Part 139: Episode CXXXVI: Bart’s Big Battle Plan

Episode CXXXVI: Bart’s Big Battle Plan

Music: The Blue Traveler


"Yes. The source of our Ether powers, and the source of power for the generators that make our Gears work... It all comes from the 'Zohar Modifier' engine which can control any potential phenomena. If we destroy it, Deus... and the -Seraph- angels... will all be deactivated... And then we should also be able to free Elly, who has become bound to the Deus weapon system as 'Miang'. Right, Fei?"
*nods* "Yeah. That's what the 'Wave Existence' said."
”More or less... It was a way more wordy presentation. You’d like him, doc.”
*ponders* "But then there is the downside... It will also mean that we will no longer be able to use our Gears or our Ether powers anymore."
”Yeah... That’s kind of a BIG ASS downside. I mean, whipping things and kung fu only goes so far. And shooting stuff only seems to work effectively on teammates.”
“Oh yeah... I got shot didn’t I? Huh... Guess it’s all better. Still, why don’t you keep those guns of yours a bit more carefully stored in the future, eh Ben?”
“...”


“That odd appearance as if they lack something... as if they were neither living beings nor mere weapons..."”
"Zohar senses the human consciousness and incarnates the -Seraphs-."
"Human consciousness...?"
"Zohar itself involves the principle of uncertainty. The observer's perception of Zohar determines the entity it actually becomes. In other words, I believe that those angels are incarnations of the spirits of people... The people who have been absorbed by Deus to become parts of it."
“And you are basing this on...?”
“A hunch of which I am fairly certain is entirely accurate.”
“...Of course.”
"So what merit is there for them to gain in eliminating all of civilization?"
"Is it some kind of hatred for those humans who have survived?"
”Gah! You’re still here?!”
*frowns* “That was my first line since the disc change.”
*shakes head* "Of course not. Those people who were created and assimilated as parts for Deus would not have such intentions. Try to remember what Elly, when she became Miang, said."
" 'The creations of god will someday be a hindrance... That is why they must be eliminated...' "
"Yes. That is why Merkava is being used to begin the destruction. But... Deus is not following its programming of exterminating all of civilization... The -Seraphs-, which are terminal interface weapons of Deus, are using their bodies composed of nanomachines to absorb massive numbers of people regardless of whether they are dead or alive. It is not discriminating between the mutant and non-mutant people. This is highly peculiar... The fact that the people who are meant to be destroyed are being taken in as well... That is the absolute opposite of what it is supposed to be doing."
"Maybe there aren't enough parts?"
”Like Deus is trying to ghetto rig itself together at this point?”
*shakes head* "That is unlikely. Aside from those bodies that were destined to be parts for it... Deus, who has already acquired the abilities of the nanomachines, can just about use any material to construct its body. It is obvious, it has other intentions in mind."
*ponders* "Those intentions... Krelian has called Deus the mother. If god is the mother, then those motives are coming from the Great Mother... Impending the growth of its child, enveloping it, to bring the child back to the womb to become one with it. That is its motive. Such a program does not exist within its design though. It was probably given this unique will by someone. Either from Elly who has merged with the Deus or..."
”...It’s just a busted 10,000 old stupid machine that isn’t working right?”
“Well I suppose that is a valid theory as well.”
"Either way, it doesn't change the fact that we have to fight. Regardless of what their intentions are. The problem is how we're supposed to deal with them. You think we can do it in our current state?"


“Additionally, the military potential of all the surface forces will assemble here."
”Umm...yeah. I was meaning to ask but...where did Shevat get this huge ship from?”
“Oh, we had it stored around.”
“...Never thought to use it to help even once?”
“Well, we didn’t want to show our hand quite so readily.”
“...Pretty sure I hate all you Shevat folks.”
“You are part of a very long list.”
"Even if we can put together a massive force we still have the problem with the main armament of the Merkava. We need to know how to take that out. As long as we don't do that..."
*nods* "Merkava's ultra-long-range cannon has the ability to vaporize any substance. On top of that, they have a barrier around their perimeter that nullifies all attacks."
"We've fought against the Merkava many times to try to stop its onslaught. However, we cannot even get close. Hence, we have had to withdraw every time."
"Dammit! No matter how much we want to save Elly...if we can't get inside the Merkava, it's meaningless."

Sigurd steps forward...


“...They function as the terminal interface weapons for close defense. I can easily say that their attack power is equivalent to the Omnigear class."
"They even have the regenerative ability due to the nanomachines."
"Don't be concerned about that. I was able to obtain some data from Xenogears... You see, Xenogears has mutagenically evolved due to its contact with Zohar. Using that data, all of your new Gears ought to be completed soon.”
”...So we all get our Omnigears back?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
*fist pumps* “Nanomachines are the best lazy sci-fi plot device!”
“Additionally, all the other weapons and armaments are being modified to implement the 'Disassembler-Device'."
"Disassembler-Device?"
"In contrast to the Nanoassemblers, which create matter to repair with...the Disassemblers have the ability to dismantle or destroy matter. They can even deactivate the nanomachines' restoring ability by disengaging their repair programs. This should be sufficiently effective even against the Deus' –Seraphs-."
”So...nanomachines also provide a gameplay reason why the angels are no longer invincible?”
“Rad.”
"Alright, even if we can deal with the angels...just how are we gonna deal with that Merkava? We can't even get close to the thing..."
"There is no such thing as a perfect defense. There is a way. Look over here."


It’s been a while since we’ve had a retarded battle plan by Citan (that will inevitably go tits up.) So let’s see what the good doctor has pulled out of his ass this time.


“Upon firing, although it is only sectional, there will be a portion of the barrier that will be opened. There is a 1.87 second delay before the barrier reforms in that area. If we can use this window of time to target and destroy that cannon, it will be possible to close in on it. If we can get close enough, we can break through with gravitational-spatial correction.”
”...Hey. Isn’t that the Solaris ship Sophia rammed into 500 years ago...?”
“It... Err... I guess Krelian re-built it as a central core for Merkava.”
*looks around room* “...Is this the same ship she used to ram into that thing?!”
“It got better, alright?!”
_{”Quiet! We’re way over budget with the last of our funds and we’re re-using props and sets! Just go along with it without making a fuss!”}
"Well, this is the rough idea."
"Unfortunately, we don't have such a long range cannon that could acquire a target in such a brief time frame."
"So what you're sayin' is we just need to shut that annoying cannon up, right?"
"...You want to go head on into Merkava!?"


"No, listen. We're not going to just rush in. The Yggdrasil IV and this Excalibur are also equipped with barriers. That's what we'll use. Although only for a short time, we can withstand a direct hit from Merkava's main cannon. Then we can close in and watch for that part of the barrier to go down and then destroy the cannon."
"How long will our barrier last?"
"About 20 or so seconds."
”Ya know. More or less... Uhh...I’ll get someone to run the numbers later...”
"That's all? It wouldn't matter how fast we fly. In that amount of time, we'll be without a barrier before we can get within firing range. And those numbers are valid only if the generator is at full drive, right? You can only get those numbers if we sacrifice all other output and propulsion."
*flexes* "I'm not suggesting we go in with guns blazing knowing we're gonna lose. We're going to physically put a lid on it, directly!!"
”This is not going to be a good thing...”
"As you've said... The Yggdrasil IV or Excalibur's barrier can't sufficiently defend against Merkava's attack. At least with one generator, that is..."
"Meaning...?"
"Meaning, we can defend against the Merkava with twice the amount of time...40 seconds, if we couple the 2 generators together. This way, we can make it into the heart of Merkava."
"Then, what about the propulsion..."
"Just hear me out."


Bart has really put some thought into this over the top plan, as he has an entire power point presentation to give to the party.


“This is what we do... First we transform my Yggdrasil into heavy assault mode and load it onto the Excalibur so we can couple the generators.”
”Do you mean the Yggdrasil the airship or Yggdrasil the Macross rip-off?”
“The latter.”
“You know it gets awfully confusing when you name every big ship you get ‘Yggdrasil’.”
“Well you get your own hyper dimensional fortress and you can name it Big Green Rico’s Loveshack for all I care! Like I was saying...”


“By doing that, we can reduce the energy usage down to just supporting the hull of the ship and generating the barrier. This will allow most of the energy to be devoted to generating the barrier. Next, shift the barrier to full front and focus it to a single point where their main cannon will make its strike.”


“Now for movement. First off, we develop a barrier by engaging Excalibur's generator to maximum power. For propulsion during that time, we'll install on the Yggdrasil those large solid rockets we got from the ruins of the Mass-driver.”
”...You are going to use 4,000 year old ICBMs for propulsion?”
“Yea. I don’t see them being used for anything else.”


“When Excalibur's barrier expires, we'll use the Yggdrasil IV's generator to develop a barrier. Then we'll also detach the solid rockets and shift the Excalibur into conventional flight.”


“Using this method, we can get right in Merkava's face. After it fires, it'll be defenseless. During this time, we'll block the muzzle of Merkava's cannon with Excalibur's bow ram. Upon which, we should have 0.67 seconds...”


“With the cannon fire of the Excalibur, we'll destroy the Yggdrasil IV's slave generator and incapacitate the Merkava along the way, and then... we breakthrough!”
”...So your plan is ramming Kislev’s government district/power plant into Merkava and blowing it up?”
“Pretty much.”
“...This has to qualify as some kind of irony.”


“The combination of the barriers of both ships... Storming the Merkava... The timing of the cannon fire of the Excalibur... These are all going to be crucial. Mess up any one of these and the consequences are going to be severe. Hence, it'll be necessary to have both crews in synch with each other. That's why I'd like to place Sig in command of the Excalibur."
"I have no qualms with that..."
”It definitely holds the least idiotic position in this plan.”
"What do you think, Queen? Will you lend us your battleship?"
”Well... I don’t know... What if we need it later?”
“Oh for fu—this isn’t really a ‘yes or no’ kinda question. I was just being polite.”
"Since there appears to be no other alternative, let us go with that. Please use it as you see fit."
*ponders* "But are we not cutting it uncomfortably close...? ...When you calculate the arrival time and the barrier generation time, you will see what I mean! One minor mishap will put us in a situation where we could run out of barrier power before our arrival."
"Also, we will be devoting both generators to keeping the barriers up... Won't that leave us without perimeter defenses? We won't stand a chance if we get engaged by the -Seraph- angels on our way to Merkava."
"We'll hold them off. You can count on us! You guys just concentrate on taking out that main cannon."
”I mean, at the rate we’re going it’ll just be maybe a short mid-boss rush tops. Though, I’m thinking we’ll just narrate ourselves past that snafu.”
"Thanks. We're depending on you."
"Already, everywhere else has been taken out.”


Well, you heard ‘em folks. Tune in next time for the ‘final battle’* of Xenogears!









Sigurd Concept Art

_{* Note: Will not actually be the final battle.}