Part 52: Mission 20 (Minerva Route) - Descending Angels
Here we are at the Minerva path. Quatre has returned to the Top Aces list, but I’m surprised to see Zechs here.
Had nearly 300k after the last battle, so that went straight into boosting all our Supers with more of everything (they’ll need it for this next mission). Don’t forget to give the lesser-used squaddies some love if you’re going to field them.
Ignore the picture above because Rey and Luna are going to be deploying as event units along with Shinn – the game just doesn’t tell you, see. So, we’ll be going like this:
Shinji/Quatre
Athrun/Jun
Combattler/Rei
Ichitaka
Kouji/Mira
Tetsuya/Tetsuya (I had to)
Dancouga/Boss
Zechs/Noin
Heine/Anna
Wasn’t expecting much from this mission since Z1’s version of it was a cakewalk, but, oh, boy…
Off we go.
: Hm… hmm…?
: Stella! You’re awake!: Th-This is…: The hospital. You were very hurt, so we brought you here.: Hurt…?: You really don’t remember…? Sorry, Stella… You went through so many awful things…: A-Aah… I was… No…! I don’t… I don’t want to die!: You’re safe, Stella! There’s nothing here to hurt you! And you won’t die, because… because I’ll protect you!: Protect… me…?: Yeah, I promise! I won’t let anything scare you again! I swear I’ll protect you!: You’ll protect… me… Shinn…: You remembered me, Stella?!: U-Urgh… my head hurts…: S-Sorry! Don’t worry about any of that right now! You’re safe here, so just rest and get better…: Will I… see you again…?: Of course! I’ll come visit you later, absolutely!: … Shinn…
By the mess hall, Shinn relates that Stella’s in the process of getting better – bit by bit. That’s a relief to Chizuru, who hopes she’ll be getting off JUDA’s hospital soon enough. From what the doctor’s told Shinn (that he could understand), her cardio-pulmonary function is dependent on a drug to work properly, but they think they’ll find a way around that before long. “Thank you all a ton - I mean it,” Shinn says. “You guys have done so much for us since the battle of Berlin.”
Speaking of Berlin, Jun wonders what the Archangel could be up to right now. Kosuke figures they might be immobile as, ruse or not, they took quite a bit of damage during Angel Down. That they’re safe is good enough, but Shinn hopes to see them later: he never even got the chance to thank(!) Kira for what he did.
Shinn’s conversion to Christianity aside, Rey comes in looking for him. No, it’s not time to set off just yet; rather, Durandal is set to arrive real soon, having apparently sped up his timetable to see him and Shinn.
Kurara’s rather jealous that they’ve a boss that’s so in touch with his subordinates (unlike Team D), and it all shows Kouji how serious Durandal is about this. It might be a bit excessive for someone in his station, but it tells that he wants to bring an end to this Logos business today.
Zechs can understand why: Logos has been tormenting the Colonies from the shadows since before OZ’s creation, so Durandal likely has a long list of grievances with them. Whatever the case, his arrival means we need to start getting ready for battle, so Tetsuya tells everyone to get their game faces on. Shinn’s already there, thinking about Stella: “I’ll give this everything I got, and create a world where people can live in peace…!”
Shift to Heaven’s Base, Djibril is fuming that Durandal has the BALLS to send a message demanding the base’s immediate surrender and the extradition of all Logos people. HAH! An Alliance officer asks what to do, since ZAFT has already surrounded the place. They’re waiting for a response, apparently.
What kind of idiotic question is that? Why in blazes would Djibril even think of talking to those people?! Have the troops attack and destroy ZAFT now, now, now! What, are they going to fight to the death, then?!
Yes! They must fight! FOR OUR PURE, BLUE WORLD!
: Hello there, Captain. I’m so sorry to impose on you so suddenly – and on the verge of battle, no less. 
: It has been a long while since we met face-to-face, Chairman. But don’t you think it’s rather careless of you to come to Earth in person?: Perhaps. But the truth is I have something I wanted to give Rey and Shinn myself.: You have?: Our latest models, the ZGMF-X42S Destiny and ZGMF-X666S Legend. These units could well be said to have been made especially for you two.: For us…?!: Both are state-of-the-art pieces of weaponry, each far and away superior to the standard Mobile Suits. But I am certain the two of you will be capable of making excellent use of them.
: Yes, sir. Thank you very much.
: …: What is it, Athrun? Is something wrong?: Chairman, isn’t the development of new models forbidden by the Junius Treaty?: I am well aware that this goes against it, yes.: Then why? What do you have in mind that you’d do that?: Our current enemies extend beyond the Darius. There are foes, like Logos, that threaten the world as a whole and we will need to fight them. : Our current situation shifts by the hour, so, if we’re to safeguard the lives of every human, I’m afraid this is not the moment to hesitate to act. All this is done in the name of those who desire peace.: And, truth be told, I wanted a new unit made for you as well, but we hadn’t the funds to make it happen. I hope you’ll understand. : Very well…: Besides that, I’ d also like you two to take this. From this day onward, Shinn Asuka, Rey Za Burrel, you are members of FAITH.: We’re… FAITH?!
: Wow! That’s amazing, you guys!
: So now the Minerva, alone, has five FAITH members aboard… That’s something, alright.: Stand tall, Shinn, Rey… You defeated the Archangel and Kira Yamato, and deserve every praise.: …: What’s the matter, Shinn? Seeing you with that face saddens me too.: B-But, it wasn’t just the two of us who…: Of course, of course. But you should consider this appointment to also be due to your various achievements thus far. : You’ve faced hardships far beyond the scope of your original mission, and I’m certain there will be more to come. I have high hopes for both of you.: You honor us. And we swear we’ll answer your trust in kind…!*Door opens!*
: Excuse me, Chairman, but we’ve an emergency!: Did something happen?: The Heaven’s Base forces launched a preemptive strike against our troops!: What?!
Goh’s pissed with the Alliance – what the hell are they trying to pull with this attack?! They’re gonna PAY FOR THIS! We’re going to attack Heaven’s Base right this goddamn minute!
Anna understands that he’s mad, but maybe he should calm down a little? How could he be calm?! If they aren’t open to dialogue, then pulling our punches won’t get us anywhere! Ichitaka sees his point but… OUR ALLIES ARE DYING! WE CAN’T AND WON’T LET THEM RUN AMUCK ANYMORE!
So, Goh gets on the mic and yells to Talia that we need to launch now, screw the timetable. Ichitaka doesn’t understand why he suddenly started going ballistic like this…
Mission 20 (Minerva Route) – Descending Angels
: GWAAAAAARGH!!
: Hmhmhmm, did you seriously expect to conquer Heaven’s Base with a force like that?!*Alarm!*
: ?! That Mobile Suit… it can’t be!
: …
: Heero… you’re here!
: I-It’s the Wing Zero…! What’s that Gundam doing here…?!: Hrk…! Any enemy gets destroyed – it’s as simple as that! After him!: Y-Yes, sir! Troops, engage and destroy the Wing Zero! Don’t let him near Heaven’s Base!
: (He got my info, it seems… but I still have my own mission to carry out. Sorry, but I can’t afford to hold back.): … Hand over Relena!
Kill everything, don’t lose Heero. Like with the previous mission, evasion decay will seriously bite him in the ass if you send him into the enemies, so just hang back and let them come to you.
Wing Gundam Zero (Heero Yui)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Prevail L5
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Alert
Strike
Fury/Direct Hit
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Zero System (Activates over 130 morale, grants +20 to evasion an accuracy, +10 to everything else)
Squad Bonus: Accuracy +5, A rank in Air
Heero’s a Gundam protagonist, so you know he’s good (though it is hardly Heero’s strongest outing). The Wing Zero hits hard, is dodgy/accurate and has great range, but its chugs quite a lot of EN. The lack of Hit & Away is less than ideal, mind, so save him one of those.
As a bonus, the Wing Zero also comes with a MAPW attack, but it has a rather awkward AoE – certainly not as easy to use as the regular spin-to-win MAPW he usually gets. All in all, Heero’s as reliable as ever (Midorikawa would likely burn Banpresto to the ground if he was ever bad), but he’s certainly not our best Real.
So, we pull him back a bit and wait.
Enemy Phase!
First wave of Windams and Daggers move in, though most stay put.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7YIs1fb4c
Nothing else gets in range.
Player Phase!
Our people come in, Talia and Arthur very confused to see that the battle is still ongoing. How, when intel said all ZAFT troops had been destroyed? Then we catch sight of the Wing Zero and Zechs knows what’s up: Heero, as usual, decided to face the enemy by himself (rash as it might be) to save Relena.
Indeed, Ichitaka recognizes the Wing from the videos of the battle at Libra, but Luna is more focused on that “trying to take on Heaven’s Base by himself” bit. This goes way past being rash, and straight into madness!
“Meaning we’re all like peas in a pod here! I like this guy!” Hyouma proclaims. Quatre also quietly spots Trowa up ahead, still risking his life for his mission – we’ll need to deal with him appropriately.
Shinn’s shocked to also find the pilot of the Wing Zero fighting here, but Luna reminds him to keep moving. He’ll be a sitting duck if he stands still like that. Shinn nods and says he’s fine – more importantly, since she’s picked up the flying Impulse Gundam, she’ll need to keep an eye out for attacks from below as well.
Now, forward!
Don’t let Shinn and the Minerva get shot down either. Now, this game hasn’t really been a challenge thus far, but I definitely felt a spike in the difficulty curve here. For one, you’re missing about 40% of your team (including some of your strongest guys), there’s a decent amount of water in this stage and the AI is particularly fond of taking a dip, and, lastly, Djibril is sending out a cavalcade of bulky mooks with huge MAPW attacks.
All in all, it means things are going to be slow and actually a bit dangerous to your people. The difference in numbers makes it a lot easier for the AI to swarm and beat your guys either by evasion decay or by sheer attrition, so you’ll want to be careful as you advance.
Prioritize any MAPW unit that’s close by to get them off your hair, be very mindful of your SP and EN usage, and, again, advance slowly and steadily.
And, by the by, Dearka is actually available for deployment – I just didn’t notice it until it was too late. You can set him into a squad before launching your guys.
Destiny Gundam (Shinn Asuka)
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Anti-Beam Shield
VPS Armor
Double Image
Hyper Deuterion Engine – restore 25% of max EN every turn
Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, mobility +5, A rank in Air
Legend Gundam (Rey Za Burrel)
Sword
Gun
Anti-Beam Shield
VPS Armor
Hyper Deuterion Engine
Squad Bonus: Armor +100, ranged weapons power +100, A rank in Space
And here we have two excellent additions to our team. Shinn’s Destiny is pretty much a direct upgrade to everything the Impulse had (especially since, in this game, the other packs were attacks), while Rey’s a straight-up ranged attacker.
The Destiny’s about one of the outright strongest Reals in the game (mostly Alto, if you don’t consider Iczer-1 solo as a Real), and the addition of Double Image makes an already pretty hard to kill pilot essentially invincible. It’s got good range, power and the EN Regen makes everything it has very spammable.
The Legend Gundam is an odd one. You could make a case for it being THE best mook sweeper in the game… provided you’re in space. You see, its DRAGOON weapons (regular and MAPW) can ONLY be used in that terrain, so it is a bit limited when you’re on land. You can get around that on ONE terrain by assigning him someone with a terrain rank-boosting Squad Bonus, but covering both land and air at the same time won’t fly, unfortunately.
Mind you, its second strongest weapon is only 200 points weaker than the DRAGOON (cheaper too), so you’re not losing much by way of attack power… but you only really use Rey in L to go crazy with his Zeorymer-esque MAPW and blast away dozens of mooks. The weapon is very expensive at 120 EN, but the EN regen and squaddies can mitigate that nicely.
First order of business is getting our folks to shore, meaning we’ve to cut through the first wave. Remember to save your SP, so hug Heine’s command aura and have Shinji/Ichitaka take point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EF6L3vgCo
Oh, yes, the non-flying Daggers will likely all be underwater. Because fuck you.
Laplace Wall and A.T. Fields still roll all over Alliance mooks. Do be careful with the Zamza-Zahs as their claws WILL go right through them, though.
Ichitaka and Shinji have both taken a kill, so let’s see if Aoi can keep that up.
She can!
Kouji, Hyouma and Athrun each take a surviving squaddie, while the Tetsuyas finish Heine’s work.
Following up on Zechs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSyfghnsfik
And Heero cuts down the one Dagger that survived Rei.
Enemy Phase!
Hyouma, as always, is very attractive to the AI. He takes three kills, while Ichitaka takes two.
And this one decides to tangle with Aoi.
Better for her.
Player Phase!
Ichitaka pops a nice chain attack by our southern flank, cutting three mooks down to half HP.
Up top, while Kouji and Athrun each one shot a leader, Shinji takes aim at the latter’s leftovers.
Bam. Aoi and Talia clear up rest of the north flank’s first wave.
Shinn and Luna can clear up after Ichitaka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUirO0HZreM
I really enjoy how K and L decided that, for Shinn’s Destiny Gundam cut-ins, they’d just make him ALL MAD, ALL THE TIME.
The Tetsuyas and Rey nab a couple of weakened Daggers nearby.
Enemy Phase!
Go away, Trowa!
The back row starts coming in, with the front Zamza-Zahs trading blows with Shinji and Shinn. In the meantime, whatever was still alive down south dies to Ichitaka and Hyouma – when the enemy’s down to fifteen squads, the plot kicks in.
It’s ANOTHER batch of Alliance Troops complete with something Shinn recognizes from Berlin: 5 Destroy Gundams, led by a crazy-as-hell Sting. If anything, he’s having the time of his life and calls out to everyone for a fight.
Trowa silently looks on at the fate of the Extended, those born to fight: made to lose their memories, addicted to drugs, and forced out into the battlefield without so much as time to be sad for the friends they’ve lost. “In a way, they are no different from how we used to be,” he sighs.
Misato warns those who haven’t fought them before of the superlative firepower the Destroys have, but Shinji sees a silver-lining: these are clearly the enemy’s ace in the hole, so if we can stand up to them, victory’ll be ours.
This whole battle comes down to this, so Goh tells everyone to SEND THOSE WHO SIDED WITH LOGOS STRAIGHT TO HELL! Talia slowly confirms, and Durandal, seeing Goh’s condition, has an idea of what’s going on and dreads the thought.
Shinn and Luna get pestered a bit, weakening three mooks, while Ichitaka and Shinji take, respectively, one and three Daggers/Windams that try to be clever.
Player Phase!
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Seven Swells and Meioh’s, but the game really isn’t playing ball with MAPW setups for me.
At least that’s some damage on Trowa, plus a dead mook.
Couple kills for Heine and Anna here; up top, Kouji and Mira do the same.
Get rid of these things ASAP or they’ll all blast you.
: I’m sure the Chairman’s plan is to pave the way towards peace with this assault…: So why am I so ill at ease? Am I the only one feeling that something’s off…?
Aoi finishes it off, and Ichitaka bags one himself below.
Setting an Iron Wall’d Hyouma and Rei over here to try and bait the enemies’ attention.
Back south, Tetsuya and Shinn hunt Daggers.
Enemy Phase!
This would probably be a bad time to mention that I forgot Trowa had a MAPW.
Most people here can take it, but not Jun/Boss.
While we slooooowly start chipping away at the incoming mob of Zamza-Zahs, Ichitaka does his job as a distraction perfectly – that’s four kills for him.
Not enough to save Jun from getting dropped, though. Oh, well. Athrun can handle himself.
I don’t understand why it didn’t go for Hyouma when he’s right there, but this Dagger’s choice wasn’t really any better.
Very dead.
Player Phase!
We’re now at the eye of the hurricane, and Trowa needs to go. We’ll converge on him and work our way out, prioritizing Sting and the Zamza-Zahs since they have the morale to MAPW us – the Destroys don’t (yet). When dealing with the latter, follow the same focus-fire strat as we did back in Berlin.
The Daggers and Windams themselves are either down to flying solo or weakened, but there’re still plenty of them. You should be careful when sending folks forward because they’ll be all too happy to converge on Talia if given the chance. Do note that Sting has Support Defend L3 and will happily cover Trowa if he’s nearby (like he is now), so plan on only your squaddie’s attack hitting him.
The strategy here isn’t really any different what we’ve been doing, so let me spare you the tedium and fast forward!
: Come, Gundam. I can’t allow anyone to know about me.
: Have it your way, “nameless soldier”…! I’ll face you with all I have!
: (There’s no point in prolonging this…)*Click!*
: I’m detecting several issues across all systems, likely due to faulty maintenance. Unable to continue fighting… retreating.
: (That explosion was self-inflicted… Heh, ever the meticulous man.)
: This is your base and you’re still blasting the whole damn area?!: Letting these guys go on would just give us Berlin 2, and I’m not taking it!
: So you had mass-produced these things and kept them tucked away, eh…? You probably shot first ‘cause you figured winning would be easy, but you thought wrong! We’re not getting dropped by these!
: Hrgh! GODDAMN IIIIT! I swear I’m killing all of you next time!
: Uurgh, that useless worm! Are we ready to leave yet?!: Yes, sir! We’ve just finished our preparations!: Good, because I cannot allow myself to be captured here! We’ll have to abandon Heaven’s Base!: You’re wasting everyone’s time carrying on this fight – and I use the word loosely. Try as you might, your plans will fail!: Hmph, say whatever you want, but you’ll be coming along with us, Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian!: (Heero…): The enemy’s ranks are confused…? Did something happen?*Beep, beep!*
: A coded message? “Djibril’s escaped with Relena… from ‘Nameless Clown’”: Heero, this is…!: Hm. Only the five of us know this transmission code. It has to be from Trowa.: Then it’s clear what we should do. Go! We’ll handle this!: Alright. Take care of it.*Heero starts flying out the area.*
: The winged Gundam… Earth’s enemy… Die…!
: …!
: GET AWAY FROM HIM!!We’ll see this attack properly in a sec.
: …: Pilot of ZAFT…: Get going! You’re also trying to save someone, right? Then you better make it happen!: … Apologies, and thank you. I’ll go on ahead.
: Shinn…: Alright, now the rest of us just gotta keep pushing through this!
: Right on!
: Round two with these things. I’d rather not pit power against power with ‘em, though…
: Don’t worry about it – I’ve got our generator 100% wrapped around my fingers. We can handle a head-on approach.: If you say so, I’m game. We’ll take them as we always do – up close and personal! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaJxS8hEDFs
Behold Shinn’s MY FAMILY IS DEAAAAAAD attack!
: The EVA might just be able to hold against an attack like that…! And, in that case, what I can do is…!
: Radar is clear of enemy troops!: Has Djibril been found yet?: Our forces are searching the adjacent area, but his whereabouts – and that of Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian – are unknown. : As for the Logos members left within the base, they are currently being arrested.
: So they snuck out the base right under our noses? I’ve to give them props for pulling that off.: Not the time to be impressed, Kurara!
: So we’ve brought the base down, but this is all far from over…: Still, now that we’ve arrested several of Logos’ leadership, their capacity to act as they have has been severely undercut. I’d say we’ve made some major progress today.: But the fact remains that Djibril escaped. We must figure out where he’s scurried off to…: Yes, you’re right…Couple of convos we missed here:
: We’re finally taking the fight to Logos, and giving the world Gil dreams of a chance to be born…!: And I’ll readily do anything within my power to make it so!--
: Heheheh… A new model, eh? Here’s hoping you’ll be fun to kill!: That unit… They did to all of you what they did to Stella?! Stop this! They’re messing with your memories to manipulate you!: Cut with your bull, man! Who gives a damn about memories?!: !!: I only need one thing to win: the Destroy! You LOTUS might be strong, but it won’t save you!!: How… How can you do this…? Logos…! You’re gonna pay!!--
: I’m a proud ZAFT Red, too…! So I’ll stand and fight even against this awful MS!--
: Alice, I’m taking in as much of their beam attacks as we can! Keep an eye on how much damage we’re getting, alright?
: Roger that! … Though I wish I could use that technique again today. I’d make fighting them at least a bit easier…: Don’t even think about that! We can do just fine with our current bag of tricks!--
: Life was busy enough being the Chairman’s messenger boy/bodyguard, and now I have to take part in sieges too….?: Yeesh, I bet things would’ve been a whole lot simpler if I was still working with Yzak!
Cut to the Archangel, they’ve gotten word of the Alliance’s defeat and Djibril’s escape. Having lost Heaven’s Base, Lacus and Waltfeld see only one place for the guy to take shelter: Orb. From there, he’ll likely set out towards place – and they figure ZAFT is aware of this.
Miriallia sees that war is about to return to that country, and while Murrue wants to do something about it, the Archangel still needs some time to complete its repairs. Lacus seems to have an idea, though, and asks Kira to accompany her into space.
You see, she has some new strength to give him – though she understands how he’d be loath to take it. Kira, however, says it’s fine: “If it’s that strength that’d help me keep everyone safe, then I…”
While Ichitaka’s fuming over Djibril slipping through our fingers, Mira sighs at how disgraceful the guy’s showing himself to be for someone who’s been manipulating the world into war for all this time. Anna had hoped this would’ve put an end to the conflict, but it looks like we’ll have more to do still.
On the flip side, Hyouma’s impressed with how Shinn helped the Wing Zero’s pilot today. That was some real quick thinking, Sakuya nods. “That guy was fighting to save someone, just like I did,” Shinn mulls. “When I thought of that, I realized I wanted to help him... just like Kira Yamato helped me save Stella.”
Tetsuya Kouji laughs at how much Shinn’s changed over this – he was a whole lot more standoffish, difficult to approach, before. Way Quatre sees it, he wasn’t the only one to change for the better: every single one have been changing, bit by bit, as we’ve come to open up and understand one another.
Now if only mankind as a whole could change like this, Mira ponders…
Shinn’s taken the time to approach Zechs and asks if he’s fine with not going with the Wing Zero’s pilot when he had the chance. Why does Shinn think that? Well, Relena is his sister, no? And someone like Zechs obviously has some amount of freedom to act however he wants to.
“Relena has long since drifted out of my reach,” Zechs answers. “Right now, I’ve dedicated myself to simply putting out the fires of war.” Noin says the best we could do is leave Relena to Heero and focus on our own mission. Moreover, being able to act with freedom doesn’t mean doing whatever you feel like doing – that’d be quite the mistake, Noin figures.
“You’re FAITH now, so you’ve also been given a lot of freedom to exercise. But keep in mind: that status is to be used responsibly, lest imprudence make it backfire,” Zechs warns him, and Shinn understands what he’s getting at. He’ll try and be mindful of how he acts with his newly given leeway.
As for Relena, Zechs is of course worried about her. But he still trusts that Heero will rescue her.
Finally, Kiriko’s put in a call to the Minerva: she’d like Goh to come back to Dannar Base on the double. Goh protests that this is hardly the time for him to run back home, but Kiriko shushes him, saying that we’re racing against the clock here.
JUDA’s just sent over the report for his periodic exams and it’s not good: Goh’s Insania Virus infection has taken a turn for the worst. The results show that he could have a full-on Rabid Syndrome outbreak at any second!