Part 130: Mission 34 (Rand - Renton Route) - Strange Contact
Mission 34 (Renton Route) - Strange Contact
A bunch of Chiram troops approach, led by Robert. Olson ordered them all to be on standby so he demands an explanation for this obvious disobedience of a superior officer.
Robert would also like an explanation for what Olson is doing as contacting the man they’re supposed to kill is a major violation of army regulations. Olson tries pulling rank to get them to retreat but Robert’s decided he’s obviously a traitor an opts to eliminate these two unnecessary Singularities in one go.
As they start shooting, Olson tells Kei to run while he backs him up with his Nikick but there isn’t much either of them can do under the Chiram’s bombardment.
However…
: BIG O! SHOWTIME!!
He’s baaaaaaaaaack (and we’ve brought not-Queen to welcome him)!
: The Big O! That you, Mr. Negotiator?
: I did say I would guarantee your safety. Considering that promise, I’ve a duty to abide to it until the end.
: Blasted giant! Are you actually thinking of getting in our way?!
: I merely want to be faithful to my professional obligations.: As for you unfair gentlemen, you’ll become VERY aware of just how foolish your methods are.
: Charge, Henry! We’ll dispose of both the Singularities and this meddler!: Understood! All units, attack!: You leave me no choice if you’ll disregard my warning! I shall take up the gauntlet!
: BIG O! ACTION!!
: Kei, you have to run! I’ll stay and do whatever I can!
: Alright but you better not die, Olson!
Mission Objective: Shoot down Robert’s Ishkick Commander
Mission Failure: Any allied unit shot down
Skill Point: Clear the map within 6 turns
An easy skill point, especially if you know what’s coming. Keep in mind that stuff will start to happen after you either kill two Chiram or get into a fight with Robert so, the sooner you pull that off, the better.
I actually lucked out because I forgot to unequip Big O’s parts for all this time, so he’s already packing an A-Adaptor, Apogee Motor and High Spec Radar all of which will help out immensely in speeding up the process.
If Roger isn’t equipped with anything that allows him to hit aerial targets, try to position yourself in a way that’ll allow him to Chrom Buster the two nearby Ishfons and that should be more than enough to kill them.
Try to get those two down within this first turn, to maximize the leeway you have.
Since I CAN punch them, though, I move Roger up front and wait.
Enemy Phase!
And here we go…
After taking fuck-all for damage, Roger pulls Big O upward by hooking onto this S-sized Ishfon in order to uppercut it. Average stuff.
Still, I guess the RNG took pity after the AI screwed me over last mission and made both attacks crit, resulting in two very dead mooks.
Olson and Atena quickly join the fray in their Nikicks, with Olson ready to punish their subordinates' insubordination.
Robert isn’t very willing to comply with a traitor’s orders and, without a choice, Olson orders Atena to head to HQ ahead of him. She refuses the order, though, and asks to watch her “uncle’s” back. Olson apologizes and accepts her offer.
Kei joins them soon after, eager to help his buddy – the Orguss was nearby and there are also quite a few things he wants to talk to Olson about. Kei was never the type to run away when told to, too.
Olson calls Roger and apologizes for getting him in trouble but asks for his help.
Roger tells him not to worry as this is all within the scope of the job he was hired for and Kei’s quite impressed with his sense of duty. Back to Robert, he’s glad Kei came back as it gives him the chance to wrap this all up in one go.
That ain’t gonna fly with Kei and he calls Olson to give the Chiram an idea of what the two aces of the Bronco squad can do!
The other Chiram mooks start coming over while Henry and Robert stay put.
Player Phase!
Robert isn’t amused at how long this taking despite their superior numbers but, as Roger points out, that advantage is just about to go out the window: the rest of our team has just arrived.
Kei’s quick to ask what took them so long but Gain protests that he’s the one who told us to keep away. Furthermore, Chil doesn’t appreciate his lip after how quickly we scrambled to get here once we noticed the combat!
Indeed, Jiron’s about to have everyone turn around when Kei apologizes and asks us to lend a hand. He quickly mentions that those two other Chiram Devices are with him, so we don’t need to worry about them.
Rand has a laugh at how Roger’s still always finding himself getting dragged into brawls and the man merely sighs that, more often than not in this world, there are situations where doing so is inevitable. Rand knows that feel, sighing that he hasn’t been doing much repairing nowadays either.
As Mel gives them a verbal pat on the head, Kei’ll be depending on everyone to make sure they all leave here in one piece.
Alright, now for the next part of smashing this skill point: Kei, Olson and Atena are more than capable of dealing with all the Chiram rather quickly, so we’ll be sending our new troops northward – this is especially important with Roger (he should climb the mountains nearby and start heading towards the NW corner).
Kei will be leading the charge.
Very easy.
Atena leaves another Ishkick barely hanging, so Olson tags in to finish the job.
Boosh.
There are a few Chiram close enough for our group to contribute against. Normally, I wouldn’t care to show off an uninteresting attack but…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ribiN4s65VA
I believe Pala might have the most bounce-tastic cutin in the game, beating even Setsuko.
Meanwhile, Löwen also takes the time to down another Ishkick.
Enemy Phase!
Only attack is this one Chiram who barely survives Atena’s hit – Robert and Henry are coming after the Orguss team but, were our main group closer, Robert would’ve actually gone for whatever’s closer.
Player Phase!
I could go for Henry but, honestly, he’s not carrying anything and is hardly worth the effort. Let’s take Robert down to get the plot going.
: Emaanian Singularity! Now that the order to exterminate you has been given, I needn’t hold back any longer!: I don’t care if it’s “capture” or “exterminate”! You guys can’t just go doing whatever you want with others!
: No way in hell I’m leaving the dimensional repair in the hands of folks like that!
: Lass, don’t even think the likes of you stand a chance against a veteran!
: I’ve been trained in all aspects of the art of war by the MajGen.! No foe will best me!!
Ergh…maybe with a bit more training…(that was an 80% chance to hit)
: At last, the day where I’ve legitimate excuse to get rid of you has arrived!: Someone who deployed troops against orders has no right to speak of legitimacy!: And, yet, you shouldn’t count on being able to defeat me easily!
He says, as he’s easily defeated. Still, he gives us a cheap Hybrid Armor for our troubles.
Robert’s too tenacious to admit defeat but he quickly pings something else coming and, in anger, orders the retreat; he does make it a point to tell Olson that he’ll report all his doings to high-command, so he better prepare to face the music!
Atena figures the guy has a rather personal grudge with Olson and Kei quickly tries getting in touch with her. Pala tells him to hit on the girl later as more troops are on our doorstep!
“Hear me, Black Southern Cross! I’VE COME TO SETTLE ACCOUNTS WITH YOU!!” says Asuham, leading a mixed posse of Breakers and Siberian troops.
Gain’s rather surprised to see him here and guesses, correctly, that he was fired from the Saint Reagan and got picked up by the Siberian Rail. Indeed, Asuham has forsaken both his position and status all for the sake of destroying him!
He also forced Zakki and some other troops to come along but they’re certainly not as gung-ho as he is to tangle with us. When Pala asks, Garrod quickly gives her the rundown of Gain and Asuham’s “rivalry” but Rand quickly notices that Asuham isn’t the only one with a vendetta here.
Hola is here, proudly declaring that today’s the end of the road for Jiron which makes the guy sigh that Hola always says that whenever they meet – talk about a one-track mind. Greta’s also present, though, and she also has a beef with him.
Geraba’s much more focused on THE CRUSHER AND BLAZING MOBILE SUIT PILOT, though Rand’s no longer so annoyed at being called that. Still, it impresses Garrod that they all came all the way from Galia just to chase after us and Asuham offers to explain what’s what.
President Kids is very pissed with us helping that Exodus succeed and decided to have us destroyed as a matter of honor for the Siberian Rail. Thus, he hired Asuham and co. to make an example out of us to anyone else who’d dare oppose them.
Seems to Roger like they’ve all chosen this spot to have their definitive battle but there’s another matter that requires his attention…
: Quit posturing, crow boy!
: What is that?!
: A super car, trailer and construction vehicle?!
: FINAL TOGETHER!
: BECK THE GREAT RX3 HAS…ARRIVED!!
: It worked! 
: We’re so cool, bro!
: They combined…!
: Wow! It’s just like the Zambot, Getter and Baldios!
: AHAHA, crow boy! To think I’d bump into you while working with Asuham! : What luck! I’m so happy I brought my Beck the Great RX3 along for the ride!: Hm. I take it that’s your new toy, Beck?: Heh… You’ll see how much of a toy it is real soon!: This baby’s the embodiment of both my brilliant intellect and the technology of Yoshifura-Yakamoto Industries! Play around with it and you’re gonna get seriously burned!
: Gain…and ZEUTH! There are no tricks today! : I will end you all fair and square!!
: Good on you, Asuham! I’ll play your game, in deference to that sportsmanship!: Olson, there’s no turning back now – you’re gonna have to help us, too!
: Heh…Kei, I’m already more than used to you getting me in trouble.
: (He looks so happy…that’s the first time I’ve seen him like that…)
: Time for your guts and our anger to throw down! We’re going hog-wild today!!
: Fine! If you wanna wrap this all up, then we’re up for it!: Psych yourselves up! This here’s gonna be the climactic battle!: Crushing a hoodlum like you is starting to feel like an exercise in futility. 
: BEHOLD OUR RAGE AND OUR PRIDE! ATTACK!!Aah, nothing like Asuham and Beck to turn us around from our Eureka 7-induced gloom.
Now, you need to shoot down only Asuham, Hola, Greta and Beck to wrap this up but we have three turns and that’s more than enough to deal with everything.
Furthermore, there’s on added bit you should be mindful of:
Secret Alert!- Have Roger fight Beck and both MUST survive the encounter.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at BECK THE GREAT RX3!
Beck The Great RX3 (Jason Beck, T-Bone, Dav)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L5
- Counter L4
- Morale+ (Damage)
- E-Save
- B-Save
- Very Lucky
Beck’s Voice Actor: Houchu Ohtsuka (other known works: Gates in Full Metal Panic, Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy(!), Chibodee in G Gundam and many, many others)
T-Bone’s Voice Actor: Keiichi Sonobe (other known works: Oliver Inoue in V Gundam, Randolph in One Piece and several others)
Dav’s Voice Actor: Mitsuo Senda (other known works: Dave McCartney in Golgo 13, Seiryu in Yu Yu Hakusho and a few others)
Beck and his new mech are…okay? It’s decently bulky, has a rather long-range ALL attack and is powerful-ish while also getting boosted by that leader bonus but, still, it won’t take much to bring it down if you bring people in.
Hell, Roger is more than capable of taking him on by himself (though not as easily as the original anime
)!
Löwen and Enil lead the charge, cutting a Galapagos down to size (while also eating a 15% hit…).
It falls on Gain to finish the job.
And there it goes.
Following that, Jiron and Rand deal with a Promeus.
There’s still Pala and Garrod, so they do whatever they can with this Government.
Not quite enough but he should be finished when he attacks.
Finally, Roger inches closer to Beck and finds the time to shave off around half of Geraba’s HP.
Enemy Phase!
Enil’s lower HP count draws the attention of three mooks but, thankfully, she manages to dodge while also nabbing a kill.
Garrod’s also attacked but only weakens his two targets.
Meanwhile, Greta’s going straight for Jiron.
: I’ll mash that melonhead of yours into jam, Jiron Amos!: Not gonna happen! And if you’ve time to hound me, you oughta be looking for some nice man instead!
: Well, you’re not half bad yourself. You do know how to push my buttons, after all!
: Th-that’s not what I meant!
Off to a good start here.
Aaaand here comes Geraba, trying to get a piece of Rand.
: Come’ere, THE BLAZING CRUSHERS! Time to get some payback for all you put me through!
: Yo, I get that you’re pissed but don’t ya go bunching our street-names together!
: We’re gonna pull the plug on your vendetta and send you and dear “bro” back to Galia quick-like!
Bah, fine. I’ll deal with you later.
And there’s Hola.
: Enough is enough, Hola. Aren’t you tired of chasing me around?
: Yeah, I am sick of seeing that melonhead of yours!
: That’s why I wanna kick your ass and end this in a hurry!: Where do you get off, chasing people around and getting all hyped about it?! That’s called being a pain! 
: But I’m also sick of your droopy eyes, so you’ll have your wish: we’ll put an end to this here and now!
Surprising that he’s so much dodgier than Greta considering how the Doran’s supposed to be a much more maneuverable mech.
Gain weakens a few Under Golems and Zakki while Asuham falls just short of being in range.
More importantly, though, Beck takes a few steps ahead and goes for Roger.
: Come on, crow boy! I put a whole lot of cash into this thing! It's more than a match to you in raw power!: It certainly seems like you invested heavily into it… However, it doesn’t have an ounce of aesthetic quality – as usual.: WHAT?! How can you not appreciate the glory of a combination?! Are you dead inside?!: My aesthetic sense is antagonistic to you. Since that is YOUR unit, I’m incapable of perceiving any beauty in it! : You smug sonuva…! I’ll smash that black body of yours to bits!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05dmJZGKX-k
YAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
: How do ya like them apples, Negotiator! You scared of the mighty Beck the Great RX3 yet?: I see… It’s certainly a bit better than all the rubbish you’ve used thus far.: However, before my Big O, it’s—*Wiiiiiioooooooooossssshhhh.*
: Urgh! What… something just poured into my mind…!: “O-Thunder”...”Plasma Gimmick”... Are these some sort of hidden weapons of the Big O?!
: Whuh?! Something’s happening with that Megadeus!: Has a portion of my memory returned…?: But, why? What caused this?: Could a new foe have emerged - one I've to use these weapons against…?: Hey, dumbass! You’re facing the amazing Beck! Quit mumblin’ to yourself!: You are severely lacking as Big O’s opponent... Still, why don’t you come and try your hand against its once-hidden strength! Well, that was interesting. Mind, if you don’t get these weapons now, you’ll get them as automatic events further ahead (on the other route, too).
Either way, these two are rather nice: O-Thunder has slightly less power than Chrom Buster and it's not ALL, but it costs 20 EN less and has longer range and crit chance.
Plasma Gimmick is a MAP attack that strikes everything in a 3x3 area (centered around Big O) for pretty good damage – problem is, it is not post-movement and costs 80 EN a pop, so I don’t tend to use it a whole lot.
Still, it’s good to have if the enemy bunches close enough.
Player Phase!
The next round, Charles and Renton come on the scene: Charles had just been trying to give Renton a demo of his Spearhead, but he's found himself a battle to participate in.
He notices Renton’s friends taking part of it and figures it’s all the more reason for them to help. When Renton asks, he sas there's no rule against mercs getting into fights just for the hell of it.
Besides, he wants to pay us back for our previous help. Renton seems a bit uneasy but Charles promises he’ll keep the kid’s presence in his KLF a secret.
So, Charles jumps right into the fray and announces his intentions – neither Rand, Jiron or anyone else plans on looking a gift horse in the mouth, either!
Charles likes our relaxed vibe but Renton’s not feeling so hot seeing us again.
Nice, things are even easier now. Next up, let’s take the time to show off Roger’s new MAP because we actually have three enemies in range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9Bbfenlv4
And there go two of them.
And now we start cleaning up the rest: Zakki’ll be the first to go.
And Garrod learns Prevail L6 as a bonus!
Zakki’s had enough of playing along with Asuham’s vendetta and decides to pull back before things get any worse. The boss man is rather miffed that it took so little to send him running for the hills.
Gain quickly says he’s making a big mistake if he thinks he can use people as tools for his agenda but Asuham yells that he alone is more than enough to destroy Gain!
We’ll put that to the test soon enough. Meanwhile, maybe Charles can help out with Greta.
: Alright, hang in there, boy! I’m shifting into high-gear for a bit!
: Y-yes…!: Music ain’t something you see, so you dance by feeling it with your body.: The Trapar’s the same thing: you don’t see it but you can ride by feeling it with your heart. Get it?: You ride…by feeling it…: Yup, so just follow your heart! In this world, the person having fun is always the real winner! 
: (Yeah…that was why I admired the Gekkostate and joined them…): (But, that wasn’t the only reason why I joined…): Well, you can think about it later, Renton! First off, we gotta straighten these folks out!
That’s pretty good!
And Jiron finishes the job with an assist from Gain.
By the by, I didn’t realize it at the time but Enil/Pala actually have lines for her:
: Here we go, girls! How about I give you an idea of the glamour of a mature woman!
: Nah, I’m gonna have to pass on that sort of lecture!
: Sorry to tell you this but chasing others over some baseless grudge is very unsightly.: Truth be told, I don’t care about getting revenge. I’m doing this just because fighting’s the key to preserving a lady’s beauty!: You might be fighting to hide your wrinkles but, to us, you’re just being a pain!
Greta yells that she can’t die here – not when she’s at the apex of her womanhood!
Indeed, so long as that remains, she’ll keep on fighting and promises to see us again.
Enil figures we could, at least, learn from her vitality and Garrod can only pray Tifa won’t end up like that when she’s older.
Defeating Greta causes all Breakers aside from Hola and Geraba to run off, too.
Speaking of, Pala takes a quick shot to weaken Geraba and Rand moves in to do the deed.
Hey, wouldn’t even have needed Pala’s help!
Geraba quickly apologizes to Hola and says he’ll be running off before he does – Hola’s not amused with the insinuation that he’ll also be losing.
Mel once again noticed the guy crying as he ran off and the sight of that always leaves Rand feeling a wee bit sad.
Only a few units left, so Löwen starts working on Asuham while Enil whiffs a 85% shot…
Might as well have Gain contribute to this effort.
: Gain Bijou, you’re all that matters to me now! FACE ME, MAN TO MAN!!
: I’d take a lady being this passionate any day…but not you. Asuham, your challenges have long since overstayed their welcome. : I’ve a lot going on right now, so let’s do it your way and put this to bed! 
Alright, sure.
Enemy Phase!
As Jiron and Hola trade blows, a suicidal Under Golem quickly learns the folly of attacking Roger.
This kill also triggers Gain’s OverSkill.
Another Under Golem and this one’s going for Löwen.
And there he goes.
Jiron kills the last Under Golem as it attacks, gaining a level in Support Attack, and Gain and Asuham trade blows.
Beck and Roger are still going at it and both are rather low on HP.
Player Phase!
A couple of hits from Charles and Olson cuts Hola’s HP nicely.
Gonna have Jiron finish him because Chil still has SP to cast Bless.
Good man.
Hola’s livid that he lost AGAIN and asks why: Jiron’s answer is that he needs to get a better understanding of his skill and the tools he uses. Hola doesn’t buy it, figuring a stronger mech is all he needs to win.
And, indeed, Hola says they’re setting up a mech that will knock Jiron’s socks off – just he wait!
As Hola leaves, Chil wonders if they actually found something like that but Jiron figures we’ll deal with it if it comes to that. And we're just gonna have to keep slapping Hola around until he learns his lesson.
I was in a hurry now because of things, so the kiddie gloves quickly came off.
“I feel your pain, Gunleon…”
(Surprisingly, that was only 12k damage WITH valor)
Curse you, Gain!!
Asuham STILL isn’t strong enough to get his revenge and Gain suggests he give up – Karin wouldn’t like seeing him like this.
Nope, he’s still not listening: “I will return…WITH POWER YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND!!
Gain can only sigh at how serious to a fault the guy’s always been - it’s not a bad trait but he puts way too much stock in his (wrong) assumptions to make good use of it…
Fast-forward to Beck’s phase because I wanted to beat him like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIOPe1d9a4
“I will show you...the mysteries of the ORIENT!”
Beck’s equally frustrated that he can’t win no matter how many times he tries and Roger simply says that’s his fate – best for him to accept it with dignity.
Beck sniffs that the guy’s acting so smug just because he’s a Megadeus’ Dominus. Roger’s surprised he knows that word and, truth be told, Beck doesn’t know why he does – info on Roger and his Megadeus just suddenly popped into his head.
Either way, Beck vows to win next time and runs off, leaving Roger to ponder why one of Beck’s missing memories contains information about him.
Roger wonders what he and the Big O are. Perhaps the answers lay within that truth Schwarz spoke of…
With the battle over, Charles prepares to head back home and Gain thanks him for the assist.
Charles says it’s not necessary as he was merely paying us back and, actually, he figures he might still owe us considering the amazing “gift” he and Ray received from us. He won’t say what he means by that but hopes to meet us again sometime.
Olson and Atena are leaving too, and Kei quickly tries to get in touch with her. She figures Olson told her everything and warns him that she’ll never accept him as her father – not after what he did to her mother.
This saddens Kei no small amount, since even her little habits as a pilot mirror his own. Olson apologizes to his old friend, telling him that Atena's belief that Kei made her mother unhappy is the one thing he wasn't able to break her of in all these years.
Kei tells him it's not his fault, fessing up to not being anywhere near an ideal boyfriend for Tina.
Olson says that if he cares about Atena, he should consider his offer, but Kei says those are two separate matters – he’s not changing his mind.
Furthermore, he asks if Olson might not have lost sight of what’s truly important by getting all wrapped up in this “motherland” business?
Either way, Kei’s never been the sort screw other people over so long as he ends up OK, and remembers Olson was also that kind of person…5 years ago. Olson promises we’ll meet again and he’ll ask Kei again once that time arrives.
As he leaves, Jiron asks if it’s an old friend and Kei confirms, saying he’s also a great guy. Before long, however, Pala detects something else coming over.
It’s the Glomar and Shaia brings dire news: our main group is being attacked by a huge mob of Siberian troops!
Gain sees that Kids’ decided to hunt all of us down, not just this posse – it should still be an easy fight for us, though. Jiron isn’t sure as he just now realized that Timp and Kashmir weren’t present in this attack so it’s likely they’re there.
Furthermore, Shaia’s just received some info of a huge monster appearing and it’s making for a very tough fight for our people (You can say that again…).
Said monster is incredibly strong and it’s been said to be some sort of relic from the Black History.
The Glomar came here to bring us back to help with the battle and everyone quickly sets out to save our friends. Roger also offers to come along, saying there’s something he’s worried about and Gain won’t say no to extra firepower.
Inwardly, Roger remembers Angels words: can the truth she spoke of truly lie with said relic…
Back on the Chiram ship, Wesley confronts Olson with the report Robert filed.
Olson's got his own version of events, and requests suitable punishment for Robert's act of insubordination. Still, Wesley tells Olson that whatever else happened, the fact remains that he let a chance to eliminate the Singularity escape.
As such, he's been demoted to captain and ordered to return to the homeland at once, with the threat of immediate execution as a traitor should he refuse.
Olson promises to return, though he knows that what awaits him is likely a long stint in prison.
Still, he figures he’s no choice as Chiram remains his homeland. Still, he ponders, there might be ONE other option: perhaps Kei, every bit his old self, is actually treading the better path...
Quick heads-up here: the last mission of both paths makes mention of a whole lot of major events on the other side so, in the interest of minimizing spoilers, I’ll be switching to the other route now and will return to close this one after it’s all done.
By the way, for those interested, here’s the Beck The Great RX3 scene from the original show (dubbed because the original version had this big watermark).