Part 50: Mission 16 (Galia Route) - Singularity
Mission 16 (Galia Route) – Singularity
The bandits are a group of Moon Race and Breakers.
Michael says it seems they’re trying to blend in with the vagrants by hiring them and Gwen is very disappointed that the Moon Race would go that far to avoid a confrontation with the Federation. "Kihel" has to wonder if the attacks here and at Fort Severn are by "Diana's” will, or by Milan and Phil's.
Mimsy yells at the Captain to do his job as a bodyguard and intercept but he says he’s a “large-scale destruction robot” and, as such, these enemies are unworthy of being destroyed him by. Gauli is flabbergasted by this but the Captain’s reasoning is that Mu parts and EN chips are rare, so he cannot waste them on weak enemies.
Mimsy sighs, saying we’re the only ones to blame for trying to depend on him and, with that, Shaia orders everyone to deploy.
Elchi tells us not to go easy on them, even if the enemy’s broke – we’ll pay back anyone who raids our turf!
Jiron is also eager to teach the Moon Race how they do things in Galia. Loran is less excited but, when Gainer asks, says he’s fine as he cannot agree with his kind robbing people like this.
Kappei is right behind him, ready to make them regret doing this and, inwardly, Loran can only hope these raids aren’t being done on Diana’s orders.
Mission Objective: All enemies shot down
Mission Failure: Allied battleship shot down
Skill Point: Defeat all enemies by the end of turn 3
Not a particularly hard Skill Point but you need to play aggressively: the Breakers are all in bulkier Walker Machines and they’re also in Wide Formation; the Moon Race, meanwhile, has a pair of WaDoms that won’t move until the second enemy turn, so you’ll need to send people over.
Use our own Wide Formation and/or TRI attacks to whittle them down quickly – everything helps.
Everyone moves ahead but only Gain gets in range to attack.
The newer Trad-11’s are surprisingly dodgy (for Walker Machines) – Gauli had a 60% chance to hit it.
Enemy Phase!
One of the newer models comes over to attack Kei: Walker Machine Government; I’d rather save his TRI shots but Kei’s ALL attack has plenty of ammo.
: Opening a Market and stockpiling on goods and info’s nice and all but I guess it's also catnip to unsavory types.
: Too bad for you, though: this here’s the Glomar and the amazing Kei Katsuragi is aboard!
This squad also has a Dagger and Caprico, so we can’t afford to be stingy with ALL/TRI attacks.
This next squad isn’t as bulky, though, so I’ll just have Jiron hit the lead Caprico with a Bazooka shot.
: We’re all hired Breakers here so no hard feelings, no matter who wins!
Good, good.
Gainer can afford the EN cost to use his TRI so let’s get to it.
: Even if you were hired, you can choose between right and wrong!: If you still want to mug people, then you'll get no mercy from me!
Truth be told, I hadn’t realized they were all in Wide Formation or I wouldn’t have set people to TRI.
Loran gets jumped by the last group of Breakers and a batch of surprisingly dodgy WaDs.
: Even if you’re going through tough times, Her Majesty would never have accepted this!: Which is why I’ll fight you! As a Market sponsor and a human of both the Moon and Earth!
He tags the Breakers with a TRI attack but, for the WaDs, it was safer to just use the beam rifle.
A second WaD squad gets some cheap damage on Loran but he fails to hit back.
Player Phase!
I forgot that Shaia has terrible grades against earth-bound enemies, so she only slightly weakens some Breakers.
No matter. What’s important is to get people closer to the WaDoms, so Gain moves over while handing a TRI attack to some fresh WaDs.
: You came here from Ameria in search of a New World…
: We would’ve let you join the Exodus if you had only asked instead of trying to rob us…!
All but one lucky WaD survive his volley (72 HP!).
Gauli and Sara profit a level, with him learning Support Defend L2.
Kei and the twins cut down the Government squad down to size; meanwhile, Heizaemon blasts a Caprico into oblivion.
Kappei will also be helpful on the WaDoms and, along the way, he takes one of Loran’s weakened mooks.
: You bastards! No one's doing too good but we’re still doing our best live our lives!
: The great Kappei Jin'll take on anyone who tries to steal stuff!
Good kid.
Following that, Rand takes out the Caprico in the same squad.
Bello learns Trust from a level up, too.
Gainer doesn’t need to waste more EN with his TRI attack, when Kouji has a post-movement one ready to go.
: Damn, it’s really dangerous even this close to Japan!: I’m starting to understand why the new Japanese government called for martial law!
Oddly enough, the leader barely survives while his squaddies get blown away.
More levels and, this time, Kouji and Maria get, respectively, Prevail L4 and L2.
Elchi finishes off Shaia’s Promeus while leaving the remaining squaddies barely alive; meanwhile, Jiron and Gavane are weakening the last pair of full-HP Walker Machines.
Loran and Miashey finish off a squad and she learns Support Defend L2.
Enemy Phase!
This clever Dagger moves just a bit too close to prevent Elchi from fragging his entire squad.
I’ll settle for a single kill, though; Elchi’s also attacked by a single Trad-11 but she leaves it barely alive.
Jiron trades blows with his previous victims and Gain gets jumped by three batches of WaDs, securing three kills.
Gauli gets another level up and learns Sense.
Here come the WaDoms, with one going straight after Gain.
The other one’s too far away, mind.
Player Phase!
Elchi and Jiron keep the clean-up going.
Kei, meanwhile, will deal with the weakened WaDom.
No problems here.
And, even better, Maai and Riea both get a level and learn Accelerate!
Gain snipes away at the last WaDom and Gainer goes for the last pair of WaDs – sadly, Kouji misses his target (and so does Shaia when I send her after it…
).
That’s enough out of you!
There.
Heizaemon clears out the last Breaker.
And here goes the last WaDom.
Boosh!
Sochie also had lines against the Moon Race but I forgot to do stuff with her:
: We were kicked out of Inglessa but we didn’t sink as low as thievery!
: I won’t lose to such weak-willed people!
The battle is won and Miashey can only sigh at how far the Moon Race has fallen.
Joseph figures, in a way, they’re like us and are just doing what they can to survive but, regardless, Loran can’t simply accept them mugging people. Kouji yells at him to snap out of it as there’s something else coming!
It’s a bunch of Chiram and our people have no idea what they’re doing here (Gainer also points out that their activities are usually restricted to their sphere of influence – South Ameria).
Bello wonders if they’re here to attack our Market but Mimsy says that, due to a commercial treaty between both nations, the Chiram are forbidden from starting fights near an Emaanian Market. Shaia has an idea why they’re here, though.
The group’s leader, Robert, confirms with Henry that the Emaanian Factory ahead is where the Singularity’s located, though Henry notes that they seem to have hired “bodyguards”. Robert figures that’s just like the cowardly Emaanians, thinking they can solve anything with money.
Henry gives all units the order to attack and capture the Singularity. The Chiram soldiers, however, say that’d be a breach in their treaty with the Emaanians but Robert says he can make that issue go away afterwards.
Furthermore, if they don’t like that, they should make sure to leave no witnesses while Henry adds a threat that anyone who refuses to do their duty can consider themselves shot in the back as they retreat - with little choice, the Chiram forces charge in.
It seems there’ll be no reasoning with them and, regrettably, Heizaemon gives the order to fight our fellow humans (even though we don’t fully understand the situation). Kappei doesn’t really mind, seeing how the Chiram aren’t really leaving us any other option.
As Gengoroh calls for everyone to intercept, he adds a warning to simply force them to retreat – no need to pursue them more than necessary.
Oh, that last kill had bumped Gainer up to 130 morale.
Enemy Phase!
All the Chiram start coming over but none get in attack range.
Henry and Robert stay put.
Player Phase!
Papty soon detects another Chiram signal incoming and it turns out it’s just one unit. Sara figures the pilot’s cocky but Gainer tells her to wait – this unit’s very strong.
When she asks how he knows and he says that any enemy that appears in a situation like this is probably a boss and, also, its design is different. Bello shakes his head at Gainer trying to apply game tropes to reality but Kei figures he’s not that far off.
The enemy’s certainly unique from the others.
The pilot’s a woman and, apparently, she’s been looking for the Singularity.
Henry recognizes her as a member of the Special Forces and figures she’s here to steal their glory but Robert tells them to ignore her and focus on seizing the Singularity. The pilot doesn’t really care what they think – she’s here only to carry out her mission.
Now, let’s take a look at the bosses we’ve available:
Nikick Atena Model (Atena Henderson)
Pilot Skills:
- Support attack L2
- Counter L3
- Predict
Atena’s Voice Actress: Masako Katsuki (other known works: Reccoa in Zeta Gundam, Tsunade in Naruto, Michiru Kaioh in Sailor Moon and MANY others)
Her name’s right there in the unit’s model, damn it (plus, it’d be annoying to constantly call her ???); Atena’s built pretty much like Kei and the other Chiram characters, in which she’s meant to get in your face and wreck everyone with ALL and TRI attacks.
She’d dodgy and accurate enough that you should be careful even with Focus (especially once Predict activates) but, fortunately, she’s got piddly defenses (with decent amount of HP, though); tag her with Analyze and your supers will do very nice damage on her.
Ishkick Commander (Robert)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
- Battle Spirit
- Commander L1
Robert’s Voice Actor: Takkou Ishimori (other known works: Doba in Ideon, Sengoku in One Piece, Franklin Bidan in Zeta Gundam and several others)
Robert has slightly worse stats than Atena but he’ll make up for it once his Prevail kicks in.
On top of the Chiram units’ natural dodginess, he also comes equipped with a Behavior Restraint System (慣性制御システム) which adds +20 to his unit’s mobility.
You only need to take him down to end the mission, mind, and he’s got less HP than Atena – cast Analyze and you should be able to take him down without much trouble (especially if you saved SP to cast Strike/Attune).
The Chiram all came in either Center or TRI (in Robert/Henry’s case) Formation, so we can let loose with whatever ALL or TRI attacks we’ve been saving.
Just keep in mind that they can be decently accurate/dodgy, so keep something like Focus going whenever possible.
Despite her name still being hidden: “What?! His fighting style’s like 2nd LT. Atena of the Special Forces…!”.
Whoops!
Zambot suffers a hefty accuracy penalty against the S-sized Chiram units, so Uchuuta’s Strike is a must; following that, Gain moves ahead and TRI attacks another batch.
Here’s a good thing, though: Chiram soldiers aren’t skilled enough to avoid getting doubled by Gainer.
Heh…I had forgotten about those silly helmets.
Rand swaps to Wide Formation and, despite some slightly unfavorable numbers, his squad nails all of Kei’s weakened Ishkicks.
Not about to be outdone, Miashey strikes a 37% hit and finishes off an Ishfon.
Enemy Phase!
Gain gets jumped three of Ishfon squads.
No kills are made, though.
Heizaemon and Rand, meanwhile, are attacked by a pair of weak groups and take out the leaders.
Here comes Atena and she’s quite skilled – enough that Kei can’t even double attack her.
: (I’ve found you, Singularity…!)
: That dogfighting technique…! I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere…: Who is that? Someone I know…?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b3mfefTfm0
Alright, I’ll take it.
Player Phase!
There’s a weakened batch of Ishfons right there, so Heizaemon will deal with that.
There go all three of them.
Kei’s still doing his thing against Atena.
Shaia has lines against the Chiram, so we might as well have her do something.
: I never expected the Chiram to violate the treaty and attack… They’re really gunning for Kei, huh?
: But we won’t hand him over! This is for Emaan’s future!
Hrrrmm….
Fine, I’ll deal with that later. Elchi takes down another pair of Ishkicks while Jiron leaves a full squad barely hanging.
Time to take out Atena and, before I send Kappei in, I have Loran weaken her just in case.
Here we go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QybaVKeGmzQ
Atena drops a Booster and, having cast Gain with Keiko, Kappei levels up and learns Prevail L4.
Atena’s surprised at being driven into a corner and, right then, a message comes in from her superior to return to base.
He tells her not to underestimate this foe – nor his allies – and says they’ll need to make some better preparations for this. She complies and retreats, leaving Gain to figure Gainer was right in saying she was a stronger enemy than the others.
Bello thinks Gainer’s gaming insight was actually helpful but, really, Gainer isn’t very happy to be praised when he says it like that. Kei, meanwhile, is trying to remember where he saw Atena’s moves before…
Rand takes out another weakened Ishfron while I try and fail to have Kouji and Maria attack Henry’s squaddies.
No matter. He’s plenty weakened and Gain’s got a clear shot.
Our group turns out stronger than the reports suggested and Robert tells Henry to leave the rest to him.
Enemy Phase!
Gain’s attacked by a bunch of weak squads and takes a total of five skills, while Gainer has to weaken the two full-HP groups.
Robert comes closer and goes after Gain, too.
I’ll take it.
Player Phase!
We’ll deal with Robert on this turn but, before that, let’s clean the rest up.
I think I was gonna have Rand attack Robert but, for whatever reason, I forgot to do so.
Triple kill!
Kouji takes out the last Ishkick squad.
And Elchi will Goomba-stomp the last Ishfon.
So satisfying.
Time for Kei to have words with his would-be kidnapper.
: There you are, Singularity! I’ll be taking you to Chiram!: What are you on about, gramps? : Only the prettiest girl in the world can have a monopoly over yours truly! So, good luck with that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XRf2zQtIv0
Seems like I underestimated Robert’s Prevail a bit…
Fine, then. Loran cuts him in half and we’re done (we also steal his Behavior Restraint System)!
As for Rand/Setsuko, they also had lines against Robert.
-Rand Vs. Robert-
: This is the one Henry spoke of? It’s faint but I’m certainly getting a response!
: These Chiram are mistaking me for a Singu-whatever again?!
: Huh? What’s that?: No idea! But what I do know is that they’re coming after me!
: Does this mean…?
: Yup! Time for some no-holds-barred dismantling! -Setsuko/Toby Vs Robert-
: These are the people Henry spoke of? It’s faint but I’m certainly getting a response!
: Is he talking about us, Setsuko?
: Y-yes! I don’t really understand why but those Chiram attacked even back at the point of commerce!
: They’re all self-centered pricks, both Asakim and these guys! Let’s go, Setsuko!
: Roger! We can’t afford to die before completing the Virgola!
Robert is quick to sound the retreat to reorganize their attack, as Kappei taunts them.
Kouji laughs at his childish antics but Maria thinks he’s entitled to it with our newest victory. still, Kouji wonders why the Chiram attacked us today.
Heizaemon figures they must be after something or other and, inwardly, Kei and Rand figure it’s the same deal as in the point of commerce. Maai and Riea quickly spot Captain doing something and he’s calling us over: it seems he’s managed to capture one of the fleeing Moon Race attackers!
Gain and Loran figure this isn’t necessary since we’re, technically, not at war with them so they’re about to cut him loose (despite the trouble Captain went through to capture him…) when “Kihel” stops them. She tells Gwen that, if we can talk to the soldier, we may be able to get information like the Moon Race’s current movements.
He agrees to interrogate the soldier and, inwardly, Kihel thinks that, while not much, finding out the Soreil’s movements will help her.
Aboard the Chiram ship, Robert is being told by Atena’s commander that his platoon has been placed under direct control of the Special Forces and the capture of the Singularity has been marked as the top priority for all Chiram troops.
For that reason, the special forces have been mobilized and, inwardly, Henry fumes that, though they were the one who found the Singularities, these guys came over to take all the credit. Regardless, the commander tells Robert that the very survival of the Chiram hangs in the balance and hopes for his cooperation.
Robert, of course, agrees to do as told and places himself and his men under the special forces command. Henry tries to protest but Robert remembers him that, as soldiers, they cannot question their given orders (though, inwardly, he thinks his support will only be superficial).
Regardless, the commander appreciates Robert’s service thus far so he’ll be still leave front-line command in his hands. After thanking him and promising to live up to those expectations, Robert and Henry leave.
The commander didn’t expect Robert to take those orders so nicely and Atena wonders if everything’s fine, then.
He says it doesn’t matter as men like Robert and Henry wouldn’t be able to take capture the Singularity on their own. The commander knows this fact very well and Atena seems aware of some connection between her commander and the Singularity.
He stops her there and adds that, regardless of who the Singularity is, it’s his mission to capture him – his personal feelings have no bearing in this. Furthermore, the commander’s also curious about the faint Singularity readings they’ve been getting from some of the people around Kei.
For now, he commands Atena to merely observe our group and she complies, addressing him as Major General Olson. “For us to meet like this after the world was broken… It must be fate, Kei…” Olson thinks.
Captain presents the captured Diana Counter soldier to us, who declares he won’t say anything else aside from the usual name, rank and serial number business.
When Rag asks, Kei says it’s the usual P.O.W. attitude and, as an enemy combatant, the soldier demands to be treated in accordance to the international conventions. Maai and Riea don’t like his attitude, especially considering they were the ones who attacked our Market in the first place.
Another thing that Jiron points out: we’re not really soldiers, so we’re not bound by those conventions. Chil, meanwhile, is curious as to what Gauli’s plans on doing by heating his knife in fire and bringing out a bunch of jagged stones.
Gauli’s in the process of telling the child to go elsewhere when Loran and Kihel stop him, unwilling to accept this soldier being treated like that. The Moon Race soldier freaks out when he sees “Diana” over here but Sochie says her sister only LOOKS like the queen.
Kihel asks why he got so scared when he thought she was the queen – maybe because he was acting against her will? Indeed, their actions have been under Phil’s orders and they did what they had to in order to survive.
Of course, Sochie calls him out in his bullshit, saying stealing food and other stuff isn’t justified like that. Maai wants to teach him a lesson but Kihel stops both girls, at least sympathizing with their situation.
Gwen is quite impressed with Kihel, having been able to inspire such regret in the soldier but she says she should be apologizing for intruding like this. Still, he’s thankful for her help as he also didn’t want to rely on violent methods (and Loran echoes the sentiment).
Either way, the current situation of the Moon Race shows to Gwen and Gauli that their problems aren’t limited to just poverty – Diana is also losing influence over the troops.
There’s also the possibility of the entire Moon Race army turning to thievery given their state and Diana knows she needs to switch with Kihel before that happens. Either way, Jiron cuts the soldier loose and, when he’s confused, Rag says he gave us some good info so we don’t need to keep him anymore.
The soldier doesn’t really get why they’re releasing a P.O.W. so easily but, as Jiron reminds him, we’re not the military so we’re not at war with the Moon Race. With that, Jiron tells him to get going before Gauli decides to have “words” with him.
He does so, thanking our group for our mercy, while also realizing his mistake in assuming this was a land of savages.
Mome says the soldier didn’t seem to be a bad person but Kei says that’s just how soldiers are: even if they are good people, they’ll follow orders without any questions.
Captain doesn’t really understand what he’s saying, as soldiers SHOULD follow orders – that’s how the army keeps things running smoothly. Sadly, we’re still not military so Mel says we don’t really have any of that business and, in Kei’s case, he’s long since left that life.
Captain realizes we’ve been fighting with chaotic tactics and figures he’ll be the one to correct us. Rand’s a bit surprised that Captain still wants to come with us but Mome raises the valid point that it was him who captured the Diana Counter soldier for us.
So, she asks Kei to hire him as a favor for her but Kei’s still hesitating. Captain gives up, then, thanking Mome for her kindness and getting ready to leave – “old soldiers never die, they just fade away”.
As Mome starts tearing up, Rand pulls Kei aside and tells him to just hire the robot as he’s starting to feel really weak after all this guilt-tripping. Kei agrees to do it, if only to preserve Rand’s THE HEAT-ness.
Mel offers to thank him in her Darling’s stead but Kei tells her to try again in around four years. Mome’s really glad that the Captain can come with us but Kei says he’ll need to convince Shaia and Mimsy somehow…either way, Captain will be assigned to work aboard the Glomar.
Shaia reports in to Löwen about the battle and asks if the Feds have any information regarding the Chiram’s actions.
He says all they got was a notice that Chiram forces were moving towards Galia a few days ago and, only now, he’s seen that we were the target. Still, Löwen wonders why they would go so far as to violate their treaty with the Emaan like that.
Shaia’s about to tell him when Mimsy, quietly, shushes her, saying that if he finds out about the actual meaning behind a Singularity, he’ll tell the Federation. Shaia acknowledges this, remembering how important Kei is for Emaan’s future.
Löwen asks if there’s a problem but Shaia, hesitantly, denies it and, to get her off the hook, Mimsy asks if he’d like to visit them in Galia – she’d like to have nice, relaxing talk with him. Löwen immediately starts stuttering an incoherent answer and Mimsy, inwardly, notes that he’s already lost his train-of-thought due to that gynophobia.
Either way, Löwen remembers another piece of big news that he wanted to give us: they’ve located the Yapan’s Ceiling.
Before we end this, there’s another Bazaar-item secret we can pursue if you’ve chosen Rand as the main character:
Gainer’s impressed at the Market – despite the craziness with the Chiram, people are still coming and going to make business.
Goove tells him this is natural as the Emaan live for the trade. Sley tells him the found a lot of items from different worlds, so Gainer might even find some rare stuff around here.
Gainer decides to buy something, then, and Goove suggests Sley help him buy something for Sara. When he asks why, Goove says that, just like Sley, the kid’s also trying to get the attention of a girl.
Goove wishes them both good luck and leaves, with Sley seething at his insinuation. Gainer slowly asks if the girl Sley’s after is Mimsy and he says she’s his fiancée – so, his is not an unrequited love like Gainer’s!
Before things get any more hostile, Sley goes looking for a present for Sara, leaving Gainer to ponder how Sley really is touchy when it comes to this subject – Gainer does understand how Kei’s appearance can dangerous to his plans, though. Hell, Gainer also needs to keep an eye out lest Kei also decide to hit on Sara.
Either way, this isn’t the time or place to worry about other people’s personal issues.
Secret Alert! - Rand’s Secret #3 – 1st Point: Purchase ray=out First Issue
Furthermore, the Bazaar’s finally selling better Walker Machines so, if you want to use Burume, Dyke or Chil as squaddies, you can grab that Dagger and Caprico to ditch those Trads forever.
Back in the Iron Gear, Bello notices Gainer carrying a Gekkostate’s magazine around.
He wonders if Gainer’s planning on becoming a Lifter but, actually, he brought it to try and get some fashion tips. Of course, he won’t admit that he’s doing it for Sara but, regardless, Bello thinks Gainer’s already doing nicely.
At first, Bello thought he was just a shut-in but now he’s a real stand-up guy going on an Exodus.
As annoying as it is for him to admit it to his “rival”, both Gainer and Sara have increased in Bello’s estimation since their school days. However, he hasn’t given up on winning Sara over and, by his count, they’re still tied in this “battle”.
None of them intend to lose and their battle will continue as they prepare to meet up with Yapan’s Ceiling.
Goove comes in, admiring the vigor of youth. However, he also notes that they seem to forget that there’s always a chance they’ll both be laying defeated at the end of this “battle”…and, indeed, that thought seemed to have slipped the boys.