Part 66: Mission 19 (Pacific Route) - Resurrected Wings - Part 2
Pacific Route Chapter 19 Part 2Technical difficulties, what're you gunna do.
The last of the enemies is destroyed and Kira’s now sure: the movements of both the assassins and these enemy pilots could only have been made by a Coordinator.
He wonders who would’ve sent them over and, right then, Waltfeld radios in to say that their schedule's been moved up; Kira understands and heads inland.
Meanwhile, the sound of gunfire has thoroughly disrupted the marriage ceremony and Yuna asks why the garrisoned federal troops are fighting.
Todaka already has men looking into it but, for now, he wants to evacuate everyone; Yuna thinks the enemy might be coming over here and orders the troops mobilized to intercept.
That’s already done and, as he starts leaving the area, Yuna wonders why, of all days, this had to happen on this one.
They’re interrupted when Cagalli notices the Freedom coming over.
: E-EEEEEEEK! AAAAAAAAAAH!
: Let’s go, Cagalli.*The Freedom scoops Cagalli into its hand.*
: Kira…!: H-hurry up and get her back! That Mobile Suit is kidnapping Cagalli!
: But if we shoot carelessly, we’ll hit Lady Cagalli in its hand!: Let me go, you idiot! Kira!
: …That’s a pretty amazing dress.: You…what are you talking about?! What are you going to do by yourself?!: I’m not by myself.
The Archangel and Waltfeld deploy and Kira quickly drops Cagalli into the ship.
Newman and Chandler report that the ship is running nicely but
Furthermore, he tells Cagalli that staying silent when they know what’s going on also doesn’t help and they understand quite well the results that are borne from such action; that’s why they must leave before that happens.
Waltfeld agrees with him and, as they make to leave the area, a large contingent of Orb and Federation troops show up – it falls on Kira and Waltfeld to use a little violence to open the road.
I'm still on the enemy phase, so the enemies move up ahead.
As the battle proceeds, Waltfeld seems to be waiting for something and Chandler quickly finds it: the Gekkostate has entered the area.
Holland confirms that he’s the Desert Tiger and Waltfeld leaves them to do as he told them; Matthew and Hilda find it more than a little odd that mecha are involved in what was supposed to be a simple wedding disruption, but Stoner sees in this a chance to take some amazing pictures.
Holland doesn’t get what’s going on but they still have a job to do – Talho also detects something else coming over.
It’s Garrod and Setsuko’s group and while Holland was hoping for an easy job, their arrival tells him that, as he expected, this is another big mess they’ve found themselves running into.
Garrod asks what’s going on but all Renton knows is that they were hired by the Desert Tiger to mess up the wedding
Witz recognizes the name as the guy who told the Minerva to escape; Roybea asks Toby what they’re going to do as their original orders were to scout out the situation in Orb.
Toby asks Setsuko if they’re Zaft or AEUG members but, no, they’re Glory Star members; so, he figures we don’t NEED to obey those orders and makes an on-site decision to pay Waltfeld back for his earlier tip.
When he asks Rand, Mel is quite adamant that they help save “Princess Cagalli” from having to marry against her will.
Witz also remembers the grief these Orb folk put the Minerva team through the last time they were here, so both him and Garrod agree to pummel them as punishment for that; Holland’s pleasantly surprised that our “for love and justice” group understood the situation and decided to fight Orb (if Rand’s there, though, he’s not SO surprised at our destructive tendencies, annoying Rand).
Waltfeld won’t refuse such help and informs that the objective is to clear a path for the Archangel to escape.
Garrod recognizes the Freedom from before and hails Kira, who hesitantly does the same; “The hell? For a guy who just nabbed the bride, he’s really wishy-washy!”, Witz quips.
Setsuko wonders if they really should be doing this but Toby tells her we’ll worry about it later – for now, the important thing is to avoid hitting the cockpit and engines of the enemies.
OK There are two ways to finish the stage. I could move the Archangel over to the white line on the southern side of the map. Or I can simply defeat all the enemies!
I think we know what I'm going to do.
One of the few times Matthew and Hilda aren't going to be squad mates.
Well, there's a reason they're the squad support rather then the main attackers
Next up is Holland!
: Federation, Orb, Plants…this whole region’s messed up.
: And even if the pay's better on in-house fights like this, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth...! 
Boo-ya
Eureka is so dodgy she doesn't need Focus up to avoid these things.
As shown.
Glory Star can't reach any enemies this turn, but Garrod can!
: I don’t get these problems of Orb but…
: It’s clear to me that Rep. Athha isn’t 100% onboard with marrying that sissy!
The X's vulcans seem a bit stronger then usual compared to other Gundams. Or maybe these guys are just weak
Witz and Roybea head up to handle this guy.
Roybea finishes it off with his one post move attack.
Right, we have two more new units to look at first.[/i]
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Murrue Ramius - The Archangel
Voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi(Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley(English)
Arnold Neumann - Archangel Subpilot
Voiced by Ishhin Chiba(Japanese), Phillip Pacaud(English)
Dalida Lolaha Chandra II - Archangel Subpilot
Voiced by Katsumi Toriumi(Japanese), Simon Hayama(English)
Skills:
* Support Attack (Level 1) - When Adjacent to an allied character before having attacked that turn, can perform a Support Attack after the ally attacks. The support attack will be slightly weaker then a regular attack.
* Cooperative Attack - Whenever the pilot performs a Support Attack, that attack will automatically be a critical hit.
* Commander(Level 2) - Allies in an area (denoted by yellow squares when highlighting the character) have an increased hit and evasion rate. The size of the area and bonus increases by level.
* Focused Attack - The damage penalty for performing ALL attacks on multiple units is reduced.
* Guard - At 130 Will the character will take 20% less damage.
* E Save - The energy cost for attacks are reduced by 20%
Spirit Commands (Murrue):
* Guard(25) - The caster takes 1/4 damage from all attacks for one turn.
* Strike (20) - The caster will have 100% Hit rate for that turn.
* Vigor(20) - The caster regains 30% of Max HP
Spirit Commands(Neumann):
* Accel(10) - The caster's squad gains a one use +2 to movement.
* Gain(20) - The caster's squad will gain double the Experience Points from the next attack.
Spirit Commands(Chandra):
* Scan(1) - Reveals an enemy squad's stats without having to fight them.
Squad Leader Bonus
*+10% Accuracy for Adjacent allies
So the Archangel is another basic combat ship like the other two Gundam Battleships we've seen. It has a bit shorter range then the Minerva and it's MAP has a more esoteric range... but holy crap. Look at Murrue's skills! She's loaded up on them, completely full skill slots. And it's nearly everything she needs to boot. The one issue is that, well, it's not everything. Like all Captains she really wants Hit&Away, so we'll have to give up one of her other skills to get it. Probably Guard. Other then that she's golden.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Andrew Waltfeld - MVF-M11C Murasame
Voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu(Japanese), Brian Drummond(English)
Skills:
None!
Spirit Commands:
* Accel(15) - The caster's squad gains a one use +2 to movement.
* Focus(15) - Increases hit and evasion rates by 30%
* Strike (20) - The caster will have 100% Hit rate for that turn.
Squad Leader Bonus
* Squad Movement +1
Squad filler ahoy! Also, for some reason he has no skills.
I'm pretty sure he has skills the next time he pops up playable... so I don't even know. You could put him in the lead if you need to get somewhere fast, other then that meh. Also how the heck is he even alive.
Anyways, time to move down and handle these things.
: (It’s been two years since the Great War…we’ve spent that brief period of peace in Orb…): (But, if a dark shadow looms over the world again, we’ll also do what we can…with the Archangel.)
: Enemy unit approaching! It’s in range!
: Archangel, begin the attack!
Laminated Armor is pretty amusing.
Watfeld is up next!
: It wasn’t easy for them to put a custom paintjob on this unit, so I reckon I should my back into it!: After all, I can’t let Kira carry this burden alone!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8pGuOysjVI
Oh darn, so close to a kill.
Kira finishes off this one and my turn ends.
Naturally quite a few aim for the Archangel
Though some try and hit the Gekko Go.
People actually get in range of Toby.
Ouch, and the Windams are pretty tough.
Back on my turn, I realize Baba's here again. Hi Baba!
And Eureka's Trust heals up Toby.
And he then takes down a Murasame.
Setsuko gets ready to finish off that Windam.
: Is this really okay…?
: Truth be told, I’m not helping because I agree or disagree with what’s happening…: It’s more like I’m taking a bet. If they escape, it’ll leave Orb all messed up and create a chink in the Federation’s armor. 
: Toby…: This isn’t just about kidnapping the bride - those guys are also up to something…so let’s jump in, too! : Yes…!
And that's how it's done
Watfeld targets the guy not in MAP range.
There we go.
Kira targets Baba.
Wow, that took out almost all his health.
Garrod moves in to finish the job.
Garrod even gets a new level of Prevail out of it. Bye Baba!
Next Hilda takes down a Windam.
This gives Murrue enough Will to use her MAP attack!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIrAh_eGzf4
Roybea and Witz takes down the two weakened ones, and by this point it's basically mop up. Everything's weakened and in kill range.
Sooo let's skip ahead to the finale next turn.
When the defenders fall silent, Murrue orders the Archangel to make a run for it and, once it’s through the line, Waltfeld and Kira are right behind it.
Garrod and Matthew are a bit miffed that they’re leaving without so much as speaking back to us; Kira apologizes but says that they really have to go right now.
Still, Waltfeld thanks the Gekkostate and makes sure to wire their payment over – with that, the Archangel leaves and Kira bids farewell to Orb; Talho says Orb’s going to send more troops over if we also don’t get out of here quickly, so Holland gives them the order to run quick-like and Roybea thinks we should do the same.
Garrod and Renton wish everyone well and they all run off.
Yuna is left asking “what the hell” to his men and furiously orders Todaka to contact all Federation units in the area to keep the Archangel from escaping.
Todaka informs him that almost all of them have been wiped out while skirmishing with the Minerva; Yuna can only whimper at the entire world having seen debacle and, inwardly, Todaka entrusts both Cagalli and the future of the world of the Archangel.
For beating the stage we get 30,000 credits and 700 Blue Stones!
Location: Pacific Ocean – Archangel, Bridge
Cagalli is currently yelling at the entire group, asking what were they thinking – kidnapping a head of state during her wedding would make them all international criminals.
She wonders if they’ve lost their minds and asks who asked them to do this; Kira and Waltfeld say they all knew what it meant but it couldn’t be helped, as the world really would’ve been beyond help had Cagalli gone through with her own, idiotic, wedding.
Cagalli takes offense at this, saying that, as Orb’s representative, she thought everything through; “And you decided to join the New Federation and marry Yuna? Do you honestly think that would help Orb?”, Kira asks.
Yes she does or else she wouldn’t have agreed to marry the guy – she had no other option since, as Yuna, Unato and the others said, they couldn’t afford to have Orb destroyed again; so many homes and families were lost way back when – isn’t this the only path to stop that from happening to other people?
Kira asks if she’s okay with whatever happens in other countries, so long as Orb stays safe, or would she even accept Orb imposing the same destruction they were subjected to on the Plants and other nations.
He tells her to remember what Uzumi, her father, said: that even if they lost Orb, there are some things they must never forsake; regardless, he understands how difficult things were for her and apologizes for being unable to help her until now.
However, he thinks there’s still time for them to time to make amends, even if there are so many things they don’t understand; in the end, we’re the same and, if we don’t choose the right path, we won’t get where we want.
He asks that she come with them and adds that they all need time to find the right answer…
Back in Trinity City, Talia figures from Athrun’s uniform that he’s rejoined Zaft and, indeed, he introduces himself as Athrun Zala from the FAITH Special Forces.
When Bright asks, Talia tells him the details about it and Athrun, acting in Durandal’s stead, makes Talia a member of FAITH too; she finds this curious, wondering if Durandal intends to have the Minerva team perform some major cleanup on Earth.
Jamil comes in reporting the Freeden Team’s arrival but informs that they were unable to locate the Archangel since its escape from Orb; still, Talia says the events at the wedding had quite the impact and already the UN throughout the world is bustling with speculation behind what happened there.
Inwardly, Athrun decides to trust in Kira.
When Tsukikage asks, Talia says our new orders (as brought by Athrun) are to head to Galia to investigate the Moon Race’s activities and, from there, head to Japan.
As Athrun tells, the country has remained independent from the Federation ever since the “Break the World” and Durandal is sure that Japanese industrial and technological might has the potential to have major influence over the world.
Of course, as Quinstein reminds us, Japan’s new government is currently under martial law and, even if said government is notably anti-federation, Tsukikage still says there are no guarantees that they’ll even allow us entry into the country; Talia and Bright are well aware of that and that’s why they want to join with the King Beal and Iron Gear teams.
The federation’s influence is weak in Galia so it’ll also make it easier for us to set up another meeting with Löwen; still, despite our behind-the-scenes work with the Chimera, it’s unwise for us to stay in Trinity City for long lest it bring trouble to the professors, so Talia wants to leave for Galia as soon as the preparations are complete.
Tsukikage understands that Orb’s union with the Federation will only increase the chaos involving the world – thus, he proclaims Blue Fixer’s support to our group in a bid to stop this, disregarding the boundaries separating the Federation and Zaft.
At the hands of people like the Titans, the Federation will become a dominating, self-righteous organization and, like Löwen, Tsukikage wants to help change that; Athrun, inwardly, remembers Durandal feels the same way which is why he’s gathering power on the Minerva.
Athrun tells Kira that he’ll leave Cagalli with him while he’ll fight with us to fix the world…
At the hangar, Toby’s getting a first look at Alex’s new mech but Vino corrects him, saying that he was using an alias before.
Either way, Toby thinks it’s quite generous of Durandal to give a unit like this to a guy who had abandoned Plant and just recently went back.
: Toby…are you jealous of his new unit?
: I would never! Not when I have the cutest girl in the world with me!
: Oh…stop it, Toby.
: H-hold on a sec…! I was talking about the Virgola!
: (…I should’ve known…)
Camille, however, notes that there doesn’t seem to be anything incredibly special about the Virgola's specs but Toby says that the original Virgola wasn't like the current one - it was redesigned to be toned down for mass production.
The brass wanted a machine that was not only highly adaptable and easy for anyone to pick up but also that was very productive; Setsuko adds that both a rookie and an ace could use it easily due to its simple design but, once the unit is perfected, she reckons a skilled pilot could be potentially unbeatable with it.
Yoran now understands why they’re always going through the Virgola’s combat data; of course, the data they had originally collected for the Virgolas’ development project is no more, so there’ll be no mass-producing the units even when the Virgola’s completed.
Still, Setsuko says this has always been Glory Star’s mission and Camille inwardly thinks that, the main units’ specs notwithstanding, the Virgola still has the Gunnery Carver and THAT is a piece of technology that impresses him.
Shinn is also there but he doesn’t share in their interest for mechanics, preferring to leave that to Vino and the others; Luna figures, in Shinn’s case, he should just concern himself in being a strong pilot.
As for Rand, he also sizes up the Saviour Gundam but takes Athrun to be a newbie – Vino quickly corrects him; Yoran and Lunamaria tells Mel that, during the war two years ago, he was part of an elite Zaft unit called the “Creuset Team” and, eventually, he wound up fighting as part of a neutral third force that ended the Zaft-Earth war.
Furthermore, he’s the son of the then-Chairman Patrick Zala and Rand figures this elite soldier throwing his lot with Zaft’s enemies was a big problem for the brass; indeed, Luna says that’s why Athrun went to live in Orb after the war and Yoran says there were rumors about him and Cagalli being lovers.
This further proves Mel’s theory that they were forcing her to marry Yuna today and Luna notes that there seems to be something of a power-struggle going inside Orb; Shinn sniffs that, after all, Cagalli’s just a piece of decoration – as per the Athha family tradition, her mouth spews fancy words but they’re devoid of any substance.
Camille inwardly notes that, as expected, Shinn’s anger towards Orb is still quite present within him; Rand, however, tells him not to be so narrow-minded as there’s a gap between ideology and reality.
Shinn gets angry and asks what does Rand think he knows about Orb and, truth be told, he admits that he doesn’t know much; Shinn tells him to mind his business, then, but Rand tells him to let the poor, old man talk.
He concedes that, judging from today’s bride-hijacking, the country really must be kinda crazy – using a girl as a political tool and someone busting in to kidnap her by force? He can’t even wrap his mind around that.
Shinn asks if his point is that Orb is strange but, no, what he wants to know is why Shinn still cares either way: isn’t he part of Zaft right now? If Shinn really hates the Orb that much, he needs to stop caring about what happens there – it ain’t good for his health.
Athrun comes over to properly introduce himself and Quattro says, as Athrun’s been assigned to the Minerva, he’s been given command of the ship’s MS unit.
Rey has no objections to it, what with him being a member of FAITH, but Athrun does apologize for coming in and acting like a big-shot; Lunamaria says there’s no problem and congratulates him on getting back on the field – she figures it’s an honor for all of them to work side-by-side with an ace from the previous war.
Shinn, of course, isn’t particularly excited but Luna tells him to salute their new captain and does so (rather indifferently); what does get Shinn’s attention is when Athrun relates how pleased Durandal was when he heard of Shinn’s efforts during the Orb escape and Athrun adds that he, too, is counting on him.
The AEUG team is also observing the ace’s return to the battlefield and Katz figures Athrun is very much like Amuro – the man himself says that Athrun’s far more determined than he is, though.
Quattro figures Durandal’s pouring resources into the Minerva with the intent of having it act as some sort of commando unit and Amuro knows that, if both we and the Archangel act on our own, it’ll certainly cause a big headache to the Federation.
Even so, Quattro says we still don’t have enough firepower to do so and Camille asks if that’s why we’re going to Japan; indeed, Quattro remembers how the Japan in their original world was home to various amazing Super Robot labs and Durandal wants their cooperation to add those mechs to our forces.
If we add those to all our current forces, Quattro knows our group will become a power that the Federation won’t be able to overlook anymore and Amuro adds that, when that happens, it’ll lead the world into further bipolarization between the New Federation and Plants.
Whether we bring the battlefield to a stalemate or force a redesign in the world’s status quo, our actions may well change the state of the war regardless of the results they yield…