Part 113: Mission 31 (Rand) - Shattered Past - Part 1

Mission 31 (Rand) - Shattered Past



The Chiram are carting said Vodarac monk aboard their carrier, with the captain apologizing for having to resort to slightly violent methods to get him to accept their “invitation”.
The monk asks what’s next after they take him to the Chiram capital and the captain says that their space-time research, far more advanced than the Feds, has led them to discover the existence of the Coralians. As such, their President wants to personally enquire about them.
The monk asks if they plan on destroying the Coralians after they’ve obtained said information from him and all the Chiram captain admits is that they’re still haven’t decided if that’ll be necessary or not. The talk’s interrupted when their radar pings our incoming troops and the captain, livid that the “Feds” snuffed them out, orders the intercept.





But, no, he quickly sees that it’s ZEUTH instead of the Federation that’s come for them. Hap figures the monk would be being held aboard the carrier and Holland asks everyone to cover him while he moves to capture the bridge.
Renton is damn serious and Garrod’s rooting for his buddy, especially after he himself decided to sortie. Kei tells him that, if he wants to get one up on Holland’s, he’s gotta get to the ship’s bridge before the guy.

Jiron wishes him good luck and says everyone’s rooting for him and, with a quick confirmation, Renton psyches himself: “I WILL pull this off…! I’ll show Holland that I’m not all talk!” he thinks.
The Chiram detect our sights being set on their ship and, adding two plus two, the captain figures we’ve been hired by the Federation to grab the monk. As they scramble to stop our advance, Mel’s super peppy and telling Rand to give this all he’s got.
Indeed, Rand wants to wrap this up in a hurry and go where his boss’ set up shop.



Mission Objective: Either Holland or Renton moves adjacent to the Chiram Carrier.
Mission Failure: Any allied ship, Holland, Rand OR the Chiram Carrier destroyed.
Skill Point: Destroy all enemies before fulfilling the victory condition within THREE turns.

Well, this is a bit of a bummer…as much as I’d love for Renton to stick it to Holland, there’s no way he can make that distance in time if you haven’t filled the Nirvash with booster parts (the Chiram carrier will also move away from our troops).
The Skill Point demands you to throw caution to the wind because it’s a large map, there are several enemy squads (plenty in Wide Formation) and the time limit’s very tight.
Rush with everyone, spam ALL and TRI attacks like it’s going out of style, be mindful of the Chiram’s range as you don’t want to miss the timer because they sniped at folks and send Holland ahead with a whole lot of Boost casts.



The fact that Rand’s alone complicates matters a bit because, unlike Holland and Renton, he’s got no way to hit squaddies.
You’ll want to keep him slightly back to avoid enemies attacking him instead of others that can hit everyone.



: The guy we’ve been after for the past four years is waiting!
: Sorry but I’m gonna wreck you quick-like and go have me a tearful reunion!
: Beautiful, Darling! I’m falling in love all over again!












Bleh...should’ve gone for a stronger attack.







To save on ammo, Burume takes the lead and TRIs Rand’s group (might wanna buy him Focused Attack…), followed by Garrod…who STILL fails to kill these puny Ishkicks.



Holland starts his trek towards the Chiram ship.



: (Eureka…hang in there for just a bit longer.)
: (I promise I’ll bring this Vodarac priest back for you…!)






Not bad (jerk).







What the hell have they been feeding these things? Not even Gain’s doing too hot…
At least you can always count on Kei to tear shit up.



Bello takes a level from the kill and learns Rouse.



Gotta keep Renton off the front lines as, without Eureka, he’s got no Focus and can be screwed by evasion decay.



: Wait for me, Eureka…! Once this is wrapped up, I’ll take you to a doctor!
: But to do that, I gotta prove that I have what it takes and make Holland shut up!






Good man.









Adette leads the charge to (finally) wreck Rand’s group and this gives Gainer Oversense L5; Marin moves ahead and picks a fresh target.

All other units move ahead but aren’t in range.



Enemy Phase!



Yes…that’s exactly what you should do.














Excellent and, also, he takes two other kills from a second group.







Gain’s also harassed but keeps bringing down his group and Renton gets a very nice crit kill.



Ergh…these MP Nikicks are rather dodgy for Burume to hit reliably but…














At the very least he did some nice damage to the squaddies.




Holland redeems himself a bit by getting a big crit on another Nikick group (no kills but it’s very close).

The carrier’s starting to move away.



Player Phase!



The Chiram are putting a good fight against us and Adette sees it as evidence on how much this monk must be important to them. Gauli agrees and figures this job turned out way harder than we expected.
No time to think about it, though, as Gidget detects a ping on the radar and it’s coming over FAST.




Thankfully, it’s our friend Asakim: he greets us and offers his assistance with this big fight we’ve got on our hands.
Mel’s surprised he’s going to help and, indeed, that’s why he’s here. Rand apologizes for making him save our bacon again, especially after he sent Ziene to do so the other day, but also wonders if him being around here means the Chiram were still chasing after him (like in mission 21).
Asakim shrugs, claiming it's a happy coincidence he bumped into the ZEUTH here. Benkei sniffs that the guy’s always so vague but, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Hayato tells him to let it slide.
Rand’s also very willing to take Asakim’s help in this mess, so that’s that.



it’s an instant Game Over if you lose Asakim, mind, so be careful when using him.










Aaah, it’s the thought that counts.









To give the Chiram a more interesting target, Kei jumps right into the fray while also tearing a hole through the last full HP Nikick posse.
Meanwhile, the Freeden and Iron Gear get fed a kill and Sara learns Commander L2.



Do your thing, Apollo.








He pulls a huge overkill while Rag and Dyke deal some decent damage to the squaddies.



Rag also profits a Prevail level from it.







Gainer and Gain move ahead to cover Asakim and each grab a kill.



Ryouma finally charges in, gunning for one of the last healthy groups around.








Tekkouki choses a poor moment to miss but Ryouma makes sure we get at least a kill.







Rand and Renton each choose a new target, the former getting a kill – Marin covers for the kid, though, and the lead Ishkick gets dropped.



Holland’s almost there.














And he takes all three mooks to go.







Jiron TRI attacks a nearby Nikick group (killing all but the leader) and Garrod softens a solo Ishkick.



Enemy Phase!







And the Chiram take the bait hook, line and sinker. Gainer downs two and Kei takes a whopping SEVEN kills.



Seeing this massacre unfold before his eyes, this Nikick goes after a more manageable target.












Asakim would’ve been a better choice.



All those kills quickly jump Gainer past 130 morale.




Finally, the last Ishkick group charges after Holland who swats them down.



Player Phase!




Only two targets left and the first one falls under a join Freeden/Glomar attack.



Go get ‘im, Asakim.










I just realized that he doesn’t poke the target’s top off…he kicks it!



Right on time, Aquarion gets the Element System going.



And there we go: a quick Boost cast and Holland’s in range of the ship.









Holland quickly get in touch with the Chiram captain and demands him hand over the monk. When the guy hesitates, he fires a warning shot and says the next one will go right through the bridge.
As the captain accepts, Renton thinks that what we’re doing is, essentially, mugging the Chiram – we’re just as bad as the other ZEUTH. The monk jumps inside Holland’s Terminus (seemingly recognizing him) and is asked to help Eureka.
The monk accepts but one of the carrier’s crew would rather see him dead than in the hands of the enemy.

Holland shoots and kills the guy right then, telling the pissed-off captain that they were the ones who ignored his warning.
Having lost enough time on this, Holland bolts back to the Salta base to have the monk heal Eureka ASAP. As he goes, Pierre and Sirius are rather baffled at his complete disregard to everyone outside of Eureka.

FYI: if Renton made it to the ship, he wouldn’t be sure of what to do and Holland would shoot him off the way to do his thing.



Jamil tells the Chiram that we’ve no intention in dragging out this battle any further and suggests they withdraw. Of course, the commander isn’t amused that we say that AFTER kidnapping his VIP and vows vengeance on us criminals.
As they leave, everyone has a bad taste in their mouths over what we’ve done – hard to justify kidnapping, despite the situation. Kei does wonder what was the Chiram’s business with the monk and while Ryouma can guess that the guy probably wasn’t with them by his own volition, he thinks Holland’s attitude is way too much.

Way Hayato sees it, Holland only seems to consider us as pawns with which to achieve his own goals and Elchi demands an explanation from Hap and the best he can do is shrug and say Holland’s the Gekkostate’s leader, so…yeah.
He just asks that we cut Holland some slack as he’s really nervous about all that’s happened to Eureka but, of course, Garrod protests that he’s not the only one here who cares about the girl – disregarding everyone else, punching Renton…THAT’s their leader?



Renton isn’t listening, having realized that Holland’s was kidnapping the monk precisely because he could save Eureka, not just as a job for the Feds. Seems like the guy still has a much better understanding of her than him.
Renton isn’t sure he could kill someone to save Eureka as Holland just did, either.
His inner monologue is interrupted when a Walker Machine enters the area, though…



: Hm? What’s a Dagger doing here?
: Think it might be gathering scrap from the battle since it just came over?
: *Ahem!* Hello there! This here’s the wandering repair shop – reliable service, with a smile!
: !
: The Beater Services!
: Daddy!
: Oi, oi! Is that the Gunleon I see?!
: Mel! Rand?!
: Boss! You’re alive, ya old hard-ass!!



*Rand and Asakim move over to Cielo*

: Hey, is that—
: Well, would you look at that, girl! It’s the Beater Services’ president!
: Yeah, the big-shot mechanic that helped my dad way back when…Mel’s father and Rand’s teacher!
: You did it, Mel! You finally found him!
: Oh, Daddy…! I knew you were alive!
: Mel, you…don’t seem a whole lot taller but at least you're looking good!
: Welcome back, Boss! I reckon you’ve been through a lot!
: Still the same, eh, Rand. You didn’t forget that smiling attitude I taught you, right?
: 'Course not!
: Good man!
: A double dose of stiflingness!!
: Heh… Congratulations, Mel. You’re back with your father at last.
: Thanks, Asakim!
: Come’ere, man! You helped us over and over so lemme introduce you to my boss: Cielo Beater!
: Lemme thank you as well for helping my daughter and this blockhe—
: …Wait. Someone’s coming.



: !
: You're mine, Asakim Dowin!
: Oi, girl! You’re STILL gunning for him?!
: Oh, no, you don't!



: UWARGH!!
: Daddy!!
: Why did you shield me…?!
: You helped my daughter and pupil…! This is the least I can do!
: Bail out, boss! Your mech ain’t gonna hold for long!
: Urk!



: DADDY!!
: Why…

*Setsuko tries running away.*

: Mel, go after the boss! I’ll chase the girl!
: Right!
: You ain't getting away from me!
: I…I didn’t—
: Shut your trap! You attack my friend, go and hurt my boss… I ain't letting you off the hook after that!
: Rand, we’ll help you out too!
: It took ages for Mel to find her dad again…
: Anyone who tries to mess with that will answer to us!
: Daddy!





: Daddy!
: …Don’t you worry, Mel. I’m Cielo Beater! I'm not about to die from something like that!
: Truth be told, even back then, everything would’ve been OK had Rand just managed to tough it out.
: “Back then”…?
: Yeah. That day, when the warp took me.
: ...Sorry. You suffered so much because of Rand...
: “Suffered”?! I…I don’t remember anything about that…
: You don’t remember?! You died!
: Wha—
: On that day…some bandits were attacking us and shot at the trailer you were at...
: And you died right then and there.
: But…but I’m alive right now...!
: Your life’s a fake. You’re not human, not anymore.
: !
: If you want any proof, look at how you haven’t grown at all in the past four years.
: You’re not a human. That’s the way it is!
: I’m…not human…

*Back at the battlefield.*

: I’m…I’m not…a human…
: Boss! What the hell are you doing?!
: Rand! You didn’t tell her about what happened?!
: You goddamn coward! My getting warped away and everything else that happened is on you!
: !
: You did all that! If I knew it was gonna be like this, I’d never have taken you in!
: You’re nothing more than a menace - The Crusher!!
: Boss…









: Yes…that’s the face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCgifzSzEI
Translation in closed captions.


: GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
: Not even you can withstand this much heartache, can you?
: Asakim…you—
: Now…let me hear you cry in despair.



: UWAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

*Warp noise.*



: That’s...we’ve a warp coming?!
: What’s going on, Rand?! Wasn’t Asakim your friend?!
: WAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!
: D-Darling…
: Hmhmhm…get a good look, Mel. Behold your beloved Rand succumbing to absolute pain.
: And so, the Sphere within you will react.



: !
: This is the power you obtained in exchange for your humanity.
: Boss...you’re...!
: …You know, even on Asakim’s orders, transforming into such a grimy old man is just...urgh.

*Magic SFX*

: Aah, much better.
: Ziene Espio!
: It’s that girl who helped us in Emaan!
: What’s going on?! Mel’s dad turned into a woman!
: You need only shift phases slightly and you can change how the world sees something.
: Granted, my Shurouga and I are on a wholly different class from you - we’re closer to the Taiji.
: I’ve no idea what you did but you put on that whole show just to mess with Rand and Mel?!
: Tch! Any way you slice it, that's damn dirty!
: They’ve been looking for their boss forever! And you—
: That’s why it was so effective.
: In order to inflict pain on such a tough man, to make him utter this most sublime scream, I had to destroy his heart and soul first.
: Urgh...GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
: It’ll happen again if this keeps going…! The only way to stop it is...!



: Guh!



: She…she knocked him out?
: I’ll pull back with him and the girl! You deal with Asakim!

*Setsuko grabs the Gunleon and moves over to Mel.

: …
: Forgive me…if only I’d gotten here sooner…



: Do I go after them, Asakim?
: No…the Scarred Lion has already awakened…
: Besides, with their balance destroyed, he no longer has the strength to endure the pain.
: That’s enough of your bull!
: Rand and Mel are our friends and you’re going to tell us why you tricked them!
: Call the Eliphas, Ziene.
: Hee, hee…letting me have some fun, are you?



: I leave the rest to you.



: So those crows are Asakim’s allies?!
: Those things jumped us before, too…!
: Looks like he’s been keeping tabs on us for a while.
: Well, you all tend to stand out. It’s unavoidable, especially with that man and his girl tagging along.
: Come, I’ll play with you. You’re not going to forgive what I did, right?
: That goes without saying!!
: What you did was way below the belt. Damn right, we’re angry!
: Kei Katsuragi…! You, of all people, have no right to criticize me!
: Huh...?!
: All units, concentrate your fire on Ziene! Make her tell us what they’re after!
: Hee, hee, hee… Can you actually pull that off?









Well, frig. It just keeps getting worse and worse these past few days.

Expect the rest of the mission by Friday but, meanwhile:

: Hmhmhm…May everyone have a very merry Christmas…


…