Part 78: Mission 44 - Revenge of Cronos - Part 1
By the Demon Castle, Hokuto is bothered by something - he thinks he's met the Chips somewhere before. Absolute and Gurumei stammer a nondescript denial, though Witter nearly talks of their run-in at GEAR HQ just yesterday.
He’s stopped just short, though, the other Chips reminding him of the memory rewrite the kid underwent – if they said the wrong thing, it’s possible for the whole thing to come undone. And if that happened, Zero would certainly kill them.
Hokuto asks what they’re whispering but Witter says it’s nothing, nothing.
Subaru walks in right then, asking how Hokuto’s doing. He’s all good and Zero, also along, says they were hoping to have him take part in their next mission – the Dendoh IS a formidable enemy. Hokuto readily accepts, hoping to take the thing out for Subaru.
In exchange, he asks Subaru to come with him somewhere fun to play once the Dendoh’s gone. – it wouldn’t do to stay tucked away in this gloomy castle after the time it took to come to this green planet.
Subaru slowly agrees and Hokuto asks why he’s acting so weird today. Does he have a fever? Is that why his face is so red? N-No, he’s f-fine! Curious and curiouser. Regardless, Zero posits that Hokuto will have his chance to beat the Dendoh soon, so he asks him to be ready to sortie.
Sounds good. Hokuto vows to win this battle and then Ginga better make good on his promise. Again, Subaru quietly grunts that that’s not his name.
Location: GEAR HQ
: I see… you’re going to attack the Gyandolar HQ?
: Yes. We’ll be using the Zeorymer’s Dimensional Coupling System to get there.: And that’s where Hokuto is?
: …We think so.
: Remember what you said before. You should be able to restore his memories, just as you did mine…
: …: Only those with strong hearts can pilot a GEAR. And so the Gulfer must alter a person’s memories in order to control them… Still, you must all stand fearless. : Brother…: That said, it will not be a simple matter to restore his memories. As I’m sure you’re well aware.: I am…: A person’s memories and emotions take root and grow on a daily basis. The more time passes, the harder it’ll be to bring back Hokuto’s memories. Yet I can see that something is on your mind, Vega…: … When we raid the Demon Castle, it’s likely we’ll have to fight Hokuto... : Having to fight someone you love is never easy. I keep thinking if there isn’t anything I can do to avoid it coming to that…
: You’d fight with nothing but his wellbeing in mind, yet, you still cannot help being a mother…: Brother…: It’ll be fine… those children aren’t as frail as you might think.: …Yes.: And, Vega, could I ask you to call Ginga here?
: Ginga?: Hm. I wish to talk with him.*Few moments later…*
: What d’ya want…?: I wanted to ask how your resolve is before you departed, Ginga…
: Huh…?: Can you fight Hokuto…?
: I… I dunno… maybe…: Can you defeat him, then?
: D-Defeat Hokuto…?!: If you don’t, then it’ll be you who’ll fall. Regardless of whether it’ll be false memories impelling him, Hokuto will still be trying to defeat you.: But…!: Hokuto will have been conditioned to seek only the Dendoh’s destruction. He will not hesitate and that’ll make him a mighty foe. If you face him with doubt clouding your mind, he will destroy you and that’ll be the end of everything.: …: Steel yourself and face him, Ginga. Only you – the other of the Gear’s chosen – can bring back Hokuto’s memories. : …: That is all I wanted to say. You may go.: Alright… but I got one thing to tell you first. : I will save Hokuto… That’s what I’m going out there for, not to fight him…!*Ginga leaves.*
: I’ve faith in you, mighty child of Earth…
Later on, Masato and Miku have already entered the Demon Castle’s pocket dimension and confirm the building up ahead. Devil Saturn flips out over folks managing to find the place as Masato and Miku engage the Dimensional Coupling System to guide the Nadesico and Argama over.
The plan works like a charm and everyone’s in here safely. Deondra sniffs at them bringing their buddies along for the ride but Grujios doesn’t mind – it’ll save them the trouble of hunting us down. He tells her and Devil Saturn to draw us into the castle, whereupon they’ll destroy everyone.
Saturn is a bit queasy with taking them inside but Grujios says it’s all good: he’s already got his field set up inside, so we’ll be trapped like mice. GADESSIR!
Linda doesn’t detect any enemies around and Misato, figuring we’ve caught them off guard, suggests Bright have the ships storm into the castle. Bright and Harry are uncertain but Ruri also believes we should press our advantage. Plus, since we don’t know what might happen inside, it’d behoove us to make sure we can repair and resupply on a dime.
Harry agrees with that but says the ships’ movement inside the castle will be very limited. Still, we’ll have to make do.
Time is short, so Ruri readies a Gravity Blast to pry open our way inside…
Mission 44 – Revenge of Cronos
: We’re inside the castle! …Wait, this is!
: Wh-Where are we…?!
: This is the castle’s interior…?! It looks more like a totally different world…!
: Could this be…!
: One of Grujios’ sorceries at work?!
: Here they come…!
: Troops, deploy!
: Hmhmhm… I’m so glad you came all the way here, Rom Stoll.
: I told you before, didn’t I? I’ve returned to crush the lot of you!
: We’re gonna put this whole mess to bed today, Gyandolar!
: That’s our line! You’ll die here before ever setting foot in Lord Gades’ lair!
: What’s that supposed to mean?!: This is not the castle; rather you’re inside a field of my creation… There’ll be no escape so long as I draw breath.
: Heh… I see. So we have but to cut you down to solve this?: Thanks for the tip, man!: Fools – I told you because doing so is wholly beyond you. It is no more than a small ray of light to cling to as you sink into the abyss…: And even if, by some miracle, you actually bested me, you would fall before Lord Gades… None can prevail against him now that he’s got the Meteor Cube!
: Pshaw! You know how many folks said the same stuff before getting our boots up their asses?
: That’s especially true for those who talked smack like that – all they got was an express ticket to Loser Town.
: Not that we can’t make that happen to those who keep their mouths shut, too, mind you.
: Heheh, keep on barking, little mutts. Ashura, the nº1 commander, will be making soap out of you very soon!
: This is whaur we pay… Nae, wait, whaur ye make us pay fur all they black eyes!: Where WE make THEM pay for those black eyes, idiot!: S-Sorry, sis.
: Wow, he’s still keeping with his comedy relief act. Now that’s professionalism.
: But that’ll also be coming to an end today!: Indeed. It is here that we sever the ties that bind us and the Gyandolar together…!: Rise, phantoms of fallen commanders! The time has come for you to have your revenge!
Crapton of Fenomenas by Grujios and Deondra/Saturn, Zarios and Kasmodons by the middle, Falgos by Bug and Ashura right near us..
: Aah, Lord Gades’ power truly is glorious…! It was solely by his might that you’ve been brought back from the depths of Hell! Understood?! Set forth and bring a definitive end to Kirai’s offspring this time!: Weavers of darkness, corroders of hearts… I will not tolerate any of you to carry on your evil!: Heaven and earth, fire and water… Grant me power!
: PIIIIIIIILE FOOOOOOORMATION!!
: In the name of my father, Kirai… I shall prevail!!
Mission Objective: Destroy all enemies
Mission Failure: Vikungfu, Power Raiser, Dendoh, Cellbooster Valhalla, Nadesico or Nahel Argama destroyed.
Despite what the game would have you believe, you DO need to destroy every single enemy. Taking out the named enemies will not end the stage, despite the fact that that’s how things usually go.
To speed things up, I’d suggest splitting your teams in half: one to deal with Bug and Ashura, who are right in your face, and another to cross the map to reach Deondra and Saturn. Sending the Zeorymer that way to nuke their mob of Fenomenas is a nice time-saver.
Do note that you’re standing atop some elevated rock formations over a dark pit, so your land-bound units will not be able to reach the isolated area that Grujios is standing on.
I’m keeping Rom close by to help deal with Bug and his Stun debuff as soon as can be.
And the game registered two button presses before I could stop the AI from setting up this huge overkill of a support attack from Boss.
Guess it really didn’t like this one mook.
Chibodee’s getting exp today, teaming up with Boss for another kill.
Shinji’s part of my farside team.
I’m amused by the fact that he still repeats that he can’t run despite all the Super Robot beasties he’s been carving into sashimi.
Masato’s also headed this way, along with Hugo – they all take kills.
Quattro, of course, is doing what he does best.
I’ve the sinking feeling these Falgos will Support Defend, so…
Kaine wraps that up, also dealing some chip damage to Ashura.
Couple more kills to Domon and Kouji.
Enemy Phase!
Hey, I’ll take it.
Baby steps. Bug usually prefers to use his Double Sword when people are close, so he wastes it on Kaine.
The Zarios tangle with Quattro. It ends poorly to them.
The Kasmodons have more options.
Masato also takes a kill.
The Fenomenas and the bosses never move, mind.
Player Phase!
Get to work, Leina.
Yay!
Stray damage has been wearing down Bug, so we’ll take him down now.
Now this’ll hurt.
Bug fails to do anything against Rom’s shield.
Now to get Chibodee on our level.
Again, Bug questions what our JUSTICE has ever given us. Has it put food in our bellies? No, there is nothing to be gained with JUSTICE!
As he blows up for good, Rom tells Bug that what they’ve gained from justice is something irreplaceable.
There goes the last Falgos. We’ll deal with Ashura next turn, though I have my remaining units on this side start chipping him down.
Zeorymer’s in position to nuke the Fenomenas, so we’ll clear out the remaining mooks over here.
Our guys take out the rest.
Enemy Phase!
: The Knight Ogre…!
: Hokuto?! I-Is that really you in there?!
: Of course it’s me! Who else would be piloting the Ogre?!: Come on, Dendoh! I’m ending this today!
: Oi, you really don’t know who I am?! You’re on their side…?!: I know plenty about you! Ginga Izumo, pilot of the Dendoh – my greatest enemy!: !!: Hokuto…!
: They employed mind control, just as we feared…!
: Hmhmhm… Master Subaru. Command him, if you would.
: Hm… Hokuto, destroy the Dendoh!
: Roger that, Subaru!: Urk…!!
: Ginga!
: I know, I know! You guys hang back. I… I’ll take him on! And then I’ll bring him back to us!
Ginga can’t actually take Hokuto one-on-one, what with his new boss stats, but we’ll deal with him in a bit. Subaru and Zero will hang waaay back and I’ve no idea what happens if you actually take the fight to them (though they do have battle convos).
Regardless, the victory condition is now to destroy everything save for Zero, Subaru and Ogre – the latter must be reduced to under 10% HP.
Stuff on Deondra/Devil Saturn’s side wails on Masato, unaware of the nuke headed their way.
Hokuto is making his way over to Ginga.
Player Phase!
Time to get rid of Ashura.
The RNG bites again (15%!) and I got incredibly lucky here! At least repairing him will make for some levels for Leina.
Now for the rest:
: Taking you out’ll propel me even higher than nº1 ranked commander! I’ll be taking Grujios’ job as Lord Gades’ top officer!: Oh, one who’s taken up the powers of evil simply to sate his greed… I shall now mete out your punishment!!
Ashura explodes, crying out that he’s the NUMBER ONE COMMANDER!
Aaay, Kaine learned Soul from that.
Here goes!
Big damage on the bosses, all but one Fenomena dead (this is made very slow by the fact that these things get BIG explosion effects).
Piling damage from Kazuya and Shinji, Saturn’s already in the red.
Farewell!
: Nae wey! Ah’m the bloke called “Unkillable Devil Saturn 6”! That means things ain’t ending fur me ‘ere!: Eh?! This actually is whaur mah pairt ends?! Yer kidding, richt?! ‘N’, neixt, Ah’m gonna blaw intae a billion pieces?! : Och… Ah’m needing tae say it? Ah dinnae want tae bit…: We are the Gyandolar! WE ARE ETAIRNAAAAAAAAAAL!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euWfTiYwRB0
Enemy Phase!
Deondra’s speeding things up for me.
And here comes Hokuto.
: I can read your Kenpo like an open book, Ginga!: You’re being controlled by the Gulfer, Hokuto! Wake the hell up already!!
Ginga had invincible, so we’re fine.
Player Phase!
Another hit from Kazuya and off goes Shinji.
Done!
: Hrrmm…! Have I finally lost my edge…?! But it doesn’t matter – you still stand no chance against Lord Gades!: As we die keeping you at bay, he’s getting his hands on eternal life!
: So I’ll be eagerly waiting for all of you in Hell! Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!!
We’ll deal with Hokuto before going after Grujios.
: Open your eyes, Hokuto! Please!
: Shut up and get out of my way!!: H-Hokuto… don’t you recognize me?!
Once Hokuto’s down 50%...
: Oh, Ginga… you guys are always such muscleheads.: What?!: Then I guess I’ll just have to go with this!: Viper Drive! INSTALL!!
: Hokuto!!
: Damn it, Hokuto! STOP!!
: ?!
: Urgh…! UWAAAAAAAH!!: Hokuto?!: Aargh…AAAAAAH!!: What’s up with you, Hokuto?!: Zero, is he…?!: (The mental conditioning is faltering…?)
: What’s going on?!: These complications aren’t unexpected… Though I said he had been reborn, the memories of his human life do not simply disappear.: …: Call out to Hokuto, Master Subaru. I am certain it will help.: I understand… Hokuto, listen to me!: Aaargh!: Fight, Hokuto! Crush the Dendoh! Hokuto!!: This is your duty! Go, Hokuto!: !!: Viper Whip!!
: Whoa, is he going for the Final Attack?!: !!: Leo Drive! INSTAAAAALL!
: If this is how you want it, Hokuto, I’ll play along!
: Stop, both of you! If you fire your Final Attacks are the same time, you’ll—!: But there’s nothing else I can do! I’ll bring him back to his senses, even if I gotta knock him out first!: B-But!
: …He’s right. 
: Huh?!: Hokuto clearly reacted to Ginga’s voice when called… So if Ginga gets through to Hokuto, he should be able to free him.
: I-I can see the logic behind your theory but…!: I’m talking out of experience…!
: (Four and Rosamia…)
: He’s right. Puru Two and I are only here because of Judau’s help…! Ginga has to make him see how he really feels, just as Judau did…
: If you do that, we’re sure you’ll get him back!
: …!: Do you understand, Ginga? This battle will come down to whether your will can overpower the Gulfer’s control.: Y-Yeah…!: … Back when I was faced with a similar situation, I failed. But I know you can do this…!
: Camille…!: You must save Hokuto. If you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Alright?: Yeah! He might get a black eye or two but I’ll get him back to us!: I’m taking you out here and now, Dendoh!: (That’s it, Hokuto…! You can defeat the Dendoh…!)
: Guh…uuurk…!!: Hokuto!!: You’re still not back to normal?!: What are you doing, Hokuto?! End the Dendoh – quick!: HOKUTO!!: Gck…! GAAAAH!!: (This is not good. At this rate, he’ll… Then, in that case!)*Zero charges in!*
: UWAAH!
: Ginga!!: Now, Hokuto! Take him down!!
: !!: Beat the Dendoh… that’s my mission…! Beat… the Dendoh!!
: Stop! Hokuto!: Why, you…! CUT! IT! OOOUUUT!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOtzFYtNQ0E
: Aah!
: They’re both down?!
: Uurgh!: Damn iiiit!!
: Hokuto!!: ?!: Aargh! AAAAAAH!!: Ho-Hokuto!
: Wh-What’s going on with you?!: UWAAAAAAAH!!: Stop… stop screaming like that Hokuto…! : I’m… I’m hurting too, you know! You… HUGE IDIOOOOOT!!: …: There you go… calling me an idiot again… That’s twice now…: Hokuto…?!: I will not allow this opportunity to elude me! This is your end, Dendoh!!
: C-Crap!!
: Hokuto?!: That’s it, Hokuto! Work with Zero and destroy him!: !!
: STOP!!
: Wh-What?!: Hokuto…! Why did you…?!: Hokuto… you…!: Sorry, Ginga… looks like I gave you quite the headache…: I-Idiot…! You didn’t…!: And that’s three… still, thanks.
: Hokuto…! You’re…!
: Back to normal…?!: …We must retreat, Master Subaru.: But, Zero!: Unfortunately, he’s our enemy once more. And we’ve no reason to remain here anymore.: I can’t do that! Hokuto… he’s!*Zero moves back and grabs the Knight Legacy.*
: Zero?!: We must go.: L-Let me go! Hokuto! HOKUTO!!*Both retreat.*
: …: Oh, Hokuto…!
: Mom… I’m sorry… I—: There’s nothing to apologize… You’re safe and that’s all that matters…
: We got a lot to talk about but there’s still some Gyandolar around. So…: OK! I’ll take this chance to make up for the trouble I gave you all!