Part 37: Mission 12 - Blue Sky Fish - Part 1

Hurray, Rand’s back! Also, despite the fact that he went his own way, Roger is still in the intermission, so let’s take the time to set him up for his, eventual, return.

Unit and Pilot Upgrades:


Big O has an equal dependency on EN and Ammo but EN can be upgraded; as such, he takes B-Save, Morale+ Damage and Morale Limit Break.
I’ll replace Battle Spirit with Hit & Away later (because I forgot! ) .



And, as a super robot, Big O takes the standard boosts to everything but Mobility.


Unit Parts:



Also, Gunleon takes both a Booster and Aquarion’s Chobham Armor (they won’t be returning for a while); the extra speed will be particularly helpful since Rand has no one to cast Accelerate.


With that done, let’s move on to the plot:




Location: Southern Part of the Galian Continent – Gekko Go, Bridge



A minor disagreement has broken out aboard the Gekko Go, with Holland calling off their current travel.
Matthew and Hilda think he’s being selfish and cruel by doing this when they’re so close to their destination and Talho agrees. She reminds that it was his idea for them to travel to Bellforest and, while Ken-goh and Hap understand Holland’s reservations, changing his mind now would accomplish nothing more than further extending the red ink on the budget.
Holland seems deep in thought and, when Talho gets in his face, he grudgingly relents and mutters that "that" damn thing should have just disappeared if the world was gonna get screwed up this badly.



Location: Galian Continent – Bellforest



In here, we find Renton, thinking to his sister that it’s already been a full 14 years since he’s been born and absolutely nothing has happened around him.
Rather, he’s already getting the feeling nothing will EVER happen to him – the worst kind of life. Even with all the changes that happened to the world in these past six months, it’s like this area has been left behind and, really, he doesn’t think that’s going to change.
He thinks that’s why his elder sister, Diane, left – to escape this dreary life.



Renton goes back home and his grandfather, Axel, has a favor to ask of him.
The kid had plans to go Lifting but Axel tells him they’ve a guest and he’d like Renton to play tour guide in town.
Said guest is Rand and Renton is quite surprised with his “hick”-like appearance. Of course, for Setsuko, Renton immediately phases back into his inner monologue (“Sis…a beautiful girl came to our house!”)
Rand does his THE HEAT intro and, this time, Renton complains to his sister how this guy's attitude is so stifling, it feels hard to breathe. Either way, Axel says he found Rand in the middle of the road trying to fix his mech and brought him over (Setsuko couldn’t do it and Rand was out of spare parts).
Either way, Rand (and Setsuko) is looking for something, so Axel would like to ask Renton to escort him into town and take him to the local UN terminal to see if they can find anything. Renton takes note that Rand is from outside and, while he will help him, he first asks that he call him by name instead of that “boy” business. Mind you, that line’s skipped on Setsuko as he answers her call for help with a hearty “O-OF COURSE!”.
Regardless, Renton, thinks that with the arrival of this man/beautiful woman in town, his life might be about to turn for the better.




In town, Rand apologizes for the kid having to come back to town right after coming home from school but Renton’s sure he can go Lifting tomorrow.
While they’re at it, Rand asks Renton to stop calling him “Mr. Rand” and to just call him by name (calling him THE HEAT also works, making Renton think there’s no one as “unique” as Rand in the area). as they’re headed to the UN terminal, Rand asks for some info on it and, when Renton asks, says he’s never used it as gadgets like these weren’t exactly common in his world (Setsuko has no such problem, though).

Renton gives him the rundown according to the quote above and Rand finds it very useful, though Renton laments that his backwater town only has one terminal center (furthermore, to Setsuko, Renton says that being able to see what’s happening outside only makes living here more miserable). Rand observes that "backwater" can be relative, since the world he's from had scarcely any habitations at all dotting the vast badlands.
Shifting back to his inner sister-monologue, Renton tells her how wild and grown-up Rand is.



Anyway, Rand asks if Renton grew up in this town and he confirms, saying he’s been putting up with living in this boring town since he was born.
Renton reports that, while the “Break the World” incident did a whole mess on the world at large, this area was relatively unaffected – nothing happening, nothing changing. Rand was told that this place was warped from a world called “Promised Land” and he tells Renton that he knows of a place in North Ameria that goes by the same name.
The difference is that Renton's Promised Land used to be on a whole different planet, colonized by the Earth long ago and now it’s Rand’s turn to be surprised. Renton remembers everyone having considerable trouble when the "Scubs" acted up and destroyed buildings there.
Rand has heard about this Scub Coral, which was the ground upon which Promised Land stood, and only a small amount of it remains after the “Break the World” united both worlds.

Rand does point out that Renton’s annoyance at how things stayed the same here may not be that bad, as he could tell him all sorts of tragic stories of how much people in other worlds have suffered (or, in Setsuko’s case, the war between the New Federation, Zaft and AEUG that’s happening in other parts of this world).
As for Setsuko, Renton protests that he’s only 14 years old and absolutely nothing has happened to him – him mentioning that age reminds Setsuko of her being 14 years old and the One Year War. Renton tries to apologize but she says it’s no problem and even mentions that she was quite like him at that age.
Either way, Rand and Setsuko have seen a lot of different cities and worlds that Renton didn’t even know about and he would love to hear the stories.



Rand agrees to do it as thanks for him teaching him how to use the UN and asks which one he’d like to hear: he's got stories of Siberian refugees, seeking their freedom, Fallen Angels harvesting souls in the ruins of a burnt-out city and many others.
Renton wants to hear them all but first Rand needs to get what he needs from the UN. Rand does admit to being surprised that this city hasn't been caught up in the battles between Earth and Space going on to the west.
It’s true that "thanks" to the Rivalry Zones, all commerce and travel between the surface and space to a few areas. Furthermore, just nearby, the thinness of the Rivalry Zone has allowed the Zaft to build a forward base.

Renton figures Zaft hasn’t paid much attention to this place as it’s a small, rural area of little consequence and, while Setsuko doesn’t know that for sure, she thinks it’s good that it is like this.
The lack of combat hasn’t stopped from Renton for forming some contempt for the Coordinators, though, as, according to what he’s seen in the UN, an attempted Zaft asteroid bombardment of the Earth released the energy that caused the “Break the World” incident.
Of course, Setsuko inwardly realizes the New Federation has spread that propaganda as a way to develop public support for the continued war against the Coordinators.


.




Either way, since the Rivalry Zone is thin here, Rand wonders if the Trapars are dense in this area too.
Renton doesn’t know how it works but it seems that’s the case (Setsuko wonders what could be the connection between those two things).
However, despite the Trapars being plentiful, there’s only one Lift Spot in the entire town that’s actually decent. Rand figures Renton really likes this Lifting business and, indeed, his greatest heroes are a group of Lifters led by the god-like, charismatic Holland: the Gekkostate.

All they do is travel around the world in search of the perfect Lift waves: the very image of freedom. Of course Rand knows who these guys are, but he hadn't realized they were quite this famous.
He tells the flabbergasted Renton that they’re not exactly acquainted as he only met them once which already makes Renton tell his sister that Rand isn’t just “stifling” – he’s also cool as hell!
Rand wonders why the Gekkostate folks were being chased by the army and Renton tells that, to the army, they’re a criminal organization but, to kids like Renton, their indie magazine “ray=out” is essential reading. In fact, Renton's highest ambition in life is perfecting the Cutback Drop Turn, the most difficult of all Lifting moves and one which Holland supposedly could do at age fourteen.
That'll be his ticket into membership in the Gekkostate when they happen to visit one day – he’ll do the move and Holland will scout him into the group!





Just then a message comes in on the Compac Drive, the standard man-machine interface used in Promised Land.
The message is "Eureka", a code Renton sees a lot. Maybe it's from the military, maybe from Gekkostate, maybe from some bored trucker but Rand figures, when you're 14, you can afford to think big.
Either way, Renton asks what Rand’s looking for in the UN and it’s not so much a missing “thing”, more like a missing person: someone who he got separated from during the “Break the World”. On Setsuko’s side she also says she’s been looking for someone and, on both accounts, Renton asks if it’s a boyfriend/girlfriend.
Setsuko says it’s just someone dear to her but Rand stays silent, making Renton apologize for his lack of tact. It’s just that it’s a long story, so Rand will just skip the details and say that he’s just looking for his “fiancée”.
Renton is equally impressed at Rand and Setsuko travelling the world, searching for someone important and tells his sister that he hopes they’ll will be also take him off this town.



When the UN proved of little use, Rand set about verbally asking around town and, sadly for Renton, Rand sent him back home with just some words of thanks.
Axel notices him daydreaming and tells him to give a hand in servicing Rand’s unit. Renton is actually interested in helping and Axel is happy he finally found something else to do.
Renton has his own agenda, though, and figures if he does a good enough job on Rand’s unit, he can become a famous mechanic and join the Gekkostate as that.
On Setsuko’s path, however, Renton’s interest quickly fades once he realizes her Virgola isn’t an LFO (boring!) and Axel yells at him that all units in the world are equally worthy of attention and he needs to realize that if he’s to be a good mechanic – on that path, however, Renton isn’t interested in being a mechanic (since he’s never met Rand as an example).

Whether it’s Axel, respectively, criticizing his desire to leave the town he was born and should want to live in or complaining about his career choice, Renton yells back to not to go making decisions for him.
Truth be told, Axel doesn’t mind what it is that Renton wants to do – he could become a plank cutter or whatever – but he needs to look at reality: even though his father died a hero and his sister left to pursue her dreams, aside from the worlds getting mixed up, nothing else has changed.
In the end, people who think dreams are the most important things are simply fools!



Their argument is interrupted when they hear the distinct sound of an LFO flying above.
Not just flying but also falling – right where they are!



Mission 12 - Blue Sky Fish




The LFO crashes and, while Renton doesn’t recognize the model, Axel tags it as the Nirvash Type ZERO – the oldest model of LFO
Axel certainly didn’t expect to ever see one and the cockpit quickly opens, with Eureka coming outside: she says there’s something wrong with “this child” (Nirvash) and asks if they could take a look at it (Renton can only sigh at how cute she is). Nearby, Holland and the others see that Eureka has successfully contacted the target though Matthew has to wonder why they’re going through this much trouble.

They could’ve just asked the old man to fix up the Nirvash without having to crash it over their house as, from Matthew has heard, Holland knows Axel. Stoner doesn’t really mind but it seems pretty clear to him that Holland is scared of meeting him again.
THAT has Matthew’s attention and he wants to know what could possibly be their leader’s weakness but Holland shushes him, reminding them to keep watching their surroundings as the Federation troops aren’t the only rats sniffing at their trail.



Rand has returned and sees the new machine getting repaired (Axel didn’t really have a reason to refuse) and Rand offers to lend a hand.
Axel appreciates the thought but says this LFO requires a specialized mechanic and Rand’s professional eyes knew, from the second he laid eyes on it, that it was unlike the other machines. Regardless, Axel asks if there isn’t someone Rand should be looking for?
Sadly, Rand (and Setsuko) was way off track by coming here and couldn’t find a single clue but, regardless, Axel also says his mech is repaired. One thing strikes him as curious, though: Rand says it’s a repair-oriented machine but nearly everything else about it says it’s made to destroy (“Oh, no…how embarrassing…”, Rand jokes).

Furthermore, Axel has noticed that some of the mech’s functions have been purposefully sealed and, inwardly, Rand realizes the old man is pretty sharp. He won’t pry, though, instead suggesting that Rand should leave town quickly (Setsuko doesn't get this bit, mind.).
He has a feeling that this town’s peace is about to be shattered since the Nirvash and the girl are together with “them” – of course, Rand is well aware of Eureka and the Gekkostate. Axel's final request is that Rand leave town quietly, so Renton doesn't know.
Rand mildly suggests that this might be about the right age for Renton to get out and see the world, but Axel is adamant that he wants to give the kid the quiet life that he couldn't give to certain other relatives of his.



Renton meanwhile is puzzling over Eureka's Nirvash, wondering how she's able to pilot it without a Compac Drive.
Eureka isn't interested, since the thing never had one in the first place. Renton finds it odd that it can even move without it and wants to try installing one, just as an experiment.
Eureka wonders if it’ll be ok but Renton assures that, even though he looks young, he’s a professional mechanic – good enough to realize that even machines have a heart to them. Eureka thinks that is pretty obvious and, inwardly, Renton tells his sister that she doesn’t even think what he says is weird – she IS his ideal woman (even if she’s a wee bit weird)!

Either way, he puts the Compac Drive in but nothing happens so Eureka thinks he should just uninstall it again. The Nirvash was moving just fine without it and, besides, Eureka doesn’t trust things she doesn’t know.
Furthermore, she adds that just because you trust something, doesn’t mean everything will work out and, more often than not, being too trusting can bring misfortune and even pain.



Axel comes in right then, asking if Eureka’s one of Holland’s friends.
He doesn’t mind, though, only saying that he was ready to give something to whoever came over: an Amita Drive. He’s sure that’s what she came here for, the thing that tore his family to pieces.
So, he tells her to take it and never show her face to him or Renton again. Of course, the kid yells that he’s got no reason to be rude like that.
Eureka interrupts him, though, saying that something’s coming – just as missiles hit close to the house.





The New Federation army is on the scene and they’ve just started bombarding the Nirvash with missiles, which causes the young Dominic to ask what the hell.
The commander, Jürgens’, sees no problem seeing how they’ve no orders to keep the Type Zero safe. As a member of the information bureau, Dominic can't approve such actions, but Jürgens is adamant that the Gekkostate must go down NOW, lest their antics further embolden the Titans.
He tells the younger man to shut his mouth and remember what they taught him in the academy: in the battlefield, commander’s orders take priority over all (which makes Dominic, inwardly, call him a philistine).





Rand deploys quickly and tells Axel and Renton to run – the army’s here after that LFO.
Jürgens doesn’t recognize the Gunleon so they search their database and find both the unit and its pilot tagged as wanted by the former United Nations Earth as an Exodus supporter (while Setsuko’s tagged in the Titans’ database as a traitor). Old ideology to be sure, but now that the UNE is part of the New Earth Federation the way seems clear (as for Setsuko, Jürgens is annoyed that the Titans brought their own enemies to this world but is glad to take her out to rub their noses in it).
Setsuko makes quick note on how Axel’s repairs have allowed her to apply the data of the Virgola #3 into the #1, so she should be able to use the Jack Carver once again.



Eureka boards the Nirvash and gets ready to fight, while Rand gets in touch and asks if she remembers him.
She does and Rand realizes that they both seem to be targets here, so he proposes they join forces to get out of this mess. Back home, Renton is getting very worried that his backyard is turning into a battlefield.



Mission Objective: All enemies shot down
Mission Failure: Any ally unit shot down
Skill Point: ???


The Skill Point is hidden but you’d do well to keep yourself relatively close to the SE corner of the map while dealing with the Mon-Soonos.



They’re all in squads but Eureka doesn’t even need to use focus to deal with them.



: Nirvash…is there still something wrong with you?
: Don’t worry, though. I’ll protect you.










Not bad, not bad.

Rand is too far away to do anything, though.



Enemy Phase!




Eureka gets attacked by her previous target and easily finishes the job.



While the other nearby Mon-soono goes straight after Rand.



: I couldn’t find any clues about Mel and I got dragged into another mess…it always plays out like this, huh?
: Still, If that’s how it’s gonna be, I’ll drop these guys and leave this bad luck behind! Sorry but you better be ready!














Rand does like aerial enemies, mind: “Jerk! Quit flying around and get down here!”.
Still, he does well enough.

The other enemies are out of range and Jürgens’ Izumo battleship is standing still.



Player Phase!







Each unit picks a new target and starts weakening it as, sadly, there are no one shots.



Enemy Phase!



Here they come.












Attagirl. Eureka’s attacked by all three weakened Mon-soonos and takes them out.



During that, she also nabs a level and learns Trust.



Player Phase!



Back at the Thurston home, Axel is a bit injured from the nearby explosion but still asks what happened to the Nirvash.
Renton says it’s fighting the army and, then, Axel tells him to take the Amita Drive, the most important part of her Compac Drive, to Eureka. If it’s plugged into the Nirvash, it’ll open the “Satori” and truly awaken the LFO – at least, that’s what Renton’s father said.
“Go, Renton! Use this and destroy them all!!”, Axel says.

Quick tangent here: in Zen Buddhism, "opening of Satori" (often interchangeable with "Kenshō") refers to, in short, obtaining insight to your true nature (enlightenment) which is the first step towards achieving nirvana.





Outside, the Gekkostate has just arrived with Holland asking if Eureka’s safe.
He tells her she needs to be careful as the Nirvash isn't at its best. Rand recognizes his old acquaintances and Holland also remembers THE HEAT and Matthews amazed at this coincidence.
As for Setsuko, she recognizes them as the Gekkostate Renton told her about and Holland tells Eureka to stand down and let them handle the rest.

: ! Holland, over there!
: What?! We're in the middle of battle!
: Is that…a boy?!
: !

Nearby…

: (I’m not doing something this crazy because Grandpa said so, sis!)
: (I just have to tell that girl what I couldn’t tell her before!)
: (What you told me back then…that when I believe in something, the power of that belief turns into reality…)
: (And, I…I believe right now…That’s why…)
: Let’s go, Renton! Let’s go, me! Fly to where she is!!

*Renton starts running towards a cliff.*

: That kid…no way!
: Hurry, Nirvash…!
: Don’t beg, earn it! Then, it’ll be given to you!!

: I CAAAAAAAN FLYYYYYYYYYYYY!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTLp7gZJzpw


Holy shit, I love this song.

: Cutback Drop Turn! He’s--!
: You…
: I did it…I really did it!! I did a Cutback Drop Turn!!
: Eh…
: And it’s all thanks to you…I pulled it off because of you! You’re the best!
: I love you!
: Aah?
: I could do it because you were here! That would’ve been impossible without you! I really love you!!
: …
: Who confesses their love in the middle of a mess like this?!
: But, Eureka’s smiling…
: That kid…is he Diane’s…
: What do we do, Holland?!
: Protect Eureka and kick the military’s asses!
: Roger that.
: How about you, Eureka?
: Understood, Holland.
: Eureka…?! And that’s Holland…no way!
: He’s Holland and I’m Eureka, yes.
: Eureka…! You’re Eureka, a member of the Gekkostate!!
: I’m Renton – Renton Thurston!
: Let’s go, then, Renton!
: Y-yes!
: It’s alright. The Nirvash is also happy that you’re here!
: The LFO is happy…?
: Alright, here we go!
: H-hold on! W-w-w-wait a minute! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

*Nirvash starts zipping around.*

: Let’s dance, Nirvash!

Yeeeaah! We’ve got Days playing, Nirvash has learned a new, cool-looking attack (that it can’t use until Eureka gets some more levels in her Lift Technique…) and Renton’s being adorably silly – this is proper Eureka 7!



Holland positions himself to weaken one Mon-soono and, possibly, TRI Attack the other squads that are farther away.



: That kid just now…his eyes were just like hers…
: Is he her little brother…?
: Eh? You say something, boss?
: It’s nothing! First off, take out these guys and keep Eureka safe!










His weakest attack strikes a critical hit but falls just short of a oneshot.







Rand starts working on a fresh squad while Eureka takes one mook with a big crit.

The Gekko moves closer but it still has no post-movement weapons.



Enemy Phase!



Another mob moves after Eureka.



: YAAAAAAAAAH!
: It’s alright. I’ll protect you and the Nirvash.
: (Sis…I’m just no good. The girl I like is protecting me…I’m an embarrassment as a man…)
: (But, all this shaking…this whiplash…I can’t take it much more… Good…bye……)














Oh, dear…seems like Renton’s almost passing out.
She gets attacked by three groups and manages to grab one kill.



One squad decides to be different and attacks the Gekko.












Very nice.



Jürgens actually has a shot at the Nirvash but we’re way too dodgy for him.



Player Phase!

Might as well take this time to take a look at Jürgens as a pilot (his ship is the same as the one we saw on Rand’s path):


Izumo (Jürgens)
Pilot Skills:

• Prevail L4
  
• Support Attack L1
  
• Commander L1

Squad Leader Bonus: Adjacent squads have their weapons EN cost reduced by 10%
Jürgens’ voice actor: Tetsuo Komura (other known Works: Galvatron in Beast Wars II, Dong Zhuo Zaku and Lu Zhi in SD Gundam and some others).

That Prevail L4 notwithstanding, Jürgens isn’t very dangerous as his Izumo is very inaccurate; he’s still a mini-boss with a 2L unit, though, so he can still hurt if he gets a hit in and he’s got the range to pull some decent supports if people stay close to him.
Outside of that, he’s nowhere near the top of the food-chain here.




No need to have Holland waste a shot of his TRI here, so Talho takes out the leader.



What Holland will do is switch to Center formation and take the other one with some help from Matthew.



















Following that, Rand and Eureka finish off a couple other mooks.
Mind you, I positioned them closer to Jürgens but that’s a bad call – I should’ve moved them closer SE.



Enemy Phase!




The last Mon-Soono barely hangs on after attacking Holland and Jürgens wastes his attack by going after Eureka.



Player Phase!




Gidget soon detects another batch of Federation units approaching - it’s the Titans.
Dominic sighs at the arrival of this “troublesome group” and Jerid, leading them, tells Jürgens to leave the rest to them. He refuses, stating that taking out the Gekkostate is their duty and Jerid immediately gets pissy at this “regular soldier” refusing a command from the Titans.
Kacricon appreciates Jürgens’ zeal for his duty but points out that his troops are wearing pretty thin. This causes Jürgens to wonder what Jamitov’s personal army’s doing here but Dominic reminds him that their mission is to investigate the Nirvash. They can do that just as easily away from the front lines of battle.

He angrily retreats and, with them out of the way, the Titans can begin their “hunt” and Jerid hopes for a better fight than the Zaft were able to put up. He commands his troops to destroy all who oppose the Federation Army and Talho wonders what they should do as they weren’t expecting this.
Holland wants Eureka to run while they hold off the Titans but, before anything happens, Gidget detects another group.






This time it’s the AEUG and Zaft, with Arthur quickly confirming the Gekkostate’s presence.
Talia wants to give them a hand and Bright agrees, seeing how any enemy of the Titans is their ally. As everyone starts to spread out to fight, Luna has to wonder why is it that a special military squad like them were sent to protect a bunch of wandering Lifters but Ray says the orders came from Durandal, so it’s not their place to question.
Meyrin also detects Rand’s “unknown” unit and, despite not knowing what it is, figure it’s a friendly as its working with the Gekkostate. Rand remembers seeing the Minerva doing his searches in the UN and figures they’re here to fight the Feds.

On Setsuko’s side, Arthur detects the Virgola #1 and figures it’s Denzel, but Setsuko gets in touch and says she’s not here to fight them. Talia figures they can figure out the details later but, for now, she’s helping the Gekkostate so she’s an ally (Setsuko does notice that it seems the AEUG and Zaft have joined forces since the “Break the World”).



Kacricon didn’t expect the other group but figures it’s all the better to take them all out at once. Jerid, however, has his eyes set on Camille in order to get revenge for Lila.
Camille stops for a second as he senses someone’s evil intent but Shinn is there to help him out: “Don’t worry about every little thing. If you get too stuck on those premonitions, you won’t be a able to fight…!”, he says.

Camille understands but tells Shinn to keep an eye out just in case. Quattro is pensive at this, wonder if Camille was sensing that pressure from someone in the troops ahead.
Matthew notices that they’re helping us but Holland tells him not to relax as they’re not out of the woods just because the Izumo posse is gone.
Hap adds that it might be too soon to assume that they ARE our allies, too. Either way, Holland will work with them but, as soon as the way is clear, they’re running off quick-like.