The Let's Play Archive

Super Robot Wars Z

by Brunom1, Dr. Pepper, Caphi

Part 128: Mission 33 (Rand - Renton Route) - Lonely Runaway


Mission 33 (Renton Route) - Lonely Runaway



One of the two Breakers is happy to wreck the whole place but the other wonders if this isn’t a bit too much just to get some payback...nope, that’s just how this world is, so they might as well let loose and have fun!
With that in mind, Rand and the others figure they won’t complain if we kick their asses. Charles rather impressed at Renton’s posse and Jiron tells Garrod and the others to pull back while we deal with the Breakers.

Garrod’s about to grab Pala but notices that she’s already gone – either way, Ray and Charles thank us and run off.
The Breakers wonder if we’re the resident champions of justice or whatever but, nope, Kei and Gain say that the world probably sees us as exactly the opposite, much to Löwen’s dismay. Mel tells him to relax as he’ll get used to it soon enough (he thinks to Edel that he might’ve made a mistake coming with this pack).
Either way, Jiron calls everyone to take these mooks to task for attacking the town – no need to hold back after that.



Mission Objective: Shoot down everything
Mission Failure: Any allied unit shot down
Skill Point: Clear the mission within four turns

Eeeergh, quick warning: I had to give up on this Skill Point. Not because it’s difficult but because we’ll have a secret requirement coming ahead and I had to prioritize it (and I didn’t feel like redoing the whole mission ).
The secret’ll require you to hold back while killing as people will need to be fed kills and that becomes a problem when the AI refuses to cooperate and attack the right person; if you don’t care, then it’s not hard to blitz through all the weak-ass Breakers (some are using Trads!).
If you do care about the secret, kill only enough Breakers to trigger the events and then just dodge and defend to give the kills to those who’ll need it.



With that in mind, let’s start tearing through them.










Close but meleeing still isn’t Gain’s thing…so, Jiron pops by him and finishes the job.

Everyone else moves forward and that’s that.



Enemy Phase!









Gain and Kei each take a kill as they’re attacked by a handful of Breakers. Most are still getting closer.



Player Phase!





An unknown flying unit enters the area but it’s not a Breaker: it’s Pala and she’s here to help us.
Garrod soon enters the area, surprised to see her in that jet-like unit and she quickly notices that his Gundam seems to be UNE-made. Once he confirms, she offers to give him a power boost in order to get some payback from the Breakers.
What she does is combine her jet with the DX and, when Garrod asks, she explains these G-Falcon jets were created during the war 15 years ago as support units to the Gundams – since the DX was based on the GX, Rand sees how it was able to combine like that.

As for why she's flying such a thing, she says she’s an AEUG member - they can discuss the details later, though. One last detail is that the G-Falcon can act as an energy pack for the Satellite Cannon which will shorten its charge time.
That sounds great for Garrod and he sets out to teach these mooks a lesson.


I forgot to take a picture of the G-Falcon solo but, truth be told, this is pretty much the only form you’ll see:


Gundam DX + G-Falcon (Garrod Ran / Pala Sys)
Pilot Skills:
Spirit Commands:
Squad Leader Bonus: Squad Movement Range +1
Pala’s Voice Actress: Miki Nagasawa (other know works: Izumi in Nadesico, Maya Ibuki in Evangelion, Judy in Cowboy Bebop and several others)

And Garrod found himself a nice SP/Satellite Cannon battery. Pala is there to pretty much make the DX better in every way, shortening the Satellite Cannon charge to 3 turns, giving him access to Focus and Accel and a post-movement ALL attack.
Mind, you can’t deploy the DX auto-docked with the G-Falcon – you need to set her up as a squaddie and do it in-battle – so you should make sure to spend Garrod’s TRI shots as you can’t use those until you separate them.
As a unit, the G-Falcon is nothing to write home about but it does share upgrades with the DX, has a post-movement ALL (TRI is pre-movement) and that added movement from Pala’s leader bonus could be helpful in a pinch.



Alright, get crackin’.















Good, good.





Löwen weakens a Dagger nicely and Rand cleans up right after.



Shouldn’t have done this as it’s what’ll eventually screw me out of the Skill Point. Best to ignore the farthest Government mooks unless you’re using a high-movement unit that can get out of dodge quickly.






Regardless, Kei wrecks it quite easily.



Mel detects other things coming but Rand’s not worried that any random thugs’ll be able to stand up to us. These ain’t random thugs, though, as they’re bringing a flying mech.
Indeed, they’ve a Doran Walker Machine, a model Jiron and company haven’t seen since the fall of the Innocent. That’s because it’s Greta’s classic model and Jiron yells that the widow’s shown her face once again (much to her annoyance).
Kejinan and Enge are with her, begging Greta not to lose their troops before they even join up with the main group. They want to run away but she yells at them both to grow a pair, asking if they didn’t hired the Karas gang precisely to fight us? Then they oughta just wrap things up right now!



She picks Garrod as her first target, surprising the kid with her flying unit – it might be a Walker Machine but that don’t mean it needs to be land-bound.
Pala quite pissed at the old cow for blind-siding them and Greta’s all the more willing to show her glamour of a mature, passionate woman…




That is, until Enil shows up and blows her away from the DX. She’s here to lend a hand by way of repaying Garrod for what she’s done - the kid tells her not to sweat it as she’s already done a lot for us, though.
Enil doesn’t quite feel like she’s done enough to make things even but Rand tells her friends don’t need to worry about stuff like that – Enil’s a bit miffed that she can’t seem to be more than that to Garrod.

While Kei sings the kid’s praises for catching the eye of a babe like Enil, Greta is left fuming at yet another little girl messing with her.
Enil objects that, while she’s had her share of amorous problems, she’s not quite a “little girl” like Pala…that said, she’s not a hag way past her prime either ( ). After calming an annoyed Pala down, Garrod hopes no one has a problem with Enil tagging along and, indeed, everyone’s fine with it considering he’s vouching for her.
So, Garrod extends her a warm welcome to the team and, inwardly, Enil offers her thanks.

Greta’s had enough and orders a full attack, including the Siberian Rail’s “gremlin” and “eye-patch guy”. Enge’s already preparing himself for another beatdown but Kejinan’s sure things will turn around someday (even Gain’s feeling a bit sorrow for those two).
Greta’s about to make them kids regret looking down on her but two voices say she’ll be the one doing the regretting.


This music isn’t really in the game but it’s pretty much Ray and Charles’ special tune, so I figured it was needed.



: More of them?!
: Hold on! I think it’s that couple from before!
: You got that right, kid. Sorry we’re late!
: It took a whole lot of effort to put that party together. We’re here to pay them back in full for messing it up.
: Hey, those are some pretty cool looking KLFs!
: Thanks, bud. These are our pride and joy: the Spearheads!
: Rrgh! It’s one thing after another with these people! We’re going all-out, then!
: Heads up, people! The hag’s boiling mad!
: Alright, Kei…get in there and take care of the old lady!
: Eergh…I’ve no problem with older women but I avoid the crazies as a general rule. Gain, you’re up!
: Sorry but…my rifle’s not made to target ladies.
: Come on, hotshot! You can’t be picky!
: I’m not – I just have more refined tastes than that.
: You sons of…! Those big mouths of yours need a whoopin’!
: Um...don’t you think you taunted her a bit too much...?
: Don’t worry! That’s just how we do battle!
: Ah…?
: Alrighty, let’s get going! This whole area’s gonna be our dance floor!


Secret Alert!

Yeah, this is the problem part. If you wanna pull this off and get the skill point, you need to get your units FAR away from whatever Breakers are left in this initial group so they’ll go after Ray and Charles (who have incredibly low priority of the AI – if there’s anyone else in range, they’ll go for them).
Park them in the middle of the mooks, pull everyone else away and watch as they get wrecked one after the other.
Not complicated but, as I mentioned above, going in too deep to hunt the farthest mooks can mean your mechs won’t be able to outrun the Breakers and, thus, they’ll ignore our two friends.

Now, let’s take a look at our happy couple:


Spearheads (Ray and Charles Beams)
Pilot Skills – Charles:
Spirit Commands – Charles:
Pilot Skills – Ray
Spirit Commands – Ray

Ray and Charles’ Squad Leader Bonus: +20% attack power against flying enemies
Charles’ voice actor: Juurouta Kosugi (other known works: Henken on Zeta Gundam, Jotaro Kujo in a ‘90s Jojo OVA and many others)
Ray’s voice actress: Aya Hisakawa (other known works: Skuld in Ah, My Goddess, Sailor Mercury in Sailor Moon and many others)

These two are actually pretty dang good – they’re quite dodgy, have a real high chance of getting critical hits because of Lift Technique and pack a natural S rank in Air.
Their TRI attack also has surprisingly long range, despite not being post-movement (they’re flying solo, though).



And for Ray’s first trick, she’ll make this Trad disappear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czwjQCua1d0
Charles follows it up by doing the same to the nearby Caprico.

Jiron and Enil start heading towards Greta’s group and that’s that.



Enemy Phase!





Kei’s raw magnetism draws the attention of four breakers – this one Caprico could stand to lose a bit of health, though.



Finally the last one decided to go after Charles.












Not enough to kill a full-health Promeus though.





This last Galapagos trades blows with Rand.



As the reinforcements start drawing closer, Greta actually gets just in range of Jiron.



: Been a long time, Greta! I guess you didn’t find a nice man even after we let you go, huh?
: 'Course not. There ain’t a man alive that can fill the shoes of the late Karas Karas!
: Liar! I bet everyone just ran for the hills whenever they saw you coming!
: That does it, shrimp! Ya'll really are just a bunch of rascals!
: Well, you’re not our favorite person either! I’m ending this relationship of ours right here and now!








Hey, I didn’t think that’d hit!



Player Phase!

Just remembered we never looked at Greta, so let’s do that:


Doran (Greta Karas)
Pilot Skills:
Squad Leader Bonus: Squad’s attack power +40%
Greta’s Voice Actress: Kazue Komiya (other known works: Kyoko Otowa in Ace wo Nerae, Wheelie in Transformers: the Movie (the ‘80s one) and a few others)

Greta’s the second most dangerous Xabungle enemy, losing only to Timp; she’s all about busting high-power attacks and can get high morale quickly but the problem is that, despite her high Prevail, her Doran is just too fragile.
She’s a bit dodgy but not too much, so take her out quickly before she has a chance to get a clean hit on someone.









Ray and Charles each pick a side and take down a target – they’ve four kills total now.



As everyone starts heading towards Greta’s group, Enil gets close enough to aim at a Dogozzo.






Alright, alright.





Finally, Gain and Jiron each take shots against the two Galapagos, leaving them very damaged.



Enemy Phase!





While every Breaker on Ray’s side chooses to attack Kei, Löwen and Rand, Jiron is being the magnet on Charles’ area.
A total of three mooks go after him, granting one kill.



And here comes Enge, gunning for Gain.



: Come ON! Why can’t we catch a break?! How did we run into Black Southern Cross even here?!
: I guess fate just keeps drawing us together. Best to just accept it, man.
: I can’t have my pay reduced anymore! If that’s how it’s gonna be, then I’m pulling all the stops!










Still not a threat.



Meanwhile, Kejinan’s also chosen to attack Jiron.



: Even without the snow and railroads, the Siberian Rail is still going strong!
: I refuse to die until I’m sitting right in the President’s chair!!


Hey, you actually did stuff – that’s a step in the right direction!
Greta also trades blows with Jiron.







Enil takes down one of the weakened Galapagos and the triggers Gain’s OverSkill.



Player Phase!



As everyone else moves away, Ray gets in a position that would, theoretically, allow her to kill all Breakers around her.










Easy.



Charles will also take whatever’s close on the other front.



: One thing leads to another and we’ve another battle in our hands… Still, beating these guys should help boost my evaluation!
: My frustration over all that happened in Siberia will fuel my promotion!













Enge’s not happy that things are still turning out like this even after he finally got reassigned – just how crappy can his life possibly get?



Alright, let’s have Enil contribute with Greta.



: Here’s what you get for butting in!
: You’re also a woman who’s chosen to live by herself, hm…?
: I’m faithful to my husband, even in death! I’m a hardcore widow, you know!
: You’re a good woman. If anything, you've my respect…








Let’s take it slow – there are plenty of people with things to say.



Next up is Garrod and I might as well show his new ALL attack; following that, Löwen will finish the job.



: Hey, boy! Gimme another of those lovely screams of yours!
: You’re sick, granny! And you ain’t getting lucky again!
: Aah, the boast of a young man… irresistible! Just listening to it gives me goosebumps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r70wVom43c



: S-stay away! I’ll shoot!
: Aw, how cute! You’re afraid of pretty, little me?
: I’m not sure if this is because she’s a woman or because she’s so cutthroat…
: E-either way, I just can’t handle people like her!












You seem to be handling her well enough.

I was trying to rush things, so didn’t quite have an opportunity to have everyone attack her – here are the lines I skipped over:

: Do it, Darling! Smack that old lady!
: Hey…aren’t you that famous “The Crusher” fella?
: Well, what a surprise. I heard you were a good man but didn’t think you’d be traveling with your wife!
: Whoa, whoa! Don’t go jumping to conclusions!
: I was married once, so I’ll take it easy on you lovebirds.
: You’re…nicer than I thought, ma’am!
: Whose side are you on, Mel?!
: Haha…you two are pretty hot! I’m getting a bit fired up myself!
: She even stole my quirk!

: Treat an adult as a kid and you’re gonna have a bad time, granny!
: And only a brat would call a mature woman “granny”!
: Say what?! Any way you slice it, you’re a granny and that’s fact!

: Well, well…to think there’d be such a nice piece of man in a place like this! I’m a whole lot more motivated now!
: You honor me, madam. But, sadly, I’m taken…so I can’t allow you to beat me!
: Oooh, wild yet civilized! I like it! Not a common type!
: Ah, crap…! My jive backfired!

: I don’t care much for your cheekiness but you’re a nice man!
: Hey, I won’t say no to compliments! Thanks!
: Now, gimme your best scream! There won’t be a whole lot of point in beating you up if you don’t!
: I take it back! This broad’ll be trouble if I don’t take her seriously!

: Alright! How about we show this outlaw how the Beams do battle!
: You got it, Charles! She’ll regret wrecking our party!
: What, you’re married? Showing off to the widow, are you?!
: But my hubby’s always with me in spirit, so I won’t be beaten!




Her Doran can’t handle anymore but, as she runs off, Greta promises to pay us back for this the next time we meet.
She was stronger than Chil remembers and Jiron figures her strength must be grow along with her age.




Quickly, Rand smacks Kejinan around some…



And I try to see if Gain can wrap this up.



: I knew it - it’s you! The Black Southern Cross!
: Huh, the Siberian Rail’s goblin? Didn’t expect to see you in a place like this.
: Zip it! Thanks to your Exodus, I got a double-whammy of demotion and pay cut!
: But today’s curtains for you! I’ll be getting my revenge way ahead of blondie!










Close but no cigar…



Enemy Phase!





And all the Breakers on Ray’s side gun for her – there’s only one more kill needed to fulfill the secret…



And this little sumbitch would rather try a 2% hit on Kei than play ball. Had I given him more movement or not sent him so deep into enemy lines, this could’ve been avoided… x10

Fine. Secrets take priority and, honestly, you can afford to lose a handful of skill points and still get everything.




Jiron and Kei down all but one of the remaining mooks and Gain finishes Kejinan off.



He knows Timp, still the “special advisor”, is going to give him hell because of this...



Player Phase!



You little assholes…DIE!








There, both the remaining mooks get downed by Ray and Charles and we’re done.



The bad guys got what they deserved, but Ray’s dejected that their planned party is still wrecked; no problem, Charles tells Ray: as long as there's music and Lifting in the world, their journey won't be over.
Rand compliments them on their skills and asks if they’re Federation soldiers – nope, they’re freelancers. Gain is quite impressed with their moves and Charles says it’s due to a love of ad-libbing but, regardless, they owe us one for today.
Garrod tells them not to sweat it, and the two fly off, having found new brothers and sisters.
That kind of easygoing attitude is precisely what, in Rand’s opinion, Lifters are supposed to be like, Holland to the contrary. Speaking of, Renton seems to have run off again in all the chaos...



Nearby, Garrod has just given Pala the rundown on the mess the Argama has been doing on Zaft’s orders - as unbelievable as it sounds, we saw it all over the UN. Seems to us that, having been assimilated in Zaft, our other half will now do anything their superiors command.
Granted, orders or no, neither Kei nor anyone here can condone such actions.
Pala was afraid of this and, when Garrod asks what’s going on in space, she tells of her fight against the Space Revolutionary Army as part of a group called Satellicon. These are the same colony-based revolutionaries that battled the UNE fifteen years ago (Jamil’s former enemies, in other words).

It seems the only real lesson they learned is that they can't win a head-to-head war with the Earth. Instead, they've taken their act underground where it can grow more dangerous and terroristic.
Pala has no love for the antics of the New Earth Federation, but she fears that letting the revolutionaries run riot could be even worse - as events fifteen years ago proved. That's why she joined the AEUG, and she was supposed to be headed to the Argama as reinforcements when she got caught up in a high-altitude battle and lost sight of the ship.

Gain tells that, from what we’ve heard, they’re currently in western Galia – will she head there? No, if the Argama really has become Zaft's tool, she figures there's no further point in trying to reach it: her superiors were also worried that there were people within Zaft who, like the revolutionaries, are fomenting the war with Earth.
If she has no place to go, then Garrod's more than happy to give her a place to stay – plus, her G-Falcon was also quite handy.



With that done, Enil wants to know what Garrod wants to do regarding Renton and Jiron wonders if he’s likely to come home. Honestly, Garrod thinks it’s not and, even if they forced him back, Renton would just run off again.
Mel wonders if it’s because he hates us but, rather, Garrod thinks he left the Gekko to search for something and knows from personal experience that he'll never be at peace back home until he finds it.

Gain recommends leaving him alone in that case, since it sounds like he's actually got a decent reason for running away - if it was just fear of Holland, he'd have dragged Renton home even if it meant a rope around his neck.
But, from what Garrod’s proposed, it seems to Rand that the kid’s giving this a whole lot of thought, so getting in his way would be a real rotten thing to do (Pala is taken aback by how stifling Earth’s men are). Jiron likes it, hopeful that Renton can find his something and come back a big enough man to stick it to Holland.

Indeed, Kei makes Mel promise to take a picture if the day comes for the great Holland to apologize to a kid. With that done, Rand figures we could do like Renton and enjoy our brief moment of freedom a bit longer before returning.
Pala's surprised that the group is this seemingly unfocused, but Löwen tells her that that's just how it goes (and he’s long since given up on trying to change it).

Enil says Pala could always take off if she doesn’t like our group but, no, she’s determined to go on as Garrod’s support and Löwen’s quickly getting fidgety as their argument starts getting too close to him.
What Kei and Gain find interesting is that Garrod now has at least three women vying for his attention: Enil, Pala, and Tifa. Garrod's attention, though, is elsewhere with Renton: he really hopes that he can find what he's looking for and not just end up a defeated dog.



Back to Renton, Charles quickly finds him at the local arcade – seems like runaway kids always run to these places. Either way, Ray wants to thank him for his earlier help and, as such, he invites Renton over to their place.
The kid’s a bit hesitant but Charles knows that he probably can’t afford anything decent to eat after running away – wouldn’t it be much better to join them and taste some of Ray’s heavenly food? Charles himself would also like him to join them and, after thinking a bit, Renton agrees.



As expected, Timp isn’t happy to hear of all the troops Enge and Kejinant lost on the way to the rendezvous. They beg his forgiveness, blaming both Greta and the fact that the combined team of Black Southern Cross, The Crusher and melonhead” is still so very strong.
Timp tells them to save their excuses to Kashimir, whose ultra-strict evaluations they've already been victims of - at this rate, the two men fear their pay will be cut so low they won't even have money for food.
They get aid from an unlikely source: Greta, who actually accepts responsibility for the mess and promises to make up for the reduced firepower herself.

Timp likes her attitude, which is why he scouted her in the first place. She asks if he wants to end Jiron himself, but Timp claims he doesn't get hangups like that (unlike her or Hola). Kids told him to crush those responsible for the Yapan's Ceiling's Exodus, and he plans to do it by striking the main ZEUTH force.
Thus, he’ll leave her and Asuham () in charge of dealing with Jiron and his buddies.

Asuham proclaims that Greta and her posse will fight under his command and she’s rather surprised that a youngster like him’ll be leading.
Asuham isn’t in the mood for her snide remarks, though, saying that he’s dedicated all that he is towards a single goal – killing the Black Southern Cross! If anything, Greta can see how dead-serious he is and, truth be told, she’s always liked passionate men.



Just then Hola brings in some of Asuham's additional help: Beck, amused to see the old Saint Reagan commander now working for the Siberian Rail.
That said, Asuham is not one to be picky about his methods or his situation – so long as he reaches his goal, everything is acceptable. That sounds excellent to Beck, who’s glad to work together with the guy again.
Asuham’s will be counting on the guy and Beck says he’s picked up a shiny new mech and is eager to give us a warm welcome with it.

Still, Timp tells Asuham to watch it as he'd be a real laughingstock if he blew it with a lineup this strong.
Asuham cares not for Timp’s worries, vowing to stake everything on the next battle. With that done, Timp wishes the FORMER elite soldier good luck and prepares to return to something called Agate Crystal…

: (Just you wait, Gain… I’ve given up my position in Saint Reagan just to chase you down...)
: (And soon…I’ll make you painfully aware of both the weight of Karin’s grief and just how implacable I can be!!)