Part 154: Mission 43 - From the Depths of Memory - Part 2 (Includes Boss Analysis #14 - "OG Char Clone" Edition)

The Database isn’t fucking around now, so let’s have a look at their new toys:





The purple ones are called Stoma and the blue ones are Reus.
The Stoma is made out to be the slightly less bulkier of the two, in exchange for more movement range and mobility, while the blue one exchanges that for long-range attacks.

The Stoma only has two decently powerful attacks and only his Plasma Blaster Sword is post-movement, adding a Movement Down status; the one you SHOULD be worried about are the Reus’ Plasma Blaster Cannon that can apply the Range Down debuff which, as the name says, cuts your range in half - that quickly becomes VERY annoying.

The units are immune to status effects and their pilots have both Support Attack and Defend at level 1.



This will be our first real fight against Boss-man Applicant and you’ll see that this guy is a monster of a pilot.
He’s got a crapload of stats all across the board and his Arm Storer has a decent amount of HP – mind you, his Armor is very low compared to what you’d expect but, as always, that would’ve been to balance out his broken 2L size that would’ve applied a damage penalty to smaller units (which are pretty much anything that isn’t Valguard or a battleship).

Also, as expected from Database units, he’s immune to status effects and regens EN at 20%.



The Arm Storer’s got three attacks and, like Aria, they all apply status debuffs: both MAP(which is fucking HUGE, at 3-8 range all around the Arm Storer) and regular version of Latum Radius (the attack he used on Kazuma before) can put the Mobility Down effect and his strongest (and post-movement) attack, Linea Recta, can drain 50 EN each time it hits.



Finally, Applicant is loaded up his ass with powerful skills and then some. Have a look:

• Counter
  
• Break Morale Limit
  
• Prevail L8
  
• Infight L8
  
• Gunfight L8
  
• Support Attack L4
  
• Commander L3
  
• Multicombo L2
  
• DOUBLE MOVEMENT

Conclusion: Be very careful with Applicant because it’s not difficult for him to MAP the crap out of your guys with his double movement and, with that Gunfight and massive stats, he can manage to really put the hurt on some unprotected Real Robots.
His small Armor and broken size mean that you can and should swarm (preferably while getting inside his MAP’s blind spot) and destroy him in one turn to make sure he doesn’t get to play around with that Prevail L8.



Most of our troops have spent their movement but Athrun can get close enough to attack.










Ah, well.



At least we get Athrun’s SEED going.

Everyone else moves in closer.



Enemy Phase!



The western Opus move and go after Gai.














Oh, come on…
There were two other Opuses but those got close enough to be Melee’d and didn’t survive.



Two Opuses from the center group gun for Golion.












Thankfully, I had Seidou cast Iron Wall before moving.




The third center Opus goes for the Nadesico and they trade shots without killing each other.



As for the east side, one Opus goes for Athrun.








With SEED running, he can oneshot something like this, though.

Aria, Applicant and the other mooks didn’t move.



Player Phase!



Valguard was a bit far away but it’s nothing Accelerate/Assail can’t fix.














Damn my hubris…I was sure I didn’t need to use Full Accell Impact.




Kira chains both Golion attacks and takes them down.



As for Mike, he’ll give Tetsuya the last push he needs for 130 morale.










There we go.





Orgun and Hiver move on ahead and each destroys a weakened Opus.
Hiver is now in prime position to bombard the pack of Reus.



Aki moves ahead and takes aim for Gai’s surviving Opus.






Simple enough.






Athrun and Golion cut the first Stoma down to size.



Allowing Blade to finish the job.


















I always liked this Dynamic Kill…Blade just pulls a Voltekka out of his Tek-Lancer.



Saburouta kills the last Opus.




Finally, Lowe accelerates on over and gets crushing.
Yes, those three Stoma are accurate enough to deal some punishment but A) Lowe’s got a huge Prevail just waiting to activate and B) If he dies, he’ll just purge the Power Loader and keep going as the basic Red Frame.



Enemy Phase!



Here come the Reus. Thankfully, they’ve chosen the best Super Robot to attack.








This first one missed, the other two failed to pierce Protect Wall (and status effects aren’t applied if the attack is fully blocked by a barrier).



As expected, all three Stomas are going after Lowe.
















Still, he can handle it.
Getting his health this low means that he either dodges or parried the next two Stomas before destroying them.



Applicant decides to get off his ass but, thankfully, he only tries to snipe at Golion.



: Research subject 5036532481220324… data of that civilization is complete but it seems there are still some secrets to this machine.
: I knew it, Golion must have some key to defeating the Sol Lords hidden away somewhere!








The Nadesico blocks both attacks.



As for Aria, she goes for Athrun and gets blasted in return.



Player Phase!



Time to plow the road.



: It is very interesting for an intelligent life outside of the Radam to create a Tek-System.
: I’ll be taking you as a sample.
: Perv! You can’t just go kidnapping girls like that!














Everything takes a big hit but there are no kills.



Which is why Blade will take it upon himself to create the kills.



: The Tekkaman that escaped the Radam’s control has acquired a new power...
: Successful Blasterization is extremely rare. This warrants further research.
: My power exists to defeat the Radam! I don’t have time to join your collection!














Death all around but, thankfully, it fell barely short of killing Aria. Whew!



Well, there was this one Reus that was out of the blast range.














Problem solved!

Now, let’s switch our attention back to Applican’t and co.



: Stupid Kazuma! I’ll defeat you in front of Lord Applicant!
: Then I’ll truly be his daughter!
: What the hell are you ranting about?! How can you be someone’s true or fake child?!









: An Earth-made Solid Armor? I'd wager not even Kouzou Aiba expected the power he gave the Eviluders to return to his mother planet like this.
: Do you know something about the relation between the Eviluders and D-Boy’s father?!
: We are the Scribes of Knowledge. We record everything that happens in this galaxy.









: User of the Green Planet’s legacy. Now that the lion is no more, your power isn't a threat to the 11 Sol Lords.
: Shut up, Database! If you’re helping the Sol Lords, you're my enemies!
: The power of my union with the G-Stone will defeat you and the Sol Lords for sure!









: Hm…your sword is quite impressive. I think it deserves to be a research subject.
: I put my soul into this Gerbera Straight! No matter how much you talk it up, I’m not handing it over!









: So, the enemy’s commander is this ship’s captain? Well then, once I take you down, you’re gonna spill the beans on what you’re really after!
: Can you do it? You won’t beat me if you just charge blindly.
: B-bastard! Don’t talk like you know anything about me!









: I see that the reports were correct. The research subject 281104 of this star system is showing subtle variations.
: Are you not aware of its true nature?
: Are you saying you know something about the Getter Rays?!
: Ignorance is bliss sometimes. You’re the very model of that.













: I got a lot of practice on anti-ship combat from my days as a kid on the Valstork!
: It seems you’ve improved slightly. However, you’ve a long way to go.
: B-brother! The enemy’s is reading your movements!
: Bastard! Did he already finish gathering data on my attack patterns?!
: Ha…I can read you like an open book, Kazuma Ardygun…

















Now, normally this would be a similar situation to Evil and Sinclyne – when you kill either Aria or Applicant, they’ll retreat and run off with their respective goodies.
However, they are close enough to each other that, using Zeal, Kira can position himself to MAP and kill both of them (I could’ve done this with Blade but his MAP hits friendlies, while Kira’s doesn’t).



Mind you, Zeal is expensive. I needed to substitute Athrun for Lori and Loru, in order to use all of Loru’s SP casting Devote (30 SP – restores 10 SP to the target).



Kira has all the bonuses cast, so let’s do it.



: It appears this boy is a product of the research subject 4214482003160229’s technology.
: Huh…?
: I’ll capture you as a sample and record that technology.


















Aria is worth an A-Adaptor and a SP Usage -5%; Applicant is worth an Anti- Beam Coating M and a Support Attack +1.

Sousuke and Heero also had lines for Applicant:

: You’re using the Lambda Driver…Similar systems can be found elsewhere but, this time, I'll take both it and the wielder as samples.
: I refuse. Soldiers and weapons only have value in the battlefield – it is not something to be displayed in a museum.

: That precognition system you’re using is a worthy research subject.
: This guy…does he know something about the Zero System?



: Help me, Papa!
: Huh?! Does she mean Applicant?!
: Aria! You’re gonna tell me everything!
: Brother! That battleship is coming!
: I can handle this attack!
: Amateurish.













: AAAAAH!
: No way! I did a perfect evasive maneuver!
: As usual, you have the habit of driving upwards to escape.
: What?!
: This is it. I’ll crush your machine.
: Get outta there, Kazuma!
: I-I can’t! None of my moves are working on this guy!!
*Transmission in.*
: You can’t give up! There’s a blind-spot on the underside of the battleship’s hull! Go there!
: Take this.
: Damn it! I’ve no choice!



: I did it…! Somehow I dodged it…!
: Another intrusion…Aria, let’s retreat.
: Y-yes, Lord Applicant!



: Who…helped me…?
: But…whoever it was that helped us…they saved our lives.
: And it seems those people are coming over.





It was Zechs "Wind" Marquise and the Professor, along with Liam in the Junk Guild’s new battleship: Re-Home.



As our people congratulate them on their new ship (Professor says that she’s not the captain, though), Kazuma is especially pensive and Horis seems says he’s thinking the same thing: Applicant’s tactics and his handling of the Arm Storer, they were exactly like Blessfield Ardygun’s.



Inside the ship, Kisato gets the scare of her life when she sees a brain in the bridge.
Lowe and Mikoto wonder why the Professor would keep a tank like this…



Said brain takes offense at their attitude, for he is the ship’s captain: Captain George Glenn, to be precise!
Our people are rather dubious that the legendary First Coordinator is here, considering that a Blue Cosmos-esque fanatic killed him years ago (Saburouta does say that his image is just like the Jovians described him, though).
Indeed it’s the real one but not a cyborg or anything: that’s what the "GG" Unit, that Un Nou gave us, was; Un Nou was one of the last living members of the "Friends of George Glenn" group and was protecting George Glenn's gray matter.
Seeing how the First Coordinator was known as an expert pilot, Professor figured he’d be much better suited as Re-Home’s Captain, so she plugged him to the ship’s systems and allowed him to control it via his brain pulses – enough so that George says he could make the ship dance better than he could now!



George is actually feeling a little nervous at meeting Saburouta the Jovian, remembering something about once giving them a disk with "Gaki Genga or something" to try to cheer them up.
Harry is a bit surprised that the Jovian’s “Prophet” is so nonchalant about giving them what formed the basis of their religion; Gai Daigouji cries that it’s Geki Ganger, not Gaki Genga.
“That’s it, “Daki Panda”!”, George says playfully; he eagerly looks at Quatre for a laugh (who does so, hesitantly) but Trowa and Heero, who are nearby, at the same as usual.
George claims he's hard at work mastering the one thing missing from his previous life: comedy; Kisato is a bit dazed to see that her long-time idol turned out so different than she expected and when George tries to lay a joke her way she leaves in tears yelling “This is not my Georgiiiieeeee!”.



Kouji finds it odd that Kazuma is not around to meet such a famous Spaceman.
He’s off talking with Horis with the most serious look on his face anyone has ever seen



Another is D-Boy, who getting a whole lot of praise from Noal and Yumi for kicking Evil’s ass so hard – the guy might’ve escaped but with his new Blaster Power, he’ll take him down for sure.
The problem quickly becomes apparent when D-Boy asks why they’re calling him that: his name is Takaya; the Space Knights remember they gave him that name right as he was starting to work with them.
Levin and others try to jog D-Boy’s memory but he brushes off their offers of help as he returns to his room.



Freeman had feared this would happen: the price for Blasterizing him and stopping the slow decline of his body is an explosive increase in strain, both physical and mental.
D-Boy is stable for now, but his life will come to an abrupt end in about two months, when his body’s cells will collapse over the accumulated strain.
Noal gets pissed that Freeman let him do such a dangerous procedure but Milly and Balzac know: D-Boy elected to undergo the procedure under the belief that he could defeat the Radam within those two months.
Freeman hadn't had the heart to deny him, considering that his life was already in jeopardy and D-boy wouldn't allow anyone else to carry that responsibility.



This is the best our science can offer: a little bit of extra time and no hope of saving him.
At best, our people can honor his choice and help him prevail in his fight against his former crew-mates and family; D-boy would surely not want his choice to cause grief for his fellow Space Knights, either.