Part 4: Mission 2 - Encounter
Again, there isn’t much for us to do in the intermission menu just yet. It’ll open up after this next mission, then we’ll go over the stuff.
We open up with Joey bringing his grandmother, Virginia, over to the town hall. She figures there must be some recital going on, what with all the people gathered here – all courtesy of her headphones, which helped her completely overlook all the chaos going down.
Ms. Collins, Joey and Psy’s teacher, is also around and very relieved to see them safe and sound. All their schoolmates have also evacuated here, and they’re alright. She doesn’t recognize Kurou, though, so he quickly introduces himself.
Mind you, while he presents himself as a detective, he admits he’s being more of a jack-of-all-trades nowadays. In that case, Virginia could use his help mowing her lawn – sure, if the chance presents itself.
Now, despite all the folks around, Lina hasn’t seen Will and Nick for a while. Whatever could they be doing? Hopefully nothing crazy, she thinks.
Nick would like to know what they’re doing too, so here’s what Will’s thinking: they’re gonna sneak aboard that UFO. Nick yelps that that’s impossible, but Will’s got a plan and won’t force his goon to come with.
Nick’s up for it, though: he and Will might get famous! Maybe, but what Will wants isn’t fame: “I’ll be the hero around here! Just you watch, Psy, Joey…!"
Back to the town hall, Denton’s been busy gathering wrecks of the enemies Joey beat before and analyzing them. Psy’s rather shocked that he can bring himself to fiddle around with alien stuff like it’s nothing, but Denton considers this whole situation to be his responsibility – the Skrugg might not have found us if not for his transmission.
So he won’t shy away from this. Rather, he’ll now fully dedicate himself for making up for his past mistake! And? And what? Psy figures he’s analyzing these wrecks as part of his redemption, he must have something useful to give us. The aliens’ weak spot, maybe?
What, does he really expect Denton to have figured that out so quickly? “In other words, you don’t have any results to give us, do you?” Psy sighs. Now, he didn’t say that. While there are still tons of things Denton has yet to understand about the Skrugg, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t already figured a few things out.
For instance, judging by their outer appearance, it can be inferred that they’re beings evolved from something like a cockroach. But despite that appearance, their scientific know-how is extremely advanced – far beyond ours.
Kurou isn’t blown away yet – we can figure that by just looking at the things – but Denton has another snippet of info to give us! The Heroman has such power that it can overcome even the mighty Skrugg! Indeed, Joey’s bot will play a key part in our victory in this battle!
They still haven’t told Kurou what a Heroman is, though, and he’s very confused…
: Um… Excuse me?
: Waah! D-Don’t sneak up on us like that!: Oh, that was my bad. It’s just that your discussion was so interesting, I couldn’t help listening in…
: And… you are…?: Aah, honestly, we’re new in town. We’d just moved in today, see…
: (Careful what you say, Joey. I don’t think we want a whole lot of folks to know about Heroman.): (Y-Yeah, you’re right.): ... And right as we do, we’ve got alarms blaring all over, telling us to evacuate before we could even make sense of things. Crazy, huh?: Hmm, I see. Yes, that is quite the pickle.: I’m Matthew Denton, a local scientist, and I’m always willing to help new folks.: OH! Thank you, amigo! Grazie! Spasibo!: My name’s Richard Krueger, and this is my daughter Saya. Come on, you thank him too.
: Xie xie.: (Err, what…? Are they Chinese…?): Oh, and you are…?: Huh? M-Me? I’m Joseph Carter Jones.: “Joseph Carter Jones”… and I bet everyone calls you Jojo!: N-No… they call me Joey.: OH! It’s Joey? That’s a good one too. Bravo! Horosho! : Uh-huh…
: (… How does he look, Saya?)
: (We’ve a perfect data match. He’s the blonde kid that was seen fighting with the white robot.)
: (Then that’s bingo. Now we just need to find the bot proper…): By the way, Joey, there’s something I’d like to ask you about…*Bzzt.*
: Hey, guys, look at the TV! There’s something wrong with it…*Bleep.*
: This is a message to all creatures that live in this planet… This is a message to all creatures that live in this planet… This is a message to all creatures that live in this planet…: …?!: We are the Skrugg, the rulers of the universe…: I repeat: we are the Skrugg, the rulers of the universe!: Th-They’re…!: Yeah, it’s those guys from before!
Location: Earth Federation’s California Base
: I hereby declare that this planet belongs to us! This is not a request, it is a statement!: Those who oppose us will be eliminated with extreme prejudice. I repeat: we are the Skrugg, the rulers of the universe!
: I can’t believe they’d declare war on us just like that…!
: I suppose that’s telling of their scientific might… or, rather, of their might, period. 
: Damn it! Those roaches are treating us like we’re nothing!: Calm down, Jin.: How?! Our planet’s being invaded! We gotta get out there and blast their UFO right the hell now!
: And what do you think you’ll manage to do sortieing without any plan whatsoever, Ensign Spencer?: ?! Y-You’re…!: M-Major Graham Aker?!
: Hmhm… Though I suppose some youthful enthusiasm isn’t necessarily a bad thing.: Ah, right on time, Major. Virgos are known as being punctual, aren’t they?: Wh-What brings you here, Major?: To keep the people safe from these aliens’ evil, of course.: My squadron has been tasked with facing the alien threat and, effective immediately, you two are being reassigned to my command!: W-We’re being transferred to Maj. Graham’s squad…?!: F-For real… I mean, is that true?!: It’s not that surprising, considering your previous contact and experience fighting the aliens.: And, of course, you’ll carry on flying the Riots. I’ll also be accompanying your team as a technical advisor.: J-Jin!: Yeah, we did it! We did it! Hahaha!: We get to fly side-by-side with the Maj. Graham! That’s insane!: And we promise to work as hard as we can not to be a bother, sir!: I like your spirit, boys! Let’s be off!
Mission 2 – Encounter
: Aah! The Skrugg are—!: They’re attacking for real this time!
: This is horrible… they’re wrecking the whole city!
: Kch! Those roaches think they can walk all over us?!
: Don’t break formation, Ensign Spencer! You’re under my command now, and unilateral acts will not be tolerated!: Y-yes, sir!: Move to engage the enemy, but remember that our top priority is the safety of the civilians!: Roger!
: Those may be army units, but not even they can take on all these enemies at once…: Psy… I’ll fight too.: Joey…?!: I can’t just stay here and watch… not when I’ve enough power to help beat the enemy and keep everyone safe!
: …: Let’s go, Heroman!
SRW UX - Roulette: Heromaaaan… ENGAAAGE!
: ?! Th-That’s a—!
: …: That white robot… it’s the one from before!: The one in your report yes? They certainly appear to be against the Skrugg, but that does not necessarily mean they’re friendlies…: But, sir, at the previous battle… they teamed up with us and fought to protect the city and the civs.: At the very least I’m convinced they are not hostile!: Arnie…: Very well. I hear no doubt in your words, Ensign, so I’ll put my trust in them.: Operator of the white robot, do you hear me? My team is about to try and destroy the enemy force. If you’re here to fight them, then I ask for your assistance!: Huh? O-Okay…!: … I say, but I don’t really know how the army does things. I guess we’ll start with…*Heroman moves forward.*
: Hm…!!: A man of action, eh? Then we’ll do the same! All units, attack!
Destroy everything without losing anyone. Again, not a difficult mission as the Skrugg mooks remain middling and our guys are good all around – there’s just more stuff for us to kill over a wider area.
Brave Commander Test-Type (Graham Aker)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L3
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
All Attack (全体攻撃) L1 – A single unit can attack both units in an enemy pair, with a damage penalty for the one in the back (L1 = 70% damage; L2 = 80%; L3 = 90%).
Command L1 – extends a command aura and grants any units within it a bonus to hit/evasion %. Bonus and AoE increases with the skill level
Spirit Commands:
Accelerate
Sense
Mech Features:
Gun
Sword
GN Field – Negates any damage below 2000. Costs 10 EN per use.
GN Drive [T] MD – unit regenerates 25% EN every turn
Trans-Am – grants +1 movement over 130 morale.
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, Ranged weapons’ power +100 (Mobility +20, Ranged weapons +200, Movement +2)
Graham’s Voice Actor: Yuichi Nakamura (other roles: Alto, Joshua in SRW OGs, Captain America in the MCU, Mikage in Aquarion EVOL and a ton more)
Graham’s a reformed Char Clone, so you know he’s a good pilot. And for this point in the game, the Brave is a really dang useful unit, especially with that 25% EN regen giving it a lot of freedom in its attacks.
The GN Field makes it very unlikely for these early-game mooks to make any damage at all, but, of course, letting him get hit becomes less and less ideal as the game goes on. And therein lies the problem: the Brave lacks stopping power to figure in the top tiers by late game.
It’s one of those sad cases where a unit is good enough that you can absolutely lead with it, but you’ll be purposefully gimping yourself by doing so. That said, the Squad Bonus is absolutely wonderful, and Graham’s reliability easily earns him a recommendation even when he starts getting overtaken by our progressively growing protags.
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit
And after Heroman engages stuff…
: Data is a match – that’s the target unit. How do we proceed, Major?: How, indeed…? Let’s just wait and see how things play out for a bit.: Copy that. Continuing to observe the target.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJnxLTciJDU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnZQquQbfAo
Couple new attacks here, including Jin’s strongest move.
Keep on killing the helpless Skrugg and, on turn 3…
: Hmph, the Earthlings continue with this exercise in futility… but it’s time that came to an end!: Open the main gate! Go forward and flatten all into a bloody paste!
: Wh-What is that?!: A… ball?!: It certainly looks like a ball, yes.: Save staring at it for later! The thing’s coming this way!
: Aiieeee!: Th-This is super bad! Heroman, quick, stop that ball!: Hmmmm!
: Aah?! It… It didn’t even feel that!: Stop that sphere, men! Not only do we have plenty of civilians still evacuating, we also can’t let it get anywhere near the town hall!: B-But how are we supposed to stop something that big…?!: Quit with the whining! Peoples’ lives are at stake here!: ?! J-Jin…!: If we can’t stop that thing, then we just gotta trash it! You and me, Arnie! Come on!: Y-Yes, you’re right… Let’s go, Jin! We’ll show them all what the Riots can do!: (There we go… We’ll put on a good show for Maj. Graham, and the promotions will keep on coming…!)
Despite what they said, the defeat condition doesn’t change to include the Ball (actual name) reaching anywhere. When you kill the last of the mooks, over by the Skrugg spaceship…
: Hey, Will, what’re we gonna do here?
: Didn’t you hear me before? The two of us are gonna be the real heroes. : I think sneaking into the enemy’s base already qualifies are pretty dang heroic…: Nuh-uh, I ain’t taking just that!: What, then? What’s good enough for you?: We’re gonna steal some of their weapons, and then we’ll kick all their asses ourselves!: Th-That’s crazy!: No, it’s not! Look! We already made it all the way here, didn’t we?*Will runs off.*
: Waah! W-Wait for me, Will! SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit
Still invincible, so you just gotta sit around and let a few turns pass.
: Huh?!: The thing’s actively attacking us?!: This is… nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!
: Quickly, everyone! This way!: It’s too dangerous here! Everyone out the building – hurry!: This isn’t good…! We’re not gonna evac everyone in time!: (Speaking of… What happened to Richard and his daughter? I haven’t seen them in a while…)
: Blah… it’s just one thing after the other. We can’t really turn the other cheek to this, can we?: The Federation Army’s right there, though… Won’t launching right in front of them complicate things for us later on?: I don’t fancy myself some Champion of Justice, but I’m not cold-hearted enough to just hang back and watch the weak suffer…: Or maybe I am! Haha!: Copy that, sir.: Aw, play along, why don’t you? Loosen up a bit, Saya. : We’re on a mission, remember?: Yes, yes, I know. Let’s get to it, then. SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness: Blocking all comms except those from our covert channels. “Unknowns” need to act the part!
: What?! Even more units…?!: (Those two… are they?!): Pressure on both the Orphes and Lyras’ generators are green. We are ready to go, Major.: Alright… Then the first order of business is putting the hurt on that gumball! Orphes, full throttle!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ4hMWLxn-c
: That ball was so tough, and he…!: It wasn’t much, but we’ve a confirmed crack on the target’s shell.: Okay, we’ve got a way in! Now if the armymen could just figure out that they need to hit it there…: I’m sure of it… Those units are with the UX!: “UX”?! You mean…!: Right; the ever-elusive and incredibly skilled mercenary troupe. A.k.a., “Hell’s Executioners”!: They are the infamous Unknown Xtrikers!: Th-They…!: Hrm…! These mercs got a lotta nerve showing their faces around here!*Jin starts moving after them.*
: Stand down, Ensign Spencer!: ?! Major…?!: They’re not attacking us. Leave them be!: B-But, sir! If we don’t take them out when we have the chance, they’ll grow even more—…!: Do you still not realize what just happened? They’ve just laid the groundwork for us to destroy the target!: A true warrior would answer their assistance fittingly!: Tsk… Y-Yes, sir!: Hm. That’s better…: (Granted, the old me would’ve likely been utterly mesmerized by that UX mech…): Heh… I knew I could count on the Union’s top ace. Many thanks for your bushido. : Hmph, reinforcements, are those? You can gather as many as you’d like, it still won’t help. Anyone who dares oppose us will be crushed underfoot!
: Saya, the thing should be vulnerable after that attack. Let’s take it out and run along quick.: Acknowledged!
Lyras (Saya Krueger)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Guard
Spirit Commands:
Sense
Tailwind (迫風) – target ally gets the effect of Accelerate
Mech Features:
Repair Module – when adjacent to a unit, select the Repair command to restore a portion of its HP
20% EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, EN +50, A in Air (Mobility +20, EN +100, S in Air)
Saya’s Voice Actress: Ai Kobayashi (other roles: Sara in King Gainer, Lily Borjano in Turn A Gundam, Trace in Masoukishin III, and some more).
Orphes (Richard Krueger)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L3
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Command L1
Predict (見切り) – 10% to hit, dodge and crit rates over 130 morale.
Spirit Commands:
Invincible
Strike
Iron Wall (鉄壁) – reduces all incoming damage to ¼ for the next turn.
Mech Features:
Gun
20% EN Regen
Squad Bonus: Armor +100, crit +10 (Armor +150, Crit rate 20, Accuracy +10)
Richard’s Voice Actor: Juurouta Kosugi (other roles: Maillot in Dragonar, Charles in Eureka Seven, Oda Nobunaga in Samurai Warriors, Nohman in Z.O.E. and many more)
If Graham was already a very good pilot, Richard is a goddamn monster. His stats are massive across the board and the Orphes is straight-up the strongest unit in the field by quite a wide margin.
It’s got range, it’s got power, it’s got survivability (especially with Richard’s high Prevail), it’s speedy (plus Predict), it has EN Regen to just keep on killing. While I’d say the Squad Bonus doesn’t make me jump up and down, this is still an excellent unit all around.
And it’s further complemented by Saya and her Lyras. The ability to fly (with an easily reached S rank – she gets it at tier 2 bonus), plus a big EN boost and regen, targetable Accel and some pretty decent firepower, you could fit them in pretty much any team and they’d be great. Of course, keeping her close to Richard is preferable, as it lets him use Hell Stringer.
All in all, Saya and Richard and very good units and there’s no good reason not to deploy them.
With that said, now that Richard’s popped open the Ball’s shell, the thing will fall easily. It doesn’t have any skills or noteworthy features, so we’ll just spread out and take everything out.
Richard: “The Earthlings are way more amazing than you might think. Take a look and be awed!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87gZtonV6YU
And here’s Arnie’s very slick-looking strongest attack. I simply love that dynamic kill. And when either of the Riots attack…
: Major, I’m detecting accelerated particles coming from that unit…: What?*Looks at the Riot.*
: Yow… how times have changed, eh? A general-purpose mech’s rocking an accelerated particle engine…Now, to wrap this up.
SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter: That’s enough out of you! Behold now the depths of our might!
SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness: Range on, target is locked. The Lyras is not your average support unit, you know! How about a demonstration?
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit: This thing might be armored like no one’s business, but we’re still dropping it!: Like hell we’re letting these mercs outshine us like that!
: I just need to focus fire on that crack in its shell…!: Raising the output in the Proton Generator! We’re going in, Riot!
SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness: Alright… Let’s wrap this up quick while the soldiers are still letting us be!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGnpoTYdVaM
Here we go. Took several retries but I finally got the Ball to hit someone.
Mind you, the plot kicks in at about 3600 HP, so you’ll want to set up a support attack to get the cash.
SRW UX - JOEY AND HEROMAN: Heroman’s telling me not to give up… that we’ll fight this thing together! Okay, then…!: Hmm!
Bam.
Take it out and we’ll get a Psy’s Skateboard which is a consumable Skill Part (+10 to evasion and melee, +5 to ranged).
*Craaaash! And the Ball keeps on trucking.*
: Wh-What?!: That ball’s still going?!: Ack! It’s going right where the townspeople are!: Hurry, everyone! We have to evacuate this area on the double…!: Come on, come on! Quick!: I-I gotta do something or…!: …!
: What’re you up to, Joey?!: (If I really do have some power in me… If I really can protect others like my dad did, then…!): Can you feel what I wanna do, Heroman?! Help me out, please!: Hmmmm!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuVi2Ds3UqU
: The Heroman… turned giant?!: Wow… It stopped that huge ball right in its tracks!: But the thing’s still alive, no?! Way that’s going, it…!: Saya… the Hell Stringer!: ?! Major…!: Don’t question it. This mission is more important than me!: B-But...!: What comes to your mind when you look at that boy right now? Nothing?!: H-Hurry…! Get everyone out of there… now!: … SRW UX - Roaring Deathblow: Lepton Vectrers, synchro-overdrive engaged!: Synchronization coefficient 97, 98… Pressure set, safety lock released! Come’ere, you marble!
: Wh-What in blazes?!: That ball just... disintegrated!: What kinda mech is that?! And that move…!: Heh, heheh… One shot, one kill, eh? Hrgh!: M-Major…?!: R-Relax… The armymen can take care of the rest. Let’s pull back!: Y-Yes, sir!
: They’ve retreated… Out the darkness and back into it in the blink of an eye. And the rumors certainly didn’t do justice to their abilities.: Haah… haah… Thank god, it’s over! At least everyone’s still safe…! : No targets remain. All hostile forces confirmed shot down.: (W-We should probably also make a run for it, right…?)
: Huh?! The white bot’s disappeared too!: Major, do you think that unit was with UX as well…?: No, I’d say it likely belongs to a third party. The Hell’s Executioners are renowned for their ferocity, whereas the way they fought was too ingenuous…: Ferocity…?: Well, I really can’t bring myself to be fine with these secretive mercs butting in our battlefield… My own pride won’t allow it!: Jin…: (So fighting is a matter of pride for you…?): (Hah… It’s like I’m staring back at my younger self…): So this planet has fighters with that much strength, hm? Surprising. Perhaps we underestimated them slightly. 
: Master Gogorr, we’re being informed that there are trespassers within our base!: What…?
: A dead end...?: Something’s wrong, Will. We came through here just now, didn’t we…?*Secret door opens!*
: Wh—?!: Hands up! Don’t try anything!: W-Waaaah!: Damn it…!
Back in Center City, Richard’s gotten in touch with Sumeragi to report about Heroman. The bot’s pretty powerful, and it’s clear they can't simply ignore it – in fact, Richard would like to let the army handle the aliens, while they focus on investigating it.
That’s fine with Sumeragi, but does he really take Heroman to be a greater threat than the Skrugg? Not quite, more like he sees enormous potential there. The controller just needs training, and they’ll be a force to be reckoned with. Sumeragi gives him the go-ahead, but she’s concerned with Richard: he’s not looking too spritely there.
“Ahaha, now this is embarrassing. A little bit of exercise and I’m all worn out? Time is a cruel mistress,” Richard waves her off, despite Saya’s worried stare. Sumeragi still tells him to take it easy, and the Ptolemaios will continue holding its position. They’ll await good tidings (and Richard tells her to look forward to toasting over their successful mission).
: Major, might I make a suggestion?: What is it?: We should lessen our usage of the Hell Stringer, don’t you think?: Oh, dear, Saya, are you worried about your daddy’s health?: No, I’m simply concerned that it’ll negatively impact our performance in battle.: Girl, you’re too much of a workaholic…: My little baby is all grown up and now she treats her old man like a total stranger… Oh, the humanity… : …
: And we gotta evacuate the place we were evacuated to. Yeesh. : Well, can you blame them? With the Skrugg’s battleship sitting right there, we could have another attack at the drop of a hat…: Sure, but where are we gonna go now? The whole city’s pretty much wrecked…: You could all come to Arkham City, if you’d like. : To Arkham?: Yeah, there’s a church that’s helped me more times than I can count.
: Anywhere is fine by me. Do they sing gospel music at that church?: Oh, grandma…!: Hahah, I’m sorry to say they don’t. But Sister Leica’s a very kind woman, and I’m sure she’d welcome everyone. *Steps.*
: Um, excuse me? Would you mind if we tagged along?: Richard! I was so worried about you two! Where were you?: Ah, we got lost in the crowd while everyone was making a run for it and couldn’t find you folks…: We’ve no friends around here, see. No one to help us, nothing… Ooh, what are we going to do now…? Boohoohooo…!: …: Saya… Psst, Saya, you too.: Waaaah, waaaah. Country rooooads, take meee hoooome… : Aah, no, please! Chin up, you two!: Kurou, I don’t think it was random chance that we met these two. Could we bring them with us?: That’s fine by me, but…: OH! Danke schön! Isn’t it wonderful, Saya?!: Woohoo. Bon voyage. : (These two are really shady…): Well, if that’s settled, please lead the way, Kurou.: (I can’t find my brother anywhere… Did he really go somewhere?)
Will and Nick have been brought before Gogorr and he quips at some bugs losing their way. “Bugs?! You’re the bugs here, bug-breath!” Will doesn’t appreciate that.
Will’s got a big mouth for a puny human, but Gogorr assures him that it won’t be long before this entire world is square under the Skrugg’s control. With that, he orders them taken away screaming.
Location: Arkham City – Church
: … And with almost all of Center City having been ordered to evacuate, no one can yet hazard a guess as to what will happen... (Keisha, on TV) *Bloop.*
: Center City… that’s where Kurou went to. I hope he’s safe… (Leica): Oh, God, I beseech you… Kurou may be inept, clumsy and nigh-hopeless, but, please, watch over him!*Knock, knock, knock!*
: Oh, visitors? Come on in!: Excuse me, Sister, but is this where one may find Kurou Daijuuji?: Kurou? He should be back soon, I think…: Um, my apologies, but who… 
: I am Winfield, head butler of the Hadou family. : “Hadou”…? Aaah! The Hadou family?! : What shall we do, my lady? #2: If he will be back soon, then we might as well wait here for a while.And Zenki isn't taking Agnès "Arnie" Berge seriously:
