The Let's Play Archive

Super Robot Wars Z

by Brunom1, Dr. Pepper, Caphi

Part 23: Mission 7 (Rand) - Goddess of the Moon

Outside…



: Those MSs...Are those the Frost Brothers’ weird Gundams?!
: It’s been too long, Garrod Ran. What a surprise to see you again.
: Damn it! You've got some stones to kidnap Tifa while I was away!
: That’s simply because our goal is the collection of Newtypes.
: Now, Garrod, you'll share the same fate as Jamil Neate and the others.
: By the hands of our upgraded Gundams.
: Jamil…you killed him?! And Witz, Roybea and the others?!
: Take the girl and get outta here, Garrod! I’ll keep them at bay for a bit!
: And what do you think can you do with just that rifle?!

*The Turn A Gundam moves forward*

: You! Are you trying to interfere?!
: How can you turn those mechanical dolls onto people?! There's no justification for that!
: Let’s pull back, Olba.
: Why, brother?! It’s just an antique – there’s no reason to be careful…!
: Don’t forget, Olba. That Mobile Suit was buried in the “Promised Land”.
: !

*Both brothers pull back.*

: Why are they running…?
: You need to move right now, people!
: Thanks, cutie!
: Garrod…you’d do well to remember those words.





Olba is annoyed that Tifa’s getting away but Shagia says it’s no problem: now that the Freeden is gone and Garrod’s her only protection, they can take her back at any time.
For now, though, he’s more interested in gathering data on that Mobile Suit and calls several units to help with that. Gwen shouts into the radio that these are the forces of oppression, trying to disrupt the peace talks and orders Laura to defend the town's freedom.
Phil demands an explanation on what’s going on and Gwen tells him that this is proof that the people of Inglessa are in disagreement with UNE. Furthermore, he requests the Moon Race’s cooperation as a sign that they’re serious about the peace negotiations.
Phil agrees and orders all Diana Counter members to prepare to deploy but, inwardly, he knows this is Gwen’s own plan to use their forces for his own agenda. Phil has his own plans, though…

Victory Condition: All Units Shot Down
Failure Condition: Laura Shot Down
Skill Point: ???

Oh boy, this mission. Remember how I said mission 5 was the point the game took away the training wheels regarding the Skill Points? Well, mission 7 is the point where the game decides to go: “Oh, you’ve gotten all points so far? Fuck you, then! How’s this?!” and throws a huge problem for you to deal with.

The Skill Point is hidden for now but, suffice to say, you need to wrap everything up by the START of turn 7 and there’s a massive, horrible obstacle for you to deal with in the form of the goddamn Frost Brothers.
I can’t scan them now but the thread’s reaction to their appearance should be ample evidence of how much of a hassle they can be.
There is, however, an incentive for you to take at least one of them down:

Secret Alert!
There are two secrets that involve the Frost Brothers and they all start the same: you need to shoot down either Shagia or Olba on this mission.
One secret is exclusive to Rand’s route and it’s a very powerful Unit Part and the other is THAT Gundam X secret (if you’ve played Alpha Gaiden you know exactly what it is and how many hoops Banpresto likes to make you jump through to get it).

Keep in mind, most of Z’s secrets work via a “point” system in which you only need to get X amount of requirements, not all of them, to unlock the secret; however, this one step is non-negotiable for Rand’s Unit Part and, therefore, it is recommended that you try to get it.



Loran won’t be able to do much against airborne enemies but, by moving him over here, we’ll do SOME damage on them and it’ll help us build morale quicker.



Enemy Phase!



As expected, three of the closest Daughtresses mobile suits gun for Laura; they are decently accurate but, even if they hit, the I-Field will block most of the damage.
I’m pretty sure these UNE mooks are also voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama, too.












Only one manages to hit and that damage will soon be regenerated.
It should be noted that Z introduced a mechanic called “Evasion Decay” which means the more a unit dodges on a single phase, the chance to dodge decreases (and it only resets once the phase ends); Loran started this with 30% chance to hit and the successful hit had almost 50%, so you can’t expect a dodgy unit to keep all enemies at bay like in previous games.

Everything else hangs back.

Rinse and repeat for the next whole turn - one Daughtress gets wrecked while some others are weakened.



Player Phase!





The Iron Gear soon arrives and Rand quickly calls Gain and Garrod to grab their units.
Gain apologizes for keeping Loran waiting but says his backup is finally here. Garrod is dumbstruck when he realizes that he’s talking to “that cutie”.
Still, Gainer is relieved that Garrod was also fooled but Sara says that’s not something for him to get happy about. Loran appreciates our help and, from inside the Iron Gear, Sochie asks what is that thing he’s wearing.







She deploys out to the battlefield using the newly excavated unit from the Mountain Cycle.
Of course, Loran finds it absurd that she’d put herself at risk like this but Sochie says, if he’s able to fight, so can she – this is to get personally get revenge for her father.
Miashey is with her and both have their own Kapool mobile suit, repaired to perfection by Rand, Bello and Cotsett. Rand is very proud of his work and Miashey thanks him.
Loran is still hesitant but Sochie isn’t about to hear him out. She hands him a pilot suit and tells him to change right away.



Furthermore, Miashey also has brought several new weapons for the White Doll which were also found in the Mountain Cycle.
Gain tells Elchi that these folks are the ones Gwen wanted us to get rid of and Elchi’s more than eager to finish this job so they can, officially, get on the Inglessan payroll. Garrod tells everyone to be careful with those two evil-looking Gundams over there as they’re very tough.
He drops Tifa on the Iron Gear and tells her to wait for him – he’s going to beat those two freaks and keep her safe no matter what.





There’s another problem in the form of Enil, who deploys intent on killing Garrod with her own hands.
Olba figures, since things are going to be like this, they should start attacking as well and Shagia agrees. “We should show the boy the new might of our ferocious steeds,” he says.
Loran is worried at the way things are going but Sochie joins up with him and wants to charge ahead. He’s got no choice but he sees the battle is growing even more intense and wonders if this is actually the right thing to do…

Miashey’s items give the Turn A access to two new melee attacks, its TRI attack and a Shield.

Also, Enil’s arrival adds another problem to the pile:

Secret Alert!
This one point is a lot easier: you simply need to destroy Enil’s unit and she is VERY easy to take out.

You don’t need to take her out with Garrod but, as the Frost brothers said, they’ll be attacking from now on and their AI is hard-wired to make a beeline for Garrod; with that in mind, I’ll be inching him towards Enil to force them to get closer to our main force.
This is especially important with Shagia who has HUGE range and isn’t afraid to snipe from very far away.


Now, before anything else, let’s take a look at the new players on the field:


Jenice Revise Enil Custom (Enil El)
Pilot Skills:
Squad Leader Bonus: Critical Ratio +20%
Enil’s Voice Actress: Chieko Honda (other known works: Puru/Puru Two in Gundam ZZ, Miku in Zeorymer, Amu in L-Gaim and many others)

There’s not much to be said about Enil and her Jenice, really; they’re not front-line material, qualifying only as a slight miniboss.
Take her out quickly because, being a Neutral unit, she can be attacked by anyone and I don’t know if it counts towards the secret if someone other than our people kill her.



Gundam Virsago Chest Break (Shagia Frost)
Pilot Skills:
Features:
Equipped Parts:
Squad Leader Bonus: All weapons’ Energy Consumption -20%
Shagia’s Voice Actor: Toshiyuki Morikawa (other known works: Kyosuke Nanbu in SRW OGs/Impact, D-Boy in Tekkaman Blade, Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII stuff and many, MANY others).



Gundam Ashtaron Hermit Crab (Olba Frost)
Pilot Skills:
Features:
Equipped Parts:
Squad Leader Bonus: +20% damage done when counterattacking
Shagia’s Voice Actor: Nozomu Sasaki (other known works: Hathaway Noah in several Mobile Suit Gundam shows, Yuusuke in Yu-Yu Hakusho, Clef in Magic Knight Rayearth and many others).

Urgh. That’s all I can say about the Frost Brothers and anyone who’s played through Z or Alpha Gaiden can sympathize.
They have good stats, deadly skills and their Gundams are powerful while also being dodgy and quite accurate.

Shagia is built as a sniper with his strongest attack having a 3-9 range and it’s an ALL attack (which will do big damage across the entire squad thanks to that Focused Attack); his Gundam Virsago is quite stronger than Olba’s Ashtaron so always keep an eye on him.
Olba is a lightning bruiser, having huge movement range to get right in your face and start tearing shit up; the Ashtaron isn’t as strong but it does have a slightly higher critical % while also being bulkier than the Virsago.
Category-F further boosts their potential at fucking you up and Ignore Size difference means even the Iron Gear and Gunleon will eat decent damage - never underestimate the Frost Brothers and count your blessings that they don’t have Prevail.


Olba will probably be your first target as he’ll zoom right in so have your team ready to jump him: get morale ASAP, keep defensive measures on at all times (especially with your reals) and surround him; as for Shagia, draw him in by using Garrod as bait and, once he’s close, attack from within a range of 2 or less so he can’t use his big guns.

The NG+ bonuses will give make things easier for me (not by much, though, seeing how I didn’t go all-out with upgrades) but, during my first playthrough, these two were a big pain-in-the-ass.




We’ll let Enil get closer for a bit and, while that happen, focus our attention on the weakened Daughtresses.



Gainer moves further ahead, with Focus, in order to draw everyone else in (and, hopefully, get a lot of morale via dodges).














I was hoping for a kill but I guess that’ll do…




It falls on Garrod to finish the job.
Rand moves a bit forward in preparation for when Olba charges in; hopefully, he’ll gain enough morale during the enemy’s turn to use his Riot Wrench.


I also forgot to go over Sochie and Miashey’s Kapool’s so here ya go:


Kapool (Sochie Heim, Miashey Kune)
Pilot Skills – Sochie:
Pilot Skills – Miashey:
Spirit Commands – Sochie:
Spirit Commands – Miashey:
Features: Resupply Module
Squad Leader Bonus – Sochie: Experience Gained +20%, Damage Taken -10%
Squad Leader Bonus – Miashey:Platoon Movement Range +1

Sochie’s Voice Actress: Akino Murata (other known works: Hime in Brain Powered and Enora Taft in Mars Daybreak)
Miashey’s Voice Actress: Noriko Kitou (other known works: Ana in King Gainer and a few other minor roles)

Eeeh, these two are right there with Rag on units that make decent, not amazing, squaddies; Miashey gets a bit more value since she knows both Support Defend and Accelerate but the thing that really drags them down is how uninspired the Kapool is.
It’s a step up from the Panthers but not that better.
The EN Regen is nice, though.


Before ending the turn, I move Loran and the Iron Gear slightly to the South for reasons that’ll become clear soon.



Enemy Phase!




And the other Daughtresses take the bait hook, line and sinker.
Gainer, with Focus, dodges everything while taking away half their health (Focus also allows him to nearly negate Evasion Decay).



Olba is a whole different story, though; he charges right in, as expected, and gets some very impressive numbers against our dodgiest unit.
In the end, I decided the chance of doing some 2000-ish damage wasn’t worth the risk of having Gainer get oneshotted, so I had him set to dodge (Olba still had 21% chance to hit).



: That's a Gundam, alright…! I’m at a disadvantage if I engage them by power alone!
: So the government has not only Overmen but also troops like these?!






Whew…

Getting into a fight with the Frost Brothers triggers the plot.





The Diana Counter Army soon enter the field.
Sochie is already giving them the evil eye but Loran stops her from attacking; that, however, doesn’t stop Phil who gives orders to attack.





Their attack hits everyone, including our team, and Gain wonders if they’re trying to destroy both us and the UNE troops.
Harry wonders if this is right but Phil says it's "unavoidable" that some friendlies will get hit on the battlefield. Loran gets in touch with them and asks for them to stop this and Harry is surprised “Laura Rolla” isn’t the White Doll’s pilot.
Loran promises to explain later but, for now, they need to stop the attack. Harry apologizes but says he can’t do that.
The Militia movements are very suspicious and, as the captain of Queen Diana’s royal guard, it’s his job to eliminate any threat before her arrival – still, he promises not to hurt us if we surrender.
Loran cannot accept his actions and refuses to retreat, so Elchi figures we’ve no choice but to fight both groups at once. Gain says the quickest way to quiet the lunar forces would be to take out their battleship.



The Skill Point finally shows up: we need to destroy both Frost Brothers AND Harry by the start of Turn 7.

This was the first Skill Point I missed in my original playthrough simply because I didn’t have time to take Harry out after focusing on Enil and the Brothers for the secrets and items; despite what Gain said, you have to ignore Phil and a good bunch of mooks to do so.
Just get enough morale to use your best attacks and switch your focus to the bosses ASAP – conserve your SP as much as possible (especially Rand’s, for Attune) or you’ll have a bad time hitting/dodging any of these guys.




Enil is still neutral which means the Diana Counter troops have no issue ganging up on her; she’s a bit dodgy but Evasion Decay applies.
I confess that I expected her to move farther away but, with luck, she won’t get killed.





The WaD’s also gun for whatever’s closest but the Daughtresses have the terrain advantage.



Phil really likes to snipe with his Almaiyer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiHbUAt4odo
Cutting it a bit close but Enil manages to hang on nicely.



Harry, however, makes a beeline for Loran and he’s also rather accurate.



: Show me your strength, pilot of the White Doll!
: 1st Lt. Harry! Is fighting the only reason why you descended back to Earth?!
: You misunderstand. My actions are all for the sake of Her Majesty.
: As a royal guard of the Queen, I am also here to assess Earth’s forces in order to guarantee her safety…!
: There’s no way Queen Diana would approve of something like that!!














Not bad.

Mind you, Shagia is taking the upper path towards Garrod, far away from everything.



Player Phase!



Enil’s not going to survive another turn, so let’s have Garrod finish her off.



: You just don't know when to quit, huh, Enil?! Why do you want to kill me that bad?!
: You rejected me…that’s all the reason I need!
: I went through hell to get back to Tifa! No way I’m gonna let anyone take me out now!










Garrod gets two easy levels out of this and we secure our first point towards this secret – only need 3 more!



Enil knows that continuing this fight would be fatal and Garrod, at least, doesn’t want to kill her and asks her to stop.
She doesn’t want mercy from Garrod, though. Before she leaves, Enil says that if she can’t have him, she’ll personally kill him!
Even Gain is a bit scared at how crazy the woman is but Garrod seems genuinely sad.


Now, let’s take a quick look at Harry and Phil:





SUMO Gold Type (Harry Ord)
Pilot Skills:
Features:
Equipped Parts: Thruster Module (gives the equipped unit Space terrain rating to S)
Squad Leader Bonus:Squad’s Movement Range +1, Evasion Rate +10%
Harry’s Voice Actor: Tetsu Inada (other known works: Elzam in SRW OGs/Alpha series, Ira Gamagori in Kill La Kill, Lu Bu/Huang Gai in the Dynasty Warriors series and MANY others).

See those annoying Frost Brothers? Harry is actually better than them on nearly all accounts (for now…).
He’s got them beaten on nearly all stats and makes up for the lack of Category F-esque boosts with Predict; his attacks are as strong as Shagia’s and he’s bulkier than Olba while also being quite dodgy (though his SUMO’s mobility is lower than the Virsago or Ashtaron).
Keep in mind that he does have an ALL attack but, thankfully, it’s not his strongest one.



Almaiyer (Phil Ackman)
Pilot Skills:
Features: I-Field Barrier
Squad Leader Bonus: Accuracy Rate +20%
Phil’s Voice Actor: Tsuyoshi Koyama (same as Enge)

Phil’s the bulkiest unit around and he’s quite accurate but that’s all he has; his Almaiyer’s 2L size gives him a power boost but not enough to be a threat unless you really mess up.
Just ignore him as you already have plenty of deal with.




Jiron still has his issues with aerial enemies but his Bazooka is more than enough to drop one of the weakened Daughtresses.



The other mooks should die in a counterattack, so let’s have Rand do whatever damage he can on Olba.
I’ll also take this chance to show off Olba’s strongest attack: Gigantic Scissors.



: Dismantling a Gundam, eh…? Well, I reckon these ones have it coming!
: Darling…you didn’t actually consider dismantling Garrod’s GX, did you?
: I-I would never do stuff like that to a friend’s mech! Don’t talk like I’m some sort of Demon of Destruction!
: …And that’s a bull’s eye…

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




Meanwhile, Gainer busies himself with killing another Daughtress.



Upon retrospect, this move was a bad call as I could’ve had Elchi support Loran; regardless, Cotsett has used Strike and that 2L size should do decent damage against Harry’s SUMO.



: In Her Majesty's name, I shall assess the strength of Earth’s forces…!
: Gang up on that gold unit, guys! Don’t let it escape!
: They’re all coming after me…?!
: Roger that, Elchi! I’ll try and capture it in one piece!
: It’s so shiny! That's gonna sell for so much money!!
: The way they’re glaring at my SUMO…is this the true nature of Earthlings?!


















Thankfully, Harry’s morale is low enough that he can only use his weaker attacks.



Even though Loran has some new weapons, they’re still not the best against Aerial enemies; however, TRI attacks all have a standard A-rating on all terrains so that works (and, like the Gauli Squad, the Inglessan squad gets a damage bonus).
Only problem is Harry decided to bust out his ALL attack…


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1XSfa31pQA
Miashey paid for it but, otherwise, we’re still good.



Enemy Phase!







Gainer and Rand are each attacked by two Daughtresses and they don’t disappoint.



Those kills get Gainer’s OverSkill running.




Olba is still running after Garrod but only gets in range to take a shot at the Iron Gear; this is pretty much the best thing that could’ve happened as not only I squeezed some cheap damage, Olba is now in range of everyone!



Shagia is still going around but decides to tangle with the Diana Counter.










Poor thing.




The two generic WaDoms gun for Garrod, who counters nicely – no kills, though.
What he does kill is a WaD in the nearby squad that attacked him.



Oh, now that’s the worst call I’ve seen.
At least it gives me a chance to show of Shagia’s Triple Mega Sonic Cannon against these suicidal WaDs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csSFUEeuulc
The -est attack.



Hm. I confess I had completely forgotten about Poe; here’s hoping Miashey doesn’t get screwed by the RNG.



: Mustachioed Doll! I won’t let you delay us today!
: Please stop! If we let hatred and anger guide us in battle, this will really turn into a war!




Alright. Sochie was the only one that got hit and she had Invincible cast.







Phil attacks Garrod and he successfully dodges it, while Loran hangs by a thread after being hit with Harry’s IF Bunker – at least he got another TRI attack in, leaving Harry nearly dead.
We have to heal him up ASAP, though.



Player Phase!



First things first, let’s deal with Olba right now. Jiron pops Sense and, hopefully, the Iron Gear’s support attack will hit.



: Well, those Gundams sure look like bad guys – that much is certain.
: And if they're baddies, I’m not holding anything back! Here I gooooo!!















Ah, well – that’s still good enough.



I’ll have Rand take him out but, before that, Mel heals Loran with a Trust cast.



Here we go.


















“Did I overdo it a bit?” No, you most certainly did not, Rand. Not against this guy.



As a bonus, we take Olba’s Apogee Motor; everyone also gets some levels and Sara learns Focus.
We’re halfway there to Gundam X’s secret and we’ve started Rand’s 1st Unit Parts one, too.





Olba is annoyed that he messed up like this and Garrod wants to finish him off to get revenge for Jamil and the others.
He angrily concedes defeat for today and runs off but Garrod is sure he’ll still try to kidnap Tifa.



Next in line is Harry and, with OverSkill running, Gainer is more than capable of hitting him.
















Bye!



We now take Harry’s Thruster Module.





Harry now understands that they mustn’t underestimate Earth and retreats.




Garrod can’t move much without getting into Shagia’s range, so he shuffles away a little bit and takes out another WaD.



Let’s try out Loran’s new Gundam Hammer while we wait.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3izlN5iU_4
Only a few weapons are as manly as a giant flail!



And Loran is rewarded with a level up, learning Support Defend L2.



Enemy Phase!



Yes, that’s it. Come a little closer…



: Your persistence is admirable. I wouldn’t have expected you to be a nuisance over here.
: SHUT UP! How dare you kidnap Tifa and kill Jamil and the others!
: I’ll end you all right here and get payback for the Freeden’s crew!
: Heh…Then, my upgraded Virsago will keep you company. How long will you be able to endure?












When Garrod attacks a Gundam: “I’m gonna scrap and sell that Gundam for a pretty penny!”.
Good to see he sticks to some old habits.




This one WaDom tries to get clever with Shagia and pays for it.




Loran cuts through Poe’s missiles and gets a nice hit on her.




Go away, Phil!



Player Phase!







Rand moves right into Shagia’s face and strikes a big hit; we’ll leave this kill to Loran so, after that, Gainer easily dispatches Poe.



She’s dejected as she’s forced to eject and leave the rest to the other troops.




I don’t fully trust Loran to kill Shagia seeing how he’s out of range to use his Beam Saber, so I have Garrod leave him prepped.



No problems now.



: So this is the MS that was excavated from the Promised Land...
: Are you talking about the White Doll?
: Show me your powers – for the sake of our goals.








And I was right to do that previous attack!





We snag Shagia’s High-Spec Radar and everyone levels up – Sochie learns Prevail L3.




Shagia figures this is enough for today but Garrod wants to settle everything here.
“Do not be so hasty, little Garrod – we’ll run into each other sooner or later. Goodbye, for now. ” he sneers.
Garrod yells at him to bring it because, no matter what, he’s not letting them take Tifa.

I got a bit scared here because the “Skill Point Get” sign didn’t appear but this is normal; the game tracks this point as complete only at the start of turn 7.
As long as Harry, Olba and Shagia aren’t there by then, we’re good.




I have Jiron take out the last WaD just because.
We don’t have time to take out either Phil or the farthest WaDom, so let’s just skip the pointless enemy turn and move straight to the end, yes?



Player Phase!





I didn’t get all battle dialogue and attacks on tape, so here’s what we missed:


-Gain Vs. Olba/Shagia-
: I heard that, even in Ameria, Gundams were still rare; yet, here we are, having to fight some so quickly.
: I don’t know whether we’re very lucky or very unlucky…!

-Sochie Vs. Anything-
: Even Loran’s doing it, so I will fight as well!
: I’ll destroy my father’s killers with my own hands!

-Loran Vs. Olba-
: If the legends are true, this MS could be useful to us…
: This man…does he know something about the White Doll…?!
: Now, show me your strength – for our sake!

-Garrod Vs. Olba-
: Olba! I’ll never hand Tifa over to you!
: Someone who's unaware of the significance of that girl – of Newtypes – has no right to say that.
: The significance of Newtypes? What're you talking about?!
: There’s no reason for you to know because you’re going to be killed by my upgraded Ashtaron.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W-WOW-ToZo
I-FIIIIIRUDO BARIAAAAAAAAA!



Both Phil and Rag are annoyed that the other side isn’t giving up and Burume realizes that, if this keeps going, the entire city’s going to get wrecked.
Loran decides to take action and, despite Sochie’s confusion, he heads to the center of town.




He can’t take this battle anymore and opens a channel to everyone around and reveals himself to be one of the Moon Race!
Sochie is shocked and Phil asks why one of them is piloting the Militia’s unit - even Harry is at loss for words.
Keith and Fran observe as Loran exposes his descent to Earth two years ago. However, his origins notwithstanding, he’s now willing to fight against the earthlings, Moon Race and anyone who refuses to understand the value of life.
The Diana Counter soldiers are quickly losing their focus with this revelation and Phil is desperately trying to cut Loran’s comm.
However, a voice from above tells everyone to stop.





In comes a Moon Race command ship but Mel says this one has a different “aura” than the others. That’d be because it’s the ship of Queen Diana herself, who orders all troops to stand down.
She reminds her men that they haven't come back to mother Earth to fight, and declares that Loran's words were the very essence of her will.
Nearby, the Frost Brothers are observing, with Olba impressed at how Diana changed the entire battlefield with just a few words – as one would expect from the Queen of the Moon. However, Shagia says, the power of said moon will soon be theirs.





The Diana Counter troops retreat and Gain wonders if this woman is less of the Moon’s Queen and more like the Moon’s Goddess.
Rand hopes that our other problems can be fixed just like this and, while Loran is star-struck with Diana, Sochie seems less than happy…



Gwen is immensely grateful to us and Laura for being able to control the situation.
Elchi says we were just doing our job and Gwen confesses to be a bit surprised that Gain’s leader is such a cute girl. He claims that, had he known about this earlier, he would’ve asked her to accompany Laura at the party and Elchi seems pretty proud that she would’ve been entrusted with such an important task.
Rag and Chil watch from afar, remembering of how Elchi always had a soft spot for this type of “well educated man”. “Elchiii! Your Jiron is over heeeere!” Jiron yells in vain.
Gwen notices the “round-faced man” trying to say something to her but Echil says to pay him no mind. Either way, he was another request to make of her.



Sochie comes in and quickly slaps Loran, calling him a liar.
Loran is a bit stunned and, as Sochie leaves, Kihel volunteers to calm her down (though she confesses to also be shocked at his revelation); he sees that both sisters are angry at him for hiding his origins.
Inwardly, he thinks how all he thought was to stop the battle, not considering if it would be a mistake to reveal everything.

: Thanks, Loran…
: Huh…
: I owe ya one for helping me and Tifa.
: Thank you very much…
: Y-yes…
: It’s OK to be proud; after all, you stopped that Earth Vs. Moon battle back there.
: It looked like your words gave the Moon Race folks quite a shock, too.
: Tonight’s “MVP” award clearly goes to you.
: Guys…you…you’re okay with me…?
: …What are you talking about?
: Huh?…Is this about that “you being a Moon Race” thing?
: …
: Chin up, Loran. Look at us.
: Many of us are Galians - what makes you any different?
: …There’s no difference…?
: You fought for us before.
: And you know how important life is, so we know we can trust you.
: And you looked pretty sharp in that dress.
: That bread you brought us was really tasty, too.
: Guys…
: You’re our buddy and that’s all there is to it!
: Yes…!



Gwen, for one, is pleased with us (and Laura) and feels that, with our help, they can bridge the gap between the Earthlings and Moon Race.
He now wants to renew the contract he made with Elchi and the team, making us, and Laura, a special branch of the Militia devoted exclusively to defending peace and freedom. He hopes for our cooperation, so the negotiations with the Moon Race can proceed smoothly.
Jiron is all for it, so long as the pay is good, but Sara wanted to go back to Yapan Ceiling. Dyke and Rand assume the Bahaclone’s repairs should be done by now and figure, even after Yassaba’s defeat, the Siberian Rail would still try something else eventually.

We do need to get back to Siberia before that happens but, as Gainer figures, we still don’t have enough money and resources to make the trip, which makes this job our best bet. Elchi accepts the job and so does Loran, so long as he gets to help both the Earth and Moon.
Gwen thanks Laura, saying he’ll do his best to make sure the negotiations go well. Inwardly, Loran says he trusts both Gwen and Diana to work together for both the Earth and Moon.



DON’T MOVE TO THE NEXT MISSION YET!
This is a bit of a dick move from the game but you need to do this now; first off, head into the Bazaar.




As Jiron and the crew head to Inglessa bazaar, he marvels at all the stone buildings around, while Elchi tries to keep him from looking like too much of a hick.
Still, Jiron is amazed at how much more peaceful this place is when compared to Zora and Loran can sympathize, having gone through similar culture shock when he descended onto the surface.
Garrod is looking for something nice to welcome Tifa back, and Loran leads him to a jeweler.


Secret Alert!:



If you’ve managed to shoot down one of the Frost Brothers, when you come into the Bazzar immediately after the mission, you’ll find this Silver Accessory being sold in the “Items” section.
You need to buy it NOW or it’ll disappear and you’ll be screwed out of the secret.

I also buy the Tin-Plate Goldfish (ブリキの金魚) because it’s an uncommon item and it raises the equipped unit’s starting morale by 5.



Back at the Iron Gear, Sara asks when Garrod plans on giving his gift to Tifa and it should be soon but not now.
Rand wonders if the kid’s lost his nerve after coming this far but, rather, he wants to give Tifa time to get over the shock of hearing that several of their friends have been killed. Rand understands now and apologizes for acting like an idiot.
Still, Garrod knows and appreciates the fact that everyone worked hard to help him choose the perfect gift, so he’ll get to it soon.
Sara praises Garrod's spirit, and Gainer is realizing he should have bought her something too…