Part 103: Mission 29 (Rand) - Outsiders - Part 1

Our people soon make a break for it with our ships, with Ziene having knocked out even the dock guards keeping them grounded. Still, she needn’t any thanks for it as she enjoyed doing the whole thing.
The Freeden’s Sara wonders if she might not have gone a bit too far as several guards looked pretty hurt but Ziene coyly says her Eliphas doesn't know how to hold back in battle. Holland doesn’t care either way, seeing how those guys were going to sell us and Jiron remembers that, just like animals, were entitled to stand our ground when someone’s hunting us.
Reika still can’t believe that Shaia set us up like that but Sirius reminds that the woman IS an Emaanian: they’d prioritize personal gain over values like honor and morality. Hap cuts the conversation short, detecting pursuers inbound.
It’s a bunch of Emaanians, seemingly intent on recapturing us and Jamil orders everyone to deploy and fight back.





The Emaanian soldiers are a bit hesitant to go up against the famous ZEUTH by their lonesome but they figure they need to keep us pinned down – reinforcements will arrive soon enough.
This whole situation leaves a bad taste in Matthew and Roybea’s mouth, almost like we’re the bad guys here, but Gain says we never subscribed to that “Champions of Justice!” business in the first place.
Rag agrees and, seeing how we’ve been outlaws from the get-go, figures we don’t really need to hold back here and Apollo’s eager to teach the Emaanians to fear wounded animals.

Marin promises to make them regret trying to use him as a bargaining chip and even Ryouma’s pissed off like the rest of us.
Pierre has a laugh at how Ryou’s been “infected” by our team and Tex muses at how frightening it is when a decent guy like Ryouma snaps.
Ziene seems intrigued and offers to lend us a hand in combat and Adette figures she’s perfect for the job, seeing how she appears to be enjoying this. Rand calls the Emaanians to face the wild side of ZEUTH and Mel’s a bit worried at how it looks like he’s reverting to his old self.



Mission Objective: All enemies shot down.
Mission Failure: Any allied battleship OR Ziene shot down.
Skill Point: Shoot down all enemies by the END of turn 3.

A harder skill point the last ones we had but it’s not that bad: to get through this quickly, you’ll need to rush a lot, busting your ALL and TRI attacks oftenly.
The Emaanian mechs are pretty weak, only being able to survive by staying in Wide Formation – it’s not the most cost-effective way but spamming TRI/ALL attacks is your best chance for this.


Now, let’s take a look at our rescuer:


Eliphas (Ziene Espio)
Pilot Skills:

• Focused Attack
  
• Guard
  
• Morale+ (Damage)
  
• Prevail L4
  
• Resolve
  
• Very Lucky

Spirit Commands:

• Alert (10)
  
• Attune (25)
  
• Rouse (激励) (30) – gives +5 morale to the entire squad

Features:

• Jamming Function (Entire squad gains +10% to accuracy and evasion rates)
  
• 10% EN Regen
  
• Pilot-Affecting Status Immunity

Ziene’s Squad Leader Bonus: Accuracy and evasion rate +10%
Ziene’s Voice Actress: Rie Saitou (other known works: Eri Anzai in SRW OGs, Mayer/Re-I in Ergo Proxy and a few others).

Ziene is pretty good, having nice stats across the board while also being very dodgy and accurate; her spirit commands indicate a more support-oriented focus but having both strong ALL and TRI attacks indicates that she’s more than capable of hunting down enemy squads.
Her attack power isn’t all that but she’s more than good enough for what we’re up against.



Everyone pops Accel/Boost and dashes forward.



Gainer’s squad is one of the few that get in range but, considering I want to conserve his EN for now, Adette will be leading the charge.
FYI: the Emaanians, like the Chiram, make for some rather dodgy mooks so make sure you use a healthy dose of Focus/Strike because misses aren’t something you can afford on such a tight timer.








Good way to open things.




Not to be outdone, Eureka also wrecks one leader while dealing big damage to the rest of the squaddies.



Enemy Phase!




Adette starts getting swarmed and, even with the Overmen’s natural dodginess, the stacking evasion penalty makes her take two hits (her attacks do a number of the enemies, though).



Following that, Garrod also has to deal with some mooks.



: I heard the Emaanians were big traders but I didn’t think they’d even try to sell us!
: You better brace yourselves ‘cause my Gundam and I ain’t for sale!






4 HP?!



Is this a bad time to say that I didn’t think they’d go for Baldios, so I didn’t cast Strike?



: You lowlives! You'd best be ready for what comes next if you’re set on capturing us!
: Get ‘em, Marin! I’ll even help you out today!
: Yeah! Let’s give them a taste of Baldios’ power!
: (Like we said… these two are cut from the same cloth.)










Huh, didn’t actually expect that to hit.




Finally, Eureka gets jumped by the last squad but she easily swats them aside.



Player Phase!






First things first, Sara casts Trust on Adette and the Iron Gear takes a potshot at Garrod’s group.



Considering she’s alone, I might as well have Ziene deal with the two that remain.



: Hee, hee, hee… Thank you for introducing me to such interesting people, Asakim.
: So let me forget about you just for a bit and simply enjoy myself!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDSAnIt2NVg
Closed captions in the annotations.







Following that, Talho and Sara quickly dispatch another pair of Emaanians.



Making use of his post-movement TRI, Jiron heads to the front to deal with a fresh squad.



: I don’t wanna hear any complaints about getting beat up after trying to sell us!
: I won’t let anyone mess with our lives! Here I gooooooooo!!







Good man.






Jamil takes the lead to attack in Wide formation (since he can still use an ALL attack) and learns Sense for his trouble.



Holland tags in and charges ahead.



: That was a real cheap shot! And you don’t even realize Eureka’s true importance, do you?!
: Piss off, ya shortsighted, worthless traders!












Alright.
Marin and Hilda easily clean up the two survivors.



Witz figures, by the way things are going, we’ll be able to make our escape pretty soon but Renton has to wonder what’ll happen to Kei.
Hilda says it’s impossible for us to head back to Emaan right now and rescue him. Holland doesn’t see any choice but to leave him behind and Rand wonders if this will really be where they part ways…



Back in Emaan, Shaia’s just finished telling Kei and everyone about Maneesha’s plans for him should he be uncooperative and Mimsy isn’t happy that the Thoov family won’t even treat him as a human.
Shaia says Maneesha’s doing it all for Emaan but Mimsy doesn’t accept it as the whole point of bringing Kei here was to explain the situation and convince him to help out – or is there a reason for Maneesha to take such extreme measures?
Shaia seems hesitant to reveal the accelerated decay of the dimensional walls and Sley doesn’t help, telling Mimsy that Maneesha’s decision is right.

He reminds Mimsy that they brought Kei over here to save Emaan but she’s unrelenting.
Mimsy yells that, even if everyone else thinks like Sley, she has her own ideas and decides to tell Kei about the Chiram - he doesn’t understand what they got to do with him, though.
She tells him to listen and remembers Kei talking about his home country, way back in this original world, and there lies the connection: the Chiram are a nation formed by the descendants of the people from said country. She’s very sorry that they kept this from him, fearing that he would’ve run off to the Chiram had he known.

: …
: You don’t have to apologize, Mimsy. I’m not a Chiram.
: Ah…?
: That said, I’m not an Emaanian either. The one place I belong in this world is with the Factory that picked me up.
: Kei...
: Yeah, it was something of a surprise to find that you had a hidden agenda for helping me out...
: But the time spent in that Factory meant everything to me. So that’s where my home is.
: Kei, you...
: The Factory is...our home.
: Have you made up your mind, Shaia?
: Huh?
: I’ve been around long enough to know what you’re thinking. That’s why you’ve gathered everyone here, no?
: …
: Um, Chief…
: Are you actually thinking…
: Yes, I am. Listen, everyone…
: I’ll be leaving here with Kei.
: Then, that means…!
: You’re abandoning Emaan?
: That’s right. So, I’ll let you all decide for yourselves what to do.
: But, please, only come along if you agree 100% with this crazy decision of mine.
: Shaia…
: Kei, up until now, I’ve kept so many important things from you and even took away your freedom…and for that I apologize.
: But your words helped me reach a decision. Will you travel with me again?
: It’d be my pleasure. You’re the boss of this family!
: I’m going too! I’m Master Kei’s servant, after all!
: And I’m the Glomar’s bodyguard. Where the ship goes, I go.
: I also feel the same way as Kei. The Factory is where I belong.
: Thank you, everyone.
: Still, you should all think this carefully. As native Emaanians, you’d be abandoning your country.
: Abandoning Emaan…
: That’s…


Back outside…

: Sara! There’s an Emaanian ship inbound!
: Reinforcements?!
: It’s—?!


Still really like this song!





: The Glomar?! Are Shaia and the others also coming after us?!
: No, no! We’re being chased ourselves!
: What’s that supposed to mean?
: It means this!



: Kei!
: Shaia broke him out of there, then?!
: You sure about that? Didn’t the Emaanians want to capture Kei for something?
: But we couldn’t accept it. So we’ve decided to leave Emaan behind.
: I can’t believe I’m doing something like this for Kei…
: If you’re going to complain so much, how about going back to Emaan?
: But—
: Sorry about that, man. But I'll be counting on you to take care of Mimsy.
: Kei…
: You two make a good couple. There isn’t really any room for someone like me to step in.
: So, I leave her in your hands.
: Kei, what are you talking about?!
: (This is for the best… After all, we’re both from different worlds…)
: (I won’t let her go through any more than she already has for me…)
: (That’s Kei Katsuragi… the man who twisted the fate of everything…!)
: Leave that complicated talk for later, Kei – we’re getting run down right now!
: Works for me.
: Kei, Maai, Riea…I’m counting on you.
: Roger that, Chief!
: We’ll all fight to protect our home!





We’re interrupted when Maneesha shows up, asking what the hell Shaia’s doing, running off with the Singularity.
Maneesha asks if Shaia’s alright with Emaan being destroyed and, while she isn’t, Shaia also doesn’t think the Emaanian’s way of doing things is right. That’s why she and her friends have decided to leave and find a way that’s good for everyone.
Maneesha spits that Shaia’s always been nothing more than an idealist. Shaia promises that they won’t hand Kei over to the Chiram but, of course, Maneesha doesn’t trust her with that and orders her troops to stop the Glomar’s escape.
Her attitude only makes Kei more inclined to resist and Gain’s happy to see how much of a perfect fit he is for our group. Leeg quickly tells Kei that he’s done a small tune-up on the Orguss and enhanced its capabilities – Kei’s eager to let loose with it.

You don’t get any more info than that but Leeg’s done quite the tune-up, indeed: HP +200, Mobility +5, Accuracy +5, Armor +50, Weapon’s Power +200 (+300 for his Volley attack).

All that juicy attack power…



Quickly, here’s the Emaan Battleship: the pilot has two levels of both kinds of Supports but, other than that, it’s a slightly bulkier Glomar.



Maneesha brought out three new squads, so we’ll have Kei dash over to meet them.



: I really don’t care for you strong-arming people.
: An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth! Just like Kei Katsuragi and girls go hand-in-hand, I'll answer your abuse with some of my own!






Whole lot of damage across the board.



There’s also this one solo mook, so we might as well give Apollo some easy morale.



: Someone hits you, you hit 'em back – that’s the way it is, no matter the world!
: Come’ere, Emaanians! Imma make you REALLY regret picking on us!








Apollo also learns Prevail L7 from that, too.



Gainer can also dash forward and lend Kei a hand with the reinforcements.



: I can’t believe they use such dirty tricks to stock up on stuff!
: I’m never buying Emaanian goods again, even in Markets!!






So long as we take out at least one of these squaddies, we’ll be fine.



You’re up Gain.



: Oi… I’m no stranger to having a bounty on my head but I never had someone try to sell me as merchandise.
: Impressive, Emaanians. If anything, I gotta give props to your professionalism.






Bah, the other guy barely survived.




It’s easy pickings for Shaia, though.



These two should be no problem for Ryouma and Tekkouki.



: Just stop and think if this is really the time to be fighting other people! If you can’t get that, then you’re in for some pain!
: (Heh… looks like Ryou’s picked up on this group’s stride. )






Yup, yup.



Enemy Phase!





Talho and Gainer each score a kill against attackers (activating OverSkill) while Kei takes three, while also being hit once by a spiteful RNG…

The Emaanian ship charges ahead, which is good for us.



Player Phase!



Last turn, so let’s clean this up. Also, here’s Ziene’s other, non-TRI attack.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG1FJkfru-I






Gainer and Gain easily make short of their respective targets.



As for Garrod…








He doesn’t even get to attack because Bello scores a lucky hit (while Jamil misses… )



Only the ship left, so let’s throw our supers at it.



: WELL…These guys ain’t leaving me a choice but to go all “The Crusher” for today!
: Darling…that’s all you’ve been doing nowadays.
: Psych yourself up, Mel! We may not be all about following them laws but we still can’t go losing to these evil folk!
: So we’re high-class outcasts, then?














As strong as the Glomar, indeed.




I try to have Marin cut it down but, due to the size differences screwing with Hilda and Roybea, he falls just short; so, in the interest of keeping their levels up to speed, I feed this kill to Shaia.



Maneesha retreats but isn’t planning on giving up, determined to capture the Singularity and protecting Emaan.
Inwardly, Shaia says she feels the same way but she isn’t willing to accept taking away someone freedom to do so – with this, she bids farewell to both her sister and her nation.









It almost seems like we can relax once the Emaanians are dealt with but Papty quickly detects some incoming units: Zaft, led by an annoyed Yzak. The Emaanians said they'd hand their ZEUTH detainees over and, now that he’s here, the first thing he sees is this mess...
Cotsett tags the Zaft troops and Elchi figures they might’ve come over to help us out.. Garrod thanks them for the assist but says we’re all good…sadly, no, Yzak’s here to arrest us.
He quickly introduces himself as leader of the Joule Squad and proclaims that we’re under arrest due to our criminal activities. Mel then understands that Zaft, not the Federation as we expected, was who the Emaanians were going to sell us to and Rand isn’t amused.

Jamil is confused, considering our past work with Zaft, and, in light of that, Yzak says we won’t be treated violently IF we surrender immediately.
Holland quickly sees what’s going on: Zaft isn’t keen on letting this half of ZEUTH act on our own and, thus, they’ve tagged us as enemies. Holland’s all too familiar with army-types dividing everyone between friend and foe, with no middle ground.
Jamil says we’re not Zaft’s enemies and asks for Yzak to let us through. He won’t, as he has his orders and demands that we decide whether to surrender or to fight.

Jamil is thinking but Holland has had enough: if they insist on getting in the way, we have to fight. Elchi’s worried that doing this will cause us to be targeted by both Zaft and the Feds but, as Jiron notes, both groups are already doing so.
Gain figures we don’t have any other choice than just going for broke but, right then, Sara sees something else coming over.




It’s a bunch of Chiram and Atena quickly figures Zaft’s also here to capture the Singularity. Olson, leading the attack, considers that they could also be here to just eliminate it.
Atena is aghast by this, knowing that destroying the Singularity would mean screwing up the entire dimensional repair but, inwardly, Olson thinks that, if THAT device is completed, they won’t need the Singularities.

Furthermore, considering how slowly the Chiram’s dimensional control research has been progressing, Olson wouldn’t be surprised if Zaft and the Feds didn’t also think of their own ways to repair space-time.
Robert asks for orders and he tells them to repel Zaft and capture the Singularity. Yzak’s ready to face them head-on and gives his men the orders to attack both enemy groups.



Looks like we’ve got a three-way battle in our hands and Holland thinks that’s good as we can make use of the confusion. Jamil tells everyone to target the enemy leaders since, with them gone, the mooks should pull back.
That said, he tells us, since we don’t know all the details of what’s going on, it’d be best if we avoided fighting Zaft any more than necessary. Jiron understands but knows we might not have a choice with them gunning for us.
Kei tags the Chiram’s transformable Device as their leader and Olson, inwardly, is frustrated that their long-awaited reunion happened like this. However, he came here precisely to bring Kei back and save their motherland.

You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?

Last part of this mission will be up in the weekend, where we'll see if we can't deal with Zaft with some tact.

See you all then!