Part 12: Mission 4 (Rand) - One’s Own Journey, One’s Own Circumstances

Mission 4 (Rand) – One’s Own Journey, One’s Own Circumstances



Outside, Rand has called everyone else to deploy and, when questioned by Gauli if he’s sure the enemy’s coming, Rand says it’s what his “instinct” telling him.
Gainer offers a more concrete explanation: Yassaba's infiltration must mean the rest of his force will show up to finish the job amidst the confusion. Rand says Gainer took the words out of his mouth and, inwardly, Sara can't tell if Rand is brilliant or a complete moron.





The enemy soon arrives, comprised of the same Siberian and Breaker forces as before.
Gauli, Sara and Bello are going to be fighting as a squad from here on out and, in case Bello forgot, Gauli offers a chance to see a tutorial on it (which I’ll skip and explain later). Regardless, Jiron and the others won’t be helping for now while they’re dealing with Yassaba – it’s up to us to hold the fort.
Hola is on board with Kejinan’s plan and reminds Geraba that, if they win today, they’ll be very well rewarded by the new captain of the guard. Geraba agrees, calling Hola “bro” again, and Hola can’t even chew him on it since his landship was too trashed to be salvaged (ergo, he’s no longer able to call himself captain).
At least this battle is his big chance at a brand new start in life.

• Mission Objective: All enemies shot down
  
• Any allied unit shot down
  
• Skill Point: ???

Only a bunch of Breakers ahead of us – Hola and Geraba are hanging back in those trios of units down south.
This is the point where the game starts trying to blindside you with its skill points – keeping them hidden for a while but still having a tight-ish timer for you to meet; so, I’ll just give a warning: this mission needs to end by the start of turn 5 or you’ll lose this point.
Before anything, though, a tutorial!



Now that we have our first squad, the Formation option shows up in their menu.



In that menu, there are three formations you can have your squad assume (you can also switch it before attacking but only if it’s the player’s turn).
Each one has something they excel in, so let’s take a look. In order, they are:

• TRI Formation – allows usage of TRI attacks and every unit has one of these. It can use either ammo or EN but it’s never free; TRI attacks hits the entire enemy squad with full damage on all enemies (damage is calculated from the average power of all squaddies’ TRI attack power).
  The main problem of this formation is that it doesn’t spread shields and, if you’re not using a TRI attack, only the leader can attack an enemy but it’s a very useful formation when faced against enemy squads – your squadmates can also support defend the leader.
  
  
• Center Formation – the classic Alpha-style formation. The leader and his squadmates attack in sequence – the kicker is that the squaddies can only attack with their PLA(Platoon) attack and those aren’t very powerful (often, it’s the unit’s weakest attack); also, this is the only formation that spreads any squadmember's barrier (like Gainer's Photon Mat) around to the entire squad and it also allows the squaddies to support defend the leader.
  In my opinion, it’s the least useful formation but it can be useful if you’re trying to squeeze every bit of extra damage on an enemy (as in, you’re on a tight clock to kill a boss) and it IS the most defensive formation for the leader.
  
  
• Wide – the leader and squaddies spread out to attack their respective enemies in an opposing squad. If you’ve run out of TRI attacks to hit an enemy squad, this will allow you to spread damage around more evenly as ALL attacks (like Garrod’s Divider) suffer a damage penalty from the number of units being hit by the attack (-20/-40% if there are 2/3 enemies in the squad).
  Furthermore, it provides a defense and evasion boost to all units against ALL and TRI attacks while also giving a damage bonus to the squad leader but it does not allow for support defenses or the sharing of barriers.

I’ll have Garrod draw first blood but, sadly, he can only use his Vulcans and Dividers from that range and I’d rather not waste a lot of EN right at the start.



We’ll leave the kill to someone else; for now, Gainer guns for the other Trad.












These ones are made of sturdier stuff than most (they’re better than ours!!) but they’re still Trads.



There are no enemy squads on this mission and the bosses are far away, so I’ll be using Center Formation for now.



: Sara, Bello! The key to fighting in formation is for all three people to act as one!
: Got it, Captain! We’ll show the Siberian Rail just what the Gauli Squad can do!
: Alright! I’m all pumped up!
: Gauli Squad - CHARGE!
: Yeah!













Gauli didn’t even need to attack.




Finally, Rand tosses a wrench and blows up the other Trad.



Enemy Phase!




Pretty much everything outside of Geraba, Hola and his two Promeus attack Gainer and eat a critical hit in the counterattack (the Skill stat boosts the pilot’s crit ratio and Gainer has all that video-gaming skill).
Of course, these are the tougher Walker Machines so they all survive –we’re making good time on the skill point, though.



Player Phase!



This here Dagger is the only one that didn’t attack, so Rand will have words with him.
















That had a 90% chance to hit, FYI. Rand is so lucky…







Garrod cuts one of the Capricos to ribbons and, following that, Gainer moves forward and finishes Rand’s job.



Geraba’s ALL attack had a nice hit % against Sara and Bello, so I had them switch to Wide Formation.
















Seeing all units pull evasive maneuvers together is pretty cool.



Enemy Phase!




The weakened Caprico goes after Gauli and pays for it.



Rand is starting to wonder where Gain is. If this fight lasts much longer, things could turn sour…



Inside the Iron Gear, Eifa of all people has rescued the fleeing Yassaba and helped him get to the hangar, where he plans on stealing a mech to make his getaway.
Yassaba apologizes for needing her help to get over here and wonders if she’ll be fine, hiding someone like him – a soldier of the Siberian Rail who’s trying to stop the Exodus.
Eifa sees him as a fundamentally good person, though, noting that those who let themselves be led are far worse than the leader. When he finds out that she's a fortune teller (though, in her words, not a very good one), he asks her to tell his fortune.

Of course, to do that she needs information and asks for his birthday and, normally, that piece of info would be top secret but he makes an exception here and whispers it to her, though he tells Eifa to ask his mother if she needs the exact time of his birth.
He was only raised by his mother as, from what he heard, his father had joined an Exodus long before he was born.
Yassaba figures his whole situation is laughable - he, a commander of the Siberian Rail was abandoned by his father who wanted to go on an Exodus – which is why he can’t forgive anyone who wants to follow the same path.



As for Eifa's parents, they both died long ago, and her current boss is given to beating her for her poor earnings as a fortune-teller.
Yassaba would love to teach that boss a lesson or several, but Eifa has no other way to stay as part of the Exodus. Her biggest wish is to return to the Indus valley, where her distant ancestors dwelt, and after some thought Yassaba says he'll take care of everything.
Gain, lurking in the shadows, heard it all and isn't buying it, though; he orders Yassaba to hand over the kid peacefully and he won’t be killed.



Jiron is also present and is very angry that a Siberian soldier would sink as low as to take a child hostage.
Yassaba tries to explain but a Photon Mat noise is heard nearby, indicating that Overman has entered the Iron Gear and this gives Yassaba a chance to escape.
Eifa shouts his fortune after him: "The path will open amidst an impasse”. Yassaba tells Eifa to come with him and he'll take her to Indus or wherever she wants, which she does.
Chil and Rag don’t understand why the kid willingly went with him and Gain leads the others in hot pursuit.





The Iron Gear joins everyone on the field and, when asked by Rand, Elchi says Gain, Jiron and the others should already have taken care of the Siberian commander.
However, Cotsett informs that there seems to be a bit of a mess going on in the hangar…





That’d be because the Rushrod has just left the place, surprising Sara to see a Siberian Rail mech inside it.
Gauli realizes that they took advantage of our battle against the Breakers to get Yassaba out of there.





Gain and the others are following but Yassaba is already being taken away, with Kejinan controlling the Rushrod.
However, Kejinan isn’t about to just let things go back to normal – he figures it’d be very simple for Yassaba to have been killed in a failed infiltration. Once he brings back his corpse, both the position of commander and Rushrod will be his!
Yassaba asks him to wait as he always carries a lot of money with him and he can give him it all – enough to even buy an entire house.
Furthermore, he promises to never show up again if he lets him and the girl leave in peace.



That works for Kejinan, who opens the cockpit and orders Yassaba to toss the money inside.
It’s a whole lot of cash, all to cover random expenses during missions. However, during his drooling, Yassaba throws the money in the air and Kejinan, in panic, starts jumping all over the place to grab whatever he can.





He’s interrupted, though, when Rag, Burume and Dyke notice that “the Overman is giving out money” and drop-kick Kejinan away from their bounty.
That’s all the opening Yassaba needs and he seizes control of his Overman back. Kejinan mopes at the loss of “his” Overman, prompting Yassaba to order him to remember who it actually belongs to – Overmen can only be used by strong men!





The remaining Siberian troops soon arrive and notice that Kejinan’s little coup didn’t work.
Yassaba is just about ready to kill Kejinan for his betrayal but he accuses Hola of being the mastermind behind the whole thing. Hola says it was Kejinan who told him to keep us busy while he killed Yassaba.
Yassaba tells them both to shut up and fight as if their lives depended on it – because it does.

: I don’t get what's going on but it looks like everyone’s here now…!
: Both sides are throwing everything they have at this, eh…?
: That’s right! Dreadlocked Overman, Black Southern Cross, Gundam, The Crusher, Gauli Squad and Breakers! I’ll take on every single one of you!!
: Mister…
: Close your eyes for a bit, missy. It’ll be over soon.
: Y-yes…
: I’ll do this…! I will!! I’ll defeat anyone who gets in my way and prove my strength!!
: My path will open amidst this impasse!!
: Well, if you're looking for a fight, you got one!
: Siberian Railroad…! Let’s end this!



Here’s the skill point: destroy everything then destroy Yassaba by the start of turn 5.




It’s still the enemy’s phase and the other weakened Dagger also gets wrecked once he attacks Gauli.



One of Hola’s Promeus tries sniping at Gainer but he can, at least, fire back from that range.












Not very powerful but any damage helps.




The second Promeus is forced to come closer to Gainer before attacking, so he takes a bit more damage.
Amazingly, he gets a 17% hit to stick but, after considering the Walker Machines’ weakness against airborne enemies and having part of the damage blocked by the Photon Mat barrier, the overall damage is almost nothing.



Here goes Geraba…



: The Crusher! You’ll be the one that gets crushed today!!
: You always try to piss me off but that ends here…! Open up those ears and listen!
: My name is THE HEAT! If you don’t get that, I’m gonna turn you into scrap!
: Shut up! It’s because of stuff like that why you’re called The Crusher!












Daaaamn, Rand! I guess we know where Doc’s RNG luck went.




Sadly, Rand’s lucky streak ends with Hola but he strikes a nice hit in return.



The newly-arrived Siberian troops start moving in.
















Fucking 60 HP left…the next Dogozzo that attacked him also survived with 48.




Enge gets some decent numbers but misses – Garrod doesn’t want him feeling bad and mucks up an 82% hit…



As expected, Yassaba goes straight after Gainer who doesn’t have Focus cast.
So, I figure it’s safer just to have him dodge.



: Dreadlocked Overman! Defeating you will prove my strength!
: That’s your motive? I'm not just a stepping stone for you!
: Silence! The Exodus people and you vermin who got in my way, all of you will fall by my hand!!








Gonna have to do better than that, Yassaba.



Player Phase!




The Iron Gear isn’t in range to do anything but Gain is just close enough to take a (weak) shot.



Rag, Burume and Dyke have also been set as a squad; I set them on Center Formation and send them right after Jaboli.


















Once again, the Trad’s suckiness stops us from getting a kill.




It falls on Jiron to finish the job.



Jaboli isn’t willing to die in the middle of the Siberian boondocks and quickly ejects.
Sara says everyone here feels the same, which is why they’re doing this Exodus. Gain tells her to stop, though, saying that, to the Siberian Rail, the people of the domes are merely there to work and give them money.



Garrod should be able to take out Geraba from over here.



: You! The Gundam brat! I’ll be taking that unit today!
: There’s no point in fighting me and my GX with that half-baked attitude!
: As that fortune-teller said, I’ll be seeing Tifa again! No way I'm losing here!






Bye.



Geraba can only complain that, even after coming to Siberia, this is still how things play out for them.
Garrod is a bit surprised that the “old man” was crying for a second there and Rand feels sorry for him – unlike Zora, crying like that in here is a sure-fire way to turn your runny nose into an icicle!





The Gauli squad switches back to Center and gangs up on one of the Promeus.
Unfortunately, they’re still crummy Panthers and leave the target barely alive – he promptly smacks Gauli with a crit.



I figured this would be a good moment to show Rand’s repair function. Just stand next to the unit and it gets healed by a pretty decent amount (it can also be self-used, if needed).




Gainer softens Hola up a wee bit more and he should be killed when he attacks.



Enemy Phase!




The farthest Promeus tries tagging Gauli but, outside of Hola’s command aura, his numbers don’t even get close.
As for the other, Gauli gets his revenge on him.



This has the added effect of getting Gainer’s OverSkill running.



Hmmm, Hola decided to snipe his nemesis. The numbers aren’t the best but, hopefully, Rand’s luck has rubbed off on his buddies.
















Yeah!



All Hola can do before exploding is resorting to the old bad guy standard of promising to come back and get revenge.
If anything, Elchi is impressed that he always sticks around until the last second to deliver that speech. Makes sense to Jiron, seeing how Hola’s lost so many times that he’s sort-of become a master at this sort of thing.



Two of the Siberian mooks have decided to attack the Iron Gear but those Accuracy upgrades will come through.












Two kills for Elchi!



King Gainer is attacked by the last full health mook and I forgot to take a look at what attack he was using.
















Oh, well. We’ll just have to end this before EN becomes a concern!




Jiron’s Prevail is boosting evasion a bit, allowing him to escape Enge’s attack.



Kejinan is gunning for Rag and, just in case, I have Dyke ready a support defend (looking back, this was a dangerous move as we lose if ANYONE gets wrecked and there are some people with ALL attacks on the field).
















It’s not necessary, though, as Rag dodges and his Kejinan back nicely.




Yassaba wastes his move by going, again, after Gainer.



Player Phase!



I reckon this’ll be a good chance to show off a TRI attack.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pLKnfmX-cE
That’s as strong as you’ll get when dealing with Panthers; also, because they’re an actual squad, the Gauli Squad has a unique TRI attack.
There are only a handful of other unique teams like this.




Gainer takes away what’s left of Enge’s HP.



He cries out to Yassaba, saying that he was fooled by Kejinan’s words and begs him not to demote him as punishment.
Kejinan gets pissed at Enge selling him out like that and knows that he needs to bring a victory if he wants to keep his life.



Let’s do something about that – the Iron Gear has enough morale to Goomba stomp the shit out of him.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuhhsJZSsc
“HAHAHA! This is an anime!”



Kejinan knows that, even if he ejects, Yassaba’s going to kill him anyway.
He figures his only chance is if Yassaba never comes back and begs Yapan’s folk to take him out.



Yassaba’s Bellows are ALL targeting and I really don’t want to fail the mission because a Trad got wrecked.
So, I have Rag switch to Wide Formation and get to work.



: We're dealing with a commander of the Siberian Rail here! I reckon taking him out'll give us a nice bonus!!
: Argh! Damn these greedy hicks!
: And what’s wrong with that?! We fight for money…and for our lives!
: Someone from the Siberian Rail, who only thinks about stealing other people’s money, has no right to say jack!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U_lofiSRgI
I reckon I’ll show this attack off just to cover my bases.



Gain’s “Brunhilde’s Arm” attack isn’t the best against aerial enemies but he doesn’t have enough morale to snipe.



: It seems things are quite different now, Yassaba Jin.
: Black Southern Cross! You overheard my talk with her?!
: …Still, I can’t offer any mercy. As a contractor, I must have this Exodus succeed!
: I won’t let you! My spirit and my pride are on the line!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c_leXGbdo
Even if the damage is shit, the attack looks cool when used against aerial enemies!




We still need to take out one last Siberian mook before finishing off Yassaba and the job falls on Garrod.



Now, go get ‘im, Jiron!



: Outta my way, Breaker! If you don’t, I’ll just smash you up!!
: No way! I won’t let you walk by just like that!!
: Damn it, how much did they pay you?! It’s not worth throwing your life for some money!
: Sure…I was hired to fight you.
: But I really don’t feel like turning a blind eye to the Siberian Rail's shenanigans! That’s why I’m fighting with all I’ve got!
: In that case, I won’t go easy on you! You’d best not regret this later, Breaker!!
: UOOOOOH! I'm going on an Exodus too!


















Jiron took a bit more damage than expected but we’re good.



Time to fix the shit out of this Overman!
















“AAAADEEEETTE! DON’T LOOOOOOOOOOK…!”



Yassaba drops an Anti-Dust Module (防塵装置) – this is our first terrain adapter and it’ll give a rating of S to the equipped unit in the specified terrain (this one is for Ground).



Rand gains a level and learns Iron Wall(鉄壁) which reduces, for an entire turn, all incoming damage to 1/4th.







The Rushrod can’t fight any longer and, with the leader defeated, our victory is now secured.
Yassaba, however, refuses to admit his weakness and wants to continue fighting. Eifa asks if he can’t stop time and Yassaba, now tearing up, says he’ll stop this entire reality!
She pleads with him to stop and go home, but he no longer has anywhere to go home to. In that case, it should be fine for him to come on an Exodus with her, no?
Indus has these really huge rivers, with bathing elephants and rhinos. Her hometown should also be there.
Yassaba seems taken with the idea and starts moving his shambling Overman out of the battlefield…



His continued movement takes Elchi by surprise and Burume wants to finish him off when Gain stops them, saying that he still has that “hostage” aboard – plus, he no longer has the strength to be a threat to us.





Yassaba and Eifa leave, and Rand wonders if that wasn’t a bit naïve of Gain – which Gain admits may have been the case.
Gainer asks if he let them escape on purpose and Gain says he didn’t have the heart to make that little girl cry – Gainer doesn’t understand it, though. Rand says they weren’t on the enemy’s side anymore but that still doesn’t satisfy the kid.
Regardless, the battle is won and, once again, Sara calls for “three cheers” to celebrate but Gainer is too deep in thought to be able to join in.



Back inside the Iron Gear, Sara notices Gainer’s conundrum – still unable to understand Gain’s actions.
He knows Yassaba had a hostage but wonders why Gain didn’t try to get her back. Burume points out that it seemed like the girl was going with Yassaba on her own free will.
Jiron wonders if Gainer thinks Yassaba is really deserving of death but he says that’s not what he meant, and asks why Jiron’s taking the side of the Siberian Rail soldier.

Jiron says that, while he DOES have a problem with the way the Siberian Rail does things, he does not have a problem with Yassaba himself.
He knew Yassaba was an enemy of anyone who tried to do an Exodus but, after hearing what he went through in life, he couldn’t bring himself to hate him. Sara asks if he sympathized with Yassaba’s upbringing but that’s not it – he just thought that, in a way, Yassaba wasn’t so different from us.
Besides, the fight was already over so there was no reason to kill him.



Gainer is STILL unconvinced, though Rag figures, since it’s Jiron doing the explanation, he shouldn’t even try to understand.
The other Sandrats recommend that Gainer not try to filter everything in life through some sort of rationalization and try to relax. The discussion is interrupted when Cotsett orders them out of the hangar so he can start fixing their machines – Rand offers to help in order to offset the number of units he helped wreck today.
Jiron is also leaving, saying his head starts feeling heavy when he starts thinking so much.



Gainer mumbles about how Jiron talks like things are so simple and Mamadou muses about how tough the Sandrats are.
Rand says that the force of will behind the decisions they make, either through reason or through emotion, is their greatest asset. He explains that that's how that crew lived through the fall of the Innocent, which all started from Jiron breaking the Three Day Rule.
At the time, a breach of Innocent law was unthinkable... but Jiron had parents to avenge, and the more people came in contact with him, the more people realized that the Innocents' rules were totally meaningless.
The crusade to topple the Innocent might have claimed Jiron as its figurehead, but he certainly didn't start it deliberately. What Jiron did do over the course of the crusade was learn how to think certain things through, and Gainer asks if Rand also believes Yassaba should have been let off.



Rand offers this: "hate the sin, not the sinner".
This vague answer makes Gainer sigh, figuring it was a mistake to ask him. Mamadou chips in that Yassaba is basically a victim of the Exodus system, which in its turn claims human lives.
Lives like Charles – that is, Gain's - own parents...



Rand has heard the story and goes looking for Gain, aka Charles Felibe, scion of the Felibe duchy in Domepolis Ubbs.
Said Dome tried and failed to do an Exodus, and this is how the first son ended up: an Exodus contractor. Rand says Mamadou told them the whole story as a way to explain to Gainer why Yassaba was allowed to live.
Gain isn't surprised Gainer isn't satisfied with the explanations he's been given, though, and notes that both he and Rand are on journeys forced by someone else.
But hey, live as long as they have, and you're bound to have a scar or two.



Neither is sure if Yassaba can actually pull of Exodus, but they're willing to lift a glass or two in honor of the attempt.
This may be their only chance to go get genuinely drunk as adults, and not worry about looking after the kids...



Elsewhere in Siberia, Yassaba and Eifa are well under way though Rushrod’s cockpit hatch has been completely busted.
Eifa is fine with it, though, thinking it’s best the enjoy the cold climate while it lasts – Indus’ summer is certainly warmer than this.
Yassaba is committed to getting to their destination (preferably, before going numb).