Part 104: Mission 31 - Princess and Jester, Queen and Hero - Part 1
Mission 31 - Princess and Jester, Queen and Hero
As the alarms sound, Murrue asks the Heliopolis kids for a sitrep: Kuzzey says that the emissary from the GGG has apparently engaged in battle.
Natarle quickly berates him for being less than concise in his report, telling him to be sure when he says something; inwardly, Tolle wonders what she’d expected by having a bunch of high-school kids crew a understaffed bridge.
As Sai relates how Renée chased Gimlet through the ship and forced him to exit, the Trailers quickly turn on Marine and demand her tell them about her cargo, since it WAS her carrier that he cyborg hid in; a Spaceman is responsible for his cargo (and the consequences it brings to others) and, when pressed, Marine quickly yells out that she is no spaceman but, indeed, from the Orb.
Renée isn’t about to let Gimlet escape but he doesn’t run far, telling her that he's serious today – he’s not going to let her get in the way of his mission to capture the princess.
To prove his point, he activates several Mechanoids - far more warpower than any criminal syndicate should have.
Kazuma quickly sorties, prepared to take revenge for Gimlet's manipulation.
The Trailers tell the Archangel that they'll make up for their inadvertent mistake by defending Lacus, on their own honor.
Reneé is almost impressed, but tells them that Gimlet is her prey.
She's got the dragon sisters Kouryu and Anryu(respectively, the pink one and the black one) to help her, who've heard about the Valstork from Leo.
Kazuma thinks they're pretty cute which makes Kouryu blush; Renée quickly orders them to focus and to take out Gimlet.
When Kazuma asks, she introduces herself as Renée Kardiff, an agent of Chasseur and tells him that, while they are cooperating here, he better stay out of her way; Kazuma agrees, so long as she stays out of HIS way.
Gimlet, meanwhile, tells the little “princess” to wait a little longer as he’ll be coming back for her.
Nothing major for us to deal with. Using Assail with Horis, the Valstork can close in to blast a Taurus.
Bionet needs to invest in better units.
Kazuma moves ahead, tagging a Serpent.
Anryuu and Kouryuu take upgrades after the four brothers and, this one time, they also learn all the Pilot Skills that the brothers have.
Good, good.
Kouryuu can only hit the Mobius but, hopefully, she’ll get a critical.
There we go!
The Archangel moves closer but cannot attack.
Enemy Phase!
Gimlet’s group is the first to move – a Stern Kugel aims for Anryuu.
I would’ve preferred if she made good on that 27% hit chance but the Shield Block still works…
Next up is a Mobius, who fails to hit and dies to the counter.
The weakened Serpent, a Mobius and a Stern Kugel gun for the Valstork – only the Stern Kugel survives.
Down below, it’s the Archangels turn to draw fire.
It’s not upgraded but the Gottfried Mk. 71 cannons still pack a decent punch.
A Stern Kugel and Taurus also attack but manage to survive.
Player Phase!
On turn two, Muu and Kira launch: Mihiro notices that it looks like the Red Frame and Horis figures it’s the unit Zaft failed to capture before; Kazuma asks if he’s OK and Kira says he wants to do whatever he can to defend Lacus - he's sure that for whatever reason, Lacus must never be mixed up in battle.
Natarle asks Murrue if it’s OK for them to deploy and she says that, since Gimlet’s target is Lacus, they’ve no choice but to launch everything and fight back – she orders Muu and Kira to cooperate with the Trailers and GGG.
Gimlet quips that the little “chevalier” has entered the field to fight and figures it falls on him to teach Kira the harshness of reality.
Gimlet got closer and in a very nice formation. We’ll deal with him just as soon as Kazuma gets rid of this Stern Kugel.
There we go.
Before we go after him, here’s a quick look at Gimlet:
He’s not impressive at all: low-ish HP, Armor and Evasion guarantee that he’ll quickly bend under pressure. Pair that with the fact that his ONLY Pilot Skill is Multicombo L2 and you’ve got a chump in mini-boss clothing.
His attack power is relatively good and he has long range in his attacks – though they tend to be inaccurate.
With that in mind, let’s capitalize on their nice 2x2 formation and hit all four of them with Valguard.
: Non, non, mon petit Traileur. Return to your messenger boy duties.
: Sorry, but trust is the foundation of any business relationship, and if we let you get away with your crimes, no one will ever trust us again.: We'll be taking your lemons in for disposal!
Next, we’ll send Kira, Muu and Kouryu after him.
: Non, non, young chevalier. A Coordinator mustn't side himself with Naturals.
: That's none of your business! I... I fight to protect what I think is right!
: Non, non, boy. If you play with that, you will hurt yourself.
: Why don't you see for yourself just what kind of toy the Gunbarrel is!: I can handle it better than any juggler!
: Non, non, non. As the black one's elder sister, you must be more ladylike.
: Pbbt! I don't let bad guys tell me what to do!
: I'll finally be free of you today, Gimlet!: Oh, my sweet little Jeanne d'Arc. You, Bionet's marvelous prototype, shouldn’t have betrayed us.: Shut up! I'll use this body's power to crush you to scrap!
[/url]For the sake of showing everything, here’s Anryuu/Kouryuu’s best, non-combination, attack: Renée-Backup Assault!
Reloading, I’ll also be sending Anryu after Gimlet.
: Such a rude child. As the white one's younger sister, you must be well-behaved.
: We take our orders from Renée. We're not programmed to listen to villains.
Damage Gimlet some and he'll sigh about the protracted battle brewing.
Reneé demands to know why he wants Lacus, and he tells her to go back to social studies class; there’s an been an uproar after her disappearance and Bionet wants to return this incredibly influential person to Plant.
Kazuma, of course, figures that they plan on extracting a mighty ransom before doing so – Gimlet admits to it, impressed at the Trailer’s money-making instincts; of course, he also admits that there are other places she could be sold too, if the money is good enough.
No way Kira will let that happen, though.
Gimlet is starting to get tired of Kira's yapping, and sends in an ambush of cloaked ships - and ships with Mirage Colloid-level cloaking should not exist outside the military!
Renée isn’t impressed, though, saying that he’s not the only one with an ace up his sleeve.
That would be Volfogg, who easily destroys one of the new targets!
Mihiro is very glad to see him again and so is he – also, he’s not alone.
: Let’s go, Bionet! I’ll show you Gaofighgar’s power!
: Is that…Gaogaigar?
: But…there’s no lion on its chest!: It’s been a while, Valstork family!: Gai…! Is that really you?!: You’re alive, eh, Kazuma? As expected of a Spaceman.: The matter sublimation has also given me new life! As a hyper-evolved union of man and machine – an Evoluder! (Not an EVILUDER like Orgun, mind! These are two distinct beings!)
: A hyper-evolved union of man and machine…: Evoluder…: Way to go, Gai! You really are a superman!: And this is my new fighting mechanoid: Gaofighgar!: So, even without Galeon, the King of Braves is still going strong.: Non, non, non! How could you come all the way here?!: Get ready, Gimlet! We’ll put out Bionet’s ambitions right now!: (Gai Murakumo’s cool heart, Gai Daigouji’s scorching heart and Gai Shishioh’s burning heart…): (Seems like all men called “Gai” get me fired up to fight…!)
Ohohoho, yessss. Gaofighgar is an even bigger beast than Gaogaigar but, sadly, he doesn’t have this +movement parts.
Only Volfogg can get in range of anything.
That works just fine.
Enemy Phase!
Still under the effect of Focus, Valguard dodges both a Serpent and Taurus and dispatches them.
The remaining one goes for the Archangel but the damage is blocked and the last Serpent is blown away.
At that range, all the Archangel can do is defend but, for the sake of things, I’ll show off Gimlet’s strongest attack: Substance Excusez-moi.
Psh.
Player Phase!
Let’s have the GGG folk finish Gimlet off.
: This will not do. Your tenacity in pursuit is most distressing.
: Gimlet of Bionet, for property damage, burglary, assault, ransom, and fifty-nine other crimes...: You are under arrest!: Indeed, police car robot, you grow ever more distressing by the moment.
: Non, non...You are a fool. You have such puissance, yet you waste it on trivialities...: Shut up, Gimlet! This body was given to me to fight for peace!: You'll feel the power of an Evoluder firsthand!
Gimlet is worth a level, an Anti-Beam Coating M and an Prevail +1.
Realizing he's outgunned, Gimlet chooses to retreat for today.
Renée isn’t about to let that happen but Gimlet points out that he’s not the only one gunning for Lacus today; right then, a bunch of Martian Successors appear.
With that, Gimlet quickly starts heading out of the battle zone.
Marine launches in a service pod and tries to intercept him.
She knows it was her fault that brought Gimlet here in the first place and she wants to rectify it right now; sadly, her pod is far too weak and is easily swatted aside.
Akane desperately calls Marine on the comm and she says she’s fine, having bailed out just in time – problem is a Successor is now headed towards her.
It is right then that the Junkmen and Nadesico B show up.
Marine recognizes the Red Frame, a.k.a. P02; Lowe picks her up and offers a ride, with Marine recognizing him and thinking it must be fate that they meet here!
Kisato quickly gets jealous, asking what’s with that girl acting over-familiar with Lowe; no time for that, though, as Ryouko tells Lowe to shut his cockpit and focus on repelling the Successors.
Natarle points out to Murrue that if the Successors (and Bionet) really are after Lacus, the safest thing to do would be to leave the area.
Murrue reluctantly agrees, recalling the Mobius and Strike; Kazuma bids Kira farewell for now, telling him to use whatever power he has to protect both Lacus and Flay.
To Flay, Kazuma cries a parting message: "Never forget the fear of space, the weakness of the individual, and the importance of human life! Since she's still alive, she should live that life with strength!"
Muu apologizes for leaving the rest to Shihomi but she’s fine: its compensation for the trouble they’ve caused.
The Archangel leaves…
: Not good…! Plant’s songstress is getting away! 
: Oi, hold on a sec!: First you trap Yurika inside that weird relic and now you’re going for another kidnapping… : You’re all rotten to the core, Martian Successors! I’ll take you all on!
: Yeah! Do it!!: Wah! Stop that! Don’t touch that thing!: If you send too much power to the hand, it’ll blow up!: Damn you! We’ll eliminate anyone that would get in the way of our battle!!: Crap…! If it’s like this, then I’ll just go for broke!!
: You did it!!: 8! What just happened?!
: It seems that energy that would’ve supplied power to your Beam Sabers ended up electrifying the unit’s arm…: And?!: To sum it up…: It’s a new special move.: A special move, huh? Sounds good to me!
: UUUOOOOOAAAAAAAAA! If it’s a finishing move, I will now christen it! Its name shall be…: Finishing move! Shining…!
: Whoa, whoa… there’s a time and place for everything, ya know?: Gai! Lowe! This isn’t the place to joke around!: Aye, I got ya! I won’t let these guys get through here!With Gimlet gone, Renée agrees to Gai’s request to help against the Successors and Ruri gives the go-ahead to take out the remaining enemies.
This is turning out to be quite a good day for our folks but we’ll stop this update here. Next time, we’ll make short work of the Successor troops and marvel at our new tricks.
However, one last thing:
FINAL FUUUUUUUSIOOOOOOOOON!
See you all soon