!
: The Freedom and Impulse are fighting each other…?!
: Cpt. Gladys, what’s going on here?!
: Both sides misunderstood what the other was doing. I’ll talk to the Archangel and explain everything once the battle’s over.
: But right now we need to focus on our mission: work together and push the enemy out of Berlin!
: Oh, brother… So now we need to get to work with the heroes of the Great War looking daggers at us?
: We’ve IDed the new ship: it’s the Macross Quarter!
: LOTUS? Those’re folk I’d rather not tangle with…
: There’s no reason for us to throw the first stone. Prioritize safeguarding Berlin!
: So you say, but what if they attack us?
: Then we’ll have no choice but to answer in kind…
: Copy that…
: The Archangel, the Minerva and now LOTUS… This battle’s getting worse by the minute…
: Psh, whatever! We’ve our Destroys, so everything’s still good! Follow me, rook!
: …

*Trowa and Sting move way closer to our group.*

: LOTUS, schmotus, whatever…! I’ll be blowing all of you to kingdom come!
: I… I’ll kill them all!
: Everyone listen to me! You can’t shoot down that big unit!
: Huh?! What’d you mean by that?!
: Please! It’s Stella… she’s in that thing!
: Is that someone you know?
: Troops, move to immobilize that large unit! Keep damage to the bare minimum and we’ll see if we can’t save the pilot’s life!
: We still owe the Minerva for helping us when Luca got captured, I guess.
: Then let’s get to it!


Ignore the Archangel and Freedom as, first, they’ll auto-cast Iron Wall and Focus, and, secondly, losing them’s a game over.
Now, we don’t want them jacking our money, so I’ll be sending some folks up top to clear out the mooks around there, while the rest will converge with the Minerva team and head for Stella.


Destroy Gundam (Sting Oakley/Stella Loussier)
Pilot Skills – Sting:
Extended L3 – Accuracy, evasion and crit % up.
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Shield Defense
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1
Pilot Skills – Stella:
Extended L3
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Shield Defense
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1

Both pilots bring pretty much the same to the table, though Sting’s a better pilot in pretty much all useful stats. Normally they wouldn’t be too hardy, but that goes out the window with the beefy Destroy Gundam.
The faux-Psyco comes with loooong range attacks and a wide MAPW all which pack a hefty punch – the Extended bonuses could give them better %s that you’d expect, but the Destroy’s weapons don’t have very good accuracy modifiers.
The Positron Reflector will nullify any damage below 2500, but that number isn’t really threatening when we’re hot off dealing with Angels – the lack of Prevail will hurt them plenty here, too.
All in all, just build morale, keep an eye on their MAPW and you’ll be fine. THAT SAID, do note that Stella has this:

Secret Alert!
You’ll want to have Shinn be the one to bring Stella under 10% HP.




First order of business, however, is thanking Trowa for rushing us down and promptly removing him from battle.



: (Ruining peace to bring peace about… It pains me to take part in this, even if it’s to close in on my target.)












There goes about half his HP.



And there’s the rest.

: I’ve taken too much damage… retreating.




On the Minerva side, Athrun and Rey’s team each take a couple of kills, with Heine moving in to finish this lone Windam.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Jg-XgXJVU
Shinn’s still over by Kira, so we’ll need to wait a bit for him to move back into Stella’s range.



Enemy Phase!



Damn it, Sting.

: We’ve to do whatever’s within our power to at least mitigate the damage to Berlin! Don’t give them an inch!
: But, captain, that unit has firepower on par with a battleship! It’s too dangerous to take to the front!
: I’d like minimize attacks to the Minerva, too, of course; but we need to stand firm, dangerous though it might be!
: Look at that big ol’ ship, sitting right there… I’ll start with it, then!


Ow.



Up top, the enemies all take a look at Shinn and move in like a swarm. It should be noted that this game DOES have the “dodge decay” mechanic in place, so Shinn’s numbers quickly dip to the point where he barely survives the turn with 400 HP. Still, he got 3 kills out of that.
Down below, Luna takes a single kill but everything else survives.



Player Phase!



Couple of heals for Shinn and Talia, and we’re ready to move in.








That’s one for Tetsuya, Kouji and Kenichi.



Ichitaka’s coming in to harass the southern flank.



Carrying on with the clean-up.












Right on time. Back south, Iczer-1, Alto and Ozma take a kill each.



And that once large posse has now been reduced to two lone Daggers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xajer7xHajo
Make that one Dagger.

So now we simply wait a turn and set our sights on Stella and, then, Sting. I half expected one of them to MAPW us but, surprisingly, neither did.




: Our first concern here is stopping the Alliance’s offensive. We’ll keep Shinn’s wishes in mind, but we can’t afford to play it safe against this MS!
: Roger!







: Hyouma, the pilot seems to be under some sort of control!
: How can those Alliance bastards sink so low…?! We gotta save her, whatever it takes!









: You stupid doll!!
: Iczer-1, that girl’s in pain!
: I know, Nagisa. We’ll set her free from that which binds her!









: Slipping through an enemy volley’s exactly what I did with Luca and Ranka… Problem is, the person that needs rescuing is inside the cockpit this time!
: Stay away… STAY AWAY FROM ME!!







: You won’t kill me…! I don’t… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!
: The enemy pilot’s extremely agitated! We need to do something, and soon, or she…!
: It all comes down that the mech of hers, and if we don’t trash it quick, Berlin’ll also be in big trouble! We’re bringing our A-game to this!









: So they rescued that girl, Stella, while attacking Diokia… or was the attack to rescue her in the first place?
: Whatever the case, she’s still a powerful Extended. I can’t let my guard down…!

--

: I need to draw her attention over as much as I can or Shinn will be in even more danger!
: That red one… it’s trying to kill me…!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Ee2w8WelA

: That’s the Dancouga… the evil robot that prolongs wars…!
: Looks like she’s been given out-of-date intel in order to stoke her fighting spirit.
: Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened, but it still grinds my gears.
: Aoi, we’ve already tagged where the cockpit is. Now we just need…
: To fight and yank her outta there!













: Stella! It’s me, Shinn! You have to remember me, please!
: NO! I don’t want to die… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!
: I can’t get through to her…! Then I have to use the Impulse and bring her out of there myself!











: Aah—… AAAAAH!!
: STELLA!!

*Shinn moves towards her.*

: Shinn, what are you doing?!
: I… I have to save her!
: Get back! That thing’s gonna explode and you’ll be caught in it!
: Stella, it’s dangerous in there! Come with me, quick!
: No… NOO!!



: Aargh…!
: Shinn!!
: The Impulse isn’t strong enough to match that thing…!
: I… I don’t want to die! Someone help me!!





: STELLAA!!
: …!





*Kira and Shinn move after Stella!*

: You! What’re you up to?!
: You’re trying to save that pilot, aren’t you?
: Kira…?!
: We aren’t fighting to take the lives of others. Rather, we are all just… fighting to protect those that are dear to us.
: …!



: Kira Yamato… you’re…
: Now’s your chance! Hurry!
: Got it! Stella, come over here!

*Both units pull away from the Destroy.*



: Stella! Stay with me!
: Hm… ugh…
: Thank god… are you alright?!
: Shinn…?
: Stella…! You recognize me?! Yes, it’s Shinn Asuka!
: Yes… I do, Shinn…
: I… I wanted to see you again…
: Stella…!
: We’ll handle the rest, Shinn. Head into the Minerva with her!
: Alright, thanks!



: Whew, there we go… Least that’s one problem fixed.
: Yeah.
: But it’s still too soon to relax – we’ve the other enemies to deal with!
: Roger that!

And, in case you’re curious, no, saving Stella isn’t what that secret entails – she survives regardless in this game, because Kira and the others aren’t sanctimonious idiots this time. The secret is to eventually get her as an actual unit. If that changes things to you folks, feel free to edit your votes.
Next in line is Sting, and no one here cares enough to save that guy.