Part 53: Mission 18 (Galia Route) - Prologue

Zambot’s launching as an even unit but, with the addition of Roger, we have more than enough leader-material units:

• Rand, Rag, Bello
  
• Jiron, Gavane, Joseph
  
• Kei, Maai, Riea
  
• Loran, Sochie, Miashey
  
• Gainer, Kouji, Maria
  
• Roger, Dyke (Caprico), Sara
  
• Gain, Gauli, Adette

I equipped Roger with a Booster to raise his squad movement range to 6 and, more importantly, I gave him Asuham’s Barrier Field.
So, we now have Big O, with Roger’s high natural defense stat plus Guard, and a constant 1000 damage reduction…we’re gonna need some end-game bosses over here because Roger’s damn near invincible now.

FYI: I could’ve given him the Minovsky Craft to allow him to punch aerial enemies but we only have the one and Loran would be useless against those enemies without it (while Roger has his beams).
Second one we get is going to him, though.

Now, on with the plot!




We’re back at Yapan’s Ceiling high school, with Bello questioning Gainer on the bags under his eyes – turns out he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.
Sara figures he was busy with the aftermath of yesterday’s attack and Gainer slowly confirms – Kappei is there, though, and wonders if he was up all night playing games again. When Gainer asks what he’s doing here, Keiko says Gengoroh and the others wanted them to go study a little – plus, Uchuuta says, they’re at the age to be studying.

Indeed, Bello is impressed that kids like them can fight so well but that’s due to Heizaemon’s sleep-study devices that allowed them to master the units so quickly. Sara and Sochie are also impressed at the Jin Family’s technology – even they could learn to pilot the Zambot with stuff like that!
Truth be told, Kappei wishes he could’ve used the stuff to avoid having to come to school but Loran says that wouldn’t be as fun as studying together with everyone else. Sara agrees as it’s been a very long time since she was in school and she’s eager to get going.



It is then that Adette walks into the classroom and tells everyone to shut up.
Bello wonders what she’s doing here and Sara asks what’s with the clothes to which Adette asks if that’s how she addresses her teacher. Her life-long experiences were appreciated and she was asked to take on the job on days where there aren’t any attacks.
Uchuuta thinks the clothes are very teacher-like and she thanks him before starting today’s lesson. Gainer silently wonders when she changed into those while also kicking him off their room – Sara asks if he said anything but, of course, he stammers a denial.

Today’s lesson will be of geography, focusing on the lands’ chaotic state post Break the World. Bello says that we’re well aware of the situation due to the UN’s info and Kappei adds that we’ve seen a lot during our travels thus far.
Adette mumbles about kids acting like hot-stuff and decides to teach us about the current state of Siberia, then. Siberia, and by extent the entire Galian continent, has become a veritable dumping ground for the rest of the world: Exodizers, cultists, refugees, even moon people are scattered across the land.

Loran remembers how the Moon Race was suffering with the regional shortage of goods and wonders how they’re doing. Gainer asks what those people intend on doing after coming here.
Adette says most are contorting themselves to fit into the Domepolis lifestyle or else devoting themselves to nomadism and, apart from the Saint Reagan, the New Earth Federation doesn’t really care about what happens to any of them.
That said, the common folk don’t have it easy due to the lack of federal oversight as the land itself presents many hardships – yet, more people come here every day.



The lecture gets interrupted by the massive shuddering of the whole block slamming on the brakes and Sochie wonders if we were going to hit something.
Gauli quickly enters and calls everyone to prepare to deploy. When Sara asks, Gavane says there's a refugee caravan who mean to force their way aboard, and they won't take no for an answer.
Kappei wants to kick them out by force but Loran stops him, saying if we act rashly, it could make things worse. Keiko agrees and figures our best option is to get everyone together and figure out a solution.
Our leaders are doing that but, Gauli says, in case things don’t work, we’re to wait on standby. Inwardly, Loran wonders if these refugees are from the Moon Race.



The caravan representative, Tiptree, claims her people only want passage to the next Domepolis.
It seems they were unprepared for the blizzard season and are simply trying to safely complete their trip. Roger asks to take this over and introduces himself to Tiptree as the Exodus’ Negotiation Specialist.
He quickly recognizes her dress as Vodarac, though she claims that the believers are in the minority of the people seeking entrance. Mamadou remembers hearing that their group had been branded an anti-federation organization but Tiptree is saddened at this, as all her religion wants is to live in harmony with nature.
Roger understands and gives them permission to get aboard. Gach protests that he can’t make a decision like that so easily but Roger says we have more than enough food and resources that it shouldn’t be a problem to sell a bit to the refugees during their stay for this part of the trip.



Mamadou wonders if it wouldn’t be dangerous to welcome Vodarac people aboard, even if they are few, but Roger says it’ll be the opposite.
Taking in the Vodarac will help expand Yapan's Ceiling’s reputation as an anti-Federation rallying point, and stick it to the Saint Reagan in the process. Roger does emphasize though that these newcomers are only welcome until the next Domepolis: overstaying their welcome would be in neither their nor the Yapan's Ceiling's best interests.
Gain's certainly seen plenty of Exoduses fail from internal conflict before, and to help avoid that fate here, Roger volunteers to negotiate for the caravan's smooth integration into the next Domepolis when it's within range.

Tiptree’s surprised he’d do that for them but he calls it recompense for using the Vodarac's presence for political gain. Gain is impressed with Roger and glad that he wasn’t some crook, though Roger says he was merely applying his negotiation tactics.
Roger is, however, a bit aghast that he thought him that, though Gain does apologize for it. Now it falls on Gain to keep this Exodus on track with our new guests – of course, that’s where he’s the resident Pro.



Kouji’s impressed that Roger wasn’t all talk but because of the temporary population boom, him and several others were roped into helping the town patrol.
Loran thinks it’s good, though, as it beats the alternative of expelling a bunch of people in need. Kappei figures Loran’s as soft-hearted as ever but that’s because he was helped by Sochie and Kihel despite his origins.
Being reminded of Loran’s origins strikes a sour note for Kappei because, despite Loran being of a race that’s currently seen as the enemy, he’s still treated nicely – as opposed to his family and how they were kicked out of their town just for being descendants of aliens.
Chiyonishiki (Kappei’s dog) notices something nearby and starts running after, followed shortly by Kappei. It seems they recognized someone among the caravan refugees…



It’s the kids from Suruga bay and Aki is very surprised to see Kappei here (not as much as he is in finding them here in Siberia, though).
Kozuki (that damn unibrow brat) tells Kappei to shut up and, alongside him, is a new kid, Toppo, who asks who this is. Kozuki tells that Kappei’s of the Jin family and how they “called the Gaizock to Earth” – because of them, he, Aki and the others were driven out of Japan.
Of course, Kappei gets in the brat’s face and says the Gaizock were the ones who attacked their town and it had nothing to do with them.



The other punk, Hamamoto, says the Gaizock came to their town because of the King Beal and Zambot that the Jin family excavated. (god, why does this game have so many asshole kids?)
Kappei, of course, calls bullshit because the Gaizock would want to wreck the entire planet anyway, whether their mechs were present or not. Furthermore, it was precisely to stand up to them that their ancestors left the Zambot behind in the first place!
Kozuki doesn’t care for Kappei’s explanations and says that, in the end, they had no choice but to come here after losing their families and homes. Kappei asks what happened after they left Suruga Bay and Aki says, as Japan declared independence from the Federation, another enemy started appearing in their country.

Michi doesn’t know if they’re aliens but they attacked their camp and destroyed the whole place – it was then that they saw members of the Japanese government forcibly taking their people somewhere. Of course, Kappei doesn’t understand why they arrested people right after a new enemy appeared and attacked.
Aki doesn’t know either but they were scared and couldn’t find anyone to help, so they kept running and, eventually, got out of Japan. Kozuki’s idiotic mind pins the blame of all this on the Jin Family and thinks everything would’ve been fine if they hadn’t been there.
Hamamoto’s about to tell the caravan people about Kappei’s family and get a lynch mob going. Kappei needs to be the voice of reason and remind them that, if they start this shit, innocent people are gonna get caught in the middle.



Kozuki understands that it wouldn’t do them any good to do this before they even get to the Domepolis but he’s not going to let go of his beef with the Jin Family.
He tells Kappei to never show his face in front of them again OR ELSE and Hamamoto would be more than eager to get revenge for their families and their town. Kozuki doesn’t want to stay here anymore and, while Michi feels bad for Kappei, Aki calls her away as they need to find a place to sleep.
Kappei is, obviously, not happy but yells out that he doesn’t care what they think. Toppo is still here, though, and introduces himself to the kid.

Kappei asks if he’s one of Kozuki’s friends and, indeed, he joined up with them when he was coming to Siberia, though this is the first time he’s seen Kozuki that angry. Seems like Toppo’s Kouzuki’s adopted-ish brother and Kappei is surprised he’s such a gentle kid.
Toppo has heard that Kappei’s one of the Zambot’s pilots and asks if it’s true that it was left on Earth by aliens. Kappei asks where he heard that and Toppo says it’s on the UN – furthermore, it’s also said that the pilots are also aliens.
“Shut up! I’m an earthling! Don’t believe any of that bullshit!” Kappei yells. However, a nearby voice tells him to stop his ranting.



When Kappei asks who it is, the man says some call him THE STORM while others call him an Emissary of the Sun.
Kappei doesn’t care, saying that he’s NOT angry and threatens to throw down with him if he keeps meddling in his business. THE STORM calls his threat and is willing to take the hit if that’s what Kappei wants – doing so will not make him feel better, though.
He's got to find the Light if he's going to overcome the darkness within. Kappei doesn’t get what the guy’s saying and, right then, Ichitaro calls saying a batch of Gaizock was just detected approaching Yapan’s Ceiling.

Kappei’s surprised to find them here but starts running back to take them down. After he goes, Toppo moves over and asks THE STORM who he is.
He says he’s just a “wandering meddler” and Toppo asks why he meddled in Kappei’s business – he says that he simply wanted to help the kid.
“Don’t lose, Kappei. Though you may not know, there’s so much more light within you than in me …”, he thinks.



Mission 18 (Galia Route) - Farewell, My Friend



Ichitaro tells Kappei to wait for everyone else to deploy but he’s not having it – he’s going to beat all the Gaizock troops by himself.
Ichitaro asks what he thinks he can do by himself and tells him to, at least, work together with Uchuuta and Keiko; however, the Gaizock troops are arriving and Kappei cuts the comm right there.
A few recon troops enter and Kappei figures he and Chiyonishiki will be more than enough to deal with them.

: Let’s go, Gaizock! I’m pissed off today, so I ain’t gonna hold anything back!


Mission Objective: All enemies shot down
Mission Failure: Kappei shot down
Skill Point:Win the map by the end of turn 7

Secret Alert!

• Zambot’s secret – 3rd Point (for Rand): You have to kill two enemies by END of turn 2

The game’s starting to ramp up the difficulty again with a tough-ish Skill Point.
To get this one, you need to rush, rush, RUSH because you’re on a very tight timer and there’ll be a lot to do; getting Kappei’s secret actually helps because it speeds up the plot and buys you a bit of extra time.
Getting said secret, however, is annoying: first off, you NEED to use the Zambo Ace as the Zambird is too weak, which means you’ll only have 1 ½ (you won’t be in range during the 1st player turn) turns to hit the two closest Domilars.
With that in mind, unless you’ve greatly upgraded Zambot, Kappei will be unable to take those down in two turns if he doesn’t get at least one critical hit on each – there’s no choice but to save scum here so cast Spirit for some extra damage and pray.

Equipping Kappei with a Booster and Chobham Armor/Hybrid Armor works because he’s very killable if he gets swarmed.



So, Kappei switches to Zambo Ace and moves as far as possible.



Enemy Phase!



Here they come.



: Take a look, Aki, Michi and Kozuki! If I wasn’t fighting, you would be getting wrecked real quick!
: I’ll take these freaks out by myself and show them how much I’m working over here!










Everything else moves but nothing’s in range.



Player Phase!




Kappei needs to go after this one and, to keep things simpler, I save scum a few times until I get a critical hit.
This one is weak enough that a regular hit will kill him but we’ll still need a crit on the other Domilar to get him dead.



Enemy Phase!




Thankfully, Kappei’s Prevail is acting up and it yields the needed crit on the first go!
Both Domilars are killed and we now have three of the four points we need to secure Zambot’s secret (Setsuko already has it but Rand will need to wait a looooooong time before getting that last point)!

Getting the two kills triggers the plot right now – if you don’t have it, it’ll trigger at the start of turn three.





The main enemy group arrives and Kappei was getting tired of waiting. Right behind them is our main group, with an angry Ichitaro telling the kid to cut it out.
Everyone deploys and Kouji asks what Kappei was doing – does he really think he can win this on his own?! Indeed, and he says he doesn’t need the Zambot to take these guys out.
Gengoroh realizes that Kappei ran into the brats and he can imagine how things turned out between them. He notes that Kappei still seems to be bothered by the little things but, regardless, he won’t listen to his excuses and isn’t about to entrust Zambot to someone like that.

He orders Uchuuta and Keiko to stay on standby inside the King Beal and Kappei is pissed that even his father doesn’t understand what he’s feeling. He’ll just have to keep going with Chiyonishiki, if it’s gonna be like that.
Gavane asks Gain what to do and he tells everyone to let the family sort out their problems: our priority should be to deal with the Gaizock.
Loran promises to give it his all to keep the Yapan’s Ceiling folk safe.