Part 32: Mission 18 (Chongqing Route) - Burning Heart, Flying High - Part 2
Oh, yeah. Here’s our first upgrade of the game and it’s pretty sweet: the Custom Dragonars, as Plato said, take fine mechs and make them even better.
On top of an overall stat boost all Dragonars are now equipped with Photonic Bazookas (among other minor weapons) which are now their strongest solo weapons. They’re powerful but take a non-insignificant amount of EN to use so don’t go too crazy.
The addition of this new weapon gives Kaine and Light a big boost because it fixes their biggest issues: range and damage, respectively. And, of course, the bazookas also give them all a new combined attack.
But we’ll get there when we get there. First off, there’s this Dolla that had the sense to avoid Rom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=049G-CdvtUc
Behold, the mother of all piledrivers.
We’ll go after Min’s crew to draw in the more distant Gon Jem guys. Light weakens a Dein and off goes Kaine to show off his new laser swords.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mod9l6R-S4
Nice.
Always with the shields…
Enemy Phase!
Oh, you poor idiot.
It takes a named character to face a named character.
But mooks can still kill-steal…
Oh? Gon Jem’s coming after Light.
: This here’s the D-3? Take it out and the other Dragonars are gonna be pretty much blind!
: Huh… You’re sharper than I’d expect someone with that face to be!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwU6m8BvdM
Each Dragonar has a different colored bazooka, too: Light’s gold, Kaine’s red and Tap’s blue.
Light also gets harassed by some other mooks but just slaps them away.
The Dragoons are actually holding Jin and Ganan at bay.
Ah… I didn’t remember Min having a MAPW!
: Tough luck, fellas… Your mechs might’ve just gotten modded but my chainsaw really wants to tear them to ribbons, see!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIytOlUCnCI
And all that serves is deprive me of more money. Were I not keeping the other path, I’d be very annoyed now.
Player Phase!
: That mech… Albero?!
: …
: Tch, if you're here, then they—!
: All troops, deploy!
: Kaine! You alright?!
: Yup! Both my Dragonar and I are A-OK!
: And… it’s changed form since we last saw it?: Well, we're about at the midseason point, so an upgrade is a-given.
: But… the D-3 looks the same…: Oh, don’t be like that. Upgrades aren’t just in looks, alright?
: Never mind that – we need you guys to back us up! We’re still getting used to these!
: Hmm, what’s this? Someone’s gotten really cheery while we were away.
: (Heh, I knew it… they aren’t the types to just run away from this.): ... We played our part as decoys to the letter, I think.
: Yes. Now we can focus on our original mission.
: Hugo…!
: I got it…! They’re not getting away this time!: And the target you spoke of… it’s that one?*Looks at Rom.*
: Yes. I’d like to capture it if possible.
: “Capture” it? What for?: …: Isn’t a perfect TE Engine the power source the Medius actually needs?: (From the intel I’ve seen, that unit seems to synchronized with and drawing upon energy from nature itself…): (If we can claim that functionality, my AI1 can grow even more…): So? I’m waiting for an answer, Elde Mitte.: Those are orders from Prof. Zapato; he wants us to capture that unit’s power source. And it’s one way with which to surpass that monstrosity.: What did you say…?!: Captain!*Hugo moves after Albero.
: Here you are, Hugo. Can you actually attack me, though?: “Don’t hesitate when fighting an enemy.” You taught me that.
: Yes… that’s good.: But I want some answers. For what reason did you come back to the battlefield?!: You want to know, eh, Hugo?: I do. Back then, I thought you’d quit the army since you felt responsible for losing all your subordinates but me…!: …
: Didn’t you leave the battlefield behind to mourn your son?!: …: (His son…?!): Despite all that, here you are again… Why?!: Heh… It’s a pretty boring reason, really.: What?!: What’s the most natural emotion for someone who had something precious taken away? I want revenge… against that demon.
: !: (Natural emotion… revenge…): You know that that thing’s been brought back to life, don’t you? The monster that wiped out the Cry Wolves has shown its ugly face again.
: (So “that demon” is the Devil Gundam…?!)
: Then this is all to destroy it…?: Wrong. It’s to surpass it.: Wh…What?! What do you mean by that, Captain?!: … That’s enough talk. The lot of you’ll serve as fodder to the Medius.: Urk!: Garmraid data collection initiated.: I’m going all the way this time.: If it’ll help his and AI1’s development, then I see no problem.: That’s the plan, obviously. And don’t let AI1 show any rejection.
: Of course.: (AI1… there’s nothing to be afraid of. The more pain you endure, the stronger you’ll grow… so do not reject it. Rather, accept the pain.)
: (Even if that results in the machine’s destruction… I’ll make sure you escape safely.): We’re going!
Mission Objective: All enemies destroyed
Mission Failure: Rom or the Nahel Argama destroyed.
No problems here, though this’ll be easier if you left a couple units around for your later arrivals to build morale. Gon Jem will always go after Kaine, while Albero seems to prioritize Hugo, so just make sure they’re prepared for that kind of attention.
Deal with Min and Goru first and when Jin and Ganan arrive, take them out. If you’ve the time, get rid of Albero – the Medius is starting to fall behind our power curve.
Quickly now, let’s take a look at Jem and the Holograms:
Geizam (Gon Jem)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
- Support Attack L3
Big, bad, boss man – you know the drill. Gon Jem’s meant to get in your face and tear it off with that sword of his; unlike the common real robot bosses, however, he’s all about being tanky. His stats are, predictably, good all around so always keep your squishier guys with at least Focus around him; especially Kaine. And do your best to keep the area around him clear of enemies because you don’t need him getting those support attacks in.
His main weakness is that his range ain’t too hot: the best he’s got is 1-4. This group is more melee-oriented but we’ve got people that can still exploit that.
Stark Dein (Min)
Pilot Skills:
- Shield Defense L4
- Support Attack L2
- Support Defense L1
Wasn’t there some shit storm between this VA and Yukana when she took over Four’s role in “A New Translation”?
Average stats for the pilot of a middling bot – I’d mark her as the weakest of the Gon Jem crew. Her mech’s got decent enough attack and accuracy but her three shield charges are the only thing stopping her Stark Dein from melting like cheese in the sun.
Once they’re gone, so is she.
Stark Gebai (Goru)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
- Shield Defense L1
- Support Attack L2
This guy… I take him as the second strongest of the Gon Jem guys, despite how he seems to be the punchline character. Unlike his peers, Goru’s followed Gon Jem’s philosophy in that being dodge-focused when going against guys with Strike is stupid.
He can tank a hit rather well with his good-ish defense stat plus the Stark Gebai’s above average bulkiness and then he triggers that Prevail L3 to dish out some respectable damage. Don’t underestimate him or you may be surprised.
Stark Dauzehn (Jin)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
- Support Attack L2
- Double Image
- EWAC (Strong)
- Jammer
Third most dangerous guy, mostly because he’s rather accurate and will be boosted by Prevail (his damage output is on the low side but he’s got range). Dauzehns are lacking in defenses, though, so once you get past his myriad electronic warfare bits, he’ll go down easy. Just come packing Strike.
Stark Dolla (Ganan)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
Further down the ladder, this guy. His Dolla has decent-ish stopping power but no shields, meaning his Prevail is all he’s got. 17k HP and 1100 armor are too little to be compensated by that.
Plus, while his range is good, his only post-movement attack is 1-3, meaning he’s easy to bait in… and his best attack also has a three-tile-long blind spot. Not good.
So, let’s get rid of Min to take away the slight threat of her bombs debuffing someone. Following a TFO attack, Bright will remove her last two shield charges.
There it goes.
And with Shinji and Ryouma on the job, there she goes.
That’s all her machine can take, so it’s time to eject.
Next on my kill list is Goru and Akira might as well take some morale from nearby mooks.
He learns Spirit.
: Dragonars! I’m gunna wreck you and the Colonel’ll be so impressed wit me!
That’s all his shields.
See, when I warned you against Goru, I was speaking from experience. 3k damage on one of my bulkiest Supers is nothing to sneeze at from a lower-tier midboss but I still didn’t get the message at the point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQxhqioCeUQ
Which is what helped Goru claim the title of first unit in the LP to break an A.T. Field. Now I need to have some units heal Asuka pronto because I REALLY don’t wanna fork over an EVA’s repair cost.
Ayato takes the last Gebai and Hugo finishes the Dein crew.
I’m officially done with you, guy.
If I was in range, I would totally have busted out a Valored God Hand Smash.
Die, please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI4oLbZQ6CUvvvv
One good thing is how much he freaks out when shot down.
Having clearly stolen Karl and Dan’s script, he cries out to his boss as he ejects.
Enemy Phase!
The Dragoons try taking on Albero. It goes about as well as you’d expect, though one barely hangs on.
Good to see you again, Mr. Jem.
: Think ya can take me on, sonny? That’s gonna be the last mistake of yer life!
: This baby’s a whole lot different from that Dragoon! Here, lemme show you!
Just something to pass time.
Albero goes after Hugo but I expected that and left him protected.
: What did you mean by surpassing that thing, Captain?! Answer me!: I’ve no reason to tell you anything!: Even if you pulled it off, your son-… Foglia won’t come back!: I’m well aware of that! And now I’m going to send you over to where he and my other subordinates are waiting!
Whoa… I just now realized that the two Dragoon mooks’ attacks took out half of his HP already. I don’t know if this says good things about Plato’s creation or bad things about Mitall’s.
Player Phase!
Let’s wrap things up with Albero since he’s so close.
: Weren’t you Hugo’s old boss? Didn’t think you’d be buddying up with the Giganos!: We’re not choosy with our methods. It’s all about the mission…!: And that’s why you don’t give a crap even when it means fighting Hugo?!
: Initiating sample data collection.
: One without a righteous heart could never fathom the power I wield!
: This man… Char Aznable, Zeon’s Red Comet…!
: (Hm…? What is this sinister feeling I’m getting from this man and his machine…?!): Data from this one’ll also be very valuable to the Medius!: I may not know what you’re up to, but I do not care for how you see others as a means to meet your goals…!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE2hMddfGag
Amazingly, Alert is Quattro’s second-to-last spirit. Maybe it’s a jab at his average Newtype powers?
: Heheheh… Good. Very good.: Captain?!: Do you see how it’s going to be, Hugo? I’ll keep on coming after you group, again and again… And, every time, we’ll engrave newer scars into each other’s bodies.: What?!: …Lasmunanium, engaged.
: Always with that, huh? But you’re not running off today!: Repairs to the first layer of armor, complete. However, there is still extensive damage in the frame.: Further combat is impossible… I recommend you allow AI1 to handle escape procedures.: Fine, do it!: Roger. Calculating random pattern. Releasing dummies; quasi-explosion, execute.
: ?!
: Enemy reinforcements?!
: No, they’re—!
: H-How did those machines come out the Medius?!
: !!: They self-destructed?!: What happened there, Aqua?!: That… that explosion was…!: What is it?!: (It was… Ms. Mitte’s…?!): Hey! Aqua!: Ah…! S-Sorry…!: What happened to the Medius Locus?!: I-It escaped… The drones really did explode but the Medius’ was a quasi-explosion…: “Quasi-explosion”?!: A type of optical illusion… so good that even sensors mistake it for an actual explosion.: And how do you know that?: Because it has a very unique signature… which I know of…: …: (Is Ms. Mitte… also aboard the Medius…? No, that’s not possible – her theory was…)Now it’s just a matter of waiting a little bit for Jin and Ganan to walk over. Following that, we’ll deal with Gon Jem (he’ll retreat under 30% HP)
: A whole lot of folks in the Giganos have a major beef with you, Dragonars.: Which means taking y’all down has gotta be worth a pretty penny!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwysryrzuPY
He’ll get us for this!
Waaaaaaaaah!
I didn’t have a Dragonar left to attack Jin but he had words for them:
: If these are custom models, then they’re the same as our Metal Armors.
: So I’ll just have to show you idiots how big the skill gap between us is!
: I’m two million percent pissed off now! Take a look!: What the crap are ya ranting about?! 
: I really don’t like that godly feel yer mech’s got!
: He’s so strong…! This Metal Armor’s been tuned to eleven!
: Hrm. He fights purely on instinct… Like a wild beast!: Right-o! The Gon Jem squad ain’t nothing like those moon-grown wimps!
: Bring it on, then! Just hearing your voice makes me want to fight! (Oh, Gorgon…)
: Heh… And here I was, thinking the Giganos were all like the Blue Hawk and his boy band. But, nope, they also have these bandit types!: Thanks for the compliment! As payback, yer gonna get a taste of my Seiryuu Blade!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QTNI-S0xlo
I never actually showed this attack before.
: Look at you, with them gaudy gold colors! Pah!: So this is Gon Jem, the Disgrace of Giganos…!: Heehahaha! I reckon I’ll chop off that armor and build a house out of it or something!
: Yow! An angel’s decided to come down to the battlefield? Ain’t that something!
: “Angel”… The RahXephon…?: But too bad for ya, I’m not a religious fella! No mercy, even for angels!
: This wild aura around this man… he’s dangerous!: Come on, metal head! Once you’re outta that clam, I’ll be turning ya into chowder!
: I’ve no idea who ya are but yer soon gonna be just some rust on my sword!: Swordsmanship guided by malice will avail you not against the brilliance of the Wolf Blade!
VIKUNGFU BOMBER!
: Urk, his sword moves likes it’s got a mind of its own… Or, maybe, his style is that unhinged…! Either way, I can’t get a read on him!: This here’s the famous Getter? Well, I’m gonna chop all these three mechs down together! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7vvnmwXIiM
And here’s the D-Team’s new combined attack.
Kaine learns Valor and Sword Cut L3
Gon Jem sniffs that today was just a test. The Dragonars are in luck – they get to keep their lives until their next encounter.
All foes are dealt with and Duke is quick to get in touch with Rom, seeking to confirm his identity and why a Cronosian like him would have come to Earth. Rom only says that it was all the guidance of the Wolf Blade and runs off, to see us again another day. (
)Kaine figures we should just be happy that all enemies are taken care of, though Shinji figures this now means the Dragonar team will be leaving. About that…
Light confirms to Bright that they’re sure about staying with the army, though Tap is still feeling for the evaporating cash reward. Kaine says that they needn’t tag along if him if they don’t actually want to, though.
“Come now, Kaine. We all know that you’d be dead real quick without us around,” Light quips. “Right, right. Only reason you’ve survived all this way is because of us. I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep knowing that you were out there, alone,” Tap adds. Kaine only huffs that they’re just as dependent of him as he is of them. That’s what being a team’s about, which is why they’ll all stay – and with the Dragonars saved from destruction, that’s a happy ending for everyone.
Professor Plato is glad to see the men rose to his expectations and Kaine laughs at how everything seemingly went according to the old guy’s plan. No, Plato argues that it's Kaine and the others who actually made the decision - that said, Linda is quite delighted.
Douglas is glad, too, more so because he turned out wrong about them – he’s now expecting great things from Kaine and the others. He’ll remain here in Chongqing, entrusting the D-Team to the Nahel Argama. Light doesn’t know whether to be happy or sad about this.
Dianne already has the paperwork handy and, with it signed, all the bureaucracy is taken care of. They’re now officially assigned to the Nahel Argama and, better yet, it comes with a promotion to the rank of Warrant Officers.
Bright says he vouched for them, and that he expects even greater things from them from now on. As Kaine confirms, Tap is very happy with the promotion since it also means they get officer salaries – that’s SIX ranks they just plowed through (all three classes of airmen, Cpl, Sgt and MSgt). Which means… they now outrank Ben!
The guy groans a confirmation, prompting Kaine to go I CAN’T HEAR YOU. “Speak clearly when addressing your superior officers!” Tap adds. As Ben begs their forgiveness, Kaine really likes the dynamic shift (Ben can only seethe).
Plato is glad to see that they understand the importance of ranks, so he’d expect them to act just as respectful with Linda and Rose as they still outrank them. So much for Kaine and Tap’s mirth.
Still, Plato tells them not to forget who they themselves are: the Dragonars have a rough edge that the "model student" Dragoons lack – meaning the three of them, equally atypical, are the best equipped to leverage those capabilities.
Kaine promises they’ll bring home the goods with their new bots and, with that, they take off.
When Dianne asks, Plato won’t say whether this outcome is for the best or not – he hasn’t the right to opine when it was his actions that dragged them into this mess in the first place.
Bright knows how that is, remembering all the youngsters he’s seen follow this path; but all of them, amid the pain and hardship, ended up finding their own reasons to fight. He’s sure that Kaine and the others also have something like that pushing them onwards – Ben agrees with him.
Plato, meanwhile, rededicates himself to doing everything he can to help bring this war to a speedy conclusion. First off, he ought to finish the Dragonars’ official transfer to our ship; Douglas will help, asking Bright to take care of those three and wishing godspeed.
Linda and Rose will transfer to the Argama but Dianne, much to Ben’s disappointment, will remain in Chongqing. Still, she wishes him well and looks forward to their reunion. Playing wingman, Plato requests that Ben carry the two girls’ luggage onto the ship – Dianne can help.
Ben is all over it, confident in his strength, and Plato quietly laughs at what a transparent man he is.
: … The Medius has definitely powered up since the last time we saw it.: …: Now, I imagine the Lasmunanium’s responsible for that but I can’t see Albero Est being the one managing it.: You figure there’s someone else aboard the mech?: I’m not sure… At least, from what I saw of the Medius’ specs, it was designed as a single seater.: … Why were you so familiar with how the Medius escaped?: Someone told me about it during my time at the military academy.: And that someone’s now helping pilot the Medius, then?: Can’t be. That’s not the kind of thing she’d do.: …: (Still, I know for a fact that there’s some link between her and Prof. Zapato…): (But if she was involved with the Medius’ development, then the machine would’ve been made as a combat AI-equipped drone. That was what she was after…): …: Hey, Hugo, can you tell me just one thing?: …: The “revenge” Albero was talking about… is it…: … Yes, it is. The squadron I belonged to, the Cry Wolves, was annihilated in a battle with the Devil Gundam.: …: The only survivors were the Albero and myself… He took the blame for what happened and quit the army to mourn my deceased teammates, including his son Foglia.: But now he’s back in the battlefield, all in order to take revenge on the Devil Gundam…: But I don’t think that’s the end of it. 
: Huh?: The Devil Gundam’s revival was confirmed a long while after the Medius had been stolen. Meaning there’s a very good chance that Albero found out about it only after he’d already started piloting the machine. : Prof. Mitall did know about the Cry Wolves, so maybe he was simply scouted by him? He could have been looking for a chance to get revenge all that time. : If that was the case, then, like me, there’d have been no need for him to quit the army. : …: (He must have something else in mind besides taking revenge on the Devil Gundam…): (What is it, Captain—… rather, Albero Est?)
: … Somehow, I need you’d be staying in the military. 
: How come?: I can’t quite put it into words but… I just felt like you’ve been looking for something throughout all this fighting. That’s how.
: Hmhmm… There’s something else I wanted to ask: why did you decide to help the army?
: Back when we were all together, you hated fighting so much…
: I hated fighting because I hated my father…: Huh…? You hated that guy…?: Hm. It was the Metal Armors he developed that sparked the war… and his defection to the Federation only escalated things…: But that was…: But I now understand that that was the answer he found at the end of a very agonizing road… : So I decided that I also could not let my ideals end up as nothing more than that. I figured I had to see what lied at the other side – in battle – and, by doing so, find something myself.
: Yeah, that’s it, Linda! Nothing’s gonna change if you only stay inside your head!: But… that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven my father yet. It’s his fault that our family’s been torn apart…: … Linda… I met with the Giganos’ Blue Hawk in Kyoto.
: !: Um… Is he—: I’m sorry, Kaine. But don’t ask me anything right now… I’ll tell you everything, eventually. So please be patient…: Yeah, alright…: They’ve decided to have Rose and I accompany your team as operators.: So we’ll always be together from here on out, right?
: Yes…: Linda…*Several folks run over.*
: Ah, Kaine! So this is where you were!: Ggcht…! Light, Tap! And the others, too!
: Oho… are we interrupting something?
: If you realize that then get going right now, dumbass!
Kouji tells him to be nice because we all came here to re-welcome them into the fold. Kaine figures they’re making a mountain out of a molehill but Misato says it’s no problem at all – this is for good luck.
She’s in a pretty good mood and Asuka tells why: there was a poll about the D-Team and she won. Still, Shinji’s also pretty happy that they decided to stay. Asuka’s surprised to hear say stuff like that but they DID go through all those things together.
Even Asuka has to concede the point: “things would be too slow without them around. At least like this, I’ll still have some entertainment.”
Shinji, Daisuke and Tetsuya all give them a proper welcome, saying they’ll all be expecting them to work just as hard as they have thus far. Kaine is feeling the love and Linda can see that this is where he belongs.
Rose lets us know that the moon team will be arriving real soon with the Nadesico – from what we’ve heard, things were tough up there but they also came back with some new buddies. Time to consolidate the celebration of the D-Team’s stay with a welcome party for these new arrivals, Kaine figures.
From here on out we’ll be going over the events on the other side, so we can skip that. When I go wrap up the moon route, I’ll see what new info we get and point it out then.