The Let's Play Archive

Super Robot Wars Z

by Brunom1, Dr. Pepper, Caphi

Part 191: Mission 48 - Exiles From Paradise - Part 1

Welcome back, folks. Last time, we found out that Löwen was absolutely insane and tended his resignation (his biggest crime was depriving us of an Accel caster). Following that, Talia remembered that she was an intelligent being and decided to stick with us rather than returning to Zaft, so we’ll be following up on this.
Aquarion is deploying as an event unit (with Sirius and Reika riding shotgun, which means Apollo’s deprived of his usual Skill boosts!) and we’re still stuck on 16 slots:






Location: Western Galia – DEAVA HQ



Word has reached DEAVA that the Feds have just finished development of a mass-production Aquarion. Jerome, being the bumbling twit that he is, reports this as wonderful news because it means the Federation will have an means to fight the Fallen Angels.
Mind, the Feds’ development was based on data of the original Aquarion that Jerome had to cede in order to maintain DEAVA’s autonomy but Fudou certainly doesn’t seem happy. Jerome’s argument is that the Angels aren’t the only of humanity’s foes and, considering the G-Trooper project has been set back, the Federation needed to develop something new ASAP.
Sophia wonders what they're planning to do about pilots: have the Feds actually figured out how to raise Elements? Jerome hasn’t heard of them making any such breakthroughs and, of course, there’s the question of what happens if when these units get used against other humans?
Fudou seems to have an idea of who’ll be chosen to pilot one of these and moves off to confirm.



Location: Southern South Ameria – Ginga Go, Bridge



Aboard his new command ship, Dewey has just briefed Dominic on the Limit of Questions (the Coralians’ awakening causing the dimensional collapse, remember?) and the kid had thought that to be a mere hypothesis.
The Ageha Squad’s analysis has shown that it’s very real and, in fact, the world stands on the brink of this event happening. He tells Dominic that whether the world has a future or not depends on what they do next.
Dewey expects that the Scub Coral will copy everything in the material world into information and, once this physical plane collapses, they’ll move with it beyond the event horizon. That’s the final chapter of the Ageha Project and Adroc foresaw not just the Limit but, also, how the Coral will think and react once it’s reached.
Of course, Dewey figures this limit would never have been a problem had the Scub Coral stayed away in the first place.
Dominic remembers the legends of how their distant ancestors fled their original homeworld when it was destroyed by some calamity and, eventually, arrived at the Promised Land. However, the bud of the Coral had landed in that world, coming from somewhere else in their universe, and, thus, began the shared history of humans and the Scub Coral.



Dewey cares nothing for that, except the part about the Coral being foreign invaders.
Dominic asks if he thinks it’s absolutely impossible for both sides to coexist and Dewey sees no reason to share the “ark” with an invader that never once apologized for barging in; he chooses to live here, even if he must destroy said ark himself.
He’d do so despite the extensive damage to humanity and the world itself that’d result of his actions? Indeed and that’s why he’ll be using “that thing”...he means Anemone, and Dominic asks him not to refer to her as such. She is another person, just like anyone.
Dewey laughs aloud, saying that he had forgotten that. Regardless, he tells Dominic to take the newly developed mechs and Jürgens squad and wipe out ZEUTH and the Gekkostate.
While Dominic is doing that, Dewey will be working on finishing the Ginga Go and pinpointing the location of the Scub Coral’s nucleus, whereat the final battle for the world's future will begin in earnest.



Back in the Gekko, Garrod is ill at ease during the trip to the Vodara Shrine, even though he knows the Coralians are a big issue that needs to be dealt with. He's worried about what Tifa’s going through at the hands of Logos while we’re doing that.
Pala has half a mind for the Freeden’s people to head over into space by their lonesome and rescue her but Reika tells her to calm down as splintering ZEUTH now would be very dangerous. Sirius agrees, adding that doing so would inevitably lead to our defeat if we consider the scope of the enemies we need to contend with (not to mention the looming threat of another Chimera ambush).
Garrod snaps that he knows all that but Sirius still requests that he refrain from acting on impulse as while his head might understand our situation, the heart can be a different matter. He calms down a bit once Apollo points that Garrod said he understood, but quickly states that, due to our dangerous situation, we must act rationally.

Apollo can see that something has him on edge but Reika figures it’s understandable, considering the shock everyone received due to Löwen and the Chimera’s betrayal. Sirius says she needn’t worry so, as he’s fully confident in his ability to maintain a serene heart.
He says that with a very angry expression on his face and Apollo quickly calls him on it, leaving Sirius to (eventually) apologize for his rudeness.



Norb is watching from the sidelines and can tell that Sirius is distressed. Matthew wonders, then, if the guy shouldn’t stop eating pizza and go give them some of his sagely advice.
Norb tells him that young people grow by working through their own problems, so it’s not his place to intervene…or, as Gainer sees it, he just can’t be arsed to go over there and do it. Norb shrugs in admittance, once again making Sara question his status as Vodarac’s greatest monk.
Holland won’t say anything about that “great” part but Norb IS a legit monk and, on this subject, Renton asks about this Vodara Shrine we’re headed to. As he said before, it’s the seat of the Vodarac religion – though, in this world, it’s more of a shell of its former self.
The shrine is also located by the Great Wall: a special region in the Gekkostate’s Promised Land world, covered by an enormous cloud and completely impenetrable. Mind you, the thing vanished completely after the first Break.
Holland passes the baton to Norb to add more details and Renton asks if we’ll be able to find a way to talk to the Coralians if we head to that shrine. Norb shrugs and say we should be able to find a clue for that.



Kei and Mome aren’t happy with this vague explanation but Norb tells them to be patient – whatever happens in there will rely solely on Renton and Eureka.
There’s someone they’re going to meet in the shrine: her name is Sakuya and she’s his first love; that’s still very vague for Sara’s tastes but Norb won’t go any further, lest he spoil the impact of the kids first meeting with her.
Ryouma’s deep in thought nearby and Hayato asks if he’s going to follow up Garrod and Sirius’ worrying. Indeed, Ryouma understands the importance of communicating with the Coralians but he can’t help but worry that Hundred Demons, Fallen Angels and aliens will all be left unchecked by this travel.
Kiraken feels the same way, figuring we wouldn’t be available to stop them if they tried to pull some large-scale op like before. Quinstein's been trying to extract info from Teral and Aphrodia about the aliens' future plans, using non-invasive methods like hypnosis, but so far she's gotten no results.
The problem isn't their willpower, mind: it's that they genuinely don't know what the alliance will be doing from here on out. Of course, from what we’ve seen of their moves thus far, Julie figures it won’t be long before they act again.



Benkei doesn’t like waiting around but Kazami walks in just then to say we needn’t worry.
Julie thought he was still in Trinity City but he grumbles that Tsukikage and Quinstein have pretty much claimed the place for themselves. Furthermore, considering we might find new information on the Coralians at the Vodara Shrine, he wanted to be there in person.
Toshiya gets the professor’s passion for his research but suggests that, maybe, he could use taking some time off for a while? Rie agrees, adding that this nonstop work might ruin his health before the collapse even occurs.
He snaps at them that his health and his research are his own business and Hayato, very sarcastically, asks the professor to explain what he meant when talking to Benkei. Kazami explains that there's no need to wonder what the aliens are up to: there's no way they'd leave ZEUTH alone now that all its members are Singularities.
And he means that not just about us being the key to restoring space-time but also due to the fact that ZEUTH, with all its firepower and technology, will be pivotal in all the coming battles – anyone vying for conquest of Earth will NEED to deal with us at one point or the other. Kazami tells us to watch it, as they’ll all be showing up in our path soon.



VERY soon, actually, as Minako runs in and says both the Hundred Demons and Fallen Angels are engaged in battle around the Vodara Shrine.
Benkei wonders if the demons have had enough of following the Angels around and finally decided to destroy them but, unfortunately, we can’t just let them have at each other lest the shrine get wrecked amidst their crossfire.
Our ships are already rushing over and everyone runs off to prepare to sortie: “Battles invite more battles. This war, with ZEUTH at its center, will involve the entire world…”, Kazami thinks with a smile.



Over by the hangar, Sirius has decided that Reika, not Silvia, should pilot the Luna. When she asks, he says he had a dream about an incredibly beautiful red rose blooming in the pale moonlight.
Its petals formed a pathway of crimson, though what that means Sirius certainly can't say. He does suspect it has something to do with their fate, the fate of their bloodline, and Sirius wants her to wait on standby just in case.
Apollo comes over to tell Sirius to hurry, and Sirius asks Apollo how he "smells" to him. Just as quickly, he changes his mind and while Apollo doesn’t know what’s bothering the guy, he does tell him not to hold him and Reika back while they’re out there.
Sirius confirms, vowing to stake his life on making his idealized, beautiful world a reality.




Mission 48 (ZEUTH Route) - Exiles from Paradise



Surprisingly, the demons are actually kicking Moroha and co.’s asses and he can’t understand where they’ve gotten this much power from… he soon notices something VERY aggravating with the demons, though. Hidler’s positively giddy at the enhancements Gura did to their troops – they’re INVINCIBLE!
The angels were the perfect guinea pigs to try their newfound strength on as Gura’s managed to gather a whole lot of data on dimensional power from the demons’ many encounters with them.
He’s getting some readings of space-time being distorted around the nearby shrine and, if he can combine data from there with that they have, his research will be pretty much complete. It won’t be long before he can perfect a device that lets them draw out dimensional power at will, effectively granting the Hundred Demon Empire full dominion over the world!
Hidler, then, wants to drop the Fallen Angels quickly so they can poke at that shrine but Dokuganki spots ZEUTH coming to crash the party.





As Setsuko deploys, her eyesight’s returned so it seems that the blindness is just temporary for now. Still, even if that means her time’s running short, she cannot afford to stop.
Corin starts freaking out at the sight of Fallen Angels: archenemies of mankind, harbingers of this world’s end! This is further proof to Sochie that he, indeed, came from the Black History.
Our people see that the demons are winning and Apollo’s has a laugh at Moroha - speaking of, Moroha’s pissed at the wingless for using such “evil power”. Silvia asks what that’s supposed to mean and he tells us to ask the demons but, regardless, he deems our actions to be unpardonable.

Moroha pulls off, leaving everyone confused, but Duke tells us to focus on the demons for now. When Ryouma asks Hidler what Moroha was talking about, he merely says we’ll have the answer carved in our minced bodies.
Gura tells for him to release his special anti-ZEUTH weapon and out come two enormous robots. Hidler yells that this world will soon belong to Emperor Brai and, as such, we need to die NOW.
Banjou advises Hidler to save the grandiose speeches until he actually defeats us and Ryouma’s determined to beat an answer to his question from Hidler.



Mission Objective: Hidler shot down.
Mission Failure: Any allied battleship OR Aquarion show down.
Skill Point: Destroy all enemies within 4 turns, Hidler last.
Not a difficult Skill Point, especially if you know of a certain trigger. Mind you, as was said, the demon mechs have all received a boost to all their stats so they’ll be bulkier and will hit harder.
Other than that, however, it’s merely a matter of maintaining a solid pace.



Said new Combined Demon Robos are rather bulky mooks (especially with a 2L size) which pack a decent punch but, aside from a standard Prevail L4 that all Hundred Demon mooks have, that’s all they bring to the table. Treat them as you treat any ship-like enemy and you’re good.



And, before I forget, here’s Holland’s sexy new Terminus 303! It’s a direct upgrade to the 909 and Holland is more reliable than ever with this thing.
To top it all off, all but it’s best attack are ammo based now and even that attack has a reduced EN cost from before, making it an excellent mook hunter.



Word of the wise: dash someone ahead to attack one of the Combined Demons right away. You’ll thank me in a second.












A slow-ish start but that’s still 5k damage. More importantly, it gets the plot going right away…



The demons are, indeed, way stronger than expected and Hidler’s having a blast with our surprise, gloating that we invited this mess onto ourselves. When Apollo and Kei demand a straight answer, Gura offers to enlighten us: the demon soldiers piloting these mechs have all been fortified with human-made techniques!
Gura says they, the Hundred Demons, have been modifying humans into their own kind but what we do is actually quite crueler – we perform extensive modification on our brethren and reduce them to mere weapons!
“Genetic modification, Enhanced Humans, Extended, Cyber-Newtypes, Mind Control… and now humans are attempting to even wield the Fallen Angels’ powers as their own!”, he yells which surprises Sirius and Silvia, specially, and she wonders if he’s talking about them.
Apollo figures the guy’s just yelling nonsense to throw us off our game but, no, Hidler tells us to remember Moroha’s words of humans using an “evil power” and has a laugh at humans weaponizing that captured Fallen Angel child.

This obviously means Futaba but that strikes everyone as odd since he’s supposed to be under Fudou’s care and Lunamaria is the first to wonder if the guy also decided to experiment on the child. Shinn is appalled that he’d do such a thing but Camille tells him to calm down and not to listen to what Hidler’s saying.
We can’t well find another explanation for it, though, and Hidler finishes that they’ve agents deep in the Federation who stole the data from the Angels’ research and all other kinds of enhancements for them to use on their soldiers.
All these forbidden powers that humans have unleashed will beckon their own destruction!


: Shut the hell up, creep…! Y’all are using that evil power yourselves! That makes ya SUPER evil!
: You don’t get to get on your high-horse and give us crap after that…!
: It’s true that humans have some unforgivable things…
: But that’s exactly why we will not yield to people who’d go that far!
: If there are people trying to weaponize that Fallen Angel kid, then we’re certainly not going to put up with it!
: After we’ve dealt with you, those guys are next on the line!
: And that’s why we will not accept defeat!
: Yeah! Not here and not to any demons!!





: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!
: Looks like the only thing they did was piss us off.
: Hundred Demon Empire! We won’t be defeated by your cowardly tricks!
: Hmhmhm…I’m impressed that your spirit hasn’t dampened despite the circumstances.
: But it’s all pointless before our enhanced soldiers and you’ll learn that soon!
: …
: What’s wrong, Sirius?
: Get your head in the game! We’ll ask Fudou what’s what after we’ve wrecked these guys!
: Understood…!
: Brother…



Now that’s much better. Everyone shoots to maximum morale and things will be much simpler now.
To speed up the process, I had Eureka cast Zeal to allow Renton to bombard a good chunk of these mooks.






He doesn’t need any more kills, though, so no valor.





Time for the clean-up: five of these six get dropped (Joseph fails but Harry moves in later to take care of that).
Jamil learns Valor.


Let’s use these ones as our showcase for Holland’s new Assault attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv9_lZI9eiU







This batch way to the corner was out of Renton’s zone, so Roger pops the first attack and Ryouma follows it up to disintegrate the leader. His reward is Prevail L8.



Time for a triple kill.












Boosh.



Banjou takes one of Ryouma’s leftovers and Duke sets out to work on the Combined Demon.
This’ll be a good moment to showcase the thing’s Hundred Demons Attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGC-P9xH5Gk





Touga wraps it up with a double attack.

Everyone else is moving closer.



Enemy Phase!



Duke and Renton get attacked by two suicidal demons and dispatch them easily.
The last of Ryouma’s demons dies to Roger.



This one’s healthy, though, and charges Holland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZOjJTb80l0

Everything else moves closer but Dokuganki and Hidler stay put.



Player Phase!





Amuro TRIs a nearby Mecha Gyukenki and keeps moving towards the bosses. Kei dispatches all but the leader, which falls to Kappei.



This one was hit by Renton and I’m hoping Bright can deal with it…










Nope, they all live with about 300 Hp, so Garrod and co. move in to kill steal.





Following a barrage from Talia, Marin downs a Horned Demon.



Shinn and Luna have a proper role model now with Harry on their team.












Not bad at all.
Gainer dispatches one of the squaddies and while Roger takes the rest.



More importantly, the other Combined Demon needs to go so we can focus on the bosses next turn.














Armor down to speed that up.







Rand follows it up for a nice hit, teaching Rag Valor in the process.



Add in another hit from Renton and Banjou to tenderize that Prevail’d 2L unit, and Apollo’s in position to finish it off.














Good, good.









Gain switches in to TRI the last healthy Mecha Gyukenki squad and, nearby, Hikaru disappoints me with leaving a Horned Demon alive. Hayato cleans that up.



This group’s too healthy for a kill but we can leave it ready for our next turn.












So close…



Enemy Phase!



Tetsuya takes a quick kill from a weak Horned Demon and that Gyukenki batch decides to tackle Duke.








A squaddie, of all things, survives.





Dokuganki and Hayato trade blows and Hidler fails to snipe him down.



Player Phase!



Two for the price of one!






The survivor gets blasted by Talia.



Speaking of survivors, Garrod downs Duke’s and learns Prevail L8.



Dokuganki’s batch is made of hardier stuff, so Jiron switches in for a valored TRI attack.












Good, good.



Speaking of valors, Touga uses one of his many available casts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVPMIF71IWk







Everyone profits, especially Gain with OverSense L6.



Let’s grab that skill point.









: Isn't that a shame, Kouji Kabuto? The humanity you fought so fiercely to protect was no different from we demons after all!
: Maybe we do have some bad guys of our own...
: But I don't believe all humans are like that, so I'll keep fighting for them!









: Every evil deed done by humans becomes part of your plots. Another reason we have to take you out now!
: Heheheh... so you admit that humans are evil.
: What if I do?
: We fight evil just the same whether it's human or demon... or a Hundred Demon Empire!











: Getter Robo! With this new strength at our disposal, the Hundred Demon Empire's victory is all but assured!
: Save your glee for after you've defeated us, Hidler!
: And we won't go down until we thwart your schemes and your evil power!
: Stubborn fools! You refuse to give up even in the face of our might?
: We believe in humanity's future just as much as you believe in the Empire's victory!
: And as long as we have that, no one will beat us!
















: Marshall Hidler... how dare you use the darkest of humanity's technology?!
: Don't be foolish, Duke Fleed! Victory is all that matters! The means are irrelevant!
: That's the kind of rationalization that keeps making this war worse!
: So we’ll put an end to it before it dooms us all!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBBjGBlcDbE
I had no idea Double Harken had a special Ground > Air version until I saw it on one of Doc’s updates. This is pretty cool!



As a prize Duke, Hikaru and Maria learn, respectively, Love, Renew and Prevail L6.









Hidler’s pushed his ship to its breaking point and tells Gura to eject, take the data he needs to complete his dimensional manipulator, and flee while Hidler provides cover.
They start backing towards the Vodara Shrine and Tekkouki realizes that Gura’s aboard a newly launched plane; capturing him would be our ticket towards figuring out what both the demons and the Fallen Angels could be up to and Apollo sets out after the guy.
Hidler begs Gura to complete the device and, yelling glory to the Hundred Demon Empire, launches his ship onto Aquarion as it explodes.





Gura’s already gone but the Aquarion’s mostly in one piece. Mind you, Apollo isn’t happy because they would’ve been able to dodge that attack had Sirius not been so distracted.
Sirius only apologizes but Apollo tells him to let Pierre have his spot if his head’s not in the game. This conversation is quickly interrupted as a Dominic and Jürgens’ troops show up.
Anemone is there, too, and Holland figures Dewey’s trying to stop them from meeting with Sakuya.
Jürgens asks if Dominic won’t be launching the special mech…the kid seems a bit hesitant, indeed, but goes on with it.

: Assault Aquarions, launch!



: Those are--!
: Aquarions…three of them!

*Piiiiiing.*

: Aah!
: What’s wrong, Reika?!
: That Aquarion…Glenn’s piloting it!
: …
: Glenn…! Is that really you?!
: You know him?
: Yeah…he trained as an Element with us.
: But he got hit by a Fallen Angel attack and went in a coma…we thought he was still hospitalized…
: That…that feather on his face…
: Is that a Fallen Angel feather…?!
: Then, when Hidler said people were weaponizing the Angels’ power…
: He was talking about that?!
: …Never thought we’d be fielding something like that, even to score some wins…
: Don’t, Captain… All units, open fire! Bring ZEUTH down!
: Why’s Dewey using feather-face there when I’m already on the job…?!
: I’m taking all these idiots out and proving that I’m the most reliable person around!
: (Anemone…your mind can't endure much more of these battles…)
: (At this rate, you’ll…)
: Talk to me, Glenn! It’s me, Reika!
: …
: It’s no use, Reika… doesn’t look like he has any speck of independent thought in his head.
: He’ll only follow orders…like a machine.
: Damn it, how can people do something like this?!
: Are these the fruits of man encroaching upon forbidden territory…?
: …Evil Power…unforgivable sins…hideous world…
: Glenn…
: Sirius, Reika! We’re gonna put a stop to him!
: Apollo…!
: That guy’s your friend, yeah? Then it’s our job to pin him down!
: Let’s go!!

Well, would you look at that Jerome...bumbling twit...

We'll deal with the rest of this mission about Friday and see what we can find inside that there shrine.

See you guys then!