Part 44: Mission 15 - Towards an Unseen Tomorrow - Part 1

Unified Route Chapter 15 Part 1


Last time on Super Robot Wars Z, we learned that trigger happy people should not manage battles. Last mission was still a bunch of temp deploys, so I don't see much point in covering the Top Aces this round.


The Virgola gets an Apogee Motor, boosting it's movement by 1 and it's mobility by 5.


And of course, it's a big occasion, Setsuko has enough PP to get her first new skill.


I teach her Focused Attack. This lets her Ray Straight Turret hit much harder, and since that's her strongest attack it's going to come in handy. All upgrading done, it's time to head off to the next stage!


Location: Point of Commerce – Market Meeting Grounds


Kei is experiencing for the first time the size of the Market.
Mimsy tells him this place is situated on an island between Galia and North America, acting as a hub of commerce for both goods and information that doesn’t circulate around the UN; Kei figures she’s very well informed but, of course, as a child of Emaan, she’s travels from Market to Market and she reminds him that both Emaan and Chiram were the original occupants of this world, so she’s very used to it.
Kei remembers how both the Emaan and Chiram were the first inhabitants of this world before it turned into the multi-dimensional world, making the New Federation, Moon Race and Plants the newcomers here; Mimsy confirms, saying that it’s been over 20 years since the nations of Emaan and Chiram were established.
It seems people from the others worlds started coming over periodically, not all at once - like Kei, who's only been here for half of the six months since the Break the World.
Inwardly, Kei remembers hearing of how many people are still missing since the incident and all of it is because of the Space-Time Oscillation Bomb he activated; of course, it’s not like he was ever told that such a weapon had been developed or what it would do.


Mimsy asks if there’s something but Kei simply blurts that he was thinking if his country or his friends could’ve been jumped to this world as well.
Mimsy wonders if Kei would go back to them if they did turn up, but Kei assures her that he's pretty fond of his new life here - especially since she's part of it; she thinks he’s being coy but he swears it’s the truth but she still wonders if he’s hiding something.
He isn't planning to go anywhere for the time being, though, and even changed his wardrobe to match the other members of Shaia's "Factory" – Mimsy thinks they suit him but Kei says a good man looks good no matter his clothing; Mimsy likes how used he’s getting to this new world but Kei says it’s all thanks to the Glomar crew and he doesn’t even know what he’d be doing if they hadn’t found him.
The only problem would be her boyfriend, who’s always burning with jealousy but Mimsy quickly says he’s not her boyfriend; Kei wonders if she’s the only one that thinks that way as, even today, Sley gave him the evil eye as he left with her.


She changes the subject, though, asking if Kei got everything they needed.
Almost but he still needs to find an Anti-Gravity Unit that Leeg asked him to get; he did notice something while browsing, though: it seems some of the merchants are on edge due to rumors of the "Blackman", a black-clad figure driving predatorily hard bargains at one Market after another.
Kei won't let that stop him from completing his new mech, though: a fusion of his Gerwalk-type with the Emaan Drifand; Mimsy’s heard that he and Leeg have been working at it over this month and wonders if he’s chosen the name for this new unit.
Kei's heard plenty of suggestions of what to call it (including Valhalla), but he's settled on the name of the God of Battle from Jabby's world.


Just then, a little girl comes over and asks him to buy her too.
She claims to be a nurse who can also cook and clean, among other capabilities; Kei quickly starts freaking out at the thought of little girls being sold here.
Mimsy, however, calms him down and says the girl’s a robot – one created by the country of Mu; they were a nation made entirely of robots but have vanished after the Break the World.
Either way, Kei asks her name and she eagerly says Mome – then, he turns to Mimsy and asks to buy the girl; of course, they came here to buy parts but he can’t just leave her here.
Still, Mimsy says the girl’s a robot and he doesn’t need to feel bad for her but Kei’s already made up his mind and says he’s not going back to the ship without her; Mimsy doesn’t appreciate him acting so childish but he asks if the Glomar crew only helped him because he was unique.
This gives Mimsy pause and he insists either buying Mome or saying their goodbyes here; Mimsy sighs, seeing there’s no point in talking and agrees to it.
She leaves to grab the money and tells him to wait here.

: Is this OK with you, Mome?
: Thank you so much, my Lord!
: Ah, stop with that “lord” business – it’s embarrassing.
: But you’re my lord, my lord.
: Then, how about this: you can call me by my name.
: Understood, Master Kei!
: So, it’s “master” now, eh…Well, I guess I’ll have to live with it.



Either way, Mome points out that there seems to be some sort of disturbance happening nearby: Henry, is leading a posse of Chiram Soldiers and they’re chasing after a Singularity but it’s not Kei – it’s Rand/Setsuko.
Setsuko says he’s wrong as she only came here to look for someone and doesn’t know what he means by Singularity; Rand, however, says they got the wrong man as he’s not “The Singularity”, he’s known as…he doesn’t get to finish as Henry figures he’s trying to fool them.
They’ve a sensor that’s picked up a Singularity sign and it’s pointing right at Rand/Setsuko; Setsuko’s heard of the Chiram army and asks where they got this idea that they can capture people with no reason.
Henry doesn’t need a reason, as gathering Singularities is one of their strategic objectives.


Kei soon steps up and tells them to stop right there and introduces himself.
Setsuko recognizes his name from the battle at the Orbital Elevator and he quickly remembers her voice – he never forgets a girl’s voice; Rand, however, recognizes the name (from seeing the events on Setsuko’s side after Touma’s magic, I reckon) but can’t really place him – he’s sure he heard the name somewhere, though.
Either way, the Chiram Soldier with the sensor quickly gets an even stronger Singularity reading from Kei and Henry’s very surprised that there’s two of them; Mimsy comes back at this time and asks what’s going on and Kei says he got a bit too curious…she can only shake her head at him showing his face to the Chiram.
Either way, Henry now wants to take both of them and Kei quickly bolts with Mimsy and Mome(and Setsuko) but he leaves a confused Rand behind who asks where he’s going; Kei says he came over because he heard this mess but now he’s shown his face, so he needs to get moving.
Of course, Rand is not amused at him pissing off the Chiram and then making a run for it.


Chapter 15: Towards an Unseen Tomorrow


Everyone returns to the Glomar, with Leeg asking if Kei bought the anti-gravity unit and who’s the little robot girl.
He’ll explain later but, for now, he needs Leeg to install the unit quick-like and Mimsy says the Chiram’s Singularity Search Party is coming over - of course, Sley says that’s why he was against taking Kei to the market; Mome quickly gets in his face, saying she won’t forgive him if he insults Kei!
This isn’t the place to have this discussion, though, as the Chirams have arrived.


Henry spots the Glomar and figures the Singularity is inside, so he sends his men to capture it.
They detect the other Singularity signal, Setsuko, approaching and she gets in touch with the Emaan ship to introduce herself; as for Rand, Shaia hasn’t heard about him but Mimsy has heard of his machine and the pilot called “The Crusher” – of course, Rand says it’s all lies and slander.
Regardless, Setsuko suggests they work together to defeat the Chiram and Mimsy remembers seeing that the Chiram were also after her, so she agrees; Shaia wonders if that’s alright but Mimsy says they don’t have a choice considering the current situation and tells her to launch Maai and Riea ASAP.
Shaia does so and both girls are ready to go and protect the Glomar but, Kei tells them to leave that to him.



Kei deploys in his new mech, Orguss, saying he couldn’t sit around doing nothing now that it’s finished!
The twins are very impressed and Kei calls them over to cover him; he gets in touch with Setsuko and introduces himself properly, adding that it’s great to see her again, prompting Mimsy and Mome to yell at him to get that smirk off his face.
Shaia calms them down, as the battle is starting and Mome volunteers to help at the bridge; Henry’s orders are for his men to disable Setsuko and Kei’s mechs so they can capture them both.


Oh boy. Here we go, this stage is a big one. The Battle Mastery condition is to beat the stage in nine turns. There's going to be a lot of reinforcement in this chapter. Well, let's get to it, starting with a look at our new mech.


Super Dimension Century Orguss
Kei Katsuragi - Orguss
Voiced by Sho Hayami(Japanese), Tom Fahn(English)

Skills:
* Very Lucky - Pilot gains 20% more money when defeating enemies, does not stack with the Luck Spirit Command.
* Attack Again - If the Pilot's skill stat is 20 points or higher then the enemy, the pilot will perform a second attack. This second attack is considered a Support Attack and is effected by the Cooperative Attack skill.
* Counter (Level 2) - On the enemy phase, will sometimes attack before the enemy. Activation rate is determined by the skill stat.

Spirit Commands:
* Focus(15) - Increases hit and evasion rates by 30%
* Sense (15) - Casts both "Strike" and "Alert" on the character.

Squad Leader Bonus
* Attacks do 20% more damage to men, 20% less damage to women.

Here we are, the main unit that makes Kei so good. It's fairly powerful, and Kei's Squad Leader Bonus is just as absurd as ever It has a good selection of attacks, and even a strong ALL and Tri attack.. It's main weakness is that Attack Again will just make him eat through Ammo like nobodies business, and at the moment it's best attack can't be used with it. Now, I guess I should mention the exploit that involved the Bronco II now.

You see, the game has mechs inherit upgrades occasionally. Typically when a character switches to a new mech, the Zambot 3, for instance, took all the upgrades I gave to the Zambo Ace. Obviously upgrading the Bronco II will transfer over to the Orguss. The exploit comes from this; different mechs have different upgrade costs. Stronger units cost more to upgrade then cheaper ones. The Bronco II costs a fair bit less to upgrade then the Orguss, especially in the weapons department. If you had the money and inclination, you could dump a whole lot of cash into the Bronco II to get really cheap upgrades for a very strong unit. Now, I didn't do this because I'm cheap and I rarely upgrade weapons anyways, but the option's there!

Turn 1


Right, now it's time to move down and face the Chiram.


Shaia and Setsuko move down here, they'll get stuff on the enemy phase.


Kei actually has SP to spare on casting Focus for these early guys.


Plus he has the movement and rage to actually hit some of them right away.

: Well, then… Pleased to meet you, Orguss! You’re my partner from now on!








Kei is as good at wrecking things as ever. One advantage of Attack Again is that, you can use attacks that aren't post movement on the second round.


On the enemy phase, Shaia gets hit and misses, but it was a 53% chance so meh.


One smartly bypasses Kei, who they can't even tough, and aims for Setsuko, who they have slightly better chances with. Slightly.

: (The Chiram soldiers said Kei and I were singularities…)
: (What are singularities…? And why are the Chiram looking for those?)


Still misses and nearly gets knocked out.


Henry actually has a Squad with him. So this is a prime opportunity for a Tri-Attack, plus you can see the glitch which makes Riea sound like she either smoked a million packs of cigarettes or is possessed by the devil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDbjtvs8vjo

Turn 2


Shaia moves down here to finish off one of the weakened ones.






Setsuko finishes off the other one, and that leaves Kei to handle Henry.[/i]








Henry realizes that he can’t handle this and retreats to regroup with a Captain Robert.
Mome’s very happy for Kei but he says it was nothing – causing Sley to grumble that he’s getting cocky; there’s no time to relax, though, as Papty detects another wave of units entering the area.
Mimsy asks where they’re coming from and Papty says it’s from a lot of different directions.


The first ones to enter are the Gekkostate crew, on the run after being jumped by those crow mechs; they spot the Emaanians but Matthew figures they’re not the enemy here.
Gidget detects that there IS an enemy coming over, though: a Federation Army squad; it’s Neo’s Phantom Pain and they were sent after the “infamous” Gekkostate.
Sting sees the ship and the LFOs and isn’t impressed, thinking the Titans can’t amount to much if they lost to a bunch of simpletons like these; still, Auel points out that, because the Gekkostate were able to escape from the Bellforest ambush, they were called over to intercept.
Neo agrees, telling everyone not to underestimate them lest they repeat the same failure as the Titans; however, Neo also notices that they weren’t the only ones chasing the Gekkostate and Stella sees “them” coming.


That'd be the AEUG and Zaft, with Quattro having expected they'd run into the Feds if they followed the Gekkostate around; Lunamaria quickly notices the stolen Mobile Suits from Armory One, too.
Seeing them working with the New Federation, Shinn realizes the thieves were, indeed, members of the Earth Alliance in their world; regardless, Quattro sees that they’re targeting both them and the Gekkostate, so he gives the orders to intercept.
Talia agrees with this, as their mission is to whittle down the Federal Army’s resources whenever possible; meanwhile, Mimsy sees the battle brewing and Shaia asks if those weren’t the same federal squad that helped them before.
Mimsy says they’re not allied to each other today and recommends everyone return to the Glomar so they can escape – Kei agrees, preferring to avoid having to get on the Feds’ bad side; Sting sees them leaving but, just now, Neo’s received an order to capture the Glomar and their ally.
Auel figures they can’t well let them escape, then, and Neo can appreciate the irony of fate, having them fight together with the Emaanians one day and trying to capture them on the other; Shaia quickly notices that they don’t seem as friendly today and Mimsy realizes the feds are also trying to get Singularities.
Kei figures they might as well join up with the Zaft troops to deal with this, while figuring that joining old enemies to fight old allies seems to be part of the charm of the multi-dimensional world.


Setsuko quickly gets in touch with the Argama and Bright recognizes her.
Renton also remembers how she helped the Gekkostate before and Holland remembers too, though he’s more worried about figuring out how they’re going to get out of this; for Rand, he loudly calls Holland and says it’s THE HEAT, which he answers by telling Rand to quit yelling like an idiot as he can hear him fine.
Either way, Setsuko gets in touch with all ships in the area, saying the Federation Army has made targets of all of them – they need to join forces if they’re going to push them back; Bright and Talia can’t think of anything better, so they all go with her plan.
Holland also has to agree that there’s no other option, while Renton gets in touch with Setsuko and is very happy to see her again; she’s glad to see that he managed to get into the Gekkostate and Renton blushingly says every day has been “awesome” (making Eureka wonder why he’s making such a weird face).
On Rand’s side, Renton is pumped to fight just as hard as Rand and, while Eureka appreciates the enthusiasm, she asks that he refrain from throwing up inside her cockpit again; wouldn’t she know, he’s made sure to bring a barf bag today!


Bright gives the orders to work with the Gekkostate, Emaanians and the Virgola to take out the feds.
Holland, if anything, is eager to kick their asses quickly so they can get out of here; Sting notices that we’ve banded together but Neo isn't fazed by his rag-tag foe, though he does note that the New Earth Federation was created in much the same fashion.


Right, we got some new enemies to handle.


Bright moves up first, I want those Command Auras set up at all times.


Next, Kamille, I go Center Formation for taking out the tougher squad leaders as soon as possible.

: The New Federation Army isn’t made of just our world’s Federation Army; it also includes the armies from Shinn’s word and several others.
: Can we really win if we just fight these localized battles over and over…?!




That's one down.

Next, Talia.




I think this Titan grunt is also Nobuyuki Hiyama.


Shinn's turn!

: The “Break the World” incident wrecked the planet and fighting started everywhere…
: I’ll fight, too, then…! I’ll take on anyone who tries to spread war throughout this world!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaNpU76rcfI


Holland's the one best able to handle the Windams, they're areal enemies so his Squad Leader Bonus will deal with them.


: Not just those Feds with Adroc’s data but now these Zaft folk also have their eyes on Eureka…?!
: At this rate we’re gonna get sucked into another mess just like in Bellforest!





Easy enough, everybody's moved so it's off to the next half of the turn.



The lesser Titans just just of beat their heads against our forces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH3HbOJk4o8
Except for this guy, who managed to get a 20% hit in on Holland.


And then Stella moves forward. Oh boy. She and the rest of the Extended kids have been buffed up. A lot. As in, she can oneshot Shinn. Naturally, there are two secrets on this stage.

SECRET ALERT: Have Shinn get into a battle with Stella. Also, if possible, defeat Stella, Sting, and Auel.

The second half of the secret is pretty difficult, and I don't get it. However, the secret it's tied to is possible to get even without it. Especially since I'm getting every single Battle Mastery. So you know what? I'm just going to have Shinn dodge because seriously, it's not worth the risk.


: I’ll recover the stolen Second Series with my own hands!



Dodged that bullet.


Oh come on.


Lift Technique is an amazing skill.


And the next part is coming up Friday!