Part 80: Mission 23 - Challenge of the Hundred Demons - Part 2
Things are looking up already but, first things first, let’s now take the chance to look over Dokuganki and Schwarzwald:
Mecha Dokuganki (Dokuganki)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L3
- Morale+ (Damage)
- Resolve
Dokuganki’s Voice Actor: Kouji Yada (other known works: Dr. Gero in the Dragon Ball series, Libra Douko in Saint Seiya and many others)
Your standard issue Super-Robot named enemy: he’s decently accurate, bulky but, overall, not very dangerous.
Prevail L3 (and the fact that he’ll likely get in the water as he moves towards us) can make him rather sturdy but our group is more than equipped to handle the likes of him.
His TRI attack does pack some decent power and his mooks are other Mecha Dokugankis who also know Support Defend, so prioritize ALL and TRI attacks to get rid of them quick-like.
Big Duo (Schwarzwald)
Pilot Skills:
- Prevail L5
- Counter L3
- Predict
- SP Regen
- Spiritual Fortitude
- Break Morale Limit
Schwarz’ Voice Actor: Katsunosuke Hori (other known works: Oskar Schindler, Johji Futagami in Rahxephon and several others) – voice by glorious Michael McConnohie in the NA version
Now this guy’s the real danger here: he’s a great shot, his strongest attack is also ALL, Big Duo is L size and quite bulky, and a combo of Prevail/Predict/Break Morale Limit means things will get increasingly dangerous as he picks up his stride.
As you saw from him nearly oneshotting a defending Michiru, you’ll want to keep your reals protected at all times while prioritizing attacking with your Supers – Analyze and surrounding him help a lot.
Do note that his ALL attack is 2-5 range, so you can exploit it to protect your squaddies.
Thankfully, he tends to focus on Roger who's more than well-equipped to handle him.
Finally, he carries the ultra-rare unit part Fallen Angel’s Feathers (堕天翅の翅) and I believe this is the only one you can get from an enemy during the game – one of Rand’s secret items is another of these, though – and it’s understandable as the pilot equipped with these learns SP Regen.
After healing Michiru and getting her way the fuck out of Schwarz’ path, I start moving people forward and Gainer’s just in range to double attack a Xibalba.
Do note that, while it’s a pre-movement attack, you CAN use OverFreeze Bullet as the second attack.
Nearly half its HP goes under the concentrated Overmen fire.
Eureka and Ryouma overkill a couple of the demon’s planes while moving towards their boss.
By the by, here’s the regular Gundam X: it loses a bit of HP, Armor and Mobility in exchange for stronger attacks.
The big prize, of course, is the infamous Satellite Cannon: it’s got huuuuge power (one of the strongest real robot weapons in the game), A in all terrains and comes in the flavors of ALL or MAP (which hits in a straight line and has INFINITE range).
Of course, there are some downsides: you need, respectively, 130 and 140 morale to use the regular and MAP versions and the EN cost is high 48 and 72 with EN Save; the bigger problem, though comes from that moon icon at the bottom of the stat screen.
That’s a counter that shows how long you have to wait until you can fire the damn thing and, as it shows, it takes three turns to do so; there’s a way to make it quicker but it’s not available right now, so you’ll just have to bear it.
Ideally, you’ll be better served with the regular GX when you’re up against bosses but the moment he loses his TRI attack ammo is the moment the Divider becomes better against mooks, so pick whichever one you consider is more important (of course, if you need to kill a boss before it’s done charging, you’re screwed).
Finally, as Diana said on the last mission, the energy for the cannon comes from a UNE-hacked facility on the Moon so, obviously, you can’t charge the cannon if you don’t see it; to check, you can look for that big MOON icon on the command menu but, generally, you can always see the Moon if it’s night or you’re in space.
FYI: stages with the moon available become rarer on higher difficulty, so always check before deploying.
With that wall-of-text out of the way, let’s have Garrod start building the morale to fire it.
Witz and Kouji also take a good chunk of health off his squaddies.
Both Shinn and Kei leave their targets barely alive…I might be getting cocky with their damage.
Meanwhile, Camille finishes Shinn’s job while Quattro leaves the last plane barely alive.
Talia takes the time to heal Roger a bit, too.
Now, we need to open a path for Roger to drag Schwarz down to our group and this Cherubim is in the way.
Didn’t kill but it did more than enough damage.
Following that, Roger kills the Cherubim and moves east with Hit & Away while Athrun’s group takes a plane down.
Jiron’s the only one left, so he can also take this one down.
No problem.
Enemy Phase!
Roger and Gainer get attacked by three Fallen Angels, grabbing a kill each.
Gainer also wrecks two demon planes as they attack him (evasion decay catches up to him and he takes a small hit).
This one survives with 8 HP…when did the Hundred Demon Empire research Windanium?
A Mecha Horned Demon, the bigger mooks, also attacks Eureka and takes decent damage with a Cut-Back Drop Turn.
Please help me out, Kei.
Kei Vs. Demon soldier: “If we’re talking 'demons', Tina’s dad has got you beat!”
Also, why is everything taking so long to die today…?
Thankfully, the weakened ones attack Rand and Kappei, getting blown away in the process.
And here comes Schwarz, gunning for Roger as expected.
: Schwarz! This outcome is exactly what I expected of our reunion! 
: It is all a consequence of you continuing to avert your eyes from the truth, Roger Smith!: Forgive me but I don’t intend on putting stock into something that I haven’t personally experienced.
: Therefore, I’ll have you, and those ridiculous notions that have enslaved you, disappear from my sight! 
: You've forgotten the mission of a Dominus! I wonder if you can actually accomplish that!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-NMeAFi1vo
Schwarz vs. Roger:“You are not the only one who can control a Big, Roger Smith!”
Roger being reduced to low HP by Schwarz: “S-such is the strength of that red Big…?!”
Roger attacking Schwarz: “Schwarzwald! Cease your inane rhetoric!”
Schwarz taking decent damage from Roger: “You’re quite good for a dog of Paradigm City. However…!”
Oi, Big O characters have billions of unique lines…good thing I like it so much.
Player Phase!
Gainer gets the last bit of morale he needs to get his OverSkill going.
Maria heals Roger twice just to be on the safe side.
And I screw up…I selected Focus/Sense instead of Focus/Spirit, so now Toga has no way of getting his morale up fast.
To pour salt in the wound, I also didn’t check that he wouldn’t double attack this Xibalba, so it survives...
Shinn and Jiron get to work, weakening some squads of Mecha Horned Demons.
Let’s have Garrod finish off this squad with his “new” TRI attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9obcyafppRU
Good, good.
Apollo and Roger tag-team a Graave Cherubim into near-death state.
Slice and dice, Ryouma!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7r7jsvFQA
Marin takes down Toga’s target and Gainer leaves a regular Cherubim barely hanging.
He could’ve killed it but, then, I wouldn’t be able to show this: Kei’s Melee attack and his dynamic finisher against a ground target (and the only time you’ll see Orguss’ tank form).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Biqs_qMLI
Vroom, vroom!
Kappei and Emma grab a couple of kills while Holland finishes off Mr. “Survives with 8 HP”.
Loran’ll bust out his trusty hammer.
With an assist from Joseph and Gavane, he takes a plane down.
Keeping a healthy distance from Dokuganki (gotta drag him across the water), Quattro takes a shot at the underwater Horned Demon and kills its two squaddies.
Elchi, meanwhile, works on another pair.
Rand, still keeping his extra range from mission 21, gets just close enough to whack a Cherubim beside the head.
What can you do about this, Toshiya?
Eh, shouldn’t have expect much at that range.
Talia takes one of Elchi’s targets and Athrun, with a little help from his friends, downs another.
Enemy Phase!
Gainer, Toshiya and Loran are attacked by a bunch of Fallen Angels, with the usual results…still no kills.
Elsewhere, Elchi’s drawing the attention of them planes.
It had full HP, though.
More annoying is the fact that three of the weakened planes got killed in a suicide attempt to take out a weak Cherubim.
Roger’s doing his thing and even Michiru manages to kill something.
You son of a bitch…that was my money!
This Horned Demon insists on staying underwater.
The terrain is making this take way longer than it should...
This one, thankfully, hops on land and goes after Kei, who does a number on his group with a TRI attack.
Dokuganki can’t move far enough to get out of the water, unfortunately.
: You’ve returned, Getter Robo! Then, I’ll simply end you and seize the Getter Rays!
: They’re really after those, then?!
: I can’t see the likes of these demons mastering the Getter Rays, though.: What?!
: The Getter Rays are both Prof. Saotome’s dream and the source of our strength!
: We'll never hand them over to lowlives like you!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkPti_7YE3U
Uuuurgh, water...
Schwarz closes in and trades blows with Roger once again – he’s all set to be taken out now.
Player Phase!
This mission has gone on for far too long and I don’t care enough to prolong it further, so let’s go after Schwarz right now.
: Ohoho…Machine Angel, you will bear your blade against me? 
: The hell is up with this guy?! How does he know something about the Aquarion?!: It is all in the truth beyond time itself! Your end has already been decided for you are bound by the chains of fate! 
: Shut your trap! If those chains of yours do exist, I'll just tear 'em right off!!
Schwarz Vs. Aquarion: “The Machine Angel, consorting with humans… You are certainly a FALLEN angel!”
: The Moon’s Butterfly, the Machine Angel, the Devil’s kin and The Bigs! The second coming of the Black History is nigh!
: Wh- What is he talking about?!: What a shame, boy! Indeed, all fate holds for you is darkness! 
Schwarz Vs. Turn A: “Now that the Turn Type has awakened, the world will once again be covered in darkness!”
: It’s been a while, mummy-man! I gotta hand it to you for flying all the way here on propellers!: My coming here was fate guiding me towards you all, Seeker of the Truth! : I’m gonna have to pass on having my red string tied to your pinky. Now, if there were a cutie under those bandages, I might’ve considered it! 
: Never mind that. What I want to know is why his head is so pointy...? 
: Ah, the Devil’s kin! Awaken your power before me!
: “Devil’s kin”…? Is he talking about me?!: You’ll have your answer soon enough! However, at that moment, I'd wager your heart will belong to the ice! 
We take Schwarz’ feathers, some bonus cash with Adette casting Bless and Gain levels up, learning Support Attack L3.
With him stopped, Roger still has stuff he wants to ask Schwarz but he says, if Roger indeed wishes to learn the truth, to look for it with his own eyes and ears – then, he’ll also learn the true purpose of a Big’s Dominus!
As Schwarz leaves, the Fallen Angels follow suit and Apollo and Sirius are left wonder how he managed to intimidate the Fallen Angels into serving him (even if temporarily). What’s clear to Roger is that this “truth” Schwarz found is what made him change so much.
Setsuko had lines for Schwarz, too:
: Seeker of the Truth! It appears you’ve caught a glimpse of the Taiji!
: Taiji...?! Asakim also used that word!
: What is it?! Is there really a connection between Asakim and Paradigm City?! : You do not need to know! It's my job to bestow the truth upon the masses!
Alright, now we can take these demons out before worrying about the time limit; Holland does some nice damage on a Horned Demon’s squad and Ryouma moves closer to weaken it further.
Shinn needs a wee bit more morale.
Boom. Two squaddies down and SEED’s activated.
Garrod wraps up Ryouma’s group and I underestimate the underwater damage reduction, so Jiron fails to finish his target.
Quattro’s right there, though, so he moves forward and cuts the Horned Demon down.
Kappei’s easily got this one, though.
Done.
Athrun TRIs a pair of planes for a kill and Talia cleans up the remaining one.
Finally, Marin wrecks the last Horned Demon.
Enemy Phase!
Of course, Dokuganki goes after Getter.
As I mentioned earlier, his TRI attack can hurt.
Player Phase!
The Satellite Cannon is ready!
A quick Analyze to make up for them being in water and we’re good to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VozwMjmarJM
Might as well showcase Getter Poseidon’s Getter Change Attack – this attack is different for each of Getter’s forms.
: You useless Negotiator! None of this would’ve happened if you’d done your job!: I gave it my best. However, you, my client, were most unfair…: To me, that’s tantamount to a personal insult! This is your due punishment, Hundred Demon Empire!
Eh…maybe I didn’t think this through.
: Damn it! They keep splitting up and recombining like the Getter!
: And it’s all because of the special training we got from Pops, Ryou and the others!: Come on, ya freaky demon! I’m gonna yank those horns off with a plier!
There we go.
Now, let’s wrap this up. FIRE THE LASER!!
The cannon also has its own special BGM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dxp3Uj-MgM
Dokuganki drops a Hybrid Armor and, from their levels, Garrod learns Sense, Witz learns Prevail L5 and Kouji learns Iron Wall.
Dokuganki is very annoyed, figuring they would’ve easily taken the lab if our people weren’t here to get in the way.
He retreats with old standard of “I’LL REMEMBER THIS!!
”. Kappei figures running with his tail between his legs serves him right but Toga and Hayato are more worried about the fact that we’ve confirmed that the demons are an organized group and we've no idea who’s backing their activities. Truth be told, we know almost nothing about them.
All enemies are dealt with but being thrown into a battle as soon as we arrived in Japan is worrying.
Shinn wonders if we did the right thing as we had to fight with the Japanese army to reach the lab and, worst case scenario, Athrun thinks this could spark an international incident. Eiji wonders what that means for our plan to ask the government to help Zaft but a hidden voice says we needn’t worry about that.
The Gran Knights recognize the voice and, indeed, it’s Sandman (with Genki wondering where he came from).
Kazami asks him to explain what’s going on and he agrees to tell us about both the current state of Japan and the plans of the Hundred Demon Empire. Apollo sighs that he’s as over-the-top as always but Sirius sneers that the likes of Apollo simply can’t comprehend Sandman’s grandeur.
Apollo doesn’t appreciate that but, regardless, Saotome asks everyone to get in the lab so they can talk – they’re interrupted my Michiru detecting something approaching, which Kouji recognizes.
It’s Boss and his Boss Borot and he’s glad to see Kouji back.
He seems to be barely holding on and his cronies, Nuke (one with the big eyes) and Mucha, tell him that if he croaks now, there’ll be no meaning to their coming here.
Kouji and Maria ask what happened to get them this injured and Boss can only apologize: the Hundred Demon Empire has captured the Photon Power Lab.
Talia and Bright introduce themselves to Saotome and he’s heard about Zaft and AEUG as anti-Federation organizations but Kouji assures him that they, as part of ZEUTH, don’t fight to overthrow the Federation itself – only the few people who control it.
Furthermore, Heizaemon adds that our group, as a whole, fights against any and all threats against humanity and Saotome understands and figures that’s why the Blue Fixer, an anti-aliens organization, joined us in the first place; the Hundred Demon Empire and the Fallen Angels would also fall under our jurisdiction and Kouji wants to ask who were those demons.
Bright asks if they’re aliens but, no, Saotome actually theorizes that they’re a different species from humanity, lurking in the margins of history since time immemorial: the Japanese "oni" tales may well refer to them, for instance.
Now these demons have risen to fight against humanity and Kouji, for one, wants to find their base and deal with them ASAP as the world’s already messed up without these guys running around. Roger says it’s not that simple, though, as the Empire isn’t just another fearsome fighting force.
Talia asks what he means and Saotome tells that the demons’ invasion is both bold and cunning – Saotome has an idea of what they’re doing and, with Kazami and Sandman’s return, his worst fears have been proven. As Saotome theorized, the soldiers who attacked the lab were no longer human.
Talia doesn’t understand and he explains: these humans were converted into demons and made subject to the will of the leaders of the Hundred Demon Empire. Their invasion involves infiltrating human society with the objective of bringing it down from within and the proof comes from the fact that the soldiers that attacked us all had a horn hidden under their helmets.
Bright asks if this means that the demons already have control over Japan’s army and while Sandman says that we cannot say that the ENTIRE thing is under their control, today’s attack shows that they at least have a firm grasp on the chain of command.
Indeed, Roger relates how the “government official” who hired him to negotiate with Saotome was actually a demon in disguise. This also explains to Heizaemon why the Japanese government decided to declare its independence and close the borders: they've been working on taking control of key government and military positions.
Saotome agrees with his assessment and, as Kouji remembers, there were those bands of homeless people who were taken by the Japanese government (as Aki told us), which Kazami says is likely they’ve also been converted into demons. Kouji’s pissed and asks Talia and Heizaemon to have ZEUTH attack the government ASAP but she tells him to settle down, as that course-of-action is too unrealistic.
Heizaemon agrees, adding that as not every soldier and politician was transformed into a demon, handling this matter poorly could make us the enemy of the entire country. Furthermore, Kazami says that we’d likely exhaust ourselves in battle with the Japanese army and be sitting ducks for the actual Hundred Demon Empire to attack us.
Kouji angrily asks if they’re suggesting that we do nothing.
Boss comes in right then, laughing that Kouji studying abroad hasn’t changed that hot-head of his.
Kouji and Maria asks if he should be walking around after being injured and pushing himself so hard to get here. Boss appreciates her concern but says he’s got something he HAD to tell Kouji: not only did the demons capture the Photon Power Lab, they also took Professor Yumi, Sayaka and Shirou.
He and his goons tried fighting back but were eventually forced to pull back all the way to the Saotome Institute. Sandman sees that since the demons have control of the Japanese army, there was no one left to stop their own attack on the lab and Boss apologizes for letting this happen during his absence.
Of course, Kouji knows Boss fought to his last but we’ll handle the rest: first order of business is taking the Photon Power Lab back and kicking the asses of the Hundred Demon Empire. Talia is alright with this, as ZEUTH was created to fight against any enemy of peace.
No matter what happens, we have to make this operation to reclaim the labs succeed, so Bright will call the other leaders over to devise a plan. Roger still has much to repay the demons, so he also offers his help.
Inwardly, Kouji asks Sayaka, Shirou and everyone else to wait just a bit – we’ll be coming to rescue them real soon.
Outside the lab, Jerome introduces himself and the Elements but Apollo says that’s not needed, as we met most of them in the previous world.
Of course, the Setsuko-world people only first met some Elements during the battle at the point of commerce so, for their benefit, they run the introductions.
They take the time to explain the same stuff they did on Rand’s mission 7 (the war 12000 years ago and Apollonius’ betrayal of the Fallen Angels, Silvia hoping she and Sirius as Apollonius and Celianne reincarnated, memories of the past, etc.) in case you didn’t play that route.
Furthermore, they also explain how the Aquarion we see if the same one Apollonius used, excavated from some underwater ruins which draws a connection to how the Turn A was also buried (made even more complicated by the fact the Turn A has data on Aquarion and Fallen Angels, despite being from a different world).
Finally, we also get informed about the incident with Baron.
I’ll skip over repeated information and focus on the important/amusing bits:
- When Reika introduces herself and thanks our people for their help earlier, Kei quickly jumps forward and proclaim that he’d walk to the ends of the earth and back for her - Pierre shuts him down, though.
- Kappei immediately figures Apollo would be Apollonius reincarnated on account of their names but Uchuuta figures there’s no way it’s as simple as that – Silvia certainly isn’t inclined to accept him as the Wings of the Sun.
- They then talk about the Elements own Psychic powers and the difficult training behind it but it’s not just piloting training – there’s also the commander’s “unique” brand of training.
When Lunamaria asks, Ryouma introduces the “man with the loud voice” as DEAVA’s commander Fudou GEN and he’s the one who had the Elements come here to train with the Getter Team, seeing how both mechs have a similar combination system.
Pierre, for one, is grateful as they all got the combination down thanks to their help but this mutual training also helped Benkei get up to speed. Regardless, Apollo is fine with this but what annoys him is when pops decides to bust out his “special training”: running around barefoot, trying to read each other’s’ mind, playing hide and seek with each other…
“That sounds like fun!” Chil says but it ain’t – Apollo says the guy doesn’t explain anything and his nonsense is only a pain. Fudou instantly pops out behind him, saying that this only proves how "unfledged" they still are.
As Apollo reels back, Hayato mentions how Fudou’s known for his god-like speed.
: Ryouma…thanks to you and everyone’s assistance, these chicks were able to fly a little.
: …But, if it’s “chicks” as in “baby chickens”, wouldn’t that make them flightless birds? : …………
: S-sorry…
: (Whoa, Shinn totally backed down…)
: (What a mighty pressure...!)You don’t talk back to Fudou, punk!
Either way, the Elements’ training is finally over but Fudou wonders if they can withstand the rigors of actual combat.
Sirius believes so as, thanks to the training they had here, their bodies, minds and skills are way sharper and Pierre thinks they can take on any enemy, be them Fallen Angels, demons or whatever.... That’s good, because Fudou is immediately assigning them to ZEUTH.
Jerome protests against them working with Zaft and the AEUG but Fudou says they’re doing no such thing – they’re working with ZEUTH. Furthermore, since it’s his decision, Sophia says they’ve no choice but to comply.
: And who would this lovely doctor be?
: My name’s Sophia Belin. I’m a psychotherapist, though I’m a bit different from the usual kind.
: Well then, would you like to hear what ails me?
: If it’s a worldly desire, then the commander would be a better counselor than me. : ………
: …I’ll pass…
With all that done, there’s the matter of discussing the pilots for Aquarion: we’ve seven available but only three seats. Each combination offers different attacks but Fudou determines that Apollo will always be in piloting the Vector Sol.
So, it’ll fall on the other six pilots to switch between the Vector Mars and Luna as the situation demands (Pattern A: Sirius and Silvia, Pattern B: Pierre and Silvia, Pattern C: Sirius and Reika, Pattern D: Pierre and Reika, Pattern E: Jun and Tsugumi).
Jiron’s happy to have Apollo and the others as a teammates and the feeling’s mutual – as Garrod notes, we also got Big O joining our group so things are already looking up. Kappei figures we’re invincible with all this but Fudou isn’t so sure.
He says that, from now on, the enemies we’ll be fighting are within the hearts of each one of us. Apollo sighs that he’s making as little sense as always…
Time for another step in a Rand-exclusive secret. You remember the one who started way back on mission 8, with Jiron buying that Lizard Jerky for Apollo?
Now we can finally continue.
Apollo’s hungry and wonders if Jiron’s got any lizard meat to go around – he does but there’s only a wee bit left, so he can’t give it to him. Apollo sighs at his holding out on him even now that they’re teammates!
Problem is this kind of lizard meat is a Galian dish, so it’s not easy to find but Apollo’s quick to criticize his lack of foresight in not stocking up before coming here. Still, Sara figures they could try some Yapanese dishes after the trouble it took to get here.
Gainer remembers hearing about dishes like sushi, geisha and fujiyama…it falls on Ryouma to say that the last two aren’t food. Regardless, Apollo’s nose has already caught scent of something and it smells like one of them local dishes.
Jiron trusts his sense of smell, so Apollo leads the way for them to buy some.
Secret Alert! - Rand’s Secret #2 – 3rd Step: Purchase some Nattō (納豆)
Back at the Iron Gear, a foul smell permeates the air and Rag wonders if there’s something dead around here.
Nope, Chil sees that it’s coming from this pack that Apollo’s holding and he asks if the smell’s bothering them. Of course it is, Silvia yells, and asks what the hell he bought and Benkei says it’s a pack of Nattō beans, a traditional Japanese foodstuff.
Ryouma says that it's made of fermented soy beans and is pretty tasty when served with cooked rice. Jiron isn’t all that hyped about it, especially considering how they had to trade all their remaining lizard jerky to get this, but Apollo knows that it must be legit since Ryouma and Benkei said it’s tasty.
Sara pushes Gainer to have a taste of the traditional Yapanese food but he says that he’s not that big of a japanophile compared to her and Gauli.
Fudou appears right then, wondering what’s going on; Apollo says it’s nothing that concerns him but, seeing the nattō, he decides to give Apollo some food for thought: strike while the iron’s hot and feast while the food’s hot (Fudou knows a Trailer Maxim!).
Dinner will be ready soon so he shouldn’t waste that nattō – as he leaves, Gainer wonders if Fudou was attracted here by the smell…