Part 199: Mission 50 - A Human's Heart, An Angel's Dream - Part 3
That was cool and, as an added bonus, Tetsuya gets his game face on!
We’ll let Schlan come a bit closer before nuking his group. Meanwhile, Renton is getting more morale.
And, before I forget, Kids:
Dominator (Kids Munt)
Pilot Skills:
- OverSense L4
- Prevail L8
- Morale+ (Damage)
- Ignore Size Difference
- Commander L3
- Very Lucky
Kids voice actor: Seiji Sasaki (other known works: Ayamaru in Samurai 7, Sig Curtis in Full Metal Alchemist and a few others)
Holy crap, look at that leader bonus. Super President Kids is a monstrously strong guy in the original series and they obviously wanted to do justice to that because he’s the strongest and bulkiest pilot in the field right now.
Add that bonus to his Skills and the Photon Mat and you’ll find him to be very difficult to down without liberal Valor usage and that’s a problem because I’m still trying to save SP.
We’ll worry about him much later.
Seeing how I can’t get too close to Schlan, I send Kei to start working on the Black Dominators…and quickly realize that they’re pretty damn tough for mooks.
Change of plans, we’re going after Hola now! Shinn opens up and Elchi moves over to follow it up with a Goomba Stomp.
Iron Gear attacking Gear Gear: Cotsett “HAHAHAHA! We’re the resident Pros when it comes to handling an Iron Gear!”
Hola attacking Elchi: “Please, girl! You really should just come and be my wife!”
Amuro follows it up for some extra damage and then…
Even their Gear Gear’s having a hard time here but this is precisely the time where they bust out their ace in the hole, Hola says!
: HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO!!
: Transformation complete! 
: Yeeeaaaaah! I always wanted to do that!
: He’s challenging us to a Walker Machine-mode battle!
: Gutsy, aren’t we? Well, we’ll show him what the real Iron Gear can do!
Hola recovers his HP with this and we start chipping away at him again with the Grendizer and Gekko.
Enemy Phase!
The Black Dominators are starting to come in and Kei’s weakened group sets out for Touga.
I’ll take it.
Another three went after Kei, Pierre and Quattro, getting slapped away for their troubles
Here comes Hola.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3gsgh-yiTg
Ah, he couldn’t resist that bait.
: Are you kidding me, Asuham? I don't care how into the Overdevil you are, this is too much!
: I don't care what you say, Gain! Look around you!
: The greatest power in the world is under my control! I've driven you and the world into a corner! I win!: You could never stick the landing... and if you think you've stuck this one, you've got another thing coming!: My bullet!
Bah...
Kids and Gainer also attacks but we just dodge them.
Bless you, Chiram.
Renton goes on to tank Schlan, Aquarion Delta and an MP Anguis, dealing some extra damage in return.
To top it off, these last kills pushed Amuro and Shinn over 130 morale.
Player Phase!
Kejinan and co.’s defection also gives me access to more Confuse casts!
Jaboli also knows Renew which is perfect to refresh Sol Gravion after that small bit of insubordination.
They won’t get to attack lest someone wreck them but they do have a line for the first combat:
: Look alive, Enge, Japoli! We're not of the Siberian Rail anymore!
: ...so even if we make it through this, we'll be unemployed?
: It's not going to be easy finding a new job in this recession...: Then we'll go wherever there's work!: We're on our own Exodus now!
Beautiful. Eureka uses Zeal to get them in place, scoring a free hit against Schlan en route, and then the nuke is ready.
That’s 19 mooks dead (167k moneys
) and a good chunk of damage on Asuham, Schlan and the Delta.
Oh, and Renton learns Courage as his final spirit, Faye learns Rouse and Prevail L7!
Took you long enough.
Let’s deal with Schlan quickly since his lack of Prevail will make things simple.
Holland takes the lead to use his Soul cast.
Hm, only 12k damage for that? I was expecting more but, then again, I haven’t upped his weapons much.
Kei follows it up with another 11k damage on his usual one-two punch.
After Shinn adds his contribution to the pile, Rand moves in.
: Yo, Schlan! You just gonna let the Overdevil do its thing?!
: I'd hardly mind if the world froze over.
: My heart may as well be frozen already.: You ain’t impressing anyone with that mask of yours!
: Fine! I'll raise enough heat to put a fire in even your heart!
: You stifling worm...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEWJXdxsR0
Rand attacking Schlan: “Imma snap those glasses in half and make you apologize to us!”
Schlan finds ZEUTH very interesting, since our strength keeps exceeding his expectations.
Kappei tells “snake man” to drop the act and admit defeat but he says that name’s praise rather than an insult to him. Setsuko and Rand want him to come clean as to what Edel’s after and Schlan says that she, as this world’s ruler, truly means to safeguard its future.
And that’s why she set that trap for us and uses the UN to manipulate the world’s populace in any way that suits her? Schlan ignores Banjou’s interjection and simply runs off, finding our company to be enjoyable.
Regardless, his appearance today, with troops, shows that the Chimeras have finally stepped into the spotlight and Jamil knows the fighting will never cease unless we can take out Edel, Scirocco and Dewey.
Setsuko also had stuff to say to Schlan:
: Lt. Schlan! You're just going to let the Overdevil freeze the world?!: If that's how it ends, I'll accept with it.: I have no expectations nor attachments to this world anyway.: Maybe you don't, but so many people live here!
: If you can't see the value in that, then I won't fall back!: Laying your life on the line even as the Sphere drains it away... how noble.
Back to Hola, Hayato opens up with a nice Center attack and Tetsuya moves for a valored Triple Mazinger Blade.
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
Elchi punches him for a wee bit more damage Jiron should be capable of wrapping this up.
: I kept my promise, Jiron! I'm here to crush you in the best Machine there is!
: You may have me beat in weight and power, but I'm definitely the bigger man!: Hahahah! You oughta find better last words before the Gear Gear tramples you flat!
: Like I'm just gonna to let some freak's henchman step on me!
Boom.
Hola throws a hissy-fit over losing his ship and it falls on Geraba to grab him and escape before the whole thing explodes.
Rag sneers that it’s not very captainly of him to not go down with the ship but, as Chil knows, this is Hola we’re talking about – getting his landships, even awesome ones, wrecked is par for the course.
Fast forward attacks from Amuro, Talho and Duke and the Delta is on its last legs.
And it has the distinct honor of being killed by Katz’ PLA attack.
These two Black Dominators fall under a combined Daitarn, Baldios and Zambot assault.
Over by his corner, Apollo double attacks the Black Dominator that attacked Pierre down and Sol Gravion and Jamil start damaging the Aquarion Omega.
Enemy Phase!
Touga and Apollo get attacked by three Black Dominators each, weakening them all.
I don’t think this is gonna work but…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej7zR2H84wM
Hrm…Gainer also attacks her and, surprisingly, she DOES manage to pop his barrier (no, there’s no pre-battle convo).
Finally, the Omega slams its head against Sol Gravion for another 9k damage.
Player Phase!
We’ve got this ready now.
Toshiya blasts these Dominators with a Fury’d TRI attack, wrecking the leader.
Time for you to go.
Or you could survive with fucking 99 HP, that’s fine…
Fine, Gravion moves out of the way to kill one of Apollo’s mooks and Talia takes its spot to destroy the Omega.
Kei weakens this pair for Harry.
Leader down, squaddie taken by Duke.
Baldios barely fails to tear through the last of Apollo’s attackers, so it falls on Garrod to finish it.
I’ve been sitting on nearby 10 million NG+ funbucks to avoid breaking the game too hard but I’m starting to consider upping my folks’ weapons
Asuham’s next and my patience wears thin.
I weaken his armor with Banjou and then proceed to bury him with a Pain Shouter and Great Booster.
By the way, when Gain spoke to Brünhild’s arm to get revenge on the OverDevil, he unlocked a new strongest attack.
It’s EN-based, so it’s not as reliable as Black Southern Cross…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZe8b06CQ3g
But it does look cool and it reduces mobility!
:Why?! Why did I lose, OverDevil?! Tell me!!: Don’t you ever learn, Asuham?! You lost the second you started relying on that monster’s power!
: Charles Felibe! YOU--!
: Asuham…
: Don’t wanna make sure he’s OK? He was your friend way back when, no?
: Ah, something like that won’t do him in. I say that precisely because I’m his old friend, so don’t worry.: (Isn’t that right, Asuham?) 
As I write this, I’ve a cold, a sore throat and a headache. The OverDevil is obviously trying to best me with some transdimensional devilry but I WILL NOT BE BROKEN!
There’s only one Black Dominator left but it’s out of range, so Roger positions itself to hit the OverDevil and, along the way, takes the time to slap Gainer some.
Enemy Phase!
The last Dominator snipes away and survives the turn, while Gainer is still failing to do anything significant.
Disregard Kids.
Player Phase!
The OverDevil can’t make proper use of you, Gainer. It’s time for you to call it quits.
: Is this what you wanted, Gainer? Was your Exodus supposed to end with the world in ice?!
: That's right. That's what Cynthia and I are fighting for.
: The Overdevil will remake the world... a new Black History.: If you're really working under the Overdevil, I'll stop you!: You're just like them. If you can't convince me to do what you want, you'll make me by force.
: You're wrong! I'm going to stop you because you're my friend! Please see that, Gainer!
: Please remember, Gainer! Remember all the time we spent traveling together!: Can it, Renton. You pretend you respect me, but I know what you really think.: You're wrong...: You were making fun of me even when I lost that snowball fight.: Well, it's payback time. You, Eureka, the Coralians and everyone else are going to be ice.
: Renton... he's...: He's being mind-controlled by the Overdevil is what!
: My bro, Gainer, would never say anything that horrible!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JvVTqOtgpw
Renton got screwed on a 20% hit but at least it allowed me a chance to showcase Gainer’s attack properly. Yes, I did reset afterwards because come ON.
: I'm disappointed, Gainer! I thought you were a man full of passion, not bitterness!: You're just like Sara, flattering me and insulting me to get me to go where you want...
: But that won't work on me! Not anymore!: You've turned into a real creep. Once we've got you free, we're starting from square one!
: But first, your punishment! Brace yourself, Gainer!
: Pull yourself together, Gainer! You're too old to be going through your rebellious phase!: Be quiet, you undersized runt. There's not even a point freezing you.
: Gainer!: Looks like now that his heart's frozen, all the gunk in it's seeping to the surface!: I'm real disappointed, Gainer! You've lost everything Gain and I admired in you!
: Give it up now, Gainer! If you keep this up, there's no going back!: Why would I go back? What lies ahead is a pure, flawless world brought about by the Overdevil.: Come with us, Garrod. I'll freeze you and Tifa together if you like.
: No way! I don’t care if it’s you, lay one cold finger on Tifa and I'll break it off!: Hahaha! Then come get me, Garrod! I'll show you what I'm made of!
: This can’t be! I, the Champion, lost?!
: You’re no Champion right now! A Gainer with his heart frozen can’t ever bring out his true power!: That’s right, bro! The real Gainer burns hotter than anyone else!
: Just like during your big confession! : Yes, even we had a fire lit within us as we listened to you!: You could be an even better THE HEAT than me, boy!
: Didn’t you train like hell to beat that Cynthia girl?!
: You started your own Exodus to search for a purpose in life!: Remember, Gainer! You’re strong not just in games but also in the real world! : And if you shut yourself out like that, then you’re just going back to who you were before!
: Is this how you want it to end?!: Show us what you got, man!
: Hear my voice, Gainer!: Listen to me…to all of us, Gainer!: Gain…Sara...everyone…*Crash!
: I’m…!
: Gainer! Go get King Gainer and Cynthia!: Right!
: Gainer!
*Giant Gainer runs into the OverDevil!*
: He was absorbed again!
: No, he’s--!: It’s time for a new Exodus!!
: Roger that!
: Gainer!!
: Gainer, you can’t fight that OverFreeze with more ice!: Then, HOW ABOUT THIS!!
We’ll see this attack properly in a jiffy, when I can get its dynamic finish in!
Also, Gainer using this against the OverDevil: “I’m no King if I can’t surpass something like the OverDevil!”
: Wow! That was awesome!
: Now that’s some real OVERHEAT! Badass, kid!!: Gainer!
: So sorry for worrying you, Sara! Cynthia’s alright, too!
: What, you’re only going to apologize to her?
: You put us all through the wringer, you know!
: I’m so sorry, guys! Really sorry!: Looks like you owe us one, Gainer.: And I’ll pay it back right now by ending that OverDevil!: OK! Lemme lend you a hand with that!*Gain and Sara tag in with Gainer.
: Curse you, dreadlocked Overman! You’re the OverDevil’s kin! How dare you hurt it?!
: The OverDevil is mine! I won’t allow anyone else to touch it!
: Mr. Kids…: Take me, OverDevil! Let us be together!!
: The OverDevil absorbed that guy!: Goodbye, Mr. Kids… I guess the OverDevil was the most important thing to you…: Cynthia, I know life can be very harsh… but this is still our world! And we cannot just let it be OverFrozen!
: Yeah, I understand!: You ready for this, Gainer?: Yes…!: Let’s go, OverDevil! I AM KING GAAAAAINEEEEEER!!
Oooh, we’re so close to wrapping this up! And, heads up, the OverDevil is back to its old Skill set:
- OverSense L9
- Prevail L8
- Battle Spirit
- Morale+ (Damage)
- Focused Attack
- Ignore Size Difference
Kids wasn’t actually a good snack, so his morale has been dropped back to its base of 105 but it’ll go back into 130 very quickly (and I don’t have that much SP left to Daunt spam). We’ll use this one turn to position ourselves, send some people in ships to resupply their EN and then fire everything we have at it.
Last mook dead, so let’s fast forward to the next turn and take this thing out!
You know Gainer’s hot stuff when his theme is sung by Basara! 
: I don't know what happened between the Overdevil and the White Doll...: But we can't let it freeze this world we live in!
: Come and get me, freak! If you're an ice devil, then I'm... the Angel of Fire, THE HEAT!: Where'd the "Angel" bit come from, darling?!
: Don't worry about that!: It's a battle of fire and ice! And your ice ain't gonna damp me one bit!
: Like hell we’re just gonna let you do your thing with our world!: Come back as many times as you want, we’ll always beat you back into the ground!!
: The demon of the Black History, the Overdevil... some account on you appears to be present in the memories sleeping within Big O.: But that's irrelevant! Whatever your relationship with the Big O may be, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to exist!
: Farewell, OverDevil! I sentence you to the void!
: A monster that can freeze a person down to their soul... we can't let it go on!: You can't have my sorrow, nor my memories... not my memories of the Glory Star!
: Back from ancient times to wreak destruction anew...: Perhaps we were fellows once, but now that you have forgotten your purpose and become a creature of destruction, you have made a foe of me.
: Disappear, Frigid Devil! Your place in the world is long gone!Huh…looks like Apollonius decided to check in for this.
: I will not yield...not to you nor King Gainer!: I'm the champion! I'll beat everything you've got and show Sara what's roaring inside me!
: Not so loud, you dummy!: Here we go, King Gainer! We'll melt this thing with our inner fire!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpAweQcHKE0
: !
: We beat it…: It’s over, Gainer…: No. Now it begins again. 
: Huh…?: I’ve found my Exodus. : Gainer…
: This calls for a victory party! Let’s dance, everyone! 
: Kiiing, Kiiing, Kiiing Gainer! Metal Ooovermaaaan King Gaineeeeeer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISR8ml5z6Tk 
: Rrrgh! The OverDevil might be gone but I’m far from finished!
: …Wow, even after all that, you still don’t know when to quit. Talk about stubborn, eh?: You--!
: Black Southern Cross! We found Asuham!: Thanks for the help, former-Siberian Stooges.: Gain…! Have you come to laugh at my sorry state?!: Not at all. I’m just here to wish my old friend good luck.: You’d still call me a “friend”?: I can stop, if you don’t like it.: No…that’s…I…well, if you insist...: He looks happy...
: The hell… is this what they mean with that “love and hate are two sides of the same coin” thing? : No, never! This man hurt my sister – he’s a despicable worm who ran away!
: That’s enough, brother!: Karin?! What are you doing here?!: She’s Lord Asuham’s sister?!: Oh, my dear Karin! Did you come all the way here in pursuit of Gain?!: No! I came to pick up my gung-ho, bullheaded brother!: Ngh!: Looks like she’s got you all figured out. : B-but…Gain’s here, too! What about him, Karin?!
: What about him? This wild man was only good as a one-night-stand… Come on, let’s go back to London and get you back on your feet. : Huh…ah…O-okay…: Yow, she just walked all over him.: Oh, your uniform...you’re of the Siberian Rail?: Would you like to accompany us on this trip? My brother seems indebted to you, so I could hire you three as escorts.: Really?! We just lost our jobs, so that’d be perfect!: Whew…talk about a stroke of luck.
: And I always wanted to go to London…!: And, brother, you’re the head of our family. Please be more sensible. : Erm…yes…
: Um…Karin Boone…: You seem well, Charles. I’ll pray that for you to continue as such.: And… about our child…: You don’t have anything to worry about. My child is growing quite nicely. …Farewell, then.*Karin leaves.*
: Your child, eh… She’s a tougher woman than I thought…: Hm…a new Exodus with no lingering regrets… I guess that doesn’t sound bad either.
: So, Gainer…you found your own Exodus?: I’m still far from being a “Champion” or a “King”…I understood that when I everyone called out me as I was frozen…
: Hah, you don’t need to speak the obvious!
: You’re only a “Champion” in the games!: …And that’s why I decided that I need to work even harder in the real world!: Ah, you weren’t finished... Sorry, we jumped the gun. Keep going. : No… it’s fine… I lost my momentum now…
: Were you gonna bust a nice one-liner to wrap it all up? “Sara…I wanna be your “Champion”” or something like that?: How did you— Are you using some mind-reading OverSkill?!: He guessed it?!
: Heheh…a second declaration of love, is it?: Alright, already! Stop fooling around!
: Sara…your face is beet red.
Cynthia can see how much Gainer has grown from the small-time champion, locked away in his own world, that he was then they had their first online match. Gainer chalks it up to all the Exodizing he’s done and Cynthia is taken with the idea – she wants to join him and Sara on this Exodus.
She means to join ZEUTH and has already found a working Dominator that she can use. Martina is all for it, as experiencing new things will also improve Cynthia’s OverSense and the girl means to see what lies outside of combat and games.
Gainer tells her that, in order to do that, they’ll have to first make sure their world will last. Bello praises “Mr. OverHeat’s” decisiveness but Sara begs him not to give Gainer such a stifling nickname (Rand’s feelings are hurt).
That said, our next destination will be taking us far from our comfort zone: we’re setting off to space in order to put a stop of Logos and the aliens. As Loran ponders how we’re finally headed to the moon, Garrod inwardly tells Tifa that we’re coming to rescue her soon.
: Alright, then! Before we officially sign Cynthia on and set off for our new trip, there’s one thing left to do!: ZEUTH! Hip, hip, hurray!!: Hurray!: Hurray!
At about this time, formal recall orders reach the Minerva: they're to return to Zaft as quickly as possible, effectively splitting off from ZEUTH.
There's more to the orders than that but Talia wants time to ponder their meaning before sharing the full contents with Arthur. ZEUTH itself is headed back to Trinity City to resupply before setting out to space and, since they can’t fly, we’ll be leaving the Iron Gear and Freeden with the mission of searching for the Great Singularity (though Elchi will be coming along as a pilot).
: (If ZEUTH gets to space, they’ll have significant impact on the war’s status quo…)
: (Can I actually bring myself to shoot them in the back…?)That’s it for Setsuko players but Rand has another prize to pick up on the Bazaar!
Renton is heading to the bazaar in hopes of cashing in one of those Lift Board Wheels for more Blue Stones.
Makes sense for Garrod as there won’t be any time to go Lifting while we’re out in space. A man soon runs over, asks to see the thing and quickly tags it as a novelty wheel made from a collaboration between “Clie” and “Ponte Press”.
When Garrod asks, Renton says those are, respectively, a big name sports brand and teenager magazine from his world. The man’s been looking for one of these for a very long time and never expected to finally find it here…why, this must be fate at work!
He offers to buy it for any price but Renton decides to simply give it to him. Moondoggie asks if he didn’t bring the thing over to SELL but the kid can see that it obviously means a lot to the guy.
The man is overcome with gratitude, at least wanting to give Renton some spherical thing in exchange. Gidget takes a look and figures it’s a toy robot – pretty cute looking, too.
Seems like the man bought it in this market, though its electronics seem to need some help - Renton takes it and asks the guy to take good care of his wheel. He will and promises, one Lifter to another, never to forget this.
As the man walks off, Renton is impressed that the guy is still so passionate about Lifting even after growing old. Garrod isn’t all that hyped for trading such a rare item for a busted toy, though…still, Renton figures it’ll make a nice gift for Eureka’s kiddies.
Maybe not, as Gidget stares at the thing and thinks it might hold some amazing secret within… maybe it can be a mech sub-pilot or grow to enormous size to eat the enemy.
That sounds legit crazy talk to Moondoggie but, first and foremost, we gotta get its electronics fixed so Gainer suggests we bring it over to Amuro or Camille.
Bless you, Old Surfer Dude…you just gave us the best real robot part in the game.
We got our very own Haro and it’s all sorts of kickass: Movement +2, Mobility +25, Weapon Hit Rate +25, Weapon Range +1! Any real or, hell, any dodgy Supers like Gravion will love to be equipped with this thing.
Usually you only get about two of these per game but Rand gets an extra – here are the steps we took:
- Mission 16 (Galia Route) – Purchase the First-Issue ray=out magazine from the bazaar
- Mission 20 – Purchase the Signed CD
- Mission 35 (Search for Renton Route) – Purchase the Rare-Looking Wheel
- Mission 50 (ZEUTH Route) or 52 (Zaft Route) - Check the bazaar for this event.
Oh, and there’s a Brockary up for sale too!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must face the ancient SRW Sophie’s Choice of deciding who gets the Haro…