Part 25: Mission 15 (Chongqing Route) - Bond Upon Twin Wings
Location: Skull Moon Base
Balendos has good news for Gandal: he’s found the Grendizer’s Achilles’ Heel! Plus, Jigura, a top member of King Vega’s royal guard, has been sent all the way from the homeworld to exploit it.
Jigura wants to cut the introductions short, not caring much for all the formalities. And he brings news that the King isn’t too pleased with the lack of progress on Earth; thus, he was sent over to bring about a definitive end to the Grendizer. Of course, he is also personally elated for the chance to cross swords with such a strong opponent.
Balendos is pleased his subordinate hasn’t changed in the slightest and, indeed, he’s read the data on the Grendizer. For a so-called “invincible” bot, it has quite the fatal weakness. He won’t tell Bracky what it is, though, figuring it would go right over his pinhead.
As Bracky fumes, Balendos tells Jigura to get to it – they already know where their foe lies.
Back in the Argama, Daisuke tells that Umon has just finished some support unit to the Grendizer and he wants to go pick it up before we head to Chongqing.
Bright’s a bit queasy with letting him go by his lonesome, especially since our forces are currently reduced but Misato argues that the RahXephon will be joining up with us soon. Furthermore, she figures adding the new support unit to our forces will also help cover the momentary decrease in power.
Daisuke requests Bright’s approval, adding that, if things go south with the Spiral Castle offensive, the Grendizer and “Double Spazer” will be able to mount a counterattack and rescue the kids.
Fine, Bright agrees BUT he wants the Mazinger and Getter Teams to accompany Daisuke.
Kouji's ecstatic to hear that the Double Spazer is finished. When Asuka asks, he explains that it’s meant as a support unit that can combine with the Grendizer just as the regular Spazer – and the Dragonars’ Lifter, as Light points out – does.
Of note is how the transformation time with it is much shorter than the regular thing. And off goes Daisuke to pick it up, with Asuka prodding Kouji not to waste time and get captured again.
Cut back to the bridge, Torres reports to Bright that the RahXephon’s already en route – a scant five minutes away from us.
Sounds good, so he asks Misato to welcome the TERRA team aboard.
And that, she does, introducing herself to Haruka as they arrive. Curiously, they have pretty much the same positions within their respective organizations. What about their age? They don’t say it out loud, closing it to whisper to each other.
Shinji watches from afar, wondering what they could be talking about. Sharing lessons learned over the years, Rei wonders? But, yes, Haruka and Misato confirm that they’ve the same age (29), much to their mutual amusement. “And would you, by any chance be…” Misato asks and Haruka completes the sentence: “A drinker? Absolutely.”
Akira looks on, laughing at the two hitting it off in record time, though Shinji seems a bit taken aback (I’d wager he’s wondering how he’ll survive having two Misatos around).
Megumi raises her voice, asking if Haruka isn’t going to introduce her and Ayato. She forgot all about them with her new BFF, so the kids shrug and introduce themselves; Megumi, additionally, will be serving as another of the Nahel Argama’s operators.
When Ayato names himself the RahXephon pilot, Akira seems rather surprised. That goes both ways, when Akira says he’s the Raideen’s. As they stare at each other, Misato and Haruka figures they’re already getting along.
“You call that ‘getting along’? They both just look shocked to me…” Shinji says and Megumi agrees. Well, Haruka figures everyone’ll have a chance to know each other from this day onwards. Misato looks forward to it.
Location: Space Science Institute
Someone’s sneaking around the place, feeling a strong response from the Fleed royal pendant – the Grendizer has to be here.
“My mother, father and brother are long gone… It falls on me to recover the Grendizer, the guardian of Planet Fleed, from the hands of these demons!” the person proclaims.
Elsewhere, our people are checking out the Double Spazer. It’s rather smaller than the Spazer proper but Kouji says that, in turn, it’s a whole lot more agile. They’ll be doing a small combination test before leaving, and Kouji tells Sayaka he’ll be piloting the thing – his teamwork with Daisuke has been pitch-perfect since his time piloting the TFO.
Sayaka prods Kouji, saying Tetsuya’ll get really bummed out if he hears that. But he’s got Jun with him, so Kouji figures the guy would have no problem with his and Daisuke’s cool partnership… And Sayaka? “Well… you have the Diana, right?” he asks, prompting Sayaka to promptly call him an idiot and stomp off.
Kouji wonders what set her off like that and Hayato figures he wouldn’t understand. Michiru feels for the girl.
But never mind that! If Kouji and Daisuke’s team doesn’t fly, how about pairing Tetsuya with him? A powerful team, Mucha and Boss think… they could probably beat all enemies by just lecturing them. Looks like Kouji, with his strong bond with Daisuke, is the only choice.
Hikaru points out that, if they’re talking bonds, she can fit that bill just as easily and announces her candidacy for the Double Spazer’s pilot seat – she will not be left in the dust by Kouji! As Kouji fails to see what’s going on, Boss objects that both protagonists are so popular when he always gets zip. Nuke figures the beauty gap is too wide to bridge here but quickly shuts up as Boss starts wringing his neck.
And where is the popular Daisuke? Hikaru says he’s with Umon, getting things set up for the test. Kouji figures he might as well head over and help too—
“PREPARE TO DIE, DEMONS!
The hidden intruder starts blasting a ray gun, cursing we, blasted Vegans, for stealing the Grendizer. Unforgivable! Boss asks what the hell, causing the girl to flip out further – we dare feign ignorance after destroying Planet Fleed?!
Hikaru stops short upon hearing that name but the girl isn’t here to talk – only to take back the Grendizer! She starts blasting Hikaru, who only barely avoids the attack. Daisuke runs over right then, blindsiding the girl and tackling her to the ground. He warns her not to move and nobody’ll get hurt.
The livid girl demands he let her go, though Daisuke won’t of course. He wants her to pipe down and explain why in blazes she went and attacked us. It doesn’t fly and as the intruder shakes about to escape his grasp, Daisuke notices the pendant swinging around her neck. How did she come to possess such a thing? Who is she?!
She’s Maria Grace Fleed, daughter of King Fleed, and that reveal shocks everyone present. So much so that Maria manages to free herself and escape, vowing to take back Planet Fleed’s guardian.
Daisuke’s dumbstruck after this, though Hayato suggests we run after. The girl might be a Vegan spy. Kouji raises the point that she yelled as though WE were the Vegans her – plus, if what she said is true, that’d make her Daisuke’s sister.
Safest option is to go pick her up, especially considering how prone the Vegans are to showing up around here and start blasting.
Mission 15 (Chongqing Route) – Bond Upon Twin Wings
Maria is up ahead, frustrated with her failure. Still, she’s not about to give up in her quest. Our people deploy right then and Duke flies over in pursuit.
Maria snaps at the “Vegan mook” to go ahead and kill her already, then. She knows all about what this hateful army did: attacked her home planet, killed her entire family and even stole the Grendizer!
Duke asks who told her all that and Maria says it was the man who brought her away from Planet Fleed – her second father. But, then, the Vegan army attacked and he lost his life as well. “And, now, I’m all alone… the last survivor of Planet Fleed. But I will not give in! I’ll take back the Grendizer and avenge my family!” Maria yells.
At length, Duke speaks up and begs her forgiveness. Maria’s taken aback as she takes a better listen to his voice, finding it rather familiar. Duke’s about to explain what’s what when…
: Mwahahaha! I’ve found you, Duke Fleed!
: D-Duke Fleed?!
: Watch out, Maria! Run!*Jigura charges in*
: Hrm! SHOOT IN—
: Oh, no, you don’t!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aol71icHrUI
: A-argh!
: Aah! The Spazer…!
: He destroyed it!: Victory is mine!: W-What…!: Hmhmhm, I’ve done my homework. The Grendizer takes a whole seven and a half seconds to separate from the Spazer and, during that time, it is nigh defenseless. And with it destroyed, its offensive capabilities are more than halved… or, in other words, you are half dead! Ahahahahaha!: Urk…! He was gunning for the Spazer from the start…?!: You’re pathetic, Duke Fleed! May you rue your accursed fate as you plummet into Hell!: Damn you…!
: He’s Duke Fleed… My brother? He’s alive?!: M-Maria, run…! Get out of here!
: Y-You’re…!: Please, go! I can’t lose my one and only sister!
: It really is you…! Brother!: Hurry up and leave! I… The Grendizer will not fall – ever!: O-OK!
Jigura’s amused that Duke, despite the situation, still finds the time to care about that girl. As Kouji starts coming over, the guy brings in a batch of troops that he had set up to deal with us.
Duke’s a sitting duck now but no one’s about to sit by and watch him be killed. Bad guy hubris takes hold of Jigura, as he decides to kick back and enjoy watching us get slaughtered by the saucerbeasts.
Mission Objective: All enemies shot down
Mission Failure: Any allied unit shot down
Simple, especially considering there are only four saucerbeasts and they’re the weakest types. Lead with Kouji, Getter and TFO, leaving Sayaka, Michiru and Boss to clear up whatever’s left. Jigura will just sit by, so we don’t even need to worry about healing Duke (he’s immobilized, FYI).
Saucerbeast Jirajira (Jigura of the Royal Guards)
Pilot Skills:
- Shield Defense L6
- Support Attack L1
- Support Defense L1
No Prevail. Yawn. He’s got fine stats and Shield Defense L6 gives him some longevity but only until you wear down his three shield charges. Then his Jirajira will melt under our Supers.
Just keep your Reals protected because he can do some not insignificant damage to them.
Let’s begin, with our most reliable unit!
Hikaru’s more evasive stats has been giving her flat 0% chances to be hit against pretty much everything.
Everyone else moves closer.
Enemy Phase!
The saucerbeasts are hanging back, through Hikaru and Kouji wreck attacking UFOs. One for her, two for him.
Player Phase!
Saved one for you, Boss.
Boosh!
Hayato and Michiru wreck two UFOs while Hikaru goes give them some EWAC. Along the way, she weakens a Gilgil.
I guess I might as well show off Sayaka’s strongest attack while I still can. She’ll either be benched or have to ditch the Diana A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzM1iSVx86w
There goes the first Gilgil.
Enemy Phase!
And I just realized I never showed Hayato’s Drill Arm. Being point-blank really limits its usability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbHWdP1PpjI
At least it’s got a cool cut-in.
The other two Gilgil’s bash their heads against Kouji.
Player Phase!
Drama dictates that, instead of steamrolling the Vegans, we’re actually on the verge of being overwhelmed. Jigura looks forward to that, as it’ll signal the moment for him to finish Duke off.
The Grendizer could fight back against the guy if it had a Spazer and Kouji asks Umon if the Double can’t be launched. It can but we’ve no one to pilot it right now. Kouji’s on the verge of retreating to hop on the thing but Sayaka points out that, if he does, it’ll leave a gap in our defenses and the lab will be in danger.
Umon’s on the verge of launching the thing on auto-pilot (a very dangerous gamble), when Maria rushes in and asks to be the pilot. She introduces herself as Daisuke’s sister and begs Umon to trust in her to save her brother; she can’t lose him after finally reuniting with him.
Fair enough, Umon agrees to it. Meanwhile, Ryouma calls Kouji over – they’ll fly to the Grendizer and just grab the thing away from Jigura’s clutches. Of course, Boss points out, that’ll leave them wide open to get blasted.
Duke tells them not to worry about him, saying he’ll find a way to get out of this mess. How, when the Grendizer can’t even move? “Kouji, my friends… take care of my sister,” is Duke’s answer. Kouji yells at Duke to stuff his cheap drama as he’s not taking it, and tells him not to throw in the towel just yet.
Especially because Maria launches the Double Spazer right then, much to Duke’s surprise.
Umon tells her to fly and rescue the Grendizer; she confirms, inwardly telling her brother to hold on until she arrives.
We now need to move Maria over to Duke but, as these things go, we can speed up the whole process by just wrecking the remaining mooks.
Double Spazer (Maria Grace Fleed)
Pilot Skills:
- Precognition – When over 110 morale, +30% to dodge rate during the enemy’s turn.
- Unyielding Spirit
- Support Attack L1
- Support Defense L1
- Focus (10)
- Cheer (30)
- Luck (40)
- Attune (35)
Gee, Duke, who come the producers let you have TWO support girls?
Maria is more offense related, though, and has decent enough stats as far as her archetype goes. Precognition, her exclusive skill, plus Focus also gives her some more survivability than most (or you can place her in the TFO and laugh as she dodges everything forever).
Granted, that’s not really important because, if you deploy the Double Spazer, it’s not to send it into combat directly. You’ll see why in a sec.
Clean up time, real quick.
There.
And, why the hell not, let’s give Benkei some time out. The Getter 3 can actually work on land, so here’s its strongest attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSh9S323zXU
Benkei and Hayato get a boost to, respectively, Prevail and Counter.
*Maria zips over to the Grendizer*
: I’m here to save you, brother!
: Maria…!
: Maria, listen closely! Your Spazer and the Grendizer can unite via the Combination Cross! It’s by executing it that you can help Daisuke!: I understand!: You can’t, Maria! If the combination goes awry, it’ll mean your death as well!: We won’t know until we try it!: But the Combination Cross is…!
: Leave it to me, Daisuke! I’ll teach her the proper timing!: What…?
: We’re used to combining with our Get Machines in under one second. You can count on us with this, alright?: B-But…!
: No time for “buts”! Have faith in Maria – she’s your sister, right?!: Kouji…!: And you just reunited with her, so you absolutely can’t screw up now!: Very well…! Let’s do this, Maria!: Ready, brother!
: Maria, keep your eyes glued to your gauges and pay attention to your relative distance!: R-right!: 3, 2, 1!: Here we go…! This is the gamble of our lives!
: 0! Now!: Double Spazer, GO!!: Scramble Turn! Combination Cross!
: Yes, they did it!
: Heheh, that’s a brother and sister for you. Their timing was perfect!: Brother! : Maria… very well done!: Hmph, clever girl. But you’ll find that even after combining with a replacement Spazer, it won’t change anything!
Benkei’s a bit intimidated at Jigura’s backup, but that’s fine. Ours is here, too.
Jigura figures its convenient that so many nuisances have popped out the woodwork and decides to actually join the fight again. Duke and Maria, meanwhile, are ready to bring the proper might of Planet Fleed’s guardian to bear.
The Grendizer with Double Spazer is pretty much a flat upgrade to the regular Spazer form. Better yet, it gives the Grendizer choices of ranged attacks, beyond the expensive Space Thunder, with the Cyclone Beam and Double Cutter attacks (the latter being 3-7 and post-movement!).
Now for the bad news: like Fuunsaiki, you’re required to actually deploy the Double Spazer solo and THEN have it combine. Considering the number of troops we have and the ever-so-limited slots, that’s a significant issue.
It’s up to you but, personally, I find that Duke’s regular Spazer serves him well enough that he can make do with just that; for instance, Duke has been my top ace since pretty much the start of the game. The enemies mostly love to get in close.
Back to work, Asuka weakens a Gubigubi saucerbeast. Since I’m apparently using this mission to showcase hitherto unseen attacks, let’s go with Mari.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrCW0TgzDa8
Shinji finishes the job.
As for this one, it’s been tenderized by Light.
I’m getting the sinking feeling that these saucerbeasts don’t know Shield Defense.
Duke’s backing off from Jigura to try and bait the guy closer. Meanwhile…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbkM2Fsp-Q
That’s beautiful range.
Enemy Phase!
Annoyingly, all saucerbeasts decide to gang up on Mari. She’s not in any danger, hiding under Light’s EWAC umbrella, but her counterattack damage isn’t too hot.
The Minifoos are not that determined, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPUfpaXd0qEvvvv
Some crash against Ayato, too. Shame that his barrier takes a while to get going, so he’s losing Shields.
Jigura plays ball and comes way closer.
Player Phase!
The Jinjins are all weakened after Mari. Just apply any other unit to push them a bit more and that’s game.
Repeat this for Akira and Bright.
Only one of those left and, uh oh, Boss has got enough morale to break out his really serious punch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISc0l8xbwWw
Perfect.
Only the Mother Burn left and its quite weak. Everyone closes in, getting ready to jump Jigura next turn.
Enemy Phase!
This is surprising. I expected him to prioritize Duke.
That’s about an even trade.
Player Phase!
Alright, one more for the road. I finally remembered to use Shinji’s MAPW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYacnM0CEeg
The problem with this is that stuff dies too fast to our melee folks for him to get a good firing angle.
At least he learns Assisted Attack L2 and we’re clear to take out Jigura.
: Hmhmhm… Powerful opponents are a dime a dozen here… Earth certainly is my kind of planet!
: This man… He enjoys war?!
: Again and again and again, baddies go and jump labs while we’re not around! You’re all a bunch of one-trick ponies!: Bite your pretentions tongue, boy, or it’ll lead you to an early grave! Let me show you!
: I’d heard much of how impressive Earth’s weapons were… so what is this pile of trash doing among them?!
: You’ve done it now, guy! I’m gonna make you regret underestimating the Borot’s power all the way to the next life!
: Boss, that’s a very “bad guy” thing to say!
: Tough luck, Vegan! So long as we’ve got its back, the Grendizer won’t go down that easy!: Fair enough! Then I’ll just have to exterminate you before destroying it!
: Your power precedes you, Getter Robo! Let’s put it to the test!: This man… he’s bursting with confidence!: I’ve come to this planet precisely to defeat the strong. You’d best not disappoint, Getter Robo!
: Do not assume you slapping those wings on means we’re now evenly matched!: Then I’ll simply have to make you painfully aware of the Grendizer’s new strength!: Hahahahaha, good! There’s no greater thrill to me than facing strong enemies!: And how many people have you victimized for that reason?! How many planets have died for your enjoyment?!: Oho, I’ve no idea! But I assume your planet was somewhere in that pile, right?: Y-You fiend…!: Laugh away, demon…! I’ll be turning that laughter into a howl of regret in due time! And that’s a promise!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRLtP3xU7WQ
And here’s Duke’s strongest move with the Double Spazer… and I forgot he had Leadership.
He also learns Faith/Friendship, a full heal at the selected target.
Notable drops today are: a Propellant Tank, Magnetic Coating and a Screw Module.
Jigura’s had some good fun today but he swears that it is only a matter of time for Duke to share the fate of his planet.
As he runs off, that’s all enemies down. Bright orders all units recovered and to settle the ship by the lab.
Maria’s so glad to meet with Duke face-to-face, though he begs her forgiveness for turning his back on everything in order to keep the Grendizer from falling into King Vega’s clutches. She holds no ill will, only happy to find him alive and well and Duke promises to never abandon her again.
Meanwhile, Akira and Haruka are pondering how Daisuke had a sister whom he was separated from for many years. “It’s tough, isn’t it…?” Haruka sighs inwardly.
Ben himself is watching the reunion and Kaine is blown away to see the hardass sergeant getting misty eyed. He’s a much bigger crybaby than Kaine would expect from someone that looks like that!
When prodded for details on what happened, Kouji struggles to hold back tears of his own and fails to answer. Hey, that’s a nice sunset!
…It’s noon, as Asuka points out.
Maria then comes over to meet with Daisuke’s friends, Ryouma giving her props for that excellent combination. All thanks to his help, she argues. She also is thankful to Kouji for encouraging her and Duke back then.
Kouji says there’s no need for that, as we’ll all be part of the same team now. And anyone that’s Duke’s friends are her friends, Maria proclaims. Kouji likes hearing that… prompting Sayaka to be confused. She tried to kill him once and he’s already getting along this nicely? “Uuurgh! Why only him…?!” Boss groans. Again, the beauty gap is too wide and off goes Boss to give Nuke what for.
Regardless, Tap and Light figure a new rival has stepped onto the stage. “Back up there, you two. Why are you looking at me?” Sayaka frowns. “You better keep your eyes open or Kouji might get hooked by someone else,” Asuka quips right back.
Challenges await Sayaka.
Didn’t Kouji actually end up hooking up with Maria instead in some manga? Mazinger Zero?
Later, Daisuke’s briefed Bright on the whole story and he’d like Maria to stay on the Nahel Argama as a pilot. Is there no problem with that? Daisuke says that, as a member of the Fleed royal family, the two of them have a duty to stand against the destructive King Vega.
Misato argues that it’d be very cruel to split apart these siblings after they finally got back together and we’ve all seen that the girl can hold her own in battle. Furthermore, Daisuke figures her powers will be useful to us.
Maria can see the future with her precognition… though, of course, it’s not the DISTANT future and she can’t use at any given moment. Still, it may let us be warned of incidents when they’re on the cusp of happening. This is an ability that about 1% of the Fleed population had.
Bright happily will permit her aboard first and foremost as Fleed's beloved sister, with the precog part as a happy extra. And, with that done, it’s time for us to start heading to Chongqing – the end of Kaine and co.’s mission awaits.