Part 61: Mission 17 (Pacific Route) - The Blue Exile - Part 2

Pacific Route Chapter 17 Part 2

OK now we have a handful of turns to defeat this group of enemies, luckily I came prepared. We're on turn four, so we have two and a half turns remaining, let's make the most of them.



Holland cast's Boost, he's going to get straight into anti-air action. The Big Octo's and other "Elite Grunts" are my biggest concern. The weaker units can be handled by counter attacks, but the tougher ones can outlast the time limit if I don't go for them first.


: Bah! We found some excellent waves and these space idiots just had to show up!
: Anyone who wrecks a Lift Spot is my enemy! I’m gonna smash your faces in!





A good opening shot, the Big Octo's have just a bit under 10k HP.


SP Regen + Accel is a wonderful combo.


Witz moves forward and, lacking anything bigger to target, aims for these UFOs.


: Tch! I don’t know what’s up with these aliens but if they’re looking for a fight, I’ll give ‘em more than they asked for!
: You’re all fired up, eh, Witz. …Still, I like the way you think!







Being underwater does horrible things to their evasion rate. Of course.


I move down Glory Star, they're so bad with the water they can't even enter it this turn, the movement penalties are too much.



: These goons are piggybacking off the world's messed up state to run amuck!
: If we ignore these aliens, Earth will never know peace…! We will also fight!








They finish the two UFOs off.


With Toshiya moving up to target this one.


: We already had our hands full with the Gaizock and the Eldar, and now ANOTHER enemy shows up!
: But I’m not giving up! I’ll kick all of you right off Earth!





That's one less enemy to deal with


Might as well try some of my new units attacks to end the turn!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMt_H-CkmxU



Ouch, quite a few UFOs dogpile on Setsuko and get in a couple lucky hits, but she pays back in time with blowing large portions of them up.


Back to my turn, it's time to keep pressing forward, Witz aiming for the Hydra thing who I forget what series it's from.





Dang beefy grunts.


Setsuko blows up this one, lacking any ability to go further.


Toga moves up to finish off this Big Octo


: We haven’t seen any movement from the Zeravire but the other alien races have become more active…
: However, we are the warriors gathered to protect Earth! No matter the enemy, we’ll fight to the end!




Still can't combine yet, darn.


Duke Fleed moves up to add even more kills to his list on this stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAwBVih1pDw
Random fact, the Spazer's version of Space Thunder is different then Grendizer's. Grendizer's has shorter range, is Post-Movement, and is an ALL Attack.


Eureka and Company move up to start the process of wearing down the Cosmosaur.


: Renton! Formation X3!
: Roger that! Let’s team up, Garrod!
: Formation X3?
: Eureka! Do whatever you want – we’ll do our best to follow your lead!
: Okay but what is Formation X3?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MFaZIMqWik


Then Holland blows up another enemy squad.




One neat thing is that when you have Baldios move rather then move normally like other units it teleports.





That's both Big Octos down with a minimum of fuss, things are looking good.


Toshiya takes aim at the Cosmosaur that's already been weakened by Formation X-3.





Time for the next enemy phase!





Thank you Toby. One odd this about how Support Defending works in this game is that the Support Defender takes the place of the ally for all attacks that are done during that action (So all PLA and Support Attacks are targeted at the ally as well), but after the first one it rolls for each attack still. So a Support Defender can leap in front of an ally and dodge the attacks aimed at them.



Toshiya beats a Cosmosaur and learns Luck(35) as a reward.


And of course Aphrodia aims for Marin .


: Marin, you traitor! You’ve finally shown yourself!
: That voice… Aphrodia?!
: That’s right! The Aphrodia whose brother you killed!
: How dare you sell the science of S-1 to the earthlings, you worm!
: Shut your mouth! This is all because of the coup you Aldebaron staged! You murdered my father and so many others!
: And I will make you pay for it! Gattler and his ambitions will die by my hands!








Oh great she has a Barrier.


OK, with a cast of Accel Setsuko managed to actually barely get out of the water.







Darn Toby was so close to oneshotting the other guy.



You know what? It's Roybea's time to act.








This guy really needs Hit&Away too.


Next a casting of Spirit to get ready to God Gravion.










That's one ugly... whatever it is.


Next, Baldios is healed and protected with Guts and Invincible.


To preserve the Invincible for the enemy phase I'm going to just oneshot this UFO






OK next up...


It's the Gekko Go's turn to take a shot.







Congrats on that dodge.


Duke Fleed continues to rack up the kills


You know what? I want this thing dead.








I knew I could count on you Toshiya. Four enemies left.


Make that three.


Two! With that the player phase ends, and we hit the last enemy phase.


And the last Grunt is gone.


Marin and Aphrodia trade blows again, before the last turn starts up, and it's time to pile on the hurt.


Analyze is a great Spirit Command for dealing with bosses, no reason not to cast it when you're ready to hurt them.


Marin gets a casting of Gain for the obligatory boss kill, and let the hammering begin!

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Once defeated, Aphrodia yells to Marin and the Earthlings that the Aldebaron will not withdraw from this planet – it WILL be the next S-1!.
Even if Gattler would ally himself with other invaders to satisfy his greed, Marin is still determined to take him down with his own hands.



All enemy troops are destroyed and this victory is all thanks to Baldios; as for Marin, he tells Duke that he will not thank him.
Of course, he needs no such thing and starts to leave the area; Toshiya and Kiraken ask if he’s not staying because he revealed his identity but Hikaru says that’s not it.
While he may be an alien, he still considers himself to be our ally provided they’ll still accept him; Eiji asks what the hell he’s talking about – of course we’ll stick with him – and even Garrod trusts him, having fought alongside him today.
Duke thanks us, as those words will allow him to keep fighting but he’ll be going elsewhere to do so; he tells everyone to remember that rage can become strength in battle, but hatred can only lead to destruction -- regardless of who it's aimed at.
Toby sees that Duke’s determination is as strong as ever and Setsuko passes along the message from Kouji and Maria, saying that they’re well; Duke thanks her and, should she run into the two of them again, he asks to pass along a message that he wants to fight by their side again someday.
As he leaves, Marin would dearly love to know what he earned for himself by coming all this way to defend the Earth; he wonders if he can, one day, believe in the people of this planet the way Duke does.



Location: Lunar Surface – Skull Moon Base


Butcher’s wasting no time in poking fun at Gattler for the defeat of his Aldebaron but he says today was just a small test –plus, there were some unexpected obstacles (Baldios).
Gattler apologizes to Teral for their troops returning in this sorry state after he went through the trouble of sending them backup but Teral doesn’t hold it against him – he was satisfied simply observing Aphrodia’s precise leadership.
That being said, the earthlings’ increasing firepower is a matter of concern; Butcher says ours has always been a warrior race and the dimensional collapse has only served to stimulate our battle instincts (though, really, that only makes Butcher more fond of us).
Either way, the completion of Baldios and God Sigma is proof to Teral and Vega that the earthlings are getting stronger and Vega says that means they need to strike now with all their combined power; Butcher, however, says he’s being hasty as there’s a proper order to do things.
The obstacles to their plans are plentiful so, for the time being, Teral wants to gather more troops on the moon before launching the attack – they’ll remove those obstacles one-by-one and, with that, the conquest of Earth will be easier.
Butcher likes Teral’s determination but thinks he could stand to put a bit more weight in that body; Gattler, inwardly, fumes at the “decadent pig” for seeing this war as a game.
Either way, they all agree to avoid stepping on each other’s toes: Gattler suggests that the Gaizock focus on destroying the earthling civilization, the Eldar will occupy the surface while Vega carries out his little revenge; all Gattler wants is for the earthlings to be gone so his people can take the planet.
Teral says, though their endgame is slightly different, all their objectives depend on attacking Earth which is why Butcher thinks they should all do as they please while sharing troops and resources with each other.


Teral agrees and will be sending more Eldar forces down to Earth.
Gattler will have the Aldebaron work with him and Butcher thinks about what he’ll do: playing with the human forces on the moon or with Zaft would all be good fun…however, since it was Vega who offered his Skull Moon as their frontline base, he’ll have the Gaizock help in destroying Duke Fleed and his friends.
Butcher accepts but says JUST hunting earthlings isn’t interesting – maybe they can think of some kind of fun game to play, too; inwardly, Teral wonders what the hell is this guy – he cares nothing for pride, determination and resolution in battle.
How did someone like this come to possess such advanced technology and resources? Either way, Butcher proclaims the start of their conquest of Earth and wishes for everyone to do their best.


Back in Trinity City, Toshiya is being informed that Kazami and Rie will be tagging along with us – the reason why we had to come back here in the first place.
Julie understands that the professor wishes to observe the Trinity Energy while it’s in actual use and figures having him around would also help us with both research and maintenance issues; they’re not the only ones coming, though, as Minako insists in tagging along as well.
Toshiya doesn’t understand why, seeing how Marchino isn’t Kazami’s sponsor anymore but she says this has nothing to do with him – or did Toshiya get together with her just because she was his daughter?
Rie is startled by this “together with Minako” bit but Toshiya tells her to stop giving people ideas; she doesn’t care, though, because that’s still her vision for the future.
She promises to look after him just like those three little maids on the ship and Kiraken’s already jealous of all the attention he’s getting (really, Toshiya would rather she just gave him a break).
There’s no time to think about this, as Jamil enters and tells everyone to get set up; his haste isn’t derived of a vision from Tifa, though, but reports saying that Federation forces are massing near the Orb border.
The Minerva and Argama are about to be right in the crossfire without our backup...


Quinstein trusts Baldios’ adjustments to Kazami but, since Marin’s the most knowledgeable person in the subspace tech, the professor will simply help him on that matter.
Jamie will also be joining us, with the task of taking notes on Baldios to send to Quinstein and, as a member of Blue Fixer, she promises to give it her all to see it done; Tsukikage extends everyone’s gratitude to Marin for his help but he says it’s not necessary as he’s only doing this to defeat Gattler.
Raita shows up and tries to speak but Marin quickly leaves to service Baldios – this annoys Raita, who was trying to make peace with him; Oliver figures there’s nothing that can be done as, if the situation was reversed, would he have shaken Marin’s hand so easily?
Inwardly, Quinstein is glad she got Fleed and Marin together and she will continue to believe in Marin – in the anger and the heart that beats within him.


The Gekkostate is leaving and Renton thanks Garrod for his assistance and promises, despite them going their separate ways, to remember what he did for him.
Garrod asks him to pass a message along to Eureka, saying that Tifa would like to talk to her again – Renton also wants to meet them again sometime.
Tsukikage would’ve liked for the Gekkostate to have continued to cooperate with our group but Holland says this isn’t what they do (even if they did get paid); Tsukikage asks why and Holland doesn’t answer – Matthew says they get all that “love and peace” business but Talho agrees with Holland that battles like today aren’t their “thing”.
Tsukikage doesn’t get how they can label our fight to protect the world a “thing” but Holland says they just can’t understand us doing something for someone else’s sake; Quinstein asks, then, why do they oppose the Federation if not for someone else.
“We do it for our own sake.”, Holland says; either way, Quinstein won’t blame them as they’re free to choose their own path and, indeed, Holland says that’s what the Gekkostate does.


Renton tells his sister that he didn’t quite get the meaning behind Holland’s words.
However, the weight and tone behind his words shown him that they aren’t people who are fighting simply for the hell of it.
Setsuko comes over and they’re both glad to see each other okay and Toby will give him a small piece of advice as a farewell gift: don’t overdo it trying to act all cool (what with him yelling random technobabble), lest it stop being funny and get annoying – it’s a long way for a boy to become a man, so he needs to keep at it.
Mel, of all people, gives that advice to Renton on Rand’s side, surprising him at how smart she is for a kid – this, of course, annoys Mel who says that she’s older than him; Renton’s flabbergasted reaction only serves to further anger her at his lack of delicacy (though Rand admits his is the standard reaction).
Either way, Rand asks if he’s sticking with Holland after running from home and, once Renton confirms, he tells him to keep on becoming a better man – lest he want things to go back to how they were in Bellforest.
As they leave, Renton admits that Toby/Mel’s words were right on the mark as despite him knowing what he was saying, it didn’t really mean anything; having met Duke and Marin today and heard Holland’s words, he understands that people fight carrying many different burdens - he’s sure Eureka must have something like that, too.


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Extra Dialogue

Rand vs Any Enemy

: S-so many aliens are invading Earth!
: Keep taking pictures, Mel! From what I heard, there are plenty of UFO maniacs out there!
: Soon enough, we can make a killing by selling the pictures of our battles over the UN!
: Oh, darling! Please take this seriously!