Part 124: Mission 50 - The Wings of Goodbye - Part 2
(middle-aged man): You waste your time opposing the ruler of the universe! (old man): And now you’ll die for your insolence!*Alarm!*
: We’ve a powerful energy reading coming from the Vajra Queen!
: They’re connected to the Battle Galaxy’s Mega Macross Cannon and it looks like they’re getting ready to fire!
: Bobby, evasive maneuvers!
: OOoryaaaaaa!*The Quarter flies away.*
(middle-aged man): That won’t help you! Disappear from the face of the galaxy!
: Sheryl! Ranka!
: We won’t be beaten by them!
: We’ll sing and our voices’ll cross space and time, to the edge of the galaxy and back…!: Listen to our song!!
SRW UX - The Wings of Goodbye ~ the end of triangle
*BLOOOOCK!*
: Th-That’s… What happened?!
: Those Vajra just…!
: Shielded the Macross Quarter…?!
(young woman): Th-That’s impossible! (young man): How are the Vajra opposing us?! (middle-aged man): Hrm… again! Fire the Macross Cannon at full blast and destroy them along with the bugs!
*Blaaaast!*
*Bloooock x2*
(old man): Wh-Whaat?!
: The ELS and even the Festum…!
: What’s going on?!
: And those aren’t the only ones! More of them are showing up all across the sector! Additionally…*Any surviving Vajra retreat.*
: The Vajra are all breaking free from the Implants…?
: They’re… all helping us?
: Everyone has only one thing in their minds: they wish to protect you.: Not just the Vajra, but the ELS and we Festum as well…!: All life in this universe is aligning with your will…!If Misao’s dead:
: They’re all working to protect us!: The Vajra, the ELS and even the Festum!: All life in this universe is aligning with our will…!
: (Are you watching, Kurusu?): (Your choice is helping us protect this distant sky!)Common ground:
: All life is one and the same…!
: We weren’t wrong in what we’d been trying to do after all!
: Damn straight…! Putting an end to conflict isn’t going to lead to our destruction!: Our lives and reaching out and taking each other’s hands…!
: Our wishes are coming together…!
: There is absolutely no way something as beautiful as this could be the cause for destruction!
*Everyone gets a full SP recharge and max morale!*
(young woman): Th-That’s…?! (middle-aged man): I cannot be… Is this the power of song?! (old man): But it won’t matter! We’re still connected to the Vajra Queen, and while it stays that way…!
: I hear the Queen’s grief…!
: You fiends! How are you so uncaring to enslave the Vajra and their Queen?!
: Hold on just a bit, queenie!
: We’re coming to set you free!
: Troops, CHAAAAARGE!!So, yeah, you technically need to kill the Queen Frontier twice, but you get all your SP back, so it’s no big problem.
And with that out of the way, now we can get to work.
May'n & Megumi Nakajima - The Wings of Goodbye ~ the end of triangle
: Stay on your toes! The enemy has full access to all of the Battle Frontier’s weapons!
: Their barrage’s like a rain of beams…! (old man): The Protoculture itself feared these trans-dimensional creatures. And now that we’ve united ourselves with them, we’ve risen into a greater state of being!
: And you think that’s all it’ll take to get us quivering in our boots?! Holto:dants Zentran!
: Yeah! We’ll making it out of this alive!
: Skull Leader to all units! Our target’s as big as they come, so get into their blind-spot first!: Once you’re there, blast them with every bullet you have! Troops, Formation Charging Love Heart!
(middle-aged man): Our Fold Network allows the minds of all lives to be linked with one another!: What is that, if not the ultimate kind of dialogue?: That stopped being dialogue the moment you built your network around a static hierarchy!: What’s needed for dialogue to occur isn’t a Fold Network, but just for people to wish for it!
(young woman): Mankind’ll be free of its unending history of conflict once all our minds are weaved together.: For the first time since the dawn of time, everlasting peace is in reach!: You’ve a point in that it’d be one way to give everyone the world they’d been looking for…: But what you’re offering wouldn’t be real peace!: Take away the dream given to all life, and it’d be the same as us not existing at all!
: Whatever hardships await us, we’ll rise above them all! We just have to hold onto our hearts, and, sooner or later, we’ll overcome even fate itself! 
(middle-aged man): Become terminals in our Network and we’ll optimize that savagery of yours! You’ll be able to enjoy living rationally!
: “Rationally”, eh? Way you’re putting it, it sounds more like we’d be living as your servants!
: And I’m in no way interested in fighting as your pawns like the Vajra!
: Besides, “living rationally” sounds so very dull. I doubt any of us are interested.
: Right on. What we want are thrills that set our hearts ablaze!: So, that’s a big NO to your lame offer. We’d never be happy with that!
(old man): It’s by joining with our Network that humanity could truly come to coexist with other species!: By opposing us, you’re standing against the evolution of our kind!
: Hah, what rock have you been hiding under? You’ve been hanging out in this world and don’t even know what we’ve accomplished already?: We didn’t need anything like that to get through to other lifeforms back then, and we sure as hell don’t need it now!
(middle-aged man): You fools… You cannot grasp the magnificence of the world our Network’ll bring about…!
: Yeah, we absolutely cannot. And that’s because what you’re putting together are just a bunch of chains to wrap around people’s souls!
: Besides, it sounds as boring as watching paint dry…: I mean, say your plan worked and everyone got along real good. Where am I gonna find folks to fight in that kinda world, eh?! 
(old man): The souls of the people could know eternal peace through our Fold Network. (young man): A world to rival the one you knew will be born onto this land!
: Yet even Byston Well was thrown into disarray through the actions of a few men. As was the Overworld!: I see where we’re headed quite clearly so long as beliefs as foul as yours continue to exist!
(middle-aged man): We’ve the Vajra Queen completely under our control. It’s only a matter of time before the entire universe belongs to us!
: Wrong…! The Vajra’s own will is still alive, and we’ll get them out of your clutches!: The Vajra’s lives have to be freed, Nanajin! You took your name after divinities, so I know you can make that happen!
(old man): Humanity could reach a new level under our rule! (young woman): We’ll rule the galaxy and all of you’d enjoy boundless evolution! Why do you oppose us?!: Who in their right mind would just let you impose your crap on us?! You’re not even stopping to ask us if that’s what we want!: But, on top of all that… I’m not going to turn a blind eye to all that Vajra you’re hurting!
(young woman): Hmhmhm, come to us, little boy. We could even link your mind to that robot beside you. 
: What a sad group you are. You believe doing that is the only way to bring hearts together…: But, in reality, you never need anything of the sort! All it takes is for you to really want to convey how you feel to someone!
: Ooooooo!
(old man): The world we’re creating has no need for two beings capable of linking wills together. We must stave off any factors capable of dividing our society.: And since I carry Odyssite within me, that means I have to go, hm?: For all your flowery speeches, your self-serving agenda is very transparent…: We’re done talking. The only thing you’ll be getting from us is a knife through your collective hearts!
: Heh, what’s up next, Godzilla? Y’all look like something straight out of a monster flick! (middle-aged man): You would compare the gods of this universe to foul creatures? How uncouth. 
: Does reality elude you? Your very shape harkens back to the vilest of evil gods – a wriggling mass of souls!: But you’ve gone and named yourselves gods, so I hope you’re ready to butt heads with the blade that slays your kind!
: You’ve instilled in me every combat skill I have. And now it’s your turn to feel it for yourselves! (young woman): Well, well, you’re looking pretty feisty after breaking free of our control. (old man): There’s no point in a puppet whose strings have snapped. But we’ll have you leashed again soon enough!: I’ll never lose my heart again – not as long as Ranka’s song echoes within me!
(young man): People from a parallel world, hm…? You do know that you could potentially get back to your original universe if you worked with us, yes?: And beckon you to our homeland? I think not!
: Ye fiends draped in darkness! By the souls of heroes that we bear, we shall end you! (old man): We, as new gods, could grand order and peace to all lands blighted by war…: Every being that calls this universe home bears a will within…: Those who would pervade and subvert that will could never stir the heavens! And ‘tis high time you realized that!
: Aye, it is humans, with their raging souls, that compel even the very heavens! All that awaits false gods such as you is oblivion!
(old man): Heart of Diva… we no longer have any need for your songs.: The Vajra are firmly under our grasp.
: I never cared about being needed!: I feel, and, so, I sing! And, through that, I bring people’s hearts together! That is what being the Heart of Diva means.: But I guess a bunch of crazies who’ve lost their hearts would have a hard time understanding that!
(old man): There’ll be no more discrimination or strife once the world is under our grasp!: And, then, humanity will evolve into an even greater state of being!: You don’t even care about the pain you’re causing. The only thing that’d come from your rule would be oppression and atrocities!: Meanwhile, Sheryl and Ranka opened themselves to the Vajra. I’d much rather believe in their songs!
And they drop a Sheryl’s Disk.
(old man): This cacophony of information… It cannot be! (young woman): The UX’s thoughts are bolstering Code Q1 and Fairy 9’s minds?!
: That’s what song is about, dudes! It ain’t rocket science!: Song is what links and joins everyone’s hearts as one! Now, let’s sing for the entire universe!: We’ll bring our wishes together…!: And the whole galaxy’ll resound with our music! (middle-aged man): Blast you all! But we just have to eliminate Code Q1 and Fairy 9, and…!: Absolutely not!
(young man): Hrgh… There’s interference in our mental-affinity field! We can’t control the Queen!: Now, Alto!: This stone transmits their thoughts and emotions to me… and, with it, I’ll fly hand-in-hand with their song!: This… is my dance of wings!
: Haaaaaaaah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpSgJCsnOMo
This is actually an action command, which lets you set a 3x3 AoE as far as 8 squares away. It costs 80 EN and any enemy inside will be Stunned, unable to take any action, for a whole turn.
: What a beautiful dance…! Every movement showcases the light of his soul…: He’s doing a kabuki routine with his Valkyrie…!: Trust us, Vajra! We… We’re not enemies…!
: The Vajra Queen’s not in pain anymore…!: Haah, haah…: The Vajra understood…: Rrk!
: Alto, are you okay?!: I am. And, more importantly…
: Look! There’s light coming from the ground!
: That’s… the light of this planet…?
: Nay, I am certain that is the very will of this planet.: The will of this planet…: Maybe that’s its way of greeting us?: The planet’s blessing us!
: The blessing of life…
: (Indeed, this place is…!)
: Hah… Hahah… Magnificent!: You are magnificent, UX! At long last, the pathway is open…!: Shot Weapon?!: This is the beginning of life! The underlying truth of the universe…!: The truth of the universe?! What’s he talking about?!: This is it. Now I shall reach… the origin of the new Yuga!*Shot blasts off towards Alto and the Vajra Queen!*
: He’s going kamikaze?!: Alto, RUN!: …: I-I can’t… My Valkyrie isn’t budging…!: What?!: A-Alto…: …: Ranka…: I’m so sorry. I’m truly grateful for how you feel, but… I can’t answer those feelings in kind…: …?!: And Sheryl…: I know this is a bit late, but…: Aah…!: I… love y—
*BOOOOOM!*
: ALTOOOOOOO!!
: …: Am I dead…?
: Nope, you’re still alive. (Everyone’s faces except Alto’s are darkened, but blah.): ?! SRW UX - Prologue: You guys have proven beyond any doubt that all life in the universe is one and the same.: Y-You’re…!
: Soon… Very soon, you’ll reach it…
: The beginning of life is nigh…: “Beginning of life”…?
: It’s that which is already with you and your friends.: You can hear it, I’m sure… the voice of life…: Alto…!: Alto…!: Th-That voice is…!
: …
: H-Hrm… Where am I?
: Ah, thank God. You’re awake! : Alto!: I-I’m… What happened?: The Vajra Queen protected you.: The Queen?!
: She strengthened her Fold Barrier to the Nth degree at the time of the explosion…: She all but risked her life shielding you…: A Vajra risked its life for me…: Just as Ai-kun did to save me when I got spaced.: Huh?! Then, he…?!: Yeah. As it turns out, he was a Vajra larva.: He used a lot of his energy, but I believe he’d also joined the other Vajra helping us…: Really? Ai-Kun…: And, Sheryl, what about you? Is your body holding out okay?: You know what? As weird as it sounds, I’m not feeling anything wrong.: You’re not…?
: I’d wager the same phenomenon we saw with Arnie and Joe happened to her.: Then, Sheryl also…?: Hmhmm. The light we saw back there likely came from all the Fold Quartz spread across this planet.: And I believe what happened was a resonance between our… or, rather, between all the wills that were gathered there.: …: Grace told me before that the way to actually cure my V-Type Infection was to transplant Ranka’s organs into me, since she’s naturally immune to Fold Bacteria.: My organs…?!: But not anymore. The Vajra gave me the strength I needed to survive. : The ELS, the Festum, and the Vajra… They, and we, have all been blessed with life.: We all have a place in the universe…
: A place, huh…?: Sheryl, Ranka and Fei’s songs showed them how we felt…: Our songs…
: …: Ranka, keep living life as your heart tells you to.: Just as you did in Galia 4, when you were just a little girl singing… now and forever…: Brera…
: Hm? Are you just going to walk away like that?: …
: How can you just leave? You’ve finally been reunited with your sister…: We haven’t been brother and sister for far too long…
: All the more reason for you to make up for it, no? There’s certainly no rush…: But, I…
: However you look at it, there’s no denying your blood. She is your sister.
: You’re free now, aren’t you? Then, this is when you should stay by Ranka’s side and watch over her.: That is, if you also consider yourself to be her brother…: Ozma Lee…: You’re not leaving again, are you?: …: Is it really alright for me to stay with you, Ranka…?: Of course – I want you to stay, even…: After all, you’re… you’re my dear brother too, Brera…: Heh…: Thank you… Ranka.
: But what about that guy, Shot? What was he trying to do?
: He mentioned the “truth of the universe” and the “beginning of life”…: The beginning of life…: I would say that his goal was the same as that man, Jin.: Jin…?!: The Ninja Legend, Fold Quartz, the Yùxǐ and the Dragon’s Chalcedony, Aura Power and the Odyssite…: It could be that the light those give out are manifestations of life itself. And if so…: I see you have found the answer at last, UX…!
: Th-That voice…!*Magic!*
: …: Where… am I…? What am I doing here…?: I see nothing… I hear nothing…: Why? I was supposed to have arrived at the truth, no?: …: Ah, I see… I picked the wrong option.: This is not the beginning, but the end…: The other side of a Yuga that’s detached from the Samsara’s rule…
: Wh-What in blazes…?! It’s the leader of the Black Lodge…!: The hell are you doing here, Master Therion…?!
: Rejoice, lost children of the Samsara. The restless flow of karma has been wholly restored to normality thanks to your grand efforts!: And, now, I will reveal to you the true purpose of the C Project!
: Its true purpose?!: Come forth, O God who is the Gate and the Key! Come forth!: (The hell…? I know this incantation…? But from where?!)
: These words… I am certain of it…! Everyone, stop him!
: You are too late, Al Azif…: O God who is All-in-One, and One-in-All! Come forth…!: My father… Yog-Sothoth!
It’s not shown in the game, but what Master Therion does here is straight-up use Cthulhu as a sacrifice for his ritual – he’s inside the circle of pillars, being melted into a gooey paste!
: Whaa...aaaat…?
: Hatred… Loathing… Wrath… This whole area’s overflowing with negative Aura Power…
: “Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth”… He who is the Key and guardian of the Gate, who exists at all places, at all times.: An entity who connects this World to the Dark Tapestry, where myriad Great Old Ones dwell. A genuine Outer God.
: How could a man summon anything like that…?: Aye, he can…: For Master Therion is a god-child, the offspring of Yog-Sothoth!: Correct. I am an inhuman child, the cursed result of the union between humanity’s most powerful sorceress, Nero, and the Outer God Yog-Sothoth. 
: A god-child…?!: And if you wish to save the world, you would do well to follow me! Come to the end of the World, to the end of Time! It is there what we shall settle matters between us!: I will be waiting, blade that slays gods, and lost children of the Samsara…!*Flash!*
: H-He vanished…*Beep!*
: G-Guys, we’ve got trouble! That gate just…: It also appeared at Earth’s South Pole at the exact same time!
: S-Say what…?!: My suspicions were correct. The Vajra homeworld is another such case…
: Another case of what? What do you mean?!: It is a planet whose life shares the same origin as Earth’s.: Humans, ELS, Festum, Vajra…: And I have a feeling that the Skrugg as well. All these lives share one beginning…: …?!: B-But, then… that’d mean!: Aye… There never were any parallel universes. The Frontier Fleet’s Earth, like Planet Ladorio and Mirisha, is a different future version of Earth…
: Wh-What…?!: …: All those possible universes lie spread across a spiderweb centered around this one…: In the end, we were all born in the exact same universe…: …: There is only one beginning…Now, let’s go over everything we learned on this mission because I expect a lot of
ing. I gave this a good amount of thought, hit the wikis, and worked myself into a head-splitting migraine, and here’s my take on it: As we learned from Shou’s Byston Well and whatnot, the universe undergoes cycles (the Samsara).
The universe, across each cycle, goes off in a different direction and there are endless divergent possibilities it can follow. In one universe, it led to Shou’s world, with his Byston Well; in another, it led to Mirisha; in another, it led to the world where the SDF-1 Macross fell; in another, Earth became the Vajra homeworld; in another, it led to Planet Ladorio, etc.
In regards to the Vajra, as proven by Yog-Sothoth’s presence – it working like Chrono Trigger’s Black Omen, in that it exists concurrently everywhere in time – the buggers’ homeworld is also another possible future of Earth, which was brought over to our world (either by the Queen Folding it here – as she’s wont to do in SRW – or by something else). The Macross Earth proper, where the SDF-1 fell, is yet another possible future, wherein the planet was home to humans.
Ultimately, these were never actually parallel universes – because that’d imply they exist side-by-side – but, rather, alternate possible futures, spread across different cycles, for a single universe. While every cycle may turn out differently, they all have the same starting point. That is why all life – even the alien ones – shares a common origin: this universe; in time, it diverges into one of an infinitude of possible paths, until it resets again.
All those alternate futures of Earth were self-contained within their respective cycles, but something went and brought many of them here, where it all starts – “gather at the beginning”.
Phew, that’s it for the show and tell. Now, getting Brera, as you might expect, is the Macross Frontier secret (and the sole reason it takes 3 runs to get all secrets, due to the Europe route carrying one of his flags, and nothing else).
If you couldn’t be arsed to go for him over a whole other bunch of great units, like sane people, the scenes change appropriately – starting at the end, once you’ve downed the Battle Frontier:
(middle-aged man): Blast you all! But we just have to eliminate Code Q1 and Fairy 9, and…!: Absolutely not!: Haaaah! RANKAAAAAA!*Kamikaze!*
(young man): Hrgh… There’s interference in our mental-affinity field! We can’t control the Queen!: (B-Brother…!): Now, Alto…! Don’t waste the opening Brera gave you!And then the rest is the same. But, of course, when Brera would talk to Ranka in the epilogue, you get this:
: Sheryl, Ranka and Fei’s songs showed them how we felt…: Our songs…: There’s nowhere your songs cannot reach.: Your brother finally recovered his self in the end, and I’m sure your notes will also find their way to his soul…: Yes… Thank you, brother…And that’s it. I appreciate the fact that not a whole lot of people care that Brera’s gone. Quickly now, here’s the one convo we missed:
(middle-aged man): There would be no pain or loneliness if people were linked to one another through Fold communication… (young man): You, of all people, should understand that the Network we’re creating is the avenue that’d bring us our ultimate evolution.: You’re right in that I wasn’t lonely when I was united with the Mir.: That said, we chose to live by our own individual wills! It might be painful, but we learned that that’s what life is about!