Part 7: In Which Things Are Done, Not Unlike Last Time

Update 7: In Which Things Are Done, Not Unlike Last Time

Welcome back to another episode of Mr. Brixham's Not So Happy Neighborhood where Avan made himself stand out as way too optimistic and Marion got harassed. This time we do story stuff and shoot people, like always.


That being said, let's go do story stuff.

--



Music: Everyday Life of the Class


*Stomach growling*

: Do you ever stop eating?


*Her stomach growls as well*

: Ugh.
: Well, I know there's a campus store. Want to go check it out?




: Everything from textbooks to personal hygiene... Impressive.

I mean, this is basically a boarding school with strict exit rules. Where else do you expect to get that from?


Oh, hey, it's Alicia.


: Augh! this is AWESOME! You're killing me here!
: Hee hee. I just got my certification, but I stand by my bread.
: I didn't know the school store ran a baker. This is great!
: I just opened shop here today. Come by any time you want a snack.

I think her voice actor is different, because she sounds a good bit older than she did back in VC1.

Offscreen Voice: Hey, Alicia. Here are those sourdough rolls.


Yep, here's Welkin too.

: I got waylaid by a ruby swallowtail. They only live here in the south...

Ah, his naturalist shtick from the first game. I personally think they play it up too hard, but I'll let you form your own opinion of that.

: Oh, that figures! Honey, my first customers are here waiting.



: Wait, Alicia and Welkin? Why does that sound familiar?

You know, I'd figure everyone would recognize these two on sight. They're literal war heroes of the war two years ago, and their faces were definitely in the papers.


At least somebody is up to date on recent events.

I'm in a very mellow mood today so I'm not going to bother getting worked up about things, but there's one thing that really stands out to me about all this...

: You're Lieutenant Welking Gunther and Sergeant Alicia Melchiott!
: Ha ha! I think you might be exaggerating a bit, but yes, I'm Welkin Gunther.
: I retired from the militia so I'm not a lieutenant anymore, though.


: Gunther? The the two of you are...?
: Yup, we got married. Just recently, in fact.


: I took up teaching. My first placement is in a town not far from here.

...And now I'll cut in. I know you're both married now and retired from the militia and all, but why the hell are you not helping to fight the rebels exactly?

I mean, I'd want to retire too after that brutal war, but these people are literally trampling over half of what you fought for, and especially the memory of Isara. Shouldn't you be doing something about any of this? They're sending high schoolers out to fight against a racist rebellion, does this not bother you at all?

I just don't get it. While we're at it, can someone in the thread remind me why Alicia gave up her Valkyria powers again? Those would be really nice to have, y'know. I'm not going to harp on any of this though, it'd be best if I just ignored any semblance of seriousness in this plot.

: Alicia and I just moved down south from Bruhl.

It's also basically a warzone, y'know. Not the best of choices.


: You guys are just so lucky down here. Even counting beetles, the diversity...
: The other day I went bug-watching at noon, and next thing I knew it was dark!
: At no point stopping to think of your wife, who was worried sick!
: Ha ha! Sorry about that. Ooh, the next batch should be just about done now.
: Right. Well, drop by again soon, kids. I'll have some fresh bread waiting.
: And if you ever have any questions, I'm always happy to answer them!

*They leave*

And if I remember correctly, that's the last we see of them for quite a while.


: And I had no idea heroes knew how to bake bread, too. Maybe I should start!


This screenshot speaks wise words. Unfortunately I'm in too deep to stop now.



---


Well, we're done with that little moment. It's almost pointless plot-wise as well, since that has no bearing on basically anything in the future. Welkin's appearance is tied to two minor things in the future, and that's all.

Anyways, mission time!


For this month, our tank will be named Taxi! Unless I can't count, there was no overwhelming vote, so I went with this one for a particular reason we'll see in just a second.


We're starting with the APC Exercise and we'll do the Night Combat Exercise next.

The Cooperative Exercise is tied to multiplayer, and well, I doubt anyone really cares enough to see it. Part of me finds it strange this game has multiplayer functionality in the first place.



So, the APC Exercise is rather pointless outside of being a tutorial and is also kinda dumb because the APC replaces the tank you just got. Instead of giving us a mission on how to use the tank, they give us one on using the alternate and less effective vehicle.

This won't be the last time they take our tank from us, as some future missions will require us to drive an escort APC which is just the forced minimal version of our APC. It's very annoying to me, and that's why I used Taxi! as the name. Luckily it's easy enough to manage without our tank right now, given that it's not very good in it's present state.

There might be people out there who like using APCs, but I never found them useful in comparison to the tank.



Music: Practice Battle



Custom Tutorial: The APC
Unlike the tank, the APC is only capable of carrying light weapons and has easily penetrated armor. A lance will easily destroy it from any angle, and even bullets to the radiator can destroy it; this is in contrast to the tank that is nearly immune to any bullet.

The game informs you it is a good idea to use vehicle units as bullet shields for your footsoldiers. This is great advice for tanks, but horrible for APCs as mentioned above.

It's only advantage is large equipment space and the ability to ferry units about that climb in. It also doesn't take 2 CP points to move, but its lower damage and terrible defense makes it a liability for any units within it are also knocked unconscious when it explodes.


Enough griping about APCs, let's get a move on.



I start by taking advantage of the APC's strengths- if I'm stuck with it, I may as well make the best of it. In the same way you can send to Standby at a flag, you can automatically stuff a unit into a nearby APC for no cost. Deploying them will start their turn, though.

: "I'm rolling out!"


Again, as beefy as this thing looks, bullets still chink bits of health off of it.


All vehicles can plow through sandbags, instantly deconstructing them like a grenade would, but they are also blocked by those metal barriers.

We can also run over people.


It doesn't do any damage, but it does fling people around as if you hit them with a giant burst of air. If you park on top of them, they'll just spawn next to your vehicle.

This can also be used to gently shove enemies and teammates alike into more suitable positions. Got a shocktrooper with too little AP to ever reach the flag in a reasonable amount of time? Just keep bumping them forward until they're standing right on it. You'll need to be careful of a tank's double CP cost though, or you'll just be wasting time.


Here's me flinging another guy out of the way.


The standard APC comes with what is a more accurate submachine gun with 30 shots- which is great at this point in the game, honestly, but when we have to do escort APC missions later, it'll still have this gun... and this gun will barely scratch people later on.

If you note all the damage I've taken, most of it's been from the enemy APC here. Scout bullets do a meager 1 HP chip, but anything more powerful hits for quite a bit more. A shocktrooper swiss cheeses the APC with interception fire, as they can hardly miss with how big we are. I also avoided a landmine in getting to this spot, and even though it's only a personnel mine, it'll still take a third of the HP off the Taxi!. An anti-armor mine, a type we'll see later, will instantly wipe an APC of nearly any size.



APC radiators are stupidly weak as well. Trying to even drive past a shocktrooper would have you taken out quickly. Doing this to a tank radiator is pointless unless you're using something with anti-armor abilities.


For the sake of example, this is what that early game personnel mine does to us. These are pretty weak though, dealing only about 70-80 damage.

This is all I really need to go into detail on in this mission, so let's start blitzing through it.


: "I've got it covered!"


I probably should've tried to line up a double shot with Avan here, but whatever.


This works too.




Yeah, friendly fire exists, and this just nearly wiped Cosette by landing two shots into the back of her head with a pointless assist attack.


We'll just have to stuff her into the APC for the rest of the map, then. I could have her heal herself, but that's going to be more of a waste of time than anything.

: It's not me that- O-ooh...

This is her wounded line. Sorry about that, Cosette. It was mostly my fault that happened.




I have her take out the remaining scout and then put her back into the APC. Avan's going to be more use during this mission anwyays.

It's worth noting that Lavinia, our vechicle operator, doesn't get any credits whatsoever as she can't change class. Having her do things won't mess up credit distribution at all, aside from maybe taking a few enemies from the pool.


Let's move up.


: "If I'd been careful, they'd still be..."

Lavinia has some unspoken past, and I can't remember if it gets brought up in any way. Regardless. this is a bad potential to trigger when using a tank. Early tank cannons have unreliable accuracy, and losing more is really bad because whiffing a shot that cost you 2 CP does not feel good. It's only triggered at random, but it seems to be pretty rare in my experience.



Also, wasn't this supposed to be just a training drill? I don't think these students aren't coming out alive if so.


Last enemy, let's bring Avan in.


For the sake of it, I throw a grenade right on the dude's head. Dodging a grenade is less common, but surprisingly still possible.


Ends as expected.


It's really an easy mission, though. Your APC isn't likely to explode given the weak enemy spread, even as fragile as it can be.








Music: Winter in Lanseal




After we sleep, we find we have some events to see, it seems.

TITLES EARNED: Clockwork


Unfortunately, it's only a daily event and another story event. Let's go ahead and see.

--



Music: Everyday Life of the Class


: Usually you have to get in mad trouble to be here. Whoa! Check this throne!

Oh wow, I've never seen this event before.


: It's not even that dirty. Who'd know if we just left it like this?




: Are you blind? You should be ashamed!
: That corner has cobwebs, there are prints on that vase. Carpet lint, people!

Franca's more intense that the drill instructor, honestly. Keep in mind that she also has the Neat Freak potential, so this makes sense.

: T-there's no need to go that crazy cleaning!




: I told you guys we'd get in trouble.
Yeah, you did.


Well, that was something.

Onto the story event at the classroom then.

--



: This, from the guy who slept through class. And snored incessantly, I'll--


Question: Why do you have the window open during a snowy winter? Are you trying to freeze?

: Hee hee... It's all round and cute.
: Ooh, a bird? Really?! I want to see, too! Where is it?


Seriously. You took quite a few rounds to the head yesterday and you probably still have a concussion from it.

: Mm?

*A bird tweets*


Music - Are We A Spoiled Class?


Yes, here's Jarde, Avan's pet bird. More proof that this game really wants to be wacky high school simulator more than it wants to be a game about war.

: Um, you know this bird, Avan?
: Know him? He was my pal back at home!
: Leon and I found him with a busted wing and nursed him back to health.
: He's been my bud ever since. Right, Jarde?

Ah, how very protagonistic of Avan. Keep in mind that Leon was mentioned again, lest we ever forget the bestest guy to walk the grounds of Europa.

*Jarde tweets again*


: Goodness, there seems to be something in the tube strung around his neck.


: "Jarde's been lonely since you left, so I'm sending him along to you."
: "Try not to fight too much. And don't over eat like you do. Love, Mom."


I thought he was from Mellvere, but whatever.

: Crazy, right? Yeah, he's always been super good at finding me.


: Their strong homing sense has led to their frequent use as carrier birds.
: Wow, you sure know a lot about birds, Zeri! Is that a hobby of yours?
: I started reading up when I heard that Lieutenant Gunther was a naturalist.

If you want to be more like Welkin, then take over command of the class then. You're a more competent leader really. You're not the social type, it seems, but at least you make plans instead of charging forward.

: Well, I say we all pitch in to help take care of him as a class!
: That's a great idea. Caring for animals can be very therapeutic.
: I-I'll be responsible for his food and water!

Isn't that most of the responsibilities already?

*Jarde twitters*



: Yaaay! Good to have you in our class, Jarde!

*Jarde tweets a last time*



Hey, uh, remember that civil war we were having? The plot forgets about that sometimes.

--

Music: Briefing


Anyways, we've still got another mission to do!


There's two areas this time: Silo and Storehouse. We haven't seen the storehouse yet, but it's nothing that exciting. I end up bringing Noel out of paranoia left over from later in the game, because there's almost always a tank in here. (Not this time, though.)


Music: VC1 - Battle
Since this mission uses the Practice Battle track again, I thought it nice to spice up this update with a VC1 track.


After this, the game stops to give a tutorial on nighttime maps, but I've already explained it. It's just a sight range reduction is all.


: "Taking action now!"

I send in Marion over here first to scout the situation. They give us the chance to start very close to the enemy's main base, which is nice since this mission is dead simple.


: "I'm simply aglow today!"

Unfortunately only metaphorically. It's very dark in Arlem at this time of night, and it usually allows units to stay hidden easier- even tanks.


: "I shant lose!"

Marion's triggering a lot of potentials tonight. Although it seems the game didn't want to give us a very quick victory as they barricaded this door off. I'll have to keep running to the next door.


Of course, the opposition really isn't very strong.


Partly down this pathway, I have to take another CP point thanks to Marion only having a shocktrooper's movement range.


Here's a better shot of the inside of the warehouse. In typical missions, enemies are scattered all throughout the inside, and these sandbags act as both much needed cover and unfortunate obstacles.

There's not much here right now, so I run Marion as far up as I can and take out a scout.



Marion's reliability in this LP has been downright amazing.

Her AP is really tanked from so much movement, so I opt to try and do some stuff on the other area. I could still end the map on this turn if I wanted.


: "Moving out."

I opt to send Melissa in to see if she can earn credit for a few takedowns.


...Still nothing.


This is just half a second later. Nighttime is very effective at hiding foes, but the same goes for you. It's easy to work past provided you don't turn a corner around a building and come face to face with a tank you couldn't see before.


Provided, one of the enemies I couldn't see was a shocktrooper and he shredded half of Melissa's health before I had substantial time to react. I take a shot from a slightly uncomfortable distance...


: "You asked for that!"

And it pays off! If she'd missed more than one bullet, she would have been downed easily.


After that, I decided I'd had enough and put Marion back in motion to finish off the mission for me.


Not angle I was looking for, but it was hard to judge at this range.


Being incredibly risky, I leave myself only one CP to capture the base while I send Melissa to get that enemy scout leader.

It goes perfectly fine. I'll miss this when we get to the point that grenades are no longer sufficient to one-shot weak enemies.


On her side, Marion handles the last shocktrooper well...


...and just barely manages to cap the flag! Yeah!





I think we'll see if we've got any non-story events and then I'll call it for this update.




Yep, looks like we've got something to see!

TITLES EARNED: Dark, Fortress


Hey, look! A Melissa event!

--


Music: Everyday Life of the Class


: Avan, mind you manners. Talking or eating, pick one and stick with it.
: Ah ha ha!

So far this seems just like an ordinary event.

: Mm? Leaving already, Zeri?
: There's a book I wanted to get at the campus store.
: Okay, we'll see you back in class then!



: Hee hee...
: Is something wrong?
: What? Oh, no, just saw someone standing there. Was that...?

What? I didn't see anything.


: What? Whoa, you're right. That was weird.
: We should probably head out, too. Don't want to be late for class!





: Ha ha! Fifty laps around the grounds is tough.

Fifty seems like a bit much, but thena again, I've got terrible lungs.



: !?
What's the matter, Avan? Brain finally give out on you?
: Z-Zeri! There! Her! Look, that's her!


Yep, Avan's finally lost his mind.

: Huh?! But when did...?
: What was that about not being tired? You dreaming of a girl in here?
: What?! No! She was really there just a second ago!


Oh, I guess this is actually about Melissa, then.


Yep, that's a pretty Avan type thing to do.



---

I'll call it here for now, and use the rest for the next update. We'll get to do some real missions next time, alongside seeing a lot of character events.

Join us next time on Hardin's Heroes where we do pretty much the same thing, although maybe more interesting! No wonder our ratings are going down! Yeah!



New Characters:

Jarde
Age: 5
Class G messenger. A male Gallian swift carrier bird who is friendly with Avan.

Welkin Gunther

Age: 24
Former leader of Squad 7, he married Alicia when she passed her meister exam. Now a teacher.

Alicia Gunther

Age: 21
Belonged to Squad 7. Passed her meister exam after leaving militia. Loves to bake bread.