Part 80: Mission 45 - Dearest - Part 1
We open up with Misumaru passing a rather unexpected order: the Nadesico is to be moved away from the front lines. Misato points out that we’re on the verge of Operation Bagration and he’s aware – still, the orders are those.
Amuro and Quattro inwardly can’t make sense of this decision, wondering if they’re assigning the ship to a separate mission. Ben is worried as losing it will hamper our ability to fight effectively against the Giganos and Skull Moon fortresses. The only explanation Misumaru is willing to give is that this is all being done in the interest of future operations.
Misato isn’t satisfied with that answer but Bright steps up and acknowledges the order. With an apology, Misumaru asks the Nadesico relayed to his base and wishes us good fortunes in Bagration.
… That officially ends the conversation but Misumaru knows it’d leave us ill at ease. So, he’ll tell us what’s what but it’ll need to remain limited to the current people. Misato inwardly sighs that he could’ve stood to not be so hard-hitting if he was going to pull this stunt but whatever.
At least the guy’s as crafty as ever, Quattro sees.
Already at Misumaru’s place, they tell the Nadesico crew that they’re headed to Nergal’s dock on the Moon to pick up the Nadesico C, which is already undergoing its final checks. The plan, as Genpachirou explains, is to have them gather up the rest of the old Nadesico A crew and take part in Bagration as part of the mission that’ll recapture the Martian Ruins from the Successors.
The bad guys are aware of this plan, however, and just picking up the Nadesico C is likely to not go easily. Jun will also be joining the Magnate Ten to handle the incorporation of the old crew into the squad and with only three days before Bagration starts, Prospector wants the A’s crew rounded up ASAP.
Ruri will do it but requests to make a small detour along the way – there’s somewhere she wishes to go before the big operation goes down. Misumaru seems to know what’s up and allows it.
Later, over by Oiso City, Harry (with his INCREDIBLY Akito-like casual appearance) is tallying the Nadesico A crewmates that have agreed to rejoin and those who haven’t. The cook, Hou Mei (also an old crewmember), interrupts his grumbling with their food. Harry wonders if they really need to all these old heroes, what with everyone the Magnate Ten has available. Ruri says they do need them.
Why? Harry is sure the current folk could man the Nadesico C just fine. These people have retired from the army and moved on – is there a reason to force this all-star reunion? Ruri isn’t answering, focused on her dish, which further aggravates Harry. Is he THAT unreliable that she insists on bringing the old crew back?
Ruri ignores him, asking Hou Mei for seconds. That does it for Harry, who runs out in tears… and without paying. Hou Mei asks if Ruri won’t go after and, no, she won’t. Harry ought to realize how in need of help they'll all be in the next battle – our forces will likely be spread thin to deal with all enemy threats.
Hou Mei sees the logical angle but some things aren’t logical – such are humans. It’s clear to her that Harry’s jealous of Ruri and her old friends and ship. Still, Saburouta figures he oughta go look for him.
Harry’s off seething, calling Ruri stupid, but still realizing he’ll need to get back to the hotel they’re all staying at. How can he simply show his face again after storming out like that? His thought’s interrupted as he smacks face first into Minato’s cleavage, eliciting a very embarrassed apology from him.
She sees the tear streaks in his face and figures he won’t be much good for giving her directions. Like hell he won’t! He’s a soldier and knows this area perfectly! Well, as it turns out, she’s headed towards Hou Mei’s diner and while Harry knows the way back… he’s too embarrassed to do so.
It is then that Minato figures out who he is. As it turns out, Ruri’s told much about him in letters the two of them exchanged: how she sees him as a little brother, how capable and cheerful he is despite having quite the similar origin story to her (he’s also a product of genetic engineering).
Harry figures out Minato’s a former Nadesico A crewmember, just as Ruri and Saburouta show up to pick him up.
Over by the diner, Minato and Hou Mei are catching up. Minato hasn’t yet decided if she’ll be joining the C crew.
She’s thought about at least going back to check up on Ruri ever since Prospector got in touch. They can easily tell from what they saw of the girl that she’s pushing herself very hard and, yet, can’t let any of it show. The responsibility of being a captain, always having to remain steadfast, eyes on the bigger picture and carrying out the mission.
Ruri meanwhile is passing some new orders for Harry: tomorrow, at 0800 hours, he’ll perform a long-range jump and head to Nergal’s lunar factory to help with the C’s checks.
Yes, the Tulips aren’t available to make that kind of jump but Ruri says he’ll have an A-Class Jumper available, so they won’t need one. Harry thought all such people were gone but apparently not. Time is short, so she wants him to get the C ready for use ASAP.
Meawhile, she and Saburouta will head back to the Nahel Argama. Ruri asks him to take good care of Omoikane.
Cut to the Martian Iwato ruins, where Yamasaki’s relating huge advances made towards successfully using the Boson Jump core. They can now relay a visualization properly 98% of the time, meaning they can Jump with near perfect precision.
The key to this breakthrough, he tells Kusakabe and Shinjou, was apparently a rather popular girly manga from Earth. Yamasaki suggests they read it – it’ll change them. But the gist of it all is that what caused the whole system to not work properly were the dreams Yurika Misumaru was having.
Her job is to relay the imagery input from the Successors into the core but her dreams were causing interference, thereby sending the system awry. So rather than simply trying to override them, he got the idea of mixing in some romantic imagery (based on the manga) with the images the Navigators are inputting, making them seem to be part of a date...
Like so, with Yurika trying asking a hidden Akito where he wants to go today. Hokushin speaks through him and off he goes.
He materializes right before his cronies, proof that they no longer need the Zeorymer or Daimos. Things are set to go down tomorrow but, for now, they’ll go back to their original mission regarding the doll/experimental subject, Lapis.
And the A-Class Jumper Harry’s going to be working with is none other than actually-alive Ines; she won't answer him whether she was on the original Nadesico, but tells him to relax while she handles the imaging. Close his eyes and think happy thoughts… and off they go as well.
Back to Ruri’s team, she and Minato are over by the cemetery with Akito and Yurika’s “graves”, figuring he should be making his jump right about now. Ruri deliberately didn't see Harry off, saying that she doesn't want to say goodbye to someone she cares about a third time. Akito then shows up, much to Minato’s surprise.
Today’s the third anniversary of his, Yurika’s and Ines’ “deaths” and Ruri apologizes for not realizing what had happened sooner. It wasn’t the three of them to have died or gone missing – it happened to all of the A-Class Jumpers, the navigators, capable of relaying visual imagery to the Boson Jump core. All of them were taken by the Successors, right?
Ruri apologizes for it taking her two years to understand what happened to Akito and the others… though he says it was better that she didn’t know. Ruri confesses she didn’t want to know but the question remains: if Akito was alive, why didn’t he tell her?
Akito says there was no reason to, drawing an angry retort from Minato. Didn’t he and Yurika say they’d take care of Ruri back when they adopted her? Minato demands he apologize for the grief he caused the girl… but she stops when Akito draws his gun.
It’s not for her, mind, but for Hokushin and company. Hokushin demands he come with them, Akito’s shots doing nothing to deter him. Akito tells Minato and Ruri to run – this has nothing to do with them – but Ruri hardly thinks they can escape, given the circumstances.
Hokushin tells his men to kill the woman, but to catch the golden-eyed white fairy, product of man's craft. He muses that the Earthlings sure like playing with genetics, much like the Tekkoryu did, and tells Ruri that she’ll play an essential part in his experiments. What an honor.
Ruri puts two and two together and realizes that Hokushin and his men must have been the ones who rounded up the A-Class Jumpers. He admits this freely, saying that they’re the shadows of the Martian Succesors, committing atrocities in the name of a new world order.
This provokes an outburst of laughter from a certain hidden man, who deems their “new order” to be ridiculous. He observes that, indeed, new order may well be born at the end of destruction and chaos – birthing pains are a natural part of that process. HOWEVER! How can their new order be righteous when Kusakabe himself is not?!
Hokushin recognizes Genichirou Tsukiomi, traitor to the Jovians. He will not deny it, saying he’s left behind his comrades and his nation and is now simply a dog of Nergal; speaking of, Goat pops out from behind a tombstone and greets Minato (his ex).
Genichirou orders Hokushin to leave here, as it ought to be a peaceful resting place for the dead. Hokushin asks what will happen if he doesn't, and Genichirou says that he'll send him straight to hell.
Hokushin calls his threat and sends his mooks to attack… and they’re promptly countered and killed. The arts of the Jovian-Style Quickdraw technique are not for the use of assassins, and evil blades will not prevail against Genichiro’s Jovian Judo!
He’s about to go after Hokushin when the guy goes and Boson Jumps away – without anyone’s aid, even, which is very surprising.
Akito tells Ruri that the Successors have compromised Yurika, and that Kusakabe's all-out assault is near. That's why he has something to give her - his personal ramen recipe. Ruri, shocked, tells him she can't accept it - Akito will need it for when they rescue Yurika.
He tells her flatly that he doesn't need it, that the Tenkawa Akito she knows is dead, and wants her to have it as proof that he once lived. Ruri angrily says he’s just trying to sound cool but he tells her that she's wrong, calling her Ruri-chan at long last and showing her what hides under his visor.
Taking this from the W LP because it’s a clearer image than MX’s and I can’t be arsed to comb through the movie.
The Successors experiments messed a whole bunch with his head and body – everything’s out of whack. His sense of taste was especially destroyed and he even starts glowing like this whenever he gets emotional, like a character in some manga.
All in all, he tells Ruri that he can’t cook for her anymore and stalks off.
The Nahel Argama’s still by GEAR HQ and Operation Bagration has just entered Phase 1. Jun reports that most of the former Nadesico crew’s already present and ready to go, so Ruri asks us to set off to Nergal’s lunar base to pick up the Nadesico C.
Quattro points out that we’re very likely to run into the Giganos or Successors along the way, so we’ll need to stay alert. One hour until the Argama sets off and Bright has everyone get to their stations.
Yukina’s part of the returning crew, very happy to see Ryouko and co after all these years. She didn’t tell Minato that she was joining the C team, though, and the lady isn’t happy. Yukina chides her for trying to leave her in the dark about all this and Minato demands to know who let the cat out of the bag. Hikaru and Ryouko see Prospector’s fingers all over that.
But Yukina has school to attend, so Minato tells her to get back home right now… never mind the fact that summer vacation’s on? All optional summer activities were cancelled ever since the MU’s flying cities showed up, too.
Whatever, get back home! Goat cuts in and argues with that Minato that there's a very good reason for having Yukina along. As sister of the Martian hero Tsukumo, she might well be a target of the Successors if left unguarded.
That quickly stymies Minato, so Ryouko tells everyone to get ready to start working.
Prospector and Hou Mei are watching the departing Argama from afar (a shift in perspective to the chef), a hidden girl greeting the two of them. It’s been a long time. Prospector explains to Hou Mei that he asked said girl to stay on Earth to help with a separate mission. Why don’t they all go together?
Cut to Hoshimi, the Chips are noticing that Subaru’s been in a bad moon recently – is it because the Ogre’s pilot ran off? Witter thinks so, what with Hokuto having been the closest thing he had to a friend.
Zero walks over and asks if something’s the matter. Of course there is – didn’t he say that Hokuto had been reborn? So how did he go and recover his memories?! Zero admits he made a mistake in his assessment. A failure, yes, but there’s no point in crying over spilt milk.
That does nothing to stop Subaru from missing Hokuto and Zero quietly sees that the kid is losing utility – and time is running short. He turns to Subaru and says he’ll personaly see to the next mission, the only way to deal with the Dendoh and Ogre now being to destroy them as enemies.
Subaru stops him, though, and says he’ll handle it. If the Ogre needs to be destroyed, then he wants to do it himself. Zero slowly acquiesces.
Location: Giganos’ Mobile Fortress
Everything’s in place for the Successos and Kusakabe tells Dorchenov that they’ll be executing Plan Kou tomorrow at midnight. Dorchenov asks and Kusakabe confirms that, indeed, they’ve the Boson Jump system fully under their control via Yurika. Dorchenov muses how the captain of the ship who ended the Lizard War is now going to sow chaos across the Earth Sphere. How deliciously ironic.
The plan is for the Successors to warp their forces over to all major government buildings across Earth; the MU’s appearance has sown disorder across the Federation and its troops, so they have the perfect opportunity to take them all down in one blow. When that happens, it’ll be simplicity itself for the Giganos to turn this war around.
There’s still a problem, however: the Magnate Ten. Kusakabe’s spies have reported a new Nadesico-class ship being readied for our use.
And how is that a problem, asks Dorchenov. The Hisago Plan and the Martian ruins are under the Successor’s control and our folks have no A-Class Jumper. And not even the Zeorymer could warp all the way to Mars, so the Successors’ victory is guaranteed, no?
Still, Kusakabe wants to play it safe and asks Dorchenov to take out both us and the new Nadesico. Well, he WAS planning on doing that sooner or later… but what’s in it to him? Kusakabe says he’ll be sending Dorchenov some Shishikis as compensation.
Now that’s better. Dorchenov says they’ll attack ahead of the Successors and tells Kusakabe to not screw things up. For their new world order, etc, etc.
As the call ends, Dorchenov is glad to see that holding the line and biding their time within the Shoal Zone has paid back dividends. A mook reports that Federation troops are massing at four sectors, which Dorchenov figures means they’re preparing to attack both here and the Vegan base.
As for the Magnate Ten, we’re about to head up into space and, presumably, join up with those troops. Nergal’s factory is inside the lunar demilitarized zone, so we’re likely to head straight there. Dorchenov tells the mook to send forces to cut us off AND to include certain mass-produced units into the group.
The mook points out that the units aren’t fully debugged yet but Dorchenov doesn’t care if it means destroying us. Which means they’re also going to use “her”, a certain person Dorchenov looked for as a secret weapon against the Dragonars.
He figures the next battle will be over quickly. While the Federation can manage fighting a war on many fronts, they’ll crumble under the Successors’ Boson Jump-powered pin-point attack. After that’s done, they’ll simply need to exorcise the Jovian ghosts inhabiting Mars.
Dorchenov goes visit the captive woman, glad to see that she’s doing well. He’s got a request to make of her, one he insists he fulfill, in order to bring about a speedy end to this conflict. You see, he can tell that there is a MAJOR difference in force between his side and the Federation and that doesn’t sound like a battle he wants to have. Thus, he wants her to act as their spokeswoman and call for a truce with the Federation.
The woman asks what Dorchenov is really after. Why did he feel the need to take her from the POW camp and bring her here? Oh, there’s no hidden agenda here whatsoever. He honestly just wants her to get in touch with the Federation and request a cease-fire.
As the air-traffic controller to the Alucard Space Colony, her voice is quite well-known and has this note of elegance to it. That is why she, Aoi WAKABA, is perfect to relay this message.
Mission 45 – Dearest
We’ve just made it outside Earth and Bright asks for a sit-rep on Bagration. Meg says it’s already up to Phase 2, with troops taking up their assigned positions in those four sectors. Misato would like for the enemy to keep their attention focused on those guys and not on us but Ruri isn’t hopeful.
All this time, WE have been the ones always playing bait for the enemy, so it’s very unlikely today’ll be any different. Torres asks Misato to stop or she’ll jinx us. Minato offers to relieve him if he’s stressed out – she’s quite experienced. At what? Hmmhmmhmm…
Goat cuts Minato’s games short, explaining explains she worked as the Nadesico A’s navigator. Furthermore, he asks her to avoid unnecessary chit-chat while everyone’s on alert. Quattro, meanwhile, suggests Bright already have our guys on standby to deploy immediately – the Successors could attack at enemy moment by using their Boson Jump.
Speak of the devil, Linda pings enemy troops right ahead. No Boson Particles detected, though: it’s the Giganos. They’ve sent quite a handful of troops despite the fact that they’ve only so much still intact.
Jun figures they’ve realized that we’re crux of Bagration or, Saburouta posits, they simply have a big score to settle with us. Add all that the fact that we’re headed to pick up the new ship and that’s a target they can’t well ignore, Hikaru sighs.
Bright sends everyone out and Kaine sniffs at the Giganos figuring they can stop our advance by just throwing a mob of mooks at us. One of said mooks, however, gets in touch with HQ and reports that the D-1’s been spotted. “That” operation will begin as soon as reinforcements arrive.
Pretty much a breather mission – these Giganos mooks got a slight HP boost but are easily twoshotted even by our weaker attacks.
Roux didn’t level as much as I wanted last mission, so I also brought her for this one.
There really isn’t a lot of strategy here. Most enemies have shields, so just have people buddy up to dispatch them.
One thing to note is that, with the Nadesico out, the Aestis won’t be getting recharged.
So don’t go too crazy with the Distortion Fields.
Judau and Camille both nab a couple of kills while everyone else closes in like a tsunami upon the trembling Giganos mooks.
Enemy Phase!
All these Gebais try and fail to hit Camille.
Same on the other side, with Akira and Hugo.
Player Phase!
Over here, dark voices at the corner of my mind are already screaming “nuke them, nuke them, nuke them!”
I’ll refrain from doing so, however, because Masato has been hogging too many kills recently. Despite his late entry into our team, last mission he overtook Ginga as my top ace.
Bright, Hugo, Akira and Kaine go hunting for the Gebais left weakened.
Quattro assumes the standard “I will shred every mook in a nine-yard radius” position, while Hokuto follows up on his initial work.
You may notice that we’re already knee-deep in the enemy’s second wave and it is still turn two. This is a BREATHER mission… likely an act of mercy, face what’s coming next.
I had half a mind not to deploy Rom today but then I promptly suppressed that part of me.
It was clearly heretical. Also, these Deins have baaaaarely enough HP to survive a crit from him, so Ryouko takes it.
Other side, Camille learns Soul after bonding with Judau over slaughtering not-zeeks.
Enemy Phase!
Attack Quattro, jerk!
Psh, fine. The Dollas up top play ball, though, getting dunked straight into the red.
The other side gets clever and snipes at folks.
Player Phase!
Anyone wanna try their luck?
Right side is trying its best to catch up.
This one’s for Light.
Weakened stuff by Quattro.
Dead, dead, dead. Quattro, meanwhile, joins Rom up top.
As does Masato, though he pulls the oneshot those two couldn’t get.
Last Dein.
All gone.
Enemy Phase!
: Hokuto…!
: That Knight… Subaru?!
: And Zero, too…!
: Bah, at the worst possible time!
: Go on, Master Subaru… Hokuto and the Dendoh are yours to fight, as per your request.: I know. Don’t interfere with this, Zero.: Of course. I shall remain here and observe.: Subaru… why?
: Whad’ya mean “why”?! He’s one of the Gulfer, that’s why!
: B-But…! He’s human, just like us!: But he’s still on the enemy’s side! Did you forget what they did to you?!: …
: Come, Hokuto! Fight me!: Subaru…!*Hokuto moves towards him.*
: Hokuto?!: Sorry but I gotta ask you guys to let me handle him!
: Say what…?!
: (I’m sure he’s being controlled by the Gulfer, just as I was…! So I need to find a way to save him!)
While we kill everything, now we need to reduce the Knight Legacy below 30%. Pretty simple, considering Subaru’s low defenses.
Hokuto could actually do this by himself (with Iron Wall) if he had a Cellbooster nearby.
Rom now has morale, so he wrecks all Dollas up top. Hugo gets the last one below and that’s the last of them.
: We’re detecting heat signatures up ahead! Estimated to belong to large Metal Armors!
: “Large Metal Armors”?!
: Gck! Those're!: That Gilgazamune thing Gon Jem piloted, right?!
: They’ve mass-produced something like that…?!
: I see how it is… Those are their aces in the hole.
: But the fact that they’ve deployed them to deal with us shows how desperate the Giganos are.
: Yeah. And while they’re a big pain in the ass, it’s nothing we—*Beep!*
: Captain! We’ve an incoming transmission from the enemy!
: What…?! Put it through!: Roger!
: Soldiers of the Federation Army… this is a message from Commandant Dorchenov…
: ?!: A woman…?: (N-No way…!)
: Hey, Light… you getting the feeling you heard that voice before?: Now that you mention it…: The Commandant does not desire any further conflict. We are willing and prepared to hold talks to establish a truce.
: What, now they wanna talk truce?! You gotta be kidding me!
: … It’s likely safe to assume that this is some sort of ruse.
: Hm. Something to stall for time until the Successors are ready to take action.: We are ready to welcome anyone who does not wish to carry on fighting face this announcement. I repeat… (That voice… m-mom…?!)
: I remember now…! That voice kinda sounds like your mom’s, right, Kaine?
: N-no! Hell, no!: But didn’t she go missing after our escape from the Alucard Colony? What if she—
: Tap!
: Oh… S-Sorry…!
: …: Torres, what is the enemy doing?
: Currently holding in battle formation. Not exactly the stance I’d expect from those calling for a truce but…
: So it really just a play by them…?: Rose, get in touch with GHQ and ask them to advise.
: Y-Yes, sir!: (What the hell is going on…?!)*Beep!*
: (Huh? A private transmission…?!)
: …Kaine Wakaba… Kaine Wakaba, do you copy?: Who is this?!: It doesn’t matter who I am. More important is whether you heard the transmission just now.: What?! Did you actually—…!!: Yes, we did. Your mother is currently a guest aboard our mobile fortress.: !!: And if you value her life, you’ll surrender and bring you Dragonar to us.: Bite me! What kinda proof you got that my mom’s actually there?!: Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you. Surrender… your sweet mom is waiting for you.*Bloop.*
: Damn…!!: Hey, Kaine! Something wrong?!: (Urgh… goddamn it…!!): The enemy Metal Armors are on the move! They’re engaging us!: So it was just a ruse! All troops, engage!! (What… what the hell am I gonna do?!)