The Let's Play Archive

Super Robot Wars MX

by Brunom1

Part 61: Mission 33 (Earth Route) - Showdown with the Giant Sea Monster!


Boss and co. are passing time fishing by Nirai-Kanai… or trying, at least. Mucha sighs that they not even fishes give them the time of day. And they tried inviting every girl to come here with them: Sayaka, Jun, Hikaru, Maria, Michiru, Linda, Rose, Megumi, Mari, Rain, Asuka, Rei, Miku, Haruka, Misato and Aqua… all turned them down.
Mucha figures they weren’t too keen on cruising around in the Borot, always looking like its about to sink like a rock. Boss calls bull, saying he got a brand new propeller installed! He built the thing himself out of some Super Alloy Z… and where did he get said alloy? He stole it from the Argama’s stash, didn’t he?
Lies and slander! He simply “borrowed” some from the Photon Lab during out last visit. Hmhmm.



From TERRA HQ, Isshiki watches on with a slight bit of disdain: while Operation Moonraker HAS ended in success, the civs are taking things pretty easy, huh? Kunugi reminds him that they – and many others in our team – are fighting out of the goodness of their hearts. We’re not TERRA’s staff to order around.
Isshiki sniffs that Kunugi’s being too lenient, considering the overall situation in the world is still very complicated. Souichi argues that everyone needs time to unwind, lest they burn themselves out; considering the current alert status is rather low, he reckons people are entitled to put their feet up a bit.
A fine argument from a humanitarian point of view… but, then again, does that apply to those that aren’t Earthlings? Or, even, those who aren’t even human to begin with? Souichi slowly feigns ignorance but Isshiki tells him to drop the act. Does he honestly think he’s not privy to info regarding the members of the Magnate Ten?



That conversation is, thankfully, interrupted when TERRA’s alarms start blaring. Kim’s just received a transmission from Tetsuya, who’s been patrolling the nearby coastline: there’s an unknown, enormous object on rapid underwater approach to Nirai-Kanai!
She tells Kunugi that they’re detecting no signs of a D1 aria, so it’s not a Dolem; and since it’s headed this way, Kunugi figures they can rule out an Angel as well. From the intel provided, it seems we’re dealing with a living creature, so it might be a monster from the Hundred Demons or Vegan Empire.
Kunugi calls for DEFCON 2, to bring all defense systems online and call for an evacuation of the islands’ coast. It’s been a while since Nirai-Kanai suffered an attack, so Isshiki is eager to see if Kunugi’s still got it.

Boss’s crew hears the alarm siren and, no, it’s not the lunch signal. Kim reports the creature rapidly breaking through their lines of defense, so Souichi orders the defense systems to start firing. As the Borot crew watch the missiles strike out into the sea, the attacks reach their mark but aren’t slowing the thing down in the slightest – it’s already made it inside the bay!
That’s DEFCON 1 and Kunugi puts in a request for the Magnate Ten to launch. While Boss starts heading back to the Argama, Kim detects the underwater monster surfacing!



It’s big and it’s headed straight towards the Borot! Boss steps on the gas but the thing is relentless in its pursuit – is it trying to eat them like the Gilgilgan?! Tetsuya finally catches up and notices the floundering Borot.
Boss cries out for help and Tetsuya moves in, telling them to keep running while he gets the monster’s attention… or he would, were his Navel Missiles actually effective against it. The monster continues its beeline towards Boss and soon catches up. Boss, Nuke and Mucha can only scream in panic and the thing gobbles up the Borot whole!
It runs closer to the coastline and Kim detects an energy build-up inside it.



The monster blasts the nearby industrial island – areas #2 and 3 are ablaze. As Souichi scrambles the local firemen, Kim reports the thing submerging and it quickly leaves the area.
It’s incredibly fast despite its size and while Tetsuya reels over what happened to Boss, Isshiki inwardly sneers at this major screw-up from Kunugi.



Later, Souichi reports that after leaving Nirai-Kanai, the monster headed north where it attacked Kyushu. There’s been a lot of damage across the coast and, according to Federation scouts, it’s currently lying hidden in the sea west of Nagasaki.
What the thing actually is is currently unknown but Yumi, Saotome, Umon and the others have banded together to look for answer. Having the finest brains in Japan working together is bound to give us something, Sayaka thinks.
Kouji isn’t listening much, though, fuming about the Boss Borot’s destruction. Tetsuya’s already steeled himself to accept that the pilots are likely dead, but Kouji doesn’t appreciate it. How can he say stuff like that when he’s the one who just sat on his ass while Boss and the others got killed?!
Tetsuya’s aghast at the accusation but he WAS the one closest to the Borot, no? How the hell couldn’t he have saved them?!



Daisuke interrupts before things come to blows – bickering won’t help us beat that monster, or rescue the potentially living Boss and co. from within it. In that case, Kouji asks why are we wasting time here instead of sortieing right now? And why haven’t we called the Nadesico over when Operation Moonraker’s already finished?
Haruka says they’re now busy with another operation – odd, thinks Kaine, considering the Giganos lunar base is under Fed control. Are the Gulfer or Martian Successors up to something else? Haruka elects to explain details later but the point is we need to take care of this ourselves.
Kouji says that’s all the more reason for us to get out there NOW but George reminds him of what Souichi reported: conventional weapons, like TERRA’s or the Great’s missile, are nigh useless on that monster.

Then why didn’t Tetsuya blast it with the Great Booster instead of those weak-ass missiles? Surely that could have wrecked the thing! Maybe, maybe not – Tetsuya wasn’t about to play his ace in the hole when he didn’t even know what he was dealing with.
And Misato says he made the correct decision: from what Saotome’s found out, the monster is stuffed full of raw petroleum. Had Tetsuya blown the thing up then and there, the explosion would have inflicted tremendous damage to Nirai-Kanai and beyond.
That hardly makes up for what happened to Boss but Light figures Kouji needn’t be like this, considering how incredibly tough-to-kill Boss and co. have proven themselves to be.



Kouji doesn’t appreciate how nonchalant he is but Tap agrees: Boss, Nuke an Mucha have always made it through the worst of situations. In regards to resilience, Ben figures they’ve even got the Dragonar pilots beat. And Kouji, of all people, shouldn’t need a reminder of that, right?
As Kouji relents, Isshiki takes it upon himself to point out that, ultimately, our tardy response to the monster is what led to all this. Souichi objects but Isshiki carries on: had Tetsuya properly engaged the thing when it was first spotted, that could’ve been the end of that. But not only he screwed that up, he allowed it to reach Nirai-Kanai. That’s quite the misstep.
“Psh, you’ve got some nerv to give us sass when TERRA’s response to that thing was just as bad,” Asuka sniffs but Isshiki doesn’t care. TERRA is an anti-MU organization – it’s not their job to fight something like that.

That’s his way of telling us to go and do it ourselves, huh? Well, that’s exactly what Asuka was planning on doing anyway. Isshiki “warns” us to be careful not to get gobbled up as well; “You’d know about gobbling stuff up, eh, ‘White Snake’,” Kaine quips.
As Isshiki’s lips frown a bit, Bright tells Kaine to drop it and confirms to Souichi that we’ll deal with the monster. The Federal Army has also sent a request for us to take care of it, so yeah. Bright asks Misato to get in touch with the scientists while we head over to meet up with them on the Nagasaki area.



Watari sighs at the crazy visitor they just had over and Kunugi reports that, from what data’s been gathered thus far, the creature seems to not be an alien but, rather, a prehistoric being. Nature still has plenty of surprises tucked away, it seems.
Kunugi is ready to hazard a more specific guess, but Watari cuts him short: "the walls have ears". He tells Kunugi that this is unconnected with other events, and says that this is merely an act of God... or perhaps punishment from God.
He laments that TERRA can't fully cooperate with our squad on this one but he’s at least done everything in his power to help. Indeed, Watari was the one who brought all those scientists together so quickly… and he even saw fit to pick up some Getter Manjuu as a souvenir from his trip to the lab. Tasty.



The demons are also checking out the big monster, Brai being very surprised to see such an ancient creature. Hidler wants to catch the thing and add it to their forces but Zuril quickly speaks against it: how could they capture something that’s immune to conventional weaponry?
Plus, the earthlings seem to be having a lot of trouble with the thing… so why not simply make use of it instead of capturing? It’s pretty obvious the Magnate Ten will be sent to deal with it, so they just need to wat for us to expend our forces against it and we’ll be easy pickings.

Sounds good to Gura – not even we are going to emerge unscathed from fighting something like that. Brai gives Zuril charge of the operation, but tells him to prepare his own troops; he isn't convinced that Zuril isn't just trying to wear out the Hundred Demons' own resources. Zuril is appalled by the thought and promises to return with good news.
Brai also tells the seething Hidler to take a squad and focus on getting rid of the Getter. HAIL BRAAAAAAAAAAAAI!



Back to us, Misato and the scientists have already thought up of a way to deal with the monster, now named Dragonsaurus. Prof. Hibiki explains that, indeed, it’s not alien but a prehistorical creature that they hypothesized had been sleeping at the bottom of the ocean for millennia.
Light understands: we’re dealing with an UMA. But it looks more like an octopus than a horse (馬/uma), Sai says! No, Ayato explains it’s Unidentified Mysterious Animal, a being whose existence had never been confirmed – like the Loch Ness Monster or Yeti. Unlike them, this one is now very real and VERY resilient: when the Federation’s forces managed to blow away one of its heads, it quickly grew it right back.
Sounds very Devil Gundam-y to Chibodee but considering it’s a living being, Elvy suggests it’s closer to an Angel or Dolem.



That’s not too farfetched a comparison to make, Umon thinks. Regardless, the scientists believe they have figured out what caused the Dragonsaurus to mutate and develop those powers and that shape: it was us, humans, says Kenzo.
It’s very likely the source of its mutation has been all the oil, industrial waste and radioactive material we’re poured into the ocean over time. So, yeah, we essentially created the monster that’s attacking us. Domon recalls Master Asia’s words about how those who pollute nature would eventually get their due.
Still, that changes not what we have to do. When Shinji asks, Misato says we’ll be moving to destroy the Dragonsaurus which will be lured to a small island by Federal troops. How? Saotome explains that it seems to react to certain sound waves, so they slapped some sonic devices onto the feds’ fastest ships.

After the Dragonsaurus is near the target island, we’ll get it snared in an ultra-elastic net and hopefully keep it immobilized enough that we can finish it off. It’s an aquatic creature, so Misato figures its movements will be sluggish on land.
Shinji’s worried about the oil inside it – won’t it explode? No, the skirmishes the Federation’s had with it have shown that it won’t, so long as you don’t do TOO much damage all in one go. And, regardless, the island we’ll be using has been abandoned since the Second Impact, so we have nothing to worry about.



Daisuke asks about how we could try to save Boss and there’s only one way Misato sees: once the Dragonsaurus is snared, someone will need to go inside it… on foot. That’s crazy dangerous but we can’t risk sending a mech in, lest a random spark ignite the oil.
And who will actually be going in there? Miku has volunteered for that job. Everyone does a double take but she argues she’s best suited for the job. Allenby doesn’t understand – why not a Gundam Fighter like them? Miku says she’ll be fine, as she has… unique training for stuff like this.
That’s the outline for the mission, so Misato tells everyone to stay on yellow alert. They’ll begin as soon as the Dragonsaurus is being lured. However, there is one last thing: Bright’s calling Kouji and Tetsuya over to the bridge.



Saegusa and Linda report that the Nahel Argama’s almost at the operation site and the net’s already in place. The Federation’s already started luring the Dragonsaurus, so everything’s going as planned. The Mazinger pilots come in, Bright saying he wanted to have a talk with them just to be safe.
You see, this operation hinges on our attacks being well coordinated, so any ill feelings prowling the minds of our people could put it all at risk. Yes, he’s talking about Kouji and Tetsuya.
Before Bright can continue, however, a transmission comes in. It’s using our squad’s own codes but it’s too close to be the Nadesico team.



It’s Boss, live from the belly of the beast! Rose confirms the signal coming from the Borot and Boss is a bit insulted Kouji thought he and his crew would get dropped that easy. The Borot’s totaled, though, so he still needs us to come pick them up.
Tetsuya promises that we’ll get them back safe – and he’s not one to make empty promises. Sounds great to Boss, and though the transmission breaks right then, at least we know they’re alive and well. Now we gotta go and make good on that promise.
Kouji apologizes to Tetsuya for what he said but that’s not important right now – the priority is working together to rescue their friends and wreck the Dragonsaurus.
Seems to Bright that he needn’t make that lecture, so he orders everyone to battle stations.



Mission 33 (Earth Route) – Showdown with the Giant Sea Monster!



We’re already in position, with Kenzo having put the finishing touches to the net trap – Umon has the trigger. Saotome has equipped one of those sound wave generators onto the Getter, so it should have the Dragonsaurus’ undivided attention. Now we wait for it to be brought closer to us.
Misato gives a quick review of the operation, pointing out the trapped area, and Benkei suggests Ryouma let him handle leading the thing since it IS an underwater monster. Sounds good.
Everyone else’s job will be to make sure the beast doesn’t veer off the right path, though we are discouraged from attacking it too much lest it put the Borot at risk. Once the thing’s trapped, Miku will head inside and rescue them. Once everyone’s safe, we can safely blow the thing up.

Linda gets a call from the Federation and it looks like our guest is arriving, so Ryouma flips the sound wave generator on. The thing’s quite impressive to our folks – huge and Boss, Nuke and Mucha are waiting inside.
Kouji tells them to hang on as we’re coming to give them a lift.



Mission Objective: The Dragonsaurus moves onto the target area
Mission Failure: Any Toei bot or the Nahel Argama destroyed OR the Dragonsaurus falls below 90% HP.

There’s no reason to attack the thing at all – it will ALWAYS make a beeline for the Getter. It also can’t move worth a damn, so you’re in no risk of it running them down. Send the Getter to lure it more along the corner-ish of the map and try to get it aimed at the target area at an angle.
If need be, do what we did for Ragou and build a wall to limit its path. This is far easier (and slower) than the Gulfer beastie, though.
Oh, and as you can see, this mission is pretty much all water, so make sure your land-bound units like the EVAs, Zeorymer and Gundams have some sort of adaptor.



Dragonsaurus
Pilot Skills:

Big blob of HP with decently powered attacks. Its longest range is 3-7, so make sure the Getter is always farther away than that. Its defenses are surprisingly small, though it is accurate.

The Getter sets out towards the Dragonsaurus but everyone else heads north-northwest, because…



Enemy Phase!



Linda pings a bunch of Demon and Vegan units coming right over –as inopportune as ever. Kaine wonders if they’re here to try and capture the thing but Masato figures they might be looking to blow us up along with it. Cowards!
Zuril is glad to see we’re not having an easy time dealing with the monster and Hidler sends his troops forward – he’s not about to let the Vegans steal the glory of this victory from them. Jigura’s annoyed with the guy’s attitude but Zuril tells him that once Grendizer is defeated, anything could happen.
Jigura knows what he's talking about, and is looking forward to a bit of demon extermination himself. Still, they’ve a job to do first: all in the name of claiming this green planet as their new home!



The Dragonsaurus and smaller mooks start moving forward. A few Vegans are seemingly headed after the monster, mind, so we’ll want to intercept them.
Don’t wanna risk some stray shots pushing it below 90%.



Player Phase!



Let’s get to work.






Slapped a Minovsky Craft on the EVA-01, so nothing can stop Shinji now.
Duke and Kaine also take Midifoos.



The bigger annoyance here are the shield-bearing demon and Vegan bots. They all have some five charges which means you’re more likely to kill them before wearing all them down. Either way, it leads to your kill per attack ratio dropping and slows the mission down.
Can you imagine it in MXP?



Double attacks are king and, following Elvy, Domon takes out the first demon.



Enemy Phase!



While Domon takes another kill and weakens the rest of that batch of demons, the Gilgils go for Hugo.












He gives back a lot more than he takes. No kills, though.



Player Phase!



The Dragonsaurus roars and, surprise, it can actually levitate – a flying octopus, Sai gapes!
Well, we still need to get it into the target area so Misato tells the Getter Team to just keep at it. And quickly, too, lest the enemy reach it.



With that in mind, Sai zips all across the map to start reaching the distant enemies.








The Jinjins seem to prioritize whatever’s close but the Midifoos will always go for the Dragonsaurus.



Ooh, perfect.



Ahahahah!








With valor, that’s a kill and everything else very weak.



Support Attacks are very recommended against the shielded guys now.



Zuril’s annoyed by our resistance BUT they’re not withdrawing that easy today. Deploy everything!
This is not helping things at all – they’re really set on screwing this up for us, Duke sees, sending even their more recent model of monsters. Doesn’t matter to Tetsuya: we’ll just take them all on at the same time!



Do remember that the Grangens can support defend.






Uurgh, this is taking too long.



And if you’ve watched my LPs before, you know my mook-patience wears thin quickly. I’ll just leave the Zeorymer right here…



Meanwhile, we’ll work on whatever hasn’t shields.










Kouji finishes it off.



Aqua and Tap take two of Domon’s targets.



Enemy Phase!



All the northern ones choose Light.










Yeah, whatever.



Sai trade blows with a surprisingly accurate Jinjin, though that triggers his Super Mode and Prevail. He won’t be getting hit again.



Ohohoho…










All the southern enemies do this, giving Masato some nice morale.



Player Phase!



Send Allenby and Hikaru up here to speed things up.






And to keep giving Masato morale.



Here’s what I think of your shield.










Commander’s guaranteed crit effect tears through them.



Move some folks outta the way, protect the rest.










M-m-m-monster kill.



Now it’s a much easier clean-up.



Enemy Phase!



Oh, you.












Haven’t upgraded this thing since the start of the game and it’s STILL getting 0% chances of being hit all around.



One of the two remaining saucerbeasts.










That’s half it health.

The Dragonsaurus is almost at the target area, so we’ll start pulling back to meet it next turn.
The last couple mooks are easily dispatched and I don’t care to take on the bosses since I’m not keeping this path.



Player Phase!



That is, until Hidler decides to get clever and come after me.








You think you can try me without even knowing Prevail?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8DGcEGP_iU
Red Squad – snapping at protagonists three times faster!








Bright finishes him off.



BRAI TAITEEEII!


Enemy Phase!


At length, we finally get the Dragonsaurus in place… though he does take a potshot at an unprotected Tap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRhEW85_8BM
We’re still good.




With the target in place, Umon flips the switch and our net successfully immobilizes it. At Misato’s signal, Masato brings Miku over to get inside.
He tells her to be careful and to come back safely with Boss and the others – Miku promises she’ll take care of it and off she goes. Now we need to hold our ground until she comes back out, though we still cannot do too much damage to the Dragonsaurus. Not yet.

Jigura and Zuril are slowly trying to reach our folks but their range is too much crap.


Player Phase!

: Oh, no! The net is already giving out!
: The Dragonsaurus is tearing it apart?!
: Goddamn, that thing’s crazy strong!
: And Boss’ team still isn’t out?!
: They’ll be fine, Kouji – have faith in Miku!

*ROAAAAAAR!*

: The Dragonsaurus is in pain?!
: Is the Borot moving along its insides, maybe?



: Ah! The Borot!
: Aay, the Borot’s out – like a Boss!
: Not the time for that!
: Miku, anyone, please respond!
: Heya, fellas! Kept you all waiting, huh?
: Boss!
: Oi, you knucklehead! You have any idea how worried we were?!
: Sorry, sorry! And thanks, too!
: Boss, I’ve given the Borot’s engine some emergency repairs but it’s in no condition to fight. Head to the Nahel Argama ASAP!
: Sh-she’s right! We’re gonna get eaten again if we stay here!
: Yeah, I hear ya! Give this thing one for me, guys!

*The Borot retreats.*

: Good job, Miku. Come back to the Zeorymer as soon as you can, please.
: Hmhmm. I’m on my way.
: The Borot’s been successfully retrieved!
: How’s the net holding?!
: I-It’s not! The Dragonsaurus is escaping and taking flight again!



: I-It’s regenerated all damage!
: Now the real fight begins …
: Get to it, people! Take that thing down!
: Roger!
: It is all in your hands, Duke Fleed… and Magnate Ten…!
: If human civilization is responsible for birthing this creature, then its destruction is the duty of that which embodies the collective knowledge of mankind… your Super Robots!
: And you may count on us!
: We promise we’ll put a stop to its rampage!
: Kouji, Tetsuya, Ryou!
: Yeah!
: Now we show them all…!
: Our combined power!!





: W-whoa… I can feel their Chi all the way here.
: Hm. Even our Shuffle Alliance Attack would have a hard time matching that.
: They’ve brought their full might to bear. We’d do well to not be left behind by them, no?
: Heheh, you got that right!
: Nahel Argama to all units: fire everything you’ve got at the target!
: C’mon, sea monster! Open your eyes and see what Earth’s Ultimate Robot Army can do!!








: If humans did bring the Dragonsaurus to life… then is it our world really alright the way it is?











: Forgive us, Dragonsaurus… I believe you once wanted nothing to live in peace at the bottom of the sea…
: But now that you’ve bared your teeth at mankind, we’ll have to endure your bite and turn it to pieces!







: This is the result of all the pollution humanity’s imposed on nature…!
: Still, I now take a vow to never allow a tragedy like this creature’s to be repeated!













: C-Can an EVA actually fight against something this big…?!
: This thing’s like a wild animal, idiot! Let it smell your fear and it’ll gobble you up, too!









: We keep cutting its heads and it just grow right back! What kind of monster is this?!
: When dealing with snakes, you just need to lop off its head to kill it. In this thing’s case, I reckon the actual head is the one in its abdomen! That’s where we attack, Aqua!













: It was my screw-up what let you eat Boss and his friends …!
: It’s time I made up for that, Dragonsaurus!







: The Super Robot Army’s bringing its A-game for this! Grit your teeth!









: Let’s do this, Dragonsaurus! If you’re set on attacking, we’re not gonna back down!







: Brace yourself, beastie! We ain’t letting no rampaging monster roll all over us!







: Masato… there were so many ships and skeletons inside this monster…
: And that’s all because humanity’s polluted our waters…
: That may be true… still, if we allow the Dragonsaurus to carry on…
: I understand! We don’t have a choice anymore – it has to be stopped!





: Sorry, Dragonsaurus… It was likely humans who made you like this…
: But we can’t let you be if you’ve started hurting humans back…!
: So we’ll face the weight of your anger and put an end to it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhqgSIO7VQ
Captions available because why not?




And that’s the end of that – seeing the Dragonsaurus fall, Zuril wisely calls for a general retreat. Misato sighs that we’ve managed to pull through this one but Haruka and Hayato don’t feel too good about this victory.
Benkei agrees, as it’s not like the thing started its rampage because it felt like it. In a way, Rain and Domon point out, the Dragonsaurus might’ve been the true victim here – an emissary of nature sent to punish humanity.
We can’t let something like that happen again and that’s another reason why Duke wants this conflict to end ASAP. We’ve a duty to do so in order to safeguard Earth’s future and its environment.

Parts earned today were a Shuffle Crest and a Repair Kit.

Also, here are some convos we didn’t get with the other bosses:

: Playtime is over, Duke Fleed! I’ll be taking your head back with me today!
: Come try! However strong an evil stands before me, I will not be defeated!

--

: This won’t end the way it did before, Duke Fleed!
: Zuril, was it? Looks like you’re fighting in earnest today!
: Our time is running short! You’ll all die here and Earth will belong to the Vegan Empire!

--

: Are you trying to use the Dragonsaurus to destroy us…? Talk about pathetic, Hidler!
: Fool! We’ll use whatever means to claim victory – that is how we do battle!


There’s still one last mission in this route split but, in truth, it’s pretty much identical on either side. With that in mind, I’ll simply run the Moon version and add in anything of note that’d be on this side.
So, we’ve all but officially wrapped up the last route split in this game – it’s a straight shot to the end now.

And I’m still sitting on a whole lot of money, so I figured I’d max out a unit with it just for kicks. So, I ask you: which unit do you want to make HUGE?

Mind you, your answer must be limited to one of these units as I don’t want folks forcing me to waste cash upgrading stuff like the Megarider:

I didn’t include the Borot because I’ve other plans for Boss. Ryouko or Hikaru aren’t here because I don’t really like the idea of only deploying ONE of them (same with the Purus)… and because I’ve the sinking feeling that if I allowed Izumi, you’d vote for her. And then I’d have to lock the LP forever.

This vote’ll be open until the next mission is posted, so that should be about 48-72 hours.

Get to it!