Part 210: Mission 55 (New Game+) - Never-Ending Journey - Part 2

Hell, yeah! As one last goodie before the end, we get Applicant on our side to fight against Critic!
The Valarm takes upgrades off Valzacard and, due to Applicant’s boss-level stats and skills, he’s easily one of our top damage dealers right now (there’s that broken size modifier screwing people over again…).

Mind you, he doesn’t keep Double Movement or that Status Immunity (I don’t get why he loses this last one, though).



He does come packed with BP and, this time, I do remember that I can spend them midbattle!
As you saw in the previous missions, the Valarm favors meleeing a whole lot more than ranged attacks, so we’ll focus on that while giving a wee bit of a boost on Shooting, Defense and Accuracy.



Also, let’s take a quick look at the newer enemies we have to contend with:



Critic is joined by four mass-produced Scientias, all being piloted by Deceivers; obviously, their stats are severely reduced from the original one and, thankfully, they don’t have a MAP.
Mind you, they are still able to inflict their stats and even a Super will take a pummeling if it gets swarmed by these four using Sanctio Hasta in a row; finally, remember that the Deceivers have L1 on both types of Support so keep an eye if they’re side-by-side with anyone.



Critic’s up next, so let’s start with the good parts: Critic is a MUCH worse pilot than Inference, that being evidenced by the fact that, even with the NG+ 15% modifier giving him a boost, Sapientia Inference still has him beat on all stats by a large margin; furthermore, while he does have most of Inference’s skills, his Prevail is L8 instead of L9.
Now for the bad part, Critic makes up for his lower stats by Sapientia getting a boost to all of its stats: everything is stronger and his weapons are even deadlier, so watch it.

Conclusion: Critic’s posse would best be ignored but the fact that they know Support Defend can quickly make them an annoyance (plus, there’s always the risk of them swarming someone with their debuffs). Usually, I keep an eye if one of them moves near Critic: if they’re in a position to support him in any way, they become a target to be eliminated (them staying by Critic’s side can block someone from using a point-blank attack, too).
If the other Deceivers stay away, then it’d probably be best to ignore them and zerg Sapientia.





Now, we need to get Applicant some morale and we also need to stand pat in hopes that Critic will come to us.
So we get weakening a few mooks.



By the by, I believe this is the first moment in the whole LP where a character was able to hit a full 5-unit multicombo.
Do it, big daddy!






















Infight L9 on a FUB’d unit makes for some wonderful numbers.






J moves ahead a bit and wrecks a Stoma just because.
Kouji moves right next to him and takes another Stoma and an Opus.



Enemy Phase!




The Database doesn’t take kindly to Applicant’s shenanigans and nearly the entire west side makes a beeline for him.
Still, Applicant is more than capable of taking care of them – greatly damaging everyone while also killing a couple of Opuses.



And he took the bait! Critic moves in, wasting his attack against J.
The Scientias gang up on Valzacard but miss.



Player Phase!



Alright, we still need one more turn to get the team that dealt with Inference in position to wreck Critic, so I have Suzuishi use what remains of his SP to cast Confuse.



Now, that there Scientia is the only one that got by Critic’s side so we need to take it out.
















Excellent.




There wasn’t any room to deploy Athrun as Applicant reduced our slots by 1, but he can still be called in by Heero to lend a hand.

Lowe moves up to the Scientia’s face and takes aim.














Boosh!





Golion quickly takes out a weakened Stoma and that’s that – I won’t be killing any more mooks to avoid summoning more reinforcements.



Now, take a look up there. While setting up my troops to go after Critic, I had them positioned as a wall to prevent the other three Scientias from running to his side – this way, there’ll be no unpleasant surprises.



Enemy Phase!



Enemy troops go against all sorts of units but with both confuse and overlapping command auras in place, pretty much everyone misses.



Player Phase!

Let’s do this shit!



: You also don’t intend to stop fighting?!
: This isn’t “fighting”. It is simply the elimination of unneeded objects.
: There’s no point in talking, Prayer. There’s no heart inside him…only his warped ego!
: Critic…you might have had a heart once…
: However, now your black heart only acts for your selfish desires!
: So, I’ll fight you! With the wishes of all those people that you couldn’t understand!













: Your technique is certainly special. Therefore, I will record it.
: There’s nothing special about my fighting skill.
: What?
: We're mercenaries. We fight for what's important to us.
: Whether that's money or ideals depends on the person and place.
: I’ll tell you again: there’s nothing special about fighting skills in general.
: Since you cannot understand how our hope gives us strength, your records are obviously defective.









: Target: Sapientia.
: This Sapientia is the aggregation of all our knowledge. It will not lose to the likes of you.
: Tch…this guy’s tricky. I’d prefer to just deal with a pissed-off Inference again!
: There is no sense of duty in this man. It’s just ego.
: Was Inference’s mind distorted by this man…?
: No world in the universe is free from those who manipulate others for their own profit…!
: The Database’s ringleader…we’ll stop you right here!
: This is for our beloved world…!
: Useless. People who would stop our endless work cannot be allowed to exist.
: I will kill that twisted ego…Final target, confirmed…!













: I am the Scribe of Knowledge…the being who bestows permanence unto this universe’s civilizations and knowledge.
: You still say that’s what you’re doing…? You’re simply hiding your greed!
: You gotta shape up, Tricky Critic!
: Ouch, what a burn…the critic got roasted. Hee, hee, hee…
: No, it wasn’t! And are you seriously still punning at a time like this?
: I’d like to agree, but I can’t take this guy’s big villain act seriously either.
: And we can't let him get away with what he's done.
: Indeed! Lost One, see the light!
: Guess I'm playing the hero too.
: GO, AKITOOOOOOOOOOOO! DEFEAT HIM WITH YOUR BURNING FIST OF RIGHTEOUS FURY!!
: Let’s go, Critic…I won’t hand this world to you…
: All the people that I love live are in it!!



















: Inference abused his mission but the distortion of his values was a result of an external force…
: However, you attacked other civilizations just because you wanted a monopoly on knowledge…?!
: Indeed. It is the most efficient method to accomplish the mission of the Scribes of Knowledge.
: Selfish prick! You’re just a defective program that mistook his mission and the way it should be done!
: But I don’t think a little debugging will be enough to fix you!
: Sagara! It's up to you to stop him!
: Go, Sagara!
: Roger! I will eradicate all obstacles to the final mission!











: We have nothing to say to one another! All there is left is for us to stop you!
: Do not think you can stop Sapientia.
: This machine is the incarnation of our wisdom…immortality was promised to this power.
: Power can always be defeated by an even greater power! We’re going to teach you that!
: That's right! We're fighting for all the life on Earth...
: And for the whole planet's future!
: Here we go, Critic! I won’t hesitate to crush your warped desire!
: I’m going to beat you with my own hands and put an end to this fight!









: I’ll never forgive you, Database Boss!
: The likes of you don’t have the right to forgive me. I am bestowing immortality upon this universe.
: You come and attack the Earth and you got the nerve to say that?
: How is this immortality? You’re taking peoples’ lives!
: Our lives belong to us! I don’t remember ever asking for your immortality!
: Critic! We’re gonna stop your greed no matter what!!











: Getter Robo…! Your existence will bring disaster to the universe; therefore, I will personally eradicate you.
: Getter will bring disaster to the universe?!
: What does he mean? Is that in the Database's records?
: Is that what ended the previous universe?
: Wake up, Ryouma. Getter's always been there for us.
: …You're right, Hayato!
: I trust all our fights with Getter more than whatever's written in the Database!
: Come on, Critic! All three of us will fight you as one with the power of Getter!













: I control all existing knowledge. I cannot be stopped.
: I heard you were a Critic but it looks like that title is a load of crock!
: What?
: You just complain about what other people do, but you can’t make anything yourself!
: If you’re a critic, quit breaking stuff down and try creating for a change!

















: Golion. You fought evenly against Scientia 3519 years ago…
: However, this Sapientia is a far more evolved machine. You will not escape defeat.
: Can we defeat him? He's too strong!
: Princess! If we hesitate, we've lost for sure!
: This guy’s the biggest of idiots: he’s forgotten his mission and is just doing whatever the hell he wants. We can’t lose to him!
: We're fighting as Golion's champions for Altea, the Earth, and the whole universe!
: Suzuishi, Kurogane, Seidou...
: You back with us, Princess? Because we're with you, and so is Golion!
: Yes!
: Golion will stand and fight anyone who threatens peace in this universe!

















: I have to protect the world! So…I…!
: However, this universe will perish someday.
: Therefore, I…the Scribe of Knowledge will transmit all wisdom and culture into the next universe.
: What are you talking about!? You’re just trying to get a monopoly on all information!
: Kira! Show this defective program what a human’s life is like!
: Uh, I…
: Stop muttering! You're just making his head swell!
: If you ever needed to say it loud, this is the time!
: Just say whatever's on your mind. We're behind you.
: ...Critic...you should know...the importance of life…
: There are people in this world doing their best to live!
: Foolishness. Eventually this world will be extinguished and it’ll all have been meaningless.
: If you don’t understand, then I will defeat you!
: I have to protect everyone on Earth with MY feelings and my power!









: I can certainly feel emotions in you…however, that’s not what a heart should be like!
: An Eviluder talking about “heart”? Ridiculous.
: Ugh. Is he ever going to stop getting more insufferable?
: There’s no heart in you! Your wish to control everything…it’s simply greed!
: I understand, Michi, which is why I have to stop him! The warrior Orgun, the Eviluder who rediscovered his heart!















: I can't lose! Not to you, anyway!
: Earth-made Tekkamen. Your existence is insignificant before all the knowledge of the universe.
: The same goes to you. All this knowledge may be impressive but you’re just its custodian.
: He’s just a big wuss! Did you think you were going to become a god?!
: We are the Space Knights of Neo-Wärter! We'll fight any threat to our planet!
: Here we go, Yumi!
: This is everything Mr. D taught me... my anger, my dreams, and my conviction!













: The Tekkaman who escaped the Radam. Would you throw away your life after struggling so much to live?
: Some things are worth laying a life on the line for! A man taught me that by laying down his!
: Bernard...
: I won't stop fighting! I'm laying my life on the line for my planet!
: We're with you, D-Boy! Right by your side!
: This is the final battle... then I'll stake everything I have!
: I'll fight too! This is worth my new life!
: Foolish. It is you who do not understand the value of life.
: You’re wrong! We fight BECAUSE life is precious!
: We’ll fight to protect all life in this world!!















: Kazuma Ardygun, I will personally exterminate the offspring of Blessfield Ardygun.
: Then I’ll become the embodiment of the knowledge records.
: How rotten can you get?! You’ve been holding onto such a lame ambition for over 10000 years?!
: You would belittle the prospect of obtaining the wisdom of all the civilizations of the universe…?
: He’s right. While memories are precious, there’s no point in simply collecting them.
: The purpose of memories is to create something that’ll give everyone the strength to walk towards their future…!
: The purpose of memories…the strength to walk towards the future…
: Well, I’ll be… It’s like the Captain is right here with us.
: Applicant’s right! Our memories of our father give us all strength!
: And that strength will help us defeat you!
: I used the collected wisdom to create new weapons…! Yet, you say it’s different…!
: Damn right it’s different! Your power isn’t for the sake of life!
: It will not help you walk towards your future. Your way will only lead to ruin.
: Ruin…the entire universe is already walking down this path!
: Shut up, Critic! I don’t care if this universe will disappear sometime!
: But bastards like you are sure to bring sadness to us, Earth and the entire universe!
: My brother’s right! And that’s why we’ll never forgive you!
: You better get ready, Critic! I’m gonna put an end to your twisted ambitions!!
























Last time we destroyed Sapientia by tossing a supernova at it and it just came back; this time, however, I’m gonna drop the ban-hammer on it.

: It is my understanding that courage is the source of the G-Stone’s power.
: However, at maximum energy output, this Sapientia is at the top. You have no chance of victory.
: You don't know the true power of courage... of life!
: A soul that never stops fighting... the power of life to struggle on gives it unlimited energy!
: You will pay for underestimating it!
: Gai! End this war with your courage!
: Let’s go, Critic! I'll show you the absolute victory of life!





Bonta-kun has a line against Critic, too:

: Fumo, Fumo, Fumoffu, Fumo!
: Wh-what?!
: Fumofu, Fumo, Fumoffu!
: Ridiculous…! Are you calling me trash?!






: It’s over, Critic! Your treachery ends here!
: Alright…
: Oi, are you gonna go or not?! Sousuke!
: I will accomplish my mission…!



: Sagara…I’ll leave Kaname’s rescue in your hands.
: Urk…! If…if it’s all over…
: Then I’ll return everything to nothingness!!
: The hell are you doing, Critic!
: When Sapientia explodes, it’ll create a small dimensional vortex!
: You and this recording plant will be drawn into a higher dimension and there you’ll all perish!
: Critic! Why are you doing this?!
: I’ve made a decision! Since my mission has been denied, everything will disappear!
: The mission is already irrelevant! Let the memories and knowledge all be extinguished!!
: Bastard! You can’t just have a human-like reaction at the last moment!!
: All units, retreat! We must escape before we get dragged into the dimensional vortex!
: That idiot…! Then, this is the only way!

*Valzacard charges at Sapientia!*



: What are you doing, Kazuma?!
: I wasn’t half-asleep when you said it, ya know! All the memories you’ve gathered are here!
: Your mission will be screwed if this "gold atomic bomb” blows up, right?!
: Kazuma…
: Valzacard, full speed!
: Roger that! Let’s fly with everything we’ve got!
: We’ll carry him as far away as we can!
: Urk! Unhand me! UNHAND ME!!
: Like hell, you damn asshole! There’s no way I’m gonna let you do as you want!!
: I’ll search for the location of the Master System’s core inside Sapientia!
: Kazuma! The rest is up to you!
: Got it! The wishes of my dad and the people who made The Database…I’ll protect them all!
: Do your best, brother!!



: KAZUMA!!
: They’re…sacrificing themselves for our recording plant…
: That’s how the Ardygun people are…
: If they’re protecting Captain Bless’ wish with their lives, it is up to us to protect them.
: Let’s go, Captain!
: Everyone, it’s time to use what’s left of our power.