Part 165: Mission 45 (Patrol Route) - Prologue

Gai hunting those Reus has paid off – he’s managed to snag 1st place off Kazuma!

Now, like before, I’ll skip doing the intermission just to keep a proper tally on what’s being won on each route.
The only thing I’ll do is spend Prayer and Wufei’s PP:



I don’t really like Wufei but here’s the rundown: he’s like Gai Daigouji in that he never learns Focus but, unlike an Aesti, he does not have any barriers to reduce the damage – having to rely solely on his friendship bonuses (it’s a very good thing he takes upgrades off Wing, so he comes with a nice boost to Mobility).

As such, he takes a good amount of points into Evasion, Accuracy and, of course, Melee (his sole form of attacking).



Prayer, on the other hand, is nearly all about ranged attacks and, since he’s normal and learns Focus, he can take less investment into Evasion and Accuracy, adding those into his Shooting stat.

Now, let’s move to the prologue:



Aboard the Serpent’s Tail ship, Elijah and the others aren't comfortable with Gai hanging onto the Neutron Jammer Canceller.
Elijah knows that the thing was being sent to Malchio and they all know that it could solve the world’s energy crisis in one fell swoop.
Reed notes that it’s not that simple, if they wanted it to be used NOW, they would’ve left the Canceller with Kite Kazuma and his friends; the main issue here is that the gadget could also enable the use of nuclear weapons, which is why Gai thinks it’s best to hang onto it for now.
After all, even if most of the Earthlings aren't stupid enough to nuke Plant, it only takes one.



Luchinni calls up, actually working for Gai instead of the other way around for a change.
He’s been digging up some information for Gai and, whatever it is, it's important enough for Gai to set aside his dislike for Luchinni’s shadier methods and agrees to take the call.



Kazuma notes that the present Santa delivered this year was way bigger than expected: the Neutron Jammer Canceller.
Who cares that it got stolen: just the fact that someone managed to invent it at all is miraculous; he's sure that the Serpent Tail must have a very good reason for playing pirate and swiping the gadget, and that they aren't likely to just sell it to the Feds.
He, like Lowe, would dearly love to know what Gai Murakumo has in mind, though.



Prayer is in the sick bay, having abruptly passed out in the middle of a conversation.
He passes it off as mere overwork, but Horis looks pensive; Lowe tells him to leave the recovery of the Dreadnought's head to him.
Gai Murakumo has taught him the Serpent Tail's secret comm codes, so he expects he can phone them up and arrange a meeting.
Lowe wants to meet Gai quickly, but one-on-one; force is the last option he wants to use and he wants to figure out the reason behind the theft of the Neutron Jammer Canceler.
Gai (Shishioh) also thinks there must be good a reason and volunteers, along with Zechs, to call Gai Murakumo on Lowe’s behalf – they’ll get the meeting set up and only ask Lowe to get ready to fly.



Reneé wonders if Gai is being too lenient with Gai Murakumo simply because they share a name.
Mikoto says that’s not true as Gai sure isn't this tolerant to the Aestivalis Gai; as Akane remembers, though, his real name is Yamada Jirou…either way, the discussion is interrupted as Horis shoos everyone out to give Prayer time to rest and, as he leaves, Lowe reiterates his promise to bring back the stolen Dreadnought parts.



Horis stays behind, meaning to ask Prayer a serious question.
Horis has observed symptoms like Prayer's before, and knows full well that these are effects related to accelerated cellular aging, derived from shortened telomeres in the DNA.
Sooner, rather than later, Prayer's cells will lose the ability to divide and he’ll quickly die.



What Horis wants to know is: who is Prayer a clone of?



Mikhail tells his men to get ready to sortie and a mysterious man asks if they’re going after Lacus.
He denies that, saying that they’ll be hunting whoever stole one of the Neutron Jammer Cancelers.
The man comments on how this sounds very boring, which makes Mikhail very irate – does the man not understand the importance of this mission?



Mikhail says that no trace must be left behind: their mission isn't just getting the thing back but wiping out all data concerning it and all people who might have come into contact with it.
The “kill everyone” part gets the man’s attention, saying that NOW this mission feels more interesting than hunting Lacus.
He’s very eager to lay waste to loads of people with the Regenerate.


We got some newer party members, so let’s get voting time under way.

Prayer and Lowe are launching as event units, Kazuma still has dibs and I’ve taken the liberty of pre-selecting Gaofighgar, Mazinkaiser, Great Mazinger and Shin Getter.

This leaves you guys with 9 slots to choose among the following:

• Golion
  
• Volfogg, Mike, Enryu, Hyoryu, Fuuryu, Rairyu, Kouryu, Anryu
  
• Heero, Duo, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Zechs
  
• Boss, Sayaka, Jun, Lori (make sure to specify if you want any of them to use the Mazinger)

Voting will last until Friday and make sure to bold out your votes to make tallying easier.

See you all then!