The Let's Play Archive

Super Robot Wars Z

by Brunom1, Dr. Pepper, Caphi

Part 4: Mission 2 (Rand) - Day of Departure

Alright, here we are at our first intermission; there are a whole lot of options and most of them are pretty important – if you’re playing this game, you’d do well to get acquainted with it as you’ll be here a LOT.



At the main screen, you see a tally of your 5 pilots with the higher kill count (a.k.a. Top Aces) – just being in the top 5 gives the pilot +5 to his starting morale and the nº pilot gets +10.
Of course, seeing how this is a NG+, my numbers are already pretty high (I believe Rand was my 3rd or 4th higher killer on the previous game); there isn’t really a point to keep track of our current top aces on my side but we can always leave it up to Doc!

At the bottom, you’ll see a bunch of numbers and they represent, from left to right, your Skill Points, Money and Blue Stones – below those numbers, you’ll find the number of missions completed and the total turn count.

Now, for the menu itself – let’s take a look at the options:

I’ll go over some of these options later when they’re more relevant; for now, let’s begin at the Unit Commands menu:


We don’t really need to do much here but let’s put some of our NG+ savings to good use.

Unit Upgrades:



There are six options where you can upgrade a unit and they are (from top to bottom):
There are typically some standard guidelines when it comes to upgrading units and Garrod’s Gundam X is no exception: being a real with a focus on attacking, he’ll like upgrades into EN, Mobility, Accuracy and Weapons.



Gain’s Gatchiko needs less EN than the others (his best post-movement attack does use it, mind) so, for now, he’ll focus on Mobility, Accuracy and Weapons.



Finally, THE HEAT is a mighty Super and, of course, wants a bit of everything (except Mobility, of course).
Fair warning: be very careful not to upgrade Gunleon too much – you WILL regret it.


Unit Parts:


When you enter this menu, you’ll be presented with a list of your units: those circles next to each of them represent the number of “Parts’ Slots” available to these units – currently, everyone can equip two parts.
We only have one Part available: a Booster (ブースター) taken from Geraba which boosts Movement by 1; Rand, being the person with the lowest range, takes it.


Now, let’s take a quick jump over to the Pilot Commands menu; here’s what you’ll find here:


For now, all that interests us is the Training option.


Pilot Training:



Purchasing Skills should always take priority over boosting stats; there are dozens of skills available and most are quite useful (some more than others, of course);
Rand, being stacked with Pilot Points, is able to buy a full set:


Garrod also has plenty of points – enough for three new skills:


Finally, we get to Gain – he needed some expensive skills, so he only takes two:
There are plenty of other Skills (some, like Garrod’s Very Lucky, are unique and can’t be purchased, though) but, if you’d like to know what else you CAN buy, here’s a list taken from the Akurasu wiki:



Now that we’ve done our homework, let’s get going with the next mission:



Location: Siberia Domepolis - Wulgusk



Inside the city’s high school, the teacher Mamadou is lecturing the future generations about the ancient Cataclysm that prompted the construction of this, their home.
Sara asks about the Innocent as she's heard they not only survived the Cataclysm as well but, also, set up shop somewhere in the center of the continent – Mamadou confirms and praises her insight.
However, she doesn’t understand why they, who once claimed themselves to be the nobility of mankind, would limit themselves to that region; Mamadou says their self-proclaimed status dates back to before the Cataclysm, when they styled themselves as inheritors of all of Earth's civilization.
Throughout the land they called Zora, they dominated the common man in the name of "guiding" them...and ended up being toppled by the very people they saw as their subjects, the Civilians.
Mamadou tells his class that this is an immutable law of history at work: it's simply not possible to restrain the freedom of the people forever.



Bello figures that the rules with which the Innocent bound the common people weren't up to the task.
One of those rules was avoiding contact with the Domepoli of Siberia, though it should be noted that most of the world's civilizations were isolated at the time anyway.
None of the Innocents' subjects had even been properly informed of the disaster that struck the southern hemisphere some 15 years ago, and all of them grew up believing in the Three Day Rule - that crimes unpunished for three days were not crimes at all.
Fortunately, the fall of the Innocent has allowed commerce between the peoples of Siberia and Zora to resume, and Bello figures that the Zorans have effectively achieved Exodus though Sara quickly shushes him.



The lecture is interrupted as a Siberia Railroad guard named Adette barges in, asking after Gainer Sanga.
She then arrests him on the spot on suspicion of Exodus; he protests that he’s done nothing of the sort but she drags him out, telling to save it to the judge.
Adette leaves, apologizing for the noise and telling everyone to go back to studying. Problem is, it's Mamadou, Bello and Sara who are part of the upcoming Exodus and they certainly didn’t expect Gainer to be caught in the crossfire.
There isn’t time to do anything, though, as Mamadou remembers that their plan is going to happen tonight.

quote:

Information corner – Topic: Siberian Railroad –
The sole means of transit in the land of Siberia - the Siberian Railway Company (Siberian Rail, for short), led by Kids Munt, oversees its operations
Headquarters are located in the Riman Megalopolis.
Its position as the lifeline between Domepolises along its rails has conferred a state of de facto
dictatorship upon Siberian Rail. Under its aegis are the infamous Siberian Rail Guards; it also maintains strong ties with the international police organization "London IMA".




At the city, Rand and the crew, are marveling at what looks like preparations for a major festival.
Rand reminds Mel that they’re not here to party, though. Garrod calls him out on his seriousness, though, seeing how Rand has just purchased a bromide of some singer.
Rand protests that he couldn’t help himself, as he’s a HUGE fan of Meeya Laujin – his fanboying annoys Mel, who thinks it isn’t right for a man to act like this near his “wife”.
Garrod doesn’t know this Meeya (understandable, seeing how he’s from Ameria) so the others explain: the Meeya family have been stars for generations, and it's rumored that the first Meeya was also the first person to successfully finish an Exodus.
That makes them the patron saints of Exodus in some people's eyes.



Rand figures, if they’re lucky, they might even get to attend a live Meeya concert (if not for the job that the team has come to do, of course).
Mel wonders if things will be fine, though, as Gain actually let himself be captured by the police, claiming that this will let him snag some sort of major treasure.
Rand is sure the guy will come through, and plans on carrying out his part of the plan in the meantime.


Location: Medayu Ducal Residence – Underground Jail



We find Gainer in a cell, mulling over how his day has taken a major turn for the worse.
Only a few hours ago, he had bested Cynthia and claimed the title of King of the Overman Battle but, after his arrest, that accomplishment isn’t feeling very triumphant.

quote:

Information corner – Topic: Overman Battle –
A 3-D fighting game where players control Overman units in battle.
As an online game, several players can participate at once. Gainer's "King" designation connotes a player with an unbroken string of 200 victories.



As he ponders his misfortune, the guards add another prisoner to his cell: it's Gain, none too happy at the rough handling he's received so far.
He asks what a kid's doing shacked up with him, and the guard explains he's one of the large number of suspected Exodus sympathizers rounded up this morning.
In fact, so many people have been arrested that the regular jail is full -- which explains why Gain and Gainer are being housed in the ducal residence.
Gain likes hearing that everything’s according to his research and before the guard can react, quickly knocks him out.



Gain then turns to a confused Gainer and says he has has a choice to make: stay here or come with him.
The Domepolitan default would be to stay in prison no matter how unfair his treatment has been. Gainer will be coming with him, though, as he isn’t the sort of person that belongs here.
That works for Gain, who introduces himself and Gainer does the same – with that, Gain invites him to join the Exodus.


Location: Wulgusk – Plaza






Outside, Rand is quite excited, yelling at Garrod and Mel to take a look his idol, Meeya, so close ahead.
Garrod tries to get him to calm down, saying that it’s just a holographic projection but, of course, that doesn’t stop Rand from admiring her curves. This earns him a tongue-lashing from Mel, asking what happened to that professionalism from before.
Rand, however, claims it is part of an act to blend in with the festival and shows he's actually a better observer than anyone credits him as, keeping a sharp eye out for the Siberia Rail guards' mecha.
It seems the Guards have learned about the big Exodus plan in advance, which would explain the mass arrests.



Speaking of guards, two of them, Kejinan (the one on screen, we’ll see the other later) and Enge, have overheard their Exodus-centered talk and want to have words with our folk.
Rand quickly simulates a stomachache, suggesting the two men to run if they value their noses and Enge hurriedly points towards the bathroom and tells him to go away. Kejinan is leaving as well but warns that they’ll be keeping an eye on us and we'd better behave.
Garrod doesn’t get what that was about and Rand explains that if people were to simply move about freely, the Siberia Rail monopoly on transport, and the political power that confers, would be gone in an instant.
That's reason enough for the company guards to be on their witch hunt.
Either way, Mel tells them both to hurry with the rest of the preparations but Rand figures they still have a bit more time before they move with Gain’s plan…



Back in the ducal residence, Gain has lead Gainer into the duke's private museum, which is brimming with artifacts of all descriptions.
The duke is said to treasure machines, artwork, books, technology... you name it.



What Gain is after is one of the duke's mecha: an Overman, and a special one at that.
They don’t have time to keep talking, though, as they hear Silhouette Machines – Dogozzos, Gain figures - patrolling outside. Even this museum is protected by the Siberian Rail, and Gain orders the kid to boot the mech up.



Up above, princess Ana and her custodian Lioubov’s are preparing to go to the festival when Lioubov notices some sort of commotion below – Ana’s ferrets are also agitated.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of a photon mat light, as Gainer activates the Overman. Very quickly, he busts through Ana’s wall and Gain, standing on the Overman’s hand, steps forward to speak to her.



He recognizes her as Ana Medayu and humbly offers to escort her to the festival (who very eagerly accepts) and won't take Lioubov's "no" for an answer.
Gain says that he knew Ana wanted to leave the mansion, so he made a deal with “the devil” and came here to serve her. Ana figures Gain could let Lioubov go, then, and moves into the Overman
Lioubov quickly introduces herself (which makes Gain stop to say it’s a lovely name) before an explosion outside informs that Rand and friends are holding up their end of the plan.
Gain orders Gainer to drop him off at the station and, following that, to take Ana to the Five Wise Men directing the festival. He tells the startled Lioubov that this uproar is the start of the biggest festival this Domepolis has ever seen: one called Exodus.



Mission 2 (Rand) - Day of Departure





Outside, Rand and Garrod see that the Dome's residential unit is underway, with hundreds of people on board.
This is certainly the largest mass Exodus Rand has ever heard of, and a major credit to Gain's reputation; another boatload of explosives are triggered to make their job easier, though the people left behind might not be so thrilled.





As the enemy troops deploy, commander Yassaba is very annoyed to hear from his aide, Jaboli, that Kejinan and Enge, ever the inept soldiers, are point men to try to stop this circus.
Adette is tied up pursuing the Black Southern Cross, unfortunately.



Enge notices how their commander's pissed and Kejinan can only pity poor lieutenant Jaboli for having to bear the brunt of it.
Kejinan thinks that stopping the insurrection will give him a big fat bonus instead of a lecture, though. Garrod sighs at how greedy the other side sounds, and Rand figures it falls on us to teach these guys some hard reality.
He calls the Siberian Rail over, saying that we’re going on an Exodus too!





Well, they’re keeping the Skill Point hidden for now, so we’ll focus on what’s ahead.



Kejinan and two Siberian mooks are waiting in front but Rand can only reach a mook.


















2 HP! Are you kidding me, Rand?!




I could let him kill himself on a counterattack but there’s nothing else in range; ergo, Garrod takes him out right away.



Enemy Phase!




The other nearby Dogozzo charges at Rand who, with a bit of extra morale, is now able to take him out in one shot.
Following that, Enge’s posse starts coming over and one of his mooks also goes for Rand, suffering similar fate.



The fight is interrupted when Mel notices something coming out of the Domepolis.
It’s not Gain and his Gatchiko, though.





Do the monkey with me! C’mon!







It’s a dreadlocked Overman and Rand figures it’s the one Gain told him about!
Ana is still inside the mech, asking Gainer what’s it called. He says it’s King Gainer, which she finds odd considering it’s his name but he figured it made sense as he IS the King of Overman Battle.
Either way, Ana thinks it’s a fine name.





Enemy reinforcements soon arrive, led by an angry Adette who is hell bent arresting anyone attempting an Exodus.
Gainer tries yelling that he's doing no such thing but Ana warns him that she’s already charging after them.



That is, until she’s stopped by a sniper shot.



: Gain!
: Hey, kid! If you can’t fight, stand down – you’ll just get in the way!
: I can and I will! That's why I'm piloting this!
: Show us what you got, then. Words aren’t worth much without action.
: You don’t have to tell me that!



: Captain Gauli! Is that dreadlocked mech an ally?
: By the looks of things, the “contractor” knows him.
: And that Mobile Suit’s also part of his gang? Nice!
: Well, they're still not going to one-up the Gauli Squad!
: Do you hear me, Exodus contractor? I'm Hughes Gauli, commander of the Wulgusk militia.
: The name’s Gain Bijou. Now, first things first: let’s smash these Siberian Rail Dogozzos!
: Roger!
: That Panther…is Sara Kodama in it?
: Gainer! You said you’d fight, so don’t just stand there!
: Y-yes!
: Come on, kid! We're gunning for their commander!
: Got it!



And here’s the Skill Point: We have to shoot down Adette’s Dogozzo but she’ll retreat under 3000 HP – there’s no time limit.



It’s still the enemy phase, so Adette’s posse starts charging after Gainer and co.














Not bad (not great, either…)



The second Dogozzo isn’t in range but the first gets right in Gain’s face but our sniper has some melee tricks.



: Only Silhouette Machines…? If Yassaba Jin hasn’t deployed his Overman, we’re in luck!
: Let’s wrap this up before the big bad commander comes out…!









He’s got some guns other than his rifle!



No one else is in attacking range except Kejinan, who goes after Rand from afar (forcing me to hope that 66% is enough to hit).



: Damn it! I didn’t know the Black Southern Cross had friends!
: Oh, sorry! I’m known as THE HEAT!
: And I’m the BLAZING MOBILE SUIT PILOT!
: Bastards! Making fun of me with those ridiculous names, are you?! Cut it out!!










Thankfully, it was.



Player Phase!

Before we take them out with extreme prejudice, let’s take a look at what Kejinan, Enge and Adette are packing making use of Mel’s Scan spirit (displays enemy units’ stats even if they haven’t entered in combat).


Dogozzo (Adette Kistler, Kejinan Datto, Enge Gam)
Pilot Skills - Adette:
Pilot Skills – Kejinan:
Pilot Skills – Enge:
Squad Leader Bonus - Adette: Money Earned +20%, Critical Chance +10% (Adette)
Squad Leader Bonus - Kejinan: Critical Chance +10%
Squad Leader Bonus - Enge: Evasion Rate +10%

Adette’s Voice Actress: Marika Hayashi (along several dubs for western shows, also voiced Mouar Pharaoh in Zeta Gundam New Translation)
Enge’s Voice Actor: Tsuyoshi Koyama (also known as Dickson in Xenoblade, Bang Shishigami in Blazblue, Gensuru of Hunter X Hunter and many others)
Kejinan’s Voice Actor: Hiroshi Kitazawa (no other major roles)


All three pilots are using the Siberian equivalent of a Breaker’s Trad: the Dogozzo is one of the weakest mooks in the game and has no important features outside of being made out of paper-maché.
More important are the pilots and you’ll find that Siberian enemies are some of the more annoying ones (not these ones, though): they all have the unique skill Oversense which boosts their accuracy and evasion (the bonus increases as the skill levels up).
It doesn’t do much now but you’ll learn to HATE named Siberian enemies.

Finally, Adette’s Commander skills applies an aura around her that boosts the accuracy and evasion of anyone inside (the closer the unit is to her, the stronger the buff); at level 1, it is a 3x3 wide aura which gives 12%/10%/5% buff depending on position.



Either way, Kejinan is sufficiently weakened that Garrod can take him out without issue.














One down!



Kejinan drops a Repair Kit, which is our first consumable part (it heals some HP on the user or on an adjacent unit).





Kejinan is smart enough not to lay down his life for this battle -- hard to get promoted if you’re dead.
He quickly retreats.



Enge’s at full health but, as I said before, these Dogozzos are very fragile. So…



: I imagine there'd be a nice bonus if I took these guys out but can a Dogozzo actually pull it off…?
: You better call it quits if you’re not sure, old man!
: That’s right! The Gunleon and I don’t feel like doing any unnecessary dismantling!
: D-damn iiit! A Siberian Rail guard can’t take such disrespect sitting down!!
















Boosh!



Enge drops a Propellant Tank, which is also a consumable and can be used to fully recharge the user or adjacent target’s EN.





Enge figures getting yelled at by Yassaba would be preferable to continuing this fight and also retreats.


Now, on the Gainer front, we got a whole lot of new units so let’s take a look at them (Gain as well); we’ll start with the Gauli squad:



Panther (Hughes Gauli, Sara Kodama, Bello Korossha)
Pilot Skills - Gauli:
Spirit Commands – Gauli:
Pilot Skills – Sara:
Spirit Commands – Sara:

Pilot Skills – Bello:
Spirit Commands – Bello:
Features:
Squad Leader Bonus – Gauli: Critical Ratio +30%
Squad Leader Bonus – Sara: +20% attack power during Support Attack
Squad Leader Bonus – Bello: Damage Taken -10%

Gauli’s Voice Actor: Tohru Kusano (other known works: Shichiroji in Samurai 7 and some other minor roles
Sara’s Voice Actress: Ai Kobayashi (other known works: Saya Krueger in SRW UX, Samus Aran in Metroid Other M, Lily Borjarno in ∀ Gundam and many others)
Bello’s Voice Actor: Shuusaku Ohtake (no other major roles)

Remember what I said about the Dogozzo’s? The Panthers are pretty much that.
They are weak all around, have mediocre stats across the board and are only saved by having some semi-competent pilots (none too great, mind); a small plus is that their strongest attack, BB, carries the Accuracy Down debuff so that can help.
Nevertheless, they’re squaddie-material through and through and, unless you can find them something better to pilot (hint hint), you should never let them lead.


Next up, it’s time for Mr. Black Southern Cross:


Gatchiko (Gain Bijou)
Pilot Skills:
Spirit Commands:
Squad Leader Bonus:All non-MAP, non-point blank attacks have their range increased by 1
Gain’s Voice Actor: Otoya Kawano (other knwn works: Mario Abe in Ryoko’s Case File, Seishirou Sakurazuka in X and some others)

I like Gain. He’s competent, is a great pilot carrying excellent spirit commands and knows very well what he wants to do; his focus on ammo-based, long range attacks makes him a great mook hunter/supporter and the only thing that keeps him from the big leagues is a lack of power against bigger threats.
Gain falls in that sad category of good units that get eclipsed by great ones and will, eventually, be turned into a squaddie, but he’ll always serve you well throughout a good chunk of the game.

Only one more and it is King Gainer:


King Gainer (Gainer Sanga)
Pilot Skills:
Spirit Commands:
Features:
Squad Leader Bonus: +10% to evasion rate
Gainer’s Voice Actor: Hirofumi Nojima (other known works: Gouenji Shuuya in Inazuma Eleven, Sobi Nakajima in Linebarrels of Iron, Yasaburo Saotome in Macross Frontier and many others)


At first, you might dismiss Gainer: his stats are all lower then Gain (aside from Evasion), he only has two WEAK attacks and even his Leader Bonus isn’t all that; stick with him, though, because Gainer is GREAT!
This kid exemplifies the “Magikarp Power” trope and he will grow to be incredibly reliable.
Very important, though: buy him Morale+ (Dodge) ASAP because, eventually, King Gainer will need to reach 130 morale quickly and is one of the dodgiest units around; following that, take stock of that Gamer skill and consider saving up enough PP to buy Attack Again (more on this one later).




Now, Adette is far away and her maximum range is 5, so we’ll worry about the nearby Dogozzos while forcing her to come closer.
That attack had 94% chance to hit, mind…



I guess we’ll have Bello give it a try.



: I’m part of the Gauli Squad, too, so it's time to provide some covering fire!
: Sara! Take a look at this!












See what I meant with the Panthers being awful? At least he dodged…




Either way, Gain takes it upon himself to finish off his previous attacker.



Following that, Sara will go after another weakened Dogozzo.



: We’re all going on an Exodus to Yapan!
: And you’re not stopping us, Siberian Rail!








Only one left.



And Gauli’s going to take care of it.



: We’ve given up everything for this day!
: Even if it takes my life, this Exodus WILL succeed!








Gauli’s got this whole motion blur going on for his cut-in; we’ll find out why later(it’s not an important plot point…just amusing).



Enemy Phase!




The last mook runs after Rand, who pulls a surprising dodge before wrecking it to pieces.



And here comes Adette, going straight after Gainer.



: You there, Overman! I’m gonna have to yank all those dreadlocks off your head if you don’t behave!
: That woman…! She’s the one who arrested me at school!
: I am Adette Kistler of the Siberian Rail! And I might like strong men but you better kiss your life goodbye if you're going to fight us!
: What a bully…! That’s really lame nowadays, you know!








God damn it, Gainer! I sang your praises and this is how you repay me?!



Player Phase!




Time to wrap this up; first off, we’ll weaken Adette a little bit and get her closer to 3k HP.



Now, Rand could take her down without a problem but he’s a bit far away; so, we’re gonna have to kill her using Gainer while taking a Support Attack from Gain.
One thing to note: a unit that’s BELOW the main attacker can’t Support Attack, which means Gain needs Gainer to be on the ground so he can do it – to do that, we select the “ground” option on the menu to make King Gainer touch down.



With that done, we have Gain and Gainer use, respectively, Sense and Focus to make sure they hit and call the attack.
Now, I wanted to show off the Dynamic Finisher for Gain’s Black Southern Cross but, unfortunately, he’s 2 morale short.

















However, with the power of the Special Disk's Battle Viewer, I AM able to magic up the attack whenever needed.
The damage has to be set to fixed percentages but everything else is pretty much the same (except the UI, that is):

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



Skill Point Get!





Adette doesn't want to flee but sees only one way to take on a Gundam and Overman at once: send out Yassaba himself.
She promises to remember this and pay Gainer and the other back the next time.



With the guards beaten back for now, stage one of the Exodus is clear.
Garrod wonders how we’re going to quickly transport those huge residential units but Gauli has though ahead and prepared a Silhouette Mammoth ship called Bachclone to supplement the unit's minimal propulsion systems.
Gainer, Sara, Ana and the crew are now off on their big adventure with the Exodus...



Back in Wulgusk, Yassaba is VERY pissed off at this whole debacle.
They just allowed one of the largest Exodus ever to happen on their watch.
Kejinan insists that there was nothing they could’ve done – they weren’t expecting the Black Southern Cross to have help from THE HEAT and BLAZING MOBILE SUIT PILOT!
Plus, there was that Overman to make things worse.
Adette wonders if Duke Medayu may have been involved but he professed no knowledge that an Exodus was being planned.
He does have the good alibi that his daughter has been, well, kidnapped, which would imply that the people, along with their Exodus contractor allies, planned this ridiculous stunt themselves.



Yassaba says the plan is simple: find and slaughter all the Exodizers.
Kejinan and Enge think they won't be able to do this alone, seeing how there’s that giant robot and that Gundam escorting the residential unit. Yassaba tells the not to worry, though, as he’ll be going with his Rushrod.
Furthermore, Jaboli enters to say that the “help” Yassaba requested for the hunt has just arrived. With that done, he orders everyone to prepare for immediate departure.
Adette is glad Yassaba is shaping up to be the man she thought him to be. As he prepares to leave, he orders them to leave that dreadlocked Overman to him – he’ll personally destroy it with his Rushrod.


Location: Bachclone – Bridge



Our crew gets to meet the Five Wise Men, the instigators of the whole Exodus incident and Gain's direct employers. They are, in order: Gach Winge, Pelhar Pey, Citran Vie, and Manman Doutton.
Whispering to Mel, Rand thinks there’s no way he’ll remember all those names but she tells him not to worry – she’s writing it all down in the notebook.
Garrod notices there's only four of them, but they deliberately named themselves after the legendary five first Exodizers (of which Meeya was one).
Either way, Gain tells everyone that they've got to put as much distance between themselves and the Dome as possible ere the Siberia Railroad pursuers come. Manman seems surprised they would pursue them this far but Gain says that’s how the Siberian Rail works: no forgiveness for ANY Exodus as a matter of pride.



Gach knew this, though, which is why he gave Gain the task of kidnapping Ana.
Having the daughter of the Duke as a “hostage” would make the Siberian Rail pause for a small while and she agrees to accompany their Exodus as such.
Garrod wonders if the kid actually understands what's going on but Rand thinks this is actually better than if she were crying everyone’s ear off saying that she wanted to go home.
Well, Ana doesn’t think Rand’s a bad man and he admits that, if anything, the only “bad” part of him would be his head. Mel likes that he openly admits it, though!



Ana then starts wondering where’s Gainer, the guy who gave her a lift.
Gain figures he’d be at the Overman’s hangar and Mel offers to accompany her there. Ana accepts and leaves with her ferrets.
Rand wonders if it’s OK to let the princess roam around free but Gain is confident enough in Ana's attitude to think that it’ll be no problem, which suits Rand very well.
It's at about that moment that Gach reveals a major snag in this great Exodus plan and it’s not the looming threat of a Siberian Rail attack: the Bachclone's motor is due to give out any day now.
Having the Wandering Repairman on our team won't be much good if Siberian Rail forces and bandits get to attack the stationary vehicle unabated.



Rand will do what he can to effect repairs while our ragtag fleet lurches forward. Meanwhile, he’ll also put in a call to some old friends of his for additional pulling power.