Part 101: Mission 41 - Route Split
: He wants us to fight against mankind and other Festum groups?!
: And he says that’s the way for humans and Festum to coexist?
: Right. What it boils down to is this: if you take away both sides ability to do war on each other, then there’d be no war at all. 
: I presume we’d be in charge of making that happen, then?
: A Deus Ex Machina in every sense of the word.
: What’s that? Some type of new Machina?: Nah, it’s a plot device that showed up in Greek tragedies. A character that stood for God and would take to the stage whenever the story couldn’t resolve itself. : When the Deus Ex Machina turned up, it’d bring a conclusion to the drama through some entirely unexpected occurrence.
: Put it simply, then, it wrecked everything ‘til the problem was gone? Sounds good to me!
: Hmph, are you looking to play the part of a devil of destruction? Because you can do that on your own, monkey.
: Whatchu say there?
: But I suppose that’s pretty much what the Celestial Being tried to do way back when.: A lot of people wound up getting hurt as a result, though…
: …
: What’re we going to do, then? Are we going to do as he asks and turn against the entire world?
: That’d be unlikely. You see, he’s added a condition for us to set this united front with them: that we let them assimilate the island’s Mir.
: Assimilate? How come?
: It was from this island and its Mir that the Festum learned to fear pain and death. 
: And they believe they can do away with that pain by assimilating said Mir?
: I doubt it’s possible to outright erase something after it’s come into being, though…
: And what would happen to the island if they did assimilate the Mir?
: Tatsumiya’s Mir is, for all intents and purposes, the island’s biosphere. It controls all of its ecosystems.
: Meaning that, were they to assimilate it, they’d have full control over all life on the island.
: Moreover, the child also said that his kind would not stop attacking Tatsumiya until the Mir has been assimilated.
: So, this is pretty much an ultimatum! So much for that talk of coexistence!
: That kid’s a real piece of work, giving us that crap like it ain’t no problem!: …: Kazuki, what do you think of Misao Kurusu?
: I’m not really sure.: But I feel that… Soushi’s taking some sort of gamble on him.
: Misao did say that Minashiro wanted to tell us something… : Hmm… Then, Kazuki, I want you to try and talk to that creature.: Me…?: We’re not going wage a war that’d do nothing but cost lives. Make use of however much time we’ve left and try to find another way that we could save the island.: Alright, dad.
: Perhaps it’d be best if we stationed ourselves here for a while, then?
: He is telling us that the enemy’s going to mount another attack.
: If we did that, however, it’d be quite difficult to see to the request the Union has just sent us.
: What, did something happen over there?
: Apparently the Black Lodge has shown itself again… as did Cthulhu.
: That evil deity of theirs…?!
: Right. But from what they're telling, the thing vanishes as soon as it turns up. 
: Still, it’s only a matter of time until it pops out of the woodwork again. We can’t well ignore something like that, right?
: Yeah… We’ll have to split our team in half, then.: And we should try and keep our forces as even as possible. The Tatsumiya team’ll have the Fafners, JUDA’s Special Forces…: Plus our MS teams, including the Celestial Being…
: The Mirishan forces should stay as well, I believe.
: Whereas all remaining forces will head towards the Union.
: What’re you and Saya going to do, Arnie?: We’ll…
And the final route split of the game is upon us, with two missions each.
Head for the Union
Dunbine
Wings of Rean
Tobikage
Demonbane
Dancouga Nova
Fei-Yen
Macross Frontier
Heroman
Mazinkaiser SKL
Secret Alert! x3 Take this route if you’re on track for these secrets: Demonbane (8th step), Heroman (4th step), Macross F (5th step).
Stay and Defend Tatsumiya
Fafner
SEED Destiny
Gundam 00
Linebarrels
SD Gundam
Secret Alert! x2 Take this route if you’re on track for these secrets: SD Gundam (8th step) or Linebarrel (5th step).
The route flag isn’t actually needed for the Linebarrel one, but mission 43 has a step for it.
If you choose the Union route:
: Saya and I’ll head for the Union. The Black Lodge turning up again might be a sign that something’s about to happen…
: And those Deus Machinas are terribly powerful. Better that we have as many forces available as can be.: An omen, huh…: And, Daijuuji, make sure you keep yourself under control when we get there.: I know. I’m done ranting about revenge.: I’ve this power for one thing only: to keep our world safe.
: Let’s go, darling-robo! We’ll finish off the Black Lodge for good this time-robo!: Aye, aye!
: …: ‘Twas ever the same, this battle of mine against evil…: Over the centuries - over millennia – I made covenants with countless sorcerers. In time, I would turn to sacrifice them, treading over their corpses so that I could survive and continue my quest…: However… I need not do that anymore…
: Thine battle is not yet over.: ?!: ‘Tis thine destiny to do battle…: You are commanding me to fight once more?! : You would have me endure this grief, this loneliness, for eternity?! You would have me repeat it all again and again?!: Is this the punishment that has been imposed upon me?!: Nay… I cannot! ‘Tis not something I could bear!
: The hearts of your former masters were never with you, even as you found yourselves in the thick of battle.: And mine was not with them, either. ‘Twas a covenant that bound us – nothing more…
: But he’s different.: “He”…?: All those battles you fought were so that you could meet him.: Who do you speak of? Who is “he”? Answer me!: …: His name is…
Ozma unlocks his third tactician bonus here: +1 movement to everyone.
And if you pick the Tatsumiya route:
: We’ll stay here, on the island. : If what Misao says is true, we should expect the Festum to come attacking with even greater numbers than before.: And those new Festum are terribly powerful. Better that we have as many forces available as can be.
: Ah, relax! We’re all ready to take them on!
: I don’t believe this… you can talk normally?!: I always figured I’d be able to talk again, once I started piloting a Fafner.: But I want to be assigned to the one our parents were piloting when they disappeared… the Zero Fafner.: Come again? How about you not make everything about what you want, idiot?!
: The “Zero Fafner”? That’s a unit you have?
: …: It’s the unit that pushed me to retire – a long time ago. : Sure, but listen: we could take out so many more enemies if you let me pilot the thing!
: Do you enjoy fighting that much?: …?!
: I must advise against taking your strength for granted. 
: Listen to what Quan says. If you let it get to your head, Moritsugu might just take the time to “teach you what true brutality is like”. : Right, Kouichi? 
: Z-Zip it, you.
: …
: What’s up, Seri?: I just can’t stop thinking of what the Festum were trying to say back there…: Who cares what they were trying to say? I told you before: they’re attacking us, so the only thing we can do is take them out.: But Tsubaki would never want that!: Seri…: …: Tsubaki’s gone, Seri…: H-How can you say that?! Tsubaki’s—*Alarm!*
: What’s going on?!
: There’s some kind of phenomenon in the skies above the island! Bringing it up on the monitors!*Beep.*
: I-Is that…?!
: The whole sky’s covered in a red aurora…?!: Is this also the Festum’s doing…?: Hrk…! *Cough, wheeze*!
: C-Cmdr. Makabe…?!: Uur…gh…*Collapse.*
: Dad?! What’s wrong?!: …: DAD!!
And, on this side, Michio’s last bonus is +30% crit rate, while Graham’s is +1 range to everyone.