Part 64: Mission 18 - The Tragic One Night Stand - Part 2
Alright, let’s open this update by having a quick look at this stages mini-boss – Takuma and his Behemoth:
The Behemoth is pretty bulky for a mini-boss, sporting 40k HP and 1900 armor, and it’s boosted by the Lambda Barrier but it’s nothing we can’t deal with after some debuffs.
As expected from a mech that looks like that, he can’t dodge for shit.
His attacks are rather short-range: aside from his Trowa-bustin’ sword (1-3 range), he has a Vulcan with 1-6 range.
Takuma comes loaded with your standard-issue mini-boss pilot skills: Sword Cut, Prevail L3, Support Attack and Defense L1. That Prevail is the only thing that can pose a modicum of annoyance as he shouldn’t be near anything to support.
Do note that, like Gauron, plot-power states that “Lambda Driver = Spirit Spam” and Takuma will cast Focus, Zeal and Iron Wall at his turn.
Seeing as how it’d be a huge pain to go after Takuma with his Iron Wall on (though it could be done), let’s clear up the mooks first. Ryouko weakens the nearby Birdman.
This leaves it ready for Akito to kill.
Attaboy.
Izumi tenderizes the nearby Serpent. We wouldn’t want this fucker sniping at us later, would we?
Upon retrospect, it probably would’ve been better to kill it with Izumi as she needs the levels. Nevertheless, Hikaru goes for the kill.
Like so.
Another Serpent, this time weakened by Kazuma.
The MAN moves in.
No problem.
Golion surprises me with a lucky crit. Not bad at all.
I notice that Kouji is sitting confortably at 125 morale. Mike will give him the boost he needs.
Perfect.
Bust a move, Kouji.
Hell, yeah.
Enemy Phase!
Well, somebody didn’t get the memo.
Serpents still insist on sniping – to no avail.
This here Serpent has a better idea and aims at the Nadesico.
Thankfully, I had set Bless nearby to counter just that.
Another Serpent also attacks for some decent-ish damage but he takes much more in return.
Psh, another one. Time for a PROTEC-
…nevermind.
Takuma wiffs both his attacks going after Kazuma (I do admit to being slightly worried at those 30% hits but the RNG gods were still on my side).
Finally, Wufei makes his move against Boy-Wonder himself.
Away with you, bitch.
Player Phase!
Sousuke gets aboard his mech and Tessa tells him to use his own Lambda Driver to stop the Behemoth.
Sousuke acknowledges the order and Al enables the activation but the Driver doesn’t do anything.
Tessa tells him to focus and to spread his consciousness through every part of the Arbalest – to think of it as more than a mere weapon.
Sousuke wants to try again but Takuma yells that it’s useless as he’s the only living human with the capacity to fully use the Lambda Driver.
Without results, Bless says that we can’t count on the Arbalest’s power which means we need to stop the Behemoth by ourselves; meanwhile, Kaname wonders what’s wrong with Sousuke and Tessa says that his heart is filled with doubt.
Oi…Kaname needs to smack Sousuke again.
While he gets his shit together, we’ll deal with Wufei. Mike opens up with some Mobility-wrecking riffs.
Being reminded that Hayato’s Shin Getter Vision also lowers accuracy has raised his value a lot.
Bless you, Hayato.
They all profit a level and Benkei’s Prevail goes to L4.
Kurz snipes away a weakened Serpent while Mao kills another.
Wufei’s gundam is still made of paper-maché so let’s have Ryouko take away nearly all his health with an assist from Kazuma.
Hmmm, almost there.
Seeing as how I want to feed this kill to Izumi, I better compensate for his Prevail.
Shihomi busts out her new Bless and Yurika casts Cheer.
You go, girl!
Wufei is worth 3 levels, a Servo Motor, a Repair Kit, and a BP+1.
The problem with Heero and Sousuke’s late deployment is that we didn’t get to have them speak with Wufei and Duo never got a chance; here’s what goes down:
-Heero Vs. Wufei-
: That's enough, Wufei. This is not the future you are aiming for.
: This is reality, Heero! I have to fight for all those soldiers!: Then I will have no doubts. You will see what the future holds.-Duo/Quatre Vs. Wufei-
: Come on, Wufei! I know you're better than this!: Silence, Duo! You can't possibly know how they're suffering!
: We can! But we've been saved!: And I know we can help them the same way!-Sousuke Vs. Wufei-
: Mithril soldier! You must know their pain!
: Negative. Even otherwise, I have no mercy for the group that kidnapped Chidori and the Captain.: You prioritize your feelings over your duty? And you call yourself a soldier?: Negative. I am Uruz 7 of Wärter - the Trash Monitor.
Wufei yells to Heero that the mess with Takuma is what will happen to all warriors who have lost their place to live.
Thus, he'll fight on to justify them all.
Blah, blah, blah. After all that
Chouryuujin starts our assault onto the upper groups.
Volfogg can finish it off.
No RNG surprises here.
Golion weakens.
Akito kills.
Done and done.
Enemy Phase!
Golion and the Serpent trade long-range blows.
That there Mistral goes for Akito and gets a mouthful of led in return.
You just don’t attack robot-ninjas.
It’s never a good idea to leave a unit under 50% HP when near a Lambda Driver’d boss. Chouryuujin needs to dodge this or he’ll be a prime target for Takuma (and it’ll probably kill him).
Oh-ho. See what I meant? Even at near-full HP he was targeted twice.
Player Phase!
Sousuke is still unsuccessful in activating the Lambda Driver and wonders why he can’t get the damn thing running.
Al says the system is active but is unresponsive – as that happens, Takuma takes the chance to take down the Arbalest…
Before he can destroy it, though, he gets blasted from a direction he didn’t expect – by a Gundam wearing an acrobat’s mask.
Megumi recognizes it as one of the units from the Revolutionary War and Quatre quickly realizes that Trowa’s alive; he only had to leave for a while in order to grab his unit from where Sally left it stashed.
Takuma asks if he really thinks he can fight him but, no, Trowa knows that he can’t win while the Lambda Driver is running; however, he still believes that victory is possible – thus, he’ll fight.
Trowa informs Takuma that unlike him, he never fights battles where the end is lost in the darkness.
This pisses Takuma off, but serves to buy Sousuke time.
: Sagara…Face your fears.: Heero…: Once you’re past them, you’ll find your answer. You may struggle to find the simplest of answers but there is no future for those that run away.: But by hesitating to help either the Colonel or Chidori, I placed them both in danger…: So, the important thing is to simply protect them all. Now, what can you do?: That’s…
: What are you doing, Sousuke?! If you don’t give it your all, it’ll be the end of everyone!
: Sagara! Aim for the Behemoth’s cooling system! That’s its weak spot!: I can do it…!
: Damn idiot! If you’re coming over, then I’ll just kill you!: Focus my mind…Let’s do this!
The attack strikes at the cooling system, lowering the output of the Lambda Driver crippled.
In panic, Takuma cries out to his sister for help.
As she deploys, Seina orders him get fighting again and, when Takuma hesitates, asks what good is him if he can’t pilot the Behemoth?.
Tessa tells them both to stop as there’s no chance of victory if they keep going but Seina refuses, telling Takuma that, if they escape, there’ll be no further use for him.
The anguish bolsters Takuma's concentration and makes the Lambda Driver go berserk, but Kaname knows that he can’t last long in this state.
Takuma screams out that he'll destroy everything for his sister’s sake, and Trowa looks sadly at this warrior who's lost the last glimmer of light.
In which case, he’s just another enemy to Heero.
Now that Trowa has deployed I can tell ya'll that, if you don't kick Wufei's whiny ass to the curb too quickly, there is some dialogue available:
: Trowa, you...
: We fight for something. Wufei, we know how you feel... but that way lies only death.: Shut up! I may die, but I'll have done something with my life! Now, here’s a quick look at Seina:
Her ZY-98 Shadow is the next upgrade to the enemy Arm Slaves but it’s nearly as weak as everything else. It’s got an Anti-Beam Coat S which will reduce Beam-type damage by 10% but that won’t help since her HP pool is just so low.
She has the same Skills as Takuma but Prevail won’t help her low defenses.
Fahra casts Trust on Chouryuujin to take him out of the red.
Re-energized, he finishes what Volfogg started.
After casting Snipe, Kurz can tag Seina with a potshot. Sadly, she’s one of those clever AIs and will defend/dodge when she can’t counter-attack.
Nevertheless, free damage.
The Mr. Blessfield Ardygun is on top of things and spots a convenient group of mooks.
Boom.
Akito finishes the job.
Finally, the last Serpent. Hikaru right away takes it below half HP.
Izumi…does not get the lucky crit I hoped for.
Which means the newcomer Trowa gets to show his stuff.
All of Trowa’s attacks are ammo based so you can go to town (sadly, his better attack is not post-movement).
Even with the Anti-Beam Coat, Beam Shot Launcher is still good damage on Seina.
This leaves the way clear for Ryouko to take the kill.
Seina is worth a level, an Anti-Beam Coating S and a Super Repair Kit. Ryouko also learns Multicombo L1.
Once again, Seina had lines with some people but she was waaaay to far to do anything about it.
Here’s what we had:
-Heero Vs. Seina-
: Why are you using him?
: Who, Takuma? No one has the right to tell me about how I treat him.: The only future I see for you two in Zero is doom. Stop this at once.: I knew that was coming from the start. But I can't stop... we can't stop fighting now! -Trowa Vs. Seina-
: You've got me, alright. At least tell me your name before we end this?: I don't have one. If you need something to call me, call me "Trowa".: I'll remember you, Trowa. Someday, I'll pay you back... -Sousuke Vs. Seina-
: Heh. Did I make you mad?: Affirmative.: You're an excellent soldier. But I predict...: You're going to die for them, sooner or later.: As this is exactly my mission, I see no problem. But not yet. 
Seina yells out that it can’t end yet as her fight still isn’t over.
Still, her mech explodes soon after.
Takuma flies into a rage at the sight of her death (casting Valor and Strike).
Ooooh, boy. We really don’t want Takuma to tag someone with a Valor’d attack.
Thankfully, it wears off after one attack, hit or miss. Hayato, with Alert, will play decoy.
: That thing's size isn't enough to take on Shin Getter! Here we go!: You're annoying me so much with your combining and splitting up! Just die!
Wow, that flash only appears in a split second and I still managed to get it on screen. Do note that Takuma’s Iron Wall is still in effect (though he will not cast it anymore after Sousuke’s hit).
That last Mistral gets squished beneath Gaogaigar’s boot.
Takuma will still cast Focus and Zeal so everyone near him has some sort of protection going to avoid being two-shotted.
Enemy Phase!
Great! He went after Kouji who has invincible cast.
: Let's do this, big guy! I know there's no way I can miss!: Shut up! You'll never get through my Lambda Driver!
You cannot parry Rocket Punches! That’s against the rules!
His next attack is still on Kouji who hits him back for way more than he receives.
Player Phase!
Since he has Focus going, I’m gonna take this time to toss a ballistic missile at the Behemoth’s Accuracy. First off is Volfogg’s Confuse, which will reduce the accuracy of all enemies in half.
Sadly, Volfogg is too far away to use Melting Siren as an Assist; as such, he will do so while getting the assist from Sousuke.
Good, good.
Further nuking his Accuracy, Hayato will attack with Shin Getter Vision.
Also, to take away his Mobility (and, consequently, his accuracy), here’s Mike with an assist from Bless.
Mwahahahaha. If I wanted to, I could also take away his attack’s strength with Golion but it’s unneeded as he needs to hit something to do damage.
Now that his accuracy is done, let’s throw everything at him!
: What's with those wings? Are you messing with me?: I understand. I was once like you.: That's precisely why I will defeat you and free you from your bonds...
: If we can't save him... then at least we can...: You want to save me? Help me? You're just like those grown-ups! Always looking down on me!: The only one who can help me is my sister!
: Your tiny little robot doesn't stand a chance against my Behemoth!
: We've beaten bigger enemies before! This isn't going to come down to size!
: Golion's raw power is more than a match for that thing!: I can't stand to look at anything bigger than the Behemoth!: I'll smash it all! All the bigger, taller and stronger things!
: Hey, sister's boy! Once you're out of that cockpit, I'll show you a real scary sister!: Take that back! There's no sister better than mine! You don't even know her!
: Kazuma, why don't you show him how wrong he is?
: Yeah, there's no way his is the best sister in the world!: Uh oh... well, here I go!
Here we go.
Before Sousuke takes him out, as always, someone is exchanged with a designated Bless’er. Yurika gets Cheer going.
Now, with all in place, let’s see the real version of Sousuke’s 57mm Shotgun “Boxer”.
: Come on! I'll turn your robot into a pile of scrap!: Licking one's lips with your prey in sight…A pathetic amateur mistake.: What did you say?: Come, let us fight.
Takuma is worth 3 levels, a Sniper Scope, a Mars Donburi, and a Gunfight +1. Sousuke also learns Multicombo L1.
Also, Blade has lines for Takuma but he didn’t make it into this fight:
: Stop buzzing around in my face!
: He's lost himself to the rage of battle...: Wake up! You have no future unless you shake off your nightmare!
Takuma slowly starts calling out to his sister, asking where she is.
Of course, she’s no longer here but Blade sees that his mind is basically gone; he cries out that he’s lost and begs her forgiveness.
Tessa answers, saying that it doesn’t matter that he’s lost and Takuma still asks for forgiveness, seemingly thinking that she’s Seina.
Takuma doesn’t know what’ll happen now but Tessa assures him that it’ll be OK – she’s here with him and she won’t go anywhere.
Right then, the Lambda Driver turns off and the Behemoth collapses under its own weight, triggering an explosion.
Trowa tells your people not to think of this boy as a sacrifice to this battle: he was in the cockpit entirely of his own volition.
This is the inevitable end waiting all those who see nothing beyond the battle itself.
After the fight, Seina, still alive, asks Kalinin if he considers her a fool.
Kalinin knows that Seina could have killed both girls if she'd wanted to, and marvels over the fact that she actually intended to shoot neither.
She tells him he overestimates her, but admits to wanting to see his subordinates' agonized faces.
He tells her not to talk more, lest her wounds reopen and she dies before help arrives.
Upon hearing of Takuma's death, she deeply regrets exploiting his muddled memories for her own ends.
Kalinin points out that his dependence on her did give him his only outlet for experiencing joy.
This kind of know-it-all talk makes Seina want to puke but, as Kalinin apologizes, she still asks for his name; when she hears it, she says it sounds funny.
He tells her to rest, now that her fight is over.
Wufei, still lurking in the bushes, says it is not so...
Tessa can identify a bit with Takuma's clinging to an older sibling.
She has an older brother out there she knows not where, someone who she claims was far more skilled than she.
To the extent that she always seemed to play second fiddle to him, he provided her a kind of support.
Similar in some ways to Takuma's case, Tessa admits that this isn't precisely the most healthy kind of relationship to have - and it explains why Tessa seemed so concerned over Takuma's well-being.
After a pause, Tessa asks if Kaname knows why Takuma made his Lambda Driver go berserk.
She actually kind of does, adding that for some reason she finds science a lot easier than she used to.
Inwardly, Tessa knows this to be a sure sign that Kaname’s Whispered abilities are close to awakening, but Kaname is more concerned about Sousuke, who she figured wasn't keeping his mind on piloting his mech.
Tessa says that he's almost got it figured out, and tacks on a declaration to Kaname: this latest incident has made Tessa firmly convinced that she loves Sousuke.
With a smile both radiant and daunting, she tells Kaname that she'll simply leave it at "good luck to the both of us" for now.
After that, she’s interrupted with a call for Mao – an emergency is afoot.
Apparently this whole mess was a diversion: Arm Slaves have attacked Bay Tower Base, and kidnapped Relena.
Worse yet, Liger's plane has vanished over the Pacific.
Gai and Heero are already racing towards G-Island, and Tessa commands the Danaan to be ready to sail in under two minutes.
Kaname is feeling a bit clued out, and Tessa tells her that it seems the roots of whatever is going on run even deeper than you know.
: Gaogaigar has arrived…: Chief! Where’s Vice-Minister Dorian?!: She’s been kidnapped, unfortunately… we think the criminals are from the same organization behind the plane hijacking.
: They came with a bunch of Arm Slaves loaded with that Lambda Driver system…: And they completely blocked out our communications until it was over…: No way…! How can anything be able to jam GGG’s comm system?!
: I don’t know the details but the enemy seems to have a special system that’s disabled our radar.: Thanks to that, we can only guess where they’re headed.: (Relena…): First of all, we should regroup. Let’s land over there.
: Wait, Gai!! Something’s coming!
: What are those?!
: Nothing’s showing on the radar! Satellite search hasn’t uncovered anything, either!
: Particle energy levels are off the scale!!
: We have confirmation of a powerful magnetic field!: They’re going to attack!: Shit! They’re targeting the Bay Tower Base!!: STOOOOOOOOP!!
: The...Bay Tower Base...!: They destroyed it in a single shot…!: Mikoto! Dad! Chief! Everyone!!: How...how could they?!: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
: Stop it, Gai! We don’t know anything about these enemies!: I won’t forgive you! I’ll never forgive any of you! I swear on my body and my soul, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!!: GUAAAAAAAAAAH!
: Gai!!
: They’re retreated... Their target was the Bay Tower Base and Gai…: Perhaps they’re the terrible enemy that Miyuki told me about…the Master Program…: Damn it… Vice-Minister Dorian is taken, the Bay Tower Base is destroyed and Gai is defeated…: For it all to happen in this one evening…: Damn it…DAAMN IIIIIIIIIIIIT! This is the worst night ever!!
Gauron (Oh, god…HE LIVES!) and a mystery white-haired guy got quite an eyeful of all this.
It seems the white-haired man was aware of these aliens, though he did not know they were going to destroy Wärter’s base.
Their own mission is fulfilled in any case, and their visit to Japan was worth it for the interesting stuff they've picked up.
Gauron smirks that the Boy Scouts worked admirably as a diversion as well, including the outmodded but still impressive Behemoth.
The white-haired guy, a "Mister Silver", tells Gauron that his Codarl is almost ready for use.
As for Relena, he plans to stick to the original arrangement and sell her to someone in Space.
Gauron doubts that Relena will be so easy to control, and Mr. Silver says that the presence of another princess in space makes this game that much more interesting yet.
Gauron snorts at this, but is willing to play along if it means he gets to see his "girlfriend" and his "darling" again.
As for Mr. Silver, he wants his good-for-nothing sister to do a bit more penance first...