Part 3: Mission 1 - Beginning
We now find ourselves in the intermission menu, but there’s nothing for us to do here just yet.
We’ll see what each option entails soon enough.
We do, however, get to name out protagonist: Agnès “Arnie” Berge. Now, I do understand that that first name is a woman’s name, but that’s the only way I found アニエス could be read! We’ll just stick to Arnie and be done with it.
And like in previous games, when you’re in NG+, you get to pick the protag’s spirit list. I just kept what my brother used when he ran through this because I’m lazy like that: Focus, Accelerate, Sense, Drive, Soul.
We open up at the Earth Federation’s California base, where newly reassigned test pilots Arnie Berge and Jin Spencer (blue) present themselves to the base’s vice-commander, Ronin Sanada.
When Ronin asks, Jin says they’ve already been briefed on their assignment: test the prototypes that’re slated to become the Federation’s newest mainline unit.
That’s close enough, but a woman nearby says that, to put it more precisely, their job is to test said units’ – the Riots – optional gear. She is Prof. Novel Dylan, the scientist responsible for the Riots’ development.
She’ll be coordinating with Arnie and Jin in today’s test, and has done a bit of research on them. Apparently, the two pilots were famous as a duo of rivals constantly vying for the spot of top ace of the military academy. She expects good work from them.
Arnie stammers that she gives him too much credit – despite their “rivalry”, he was always second best. Novel isn’t so sure, as the reports indicate he’s a better hand at melee combat than Jin is. “Yes, well, that’s about the exception to the rule…” Arnie sighs. Novel appreciates his modesty, if anything.
Now, Jin has a quick question he’d like to ask: what can she tell them about this Proton Generator the Riots’ spec notes mentioned? It’s essentially an engine powered by accelerated particles – really cutting-edge stuff, and far more powerful than anything the current mobile weapons have.
Arnie’s surprised they’re letting them handle such amazing units. Truth be told, Ronin says that rookies like them would normally never be allowed near the things, but Novel was very insistent that the two of them got the job.
She’s read their records and their numbers spoke for themselves, so is it any surprise she wanted to see how they’d do with her units? Arnie is very flattered.
And with that done, based on analyses of their skillsets, Jin will be taking the Riot Archer Type (focus on long range), and Arnie will take the melee-oriented Battler Type. Ronin won’t be overseeing the tests, but hopes they’ll make good on their vaunted skills.
When Arnie asks, Ronin says that he received a summons from the New York HQ the other day and needs to speak as a witness before the Federal Parliament. Witness? There was an incident at Mars, and an old friend of his… No, never mind, this is not their problem.
Back to the business at hand: they’ll be running their tests at Center City, and they’d best not disappoint! Yes, sir!
: The vice-commander’s surprisingly young, huh? I was expecting to find an old man waiting for us.
: That’s one way of putting it. Maj. Ronin’s actually younger than us. : Really?: Yeah; getting picked as vice-commander for a whole base at age 18 is pretty impressive, eh? His dad’s a major player in the Federation government, too.: Talent, connections, money… goes to show that we’ve got some bona fide elites out there.: Elite, huh… : What about that professor, Novel? I got the feeling that she’s quite the elite too.: Oh, what’s this? That dame there caught your eye?: Wh-What makes you think that? I didn’t even say any—… I mean, you’re being disrespectful to the professor!: Hahahah, chill – I’m just messing with ya. But, in any case, this test today’s our chance to make it big in the army.: Yeah, you’re right. Apparently, if we do this right, we might just get drafted for the Federation’s ace platoon.: You serious? A couple of nobodies like us getting bumped to Top Gun status just like that?!: And if we did, we could even get to work side-by-side with Maj. Graham Aker…: Doesn’t hurt to dream big, right? Now, how about we get going and take our first step towards that “Top Gun status”?: Hell, yeah!
Over by Center City, school’s just ended and Joey tells Lina that he’s headed over to Prof. Denton’s place. Well, is he free at the weekend? Lina’s got tickets for the Celestial Being movie and wonders if he wants to come with.
His weekends are also busy, with both his part-time job and helping at his house… and surely Lina could find much better company than him for that. The girl huffs that he’s being silly, but…
Things are interrupted when Will shows up and tells the kid to back off. He hates losers and doesn’t want him anywhere near his sister! Lina protests that she’s the one to called out to Joey, but Will isn’t listening. Moreover, Nick (Will’s toady) notes that Joey belongs to wholly different world from the rest of them. He’d best call it quits and forget about Lina.
Will punctuates that with a punch to the kid.
Thankfully, Psy is on hand to stop things and tells Will to step away from Joey, which actually stops the bully short. Granted, Psy needs crutches to get around, and while Nick figures the guy couldn’t do jack against them, Will does as told. Mind, he also tells Joey to keep away from Lina and drags her off.
As they leave, Psy checks up on Joey and, yes, he’s fine. He appreciates the help, though it’s not like this doesn’t happen every day. “Then you gotta start fighting back some, man. They do it because you let them,“ Psy says.
Sure, that’s easy to say but what can Joey do? For one, he doesn’t like fighting, and, two, he’s a weak kid. Oi, the kid’s too nice for his own good. Either way, Joey dropped a package when it all went down and Psy goes and grabs it.
Inside, there’s this little toy robot. Joey found it broken and dumped in a trash can, but he figured he could fix it. And Psy can see that the kid’s already done a lot restoring it – by himself, even – which goes to show that, at least with this kind of stuff, Joey’s the man.
Does it have a name? Sure, Joey’s christened it “Heroman” which is pretty cool with Psy.
Cut to Prof. Denton’s lab, Joey delivers all the stuff the guy asked him to buy, but the professor quickly beckons him and Psy closer – he’s finally done it! Denton’s pretty hyped, and how could he not? All these years of research have resulted in success, at long last: he’s managed to establish contact with an intelligent alien race!
As Joey and Psy gape, Denton looks back on the road traveled: how he had to calculate the location of planets that could potentially house intelligent life, how he, despite the myriad failures, piled on with the research, perfecting his microwave transmitter, and, now, he’s finally succeeded! Yaaaay, congratulations!
Denton offers to show them the answer he got to his signal and flips a switch: “Gather… at the beginning…” Sounds like a woman speaking, but their celebration’s interrupted when there’s an explosion not far from where they are!
Psy sets out to see what’s going on outside.
Mission 1 – Beginning
x3
: Wh-What the hell are those…?!
: A-a-a-are y-y-y-ou?: We aRE the Skrugg. Are yoU tHe ONe who contacted our PLAnet?
: …?! Yes, that was me! Does this mean you received my message and traveled all the way here?!: YeS. It is aLL thaNKS to yOUr TrAnsmissION.: Oh, wonderful! Then allow me to bid you welcome as a representative of the people of Earth!: Thaaat is Not NEcesSAry. BecaUSE we... we… we-e-e-e…: Because we will be wiping this planet from the face of the universe.: Wha—!: What… did you say…?!: You, the representatives of the Earthlings, are coming with us.: Your minds will provide us with much useful information. And if you resist…
: Waah!
: Lina! What’re you doing here?!: I was worried about you, so I came back. And then…!: So there was another one? Good. You can never have too many samples.: What the… these things wanna invade Earth?!: Get back, kids!: P-Professor?!: Th-This is my fault! I must… I must do something about it! Daaaaaah!!*Denton runs up to the Skrugg… and gets walloped aside.*
: Gwargh!: Professor!: Hmph! It’s useless for you feeble Earthlings to try and oppose us. Now stand down and come with us.: N-No! Get away from me!: Damn it! Let her go!: (Wh-What am I supposed to do…?! They’re gonna take everyone!): If you have to take anyone, take me! The kids don’t have anything to do with this!: (If… If only I was more like my dad… a hero, who could protect others…!): (I need more power… just enough to keep them safe!)
: …
SRW UX - Roulette
: Aah?!
: …: Wh-Whaat?!: That toy robot… It got all huge after that lightning hit it! (3m tall! 
): Heroman… is that you…?: …!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLxXWgmD32o
“Go and beat those aliens, Heroman!”
: What… What in blazes?!: …: Heroman’s alive…?! Wow… Wow! My Heroman… he’s...!: Wh-What is that robot?! And what’s that on your arm, Joey…?: Aah…? Heroman’s controller’s fused with my arm?!: Y-You sniveling Earthlings! Now you’ll feel our full might!: Wh-Watch out, Heroman!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhH62cKDt2g
: Huh? A barrier came out of the controller? And how did I move that fast…? Since when do I have powers like this?!: Joey, you…: …: Alright… Come on, Heroman! We’ll protect everyone together!: Heroman… GOOOO!!
Destroy everything without losing any friendlies. This one’s much simpler than the past mission, as the Skrugg don’t have any noteworthy tricks.
Mind you, this is where the quintessential UX experience begins with kill tallying! What does that mean? Well, remember that I said this game was buggy? Here’s one of the nastier ones: most of the game’s secrets require you to have several hundred kills with a single character. Past games might have tricked you into believing the characters’ kill counter, but the UX kill counter LIES.
As I mentioned in the previous mission, NG+ carries over the kill count from the previous games, and those count towards increasing a unit’s Squad Bonus. What the game DOESN’T do, however, is count those towards your secrets.
You see, Heroman has a secret, which requires him to have 200 kills by the end of mission 43. However, it has to be 200 kills this game. This rule applies to every secret with a kill count attached to it, so you better open up a spreadsheet and start taking notes, because if you don’t keep a very close eye on the kills you’re getting this game, and deducting the ones you came in with, you won’t get the secret (just to be safe, deduct one added in route splits as well, as I’m not sure if those do count).
Heroman
Pilot Skills:
Prevail (底力) L3 – grants a bonus to all stats the lower unit’s HP gets. Effect increases as skill level goes up (L3 = effect starts at 30% HP, and so on).
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Infight (インファイト) L1 – increases melee weapon attack power and crit rate.
Mech Features:
Communicator Barrier – negates all damage below 3000. Costs 10 EN per use and won’t activate below 100 morale.
Spirit Commands – Heroman:
Invincible
Strike
Spirit Commands – Joey:
Accelerate – increases unit’s movement by 3 for a turn (effect persists if you don’t move).
Focus
Squad Bonus: Melee weapons’ power +100, EN +50 (melee +200, EN +100, Crit rate +15)
Heroman’s Voice Actor: Ryota Takeuchi (other roles: Jasley in Gundam IBO, Dyne in Overlord, Uesugi in Samurai Warriors and more)
Joey’s Voice Actress: Mikako Komatsu (other roles: Rose in Tales of Zestiria, Sei in Gundam Build Fighters, Kuriyo in Symphogear and a bunch more.)
It might come as a surprise, but a 3m toy is still a toy. First thing you should know is that it absolutely cannot take a hit: even with Joey’s barrier, its SS size (a small unit'll get bonuses to its hit/evade %, but it'll do less damage and take more, and vice-versa), very low HP and paper-maché armor means even mooks will only need a few good hits to down him. That said, you can get around that with upgrades and/or Squad Bonuses; if you do, his SS size becomes a boon as it makes him quite tough to hit (provided you don’t let evasion decay pile up).
On the offensive side of things, Heroman packs a decent enough punch and, like many units, will only get better as the game progresses. It won’t ever be one of your strongest units, mind, but you can certainly find a spot for him in your team – if only because his and Joey’s spirit commands are pretty useful.
Oh, and the JP wikis say that, for whatever reason (bug?), Heroman is immune to the Festum’s Mind Read and Assimilation, so there’s that.
Denton’s Lab gives a 5% bonus to evasion and defense, so we’ll set Heroman there and get to work.
SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN: Come on, Heroman! We’ll beat all these guys and keep everyone safe!: Hm…!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZZVn4ShP8
Nice.
: Y-Yooo! That white robot’s fighting the monsters that attacked the city!
: ?! Is that… Joey…?!: That loser is… No way!
A crit with Heroman Blast is enough to oneshot the Skrugg mooks, but not without.
We kill it the next turn, though. So that’s 3! 3 kills for Joey (197 to go)! Ah, ah, ah!
: Whew… we made it…
: U-Uwah! And I was just starting to think we’d taken them all out!: Tsk, those aliens called their buddies over!: N-Now what?! There’re too many of them!
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit
: Th-This is…?!
: For real…? An actual group of alien invaders?!*Bleep.*
: The situation’s grim, as you can clearly see. It’ll still be a while before the regular army arrives at your location. : Do you two think you can use the Riots and stall the enemy until the civilians have escaped?: Y-Yes, ma’am! Ensign Berge, Riot B – mission acknowledged! We’ll divert the enemy’s attention!: Mind you, there is plenty we do not know about their capabilities. Do be very careful out there, understood?: Ensign Spencer, Riot A, roger!*Bloop.*
: Okay… fighting these Irregulars wasn’t in the plans, but our prototypes are still carrying live ammo! Let’s go and give ‘em what-for!: H-Hey, hold your horses, Jin! We were told only to stall the enemy, no?! We should avoid engaging them as much as—: What’re you on about?! Look at Maj. Graham. He built his career on fighting and winning! : But…!*One of the Skrugg’s goes after Joey and Heroman!*
: Ah-Aaaaaah!: ?! Get back!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNsTho2IptI
“It’s a soldier's duty to keep the people safe!”
*Jin flies on over as well.*
: Hey, that was pretty good, Arnie!: I-I didn’t have a choice there – the civilian was in danger…: Listen, whatever reason works for you, we’ve got a major opportunity here! Just follow my lead!: Jin…: Joey, let the army handle this! We need to get outta here!: B-But…!: Why’re you just sitting there? Come on, Joey!: The Heroman has all this huge power in it… and so do I!: I was too weak to do anything before… but I’m not anymore! So, I…!: Joey…: In that case, you got a decision to make. Only you can say what it is that you want to do, yeah?: ?! You’re right… Thanks, Psy.: I’m staying and fighting! I’ll work with those soldiers and protect Center City!: Come on! Heroman, GOOO!: (There’s nothing in our database about that white robot… Is it a civilian defense system…?)Alright, now we got 9 more Skrugg soldiers, but they’re absolutely no threat to our three units.
Riot B (Arnie Berge)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Counter
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Accelerate
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
10% EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Melee weapons’ power + 100, Mobility +5 (Melee weapons’ +200, mobility +20, movement +2)
Arnie’s Voice Actor: Chihiro Suzuki (other roles: Asch/Luke in Tales of Abyss, Shun in Bakugan, Daneel in Majestic Prince and some more).
Riot A (Jin Spencer)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Hit & Away (ヒット&アウェイ) – if you attack before moving, you can still move afterwards.
Spirit Commands:
Sense
Assail (突撃) – for one turn, you may use post-movement weapons (the ones not tagged with a P) after moving.
Mech Features:
Gun
10% EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Ranged weapons’ power + 100, Accuracy +5 (Ranged weapons’ +200, accuracy +20, range +2)
Jin’s Voice Actor: Masaya Matsukaze (other roles: Ryo in Shenmue, Protoman in Megaman.exe, Gaelio in Gundam IBO, Ja-Mu in SRW OGs, and many more)
As it turns out, Arnie has TWO stats where he’s better than Jin: melee and evasion! But, really, they’re both pretty dang good on their own and the Riots are also very fine machines. With good firepower and stats all around, plus that EN Regen, you have a whole lot of leeway when using both.
As you might expect, of course, Arnie’s melee focus means he’s got appalling range – his max is 1-3 – meaning the enemies will happily snipe away at him if you’re not careful. On the flip side, Jin can only rely on his weakest attacks at point-blank, but that shouldn’t be a problem since he’s not meant to be in the front lines anyway (having Hit & Away right off the box is something all ranged mechs should do).
All in all, the OG guys carry on the tradition of being very good units that you can easily fit in any team.
I’ll try feeding some more kills to Heroman, but a few Skrugg get a bit close to Arnie.
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit: Kch…! Why did this need to happen…?: But I can’t just do nothing now! All the people of this city’ll be in danger if I don’t fight!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLoF9PROskQ
Since these three cared so much, I’ll let Jin and Arnie take a few.
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit: Hahah…! We just gotta do this right and we’ll be on our way to the top!: It’s an old saying around here: “the sooner you take out the enemy, the better”. So let’s practice what we preach, aliens!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7iS_CJvuw
SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmof_cgWSs
Didn’t quite get enough morale to use Jin or Arnie’s best tricks… blah.
But that’s all of them down, fora total of 8 kills to Heroman.
: Is that all of them…?: Looks like it, yeah.*Beep.*
: Very well done, you two. Quite the aggressive stalling tactics, if I do say so myself.: U-Um… that was…: Oh, it’s fine. We got some fine live combat data as well, so I think we can say everything turned out just peachy. : We do need to consider what to do after all this, though, so I ask that you return to base. : Yes, ma’am!*Bloop.*
: Proton Generator, output is green. Unit’s showing no abnormalities.: You know what, I think that was a real good show we put for our debut battle.: Psh. This guy, I swear... He didn’t even hear anything I said…: Hey, you there!: Huh? M-Me…?: Yeah. What defense organization are you and that white robot with?: D-Defense…? No, we’re…: The army should be getting here very soon. My guess is you’ve your own orders to follow, but I’d like you to do as the soldiers tell you after we leave. : And thanks for the help today. We appreciate it!
: (Do as the soldiers tell me… They’re not gonna try to take Heroman away, are they…?): Joey!: Lina?! You still hadn’t run off?!: I saw everything! You were great, Joey!: Th-Thanks, but it was all Heroman. He’s our real hero!: No, no, Joey! All of you are heroes!: “All of us”…?
: …
Later, back at base, Ronin’s received the report on what happened and is quite impressed with how well Arnie and Jin dealt with the surprise attack. An alien invasion of Earth is about the last thing Ronin needed, though… and it’s just made his work at the parliament a heck of a lot harder.
Huh? Does our battle have something to do with what he’s testifying about? A bit, yes, but that’s all he’ll say. But regardless of that, they’ve got more than enough data for the Riots’ tests after today, and considering that Jin and Arnie have fought and repelled these new, unknown aliens, Ronin’s all but sure they’ll be reassigned to work with the Federation’s elite forces.
As Arnie gasps, Ronin says they’re to stand by at the base until their transfer orders arrive and signs off.
And Jin is super hyped that their gamble paid off – that’s a huge boost in their careers. “I don’t know how you’re so easygoing, Jin…” Arnie sighs, “I was on pins and needles throughout the whole thing, thinking he was gonna call us out for acting on our own.”
Call them out over what? Novel herself said that things turned out “just peachy”, right? The professor shrugs a confirmation, but can see Jin’s ardor in climbing up the army’s ranks. He tries stammering a denial, but Novel says it’s fine. In fact, she finds young men with that sort of enthusiasm to be quite charming. “Th-Thank you very much for your kind words! I’m honored!”
While Jin’s busy flushing, Arnie brings the conversation back to our previous battle. Did Novel find anything about that white robot that helped before? She tried, but nothing in any available databases matched the videos they brought. That said, she thinks it’s possible it belongs to UX – the Unknown Xtrikers – a group that’s been seen acting in various parts of the world.
Jin’s never heard of them, but Novel says they’re quite the elusive platoon but renowned for their incredible skill. No one knows who they truly are, though, and they’re often referred to as “Hell’s Executioners”. They’re sounding a lot like the Dancouga and the old Celestial Being to Arnie, and word around the grapevine is that some members of the Federation’s upper echelons have established some secret comm channels with UX.
An off-the-books merc team for when the Federation’s bigwigs are feeling backed against the wall, eh? Well, as skilled as they may be, Jin doesn’t like folks who take the lives of others just to make a quick buck. Arnie, meanwhile, is pondering that “Hell’s Executioners” moniker – that kid and his robot certainly didn’t give him that sort of vibe.
Cut to the White House, where the president wonders if the images her aide’s showing her are, truly, of the airspace above Center City. They are: not long after the battle with those unknown aliens, a gigantic UFO appeared right above the place. Seems rather likely that this is their battleship.
The Federal Army’s GHQ is already putting together a strategy to deal with the aliens. That’s assuming it’ll be impossible to establish some dialogue with them, yes, but the aide says the army wants to cover all their bases. But, of course, it’ll ultimately fall on the president and the parliament to decide how they’ll approach this.
Fair enough, so the president tells him to connect her to channel UX-R7. The president’s concerned about that mysterious robot that helped the army, and wants to call them in to help with this (despite it being highly illegal).
Back at Center City, turns out Heroman went back to being just a toy after the battle was over. Psy figures that’s good for Joey, what with how important the bot is to him. But more important than that is the huge Skrugg ship hovering aboard their city.
Joey figures that’s what they used to reach our planet, and, after seeing this, Psy’s will never be skeptic about anything ever again.
But they’re interrupted when one Kurou Daijuuji shows up having been looking for Prof. Denton. They’ve been ordered to evacuate the area, and Denton apologizes that they got distracted with the UFO. When Psy asks, the professor introduces Kurou as a detective from Arkham City (not that one) – he’s helping Denton with his research.
Lina immediately pictures Sherlock Holmes, but Kurou says life is nothing like the books – actual detectives hardly use just their wits to find the culprit and/or have confrontations with mysterious arch-nemeses. Rather, any confrontations he has are just with random street thugs and with his bank account.
Denton fires back that fact might just be stranger than fiction considering recent events. Kurou doesn’t get what he means, but Denton’ll explain after they’ve evacuated the area. While they hurry to the town hall, Joey will go and call his grandmother.
But he’s stopped when Will shows up and demands to know what’re Joey’s plans for that robot of his. He’s gonna try to be a hero or something? Well, Will is NOT going to accept someone like him as a hero! Absolutely not!
As Lina tells Will to cut it out, Joey stammers that he’s just trying to get home. Everyone still needs to leave, though, so Nick pulls Will away. “What happened there? Hey, kid, you know that guys like those’ll only get worse if you just sit there and take it, right?” Kurou asks.
Joey gets it, but he still hates fighting… but, then, what will he do if the Skrugg inside that UFO decide to attack again? “If that happens, will you come and fight with me again, Heroman?”
Speaking of the Skrugg, we cut to inside their UFO where a mook reports to boss bug Gogorr: the Earthlings’ civilization is hardly advanced and the atmosphere is well-suited for them to act within. Mind, they do have something of an army of not-insignificant capacity.
Gogorr is hardly impressed, and this is well within their estimates, so he orders their operations already shifted into Phase 2. “Hmhmhm… you puny humans. Sending that transmission was all but an open invitation for us to invade your planet,” Gogorr sniffs.
And what message did they get that lead them here? “Gather at the beginning…” Gogorr has a laugh at that: “You’ll all learn that it is the Skrugg that are the beginning and end of everything! Mwahahahaha!”
Location: Ptolemaios 2 – Bridge
: Maj. Richard, a new request for UX has come in. (Sumeragi)
: For us…?: Investigate the presumed-alien spaceship that’s appeared over California, as well as a mysterious robot…: Heh, and this comes from the Union President herself? That’s quite the job we’ve got…: What do you think? Do you want the Celestial Being to help you with that?: No, no, my daughter and I’ll head on over to the surface. It’ll be easier to get around and run this investigation with just a small group.: As you wish. The Ptolemaios will remain on standby around Earth’s orbit, then.: Take care of yourself, Sumeragi. Anything happens, we’ll get in touch.: Saya, we’ve got work to do.
: I’m ready to deploy at your leisure, Major.: Come on, girl… You know you can call me Papa or Daddy or whatever when we’re not on duty. : I apologize, but I find it difficult to separate work from my personal life, sir.: Perhaps this is a result of your strict, and recurrent, training sessions?: Psh... At the very least your sass is doing just fine without any help from me. : Hahah… Seems not even the battle-hardened Richard Krueger is a match for his daughter.: *sigh* It’s not easy being both a dad and a superior officer, I’ll tell you that…: Let’s get going, Saya!: Aye, aye!