Part 161: Mission 45 (Moon Route) - Malice Born - Part 2
Alright, here’s what we have: Flay is inside an AI-controlled GINN and is headed straight to the Dominion (which is also moving towards her).Which gets us to our objective: shoot down
Feddie troops consist of a mix of Serpents, Sol Tekkamen, Strike Daggers and Eurasian Stern Kugels.
No Serpent can withstand a double dose of Tomokazu Seki.
Following that up, Sommer and Yumi take another Serpent down.
Blade won’t kill but it’s good for him to attack.
He takes 1 morale for hitting an enemy and dodging their counter, which gets him Blasterized.
Enemy Phase!
Egads…two Sol Tekkamen are coming after him.
Yeah, they both get wrecked.
Another Strike Dagger attacks but it had enough HP to survive.
Sousuke is also a popular target, drawing the attention of two Stern Kugels, a Strike Dagger and Blade’s Serpent.
Lamda Driver stomps all over them, with the exception of the Strike Dagger (whom I underestimated and attack with the Assault Rifle).
The final Stern Kugel guns for Sommer, who greatly weakens but doesn’t kill it.
Here come the Druggies.
: We meet again, Neo-Wärter! I’m gonna pay you back for Orb!!
Goddamn shield…
Clotho and Shani also pull chain attacks and Shani actually manages to hit Yumi.
Morgan’s 105 Dagger has been equipped with Gunbarrels but it’s pretty much the same as before.
: I’ll show those drugged-up boys how a veteran fights!
It’s also the easiest miniboss to kill.
All these attacks give Sommer and Anita a level, teaching him Multicombo L3.
Player Phase!
: Kazuma! Mihiro!
: Aria’s also here?!
: I won’t…I won’t forgive you, stupid Kazuma! : You stole Mihiro from me!
: How many times do I have to tell you?! Mihiro doesn’t belong to you!: Shut up, shut up! I’ll defeat you and take your place!: For my Papa…my sisters…and for Mihiro!
: Aria!
: What happened, Kazuma?! We don’t understand what’s going on!: I don’t either! But she’s with The Database! So, we gotta fight!: Let’s go, Kazuma! I’m gonna beat you up in front of Mihiro and my sisters!!
We’re on a tight schedule here, so let’s bombard everything to speed up the process.
Everything takes a big hit, with the exception of Orga who uses his shield AGAIN.
This gives Yumi a level and teaches Prevail L6.
Only one mook left and he’s killed by Mao, while Kurz gets an assist from Dead to take a nice jab at Shani.
Clouseau should be able to take care of things.
: I hate you…: I hate you…: I hate you…!
Boom.
Shani is worth a Lifter Module and an Prevail +1.
He starts mumbling, angry at the prospect of losing again to us.
Before he can do anything, however, he starts feeling pain from withdrawal and is forced to retreat, promising to kill every last one of us when next we meet.
Mind you, Orga and Clotho also go through this: they get very pissy, they express disbelief at their imminent defeat and then retreat before they get shot down (Orga says he’s MS is running low on energy, as an excuse)
“Next time, Neo-Wärter! NEXT TIIIIIIME!
”.
Next in line is Morgan, Dead takes him down a wee bit more.
And Sousuke moves for the kill.
Next!
This kill also gets Kira’s SEED going.
As he’s defeated, Morgan figures it's time he left, while he can still do so.
He might be branded as a traitor but he can’t convince himself to fight for the Federation anymore - the last thing he wants to do is play along with the Chairman's selfish schemes.
By the by, Muu actually has a line against Morgan:
: So, there are still people that can use Gunbarrels in the Federation!: Lt. Muu La Flaga! It seems we, fellow Gunbarrel users, must fight each other!: I’d rather not. Come back at a better time!
FUCK YOU, ORGA!
Fine, I’ll kill you first.
: You’re doomed now that we’ve met again! Annihilate!
Go away.
Clotho is worth a Hybrid Armor and a Counter +1.
Sommer also learns Love.
Block this, asshole.
HA!
Orga is worth a High-Performance Radar and a Hit&Away.
Enemy Phase!
I had combined into Valguard and set it up to draw Aria towards us.
Good opening.
The Dominion wastes its attack by going after Aki.
Player Phase!
Kira will weaken Aria just enough for Valguard to finish her off.
Good man.
Kazuma uses Love and moves in.
That’ll learn yer.
Aria doesn’t drop anything important, mind.
: I-If I lose here, I won’t be able to bring back data from the research subject 4214482003160229!: Lord Inference will be really angry at me if I come back with just another failure!: Wait, Aria! : Shut up, stupid Kazuma! You get to be together with Mihiro some more, so be thankful!
: Aria…: Damn it! I don’t get why she’s doing all this!
By the by, the Dominion is EXACTLY like the Archangel only with, of course, a whole lot more HP.
Natarle does have a decent batch of skills but it’s nothing that’ll give us trouble:
- Hit & Away
- Break Morale Limit
- Prevail L8
- Support Attack L4
- Command L4
: Lt. Cmdr. Ramius…
: 1st LT Badgiruel…to think we’d meet again like this…
: Captain, why don’t you tell her: “I’m a Lt. Cmdr. now, equal to you”.: Show me that your skill is even greater than hers.: (This man…what does he think this battle is?!)
: Concentrate fire on the enemy mother ship! All guns, standby!
: You’ve a nice voice. It’s similar to the captain that inspired me.: I think you could be a fine captain, too. That is, if you do not lose sight of your way… 
: Is Ms. Natarle really aboard that ship?!: Kira Yamato…you’re still alive?: Please retreat, Ms. Natarle! I don’t want to fight you!: What an annoying machine. Shoot it down quickly, please.: …Understood.
Clouseau takes a couple levels and learns Prevail L7.
As expected, Muu also has dialogue with Natarle but, since he had to move all the way from Mendel, there wasn’t enough time to get him in range:
: Stop it, XO! Neither I nor Neo-Wärter want to fight you!: Lt. Flaga, I am now the captain of the Dominion. : I’m no longer the Archangel’s XO.: Then, is it OK if I call your Natarle?: Huh…?!: Hey…is this really the time for you to make a face like that?
Azrael asks what the hell is happening and why the Dominion is being defeated after all the money that went into its construction: Natarle explains that the Archangel's crew is more experienced and it’s given them the advantage.
Azrael is quite frustrated over the thought that the "key to victory" will fall into our people's hands – whatever it is, it could’ve been helpful to the war effort!
Natarle tells him that, despite everything, Neo-Wärter is still part of the Federation; if this "key" is really worth something, she's sure our people will put it to good use; however, it won’t avail Azrael anything if the Dominion is destroyed here.
Creuset watches as Kira goes to fish Flay out, surprised that the two know each other.
He emerges in his mech, saying that he had in fact been prepared to entrust the fate of the world to the Neo-Wärter, had they snagged Flay first - but not if Muu is involved!
He tells Flay to hate Kira with all her being, as he moves to take her life.
Lacus and the Eternal get in his way, though; she shouts that she won't suffer him to envelop the world in his darkness.
That’s fine with Creuset, who intends to take her out right now.
As he says that, an explosion comes from the inside of the Eternal: Waltfeld tries to get Lacus to escape somewhere safer but Hokuten has infiltrated the ship and says that won’t be necessary!
While our people wonder why a Successor unit has just launched from the ship, Waltfeld gets on the comm and says that Hokuten has kidnapped.
Hokuten wonders if Creuset will interfere but he makes no such move: Lacus is a traitor to the Zaft anyway, so Hokuten can do as he pleases; Hokuten smirks that Creuset has much darkness beneath his mask.
Kira moves to get Lacus back but Creuset warns that he has someone else that requires his attention!
Canard shows up and yelling to Kira that he’ll defeat him; he doesn’t even wait for an answer before opening fire.
Kira manages to avoid a direct hit by a hair but any other attack will be the end of him.
Canard will not do so, though, noting that Kira’s obviously depleted from a long battle.
He wants a real fight, with Kira at his best!
Canard does promise to end his life next time – only then can he prove he really deserves to exist.
Creuset cites this as more proof of how cursed Kira is.
His is an existence that only serves as testament to the crimes of humanity and the hatred borne of those crimes will haunt him and his friends forever!
Hokuten says they have the “final priestess” for the Martian Ruins, before Boson Jumping away.
The Federation has moved away but Sommer figures this can’t really be called a victory…
Our other team soon approaches…
From here on out, both routes will converge and there’s big talk about what happened to the Patrol group.
So, before we spoil anything, let’s just skip ahead and limit ourselves to stuff relevant to his route split – everything else can be covered later.
After going through everything that happened on the other path, Horis comes in with surprising news: the “key” that Flay was carrying is data of a Neutron Jammer Canceler device!
This device, that’s also equipped in the Freedom and Justice (the reason why Lacus made them promise not to let the units fall in wrong hands), could end the energy crisis on Earth caused by the Neutron Jammers, but it would also enable the usage of nuclear weapons against the Plant and Ryouko wonders why a Zaft soldier would try to give that to the Feds.
Muu says it’s only an issue if the person cared about the potential destruction – which Creuset doesn’t.
He figures Creuset is probably responsible for spilling the beans about Spit Break too, as both a form of amusement and to prolong the war.
If giving this data to the Federation was necessary to expedite the end of this “world of endless desires”, he’d be the first to do so.
Lacus' kidnapping is also at least partially his fault; though it's not entirely clear why the Successors wanted her so badly (especially considering they already have the Whispered).
Athrun wonders if they’re trying to use her charisma as a way to gouge support from Plant…
Either way, it's clear the Successors are now the biggest threat but, despite Kazuma’s wishes, we can’t simply charge into Mars to take them down.
The Feds have already sent a fleet to Mars and, in anticipation of such movement, the Successors had turned the Martian Ruins into a veritable fortress.
The Federation fleet was apparently wiped out by the Ruins' long-range defense systems.
The Successors haven’t done anything since but Horis guesses that they’ll put whatever their plan is in motion on January 1st, the anniversary of their hot-blooded coup d'etat.
That leaves us three days to figure out a way to take them down.
The discussion is interrupted as Flay and Sai enter the room, looking for Kira.
Flay was finally able to say to Sai what she couldn’t in Alaska and they’ve both made up; she now knows that the Archangel is the place to live that she's always craved – and she got a chance to return by the narrowest of twists of fate.
She thanks Kazuma for helping her figure this out.
Still, she wants to talk to Kira and Athrun figures that he must be in shock over Lacus' kidnapping; Sai asks if Kira’s in love with Lacus but Athrun says he doesn't know whether to call it "love" or not, but he senses the invisible bond Kira and Lacus share.
As Flay and Sai head off, Athrun confides to Cagalli that he certainly was shocked too that his former fiancee's been hauled off, but he'd be far more distraught had it been her.
Cagalli, once again, goes tsundere-mode asking why he’s saying such silly things.
Athrun just wants her to know that he’ll protect her, no matter what – Cagalli says the same, she’ll watch his back from here on out.
Flay indeed finds Kira in his room, apologizing for the terrible things she's done to him.
She doesn't expect him to forgive her, but she offers him her thanks for saving her; she also wants to apologize to Lacus, and implores Kira to save her, as Lacus once saved her.
Kira remains silent, and having said what she wanted to say, she gently leaves a meal behind for him and leaves.
After a moment longer, Kira inwardly thanks Flay in turn for protecting his heart - if not for her by his side when he first came to Earth, he's sure he'd be ruined by now; whether or not his powers are cursed, he vows to use them for good, and for saving Lacus in any event.
At the Ruins, Yamasaki recounts how incorporating Yurika into the mechanism allowed for controlled Jumping.
However, it's been quite unstable, due apparently to Yurika's dreams!
Now, dreams are the format used to input images into her brain to control the system, but for everything to work properly, the transportee has to have the same mindset as Yurika in the dream; for a bunch of hot-blooded guys raised on Geki Ganger, it's unlikely that anyone could break 80% synch.
But he's figured out a way around this, as validated by Tessa: Lacus' voice!
Lacus' songs have the ability to enfold the transportees in love and happiness, raising the synch rate above 99%.
This pleases Kusakabe greatly, who asks her to sing for the victory of the Successors!
Lacus cautions Kusakabe that her songs are songs of peace - is anyone here that would be willing to listen?
Kusakabe asks if she really means that, considering she took arms against both Plant and the Earth; regardless of her stance against the governments of both places, she will not betray Humanity as a whole, and refuses to sing for such vile purposes.
Tessa however asks her to sing anyway, and to believe in those precious to her.
Despite Kaname’s protests that this’ll give the Successors all that they need, Lacus ponders this a moment, and finally agrees to sing for those she loves.
As Kusakabe thanks them both for their cooperation, Tessa is sure our people will do the rest...