Part 69: Mission 28 (Surface Route) - A Moment's Encounter - Part 2
: Gch… not bad. I can see how you gave Grathan that much trouble…
: Talk while you can ‘cause I’m about to finish you off!: Hmph, moron. Now! Unleash the plasma!Tzzzzzt!*
: Hrk…! What?!: Urgh… the Kurojishi can’t move…!
: What is going on?! Status report!
: We’re detecting some sort of EM Field all around this area! It’s immobilizing our units!: Hmhmhm… this is my Plasma Binding technique! And I’d wager even the Elshank can’t move anymore.
: Tsk… I never thought they’d also have something like this!: We might’ve failed to assassinate Joe, but your death will serve us just as well, Romina!
: Aaah!: This isn’t good…! Are there no options available for us?!
: Hrrrmmm… N-No, nothing’s working! The Elshank’s controls are inoperable!
: Damn it… you gotta be kidding me…!
: U-Uurgh…! : Karen…!: Ahahahaha! Oh, this was almost too easy! Now, Romina…*Charme flies over to the Elshank.*
: You’ve shown yourself a very tenacious woman, but not enough that you could stand up to the Benikage! And now your blood will coat my sword.: Your life is mine!: Grrr, we can’t move out of the way!: Kch…!: A-Aah…! The Elshank’s—!
: Damian, I…!*Grab!*
: Rrgh! Let me go, Karen! What do you think you’re doing?!: Lady Benikage, please stop! I beg you!: Not only did you fail your mission, you now sympathize with the enemy?! I order you to destroy the Elshank now! Do that and I’ll spare you…: No, I can’t do it!: That was not a request, Karen! Have you forgotten what you learned as a kunoichi?!: No, but I’ve also learned that everyone can choose the life they have in the present… That every person is free!: And that’s why…!
: Karen?!: You mean to destroy yourself along with me?! Karen… you’re a fool!: Karen, are you…? Stop! Someone stop her! Quick!
: I’m so sorry, Damian… but I’ve made my choice…!: Karen, don’t!: (We might not visit the moon together… but I’ll at least keep you alive. Damian…!): Thank you…: And goodbye!
*BOOM!*
: Karen… this is just a joke, right? I mean, we were gonna go to the moon together, right…?: Hahah, yeah, that’s gotta be it. This is a joke… right?: Karen, please, answer me! Uwaaaaaaaah!*Tzzzt.*
: Control has been restored to all Ultimate Cross units!
: That girl… she sacrificed herself for Damian…
: The Boom Army…! You’re gonna pay for what you did!
: The Plasma irradiator is destroyed and my unit’s taken massive damage… Blast you, Karen! You…!
: Do you need some help, Lady Benikage?: Th-That’s…!: Ylbora… very well. Show me what you can do.
: Heh… Indeed, I will.
: Ylbora…!: Goddamn, this guy just doesn’t know when to quit!: I have found what I must stake my convictions on – what I must see through. : Though I doubt you could ever understand, Joe.: And you think I care? You better walk on over to Princess Romina and apologize to her right now!: I’m afraid not, Joe! This is the battle I chose for myself!
: Hrm… We can never get a word in edgewise with that guy!: (Ylbora… just what are you thinking that you’d bear your weapon against us?)
: Troops, I know you guys don’t need a reminder, but you can’t hesitate – no matter who we’re up against! Engage and destroy the enemy reinforcements!
SRW UX - Roulette
SRW UX - Linebarrel
SRW UX - Love Survivor: I ain’t holding anything back, ya hear me, Ylbora? You took at shot at the princess and now I’m pounding you into the dirt!
: I’ve given up on everything to set a new course for my life. Someone like you isn’t capable of breaking my spirit or my resolve!: But do give me your best shot, Joe!
SRW UX - Linebarrel: Didn’t you ever stop to consider how the Elshank crew would feel having their commander turn traitor?!: I swore that day that I wouldn’t think twice about hurting anyone if it’d allow me to carry out my beliefs!: Could you look Gameran in the eyes and still say that…?!
Kouichi attacking: “What the hell is your problem…?! Aren’t you even gonna give us an explanation?!”
SRW UX - Lion
: What’re you after joining a group of cowards like The Boom Army?!: And what would telling you accomplish? Here’s some advice, though: those who cannot grasp what another is thinking will find no victory in battle!
SRW UX - Future-Bound Fighting Spirit: Can an aimless, unresolved fighter like you bring himself to attack me?
: I’m not the man you once knew. If you’re standing before me as an enemy… then I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger on you!
Arnie attacking: “If that’s the choice you made, then I’ve nothing to say to you!”
And Ylbora gives us a Michel’s Glasses (Accuracy and Ranged +10, Skill +5).
: Did we get him?!*Ylbora flies to the SW.*
: Hrgh… Hardly! I’ve turned my back on my homeland, my prestige and everything I once knew… your resolve could never measure up to mine!: Fine, Ylbora, we’ll do this your way and put this to bed today!*Joe goes after him.*
: Then, come, Joe! I’ll crush you first!
: A shortsighted fool like you isn’t capable of protecting Her Highness! You never see the big picture!: Big frickin’ deal! You can cry about the big picture ‘til the cows come home, that doesn’t justify hurting the one you were supposed to be helping!: And that, right there, is why I say you’re shortsighted! You don’t realize that some things have to be done, even if it means accepting certain sacrifices be made!
: Wh-Who?!
: A mere attack jet dares fire on me…?: Do not intrude on my battle!
: Stop! The one piloting it is…!: What…?!: Ylbora… Are you going to shoot at me?: Princess Romina?!: Princess, the hell are you thinking?!
: There, I’ve taken a shot at you… doesn’t that makes us even? It’s not too late for you, Ylbora…!: Your Highness, you must know that there are times where you mustn’t be so kind…!: Offering amnesty to a traitor reflects quite poorly on you!
: What’s wrong with you?! The Princess is trying to help you!: But it’s not that simple! I’ve something that I need to see done!: And what is it that you cannot do it on our side?! : Why can’t you simply work with Joe and the others?!: (Again… Again, you choose Joe Maya…!): (They…): I… I will not be your subject any longer! I cannot!: Why do you have to be so stubborn…?!: But, if that’s the case, I have a duty as princess of Planet Ladorio to end your life!
: Princess, stop!
: Hrgh… I’m at my limit…: But that was very good, Your Highness… I am your enemy, after all…!
: Ylbora!: It’s too dangerous to go after him, Your Highness! Please return to the ship!: (Ylbora, you…)
: Radar is detecting no more The Boom Army forces!
: Their new commander, she said her name was Benikage, right?: Her breaking out that new weapon really took us by surprise. That was a very close call…
: Yeah… I don’t even wanna think what would’ve happened if her subordinate hadn’t turned on her…: And she sacrificed herself doing so…: That girl, Karen… she was willing to do anything to protect Damian…: Gch… aahaaa…: Why… Why does this always happen?! When does war ever stop…? Damn it all!: Karen… Kareeeen!: KAREEEEEEEN!!
: Your Highness, are you safe?!: I am. And I apologize for worrying you, Shaff.: Your Highness… please promise me you’ll never do something like this again!: Princess, there are a bunch of people who care for your wellbeing. Do you have something you’d like to say to them?: Yes, I do. My friends, please listen… I am done looking back to the past. : In the present, however, our battles continue. And we’ll likely have to endure watching many others come to harm.: I must steel my resolve and accept that hardship. Thus, I will don this combat uniform and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with you.: Your Highness, what are you…?! I beg you reconsider!
And here’s this route’s cosmetic secret (which doesn’t transfer into NG+): top option keeps Romina in her combat uniform, changing her portrait and cut-in, bottom option sets her in her normal dress. The choice doesn’t have any tangible consequence beyond that, so choose whichever you’d like.
Mind, if you keep the Byston Well route, she defaults to her normal dress.
Use the combat uniform:
: I will not repeat myself.: Wearing this uniform symbolizes my commitment to this.: But Your Highness…
: It’s the proof of your resolve, eh, Princess? Sounds good to me.: … Thank you, Joe.Continue to use her dress:
: Hmm, I dunno. We all see how you feel as clear as day but, honestly, that uniform kind of doesn’t suit you, Princess.: Joe…: We’ll all carry your resolve with us as we go out to fight, so I say you shouldn’t change who you are, princess. : Very well… Thank you, Joe. 
: (Psh, why’s Joe always so nice to her and no one else?!)
: …
: Damian…: … Why? Why did Karen have to die? Damn it… damn it…
: …
: So, what was the story with her? Who really was that girl, Karen…?
: She was a spy for The Boom Army. Only she ultimately turned on them… sacrificing herself to save Damian’s life…: Yet, her last words were “thank you”, so…: …: I promised that I’d take her to the moon. There was so much I wanted to show her.: I promised her we’d go together… Karen… Forgive me, Karen…!: Uwaaaaaaaaaah!But if you did the secret…
: …: Damian…: I couldn’t stop her… I…: Karen… I told you we’d go to the moon together, right? I promised you…*Door opens.*
: And I haven’t forgotten that promise.: ?!
: Damian…: Karen?! Is that really you…?!: Yes…: But how…?
: We found her unconscious at the edge of the battleground. : I remember… seeing Tobikage at the time of the explosion, and next thing I knew…: Tobikage?! You mean it saved you…?!: But more important than that, I’m so sorry, Damian… I tricked you. I don’t deserve to be here, talking to you like this…: No, you don’t have to say anything to me.: You’re alive… and that’s all that matters.: Thank you, Damian…
: Really? So you’re saying you want to fight as part of the UX?: That’s right…
: That’d mean fighting The Boom Army, though – your old comrades…: That’ll be no problem. I’ve already made up my mind on this.: I’m no longer that girl who simply carried out whatever orders were given. : Now I want to choose the life I have, and what I’ll make of it.: Hmhmm…: And also… I want to help Damian however I can!: Karen…: Alright, then, Karen – you’re in. But there’s a catch.: That you scratch “self-destructing” from your list of acceptable tactics.: Already done! And thank you so much!*Alarm!*
: What happened?
: We’re detecting powerful space-time vibrations. Their location is… above Tatsumiya.: Tatsumiya?! What’s going on there?!
: Hmm… Oh, this data is…!
: Yes… it matches the pattern we recorded when the Aura Road opened.: Come on, Yamashita. Get everyone ready to deploy.
: Y-Yes, sir!: Several heat signatures have appeared in the airspace above Tatsumiya… we’re IDing them as belonging to the Hojo Army!: And… there are also multiple signatures belonging to UX units!: Set off, Ultimate Cross! Your destination’s the island of Tatsumiya!
And, back at the ALVIS ICU, Tsubaki pokes Koyo.
Now, we’re over halfway through the game and I just realized I’m sitting on pretty much my entire stock of NG++ bucks. We might as well put them to use, so, as is tradition, I’m calling a vote to decide on the units we’re going to make HUGE (I’ll likely do another as we move closer to the endgame, to comport the later additions and whatnot).
Here are your options:
- Orphes
- Linebarrel, Vardant, Painkiller
- Demonbane
- Mark Sein, Mark Drei, Mark Fünf, Mark Sechs, Mark Destiny
- Nanajin
- Fei-Yen
- Bilbine, Dunbine
- 00 Raiser, Zabanya, Harute
- Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan
- Mazinkaiser
- Heroman
- Alto’s Messiah, Macross Quarter
- Dancouga Nova
Since I’m sitting on 24mil robobux and it takes about, oh, 1/1.2mil to fill out all 10 bars on a pattern C bot, I’ll let you guys pick TWO units to be maxed out.
Either make a post in the SA or lp.zone threads, or leave a Youtube comment on any of the Mission 28s videos, send me a PM, whatever works. Voting will be open until May 7th.
And, finally, we had to skip a bunch of convos since we couldn’t attack Karen, so here’s everything:
: If you go ahead and kill Damian, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!: A kunoichi needs no emotions… That’s how I was raised…!: But now you’re not so sure, are you?!: There are still different paths you can take, so you can’t give up!--
: That group is not where you should be! I’m sure there are many different ways you can live your life!: Wh-Where I should be is…: Please! I don’t want to see neither you nor Damian coming to regret how this ended…!--
: Damian cares so much about you, so why do we need to fight?!: I took a vow to live as a kunoichi of Lady Benikage! And I cannot break that vow!--
: You might’ve started this as just another spy… but that’s not the case now, is it?: I’m a kunoichi! My life revolves around my mission and fulfilling it…!: But you’re not alone in this! There’s someone right there who trusts you, who believes you can be more than that!--
: Are you just going to stomp over Damian’s heart like that…?: I-I’m a kunoichi… sympathy for others is forbidden…: What a sad girl you are… you can’t even bring yourself to express how you really feel…!