Part 57: Post-Mission 15 Intermission and Mission 16 - Prologue
Time for our post-mission activities. However, before we begin, I was struck by a realization right as I was getting ready to write this.I could’ve used the “substitute” option during the last mission to take someone out and replace them with either Sayaka or Quatre to at least get some Bless casts going. So let’s do that:
First, we place a unit inside a ship and select the “substitute” option.
Then, you select the person that’ll be getting subbed in. For our purposes, either Quatre or Sayaka work as they both can cast Bless.
A good thing about the way this system was implemented is that the new unit can move right away, so there’s no penalty to use the system.
Do note that there’s a limit to how many times you can do this per-mission – it’s the last upgradeable stat for Battleships and the maximum amount is 3 substitutes per ship.
Sadly, I realized this waaaay too late to be able to get more cash from Tekkaman Lance but at least Kouji could nab an extra 6.2k cash.
Now, with our extra cash in hand, let’s take a look at our top aces:
Due to MAP Voltekka abuse (and enemies that refused to attack anything else!), Blade has gained quite a solid lead while Kazuma and Bless remain tied at 2nd…I wonder if Blade’s gonna have monopoly as the Top Ace for the rest of the game.
BP Upgrades:
Kogane will spend all his 4 points on Melee. Normally, I would probably boost his Defense a bit but with all the defensive (Invincible, Alert, Iron Wall) and recovery (Guts, Trust, Vigor) spirit commands that they have, it just seems unnecessary.
Heero is also dodgy and accurate enough on his own (not counting the Zero system buff) that he’ll just spend his 3 points in Shooting for more damage.
Not Mao, though. She’ll get 2 points in Shooting (Grenade Launcher and Uruz Strike are shooting-based) and 1 in Evasion.
Volfogg gets 2 points in Melee and 1 in Skill (I really love activating Holographic Camouflage).
Finally, Bless continues building up his Shooting and Defense.
Unit Upgrades:
We’ve quite a decent amount of cash and it’ll mostly be used to upgrade weapons now, starting with Shin Getter.
Golion gets a point in Armor on top of the Weapons boost.
Sousuke also gets 1 point in weapons.
Akito gets a boost in Mobility, EN and Weapons.
Mazinkaiser takes a good bunch of the rest, upgrading Weapons and HP.
The remaining cash is spent on an EN boost for Ryouko.
Unit Parts:
We’ve got a Flight Module and it does right what it says on the tin – allows a ground-based unit to fly. I’ll be giving this to Mazinkaiser if only because he’s so slow and doesn’t have a lot of range (He won’t be using this forever, as you can probably guess).
I’ll take the Thruster Module out of Arbalest and put an A-Adaptor on him. He loses that S in space but gains an A for everything else which evens it out.
Finally, the Hovercraft goes to Duo.
What this does is allow a unit to walk over
Now, with all that done, let’s get the Mission 16 prologue going:
Our people have made their way to GGG America’s base and Liger is pondering over the fact that the secret is out about D-Boy's participation in the Cygnalite Project.
Upon retrospect, Bless thinks he should’ve thought something odd by the fact that Gai and Shirogane, all former astronauts, thought they remembered his face from somewhere.
D-Boy also has a spaceman-ly way about his walk, and to date has not wanted his past known, as far as Bless and the others figure.
Still, we need answers and D-Boy seems a bit hesitant; Aki tries to make this interrogation stop but D-Boy interrupts, saying he wishes to tell what happened to him, in homage of sorts to the people who helped save his sister.
He is indeed Aiba Takaya, former crewman aboard the Algos, number two ship in the Cygnalite Fleet.
He and his siblings were part of the mission to investigate black hole "X-1", and with the flagship Cygnalite managed to get close to it.
At that point, they encountered a vessel from an unknown, alien culture: the fabled "First Contact".
With no response from the ship, Takaya and the others approached and entered the ship, but waiting within were... The Radam, the devils who altered Takaya and his family's lives forever.
It's not clear if the ship was actually of Radam origin, but the entire boarding party were made prisoners of the Tek System, an apparatus that embeds a living being as the core of a Tekkaman.
This clever trap seems especially geared towards human psychology and it’s penchant for curiosity, and just hearing about it is enough to make Kouji want to punch something.
The last sight D-Boy saw was the Cygnalite, under Radam attack, being swallowed by the black hole.
Thus began his darkest nightmare: his family and friends being torn apart and converted into Tekkamen.
For instance, Takaya relates that Tekkaman Dagger is really Fritz von Braun, though the real Fritz died the moment the Radam took over his mind.
He describes how not all people have the right makeup to properly combine with the Tek System: those of his crewmates who were found wanting or who tried to resist were killed on the spot.
Those remaining had Radam knowledge and memories implanted in their brains, to make them faithful warriors (which explains why D-boy knew about the Eviluders and such).
Heero then asks how he managed to escape and D-boy tells that it was made possible by his father Kouzou, an astrophysicist eminent enough to serve as the Argos' captain (famous enough that even Liger is familiar with his work).
Kouzou emerged, or rather was rejected, by the Tek System before D-Boy, and used his last strength to wrench D-Boy free and stuff him into an escape pod, bound for Earth.
This meant that Miyuki and all the rest remained behind, at the mercy of the system; the red-colored Tekkaman Evil was none other than Takaya's twin brother, Shinya.
D-boy doesn’t want pity, though, as Shinya and the others are all hateful agents of the Radam.
He views it as his mission to slay his former friends and family with his own hands - leaving behind his own name in the process.
This is a tale of woe surpassing even Liger's expectations and D-Boy adds that his father was able to self-destruct the Argos just after it and the Radam ship had warped near to Jupiter, his final act to delay the Radam invasion of Earth even a second longer.
The Radam apparently made it to Earth anyway, and the rest is history.
D-Boy actually arrived after the Radam invasion had already begun, and started fighting them straight off.
Slaying his friends and former family is the only thing he can do for them, he thinks, but just then Miyuki shows up.
It seems she left the infirmary in a bid to talk to D-Boy before he left; D-Boy begs her forgiveness for everything and she manages to tell him not to shoulder the entire burden alone before collapsing to the floor unconscious.
It's a sad enough scene that Aki begins to cry on D-Boy's behalf.
Liger has more concrete help to offer: not only will he personally see to Miyuki's care, he'll use all the Radam data gathered at this Salt Lake base to figure out how she was able to escape Radam control in the first place.
Two weeks have passed and, at his request, everyone is still calling Takaya as D-Boy.
Miyuki is very slowly convalescing, thanks to Liger's scientific prowess: far greater than it looks like he should have, Kazuma thinks.
The Radam haven't attacked GGG America, whether out of ignorance or indifference of Miyuki's presence, and our people definitely appreciate the "oversight".
The Zondar are keeping quiet too, which is rather worrisome given their words from a month ago.
Though your people have kept busy preparing for the inevitable enemy assault, Kazuma is taking the day off - much like God once did on the seventh day; plus, he’s especially excited for an upcoming “event” he’s heard about.
His door opens but it’s not Kouji – it’s Noin, coming over to drag him off for training.
Kazuma tries to get off, saying that he had plans but she changes his schedule; since Mao is busy having a competition with Tessa, Noin has been left in charge of him.
Noin tells Kazuma that his plans now include aerial lightning strike practice; he tries to convince her to let him see this once-in-a-lifetime event but Noin dryly asks why he wants to see a battle whose outcome is already clear... or perhaps he's so indecent he is actually interested in seeing the punishment play that comes afterwards?
As Kazuma sighs and accepts his fate, he asks if Noin actually has anyone to take her on proper dates on her days off.
Grimacing, she tells him that's none of his business, and Kazuma realizes he's just stepped on a huge landmine - training is going to be hell.
Meanwhile, the Trailer girls are out sightseeing in Tokyo, the first time some have been back in quite a while.
The weather is perfect for Fall, but Sousuke is sweating it out under a mountain of goodies the ladies have been buying.
He grouses a bit that they should have asked Kurz, who would normally have lept at the chance to hobnob with the ladies.
Kurz in fact turned them down, preferring to watch the mock combat between Mao and Tessa to settle some pointless argument they're having.
They plan to use AS's, and whomever loses has agreed to run a lap around the base, naked.
Kaname finds it odd, figuring why would anyone want to see an “old colonel” naked; Mihiro figures she doesn’t really know Tessa if she says that and, when Kaname asks if Sousuke’s been hiding something.
Shihomi figures she’ll find out sometime and can't wait to see the look on her face when it happens.
Mihiro suspects that Sousuke actually wanted to watch it too, recalling how her brother was up all night in anticipation running around the base.
Sousuke is in fact not interested in the slightest, since it's obvious to him who will win.
This is bad news for Kouji and Boss, who already got slapped by Sayaka for getting their cameras ready.
Sousuke rather doubts that Mao would actually make Tessa go through with the punishment play, and would rather keep his promise to go shopping with Kaname on their day off.
This is a level of dependability that Shihomi wishes Kazuma would learn from, though Mihiro can do without Kazuma running around with a sidearm.
Just then the gang run into Mamoru and Hana, making Kaname's expression immediately falter.
She explains somewhat shamefacedly that every time this pattern occurs, some crazy always happens right after (She’s getting surprisingly genre-savvy).
Hana finally gets to meet Mihiro, whom she’s heard of from Mamoru, and seems genuinely jealous of her when Mamoru says they know each other due to their parents' work.
Mamoru tells that his whole class is here on a social studies field trip, and Kaname wonders if the unsociable Kaidou is around too.
Before he can answer, Sousuke cautions your group that something is out of place.
Air-raid sirens erupt, and Kaname growls that her fears about their vacation were right on the button.
It's the Radam, with Evil in command; they've come seeking a source of Zondar energy that's expanded massively over the last few days, and Evil figures this may be where the final battle between their two sides really begins.
The JSDF show up en masse, but Sousuke knows these troops will not be able to stand up against the Radam.
As they get bombarded, Akagi is smart enough to realize that real battles aren't as easy as TV makes them seem, and orders his men to pull out before things get any worse.
Unfortunately, the warning comes too late, and the entire squad gets wiped out.
Fortunately Kazuma and D-Boy are close at hand, well ahead of the rest of our forces.
Evil asks if D-Boy has finished saying his goodbyes to his sister, or whether her body has already hit its limits.
Kazuma tries to calm D-Boy down, saying that Evil is probably just talking smack to try and get him unfocused.
The Zondarians observe the Radam arrival, thinking they're too late to stop the plan in progress.
Polonaise thinks they're about to start a journey that has no end, and Primada is getting turned on by the delicious odor of exhaust and the sound of the engines.
As she gets ready for departure, Kazuma has Carret fill in for Mihiro as navigator.
But before battle starts, Carret detects some kind of energy coming from the train line encircling Tokyo...
It then starts to expand…
It seems Polonaise and Primada's plan is working perfectly.
Though there are some Radam inside the ring, they should pose no threat in Penchinon's view.
The barrier should be utterly unbreachable by anyone outside, and in case anyone does, Pizza is on standby.
The plan is to use Tokyo as the site of the Zondar Metal Plant, and with it to Mechanize the entire blue planet. Time for the weaklings at heart to receive Pasdar's powers...
The GGG are understandably panicked at the sudden expansion of this dome of light, which Mamoru's final transmission before the barrier formed reveals to be the work of the Zondar.
The GGG know well enough what the Zondar hope to accomplish, due to Penchinon’s warnings at Arizona, and explain to Raibul the theory behind the Zondar Metal Plant - a fountain of huge amounts of Zondar Metal, enough to spread like a virus throughout the world and mechanize the whole place.
The energy inside the dome is expanding steadily but Leo and the other scientists have no idea on how they’re going to actually breach the barrier from the outside.
There are ten million people within the barrier's confines (which covers even the air space and the underground), completely cut off from all directions - and as a result our people dare not try too hard to break the barrier lest they all perish too.
While the scientists continue their analysis and the military stands by, our only hope is to count on those inside to save the day.
Tessa in particular is counting on Sousuke to keep Kaname safe.
Inside the dome of light, strange purple plants have been sprouting up: of Zondar origin, not Radam.
Mamoru feels Zondar energy from all around, and D-Boy's been feeling some kind of response inside his body as well.
All contact with the outside world is severed but, as Mihiro tries to calm down Hana, the Radam that were trapped with them spring forth.
Kaname and Sousuke jump to protect the girls and D-Boy prepares to Tek-Set.
However, they’re told the Radam will not attack, as they’re told by Shinya himself, who is glad to see his brother again.
D-Boy is obviously angry to see him but Shihomi wonders why he’s come talk to us: Shinya then proceeds to propose a temporary truce to escape this mutually-annoying conundrum.
Kaname begins to count the barrier layers, getting up to four, as Sousuke marvels at the repetition of what happened during the hijacking.
She sees ultra-EM in the ground-level aurora, elevated oxygen concentration, transposition of thermal radiation in a kind of superdimensional pod, and finally, the arrival of that heat at a subterranean sun: "Grand Nova".
Still in a trance, she tells Sousuke to hurry and destroy the Zondar Metal Plant; the true potential of her Whispered powers revealed at last, just like Kalinin said.
Thanks for watching.
See you all next update when things start getting crazy!