Part 7: Chaotic Battlefield

We return to our lightning dash through the Land of Gundams and Nothing Else.






A little money for Celestial Being.



Setsuna learns Energy Save.



Lockon and Tieria both learn Hit & Away, because one is a sniper and the other is a bombardment platform.

Allelujah is up for grabs, as is Crowe's one remaining slot. I still recommend Chain Actions. I like extra turns.



Anyway. As we get into the chapter, Crowe is blindfolded and being interrogated by Celestial Being. He explains that he's a test pilot and only trying to get data on his Blaster. But he admits that he was supposed to mess up the Enact at the expo, if Celestial Being hadn't messed it up first.



CB is getting tired of Crowe's mouth, and they have no problems shooting him, since they aren't bound by any international treaties or regulations.

Anyway, he has no choice but to submit to their questions. Yes, colliding with Celestial Being at the expo was a complete coincidence. On the other hand, yesterday's skirmish (that being chapter 3) was definitely planned, or at least what Crowe was hoping for. Celestial Being are celebrities, and celebrities mean paparazzi. It's all about the money, and Crowe knows his boss will pay top dollar for data on the Gundam machines themselves.



For Celestial Being's part, though, this means they can't let Crowe go alive. Crowe decides this means he might as well satisfy his curiosity, since it's already killed the cat - do they really think they can end all war in the world?



Liu-Min isn't sure, but Setsuna interrupts with an emphatic yes - the first thing he's said all day that isn't "...". Crowe is impressed by his confidence, but his time's up. For the interrogation, and for Crowe, too.



Or maybe not! Celestial Being still has business with Crowe: the Axion prototype, of course. She says they're going to hold him until they're done, then take the Blaster and erase his memories of Celestial Being.



They all leave Crowe bound and blindfolded, though they say they'll keep him fed and watered. But Crowe has plans of his own. It doesn't seem to be his first experience with this kind of thing.



Elsewhere, Lockon wants to know why Veda is so interest in the Blaster. Tieria knows that the machine's power reactor isn't a plasma battery like the rest of Axion's mecha. Maybe that's why they want to keep Crowe alive, but little do they know that even he isn't allowed to touch the reactor.



Anyway, the Meisters' orders to hit the AEU base are in. It's being guarded by PMC soldiers, and among those soldiers are a team called the Red Shoulders. These are more Armored Troopers from Gilgamesh, same as the pink Scopedogs from last chapter, but the Red Shoulders are supposedly the absolute best of Gilgamesh's forces. Remember that the various Astragius forces were scattered throughout the world in the Great Dimensional Quake, and they've all formed up into mercenary cells. The Red Shoulders are contracted with the PMC Trust, it seems.



As for the Colony Gundams, Tieria guesses the two that smashed the Britannian outpost are still nearby. If they happen to show up in the battle, Celestial Being will take them as well as the AEU.



Oh hey, Crowe's free! He's taken the Blaster and ditched! Celestial Being gets ready to give chase.


Chapter 4: Chaotic Battlefield
(Celestial Being route)


Whatever Traia thinks, Crowe figures he can barely handle one Gundam, let alone all four at once.



Suddenly, shots!



But it's not Celestial Being - it's the Colony Gundams!



Quattre is relieved that it's not an AEU machine as he thought, but he's going to have to disable the Blaster anyway, just to be safe.



On Crowe's side, he figures as long as he's stuck between two Gundam teams, two Gundams are gonna be easier to break through.



Blah blah defeat enemies and don't get killed.



As always, Focus all the time forever.



Both enemy Gundams are out of sniping range. Spiker's the best option.

More Gundams? I'll be scoring some nice data off these guys.
The hard part's gonna be getting out with that data alive.








No, not really.




Trowa (is there a reason it's not Trois? always bugged me) is a little Tieria-y - high range, intense firepower, and depressing accuracy. Never really liked him in any previous games Wing's been in.








I guess it looks kind of cool, if you like guns?



This is the part where Crowe catches incoming bogeys - four of them.



Celestial Being has finally caught up with him. Lockon orders him to get down or they'll destroy the Blaster.



So Crowe hails the Colony Gundams and suggests a truce so they can work together to fight off Celestial Being.



Quattre isn't sure, but Celestial Being fires during the...



Shit, that wasn't Celestial Being! Who was it?



AEU forces, led by Patrick, and they've got the Red Shoulders with them. Great.



Remember how Axion got the main AEU forces to overlook the Blaster? Well, too bad, because Patrick doesn't give a shit.




The Red Shoulders, just so you know, contain four named characters (and two filler grunts), and one of them has an interesting face... they don't think much of Patrick's command, but they're being paid quite well, so whatever.



Once again, Crowe proposes a temporary alliance, to the Colony and Celestial Being Gundams alike.



Not only do they all bite, but an old friend is also on our side.



And another. We've almost got a full set of Colony Gundams now.



To win, I only have to take out Patrick's Enact. To grab the SR point, I have to do it within three turns from now - again, the remainder of this enemy phase is taken out of that count - and I have to wipe out the rest of his units before I do it.



Red Shoulder squad 1 charges Celestial Being.



Squad 2 moves to engage Heero and Duo.

We've got Gundams from the Colonies and Celestial Being... you don't stand a chance!
The world's changing, you know. We're the ones changing it!



Duo may be a dangerous pilot in a dangerous machine, but ATs are small and scrappy, and the Red Shoulders are as good as they say.





Duo washes with Mazu...








but exchanges damage with Gregoru. Of course, a Gundamium-armored Gundam - and Deathscythe, at that - is much better at absorbing damage than a tiny AT.




The Leos struggle around in the sand. The Enact team doesn't move.



At the beginning of the next turn, Crowe detects yet another incoming.



It's Dancouga! Allelujah doesn't think there's a losing side in this battle.



Dancouga disagrees. It's firing on Patrick! As with Dai-Guard, it refuses to reply to any hails. Well, let's just let it do what it wants.

So anyway, it has become time for some mecha exhibitions!


Gundam Sandrock (Quattre Rababa Winner)
Skills
Prevail L4
Block
Defensive Support L3
Spirits
Invincible
Traits
Blade
Shield
Ace Bonus: Gains 10 Will when using Offensive or Defensive Support.

Invincible was never in an Atlus game. It's a lot like Alert, in that it goes off the next time the pilot is hit and reduces all damage the machine takes from that attack to 10. Advantage over Alert: it only discharges on a hit, not automatically on being attacked. Disadvantage: you're still hit for damage, so additional effects from the attack still go off.


Gundam Heavy Arms (Trowa Barton)
Skills
Prevail L4
Offensive Support L2
Combo Attack
Spirits
Strike
Trust
Traits
Blade
Shield
Ace Bonus: Evasion +15%. Range of non-MAP, non-range 1 weapons +1.

Why doesn't this guy have Hit & Away? Come on, Banpresto.



I don't remember if Duo had Focus before, but he does now.



Chirico's Scopedog is equipped with a Muscle Cylinder, which bumps up the equipped unit's Mobility by 10. I'll be snagging it in the process of getting the SR point.



Speaking of Chirico, the Red Shoulders have miscellaneous fighter skills, usually along the lines of Prevail and Will bonuses, but Chirico is special. He has Prevail L9, which most pilots, even in super robots, never even see without special training, and a ??? skill that kicks up all his stats immensely at extremely low HP. Both of these are related to his VOTOMs arc, which doesn't conclude until Restoration, but I thought you should know.

The other cool thing about Chirico is his high Skill stat, which goes incredibly well with Attack Again, as well as the Precise Attack skill he already has which boosts his critical hit damage.



But enough talking about robots, let's blow some up! Here's the board. I have to chew through all of these enemies in the next couple of turns.



Quattre and Trowa can't reach any enemies.



Heero has two choices: move, or...



shoot an AT, which will take 5 Will more than he has. Every live pilot gains 1 Will per enemy destroyed, so we can sit on him for now.



An enfocused Duo takes point.




No kill, but that's okay. The more damage we spread, the more the enemies will kill themselves on their phase.



Speaking of spreading damage, it's a 4 v 4 fight for Celestial Being right now.







Tieria, the worst off in the group in terms of accuracy (even with his Targetting upgraded), opens by Attuning himself and aiming at Pyman, one of the nearer AT pilots.



Lockon Strikes and snipes at Chirico.






And uh. Wow.



Lockon gets the Cylinder and a level for himself and Haro.





Setsuna cuts down Generic McEyeless.



This is why Allelujah didn't get an AT to himself. He doesn't have Strike, getting Tieria to Attune two guys would be kind of wasteful when he has Focus, but his Focus doesn't get him 100% like it does for Setsuna.



Instead, he gets to fire on the Leo.






Besides, he got a kill.



Crowe goes long, and-



Look at that, the Leo pilots are crappy enough that Crowe can Attack Again at them.







Attacking twice is pretty useful.



Now, Heero is in a bit of a trouble spot. He has no Focus and can't reliably hit the ATs. Maybe I shouldn't have spent Tieria's turn. Oh well.



Instead, we'll place him back over here. Sure, he can't attack from here, but at least if he does get attacked, Quattre will be there to defend him with his tank of a Gundam (and soak up sweet sweet Will).



Forgot about Dancouga.



Oh god I hope he doesn't soak up the AT's attacks and miss all his counters. On the other hand, most of Celestial Being doesn't have much better to do next turn than sweep up the Shoulders anyway...





On the one hand, woo. On the other, he's stealing my XP!







So ends the skirmish of Celestial Being.



Now it's Duo's turn to take on the Red Shoulders. Both of them, unless he can cut down the first one before the second can Support.




Guess not.






Everybody versus Duo!






Pretty sure that was the Red Shoulders' captain. Duo gains two levels.




Now that the ATs are all done, the Leos take a crack at Deathscythe too. What fools.



I guess the last one didn't want to get reaped.

The AEU would rather hunt us down than defend their own base?
They must really want our heads. Can the Colonies really win if this goes on?







Quattre's pretty solid.



The remaining Enacts move in, but Patrick stays put.

This looks pretty bad, but here's the strategy. We're going to tag as many healthy units as possible and try to finish the entire board within the enemy phase.



Trowa can't reach anyone worthwhile, so he's just going to take some guy out.

The AEU's thrown all their weight at us...
Abandoning their base's defense was a daring move. We must be careful.



Anyway, the enemy army summary now says there are five units that need hitting. Celestial Being is way out of range, so we have four units ready to attack (Heero, Duo, Quattre, Crowe). This means least one enemy needs to get one-shotted on a counter. Cross your fingers.



Heero gets Attuned. It's not like Tieria's going to use the SP for anything else.

Celestial Being... for now we have no choice but to cooperate.




One. Heero finally learns Focus.



Two. Not dead yet, but close enough.



Three.



Four. Just a lot of totaled machines left, and Patrick. (I know what I'm doing, I swear.)



Now here's a feature I've never gotten to show off before. If you try to end your turn with units unmoved, it will actually let you know how many units have yet to act. In this case, four Celestial Being Gundams.



But in this case, I'm sure.






Trowa and Duo take out the remnants.



Patrick targets Crowe. Just as planned.


"Gundams to the left, Gundams to the right! Today the AEU's Ace will become the Gundam Slayer!"





You know, the Blaster might be a little bit overupgraded.








It was a close call, but I made it.



Now that their main mission is over, Celestial Being once again turns on their temporary allies.



Dancouga ditches.



The Colony Gundams ditch too, but Duo mumbles that his next target is Area 11. The Meisters convince Tieria not to pursue - a Gundam vs Gundam war will help no one except the superpowers.



That leaves just Crowe.



Crowe has another player choice: surrender to Celestial Being or follow the Colony Gundams to Area 11. The surrender option leads him to exactly the same place as joining Celestial Being from the Japan route, so if you don't mind this timeline will be heading off to Geasstown. As Crowe cuts and runs, Lockon tells the other Meisters to ignore him - there'll be plenty more chances to go head to head with Axion, and Sumeragi has handed down the next set of orders anyway.



Once again, Tanaka and shadowy man fret about Dancouga.



Quattre and Trowa regroup elsewhere in northern Africa and discuss the mission they just finished. It seems that they just met during the assault on the Britannia base, and didn't know about each other or the other Colony Gundams. They introduce themselves to each other and part ways.



Quattre's partner Rasheed is concerned that Trowa knows where they are now, but Quattre is willing to trust him. The two realize that the other Colony Gundams are probably going to hit Area 11, which is being subjugated much like the Colonies are.



Back at the AEU base, Patrick is raging about his loss, blaming the Red Shoulders (he makes a Bottoms joke). The Shoulders don't think too much about his command skills, and that just makes him rage harder.



This PMC Trust asshole, Ali al-Sachez, interrupts and points out that the AEU will have to withdraw from the area.



The other PMC Trust rep, Inge Riemann, agrees that it was Patrick's fault for using the AEU's force like a moron.



As Patrick throws a tantrum, Ali and Riemann take the Red Shoulders aside and gives them their next mission - or missions, as they're to be separated. Chirico's mission is up on a little space rock called Rid, and it's far from the first time he's been there...



This is Chirico's memory. Past Chirico steals into the compound on Rid, only to find Gilgamesh forces.



His commander, Conin, refuses to tell him anything about the mission other than to press on and call back if he finds anything unusual.



He finds a strange capsule, and out of curiosity, takes a look inside...



And inside is a woman!



Conin arrives with his team and declares that the capsule is what they were looking for. Without another word of explanation, he orders Chirico to retreat. Chirico tries, but...



as he gets out, Conin opens fire!



Chirico's AT is completely trashed.



He wakes up on Earth, in a Gilgamesh base. The commanding officer Rochina (I do not know how to spell 99% of these names fyi) tells him that he was rescued from Rid and brought to the base.

He begins to grill Chirico. Chirico claims that he didn't know anything about who was responsible for the mission beyond Conin or what its purpose is. Rochina asks him about the capsule, and Chirico lies that he didn't look inside it, and truthfully says he doesn't know where it went.

Rochina doesn't believe him, and starts torturing him with electricity. Chirico soon passes out, and Rochina's assistant warns him that Chirico's heart could stop. He leaves Chirico with one guard until he's ready to be tortured again.



The guard unstraps Chirico to see if he needs any treatment. Of course, Chirico isn't really unconscious, or maybe he just recovered really quickly. He makes short work of the guard and escapes.

Back in the present, Chirico goes into monologue mode, explaining how the Hundred Year War between the two halves of the Astragius galaxy, Gilgamesh and Valarant, was thrown into complete chaos in the wake of the Great Dimensional Quake. But Chirico's fight is his own, and it's only just beginning...



On this path, we have Heero and Duo. However, this path will have to wait, for I do believe I am beholden, by a 16-8 (!) vote, to roll the clock back to Crowe and Kouji's adventures in Japan, the land of brightly-colored super robots.