Part 163: Mission 39 (Setsuko) - Raise The Flag
Setsuko Route Chapter 39
Last time on Super Robot Wars Z: That Awkward Moment when you have a small scale war over a misunderstanding. Oops.
Current Top Aces:
1. Setsuko - 134 Kills
2. Amuro - 104 Kills
3. Shinn - 93 Kills
4. Quattro - 87 Kills
5. Talia - 86 Kills
First, the Daitarn and Gaplant are brought up to speed.
Wow how did I miss upgrading the Chaos Leo all this time. With a few more upgrades and I'm set! All my units have 4 upgrades in their relevant stat.
Four's biggest strength is her bevy of Support Spirits, so she gets Level 6 SP-Up.
Banjou gets Will Limit Break and E Save.
Fury is a handy Spirit Command, if not pricy. WIth that and Accel I decide to get Joesph his own SP Ups. Tetsuya gets E-Save, for better ALL attack spamming.
Sayaka, Emma, Katz and Boss also get more SP.
Setsuko herself manages to be the first to get the max level of SP-Up. This gives her an extra 45 SP to work with. Without it she'd only have 86.
Toga hits Level 4 Prevail. Sochie and Maria get more SP as well.
With that finished, here's how the squads are this mission.
- Setsuko, Löwen, Katz
- Kamille, Four, Joesph
- Shinn, Luna, Rey
- Amuro, Gavane, Roberto
- Quattro, Emma, Loran
- Kouji, Tetsuya, Maria
- Toshiya, Fa, Athrun
- Toga, Boss, Apolly
- Kappei, Sochie, Jun
- Banjou, Sayaka, Miashey
You know, if I hadn't gotten Four then there's be one squad that couldn't be a full 3-unit squad! Kind of interesting, I guess that's better then having a single unit all alone unable to be deployed.
In the middle of the off-shift, Shinn bumps into Setsuko in the hangar.
She explains that she was doing some more simulations, as well as reviewing the footage from the Virgola's gun camera.
As for Shinn, well, he's just got a lot on his mind, and he guesses he was wandering around.
Setsuko tells him that means he definitely needs rest, but, well, she's the one training all the time.
Anyway, Shinn offers her a piece of hard candy, knowing she loves sweets above all.
Then he decides to take her advice after all and heads back to his quarters.
: (This candy is like putting a pebble in my mouth... but it does feel nice.)
Location: North Ameria – New Earth Federation HQ
Meanwhile, Dewey's Ageha soldiers report that the AFX has been armed with Orange and is at the planned altitude.
The local dimensional walls are looking solid, and that's exactly what Dewey wants.
The whole point of Orange is to make damage, because that's what'll bring the Scub out.
Do it enough, and they can locate the spot where their "core" touches our world.
The Agehas begin the countdown.
Dewey proclaims, "Let the war to save this world begin."
In the nearby town, citizens hear a piercing noise and see glowing rays falling from the sky.
As they fear a new form of alien attack, strange "clouds" begin to form...
The citizens begin to flee in panic, but they aren't fast enough...
" All of you watching this broadcast, I am Colonel Dewey Novak, commander of the New Earth Federation Ageha Squad."
: And I've come with a grave truth that you must hear.: The truth is not always pleasant. It can be painful, harsh, but we must accept it.
: Because it is, indeed, the truth!
Our people are also watching this and Eiji’s had it up to here with the Federation's shows, but adults like Quattro and Tetsuya can see Dewey's not like Bloodman.
He's determined, driven... but over what? He's not going to reveal more schemes of the Sage Council, surely?
That may be the best we can hope for, mutters Tetsuya.
No, what Dewey has for us is a video he wants the world to see.
: What you see here is footage of humanity's enemies, attacking a city some days ago.: Drink in the tragedy! This is what's befalling the world as we speak! No, it has not even only just begun!: The world has always lived under the threat of these mysterious organisms known as the Coralians!: The Sage Council knew this and kept it secret! And why?: Because they were afraid! Because they did not have the power to fight this threat!: Do we truly have no choice but to wait quietly for death at their hands?: I say no! I say we do not!: I am not like the old fools of the Sage Council, denying my powerlessness and keeping such grave secrets!: Again I say we have a choice! Our world will live on!: We will meet their might with our own! If our enemy's power is absolute, we will match it!: Power is how we will prevail through the war with the spacers and with our other enemies, including the aliens!: Humanity needs power to survive! The power to open up our future!: That is the purpose of the New Earth federation. And we have one ray of hope: the Ageha Squad...: And its magnificent goddess of war, Anemone!
: Hello!: It was not I who predicted this and created a group tasked with fighting the Coralians...: It was none other than the man who brought salvation to the Promised Land, now one part of this Multi-Dimensional World... the hero Adroc!: He knew the Coralians would attack, and left us the Ageha Project to bring us through it all!
: To all the world, I say that this is the truth, and I know it must come as a shock.: But on behalf of the Federation, I promise you there is a future.: Colonel Novak, the Ageha Squad, and the rest of the Federation will defeat all these threats and bring peace to this world!: It's time for humanity to unite! The New Earth Federation is the true shepherd of humanity, the light that will guide us on the right path!
Okay, so ignore Bloodman, but Dewey knows exactly what he's doing. That footage is going to get the masses off their seats.
A new threat, and a promise to save the people, and after toppling the Sage Council - they've solidified faith in the Federation. Kamille noticed Scirocco in the military staff accompanying Dewey, too.
Quattro knows Kamille's got his eye on the man, but he can't deny feeling his pressure on the battlefield.
It looks like he's climbed pretty far in the post-Council Federation. Kamille's hunch that he's behind ZEUTH's infighting seems stronger now.
And Bright now remembers that Holland was never a fan of the man named Dewey Novak. What's between them, and what does Holland know about the Coralians?
The hero Adroc that Dewey name-dropped in his speech was Renton's dad, too. Lots of connections, but no clear picture without answers on the Coralians themselves.
Unfortunately, we still can't find the other ZEUTH, apart from being sure they're still somewhere in North Ameria. They're probably hidden somewhere licking their wounds; we both took a lot of damage in that battle.
We need to join up with them soon - let's just hope they don't still have the wrong idea about us.
Saegusa has a report from Apolly, but not about the other team. They've spotted some kind of explosion in the sky just 50 km southwest.
They're asking for backup in case it’s an alien attack, and Amuro knows there's a bit of a town around there. It might be worth checking up on them.
Bright agrees, and we're moving out. Kamille may be shaken, but he's got to focus too.
But he can't stop thinking about the woman standing by Scirocco in that video, who looked like a secretary…no, it can't be who he's thinking of. She's not in the Federation, not anymore...
Chapter 39: Raise The Flag
This giant cloud was not here when Apolly was doing his scans. It must have just now come out of nowhere.
It is, however, definitely beneath wh ere he spotted the explosion, but there's no impact or crater anywhere.
So maybe whatever fell wasn't a weapon, muses Heizaemon - but then what was it?
Either way, the dimensional walls around the cloud are being distorted. It almost looks like the cloud itself was warped here. It's definitely worth a closer look, but...
As the ships move in, there's another huge disturbance centered right on the center of that cloud!
Coralians begin warping in and exiting the cloud, moving right for us. Bright orders all units to scramble!
We don't know what these things are, but they've been killing humans, so we're going to stop them lest things end like in that footage!
: You good to go, Athrun?
: Why shouldn't I be? I'm not one to let these monsters rampage.
: Yeah, guess you can tell it's not the time to mope around*.: What'd you say?: Keep it together. You're our captain, you know.
: That’s your way of trying to make him feel better, right?
: Well, s-sorry!
: ...thanks for worrying about me, Shinn. Sorry.: But I'm fine. Let's take out those monsters!
: Sir!*{Note that if you haven't been getting enough points for a particular Secret, Shinn instead says: "I thought you'd still be moping about me taking out the Freedom."}
Anyway, our goal here is not to let a single Coralian get past the edge of our combat zone or the nearby town’ll be in danger! We’re not soldiers like Dewey but we’re ready to meet anyone who attacks us head-on.
So this is an ineresting stage. It's a defense mission, effectively. If even a single Coralian reaches the South Edge of the stage it's a loss. The Battle Mastery... is to defeat 75 Coralians in 5 turns. This is surprisingly difficult.
Turn 1
Let's start with Setsuko.
: The Virgola's been acting up. What's going on?: Is it because of that giant cloud?
1 Coralian down
Now, the thing about Coralians is that, as enemies, they're moderately unique. They have mid to high HP, but terrible defense. So they're reasonably quick to defeat.
However, the biggest issue with them that's very dangerous is that they're very accurate. Probably the most accurate enemies you'll face. It should be noted that Ahtun has cast Focus, so they'd normally have 80% hit rates on him.
: Don't think about anything else... I have to focus to protect that city!
Great Job Athrun.
Nobody else can get in range, so I end my half of the turn here.
Amuro goes a bit better, mostly because he has all those levels of Newtype bolstering his evasion and he's Amuro Ray.
: What are these Coralians? Are they sapient?
: I feel... they're not individuals? They're a conglomerate of many minds?
There we go
The same applies to Kamille. Well, minus the part about him being Amuro Ray.
: What's this I'm feeling?: The closer I get the cloud, the more it threatens to draw my consciousness in...!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuUNRD3KZU
There we go.
2 Coralians down
Turn 2
3 Coralians down
I move up the King Beal.
I want to keep Kappei close because the Ion Cannon will be handy on the enemy phase.
: What the heck are these Coralians?
: Doesn't matter! They're attacking humans, so they're our enemies!
: Who cares what they are? We're gonna beat them up!
4 Coralians down
Bright and Talia send out a shot.
And I switch out Loran for a TRI.
: Why do we have to deal with these monsters?
: We already have the war, the aliens, and the dimensional collapse! What should we do?
5 Coralians down
Ready Banjou?
: The Sage Council was keeping the Coralians a secret...: And this Dewey is capable of eradicating them?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=337U_JprH_A
Toga's turn!
: Are... are they from space?
: I don't know, but they're definitely not friendly!
: Stay hot, Toga! We can't let a single one through or we're done!
: I know! We won't fail to defend that city!
6 Coralians down
Luckily, Coralians are fragile enough that using ALLs against them is handy even with their in Wide Formation. Honestly if they were in Center or TRI I bet some of my stronger ALL attackers like Setsuko or Tetsuya could oneshot entire squads.
: If we're fighting monsters, I don't have to hold back!
: Moving in! If I let a single one go, more people are going to die!
As is I'm doing a bunch of damage to the side members while shredding the leaders.
Like so
7 Coralians down
: Come on, you monsters! We're not going to let you keep attacking humans!
8 Coralians down
Darn it Löwen!
Well.... that's not good.
Beat it Amuro!
9 Coralians down
: Damn! Just lookin' at 'em hurts!
: Hurry, Toshiya! There's too many of them! One slip-up and they'll break our line!
: I know that! We won't leave a scrap of 'em left!
Next up the enemy phase!
11 Coralians down
Which gets SEED going.
16 Coralians down
One trick is to just not bother with the giant red ones. They have 17k HP and aren't in squads. Weaking/killing a squad with a TRI or ALL is far more efficent for this stage.
Turn 3
Things are looking a bit bad one may thing, I've barely gotten any kills and I'm more then half way through the limit. Plus some Coralians are slipping past. Well, there isn't that much of a worry, but ...
Soon, a squad of KLFs approaches from the north. Can we deal with this?
: We just came to check on the Coralians, but what are all these freaks doing here?
: That's ZEUTH, Anemone.: Then where's the END's look-alike, huh?: That's a different ZEUTH.Right, anyway, Bright and Jürgens, captain of the Ageha ship Izumo, have a chat. Bright says we’re in the middle of fighting the Coralians and have no intention of attacking this group.
One of Jürgens' crewmembers reminds him that we're a Class A threat, but he's helping us anyway; we may be at war, but what's going on here goes above all of us.
Dominic agrees and says he won't be telling Dewey. The Captain's in charge here.
: Huh? So I don't get to fight them?: We're here to observe and neutralize the Coralians, that's all. Okay, Anemone?
: Don't talk to me like that! Not after you left me to visit Bellforest!
: That was... I...
: So that's Anemone, the goddess of war, in the black KLF, huh?
: What a babe! I wouldn't mind if she yelled at me like that!
: Oh, not this again!
: Now, now, Anemone. You're a symbol of humanity's hope. They deserve to see you smile.: Well... yeah, I guess.
: You all heard them. Cooperate with the Ageha Squad and continue the assault on the Coralians.
: Let's do this, Anemone.: Alright, then! I'll show you what I can do!
Moving on, Katz uses Confuse.
Blow this one up before it gets to far Quattro.
: After all that, we have another threat to face!: As if they're responding to the Federation somehow...!
17 Coralians down
19 Coralians down
21 Coralians down
Starting to get to the critical point where I can wipe out a bunch of them.
And Kamille gets his sixth level of Counter!
Time to TRI another enemy squad.
There we go.
22 Coralians down
Screw it, Zeal Time.
23 Coralians down
Not one of the most dramatic uses of Zeal, but I'll take what I can get.
24 Coralians down
Why couldn't you do 123 more damage Toga?
Double TRI Action!
25 Coralians down
: There's more of them!
: They're coming from that cloud thing!
: So do we attack the cloud, or...?: We can't get near it without knowing anything about it... all we can do is keep fighting the little ones!: It's going to come down to whether they run out first or we run dry...
More Sacrifices!
26 Coralians down
Gavane gets Level 6 Prevail.
Tetsuya's turn!
: So our new enemies are monsters attacking humans by nature!: Then we don't have to hold back! Time for some extermination!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvnfyTitvwI
27 Coralians down
Enemy phase!
30 Coralians down
Holy crap Banjou just dodged a 96% hit rate. 31 Coralians down
And then Setsuko dodges 70% odds.
Luna of course makes sure the I know the RNG is still fickle by then failing to dodge 24% odds.
Then the KLFs start kill stealing.
They're kind of bad!
Maybe Anemone will do better.
: Dewey called me a goddess!: I've gotta live up to that! I'll rip through these things for Dewey!
Turn 4
Let's not have Setsuko die
I then count out the movement range of the Coralians over here to see if they're at risk of getting me a game over.
The yellow one's a threat so it goes down.
28 Coralians down
Same with this one.
29 Coralians down
30 Coralians down
Time to start busting out the Map attacks!
39 Coralians down
That gets Mazin Power.
40 Coralians down
Move Kamille out of the way...
Do a bit more softening up.
And MAP!
47 Coralians down
That's how it's done.
Which gets Talia the 5th level of Prevail. Since battleships have the highest HP of any unit type, I'd say that for Talia this is the point where Prevail starts to get useful for her.
49 Coralians down
Wide Formation damage reduction? What's that?
50 Coralians down
51 Coralians down
52 Coralians down
Here's an option I haven't had cause to show yet
What it does is show what turn your on, how many turns total you've taken throughout the entire game, the amount of money and Blue Stones you've earned this stage and total amount, whether or not you've gotten the Battle Mastery, how many player and enemy squads there are on the field, and of course how many kills you've gotten.
You can then go into another submenu to see how many kills each individual unit has gotten this stage
53 Coralians down
So I have one and a half more turns to get 22 Kills.
54 Coralians down
And Amuro gets Level 7 Newtype.
And more reinforcements spawn!
That's embarrassing.
: (Dewey's plan drew the Antibodies into this world...): (It may be to get rid of them once and for all, but the presence of the Antibodies means people will die.)
: (Is there really no other way? Or are sacrifices necessary to save the world?)
Holy crap he actually hit one.
57 Coralians down
Turn 5
First take care of this lingering one.
58 Coralians down
Little late on that Mazin Power Tetsuya.
64 Coralians down
Gooo Banjou!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Eq78NjoZg
65 Coralians down
Miashey gets more Prevail from that.
Maps for the Map God.
71 Coralians down
74 Coralians down
75 Coralians down.
ZEUTH is finally getting exhausted, and the Coralians don't seem to be letting up... we can’t pull back due to the town behind us, so do we have no choice but to fight until we’re downed?
Maybe not, as Julie notices something odd about the Coralians.
Right before they explode.
Banjou figures they simply ran out of energy. After all, what's the one thing that wasn't in the footage we saw?
Any report that they left, or that they were fought off. They must have simply reached some time limit, like these ones.
Unfortunately, right then, Setsuko feels like she's burning up!
It looks like that cloud is collapsing, accompanied by another dimensional distortion.
You know the thing about dimensional events - we've got to clear out as far and as fast as we can!
By the time we're back, Kazami is asking Julie to get him the Coralians' data on the double. Julie offers to help with whatever the project is, but Kazami is going it alone for the moment.
Have you noticed we haven't seen Kazami lately? Not since his outburst after the Chairman's speech. Rie explains that he's looking into the dimensional collapse on his own, trying to attack it with the power of science.
Minako wonders what's got him in such a hurry, though. Julie defends him, saying he's just gotten deep in his research.
And as the professor's apprentice, Julie doesn't mind, since he's feeling inspired himself.
Kouji wonders what the Coralians have to do with it. Julie's not sure, but they do seem to be accompanied by dimensional events.
Toshiya will gladly help collect the data if it'll help the professor do anything for the world, and he asks Rie to help out. And while we're rounding up the Coralians' data, maybe we'll find something that'll help us deal with the Coralians themselves.
"If Anemone is the Federation's secret weapon," says Toshiya proudly, "then the Professor is ours." He and Rie go off to do it.
Minako isn't a fan of Toshiya's and Rie's rapport. Sayaka and Maria both laugh that it's his choice. "Isn't that right, Kouji?"
It’s not easy being popular but, truth be told, Kiraken is rather jealous... regardless, Julie knows the world is headed towards a major crisis but has complete faith that the Professor will see humanity through.
Location: Galia – ZAFT’s Gibraltar Base
: ...you're saying that Dewey Novak has used miniaturized space-time oscillation bombs?
He calls them Oranges, I believe. They're nothing near a true space-time oscillation bomb, but they're powerful enough for the Coralians to feel beyond the dimensional walls.: Maybe, but the Federation has such dimensional technology? Don't be surprised. After all, I gave them all they have.: Is that part of your grand plan? ...you could say that. I'm fully aware that you don't fully trust me.: ... And that you've been advancing your own plans in the shadows of my schemes.: I am grateful that you informed about parallel universes and the dimensional phenomena. Well, I have certainly been repaid in full. Plant has very impressive technology, you know. I was surprised at what you produced from the ashes of the Bloody Valentine. The Neutron Stampeder, a device that forcibly accelerates nuclear reactions to detonate nuclear armaments. I have just the place in mind to put it to use. It will be a show, I assure you. My plans will be set in motion soon. You'll witness the next stage of technology beyond Colonel Dewey's little orange.: You mean those were failures? We must fail before we can succeed. If not, the world would be a boring place indeed.: Failure before success... sacrifice for accomplishment... perhaps those who would lead must all accept that. Oh, don't be so depressing. There will be success, soon enough. And so the world will be saved, and humanity will find its future.: I would like to believe that.: Incidentally, how should I call you? It's long past time to worry about such trifles.: I've only recently realized that we may be working together for a while yet.: I won't pry into your true identity, but I do need to refer to you by something. A warrior of salvation. A pilgrim to the taiji. A paladin of law. A guardian of causality. An accursed wanderer. All appropriate... But let me see... why don't you call me "Black Charisma"?: Rather a fantastical name... very well, then. Then a good day to you. When next we meet, the world will have changed once more. I can't wait to see how it turns.----
Extra Dialogue
Anemone shot down
: Bah! And I brought my nice new gear, too!: I'm just not in the zone today! I'm leaving!The Izumo shot down
: The battleship can’t hold much longer! I don’t like it but we need to pull back!If you're dumb enough to attack the Ageha Squad on such a tight time limit
: Really? But we haven't made a move to attack them!: They don't understand what's at stake here!: All units, do not attack ZEUTH! We have our mission to focus on!