Part 128: Mission 52 - The Beginning of Life - Part 2

: Hrgh…!
: Prof. Novel…!
: Hah-Hahahah… I’d expect no less from the possibilities I’d envisioned for so long…
: I-I’m sure that… you’re now capable of reaching the underlying truth of this universe…
: …
: I had feeling this was the case… You planned on being brought down by us from the get-go, didn’t you?
: What’s going on?! Weren’t you the one who established that underlying truth to begin with?!
: Not at all… I’ve just been a part of this many, many times now.
: You’ve been…?
: The universal Samsara isn’t endless. It won’t be long before this Yuga reaches its end. That’s why I…
: Wait just a moment! Didn’t some of us come from future versions of this world?! What happens to us if the universe is going to end here?!
: Yeah, something isn’t right with your story! If there’s no future at all after this, then we shouldn’t even exist, right?!
: You have it the wrong way… There isn’t a single person here who came from the future.
: Come again…?!
: There is no undoing the past. A fate that has already come to pass can never be overturned… To put it simply…
: Each of you has come from a past universe, one whose Yuga had come to an end.
: Th-Then, that means…
: …
: That we are recurring entities…
: We, like Kurou and Master Therion, have existed through multiple Samsaras…
: …
: Indeed, for tens of thousands, perhaps millions of times. And while you never realized it, as you went through the repeating Samsara, your wills were slowly but surely magnified. From the possibilities presented, you gave shape to fate…
: All those “coincidences” you felt were not coincidences at all. Rather, they were all reflexes of the fate you won for yourselves.
: Wh-What the hell…
: Then, the events Judah indicated…
: Those weren’t possibilities that could bring about our future, but facts that had already occurred previously…
: All were the lingering memories of our souls, accumulated through the cycles…
: …
: I suppose it is a case of Pre-established Harmony. Our desired outcomes were fruit of a fate that had been selected many times over…
: Then, those voices we heard from the Yùxǐ…
: Yes… Those were the voices of our own amassed fates…
: Of all the different possibilities from what we got this time…
: Maybe one fate said we’d all die, another that we’d be beaten…
: And over all those cycles, we chose different possibilities out of the ones available again and again.
: As new divergences appeared, we chose anew, progressively shaping the fate we desired…
: Like we were sharpening a piece of iron into a sword…
: And, in time, that sword…
: Correct… and that’s what I’d been searching for: a blade that may slay the gods themselves…
: A blade that slays the gods…!
: Having conquered fate amid the Samsara, you stepped through the gate of Yog-Sothoth…
: And were brought into the future universe…
: The future universe…
: It was the future back then, and it’s now our present…
: Then, what had been guiding us all along…
: It wasn’t me, no. The voice you heard was the manifestation of all those lost possibilities…
: The manifestation of those possibilities?
: Hm. It’s the lives of all that have existed in this universe…
: Countless wills, countless possibilities… The souls of all the men and women you’d succeeded over the recurring Samsara…!
: They were the ones who led you to this point!
: …?!
: Then, the light of the Odyssite…!
: The light of the Aura Power, the Wings of Rean…
: The Fold Quartz, and the great power from the Ninja Legend…
: And even Mirisha’s Dragon’s Chalcedony!
: No wonder they all shared so many similar traits. It’s because all of them…!
: …
: All of them are manifestations of life… They’re the energy of the soul given form!



: Prof. Novel?!
: I suppose… this is it for me…
: H-Hey, hold on! We still have more to ask you!
: N-Never forget…
: The emotions, the prayers, the wishes of life… Everything that’s within you…





: Prof. Novel!
: N-No…
: Novel Dylan said she’d been looking for “a blade that may slay the gods themselves”. If that’s the case…
: What lies beyond this point must be…
: There was only one Beginning…
: …?!

SRW UX - The End of the Yuga


: From it, various wills took root, giving birth to just as many lives…
: And, at long last, the time has come to cull those possibilities.



*Tzeeeeeeep!*



: Now, come. Return to the end…
: Wh-Who is that…?!
: She’s beautiful…
: She’s like a proper goddess…
: …
: I know who that is… ‘Tis the embodiment of the end of the Yuga!
: I.e…. She’s Kali Yuga!
: Kali Yuga…?
: A Mahayuga is a time unit for the entire life-cycle of a given universe, comprised of four Yugas…
: And it’s prophesized that at the end of that cycle, a being will appear – one that’s both a devil and a god… that’s Kali Yuga.
: A devil and a god…?!
: …
: I-I’m scared… There’s no Aura inside her!
: No, not exactly…
: It’s not that there’s no Aura… it’s that she’s the world around us! We’re trapped inside her!
: Wh-What did you say?!
: This space itself is…
: A place where the end and the beginning intertwine – a place of life, and of death…
: “Behold, for that light is nigh…”
: Nyarlathotep once spoke of the final chapter of the G-Records, “Apocalypse”… This is the terminus of the world, as inscribed within!
: A space – or, rather, a void – which emulates our world…!
: …
: Not much time remains…
: Let this Yuga come to a close…

*Flash! Tzeeeeeeep!*



: Wh-What’re those things?!
: For as much awe as I feel, just as much crushing dread grips me…!
: If she’s a goddess… do you think those are her angels?
: This universe has given birth to far too many possibilities…
: The voyage of life must come to an end, and all returned to the eternal nothingness… to a time before time.
: Crap, she’s really…!
: She wants to reset the entire universe to the void before life ever began…!
: Gaah, enough with all this fancy talk!
: Lt. Kaido…!
: The gist of it is that the chick’s trying to wipe us out, right?!
: Yeah… meaning there’s only one answer for that!
: If God gets in our way, he’ll get cut down!
: If the Devil does the same, then he’ll be shot!
: Yeah, they’re right… Everything we fought for’ll go up in smoke if we bit it here!
: We cannot allow this to be the end! We owe it to the many lives who turned to light and gave us their strength!
: We’ll choose our fate and face it head on!
: All those souls given form have led us here!
: And I’m sure standing up to her is what Prof. Novel had in mind…!
: All our struggles were to sharpen us into a blade capable of striking down the void itself!
: Arnie…!
: Let’s take it to her, people! Whatever foe lies ahead…!
: We, humans, will never be beaten!

So, let’s take stock on what we’ve learned: as it turns out, Shou wasn’t the only one who came from the previous universe. All those “alternate futures” weren’t actually futures, but actually futures from the PREVIOUS iteration of the UX universe. Nyarly’s Klein Bottle cycle itself was a cog in a far bigger machine – the UX world’s own cycle, the Mahayuga, and Nyarly’s shenanigans were a cycle within that one. Throughout every past Yuga, our folks’ willpowers grew stronger, continuously bolstered by all the souls of those who died, allowing us to create more and more new divergent possibilities and shifting events in different ways.
Bit by bit, with every passing cycle, we molded our ideal fate, and it’s the influence of that self-made fate that’s been pushing us along – as it turns out, WE were the spider at the center of the spiderweb.
All those accumulated possibilities and souls, manifesting themselves through our magic thingamajigs, brought our people here, when the Yuga is meant to close. Novel sought to further empower our wills through various challenges, all in the interest of finally making us powerful enough to stand up to Kali Yuga, the personification of the universal reset.


And that’s what we’re going to do, but there are a few things to be wary of. First and foremost, Kali’s summoned new Rvarna (Sanskrit for “the sounds”) which come in seven flavors: white, black, red, blue, yellow, green and purple. Here’s where the debuffs come in, because every one of them is packing one, with varying degrees of annoyance. In the order above, they have: SP Down, EN Down, Attack Down, Movement Down, Mobility Down, Range Down, EN Absorb.
Prioritize whatever you’re running low of the most, and the red ones because getting your attack halved pretty much means a unit is all but useless against Kali Yuga.

Mind you, trying to drop them all so you don’t get debuffed won’t fly because:

*More stuff spawns in!

: Rgh… They just keep coming!
: We’re not winning this unless we take out Kali Yuga!
: Troops, focus all your fire on her!

Yeah, the Rvarna and stuff will just spawn endlessly whenever the enemy squad numbers dips below 7, so take out the debuffers that matter and go for Kali.


Kali Yuga
Pilot Skills:
Double Movement
Prevail L9
Support Attack l3
Break Morale Limit
Counter
Guard
All Attack L3
Command L4
Mech Features:
30% EN Regen
All-Canceller
Kali Yuga’s voice actress: Naoko Matsui (other roles: Inez in Nadesico, Roux in Gundam ZZ, Sonoko in Detective Conan, Yui Kamishiro in Jushin Liger and many more)

Remember when I said Tobikage was the best pilot in the game? Turns out I lied. Kali Yuga has positively ridiculous stats all across the board, with the largest total among all bosses.
She’s the hardiest enemy in the game, sporting not only 400k HP but also THE biggest armor stat, 2500, which goes up to 4800 as her Prevail dips. Therion, last mission, had 1900. For that matter, at 3L size, she’s also the tallest unit around (1999 meters tall, compared to the Battle Frontier’s 1186m) which results in a MASSIVE damage penalty for anyone that isn’t ignoring the size difference. When Guard and Prevail L9 get going, you better come packing either a FUB’d unit or have SP for Valor, or you’ll be hard pressed to even break 3-4k damage.
But, of course, Kali isn’t just a tank and hits like a jet-propelled train getting shot out of a sniper rifle: her range is massive, with her strongest attack going up to 3-9, her second at 1-4, and her weakest at 2-8. But her most dangerous trick is her MAPW, which follows the same pattern as Deus Ex Machina’s: a 4x4 AoE that she can set anywhere as far as 8 squares away.
BUT, that is not all as, following after her minions, Kali Yuga comes packing nasty debuffs in every single one of her weapons: her weakest attack applies Accuracy and Mobility Down, her MAPW is Morale AND Attack Down (!), her second strongest gives Halved Stats, and her strongest attack applies Range and Movement Down. Now, you might be expecting that 3L size to ruin her accuracy since she doesn’t know Ignore Size Difference, right? Wrong, because not only she has S ranks on all her terrains, both her MAPW and her strongest attack have innate Ignore Size and Barrier Pierce effects.
So, here’s the most important thing in this fight, and the reason why you saved all that SP and cleared every prior enemy: keep Confuse up at all times and/or Daunt her whenever her morale goes over 130 because you do NOT want her to get that MAPW off. If you plan around that, you should be able to drop her in a turn even in a fresh game. If you don’t, and let Kali get a turn above 130 morale, she will make you answer for it.




















But the Rvarnas aren’t too resilient themselves.


And a Soul’d MAPW from Kira’ll drop the Riot Xs surrounding Kali, clearing the way for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6WPdcvNQk
Here’s Kali Yuga’s second strongest attack – we’re looking to drop her below 70% for the plot to kick in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0lpu4_u3cI
And here’s Kali’s absolute strongest attack, which is one of those rare cases of the final boss actually having a DK. Ishigami graciously offered to demonstrate it to us – he’ll be fine.

It doesn’t take a lot of hits to clear off 120k+ HP after Therion doing nearly half of that (boost him enough and he can two-shot Kali).

: Why do you not return?
: The deviations from the Samsara’s rule prevent the start of the new Yuga…







: Gaaaah!
: Hrrrmmm! I-Indeed… she is well deserving of the title of goddess!
: Maybe, but we ain’t getting dropped by her!
: Do you still not see the truth? That unrelenting will of yours…
: All the endlessly diverging possibilities you bring are twisting the quintessential truth of the universe…
: Wh-What did you say…?!
: The cosmos is governed by the Mahayuga. Time and again the Samsara repeats itself. Eventually, a universe reaches its end, and that also marks a new beginning…
: However, your wills have caused far too many possibilities to be born…
: And it has come to the point that they are impeding the start of the next Yuga…
: Then, you mean that…!
: Our imaginations have turned to oppress the universe itself?!
: Yes, and that is precisely why this universe must be brought to a close.
: As all is returned to the primordial nothingness, the next Yuga shall begin…
: Th-That’s…!
: Then, our lives are…!
: …
: No way.
: Ensign…?!

SRW UX - Prologue

: It took me a while, but I’ve finally understood what Prof. Novel was trying to do…
: Our possibilities are oppressing the universe, yes…
: Which is why she tried to bring all those possibilities together as one!
: Bring them all as one…?!
: Nothing comes from the void…
: Rather, it’s the fact that everything exists – that all possibilities are here – that makes this the true Beginning of Life!
: Isn’t that right, Jin?!
: Yeah, you got it… The Beginning of Life is right there with you…
: Th-That voice…!

*Flash! And tzeeeeeep!*

: Open yourself and feel our souls…! We’re all within you…
: My sister… My life is one with you…
: Ayul… how?!
: There was only one beginning…
: Tsubaki…?!
: Joy and sorrow are both aspects of the same life…
: And if the repeating cycle of existence and death is the cycle of life, then…
: …
: Death is also part of life…!



: …?!
: All of life is here… it’s all within you.
: Prof. Novel!
: You’ve figured it out, didn’t you, Saya?
: Major…
: You know what you folks have to do… You know what the answer of your lives is, right?
: …
: Yes!



SRW UX - The Will of Man Awakens

: Th-That light is…!
: It’s the Beginning of Life… and the ultimate destination of our possibilities!
: That’s…!
: We’ve all been through the same…
: We’ve come to comprehend existence and death, and at the end of our journey, we’ve learned what life is…
: Right, Jin?
: Right on. And as those two fold into one another, they join as one.
: All of Creation possesses two sides to itself. ‘Tis when one knows all that the heavens shall be within reach!
: Listen. Can you hear all their voices…?
: Yeah, we hear ‘em!


: The emotions born of life weave endless divergences…
: And when those, ultimately, join together…
: They bring forth a new fate – a new future!



: Th-They are… Why?!
: Those lives were supposed to have returned to nothingness! How are they…?!
: Because they never returned to nothingness!
: Every single one of us have always been right here!
: The souls of those who perished remain within and empower the living!
: Their light is the voice that led us to this very moment!
: It’s a prayer, coming in from the rift between life and death to help us!
: It’s a light that taught us what it means to exist!
: Indeed, there is no god in this world.
: What you see here is the light of the will – the light of life!
: Hear our call, all life who dwells in this universe!
: And gather at the beginning…!






*Everyone gets a full restore!*

: What… That cannot be!
: I feel so much power coursing through me…!
: We are not beaten… We can keep on flying!
: … Huh, would you look at that? This power has always been everywhere, but it took us realizing that fact for it to start flowing…
: M-Mortals are… creating a new Yuga?!
: They are creating a beginning out of the end…?!
: All our souls have joined as one! And, together, we’ll earn…!
: A new tale for all life…!


Angela - Dead or Alive
Under normal circumstances, this is when I’d cue a random JAM Project song since UX doesn’t have one… but considering the Angela duo have been a constant presence since day one, it wouldn’t feel right to have anyone else here!


: Despair and hope mixed together, and thus a finely tuned system was undone.
: However, that did nothing to stop the end of the Yuga.
: In which case, the solution is simple: we simply need to overthrow the end of the Yuga as well!
: Indeed, and what we’ve accomplished shows that there is nothing our group cannot do.
: I can appreciate one last bit of entertainment before long-lasting tranquility. And I very much like the idea of us cutting these puppet strings ourselves.
: Yes, Master.
: Go for it, boy! And, just this ONCE, I’ll provide some rocking background music for you!
: Feel my melody and let my fleeting, heartrending emotions empower you!
: Let my love empower you, too-robo!
: Forward, Kurou! We have united man, god and machine, and our strength is now on par with the divine! Strike her down!
: Aye, aye! Universal cycles, whatever, I sure as hell ain’t taking someone wrecking us like it’s nothing!
: Now, we - Kurou Daijuuji and Al Azif - will overcome karma itself and tear down the chains of fate!








Kurou attacking: “You really shouldn’t underestimate humans, ya fake goddess!”; “We still got plenty of life in us! And I ain’t putting up with you turning up your nose on that!”
West attacking: “Watch as I wield my artistry, my brilliant intellect to gobsmacking effect! DOCTAAAA WEEEST is the biggest, greatest final boss!” > Elsa: “You’re not taking this seriously, Doctor!”
Therion attacking: “So that we may finally know release from the real unending curse…!”; Etheldreda: “We’ll leave nothing left of you!” > Therion “And then we’ll bring an end to this foolish cycle!”
Kali attacking Kurou: “Oh, man who’s transcended the Ouroboros… your battle has already met its end.”

: Life prayed that it could save its future, and the Earth answered to that will.
: Yet all that accomplished was fostering possibilities leading towards the destruction of all…
: I see you don’t understand jack!
: You act like the will of Earth granting Heroman to mankind was for nothing, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth!
: When Joey and Heroman are together, there isn’t anything they can’t pull off!
: Because the bonds that exist between them are stronger than anyone and anything!
: Joey, Heroman! Please, save our future!
: Do you hear them, Heroman? They’re all calling out to us!
: Our fate comes down to this single moment, and we need to face it with everything we’ve got!
: Oooooo!








Heroman attacking: Joey: “I know we’ll save this world! And the reason is because we’re heroes!” > Heroman: “Hmmmm!”
Will attacking: “I’m not fighting for me… this is for Lina!”
Kali attacking: “I cannot listen to Earth’s will alone.”

: The strength and the will to face any being… Such is the devil who would beckon ruin.
: Hah, “devil”, eh?
: That’s actually not an inaccurate assessment…!
: But, of course, they never cared to be any sort of Champions of Justice!
: You can say that again. The words ‘just cause’ mean nothing to us!
: We fight because we want to! We crush because we want to!
: We are Hell!
: And it’s time for ya to drop her into the afterlife, Mazinkaiser!






SKL attacking: Kaido: “Fighting a god’s right up our alley!”; “I trust you’re gonna give us the fight of our lives, ya hear!”; Magami: “Be it God or the Devil, we’ll kill whoever stands in our way!”; Magami: “I’ll live on and prove that I’m still my own person!”
Tsubasa: “Our long battle for the fate of the world’ll end here…!”
Kali attacking: “The hour has come for Heaven and Hell to return to nothingness.”

: Humans were surrounded by so much sorrow, yet they always kept their gaze set upon the future and succeeded in carving out their own destiny.
: However, there is a destiny that one cannot oppose. You are all prisoners of an unending cycle.
: Had you said that to us before, we might just have believed it… but not today!
: All we need is a glimmer of hope… If we can put our trust in that light, then we can find the strength to fight on!
: Our struggles right now are to carry on living, regardless of how difficult and painful it may be…!
: And if you say that’ll lead the universe to its destruction, then we’ll just break through that destiny and keep going!












Shinn attacking: “God or whatever you are, I’m not letting you destroy mine and my friends’ future!”; “I won’t give up, no matter who’s against me…! That’s the only way to bring an end to conflict!”
Kira: “We just want a normal future for ourselves! Someone who’d take that away can’t be a god!”; “It’s not you who’ll create the future of this universe…!”
Athrun: “We’ll end you and bring light back to our world!”
Kali attacking Shinn or Kira: “Neither strength nor wishes will overthrow destiny – that is, the universal truth.”

: By connecting the individual dots of your wishes, humans erected the lines of their possibilities.
: However, the form drawn by those lines is simply that of the gateway to oblivion.
: What a loada crock! If you think you’re gonna get us shaking in our boots from what, you got another thing coming!
: That might be the opinion of Kali Yuga herself, but it’s not in your nature to just leave it at that, is it, Hayase?
: ‘Course not. There’s no way the form our lines drew is anything like that!
: Plus, even if that gateway to oblivion is legit, all we have to do is exorcize all that badness away.
: If we do, it’ll just be one big gateway to hope left.
: What it all amounts to is that we are the ones who steer our fate…
: Better yet, we’re the factors needed to save our future!
: If a man like me can help defend our future, then I won’t think twice!
: I’ll ante up every ounce of my strength – and all my life – to see that done!
: We might not even be capable of imagining how long you must’ve been watching over this universe…
: But that was then, and this is now…! We’ll build our future with our own lives!
: We won’t allow any of it to meet its end here!
: Rather, we’ll hold fast to our tomorrow and we’ll never let it go!
: That… is our sincerest plea!
: And now it falls on us to teach you what the true strength of mankind is like.
: Do you now see what we’re hoping for? Do you see the form our lives make as they come together?!
: That form’s the Linebarrel – the form that’ll create a shining future from all our endless possibilities!


















Kouichi attacking: “Save the universe and protect all life… not a bad deal, I say!”
Moritsugu: “I’m no Champion of Justice. That said, we’ll be the ones who’ll save this world!”
Yamashita: “Here’s the final battle…! Let’s go, Hind!”; “Between you and the Human Machinas, we humans are being sold REALLY short nowadays…!”
Shizuna: “We live by our own will, so butt out! I ain’t taking anyone killing us for no good reason!”; Izuna: “You will not erase the lives we’ve led!”; Shizuna: “No phony goddess—” > Izuna: “Is going to have her way with our future!”
Soubi: “I’d spent decades of my life with Kaoru in that world. I’m not about to let you destroy it!”
Miu: “We’re taking you down, and then we’ll really be Champions of Justice!”
Domyoji: “Time to exorcize THE worst spirit haunting this world!”
Yajima: “The one and only peace is waiting for us just around the corner. And now we’ll win it for humanity!”
Yulianne: “It’s looking like this really is our last job…!”
Jack: “My blade carves out my fate…! None, not even you, may intrude upon it!”
Masaki: “We won’t shy away, no matter how strong an enemy emerges… because we’re all Champions of Justice…!”; “You fancy yourself a god? Don’t make me laugh…!”
Kiriyama: “It’s up to humans to safeguard peace on Earth! We won’t give that task up to anyone!”; “My life, and all the missteps I made, are my own! I won’t let you reset it all!”
Katou: “The future is not our enemy…! No, the future is hope!”; “Humanity will be saved…! That is what I— rather, that is what WE will do!”
Ishigami: “Look at how far I’ve made it. Now, how about we make a flower or two bloom here, eh?”; “Oh, brother… You’re telling me to go and save mankind, Judah?”
Kali attacking Kouichi: “You may even surpass your humanity, but you cannot surpass your limits as ‘Champion of Justice’.”

: As humans rouse their wills, the heavens themselves are stirred.
: However, the destruction in your fate will not and cannot be swayed.
: It may be that the universe is fated to die… But the will of man – our hearts shall prevail!
: Aye, they shall rise above even that fate!
: Ye being who beckons all to the primordial nothingness! Behold the blazing light of our souls!
: That which you hear is the roar of human life! And it demands a future!
: The hearts of those who fell amid the road travelled, the souls of those men and women whom we once challenged! All now shine bright, ever united with justice!
: And it’s flanked by that light that we set off to the beginning of a new world – one brimming with freedom!












Liu Bei: “The will of man… our hearts shall rise above even the power of a god!”
Guan Yu: “We shall end you… and your defeat shall be the founding stone for our homeworld of Mirisha!”
Zhang Fei: “What, a bad apple like you is a god? I don’t think so!”; “And here it is: the battle of the millennium!”
Cao Cao: “You would revert all to nothingness…? The heavens would never stand for such folly!”; “The spirits of the fallen rest upon my blade, and ‘tis through them that I end you!”
Sun Quan: “In the name of the Sun Family, the heirs to the soul of Hǔxiǎo…! I challenge you!”
Shangxiang: “I know we’ll live through this… and then we’ll get back to Mirisha together!”
Lu Bu: “You are an avatar of the heavens?! Hmhmhm… This thrill! It ignites— MY SOOOUUUL!”
Diaochan: “The Shura fear not even a god… Away with you, fiend!”
Kali vs. SD Gundams: “The heavens are coming undone. They will be stirred no longer.”
Kali vs. secret characters: “Ye beings who should not be here… your possibilities have reaped the life of this universe.”; “Your life, your being here… those are turning to threaten the cosmos.”