Part 105: Mission 31 - Princess and Jester, Queen and Hero - Part 2

Ok, this is now a simple clean-up. There are no Sekishikis, the Successors have brought most Rokurens, Battas, two Katonbos and one Denjin, Majin and Tetsujin.



Splitting off the Valguard, Kazuma moves in for the first hit.










Of course, even with the Pierrot’s Mask, there’s no lucky crit.



Volfogg takes it upon himself to weaken another Rokuren for a counter-kill.



I’ll bring Lowe over here to make the western mooks converge on us.



: Get 'em, Lowe Guele!
: Look, just pipe down! I can't focus!
: (Hee hee... I was worried for a while, but now I think I'll make it.)
: (I'll take the P-02's data now.)










What about the BGM? Gai Daigouji said it was OK…



Enemy Phase!




Shihomi is still getting some impressive dodges but the damage reduction of the Distortion Fields stops her from getting a one-shot kill.



With Alert, Anryuu gets a free hit on her attacker.



Eh, this should still be fine.












Yup.



A couple other Rokurens go after the Valstork; the first one barely lived but this one won’t be so lucky.














That’s more like it.



The kill gives everyone a level and teaches Valor to Akane.





Pummel a few bad guys and the "ghost" will appear; Volfogg mentions that it was recently codenamed Black Selena due to its colorings and shape; this plant, whose name means "joined to black a hundred-fold", signifies a "curse" in the language of flowers.
Gai Daigouji is ecstatic that his friend came back, as he expected, while Gai Shishioh is equally surprised that he’s also alive.
Still, Akito doesn’t answer and Ryouko wonders why not; Kazuma thinks he’s still our friend, though, that much is certain.



Akito’s sole purpose will be to walk around and steal kills from us…thankfully, Lowe takes the attacking Batta down in one hit.



This gives both pilots a level and 8 learns Fury.



One Katonbo tries to take a potshot at Kazuma but its accuracy is as crummy as ever.



Those are some rather impressive numbers against Volfogg but I guess it’s my fault for leaving him out of a friendship bonus.












Still, it makes no difference.
Also, it’s good to see that Murasame Blade still keeps the age-old tradition of never critting when it’s actually needed.



Akito insta-casts Focus at his move and moves to chain(kill-steal) those two Rokuren’s directly below Lowe.












Sumbitch…



Player Phase!



Gaofighgar is still trying to make his way to the frontlines but, at least, it can go take care of Volfogg’s buddy.














Taken care of, indeed.



Having lost their actually-useful attacks, Ryouko is forced to slightly weaken the Rokuren with her Rapid Rifle.



Gai (Daigouji) moves in to finish the job.






Whoever thought it was a good idea to scrap the Field Lancers?




Kazuma and Shihomi quickly make the Katonbo regret its position.



Anryu then finishes the job.



We better take out all these weakened units lest Akito steal more kills.








Thank you, Volfogg.



Forming Valguard once more, Kazuma makes use of Horis’ Assail to get in shooting range of the Majin.












Very nice.



Lowe can also get closer but his damage is less impressive (for now).



Enemy Phase!



One of the few remaining full-HP Rokuren goes for Anryu and gets shot back but not killed (I completely forgot to check how dangerously close this guy was to Akito…).




Valguard still doesn’t give a fuck about dodging and shows how to properly dispose of these things.



Obviously, the big, agile, menacing contraption is the go-to target of the Battas.
I believe that it’s due to the game’s mook AI coding – they are hard-wired to prioritize battleships and, I think, they consider Valguard as one (seeing how it can act as one, too).












Better for Kazuma’s kill count.



That Katonbo will soon be dealt with.




Another Batta chips Valguard’s paintjob before getting smashed.
All three Successor Elite Mooks go for Valguard and all miss but the Majin managed to be out of range – the other two got blasted.



Akito takes it upon himself to steal one more kill…



Player Phase!



Time to wrap things up. Kouryu does a lil’ bit of extra damage on the Denjin…



…setting herself up for a combination attack with Anryu.




The Tetsujin will be taken out in style.










Hell, yeah!



Using Valor, Volfogg takes out the Majin.



This earns him a level and Hero L5.



This leaves a full-health Katonbo. Let’s deal with that using a Valored Cross Proton Punisher.
















Thought you were safe over there, eh?



In the final analysis, it looks like the Successors were just a small expeditionary force.
It’s unlike we’re going to learn much even by picking up the stragglers since no commanders were among them, sadly.





Akito finally says one word, when pressed gently by Gai (Shishioh) on why he's fighting alone: "revenge".
As he vanishes, it's now clear beyond a doubt that the Akito you used to know is gone – vanished, the moment he donned those black garments.
The question is: what could have done this to him?



Kazuma greets Gai warmly, and Gai can tell just by the lines on Kazuma's face what he must have been through in the past half year.
Reneé is still being unsociable, so Gai has to make introductions for her: Reneé Kardiff Shishioh, agent of France's anti-criminal unit Chasseur.
She's been posted to the GGG, and as Liger's daughter, she's essentially Gai's cousin.



Said cousin makes to head quickly back to Orbit Base with the dragon sisters, leaving Gai to his reminiscing.
After she strides off, Gai explains that Reneé is not only a bit unsociable, she's also pissed at having to let Gimlet go.
Reneé's been after Bionet ever since joining Chasseur, and Kazuma asks Gai about why she didn't give an inch even when facing Gimlet bare-handed. Is she a...?
Gai's smile fades as he asks Kazuma not to go there for now - that's a story he'll tell some other day.



Kazuma agrees, and Gai describes how he and Volfogg have been stationed as a general-purpose strike force in case of emergencies.
The other dragons, nearly destroyed by the Sublimation, are still being rebuilt inside Orbit Base; everyone has no doubt they’ll pull through with all the courage they have.



Mike is doing great, and is helping Liger mass produce Disc X's in America.
Mamoru is presumably still doing okay with Galeon off in space, the Space Knights are still busy researching the Radam, and the GGG is more or less intact; even Duo and the Preventers are supposedly doing okay, as are the super robot pilots who are busy defending Japan while going to school at G-Island City.
Shihomi understands but figures that’s enough questioning, as we shouldn’t keep Gai from his mission any longer but this actually does have to do with his mission: he’s come at Taiga’s request to ask if we could come over to Orbit Base; Kazuma immediately figures they’re trying to bring Wärter back together and Gai only says that the time where our team will be needed may be upon us soon.
Right then, Akane realizes that Marine isn’t here anymore and Horis says she went back with Lowe to find a place where she could grab a small ship to get back home; Shihomi wonders what her goal was, though…



Aboard an Orb-bound ship, Marine explains to Erika that she's collected plenty of data from P02’s Astray OS, which might just allow Naturals to freely pilot Gundams one day.
Given that the Strike is being piloted by a Coordinator, Marine did a damn good thing by swiping its data, too - she figures she got lucky that an actual battle started during her little fact-finding mission...not that Bionet's involvement was part of the plan.



Here’s Erika’s face when it’s not being crossed over by black bars.



Erika suggests that Marine should’ve ditched her contacts and worn her usual glasses, but Marine was quite worried about her identity being revealed - especially since she knows the Professor and the Chief already.
She asks Erika why they don't just ask for the data, and Erika says that the Professor has refused to give it over until it's more "mature".
Marine, aka Juri, is looking forward to getting back home and being a test pilot; Mayura and Asagi will be looking forward to seeing her too.



As she takes out her contacts, Juri muses that Lowe was pretty cool out there...



At the Martian Successors HQ, Kusakabe has gotten word of the failed kidnapping of Lacus, who Yamasaki had really hoped to use as a fulcrum against the Zaft.
In particular, he hoped to use her songs to encourage sweet dreams, the one and only way to perfectly control the Relic.
With all the unknowns left, it seems that the current setup will need some assistance.
Kusakabe has some ideas about that, and Yamasaki tells his "Sleeping Beauty" to lead everyone with her beautiful dreams.