Part 60: Mission 26 - The Shadow Over Innsmouth - Part 1
Kurou’s a forced deployment today, but you can still set him up in a team. As I mentioned previously, this mission is the best spot to farm for secret kills, so if you’re planning on doing that with anyone, it’ll make things easier if you dumped the cash you got from the previous mission on them. And, as a reminder, this is the cut-off point for the 1st Fafner secret: Kazuki needs to have over 100 kills by the end.
Here’s how we’re going:
Fei-Yen/Lockon
Zhang Fei/Mike
Sun Quan/Sun Shangxiang
Dancouga/Canaria
Mazinkaiser/Talisman
Michel/Kenji
Ozma/Tieria
Mamoru/Sakura
Cao Cao/Moritsugu
Liu Bei/Rennie
Yamashita/Lunamaria
Joe/Saya
Setsuna/Guan Yu
Shou/Marvel
Aesap/Canon
Kurou/Deceive
Heroman
Alto/Luca
Shinn/Klan
Kouichi/Michio
Kazuki/Allelujah
Arnie/Eida
Tactician: Sima Yi (hitting hard in the enemy turn’ll make grinding kills faster)
Off we go.
We open up by an altar inside a cave, where three hidden people have a problem: “the Tyrant” has escaped. Said Tyrant is essential to their plans, meaning they must move to capture it immediately. One of the men says intel suggests it’s still lurking in nearby, so they must hurry. The boy (?) of the group isn’t too keen on working with said man, but fine.
With that settled, the apparent leader agrees to let them see to the Tyrant’s capture – he’s got plenty of other work to do as well. The boy tells him not screw up his end and the guy nods: “I’m well aware. The Black Lodge’s grand cause depends on it.”
And now for a change of scenery: time for a beach episode at scenic Innsmouth! Jeffrey likes the look of the waves, so maybe he’ll get some good surfing in today (it’s been a long while). The water’s great, too, and Joey wants Kurou to thank Ruri for making this happen. Mind you, as he reminds the kid, we were hired to run an investigation, not to play around. “You’d best not let yourself get too caught up on the sea!”
But Kurou’s attention is diverted as the team’s ladies strut out in their swimsuits – the Quarter’s bridge bunnies are especially elated, as this is pretty much their first chance to relax since the Fleet came to this world. Feldt, on the flip side, is being all shy in contrast. “A-And the swimsuits too. You’d breast— best not let yourself get caught up on those either… Eheheheh…” Kurou giggles, and it falls on Al to set him straight with a magic missile to the gut. “If there is anyone getting ‘caught up’ on those, ‘tis you, you gigantic fool” Oow.
A nearby voice has a giggle at Kurou’s naughty attitude and, surprise, it’s Leica. She’s not alone, though: Psy and Denton are also here, having heard much of Joey and co.’s heroics since last they saw each other. Ruri also brought Lina along, and providing this happy reunion already made everything worth the princess’ while.
Kurou’s glad to see them… but does this mean Ruri’s told Leica everything about him, the UX and whatnot? Actually, as Psy notes it, it seems Leica figured everything out herself. Joey’s confused as to how she did, but Leica has an explanation: “I only ever needed a quick look at Kurou’s face to figure out whatever’s going on inside his head”.
Well, dang. Kurou apologizes for keeping quiet, but she isn’t angry. In fact, he’s risen in her esteem when she realized he’s been fighting evil in secret. Kurou’s gets very bashful, but before Al can get him to pipe down again, Denton suggests we not concern ourselves with trivialities. This is our first chance to visit the beach in a long while, so we should enjoy it as best we can!
Later, Joey approaches Psy and says he’s feeling a chill running down his spine. “Oh, boy, you noticed, eh…?” Psy notes awkwardly. The person Joey’s sensing would be Holly, his older sister, who’s busy poking the toy-like Heroman – it really gets so tiny when it’s not go-time! “Hey there, fellas! Much appreciated you lookin’ after Joey!” she says, and Mamoru can’t help but be in awe over the different attitudes between the siblings.
Joey groans a “why” at Psy, and apparently they ran into her in Arkham City, one thing lead to another, and Holly came here with them. And they told her the whole story, so now she’s got a question for Joey: he’s got himself mixed up in a big ol’ mess lately, eh?! N-No, he says he’s just doing what he can for the people of Earth, and Lux backs him up, saying Joey’s a fine warrior, who’s been through many battles with Heroman.
Holly isn’t too sure, but knows the way to fix that: she’s tagging along with us to see if baby bro’s the real deal! Seems the UX have gotten a new helper, and while Luca has a laugh at her larger-than-life persona, Joey can only suffer quietly.
Arnie’s elsewhere, pondering, but his attention’s diverted when Saya approaches and asks if he’s feeling better… U-Um, what is she wearing? The standard blue school swimsuit – can’t he tell? He can, yes, and asks if Richard’s behind this again.
“I know, I know. His wardrobe is filled to the brim with odd clothes… but I’ve been going along with it for so long that I can’t bring myself to say ‘no’ to him…” Saya pouts, and Eida doesn’t envy her situation. Shizuna wonders what kinda creep the old man is to pull stuff like this with a girl Saya’s age, but Arnie’s sure Richard isn’t the type of person to do this just for kicks.
How so? “I’m sure all these costumes are meant as training for your career as a classical actress!” he proclaims, and Eida can’t believe he’s STILL buying into that. Shizuna figures he’s even more clueless than Soushi. Whatever the case, it does get a laugh out of Saya and she invites Arnie to join her at the beach – how about the two of them put together an impromptu act? Arnie doesn’t know how that works, but he’ll follow her lead.
This took too weird a turn for Shizuna and Eida, and they slowly back away to go eat watermelons ELSEWHERE.
And we’ve got even more visitors, as Ranka and Sheryl arrive – and they very much like ambiance at the fancy Innsmouth Resort. When Alto asks, Ranka explains that both of them took some time off work to have a little vacation. And what about that stuff about Sheryl being sick? She says the rumor mill blew things way out of proportion: it was just a small case of anemia. Still, it happened because she was overworked, so Grace suggested she take a few days to relax.
Alto’s glad to hear that, though Rennie can’t help but be surprised at us running into each other like this – quite the coincidence, no? Hardly, Brera steps up and says Sheryl had them find out where we were and insisted they come here.
She tries to stammer a denial, but Alto’s more focused on Brera, who he recognizes as the pilot from the Valkyrie we saw before. As Ranka tells, the guy’s her and Sheryl’s bodyguard (Bodyguard AND Valkyrie pilot? Color Michel impressed).
Brera’s also heard plenty about Alto and, now that they’ve met, he turns to the singers and suggests they cut ties with the pilot. Say what now? As Brera sees, Alto may be skilled, but his resolve – his everything else, really – is middling.
Before Alto can get in his face, however, the situation’s diffused by Sumeragi and Aoi walking over and asking them to chill – it’s not often they get a chance to have fun, so why are they bickering? That’s quite the sexy swimsuits the two ladies are rocking and Michel very much approves. Sumeragi’s exuding that full-grown woman charm and Aoi, ever the top model, has a body to match her fame – Joe and Shou can’t look away.
They better, though, because their significant others are seething. “Do you girls feel that too? That boiling anger rising from your very soul?” Klan asks. “Yuuup. And I think men who step all over ladies’ feelings…” Rennie adds, and Marvel completes it, “need a lesson in pain to try and change their ways.”
Elsewhere, Damian hears a howl of pain coming from across the beach. The hell? Not their problem, figures Domyoji, as they’ve got more important things to check out: like Shaff and Romina’s swimsuits. Shaff isn’t sure if they two of them also needed to dress like this, but Romina sees no problem. It’s part of Earth’s culture.
The Princess’ pure, angelic beauty is a sight to Kouichi, but Mike’s got his eyes set on Shaff – how did he never notice how pretty she is? Lockon can see in his face that the guy’s 100% hooked.
All that said, Sakuya does notice another cute girl hiding behind them. Whoever it is, that girl’s mighty embarrassed – Kouichi does agree that she looks very sexy in her getup, though.
Oh, it’s actually Yamashita in a bikini. As Kenji lies stunned, Shizuna has a huge laugh: “Wahahahaha! It took a whole lotta work to get him to wear that, but even I didn’t think it’d look that good on him!” Izuna can’t believe she’d pull a prank like that, and asks if Yamashita isn’t embarrassed to be dressed like that. His answer comes in the form of a loud “SHUT UP!”
Kouichi’s less than amused by Shizuna’s joke, but she asks if he should be talking like that with the nosebleed he’s got going. Ah, crap. “Hm… I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing, Hayase,” Kizaki ponders. “N-Noooo, I’m not! This is a huge misunderstanding!” Kouichi panics.
From afar, Kazuki and Maya note that everyone seems to be having a good time; we needed a chance to unwind after all the nonstop battles we’ve been having. But should we be unwinding, Canon wonders. This is supposed to be a mission, no? Moritsugu agrees, as while this is also serving the purpose of a vacation, our primary concern here should be to investigate recent disappearances in the area.
Kurara and Izuna understand that Moritsugu’s being professional about this but… isn’t he steaming right now, wearing that suit under the sun? “Of course I am! Can’t you see this waterfall of sweat dripping off my brow?!”
Everyone’s got “beach” portraits where they don’t have their coats, but most are so similar, you can barely tell the difference and I’m not about to make new portraits for everyone just for one mission. Call me lazy, I don’t care!
: Then why don’t you switch to just your inner frame mode like us? (The basic structure of a Gundam Plamo, without all the armor bits.)
: Oh, yes, it’s so very refreshing!
: Er… what? Doesn’t that pretty much mean they’re naked?
: I don’t know… Nothing about them makes any sense to me!
: That does sound nice. I wanna switch to my inner frame mode too!
: Gi-gi.
: Hmm, is that Humanoid speak for ‘Oh, yeah!’ or just him being embarrassed?
: ...?! H-hey! Look over there!
: I-It’s…!
: That girl… is she going to jump off that cliff?!
: …: No… no one cares about me. No one needs me, so what’s the point in living? There’s none…: Still, even someone like me can at least change my own world…*Swoosh!*
: She jumped!: Damn it…! Linebarrel! Quick!*Twoop! Grab!*
: ?! A-A robot…!
: …: Thank god, I caught her right on time…
: She’s passed out, but it doesn’t look like she’s hurt.
: This girl is…!
: Do you know her?: Yes, she’s Miu Kujo – a member of the Smash Dolls idol group. 
: She’s a singer?!
: But why did she…?
: Hm… Wh-Where…: Huh?! Y-You’re…!: Um, hey there – my name’s Kouichi Hayase. We saw you jump off that cliff, so I kinda went and saved you…?: A cliff? Hmm, I see... and then you saved me…: But why did I…?
: What, you jumped and don’t know why?: I… everything’s a blank. I’ve been trying to remember what happened since I came to, but nothing’s coming…
: Hmm, maybe the shock of it all has left your memories temporarily out of sorts?
: Nay, I sense evil energies at play here. And they appear to originate from that cave over there…: Cave… you mean the one at the base of the cliff?: Then, you think the reason Ms. Kujo jumped was…: Aye, ‘tis likely she held many a negative emotions within her heart. When the evil energies came into contact, all of those burst forth.
: Put it simply, she was under a spell?: And the disappearances Ms. Hadou asked us to look into…: Yeah, there might just be some relation between those and those evil energies that mess with peoples’ minds.: Alright, then! I believe it’s time to get this investigation underway! : Domyoji, you and the others head back and find the Major. Best to have everyone ready to deploy in case things go south!: You got it!: …: Sorry, Ms. Kujo. We gotta take off to look into that cave there… But can I ask you to promise me just one thing?: A promise…? : Yeah. Please don’t think about killing yourself again.: …?!: O-Okay… I promise...: I’ll see you later, then!: …: (Kouichi… Hayase…)
#1: The denizens of this island – the God-worshipping Deep Ones – have all been sacrificed… #2: Cthuuuulhuuuuuuu wgah’nagl fhtagn… (Cthulhu waits dreaming.) #1: Soon… Very soon, we’ll see the results of my experiment.
: How is there this wide, open space inside a cave…?: And there are plenty of signs that people have been through here. Veeery suspicious…: Then why are you two still coming along with us?!: I am a Factor, you know. While I can’t do much in conventional battles, I can handle something like this just fine.: And I want to help too, Joey! In for a penny, in for a pound!: I-I appreciate the thought, but you shouldn’t put yourself at risk for me…: And, Kurou, you said something about disappearances? Who was it that went missing?: What, you don’t know about it? Over twenty of the local islanders vanished in just one night.: O-Over twenty people…?!: Innsmouth has quite the dark past before the Hadou Financial Group turned it into a resort. From what I’ve heard, this whole area was under control of a dark cult…: So maybe Ms. Hadou thinks the old cult and the disappearances are connected?: Hmm, indeed. There are myriad spells etched across the walls… This is a heathen temple dedicated to an ancient sea god.: A heathen temple?!: It certainly doesn’t look anything like your average cave… Hgh?!: Ensign…?!*Tsssssst.*
: Wh-What’s this smoke?!: *Cough, cough*: Y-You don’t think it’s… poison gas?!: Nay, the smoke is…!
Mission 26 – The Shadow Over Innsmouth
: You guys okay?!: Ooh, I’m so dizzy… Why… Why’s my chest feeling so hot…?: I-It’s like… there’s someone else inside my mind…!*Purple smoke covers Joey and Lina’s portraits!*
: Joey… I have always…: Me too, Lina… I...: H-Hey, what’s up with you two?! Pull yourselves together!
: Blast it all… The smoke is fruit of sorcery! Breathe it and you shall lose your mind! (purple!): Ms. Saya… I…: E-Ensign…?!: I haven’t been able to sleep ever since I saw your acting! It haunts my thoughts!: This is not the time for you to be talking nonsense! (purple!!): Al…: Egads, Kurou! Even you fell— Hrmph?!: Mmwah!: M-Mr. Daijuuji, just what are you doing?!: Y-You GIGANTIC FOOL!*Magic missile!*
: W-Waaaaaaaaah!: Th-The gall! H-How dare you kiss me…!: Hmhmhm… Now this is a surprise. Four whole people managed to keep their minds inside my smoke?: Who are you?!
: You may call me Vespasianus, priest of the Black Lodge and one of the Anticross. Charmed.: Anticross… those’re the Black Lodge’s bigwigs, right?!: What business has Master Therion’s right-hand man here?!: Why, I thought I’d show quite the spectacle to you people: the moment a god is beckoned into this world!: A god?!: Indeed. Now is the moment that a Great Old One, by the power of this grimoire, will bless this land!
: R’llllllyeeeeeh! Ia! Ia! God!: This powerful divine aura of water… ‘Tis the grimoire R’lyeh Text?!: Very insightful, but I’d expect no less from Al Azif herself. The R’lyeh Text is another of the mightier grimoires!: So that girl’s a grimoire spirit like Al?!: And we can easily beckon a god or two with her pages and magic added to our knowledge!: You… You are going to restore that evil god?!: Ia, Ia, God…! Dagon! Dagon! Dagon!
: Kishaaaaaaa!: Th-That’s...!: Behold! Dagon has fed on the lives of the Deep Ones and now it’s reborn onto our world!: “Fed on the lives”?! Then those missing people…!: Th-They… they were eaten by that monster?!: “What is a man, if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. Sure he that—": That’s great, Ensign, but we’re busy with that beast right now! Pull yourself together already!: Oh, don’t worry yourselves. I’ll put you out of your miseries in short order.: Take them, Dagon!: Kishaaaaaaaa!: U-Uwaaaaaaaaah!
: …?!: W-What?!: (I feel the presence of…!): …: (I can’t be…! Did the Tyrant help them?!)
SRW UX - Rebellion Against Fate
: Is everyone alright?!: Major…!: U-Urgh… What happened to us…?: I remember getting caught up in that smoke and…: Oh, thank goodness! Are you all back to normal?!
: Well, whatever happened there, come grab your units and set out to deal with the Black Lodge!: Y-Yes, sir!: Hmph, this changes nothing. Your pathetic UX is hardly a match for Dagon now that it’s been reborn!
: Kill them all!
: Deploy all forces!
: Michio, Canon, are you ready?
: Just say the word! Megatherion, standing by and good to go!
: I’m always ready to fight. And if you ask me, that’s much more fun than playing around at the beach!
: Y’all had a lot of fun messing with my head, eh?! You’re gonna pay for that a hundred times over!
: Do not lower your guard! Your foe is Dagon, the sea god! ‘Tis a monstrous divinity, brought back to life by the Black Lodge!
: Every person is entitled to their beliefs… That being said, I cannot help but be disgusted by this god.: Men, do everything in your power to halt its rampage before it damages the surrounding area!
Kill Dagon, don’t lose Kurou or any ship.
Welcome to the farmlands, people – the simplest place to get a ton of kills and give yourself a lot of leeway in all those secret counts. As I’ve often mentioned in the thread, if you earn kills and then game over a mission, those kills will not be reflect in a character’s stat screen, but they WILL count towards his secret tally.
This mission is the easiest way to grind because there are a ton of weak mooks – MP Destroyer Robos – and Dagon (and the bosses that show up after) are beefy enough to make quick work of a ship, so you can quickly trigger a game over. Once you’ve lost, you’ll be back in the intermission menu, then you can start again and do it as many times as needed.
Like I said before, I only really want to get some kills on Joey since the Fafner trio’s already pretty close to making the cut. Just send your guy up top alone, having him sweep all mooks (use the Elshank to resupply its EN if need be), kill Dagon, which’ll trigger another wave of mooks, kill those, and have a ship get killed, rinse and repeat (make sure you note those invisible kills in your spreadsheet!).
I recommend using the Ptolemaios as your sacrifice, as the Quarter’s bulkier and the Elshank’ll trigger Tobikage. You can also use the Macross Cannon to speed up the process. There are 36 Destroyer Robos in the first wave, plus another 12 in the second, so you can grab 48 kills per pass if you let a single guy take everything. Don’t worry about clearing the secret requirement now – just do it enough times that you feel comfortable you can get the rest normally.
So insert here, twice, Heroman going to town on the Black Lodge goons before the Ptolemaios was tragically blasted by Bobby going a bit too wild with his Macross Cannon.
After that, we do it properly.
SRW UX - Roulette
: Alright, you’re up Joey! I wanna make sure you’re not being a headache to these other folks!
: Psh, talk about bossy…: But, whatever, I have to show her that I’ve got what it takes! Come on, Heroman!
: Hmm…!
SRW UX - LOVE 14 ver. HD: Aw, and we were finally getting a chance to relax…: Tough luck, guys, but this is going to hurt!
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit
: My hair’s going to be so damaged if I don’t wash off this seawater, and soon…: B-But this isn’t the time or place to think about that!
SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens: Yumiko, I always wanna have my head held high when I make my way back to you…: So I’ll make sure that I’m fighting the right enemies this time…!
SRW UX - Shadows that Rend Darkness: That illusion gas we breathed back there… did it not affect me because…?
SRW UX - Obelisk
: These guys have absolutely no manners. We were taking a vacation, you hear?! How about you take a hint?!
: Get your head into gear, Nene! Only way you’ll get to enjoy the rest of that vacation is if you don’t get dropped here!
SRW UX - My Fate
: Wah! How about some personal space, Aesap?! I’m in my swimsuit here, you know!
: You’re the one who got into the Nanajin dressed like that…! And, look at this, you got the cockpit soaking wet!
SRW UX - The Gate of Neidhöhle Opens: I’ve been assigned to the UX, so fighting alongside them is now my mission – pure and simple.: But, at the same time, part of me feels disappointed that we’re not on that beach anymore… Why is that?
SRW UX - Dunbine Flies
: How long it’s been since I went to the beach… but it’s really not looking like I’ll get a chance to enjoy it!
SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter
: What is it, Marie? You’ve been quiet for a bit now… is something wrong?
: N-No, not at all, Allelujah… It’s just that I’ve got seawater all over me…
: Think for a damn sec before you open your mouth, Allelujah! Her ass is all damp from the water and it’s bugging her big time! 
SRW UX - Deus Machina: Keep your wits about you, lest its divinity overwhelm your mind. Though this is but a spawn of a Great Old One, ‘tis still a being worthy of the title of god! : Aye, aye!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bi3tjvq1zk
SRW UX - Obelisk
: Tsk… It’s often said you’re supposed to let your body rest after going for a swim, but that’s really not going to happen today…!
SRW UX - Shangri-La
: Something feels… odd. Is it because you put on your Synergetic Suit before drying yourself?
: Yeah, I didn’t really have the time to pick up a change of clothes. Sorry, but you’re just gonna have to put up with it for now!
SRW UX - Tales of Mirisha ~ The Brave Legend: Baah! We’re all dripping with seawater and our time at the beach is ruined!: You’d best make your peace, because I’ll make you pay dearly for spoiling our fun vacation!
SRW UX - Linebarrel
: Izunaaa! You’re dripping water all over my back!
: I-I can’t stop it, sis! They didn’t even give me time to dry myself!
SRW UX - Envoy from Jupiter
: Aah! Ms. Noriega, why do you have beer with you?!
: Whoopsie. I was drinking this at the beach and I guess just forgot to leave it behind.
: Then how about we wrap this up quick and go toast to our victory!
SRW UX - Love Survivor
: Y-Your Highness, your dress is wet! We can see through it!
: Fret not, Shaff! I’m still wearing my swimsuit underneath it, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of!
SRW UX - Obelisk
: And there I was, counting the seconds to see Ozma in swim trunks… Why, oh, why did the enemy have to attack?!: Sailors must remember that the sea’s always brimming with danger! And we’ll rise to the occasion, come what may!: Show me some spirit, crew! The creatures of these depths are ripe for a harpooning!
SRW UX - Life Goes On
: Fighting while drenched in seawater is just the worst. I know the situation didn’t give us any wiggle room, but I don’t ever want to feel this sticky again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAKJmR-ffzg
And here’s its best trick.
:siren: SRW UX - Love Survivor
: Hrrmm… I had to just slap my pilot suit atop my bikini, and now look how drenched it is! Damn it, let’s end this in a hurry – I need to dry it up!
:siren: SRW UX - A Bird’s Song
: This sure was an abrupt deployment, huh…
: No one likes to fight while soaking wet, but we can’t really tell the goons to come back later!
: And complaining about it won’t get us anywhere. Best we can do is wrap this up quick.
: I’m with her on that. Our inner fire’ll both burn these guys to cinders and help dry us up!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVEvAWBe2AA
It just hit me that I never showed off the Dancouga’s best attack, so here it is. Eat the Old God and make its strength your own!
Our prize is a Smash Dolls’ Disk (+10 to Skill and Defense, +5 to Evasion).