Part 44: Mission 15 (JUDA Route) - Traitorous Blue - Part 2
: We’ve repelled the first wave…
: Haah… haah..*The Linebarrel goes back to normal.*
: … Kch… Hrgh… huh? What’s going on…?
: …: Emi…? Why is she…? Emi, you alright?: …: Emi… did she wear herself out to help me? Everything’s kind of a blur…
: Kouichi?! You’re not injured?!: I’m well enough, but Emi’s…: Hey, what happened? I vividly remember fighting Reiji and… Wait, where is he?!: We’ll explain later. You need to get her to the Daiku Maryu right now!: Y-Yeah, you’re right.*Kouichi does so.*
: We’re ready to take her in.: Help her out, alright, Franklin?: I’ll do all I can. We’ll know more after I’ve looked into why she fainted in the first place…
: Naoto, bring the Daiku Maryu towards JUDA.
: Aye, aye, ma’am!
Whoops, the ship’s moved too far away from Rei and that automatically cuts the Umbilical Cable!
: Is everyone safe?
: …Reiji…
: We’re fine, but Mr. Ishigami’s…
: …
: Ms. Ogawa! How is he…?: *sniffles* H-He… the president’s…
: …!
: Yo… You don’t mean—!: … He’s gone…: N-No…! No way, this is just another of his jokes, right?! Give it a few minutes and he’ll run in with that huge grin on his face, won’t he?!: Pops… that’s not true right…? If this is a joke, it’s your worst one yet… This isn’t funny at all…
: Boss… It was just yesterday that I saw you laughing about… How can you be gone just like that…? Kch… aaahh…: Damn… it…! Reiji, you…!
: Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have no time to grieve. The second wave’s incoming…!: Let them come…! Bring in the Katous, the SDF, Kiriyama or whoever, I’ll destroy all of them!!
: You and your men didn’t even last until I got here? You disappoint me, Makoto Domyoji.: Still, I suppose it was thanks to you that I’ve this prime opportunity for my grand entrance. I’ll have to thank you later.: A transformable Machina...?: Greetings, fellows of LOTUS. I believe this is the first time many of us are seeing one another, no? I am Eiji Kiriyama, leader of New Japan...: And this bad boy here is my Machina… Pretender!: Eiji Kiriyama… I’ve been hearing that name since the last Great War, though never actually met the man…: Oh? Could that be…?: …: Ah, Milliardo Peacecraft. I thought your voice sounded familiar.: You know, I was originally planning to make this huge announcement to the world, as you once did, but things took a slightly different turn.: Why’re you doing this, Kiriyama…?!: Now where are your manners? You’re talking to the leader of Japan, so would you mind addressing me as “Excellency”?: Then, Your Excellency, could you tell us what your goal is?: I knew you’d be mindful of social graces, Captain Lulu. My goal… is to free Japan from the incompetent worms that govern it, and make it a magnificent country.: Under my rule, Japan will be transformed into a nation of JUSTICE!: “Justice”?! What would a guy like you know about justice?!: …Ms. Ogawa, gather all of JUDA and Shibakusa’s staff in the president’s office.: Huh…?: Quickly!: O-OK!: Captain Lulu, please have the Daiku Maryu make ready to receive her group.: You’ve something on your mind, huh? Alright, the Daiku Maryu will hold position next to JUDA HQ.: Looking at how confident Kiriyama is… it’s likely we’ll have a difficult decision to make.: Come on, fellows of LOTUS… let’s have some fun!
I hope you didn’t spend ALL your SP with the first wave! Losing Kouichi or the Daiku Maryu’s a game over, and you need to destroy everything to continue.
The Daiku Maryu, as Lulu said, is stuck by JUDA HQ, which means Shinji and Rei’ll either need to hang somewhat close or risk running out of gas. The enemy outspeeds you and your units are likely to have already moved, so I suggest the former. If any EVA was unplugged during the cutscene, you’ll need to move them adjacent to the ship to plug it back in.
With all that in mind, Kouichi closes in a bit and Rei starts heading back – thankfully, Shinji did get his cable yanked off.
Enemy Phase!
We’ve a few Jinrais that manage to get in range.
That’s one for Shinji, Dick and Daiya.
Player Phase!
Pretender, a.k.a. Deceive IV (Eiji Kiriyama)
Pilot Skills:
Factor
Sword Cut
Prevail L3
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L1
Kiriyama’s actually a dang good pilot (comes with the territory when you’re voiced by Sho Hayami, I suppose) – his stats are even slightly better than Masaki’s, meaning he’s VERY accurate. The Pretender itself is rather dodgy and offers decent range, though his best is only 1-3; mind you, his weak Missile Pods are carrying miniature wireless Nerve Crackers and will apply with Morale Down debuff!
Being evasion-focused, however, means the Pretender isn’t too bulky and will easily fall in a single round of concentrated fire – like I said, hopefully your guys still have enough SP for Focus or Strike.
We don’t need Kiriyama getting a chance to Support Attack any of these Jinrais while we’re moving in, so we start killing. Kenji and Zechs take on each, and Dick…
He and Puria down a pair.
Yanma, Shinji, Ichitaka, pop, pop, pop…
Enemy Phase!
Here he comes, getting an intimidating 94/50% spread against Zechs!
: Milliardo Peacecraft… I’m honored to finally meet you face-to-face.: … Oh, right, you’re a nameless spy now, yes? I suppose eliminating you would be in national security’s best interest, as we’ve no idea when you might go rogue and try your hand at terrorism. : Say whatever you’d like, I care not…! Your forces may have helped you take control of this country, but the people’s hearts and minds remain free. And you haven’t what it takes to rule over them!: Well, you sure told me, prince. And you have what it takes, then?: No, I’ve neither the desire nor the right to try… I am now Wind, the man who’ll strike you down!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqQkgA5QCo
Ow.
Kenji, Shinji, Yagyuu and Daiya each nab easy kills against the rapidly dwindling Jinrais.
Player Phase!
And there go the last ones, courtesy of Rei and Dick. Now all that’s left is Kiriyama, so let’s jump right in.
: I’d never take a creep like you as leader of Japan!: I’ll have you know that my approval rating is expected to be of 100%. I’m this nation’s chosen messiah!: I’ve no idea where you’re running those polls, ‘cause there’re a bunch of people who think your government is crap sitting right here!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtN2RIV2AoE
Damn, where are the Macross folk when I need them?!
: Your daddy’s a pretty secretive man, huh? I haven’t been able to find out much about the EVAs because of that.: So this calls for an up-close and personal investigation about what your unit can do!
: I don’t know much about my dad either… but even I can tell how dangerous it’d be to leave power in the hands of someone like you…!
: Didn’t your parents teach you that it’s damn rude to come waltzing into other folks’ home like you own the place?!: Oh, but JUDA is already mine. Not just JUDA, even…: Your Jeeg and the Build Base are all within the jurisdiction of the Japanese government, meaning they belong to me!: The Jeeg doesn’t belong to just one person – not even me! You got a terminal case of selfishness and an ass-kicking is just what the doctor ordered!
: First I’ll pummel you to a pulp, then the entire world’ll have to acknowledge me as their CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!
: You’re not snuffing out our flames just like that! I’m fighting for every single person on Earth, the PLANTs and the Darius World!: Oh, I’ll eventually take all those people’s plight upon myself too. So, please, just relax and accept your defeat!
: I’ll show you the true power of justice, Kouichi! That is, the power of Eiji Kiriyama, leader of this nation of justice! : Yeah, right! You don’t deserve to use the word “justice”!: Are you giving me your “champion of justice” routine? Because you really shouldn’t. Reiji and I have been a duo of actual champions since you were but a baby, see.: A crook like you isn’t anything of the sort, damn it! No way!
Kouichi: “I’ll stand against your justice with everything I’ve got!”
: Well, well, you’re pretty good, LOTUS. Your reputation as an unparalleled force is very deserved.: That’s what you get! You shouldn’t have picked a fight with us to begin with!
: Yeah, we’re the best of the best!: So just stop with this ‘cause it’s not going anywhere. Your coup’s DOA, even with the Katou Organization on your camp!: My, look at how heroic you sound. But I’m afraid your opposition has run its course. Why don’t you shift your eyes over to your monitors?*Beep!*
: …
: G-Grandma?!
: …
: And Prof. Yotsuya, of the Nanbara Connection!: And it’s not just the Build Base and Nanbara Connection. NEX’s Japan office and Neo Tokyo 3 are also completely surrounded by my Jinrais. : So I think it’d be in your best interest to surrender JUDA nice and easy. If you don’t… well, things might get a bit ugly and no one wants that.: Of all the foul tactics… The past really does repeat itself. (It’s a good thing Une isn’t here or this might’ve been awkward…): And you went on and on about justice, huh… I knew it, there really isn’t anything just about you!: Your sour grapes need work, Kouichi – I’ve heard way better in my life. But the question is what you will do now, my friends…*Beep, boop!*
: The Dannar Base… is still safe…: I’m sending some coordinates… there’s an opening in the Jinrais’ perimeter… Take care of yourself and the Corps, chief…
: Who was that…?: XO, the coordinates just came in. And it really is looking like the Jinrais aren’t too numerous!: Ms. Ogawa, bring everyone in the president’s office onto the Daiku Maryu. Much as I regret to say it, we’ve no choice but to back down.: Hey, hold on! We’re gonna do as he says?!
: Kouichi… the moment we do anything hostile, Kiriyama’ll order his troops to attack. We absolutely can’t let it come to that.: Urk… goddamn it…!: I’m still waiting. Your silence is making me a bit antsy, you know.: Wait! We’ll do as you say – all of JUDA’s facilities and the Machinas therein are yours.: Oh…? Does that mean you surrender?: We’ve surrendered our HQ… but you will allow LOTUS to withdraw. I repeat, LOTUS will be leaving here!: Fine, fine, I’ll allow it. I’m nothing if not merciful and, plus, putting you down right now would make for a later headache… But there is a catch.: What is it…?: You’ll have to entertain me on your way out. Let’s see if you can slip through my Jinrai squadrons! 
: He still had so many…?!: Go on, LOTUS. Run along… if you can.: And this might go without saying, but you better not fire back. I’m sure the great and powerful LOTUS can manage something like this, right?: How vile can someone get…? Shame on you!: Zechs, everyone’s aboard the Daiku Maryu!: Good. Captain!: Forward, full throttle! We’re leaving the battleground and heading towards the Dannar Base!
: We should manage to lose the Jinrai pursuers if we head that way.: We’ve no choice but to take a chance with that... I don’t think that transmission we got was a lie…: All troops, whatever happens, do not attack the enemy!: The more defensive units will need to cover the others! Can we count on you for that, Kouichi?: Yeah, the Linebarrel can shrug off some random shots just fine with its regen.: Sorry to put you in that position. I know this is particularly difficult for you, but…: It’s fine… I’ll get back at him later…!: We’ll need to bait the intercepting Jinrais away from the Daiku Maryu’s path – nothing else will work. Be careful and let’s go…!: Ahahahaha…! Dance, LOTUS! Dance for me!
Yeeaaah, now this is different. The Daiku Maryu has a long trek ahead of it and the Jinrais will be able to set upon it in at most two turns – if you haven’t used Rosa’s SP at all, you’ll have enough Accel casts to reach your destination in about five turns. That’s a long period of time where you’ll need to have your guys keep the enemy away.
So, how do we do it since we can’t even attack? You’ll need to make a literal wall around the Daiku Maryu to keep the enemies from getting too close, because the biggest threat here is not the Jinrais getting a few shots in – the ship can handle that – but the Daiku Maryu getting surrounded. If it gets surrounded, you’ve lost because there’ll be no way to draw the Jinrais out.
The ship’s high HP means the AI’ll always prioritize it if the range allows it, and you cannot outrun them with Accel, either, so never let your formation crumble.
Here’s how I did it throughout these five turns:
There are Jinrais to the north and east, so try your best to run the ship down the middle – the longer the more distant units have to move to get to you, the easier it’ll be to avoid getting surrounded.
Whatever units are still free after your battle with Kiriyama should be sent towards the enemies to goad whatever you can into attacking them.
Like so. The second turn is critical, as that’s where the enemy’ll likely be the closest to the Daiku Maryu. If you do it right, it all gets easier from here.
Your primary concerns in regards to positioning is to make sure that you NEVER have both the Daiku Maryu’s 12 and 3 o’clock squares blocked by the enemy because even if you can still move, that’ll slow you down considerably.
The AI isn’t clever enough to go around your wall of units – they only know how to go forward – so set things up in a way to cut off their direct access.
Next turn, things are much safer now. Your Supers will likely get more and more attention as the AI shifts priority away from the distancing ship. That’s good as the Jinrais simply lack the power to pop an A.T. Field, so have either Shinji or Rei hang slightly back to tank everything.
Fourth turn. Q.E.D.
Fifth turn – victory!
: Your way’s clear, Lulu!: All units, return immediately! The Daiku Maryu’s leaving the area!
: Wait for us, Deceive… We’ll be back!
: Very well done, LOTUS. I had a lot of fun.: And now, starting on this glorious day, this shall be my castle! AHAHAHAHAHA!Here are the battle convos we didn’t get, especially with Emi since everything was gone:
: Hey, new guy. I’m just following His Excellency’s orders, alright? No hard feelings.: (Domyoji… he was a SDF pilot…?!): (But I’m not feeling any malice coming from him… Is he…?)--
: Looks like you’re in quite the pickle, Horns! I’ll make all that go away!: That blue Arma again?! None of us would get dropped by a mook like you!--
: JUDA’ll be ours by the end of the day, Linebarrel boy!: Throw whatever you have at us, I’ll still turn every single one of you into scrap!--
: ?! This Arma’s moves are different from the others!
: I’d taken this guy to be a complete idiot, but he’s actually getting better and better at fighting…: We really need to kill this Factor and soon…!--
: It’s the Gundam that’s always ranting about justice! But if you’re with the Katou Organization, then you don’t get to use the word!!
: Come, Kouichi Hayase… let’s see how far you’ve come!--
: Domyoji… are you serious about this…?: I’m always serious, girl. Let’s do this…!: I see… Domyoji, you’re despicable…!--
: Horns has turned black now?!: I… I’ll protect Kouichi…!--
: I never thought the Linebarrel had power like this hidden away… Is that why the commander’s so focused on it?--
: Even the Tsubaki-hime’s speed can’t stand up to that real-time teleportation… I better think carefully of how I’ll deal with this one…!: (I can’t overuse the teleport function… But I also need to keep Kouichi safe…!)--
: Haah… haah… I… I’ve to manage the Linebarrel…
: You look like you’re in pain… Let’s supersize that and see how pretty your screams sound!--
: A false awakening by the looks of it… then I have but to suppress it!: Wufei Chang… what is it that you know…? Hrm… I can’t remember…!
We’re headed towards the Dannar Base and it doesn’t look like we’re being followed. Misato figures he’s enjoying his victory, cozily sitting in his new office – Ishigami’s office.
By the Dannar Base, Kiriko welcomes everyone and knows we must have much on our minds between Reiji’s betrayal (who’s clearly in cahoots with Kiriyama and, by proxy, the Katou Organization), Ishigami’s death and the loss of JUDA.
At the very least we should count our blessings in that this place is still safe, though Kagemaru doesn’t know why Jinrais weren’t dispatched over. Regardless, now’s the time to reorganize and consider what to do. External communication is being blocked, so we’ll need to deal with this ourselves.
Ichitaka’s reeling over Reiji’s betrayal, but Puria says wallowing in it won’t change what happened. Moreover, Dick says what we should be worried about is how we’ll fight the guy… and how much of our own intel he’d leaked to the Katou Organization.
Kouichi comes in, telling Ichitaka that Emi’s awake, and she told of how she piloted the Linebarrel while he was passed out. Kouichi doesn’t understand what’s going on, but it seems that she IS another Factor of the Linebarrel. Either way, he figures it’s very likely he would’ve died if she hadn’t done as she did.
And then some, Rachel says, as the only reason Kouichi managed to avoid death is because Emi energized the D-S.O.I.L. Without that, the regen wouldn’t have healed him fast enough to save his life. As for turning the Linebarrel black – called Mode B – it seems that feature is kind of locked to Emi.
Naoto hopes she’s OK, and we also have the NERV and Build Base folks to worry about. Tsubaki expects our leaders’ strategy meeting to be over soon, so they might have new info for us… but never mind that for now, our monitors just lit up by themselves!
And it’s Katou himself speaking, sending out a message to the entire world! “I am Hisataka Katou, the commander of the Katou Organization. I apologize for my rather sudden message, but I’d like to take this moment to officially proclaim our conquest of the entire world.”
Well, shit.
NERV’s also watching, and Makoto can’t believe the guy would try to pull that off with all mankind already has on its plate. Shigeru thinks he’s serious, though, as proven by the bevy of Jinrais keeping Neo Tokyo 3 under siege. NERV itself can’t really stop them as not only they haven’t the EVAs, they’re not really equipped to deal with blitz attacks by humans.
Maya fears they might end up having to fight their fellow men, but Gendou tells her not to panic. Everyone’s to hold at yellow alert, but it won’t be NERV who’ll shoot first. Shigeru seems ill at ease, but confirms.
Fuyutsuki, meanwhile, can see that it’s not SEELE behind this. “Hm. In which case, this coup… and Katou’s conquest of the world are bound to end in failure,” Gendou nods. Granted, whether or not that prediction comes true depends entirely on LOTUS.
Back to us, Katou carries on while Kouichi fumes:
“We are going to draw a clear line down this world: an impassable barrier, a new balance, separating good and evil, friend and foe, some and none, those with imagination and those without, those who will live and those who will die. To put it in simpler terms, this is the conquest of the world I spoke of just now.
The takeover of Japan was but the first step towards that. As of this very moment, Japan has ceased to exist as a sovereign nation, and has been born anew as the unsinkable vessel of the Katou Organization!
And cut to JUDA, for the rest of it: “If you wish to be among the survivors, then imagine. Imagine what the future might hold, and what you should all do…!” Kiriyama sighs at Katou hogging all the spotlight, while Reiji comes in to report that despite their and the Katou Organization’s joint analysis, they haven’t been able to make sense of the Linebarrel’s Mode B yet.
The other JUDA Machinas are still unusable with their Factors out there – if Kiriyama wants a quick solution, then Reiji says his best option would be to kill them and find new ones. No, that’d be FAR too boorish for him. What they’ll do is either use their technological prowess to circumvent this issue, OR get the current Factors to submit.
Still, Kiriyama’s is happy to just have the Machinas for himself – they look so cool even if they’re just standing there! But having taken JUDA, Japan and the Machinas isn’t the end as LOTUS and the folks up in space are still around.
First things first, Kiriyama has something else he wants to make his own: the Katou Organization itself. Reiji himself has to sigh at the guy’s boundless greed.
Over by Palace Djibril, the man has just seen Katou’s transmission and is rather surprised Logos Guy allowed him and Kiriyama to pull this stunt. Surely the Far East couldn’t afford that to happen.
Actually, Logos Guy isn’t worried about Kiriyama whatsoever and tells Djibril to carry on the extermination of the Coordinators as normal. What, are they going to do nothing about the Katou Organization? Djibril figures they can’t stay silent after such a major proclamation, but Logos guy says it’s nothing they need to crush personally. They’ll just be on the lookout for the right time and then take action.
“If the Schedule proceeds as expected, their ‘world conquest’ will mean absolutely nothing,” Logos Guy ponders inwardly. Well, alright, Djibril will do as he says – Berlin’s up next, and it’ll soon be a sea of flame.
Checking in at Shangri-la, the Katou folks are in pretty good mood. Sawatari’s checking his hair out in the mirror – it’s perfect – though Masaki takes it to be a waste of time. It’s not like he’ll look any different however much he stares in that mirror. Hey, Sawatari’s just enjoying the view, so shush!
Soubi seems moody, though, and Yulianne asks what’s up. If he’s sad about Riku, he really shouldn’t be – death is a regular occurrence in the battlefield, and the guy was aware of that. It’s not, though, and Soubi has a question for her: why did she join the Katou Organization?
An odd thing to ask at this point, but Yulianne says he ought to know the answer to that: it’s because she approved of Katou’s ideals. Of course, there are other things that piqued her interest, too.
And is it the same for Dmitri? The guy harrumphs that Soubi shouldn’t even need to ask, and wonders why he’s been acting a bit off since they returned. Sawatari figures that if he’s got time to worry about nonsense like that, then he oughta take a bit of incense for Riku’s grave. Katou himself, busy as he is with his proclamation and whatnot, took the time to go, so Sawatari and Dmitri don’t see any reason why Soubi can’t.
“You’re right… the commander really does care a lot for his subordinates, huh?” Soubi seems happy, but Wufei inwardly sees that he’s wavering. Regardless, Reiji should be heading this way soon, so Wufei’ll need to ascertain what he is truly after.
Jack is also quietly pondering the guy: “Reiji Moritsugu… he’s allied himself not just with the Kiriyama Heavy Industries, but also with our Organization?”
By Riku’s grave, Wufei’s reporting that Kouichi actually followed his commanders’ orders to retreat; that’s a shift in attitude, as the boy they’d been fighting with ‘til today would’ve likely snapped into a frenzy face what happened… he’s not a simple champion of justice anymore.
His power is still lacking, says Wufei, but Katou thinks that’ll sort itself out with time. After all, he’s not the heir of Ishigami’s will for nothing – the boy very much exceeded Katou’s imagination.
And, finally, back to the Dannar Base, the leaders have just gathered our folks. We’ve managed to get in touch with Sally, who tapped the Preventer’s network to get us some intel on what’s going on throughout Japan, and, in essence, every single region is under strict surveillance.
Sally relates that Kiriyama has a lot more Jinrais out in the field than she expected, so a frontal assault is out of the question lest the hostages pay for it. Are we screwed, then? Not quite. From what Sally’s found, it seems the Jinrais dispatched to hold those areas are all drones, meaning they’ll have plenty of weaknesses Maki and the others can exploit.
Indeed, Zechs remembers lessons everyone learned in the past war of the inherent vulnerabilities of machines. Now, it’ll take make some preparations, but Kiriko figures we’ll have everything ready to deactivate all the Jinrai drones by tomorrow morning.
Once that happens, we won’t have to worry about the hostages’ safety, and, Kouichi sees, will be free to take JUDA back! That’s the plan, so it’ll be tomorrow at 5am where we’ll execute Operation JUDA Reclamation!