Part 13: Episode 13 - The Gift
Chapter Thirteen: The GiftMusic: Intermission
Since we only have a measly 1,700 cash we can’t buy any significant upgrades, so there’s no point in faffing around here. On with the story!
Music: Strategy Explanation
: Mm-hm. Using Yukito's connections. Apparently there's a director over at HBC that we can trust.
: HBC...what's that?
: It's a television network, 'Hellespontos Broadcasting.' It's the big dog around these here parts.
: Oh, that's right! Mr. Yukito's father is...
: Yeah, we should get ready.
: Media coverage...heh heh, this is getting fun.
:...It's not funny. There are lives at stake.
: Of course. He did not come here for corruption or bribery. He takes innocent lives, and thinks nothing of it....Besides, if he involved civilians in the development of warheads, that is a serious misdemeanor charge. Our chances of success are better than good.
:…be on the lookout for counterattacks.
: Exactly...the broadcast itself is more to discourage Zephyrs' supporters than Zephyrs himself, and lessen his power...But nothing is ever that easy. Today we'll have them look at the information we put together, and get them to believe it. All the while being very careful so that we will be able to effectively prove the innocence of all his victims.
: Well, then we will...: No. Today it will be just myself and Mebius. Since the last incident, security has tightened up considerably. You all stay here and stand by, just in case something happens.
: Oh? You don't trust me? Or are you just jealous that you can't come along?
: Sis!! I'm serious....
:...I know. If we want them to trust us, we need to trust them a bit too. Especially given our position in the matter.: On top of that, Twede will be helping us, and if things start to feel risky, we'll leave before anything happens. May I point out that I used to...
: Oh, er... hm. Well, Mebius, are you ready?: Hee, hee... It's been so long since we went out, just the two of us. I'm kind of excited!: Are you for real?!
: Bye now!The screen fades out as Mebius says her goodbyes. When it fades back in again the scene has shifted to Zephyrs’s room.
Music: Tension
: Zephyrs... Open your eyes. It's more than just your problem. Even I...
: Hm. You worry too much. If you are that worried, you should do your part. Our destinies run parallel. You understand, don't you, Johnny?: Dezeele, we've reached the limit. The higher-ups...: What can they do?! They're small-time concession-hunters who deal with one particular enterprise. Who do you think I am? It will work out. Now stop worrying. Bye.
:…speed up the legalization process...)A phone rings in the background, and Zephyrs answers it.
:...It is I...? Who are you?! Classified information, eh? That's not very funny. Heh heh heh...sorry, but that's completely unbelievable. Why would HBC put itself in such a risky position, after all? I'm busy....
: How did you know about...?! You...are you one of the terrorists?! Fine. I'll listen...The screen fades out again on that ominous note, the scene switching back to the BIS hideout.
Music: Tragedy
: We've gone over this already.: No, that's not it. My intuition at times like this is really accurate! I feel like...something's not right...
: Mr. Razma!
: Phil, what is it?
:…matter how many times I do it, he won't answer!
: No...Did something happen to them? Perhaps it was... a trap?!
: My contact would never do such a thing!:...What if Zephyrs and his men had it all figured out?
: It's not possible...nobody knew about this. We didn't even tell you all until right before they left.
: The important thing right now is their safety. What do you think, Warren?
:...No objection. Why are you asking me?: Because you don't trust me.
:...I trust you...: Ah. Well, that is good to hear.: We don't have time for this. We need a backup plan to rescue them from inside the building, just in case. Pops, help me with a strategy.: Yukito... are you sure? It could spawn a battle right there.:...I don't care.
: Would that affect you directly?
Aha, the plot thickens. This is probably what Phil was about to tell us earlier before he was cut off.
:...Your father...?: That's not important now...Each LEV now has a new feature. Unfortunately, there's no time to explain, but try it and figure it out for yourselves. OK, let's go!
: Yes, sir!
This screen should say ‘Scene 13: The Gift’.
Music: Black Ops
: He still hasn't been found? That's fine, the girl has enough value on her own. Give her the usual punishment.
: Sir!
: Mm-hm. Chock full of deceit and pain! It's pretty well-made, though...
: Would you mind if I took a look at it?: And 'whyyy,' may I ask?: I took time out of my schedule specifically to help you out. If it's a bunch of nonsense, what's the problem? Or is there something you don't want me to see?
:…very sorry, but you cannot look at it. Mr. Chairman, you need to understand. We appreciate your help. But we also expect it. We can command you to do it, but we have gone out of our way not to.: And for that, I am grateful. I was just curious as to what these rogue BIS people had fabricated as 'evidence.' I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable in any way.: Curiosity...*Snicker* If you want to live long, you should mind your own business.
:...Good, we didn't need to find them. Did you find the man?: No, sir. We are still searching! We have added more people to the search team, and...: Call the search off. We can have enough fun with the girl.: (...So this is the Special Task Force Acemos. They could definitely be trouble...I'll have to do something about that.)So this is Yukito’s dad. I have to say I do like the way he clearly knows what’s up and immediately begins planning for when things inevitably go south.
BIS units appear in a park to the southeast.
: An ambush! The information must have leaked out somehow!: Shoot, I hope those two are safe...
Suddenly the Edge appears!
:...It's...!
:...Everyone...: Mr. Deckson! We're going!
: Sis?! No!!
:...I'm sorry. I take responsibility. She tried to free me, and was captured...Pathetic...Uggghghghgghhh!!
: Boss! Are you hurt?...Oh god!:...Let's go back.
The Edge vanishes after Ares moves over to it.
: Mebius is still inside...:…Myona!
: Y-yes!!: I have an idea. Hear me out.: An idea? Of course!
:...Bolozof...You again! Where is she!!: Calm down. She's inside. If you can defeat us, you can have her, free of harm.
: Didn't it occur to you to guard your hostages? You must be very confident in your power...but I guarantee you'll be crying later!
That threat would carry more weight if we hadn’t thrashed your ass half a dozen times before now. If you’re getting tired of Bolozof, don’t worry – he’s not going to be harassing us for much longer.
: Is that right...
: My wish is to make you surrender to my power...Let the show begin!: All this stupidity...it's coming to an end!: Heh, heh, heh...
: Good luck. You have the map and the staff ID?: Yes.: Myona? What are you doing?: Cage, I'm...going to help Ms. Mebius to get out of there!
: It's okay. Mr. Yukito told me where the hostages would probably be located, and he also showed me the safe routes.: But it's still risky...I will go with you.
: You're not alone. I will go too.: Boss?!
:…about it.: But...you're injured.
: It's a scratch.: Overexertion is never a good thing. If something happens to you, it may put her in danger.
: Er, yes....
: Are you sure you're okay?: Mm-hmm, I have the button...Oh, I'm sorry, I was going to give it back...
: I don't mind. Do you, Ares?
:...I have another favor to ask of you.: What?
: Will you say my name?
: Huh? Uh, sure...Um, good luck, Myona. If anything happens, just come right back, okay?:...Thank you. Well, here goes...: A-ight! Let's bounce!Player Phase Music: Sortie
Enemy Phase Music: Sudden Assault
Mission Map:
From now on I’ve decided to create mission maps to give my movements and actions a greater context. Since I make backup saves at the start and end of every mission I plan on going back and retroactively adding maps like this to my previous updates.
We start off in the lower left corner of the map and have to leg it across the city to get to the TV Station. There’s also a Local Server to the west that we’ll want to snag on the way there.
In addition, as Yukito mentioned earlier, our regular LEV’s have some new abilities.
Razma gets Bouquet, a powerful but irritatingly short-ranged attack. Since it has the same range problems as Warren’s Blade Cannon and can only shoot once before running out of ammo it probably won’t see much use.
Yukito gets R-Blade Kick, which suffers from many of the same problems. But hey, it’s an extra attack so I’m not complaining.
Semyl’s is pretty much the same deal.
All in all, not too useful but it never hurts to have more options. Plus they can be upgraded like all the other attacks, which is nice.
To start with I move all my units west. The Vjaya will probably end up snagging the Server whilst everyone else turns north and engages Bolozof and his brigade of Beam Gun LEV’s.
Bolozof and his forces move south to meet us halfway. At the start of our next turn a short scene plays.
: Getting in was easy, but searching the entire building is going to be quite difficult.: Okay, we’ll separate. I’ll take the top floors and you look over the bottom half.
: Okay.
Not much to say about this turn – all units move ahead once more. Semyl’s lack of mobility is going to be a real pain here.
Bolozof’s army keeps on marching south. We’ll be clashing with his forces next turn.
But that’s okay, because we’ll be snagging the Server at about the same time.
The lead enemy targets Warren with his Beam Gun.
He misses, but there are a lot more where he came from.
In another case of the enemy AI prioritizing melee attacks, the second lead enemy bum-rushes Yukito with his Laser Blade.
The damage isn’t too bad, thankfully. No other enemies are in range, so the AI spends the rest of its turn shuffling the huge column of enemies down towards us.
It ends up looking like this. Anyhow, first thing’s first…
Grab the server.
Thinning out these guys is going to take time, but Yukito steps up to the plate.
He gains a level from this despite receiving only 7 exp.
Razma finishes the job. It’s important to remember that Bolozof and Amante are in the middle of these guys and are advancing down along with them.
Cage weakens another enemy and Warren finishes him before our turn ends.
On the enemy turn Semyl gets hit by a Beam Gun, but her upgraded armour shrugs it off easily.
Another one tries the same thing but misses.
Warren isn’t so lucky. BulletEndure does nothing to reduce damage from energy weapons.
History repeats itself with Warren evading a second shot.
Unfortunately Amante charges down into melee range immediately afterwards.
Ow.
If that wasn’t bad enough Bolozof decides he also wants a piece of the Durandal II for a souvenir.
Things aren’t looking too hot for Warren after all that, but mercifully the AI doesn’t have any other units in range.
Naturally the immediate thing to do is to get Warren healed up.
He’s nowhere near out of trouble yet but it’ll help him endure another hit from Bolozof at least.
I’ll be getting rid of Amante first. As usual she gives out Boss experience, netting Warren a level.
Razma also gets a level from attacking her.
Semyl closes the curtain with a hail of missiles.
She is rewarded with six level-ups and a boatload of cash.
: Owwie!! Heyyy! That hurts! Mr. Bolozof, I’m going to take a little rest!
With Amante out of the way we can breathe a little easier. Taking Bolozof out ends the mission so we’re going to hold off on that until we’ve wrung all the sweet cash out of his associates.
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to use Ares in battle, now that I think about it.
His huge movement range will never not be awesome.
Cage stabs a dude and then our turn ends.
Some things never change.
This happens twice.
Bolozof also has another crack at Warren, bringing his HP back down to critical levels.
This happens three times, but Warren manages to evade them all.
Another has the bright idea of attacking the Vjaya.
Ares is fairly underlevelled from sitting out the last few missions so he gets hit.
The sneaky enemy who has been trying to flank us since the mission began manages to get a hit on Razma before the AI’s turn ends. Before our turn can begin a scene plays.
: Oh no!!
Oh dear, Myona’s gone and got herself in trouble again.
No time to worry about that though, there are more pressing matters to attend to, like making sure Warren doesn’t die.
One down…
Two down…
Boosters really are marvellous things.
Three down…
It occurs to me that I’ve left Phil open to attack, but I’m sure he’ll be just fine what with his long track record of not getting shot up.
Of course Warren immediately gets shot as soon as the enemy’s turn starts. The force is not with him today.
He manages to evade the two subsequent attacks though so it’s all good.
Bolozof surprises me by not going after Phil but instead continuing his vendetta against Warren.
Things don’t look to good for him right now.
The final enemy misses Razma and then it’s our turn again.
Finish off the stragglers first…
The annoying flanker goes next.
Warren will still oneshot you even if he’s on the verge of death. Of course, after that I realise I’ve moved him out of Phil’s range and therefore cannot heal him before Bolozof takes another shot at him.
Since he can’t really help I have him attack Bolozof and gain a level.
Cage and Semyl double-team the final regular enemy, leaving only Bolozof behind.
Oh bollocks.
Warren finally goes down, attrition from half the enemies on the map finally taking its toll.
On the flip side we still have more than enough firepower to down Bolozof in one turn, starting off with Vjaya’s new Geyser attack.
It does some nice damage and leaves him open to Semyl’s new attack.
Semyl gains even more levels for defeating Bolozof.
: It’s a little early to be acting so smug…take a look at this!
: An image is being transmitted from the enemy frame. It appears to be of the top of a building. 
: (It…it’s Ms. Mebius!)
: What did you do?! This was not the agreement!: I do not enter agreements with those who cannot even negotiate lives correctly. The woman was hypnotised for interrogation purposes. Right about now she is wracked with guilt…so much that all she wants now is to escape.
: How could you…Cage, you’ve had six or seven missions to realise that Bolozof is a lying sociopathic sack of crap. This should not be surprising.
: Power down your machine. Your irresponsible actions have caused all this…you keep that in mind!:…Music: Tension
: Heh heh heh…good. Now watch over them.: Sir!
: Release Sis, you big jerk!: (Myona…I hope you haven’t been caught…): Don’t worry. They haven’t even noticed.
: Ah…so these are the infamous BIS. May I?
: Fa…father!! Why are you…?!: You foolish boy, Tadamichi. Your mother is probably crying in heaven now.
: He says he’s a revolutionary, but it’s all just childish games. He has no idea that he is just being used as a pawn. He goes around with his affected air and hurts innocent people…Anyone who does this is no longer a son of mine! I cut him off a long time ago.: Hmph, it makes no difference! You’ll be saying your farewells soon enough. You stay and watch!: Mr. Bolozof! Poor little Bizac was badly damaged, so I made arrangements to get her fixed at the TV Station!
: Coming!Amante and Bolozof both leave.
: Tadamichi…Had you worked for me, you could have had a good life…: You’re always like that. You know nothing about me, and you force your set of beliefs on me…I have my own beliefs! Regardless of whether other people agree with me, I am going my own way! Leave me alone!: Now shut up! How many victims have been buried under the rubble of your beliefs?! If you’re going to go your own way, don’t involve others! Take some responsibility!:…
:…But your plan isn’t bad. Look at this.: What? It’s just a mini-TV. What about it?:…Be grateful for your sponsor.
: Huh? You mean Ms. Robin?
:…first meeting.: The young lady…you don’t mean…Music: Tragedy
:…control of our studio. They have an announcement that they would like to make.: Heh.
: That voice…Myona!: Hello, everyone. Can you hear me? I am a member of the Anti-Terrestrial League, BIS. My name is Myona Alderan.: I have a very important announcement for you today. What I am about to tell you is the truth; please believe me.
: Dad…you didn’t…: Don’t call me ‘Dad’! And you have to promise me that you’ll help me come up with an excuse to report to your mother.The mission ends on a rather more hopeful note.
We get some new attacks from the Server. Testament is going to be a walking nuclear arsenal by the time the game is over.
It was a long fight but it’s over – for now. Next mission is where shit really hits the fan, with plenty of revelations and an intense boss fight against a mech that anyone who has played the first game will probably recognise.