Part 34: Mission 9 (Space Route) - The Worst Calamitous Decision - Part 2

Off we go. Despite being on the same level, this mission is significantly easier than the other path (mainly because the Galra goons are nowhere near as powerful as Gauron). Here’s what we’re up against:



These galra fighters are as weak as they come, with low stats all across the board and rather limited range.
I believe our units should have no issue oneshotting them and they’re pretty much there to help you build morale.





Next up, we have both models of Death Black Beastmen and the Galra version of “Elite Mooks” (the sword wielding one is called Beastman Death Hell and the bug-like one is the Garushia).
They have a lot of HP and decent defenses making them as resilient as the Jovian Katonbos; they’ve two attacks each: one 1-7 range (sporting a +30% accuracy modifier on the Garushia and +10% on the Death Hell) and one with 1-3 range (sporting +40% modifiers on both units).

They can be accurate and they can take a beating so it’s best to gang up on them and try to keep a defensive measure going when sending someone near a mob of them.



Finally, we have Sadak in his Imperial Batteship. Coming fresh out of a fight with Gauron, this guy is nowhere near as dangerous.
Yes, he has slightly more HP and defenses but he has horrible aim (his strongest, 3-8 range attack only has +10% accuracy) and, most importantly, he doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve. No unit effects and no worthwhile pilot skills (he only has Support Attack and Commander).

Without Prevail, he won’t even put up a fight. We’ll get rid of all the Galra mooks for the extra experience and cash before killing him off easily.




We’ll begin our charge by setting the Nadesico close by so the Gravity Beam hits all the Aestis as they move closer and Akito gets to open up on the Death Hell Beastman.



: My fight... the reason I fight is... is...!






No problem.


I rather have our people focus on the bigger units now since we can probably kill the planes in one shot. Also, try to keep the Nadesico folks close to each other because they all have friendship bonuses with each other, which’ll boost their evasion and accuracy.



This’ll work nicely.



Hikaru will keep the attack going.








Very nice.



Izumi makes short work of the remaining HP.


Bless and folks are all quite far away. I’ll just bring them up closer to lure the southern Galra group closer.



Enemy Phase!



Hopefully this will not mean that every single Galra will make a beeline towards the Nadesico…










Nope, they all go after it – this first one survives as the Nadesico’s missiles are shit but the second one gets Gravity Blasted.
A bunch other fighters attack but I have Yurika defend.



Of course, don’t come after Kazuma who’s RIGHT THERE and use your melee attack. Go from range when you’re at your weakest…
A fighter also attacks and barely survives…remember when I said that we should oneshot them? Yeah, I guess I was wrong.



You’ve enough morale. Right, Akito?










Damn it!



Sadak tries to snipe but lacks the accuracy to do so.



Player Phase!



Sadak notices the presence of a Tekkaman among his foes, and Honerva wonders if the Earth has already been devoured by the bugs.
She figures it matters not to the great will of their emperor, and Sadak orders more reinforcements sent in to overpower our people.







Things look grim to the Nadesico folk, especially since they haven’t fully recovered from the Mars escape, and Honerva yells at them to curse their stupidity for siding with Golion.
Kazuma is not impressed at her wrods and says we’ll keeping fighting whatever troops the old hag throws at him.
Mihiro then detects something approaching…







It’s Orgun, who quickly zooms up to the Galra battleship and attacks..





Honerva is aghast at the sight of a Detonator and wonders how is it that the Eviluders are in this system, too.
Noal doesn’t get how the Galra are aware of the Eviluders but D-Boy vaguely knows that they operate on a galactic scale – it’s likely that the Galra would’ve had run-ins with them.
Honerva rapidly pulls out to plan a new strategy, leaving the troops to deal with us; the Golion team are frustrated that she got away but they’ll just have to focus on the enemies ahead.



Orgun won't say a word to D-Boy when he asks why he's fighting on your side.
Bless and Kazuma tell him to concentrate on the Galra, since Orgun is lending them a hand.



Moving on, let’s bring Kazuma into the fray and having him start with a Galra Fighter.






Next, Blade will start softening up one of the Death Hell Beastmen.



: (Orgun! I'll hear you out after we defeat the Galra!)










HA!



I reckon Noal deserves a wee bit more time in the spotlight.










Good man.



Oh, this is perfect. All these fighters clustered in one place are just begging for Akito to MAP them.






With the path open, Ryouko moves on to tangle with a Death Hell but takes a slight hit.





Nevertheless, let’s have Hikaru finish it while Akatsuki deals with the Fighter that survived Akito’s barrage.



Izumi will start tenderizing Mr. Garushia.












Thank you for the lucky crit.


Sadly, Golion is WAY far behind and all he could do was use Accelerate and come closer.



Enemy Phase!




You fucker, you…Yurika does not need morale!



A Death Hell Beastman comes for Orgun and gets punished for his poor choice.



This Garushia Beastman is up for some payback against Uzumi but gets blown back.



I’d use this opportunity to show off Dual Proton Cannon but I don’t feel like pushing my luck with the RNG gods.













Meh.


Two mooks take this time to go for Orgun. The result is two misses and:








Yeah. Mind you, he did 2800-ish damage to that Garushia Beastman but, for whatever reason, the picture didn’t run.
Another Fighter and Garushia try their luck but get slapped away.



They keep coming after Izumi even though she’s the dodgiest of the three girls.
Shame that it was at long range and the only usable attack was her weakest.




Oh? This go-getter got a clean hit on him (Orgun, like the Tekkaman isn’t most defensive unit around). He still suffers more for it.



After the enemy’s turn is time for the neutral allies. Orgun uses it to soften a Garushia so we can go an-







Good thing Orgun has “plot invincibility” or I would’ve been pissed.



Player Phase!





Noal gets sent to weaken a Death Hell while Akito takes an easy kill.



Kazuma also has a chance to chain his Heat Edge Exploder.












Very good.



Izumi will soften this Garushia up for a quick kill.



Now, let’s show off Big Daddy’s power.





It’s Golion’s time to shine now, so let’s show off his Ten Kings Sword attack in all its glory.





Also, that last kill gives Blade just the morale boost he needs to use his Voltekka and there’s the last Garushia Beastmen right in range.





Finally, only 3 regular fighters are left. Akatsuki takes one.



Ryouko nabs another.



And Hikaru takes the remaining one.





As the battle finishes, Orgun tries to leave but Blade "corners" him and demands to know why it's helping us.



At length, Orgun's voice is heard, telling the Tekkaman who escaped the Radam's curse that he wishes to watch his fight.
With that, Orgun flies away far faster than we can follow, and D-Boy has no clue what's going on.
Bless recommends everyone rendezvous and head for the moon, while D-Boy wonders who isthis Detonator who dares fight the Eviluders...



Back aboard the Nadesico, Akito explains that he had felt himself losing the memories of what Fukube and Gai Daigouji did, becoming a mere fighting machine as the battles piled atop each other.
The very idea filled him with dread, but by watching how Yurika gave her all in battle he finally discovered the meaning behind fighting that Gai Murakumo spoke of: he's got people he wants to protect.



All three interested women want to know who that is, and are shocked when he says "Gai" (don't tell me he's...!!! says Hikaru).
He recalls Gai Daigouji saying when they first met that he wanted to protect the Earth, and whether that was Geki Ganger's influence or not, the Earth is in fact facing a genuine crisis now.
So now, Akito plans to make good on the "pledge" they shared and defend the Earth - lest he forget Gai and what he stood for.
Fahra for one is incredibly impressed with this, and from watching Yurika and the mercenary's actions in battle, has decided to find the meaning behind her own battle here on Earth.



She tells Yurika that she faced the same decision on Altea: sacrifice the populace, or her own life.
Raibul is shocked she would discuss this, but she says she owes it to the proud warriors who have fought to defend her life.
The Golion had become the symbol of all the anti-Galra forces in the galaxy, and the touchstone of the Leo Union that sought to thwart the Galra's schemes of galactic domination.



In response the Galra sent a massive fleet to Altea, the seat of the Leo Federation leadership.
The Altean forces, rallied around Golion, fought back bitterly.
However, bested by vastly superior numbers, Altea was burned with fire, even the royal palace of Greydam.
The Golion team assisted as many civilians' flight as it could, and fled Altea: opting for life over giving the last full measure of devotion.



The Golion came to Earth not to enlist help for the remnants of Altea, but to warn the Earth of Galra's plans to assail it next.
The Galra you tangled with are part of that Earth invasion plan, and are more than happy to destroy Fahra and Golion and thereby eradicate the last vestiges of the Leo Union.
Yurika promises to protect the princess, regardless of the consequences, but Akatsuki analyzes it more as an Earth vs. Galra problem that they need to understand before making big decisions.



Akito doesn't entirely like his tone, and asks if Akatsuki needs further proof of how evil a empire these guys are when they’re aiming to attack Earth.
Akatsuki temporizes, saying that while these folks certainly didn't follow due process before attacking the Earth, it is somewhat hasty to judge these people from the (injured) Earth perspective only.
What's his point? That unlike in some mecha anime, he doubts that absolute "evil" exists.
Kurogane snorts and says that Akatsuki couldn't say that if he knew the true depths of Galran depravity, but Shirogane is willing to concede the point.



In return, he asks Akatsuki if he plans to leave the Galra be, knowing that they plan to invade the Earth.
Akatsuki won't claim the authority to speak for the whole Earth, but personally speaking, he would not.
Defending oneself if attacked is only natural, and is orthogonal to questions of justice or evil.
Akito finds this argument rather convoluted, but Akatsuki informs him it simply means he's not as much a simpleton as Akito is.



As for what to do next, Bless shows up and recommends that the princess head to the Earth.
He tells her he's in the employ of a branch of the Earth's supreme governing body, and one understanding of alien culture.
He is certain they can aid her cause, but Prospector argues that the Federation army will surely take an interest in the Nadesico if it continues to the Moon.
Akatsuki says there's no fear of that, given that the Nadesico has just been absorbed into said Federation army.



He explains to a shocked Akito that Nergal and the Feds made peace during Akito's jaunt to Mars: it was that news, plus protecting the Nadesico, that brought him.
The Nadesico's crew will eventually become actual soldiers, and Bless figures that his work here is now done.
Given that, Yurika asks Bless to take Golion with him before the army arrives, which Fahra concurs with.
The Golion pilots are overjoyed at being able to return to Earth again, and they tell Akito that they'll be rooting for the meaning he found in fighting from afar.



Bless tells Yurika to be careful, though he feels sure he'll see her again sometime...
He doubts that the military will really know what to do with her or her ship...



Some time later, back at the G-Island HQ, Bless finishes his report to Taiga - difficult to say he carried out the assignment to the letter, but Taiga understands that circumstances had fled from their control.
The Feds are in a total uproar over the Galra info the Nadesico brought back, and Corbett is trying to seize the opportunity to force all the world to militarize.
Raibul bristles at the thought of Golion being seized but Taiga's political acumen has placed them under the GGG's jurisdiction.



The secret: playing the "foreign dignitary" card regarding Fahra, who the Foreign Office entrusted to Taiga's care.
Fahra confesses that she doesn't understand all the Earth's domestic entanglements, but knows enough to see Taiga as a skilled operator on the side of right.
Before Taiga can even finish asking, Fahra puts the Golion entirely at Taiga's disposal.
She tells Raibul that before she was ever a princess, she was a human woman, and she plans to make good on her promise on the Nadesico to figure out what all this fighting means for her.
Raibul and Hys will not deny the Princess decision and the Golion pilots think of both Earth and Altea as their homeworld and are eager to defend it against any threat.



Golion is one helluva boost to Project W, as is the guy who solved the hijacking: Heero Yui and the three Mithril SRT operatives.
Unfortunately, there's still not enough strength to repulse all the threats the Earth faces.



Kazuma then speaks up, and offers his crew's services.
He just finished talking with the rest of the Valstork's family, and revisits what he said while fighting the Galra - if he fights, it's because he wants to, not because the army or anyone makes him.
In that light, it's pretty stupid to get hung up on precisely the name of the team he's on.
That makes the vote at least 5:1 in favor of finally taking the damn contract.



This now makes Valstork part of the special Project W, a plan to protect mankind totally separate from the military.
Freeman has a suggestion for a more concise team name: "Wärter", a German word for the "Warden" of a lighthouse.
A very apt metaphor, and Taiga officially authorizes it into the lexicon.



Bless then lets Kazuma in on a little secret: that Trailer maxim he used when initially refusing the mission has a footnote. It's really "Be not fettered by anything, INCLUDING THIS MAXIM, be free".
He and Taiga really had expected Kazuma to figure this out on his own, but he can't believe it took an entire month.
It would seem Kazuma has a long way to go before he can step out of Bless and Taiga's shadows.



Parenthetically, the Valstork family have racked up huge debts (356000G, to be precise) , being fed and housed etc. etc. at the GGG's expense, during that month.
Of course, now that the Valstork is contracted into Project W, they'll be able to work that debt off in around half a year...



Rose Abrovall then calls Taiga on the hotline, voice only.
It is indeed an emergency: the Security Council has just voted in favor of a massive operation to steal back the Orbital Ring.
This is ludicrous, given that the Federation has no current means of fighting the Radam - but Freeman suspects this means the Feds have finished a certain object.



Rose suspects that the Feds are getting carried away with Nergal on their side, and the operation starts tomorrow.
All this is unpardonable, but the importance of the Orbital Ring to mankind is undeniable.
Taiga will sortie the Wärter to space at once and do everything they can to aid the injured[/b].
Rose thanks him, cautioning that if this rampage in space cannot be halted, dreadful consequences will follow.
All this shows dramatically how the Federation has been monopolized by the insanity of a few.



As everyone rushes to sortie, Kazuma grouses that the first dispatch of this new job is to save the Feds from their own stupidity...


Before we end, a quick footnote: the Earth path gave nearly twice as much cash than the space path. As such, I’m gonna keep that route and the kill totals, levels and whatnot will reflect that choice. See you all next update!