Part 13: Mission 6 - Route Split
We open up back at JUDA, where Shangxiang explains that she and Quan are from a world called Mirisha. They were allied with Liu Bei and his warriors, locked in battle with the mighty army of Cao Cao. Last they saw of the place was in the middle of their final showdown, the Battle of Red Cliffs, when the warriors’ surging energies collided… and, apparently, their impact blew them all the way to this world.
Yamashita recognizes all those names, being a bit of a Romance of the Three Kingdoms enthusiast. Shangxiang isn’t familiar with it, so Moritsugu explains that what she just related is all ancient history in our world. The story Yamashita mentioned depicts the nations established by Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Cao Cao, and their battles.
The Suns are shocked – were they taken to the future?! Joe really doesn’t think so, as the thought of ancient humans being Gundams sounds way too crazy. Damian agrees, saying that makes their story of aliens coming to Earth in search of some ninja sound realistic.
Shangxiang harrumphs at them having a laugh at her: “From where we stand, it’s the soft-skinned humans of this world that are very unrealistic!” While Joe balks at being called soft-skinned, Ishigami steps in to confirm that JUDA ran tests and, indeed, Sun Quan and Shangxiang ARE humans. So despite our different standards of what “normal humans” are like, he wants everyone to keep that in mind.
Well, it’ll take a while for Mike to get used to the idea of some humans who went and became Gundams. Sun Quan wants to know more about this world, too, and will read this “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. “In that case I suggest you start with the manga. It’s a really long story, mind you…” Yamashita says.
More impressive than all this to Moritsugu is the fact that two completely separate worlds share such common features as Gundams and the Three Kingdoms. Perhaps their Mirisha is simply a parallel version of our Earth? “I wonder,” Ishigami hums. “That might be a simplistic way of putting it…”
…?
Elsewhere, Richard was called by Sumeragi with news: the Celestial Being will be escorting a good-will ambassador. You see, a certain mysterious fleet is currently headed towards Earth; everything’s being kept really hush-hush as a way to avoid mass panic, though.
So, we had the Skrugg, the Elshank and now this fleet as well? Richard figures the Federation government must be freaking out right about now. And they are, especially considering this is a VERY big fleet we’re talking about, so they’re sending their ambassador over as a way to try and get a read on the situation.
Richard can see why, as mobilizing the army without thinking things through could antagonize these new arrivals, and no one needs that right now. But, then, why mobilize the Celestial Being for this? Truth be told, Sumeragi says there’s more to their mission than just being escorts…
Some time later, Ogawa brings in new arrivals to Ishigami: Cpt. Scarlet Hibiki of the WSO, leader of the Gren Falcon Squad, and her subordinate, Lt. Tsubasa Yuki. When Yamashita asks, Ishigami says that the WSO is an elite strike team, wholly independent of the Federation Army. And, apparently, they’re here to get the UX’s help with a certain operation.
Scarlet can’t tell what it’s about just yet, mind, as it’ll be a bit before it goes down. That said, she says they’re willing to work with the UX until then – it’ll serve to brush up some combat skills, too. Seems like the UX has a new gig, but the problem, Richard says, is that the Celestial Being also asked for their help. “The Celestial Being…? Hahah, business is booming, I see,” Ishigami laughs.
Still, JUDA remains the UX’s main client, so Richard wants to hear Ishigami’s opinion on this. Well, personally, he’d like them to stick around as JUDA still has the Linebarrel to deal with… What about our other folks?
Well, Romina fears that the Elshank staying here will likely draw another The Boom attack. Maybe it’d be a good idea for them to take off for a bit to try and draw their attention elsewhere? As for Sun Quan, he’d like to look for his other companions – they were all split up after they being brought to this world. If he and Shangxiang could stay here to do that, that’d be preferable.
So, the Elshank will be leaving and the Suns will stay. What will the UX do?
And now we come to our first route split of the game. As always, we’ll be covering them all:
Rendezvous with the Celestial Being:
Tobikage
Mazinkaiser SKL
Secret Alert! x4 Tobikage secrets #1 and #2, 00 Gundam secret #1, Macross Frontier secret #1 – 1st step: take this route.
Stay with JUDA:
Linebarrels
Mazinkaiser SKL
Gundam SD
Secret Alert! x2 SD Gundam and Linebarrel secrets – 1st step: take this route.
And, bam, the very first route split already shows the design philosophy behind UX’s secrets. If you’re on a fresh game, kiss goodbye to whichever secrets are on the route you don’t take. No buts, they’re gone for you.
That said, individual secret flags you secure in one playthrough stay up into NG+. So, if you, say, take the Celestial Being route here, you could safely take the JUDA route in the next game and you’d still be on the run for all those secrets.
Being NG++ for this reason, I already have both route flags raised, so I can pick whichever. Through one door, we have Mangabarrels and the cool SD Gundam, through the other we have Trailblazer and probably Macrosszzzzzz…
We’re doing JUDA first.
Richard’s concerned about the CB job, but he figures the Linebarrel’s the priority now. It’ll be best if they’re around, in case anything goes down. Ishigami’s glad to hear it, which also means Scarlet and Tsubasa will be helping out with this as well. If you take the other path, Richard concern for the CB mission convinces him to head up into space. Everything else is pretty much unchanged.
Romina, then, has a suggestion for Richard: the Elshank crew could also help the Celestial Being on their mission. Ylbora immediately jumps upon hearing that, but Romina reminds him of how much Richard and Ishigami have worked to help them – now it’s their turn to help back.
Well, Richard is sure they’d appreciate the Elshank’s firepower (or, if you chose that route, he asks if they really want to, as the CB Op already has enough firepower) and Joe’s crew is also fine with it, especially considering they’re all hitching a ride on the ship. They’ll go where Romina decides to go, and the princess is grateful for his support. Ylbora frowns again, and Rennie follows suit – why is Joe only nice to the princess, she fumes quietly. Why’s she looking so mad, Mike asks. “You be quiet, stupid!” Rennie snaps and punches.
Whatever the case, Ishigami says the Suns are more than welcome to stay for as long as they’d like; JUDA will also look for information on their missing comrades. Quan thanks him, and Shangxiang adds that they’ll also help in any way they can. Now here’s hoping Lu Xun and Zhou Yu are doing well.
Wingle (Tsubasa Yuki)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defend L1
Spirit Commands:
Gain
Focus
Mech Features:
Sword
Repair Module
Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, EN +50 (Crit rate +20, EN +100, 25% change to evade any incoming attack)
Tsubasa’s voice actress: Saori Hayami (other roles: Yon and Shana-Mia in OGs, Hina in Buddy Complex, Aila in Gundam Build Fighters and a bunch more)
Behold, Mazinkaiser SKL’s equivalent of Sayaka and she’s dozens of times more useful. Her stats are decent enough that she can handle herself but, of course, she’s not the bulkiest or strongest unit by any sense of the words.
The Wingle itself has average range, dipping as you move to its better weapons; furthermore, its attack power is more on the weaker side (Shiangxiang is stronger), but she’s not really meant to be leading from the front. Tsubasa’s spirits are a mix of support and offense, so play her strengths: keep her a squaddie and she’ll serve you well.
If you’ve watched the series, you know you’ll want to deploy her, and she’s certainly good enough that doing so won’t feel like a headache.
Carrying on.