Part 24: Close Encounter

There's an alternate chapter 9 here where Crowe and Celestial Being swing by Area 11 before going up into space. Other than different allies, the same things happen - Holland and Crowe fighting Image, Bulldamons and MD destroying Brasta, and so on. Nothing that interesting happens during the battle, though I will say that fighting off the Damons with Glasgows is painful. Everyone is all "oh god these guys are strong," the Resistance acts all resist-y, and that's pretty much it.

Afterwards, the mysterious Boatman needs someone to fly to space and make contact with the mysterious spaceship, and he wants the Ptolemy to escort them. Sumeragi agrees, if only to personally ensure that the ship is not dangerous. Zero has dropped Boatman's name to get his team onto the Ptolemy, claiming he wants to cooperate, but he's plotting to get Celestial Being under his command. Heero and Duo are interested in the mission - anything mysterious up there is a potential threat to the colonies - so they make their introductions. Tieria is suspicious, Lockon and Duo are bros, and Setsuna and Heero...



Yeah.

Then it's the Resistance's turn to introduce themselves, but they're not coming on this mission. Zero claims he can't afford to leave Area 11 at the moment, and he's keeping Chirico, but Duo and Heero are still breaking off to come with us.

Then Crowe wakes up in the lab again and the same scene happens, and Carlos and Shioni plot again.

Anyway, on to the next real chapter.



Oh, goodie, a text scroll. This one is explaining what the mysterious spaceship is. The story begins on an alternate Earth that warred with a race of alien giants called the Zentraedi. But the humans and Zentraedi found peace, and humanity evaded extinction. Then they chose to build vast starships and journey into space to find other worlds they could live on and spread throughout the galaxy. But the 25th New Macross Starship, Macross Frontier, was caught in a Dimensional Quake during its travels...


Chapter 10: Close Encounter
(Space route)



But let's go back to the beginning. We find the ship in its own universe, but it's under attack! The ship scrambles its last line of fighters to stave off the oncoming assault.



The enemy charges into the barricade - monsters known as the Vajra.



The aliens easily wipe out the fighters.



But the ship had one more card up their sleeve - the private force S. M. S.'s Skull Squad! They're equipped with cutting edge machines and weaponry. The military turns the battlefield over to them and pulls out.



Only, there's a greenhorn flying with the Skulls. "Princess Alto" insists he can fight, but the experts on the team aren't buying it.



Oh boy. Sit down.


VF-25S Messiah B/F (Ozma Lee)
Skills
Command L2
Prevail L5
Chain Actions
Spirits
Focus
Accel
Traits
Transform
Shield (Battleroid)
Weapons
(Battleroid)
Beam Machine Gun (5 EN)
Assault Knife (20 EN, pierce barriers)
Gunpod (10 ammo)
ISC Maneuver (4 ammo, 120 Will)
(Fighter)
25mm Beam Machine Gun (6 ammo)
Gunpod (10 ammo)
Homing Missile (6 ammo)
ISC Maneuver (4 ammo, 120 Will, ignore size)
Ace Bonus: Doubles the effect of the "F. Bomber Disc" part.

Ozma is the captain for a reason. He's good at what he does and he comes with superior stats, skills, and Spirits. His Ace Bonus is a reference to his love of Macross 7 rock band Fire Bomber, so basically it's worthless right now.

Valkyries of this generation can fly in atmosphere even in Battleroid mode, so their Fighter modes are primarily for extending their movement and range. The Gerwalk mode is animated but not something you can actually keep them in. Probably for the best - Gerwalks were all I ever used in Alpha. The Gunpod and ISC ammo are shared between forms.

Voice Watch: Ozma shares voice actor Katsuyuki Konishi with Kamina. If you're watching the W LP, Mr. Konishi was also the voice of Volfogg. (Let me know if I miss any of these things, by the way.)


VF-25G Messiah B/F (Mikhail "Michel" Blanc)
Skills
Offensive Support L2
Will+ (Hit)
Hit & Away
Spirits
Sense
Gain
Snipe
Traits
Transform
Shield (Battleroid)
Weapons
(Battleroid)
Assault Knife (20 EN, pierce barriers)
Sniper Rifle (10 ammo)
Sniper Rifle (Aimed) (5 ammo, 110 Will, ignore size)
(Fighter)
25mm Beam Machine Gun (6 ammo)
Sniper Rifle (10 ammo)
Homing Missile (6 ammo)
Ace Bonus: +15% Accuracy, 15% Evasion when adjacent to a female pilot (ally or enemy).

Watch that Ace Bonus. It's going to get sad in a moment.

Michel comes out the gate able to hit reliably from ridiculously long ranges. That's pretty much what he does. That and Support, like Lockon. His operating range is even longer in Battleroid form than Fighter form, so the jet is only used for getting around and dodging a little better.

Voice Watch: Hiroshi Kamiya was Tieria.


RVF-25 Messiah B/F (Luca Angeloni)
Skills
Offensive Support L1
Ammo Save
Ignore Size
Spirits
Scan
Traits
Transform
Shield (Battleroid)
Weapons
(Battleroid)
Assault Knife (20 EN, pierce barriers)
Gunpod (15 ammo)
Ghost (6 ammo, 120 Will, Hit down, pierce barriers, ignore size)
(Fighter)
25mm Beam Machine Gun (9 ammo)
Gunpod (15 ammo)
Homing Missile (9 ammo)
Ghost (6 ammo, 120 Will, Hit down, pierce barriers, ignore size)
Ace Bonus: SP cost of the Confuse spirit reduced to 40.

Luca has another Ace Bonus that's worthless right now, but Confuse is a ridiculously good Spirit. It's expensive, but for one turn, it halves the hit rate of every enemy (except the ones that have Strike for some reason), and Luca's going to get it on the extremely cheap.

His special move is releasing the Ghost drones, and you can see how good it is considering it also has quite a bit of ammo. Again check out how his Ammo Save skill has upped the clips on his weapons.

Voice Watch: Yes, another one. Jun Fukuyama has two completely different voices. One of them was Lelouche. The other is Luca.


Quadluun-Rea (Klan Klan)
Skills
Prevail L3
Resolve
Guad
Spirits
Guts
Focus
Traits
-
Weapons
Laser Pulse Gun (10 ammo)
Missile Launcher (8 ammo)
Impact Cannon (4 ammo)
Pixie Formation (3 ammo, 120 Will, pierce barriers, ignore size)
Ace Bonus: If Michel is on the map, gains +3 Will at the beginning of each player phase.

Oh thank god, something that doesn't transform.

Remember what I said about Michel's Ace Bonus? Yeah. Poor Klan.


VB-6 Koenig Monster G/S (Canaria Berstein)
Skills
Hit & Away
Offensive Support L1
Defensive Support L2
Spirits
Invincible
Traits
Transform
Weapons
(Gerwalk)
Missile Launcher (8 ammo)
Quad Railgun (6 ammo)
Full Assault (2 ammo, 120 Will, ignore size)
(Shuttle)
Machine Turret (16 ammo)
Missile Launcher (8 ammo)
Ace Bonus: Range of weapons other than range 1 and MAP weapons increased by 1.

WHY DOES EVERYTHING IN THIS SHOW TRANSFORM.


VF-25F Messiah B/F (Alto Saotome)
Skills
Prevail L6
Morale
Dash
Fortune
Spirits
Focus
Vigor
Luck
Traits
Transform
Shield (Battleroid)
Weapons
(Battleroid)
Beam Machine Gun (5 EN)
Assault Knife (20 EN)
Gunpod (10 ammo)
(Fighter)
25mm Beam Machine Gun (6 ammo)
Gunpod (10 ammo)
Homing Missile (6 ammo)
Ace Bonus: Can Transform after moving.

Also has the only Ace Bonus of the Skull Squad's VF pilots that's really usable right now. It essentially lets him use the speed of the Fighter form and the power of the Battleroid form at once. On the other hand, he has only the Messiah's basic weaponry - and you're reading the weapon list right, his is the only VF with an Assault Knife that can't slice barriers like butter.



Whew. Anyway, I'm going to cheat a little. This chapter is in two parts, and only the second really matters. The first automatically transitions to the second after all the Vajra are gone or on the third turn, but I don't really have any hope of taking all of them out in two turns on Hard, so I'm just going to skip two turns.



And on the third turn...



Another wave of Vajra arrives.



But before the squad can engage, the ship informs them that the dimensional barrier is bending. And it's not what they know as a "Fold" - space itself is being distorted.



It's a Dimensional Quake!



When the quake stops, all the stars have moved. And while the Macross is intact, its systems seem to have shut down.



The Vajra take advantage of the confusion to charge into the ship. Ozma orders Klan and Canaria to hold off the forces outside while they return to the island and intercept the intruders.



Pop star Sheryl Nome wants to know what's going on, so her manager Grace O'Connor uses her cybernetic implants to tap the airwaves. Isn't that only authorized for high-ranking military officers? Grace shrugs and begins waxing expositive about her cyborg implants and how the citizens of the Frontier don't have them yet.



The Vajra touch down in the city, but so do the defenders. Sheryl and Grace decide to get out of there.



Also present for no particular reason - Ozma's dear little sister Ranka, who is worried about her brother, and also Alto.



This half finally brings out the SR Point - clear the Vajra within three turns. And it's going to be a bitch.



I count eight little Vajra and three big ones, all upgraded and mad. Not to mention far away, and pretty tough. (By the way, leaving Klan and Canaria behind means Michel's Ace Bonus is also dead in the water.) Let me show you how we charge.



Because Ozma has Accel, he needs to move right in to deal with the bosses.

(Gilliam. This is where you fell defending our people.)
(I won't let your sacrifice go to waste! We're putting our lives on the line!)







There's your Gerwalk. (It's just a plane with legs.)



For the others, let's lead with Luca so Alto and Michel can take advantage of the Jamming field. Every bit helps.



Luca has okay evasion but has to move in, because I can't afford not to push in this chapter.



Luckily, he dodges.



Focus is extremely important for Alto because he's really low level even for this team of newcomers to the army.



After moving, he can either attack or transform and attack as a Battleroid.

I started fighting right here on Island 1. This is where I first got into a VF-25.
I have to fight! It may be a fake sky, but I still love it!







He manages to take it out.



He gains most of a level (one level is always 500 points). I wonder if the developers did that on purpose.



For Michel, I choose to prioritize moving south over attacking anything.



Half a phase over.



Time for Ozma to get to work.





He takes a hit, but hopefully this will just activate his Prevail.





In Macross, duels are fought with missiles. Lots of missiles.




Ozma continues ripping through the small Vajras.



Alto is threatened once again.





He's pretty good at maneuvering for a newbie.



But the others are still doing better.



Naturally, the big ones do nothing.



Ranka, what are you still doing here? Talking about how the Vajra make you feel weird inside?



Grace has identified the allied units as the private S. M. S.'s team, "including your boytoy Alto Saotome." Sheryl is worried about Alto, but remembers that he has her "good luck charm." He'll be fine.



Back to the fight!



Since the big Vajra are going to move next round, let's figure out how to engage them. They have 6 movement and a (P) attack ranged 3, so I can counterattack if I can get within 9 squares - but not 7 squares away, because then they can shoot me down with no chance of counter, wasting time and HP.



Here's 9 squares around the west-side boss. In theory, I can draw him if I can get anyone in that zone. In the meantime, why not take a few shots at the southerly one?



But first, Ozma shall be a good leader and show his men the way. Shooting down a Vajra gets him his extra turn from Chain Actions while giving an extra point of Will to the rest of the squad, and gets him in countering range of the eastern big Vajra.




Perfect!



Luca again leads the way for the others.




Michel, the sniper, takes a shot before he advances.



Which brings us at last to the boss bait, Alto.



He doesn't do much damage, but hopefully he made them both mad enough to attack.



I need Ozma to stay where he is and fight the straggler Vajras, so he picks off this one instead.





Michel and Ozma pick off some minions.



Finally, the leaders move, and Ozma finds himself in some trouble. I believe in him, though.







I don't know what "ISC" stands for, by the way.



Meanwhile, Alto is doing his job.




He survives the onslaught and does fair damage to both enemies.



Time to finish this.



First thing's first - Ozma picks off the last minor Vajra.


Then picks off the first boss with the ISC assault!

(Yes, the HP totals are wrong. I had to go back and rerecord the animation. Just enjoy the show.)



He learns Sense as a result.




Alto takes the second, reaching level almost-not-awful.


And Michel takes the last (because he had the Will to use his special attack).



Just in time.



Michel leaves the last one alive so they can take it back for study.



But wait, it's still alive!



It heads away, straight for where Ranka is!



Ozma flies in to body block it.



In his rage, he destroys the Vajra. Ranka is in extreme shock. Canaria reveals that she has a form of psychogenic amnesia and can't remember her early life, but reacts powerfully to the Vajra and to the idea of anyone close to her dying.



President Howard Glass and his aide Leon Mishima are working hard to produce false news and squelch any panic. The story right now is that the Macross did an emergency Fold.



The President's daughter, Catherine "Cathy" Glass, brings the bad news - the Macross seems to have returned to Earth. And the worse news - it's clear that the Earth they're approaching is not the Earth they know. Mishima predicts that this Earth will send out a welcome wagon. That means the Fold story isn't going to last long, and Howard decides to let the citizens know anyway before another spaceship lets them know for him. He and Mishima hope that the worst problems are behind them... but Mishima seems to be putting his own secret plots into motion.



The entire S. M. S. squad is deploying next mission. We have seven other deployment slots, though. The selectable CB units we have on us are:

• Wing Gundam
  
• Gundam Deathscythe
  
• Gundam Exia
  
• Gundam Dynames
  
• Gundam Kyrios
  
• Gundam Virtue
  
• Nova Eagle
  
• Getter-1/2/3
  
• Brasta
  

Pick seven (or more efficient, pick two to leave behind) and we'll pick up next chapter.