Part 145: Mission 40 - The Truth About Heroes - Part 2
I’ve decided to simply blast through the entire rest of the mission, as to keep up the pace of previous updates.Of course, this means that we now have a huge update upon us (with a whole lot of plot, too); so, let’s have a sit down and get to it!
Mike is with our group and gets very upset once he learns that Gai destroyed Mamoru.
Gai promises to explain everything once the fight is over and asks Mike to help us – he agrees, if only to understand what happened.
Anita is curious at David's newfound fighting spirit but he swears that he’s got his issues settled and is good to go.
Inside his head, he now has a desire to stop Dead’s vendetta, especially if it means becoming stronger than D-boy was.
Sinclyne isn’t intimidated at our arrival, however, as he has other allies than just the Sol Lords!
: Aria! 
: What!? The Database and the Galra are working together?!
: Sis…are you calling us “The Database”?: Y-yes…: Oh, thank you! That’s such a great name! I like it!: Th-that’s…good…?: Oi, Aria! You seem to be really motivated today!: Shut up, stupid Kazuma! I’m going to beat you with my own hands!
: Stop it, Aria! I…I don’t want to fight you!: Relax, Mihiro! I’ll protect you and the Valstork!: What are you talking about, girl?! If you keep that up you’re REALLY going to piss me off!!
: You mean you haven’t snapped already…?: I don’t plan on telling you anything!: I’ll just eliminate all of you! There’s nothing more to be recorded from you!
: The Records of Knowledge…As expected, that’s the objective of The Database…
: What do we do, Captain?
: Since this fight is taking place near a residential area, we must quickly destroy the enemy troops.: All units, aim for the commanders of the Galra and Database. : Let’s go, Aria! When I catch you, you’re gonna tell us everything!Here’s a small look at the new Galra Mega Black Beastmen:
Both the Beastman Gamma (blue one) and Pi (yellow) bring nothing new to the roster of Galra mooks.
They’ve a lot of HP and armor while sporting some decently powerful, though inaccurate, attacks.
We’ll take advantage of Gai’s renewed strength and have him lead the attack with a Support Request to Aki.
Thought you could vote my girl out, eh? WRONG!
Boss steps in quickly and takes the kill.
Enryu and Golion do back-to-back chain-attacks, cutting a couple Garushias down to size.
Thus allowing Sousuke to finish the job.
Good job, son.
Clouseau zooms ahead and starts working on the Pi Beastman.
Aria is all the way to the west and the Opus planes have gained a slight HP boost.
As such, I’ll be sending a pack of reliable folk to deal with them quickly.
Even more reliable once the morale sets in…
Tetsuya finishes the job while Ryouma starts working on another.
Kazuma can take that kill.
Like so.
He and Mihiro take a level but, more importantly, notice how we got a Propellant Tank.
That’s because a few Opus in this pack carry a cheap consumable (Cartridges, Repair Kits, etc); we’ll be selling those for some extra cash – IF we can kill them before they use it.
Last ones to move on the Galra front, Natasha and David start slowly damaging the Pi.
Mike returns and he’s as useful as ever.
He also has a new strongest attack but it requires a shitload of morale and I was unable to showcase it during this mission. Sorry!
Enemy Phase!
The Galra really hate Golion. So much so that a ton of them decide to bumrush it.
Total tally is: 5 dead Fighters, 2 heavily damaged and 1 dead Death Hells.
Meanwhile, the Pi Beastman barely hangs on after attacking Fuuryu.
Now, on Aria’s front, Tetsuya has taken the role of mook-magnet.
I had anticipated that and had him cast Iron Wall beforehand.
Problem is, his morale is too low to be able to oneshot any of the three Opus that attacked.
Aria doesn’t do anything but Sinclyne wastes no time going after Golion.
: Golion! I’ll be taking your head today!
: Not gonna happen, Sinclyne! But since you came back to the Solar System, we’re going to settle things right here!
Mind you, he’s equipped a Barrier M Generator, meaning that all damage is reduced by 1200 (costs 8 EN per use…from his total of 420 EN).
Player Phase!
Nearly all Opus are weakened, so we now begin the clean-up.
Three of them are nicely packed together, allowing Tetsuya to kill one and really weaken the others.
That one kill pushes Kouji’s morale over 130.
As for the survivors, they still form a nice line with one of the remaining full HP Opus.
Ryouma nearly kills them all in one go.
More levels, more consumables.
On the Galra front, Volfogg and Gai pick a target and get cracking.
As for Bosszinger, there’s a weak Death Hell with his name on it.
Nice and easy.
Hyoryu inches over to finally kill one of the Pi Mega Beastmen.
Enryu calls for Symmetrical Docking and Chouryujin sets his eyes on a new Death Hell.
Aria’s team won’t be making it over here, so we need to build morale to use the combined attack with Gekiryujin.
Speaking of, Rairyu takes a Death Hell of his own before Fuuryu moves them both to the other Gamma Beastman (with a side-helping of Gai Daigouji).
With liberal use of Support Requests, Sousuke and Anryu take around 1/3rd of the Battleship’s HP.
These handful of fighters will be Double Voltekka fodder.
Would it kill you to get a lucky crit, woman?
Fine, Sommer needs the morale, too.
Clouseau gets assigned to handle the remaining underwater troops, while Golion keeps leading the charge against Sinclyne.
Back to Aria, Kouji sets out against a healthy Opus.
Sadly, these dinky planes are made of sturdier stuff that expected and Kouji is tagged with an Accuracy Down debuff.
Both weakened Opus are killed by Mike and Lowe.
Lowe and 8 level up and 8 learns Exhaust as his final spirit command.
Tetsuya also gets his Mazin Power going.
Most people have already moved, so I’ll have Kazuma weaken the Opus and leave Aria for next turn.
Sure, that works.
Enemy Phase!
Hm, seems that I moved the Nadesico closer than I thought.
Still, it works out in our favor.
The other Battleship makes the mistake of going after Boss, who answers the attack with an armor-reducing Rust Hurricane.
Golion’s magnetism starts working again.
Another 2 dead Death Hells and a heavily weakened Gamma.
The underwater mooks take my bait and the three Beastmen make a line for Clouseau.
This Garushia fares worse than the others, who had full HP.
Aria’s last opus makes a suicide run against the Valstork. I had Kouji defend because his Accuracy has already been lowered.
Sinclyne does a decent hit against an Iron Wall’d Mazinger but the attack makes Mazin Power activate.
Now, Aria finally gets off her ass and aims a three-way chain-attack on Lowe, Kazuma and Kouji.
It only tags Kouji who takes the hit like a champ…and a perfectly good Accuracy Down debuff is wasted.
Player Phase!
Clouseau and Volfogg cut the Pi down to size and Chouryujin kills the last Gamma.
Splitting off, Rairyu takes aim at the Pi.
You’d think a lightning-gun would have an S on water but nope. It’s still a C.
Here I was, hoping that I could feed a kill to Ruri…
Should’ve known I’d need a reliable unit in the first place!
Thank you.
It actually turns out well as Volfogg levels up and learns Hero L6.
A valored Breast Fire plus Sousuke assist leaves the remaining battleship hanging by a thread.
Vesna will handle the rest easily.
There we go. The way to Sinclyne is now clear.
Vesna takes a level, learning Attune and Prevail L5.
Sommer slaps the last Garushia around and leaves it to be killed in a counter-attack.
As everyone else gets in position, Sousuke takes this chance to land some cheap damage on Sinclyne.
: This man…he is lustful but he is also a competent commander. I mustn’t be careless.: Hmhmhm…learn this, Earthling: women prefer heroic looks…and I AM a hero!: The way you justify your skirt-chasing is just like Kurz...how unimpressive...
I would call “baby steps” but that’d only be appropriate if Sousuke wasn’t purposefully gimping himself.
Golion uses an Assail’d Fire Tornado to melt Sinclyne’s weapons, just to be safe.
There are no more moves downstairs but we can deal with Aria right now.
Mike has learned Bravery and, even though the Database units are immune to status effects, Disc X will still pack a wallop.
Halfway through this was when I realized that it may have been overkill to send all these units over. Oh, well!
Kazuma casts Love and moves for the kill.
: Wait just a bit more, Mihiro! I’ll come get you really soon! : Then, we can play and do so many things together!: W-what are you talking about…: Mihiro is my sister! I won’t hand her over to you!: Shut up, stupid Kazuma! Someone like you should just disappear! Disappear from this whole universe!!
That’ll learn yer.
Aria is worth a level, a High-Performance Thruster, a Mars Donburi, and a Support Attack +1.
Kazuma learns Prevail L9 and Mihiro learns Bonds.
: N-no..! If I go back like this, I’ll be scolded so badly!: You’re not getting away, Aria! We’ll be the ones doing the scolding!!
: !: Brother! There’s something coming over here!*A new Database unit enters the field.*
: Arm Storer! Lord Applicant has come!: WAAAH!
: That was a perfect shot! There was no way to evade it!
: Direct hit on the enemy ship. They will not pursue. 
: Excellent support, as always. Well done, Regulate. : My job is just to control the Arm Storer’s systems. : Just as expected, Lord Applicant! Now, please finish off Kazuma for me!: Retreat, Aria. You have already achieved your goal.: But-: Don’t make me repeat myself.: Yes…
: Are you OK, sister?!: Yes, somehow…: …
: What is it, Kazuma?: …It’s nothing. I’m just imagining things. Enemy Phase!
Pop goes the Garushia.
Sinclyne attacks Golion but it’s safely under Gai’s watchful gaze.
Player Phase!
Now, Boss and Volfogg will tag team Sinclyne’s defenses into the ground and we’ll open a proper can of whoop-ass on his crummy ship.
: Hehehe…someone who’s lost the power of the lion isn’t fit to be my enemy. 
: Don’t underestimate me, Sinclyne! Galeon may not be here but his soul remains in me!!
: Sinclyne! Of all people, I can’t stand you! I’m gonna settle this with my own hands!: What?! This man’s vigor is…!: There’s no way I’ll forgive people like you, who go around making harems! : And lemme tell you this! I’m not even jealous – this is pure, unadulterated anger!
: Oh…that’s an excellent sword you have there…: It would suit me well, Earthling! If you hand it over, I might spare your life!
: Shut up, ya selfish prince! Don’t think that you can take something just because you want it!
: Come on, Galra! Feel the power of Getter!: Hmhmhm…you have a fine voice. It feels very familiar. : Shut up, Sinclyne! I don’t have a condescending sneer like that!
: Sinclyne! Did you come to the Solar System just to chase Princess Fahra?!: Hehehe…that’s just one of my goals: women AND blood! Such a victory drink is only given to a true ruler!
: You came back for more, depraved prince?! This time I’m gonna knock you all the way across the galaxy!: Do not underestimate me, Earthling! I am Sinclyne…the man who will eventually surpass Dai Bazaal!
Boom.
Sinclyne is worth a few levels, that Barrier M Generator and a Max SP +5.
Kogane also learns Prevail L8.
We have no Aestis today but, had any of them attacked, they had stuff to say to Sinclyne:
: Bastard, you didn’t learn anything from the last time you came to our Solar System?!: Silence, Earthling woman! I didn’t come to this backwater planet because I wanted to!
: Ya know, whenever I fight a Galra, I start to get excited like in the old days! I haven’t felt this hot blooded in a long while!
: Go, Saburouta! SHOW YOUR WRATH TO THIS EVIL GALRAN MAN!!
Sinclyne figures this has been enough for today and, when Kogane challenges him for running away, Sinclyne tells him not to rush to his own demise.
He vows to kill him the next time they meet, at which point Fahra will become his completely; Harry as usual has no clue what this means, but Saburouta says it’s just Sinclyne’s crazy idea of romantic courtship.
Ruri isn't impressed that Sinclyne is ever the prince of indecency.
We’re victorious but things have certainly taken a turn for the worst: not only did all Q-Parts get stolen but we’ve learned that The Database, The Galra and The 11 Sol Lords have joined forces against Earth.
There's little chance to discuss it though, as Mikoto calls to tell us about Papillion…
Papillion is fading fast at Entouji’s arms but is still talking about how she's felt a massive magnetic field emanating from the Q-Parts - massive as in galactic scale.
She says she will depart to be with the spirits and leaves Renée a final warning that her heroism is about to be sorely tested.
She's sure that the Lion Queen will prevail, and urges Tomoru to show the same fortitude, as the other Orgun – and to use his newfound powers to protect this planet that meant so much to him.
Saying her last words, Papillion dies and Renée is pissed beyond words; she swears she’ll hunt those responsible for her death and make them suffer for it.
Michi reminds Tomoru that this is what the world is like: filled with pointless death.
All this sorrow, this pain won't go away unless someone stands up to oppose it.
Orgun betrayed the Eviluders and consigned himself to a hopeless battle, just to reach the Earth; she’s certain that he chose Tomoru to be his heir for a reason…
As Ruri fills the Golion crew in on all the doings on Earth over the past months (and Saburouta eagerly getting reacquainted with Fahra, whom he last saw on Mars), Kaidou is telling Gai about how The Power did not claim his and J's lives at the fight against Z-Master, ten months ago.
Instead, it somehow threw them to the other side of the galaxy.
There they saw the galaxy starting to warp and contract; they headed to the center of curvature to try to find the cause of the phenomena: it was there they found Latio, who was fighting the Sol Lords.
Amidst the battle was also the Pas-Q Machine and they quickly identified it as the cause of the contraction.
J decided to use an ES Window to send the Pas-Q Machine and Kaidou himself to the Blue Planet, while he and Mamoru stayed to fight.
The Golion crew never knew about this since they had parted ways with Mamoru en route to Altea; it was as though something or someone was calling him to a different spot of the galaxy.
As for the Sol Lords, they are all programs created on the Trinary System and were designed to ensure the maintenance of the system; that would include trying to revive the planets after Mechanization had destroyed their civilization.
In pursuit of that, the Sol Lords captured the Replijins that Mamoru and J created from the Pas-Q Machine (to assist in their fight against the Sol Lords).
They both had copies of King-J-Der and Galeon, so they were tasked with leading the assaults on Altea and Earth.
What's interesting is that the Replijins are in fact perfect copies of the original people, including their emotions; it's likely that the Sol Lords actually had to brainwash Repli-Mamoru and Repli-J to make them attack you.
The Pas-Q Machine is the central circuit of the mechanism that will restore the Trinary system, drawing upon dark matter to perform its work.
All that dark matter getting sucked in is what's causing the galaxy to warp, like a balloon whose air is escaping; in short, the Sol Lords, who are extremely simplistic programs, are carrying out their programming to restore the Trinary system while destroying everything else.
The Golion folk are curious as to why Altea was targeted in the first place, seeing how they didn’t know about the Sol Lords before the attack and had no Q-Parts.
Kazuma and others suspect the connection between Galeon and Golion had tagged the unit as a target; Kogane and the others thought something similar to those lines and, to draw attention away from Altea, they returned to Earth in hopes that the Sol Lords would come after them and they could get help for a counter-attack.
As for the Galra, Fahra’s guess is that they are helping in exchange for a promise from the Sol Lords that their homeworld will be spared; The Database is also in cahoots, making Golion's past warning about the “Scribes of Knowledge” finally come true.
Kazuma wants to rush off in hot pursuit, but Kaidou says there's no need: the Sol Lords have decided to come here to reconstitute the Trinary System which, of course, would mean the end of our Solar System.
Horis figures that, along with the Galra, Radam and Eviluders, we get to fight the whole evil axis on our home turf, and, if we lose, Earth is surely toast.
With that in mind, the Golion crew asks for permission to fight on our team and Ruri more than welcomes the added firepower.
However, before the Sol Lord bashing can commence, Taiga radios in to send us to Alaska.
Taiga and the rest of us have to go make a formal report to the military about the Q-Parts and Orgun; it would be nice if the Army was thinking of calling a truce with Plant and confronting the galactic menace together, but that seems somehow unlikely.
And Kazuma meanwhile thinks he recognized someone aboard the Database ship.
Aria is getting tortured for another one of her recurring failures.
Critic wants her killed for her failure, despite Aria’s pleas for mercy – Inference is curious as to she learned such a word.
However, Applicant points out that that would cost them their forward commander and could delay their schedule; Regulate agrees with this and asks the execution be stopped.
With Critic’s “nay” and Regulate’s “yea”, Inference casts the deciding vote in favor of letting her live, but warns Aria that he merely saw the reasoning behind Applicant's statement.
Applicant frets that the third planet's civilization is far more formidable than expected, and offers to go in person to help battle the Neo-Wärter.
That's fine with Inference, who tells him to take his bothersome doll (that's Aria, who slips and refers to Applicant as "papa") along with him.
Applicant asks Regulate to take Aria to the medical-room before they depart.
Critic laments that Applicant, their mechanic, is spending more time worrying about Aria than he is about keeping their forces battle-worthy; Inference can't understand such feelings, or the feelings that are impelling Applicant to want to fight the Neo-Wärter directly.
Abel, leader of the 11 Sol Lords, then shows up, offering to do their maintenance for them.
Critic is surprised at the offer but Abel says that the Sol Lords are already done adjusting the operating systems and have the time to spare; Inference determines that the Master Program must be ready and, indeed, it is.
He gives him permission but warns Abel that a breach of the agreement that allows both sides to carry out their respective work will not be tolerated.
Things get more interesting yet when Dai Bazaal and his retinue arrive.
Observing the Sol Lords, Hornerva is amused at the sight of the forms the Programs have taken – each one stranger than the other; quickly, Pilnus gets annoyed and demands that the old lady shut her annoying cackle.
Dai Bazaal and Abel calm their subjects and the Emperor also adds his consent with the three sides doing their respective thing side by side – they all have different objectives but it all starts here on Earth and Neo-Wärter remains the biggest bump in the road.
Critic informs that the bump has gotten bigger since Golion has rejoined the squad but Dai Bazaal already expected that; Palparepa figures that all they have to do is take out the man with the G-Stone and, with Galeon destroyed, no one will be left to oppose them.
Dai Bazaal will leave destroying Golion to his son, and the Database will be able to gather their remaining data by defeating whatever survives.
There's the little matter of the Radam and Eviluders in the way but, with the combined might of the alliance, they too can be struck down in one blow; all commanders agree that their priority should be to focus on the Neo-Wärter for the time being.
Elsewhere, we find Kira on Plant, with Lacus by his side.
He hasn't figured out where to go and what to do yet, but Malchio says that such knowledge will surely come to a SEED-bearer such as Kira.
Kira figures he might as well go to Earth... not because the fighting will magically stop, but because it's better than just watching from on high, doing nothing.
He can't justify fighting for the military on either side of the Earth-Plant war after the atrocities committed by both sides; he simply wants to put an end to the war, so Lacus tells him she's got a present that he’ll find useful.