I have too many games in my backlog, so let's clean out the Switch's in 2021.

[System Error]

JANUARY 13th:
My first two turns or so of the stage are setting this up. I use Judau for this, since he could always use more kills. I move him into position near a bunch of enemies, and weaken them with everyone else nearby. Then I let loose - Rei needs to boost his morale. He actually gets five kills from this.

While this is going on, I move Boss towards the upper center of the map. Brocken summons Metal Beasts - Invaders fused with metallic parts - and Ryoma goes off near there to challenge one. However, dragons show up, leading our team to conclude this must actually be their home dimension. They somehow have the ability to weaken the Getter Rays, which translates to a huge loss of weapon power.

Because I misremembered, I manage to beat Brocken on turn 4. I wanted to get the kill with Amuro, but Fin Funnels weren't doing enough, so I used Banagher instead. This prompts an event where he goads the weakened Getter into fighting alone, but Ryoma, Hayato, and Benkei had realize the true power of Getter Rays when it was weakened. They then proceed to make him eat shit with the Stoner Sunshine. Brocken's ship explodes, and he somehow escapes.

All that's left to do is clean up. The dragons are third-party reinforcements, but prioritize Getter.

---

The next chapter opens with the Ples celebrating Shinji and co's training by Ryoma with ice cream. The subject turns to Rei and how she never smiles. Nine was like that too (and never smiles around Soji). Soji did help her open up though, so maybe Shinji could do the same? But suddenly there's an alarm: NERV is under attack by G-Hound, led by Buran.

They're ordering them to surrender. Gendo and the rest of them play it calmly, asserting their right to operate independently, to which to reply comes the Federation is revoking that right. They want the Evas to fight Neo Zeon, the threat of Angels be damned. The team shows up right as they start to open fire.

DEPLOYMENT:
- Shinji, Rei: Both forced
- Sayaka: Support
- Hathaway, Amuro, Judau, Banagher, Nigel: Some UC Gundam characters. It's at this point where I've made the decision to ignore the ZZ kids and Unicorn extras besides Nigel.
- Soji, Lottie, Melda, Koji, Ryoma, Tobia: The rest.

The objective here is to defeat Buran. SR point is to do it in three turns; events will start on the fourth. TacP bonus is to defeat Lane.

The first turn is spent on approach. The second I start cutting into the enemy forces. Finally, by the time of the third turn, eveyone but the two bosses are down. I defeat Lane with Hathaway and have Rei defeat Buran.

Suddenly, NERV gets a Pattern Blue. Down comes the Sixth Angel, which starts shooting lasers at Buran. Lane reappears, saying he'll fight. He proposes an alliance with us to protect the Earth, which Bright accepts. Suddenly, Neo Zeon appears and starts attacking. Bright hails them to stand down due to the threat of Third Impact...and they reply they're well aware. They don't intend to survive this operation.

New objective is to defeat the Sixth Angel. Lane has temporarily joined me as a controllable ally unit. For points towards a secret, he needs to survive.

This goes amazingly fast. A few hits brings it to critical health. Rei in particular gets a bunch of kills helping fight Neo Zeon on the other side, after they try and fail to kill Banagher. I have Shinji get the experience from the kill. However, the Angel simply regenerates. To make matters worse, the Seventh Angel ALSO appears, along with more Neo Zeon reinforcements.

Thankfully, backup arrives! First comes Asuka Langley Shikinami herself (who in one of the more blatant mistakes in the otherwise decent translation, is referred to as a male by Amuro), followed by Jerid and Yazan who deliver the Positron Cannon to Shinji. Rei and the Yamato move into position to back Shinji up, the latter also acting as his power supply. Finally, even Tetsuya appears, simply saying he won't allow Earth to be destroyed.

Now I need to defeat the Seventh Angel, with the Sixth still around regenerating every time it's attacked. For further secret points, Jerid and Yazan each need a kill. The first turn after is spent setting up. The second is moving in to finish the stage. Many characters have quotes remarking about and cheering Shinji on. I can't stress how good Ryoma was here: Stoner Sunshines were doing 5-digit damage to the Angels. I let Asuka take the kill, because why not?

Plot kicks in as even more Zeon grunts show up. However, Judau yells at them, asking if they'd really sacrifice everyone they've ever met on Earth over a petty grudge. In reply, they move to defend Shinji from the still-moving Angel, allowing the Yamato to finish it off. That's when the Sixth Angel takes notice. Rei protects Shinji, who blows it away.

After the stage, we reflect that so many people showed up to protect the Earth. Perhaps there's hope for humanity to be at true peace after all. Mari has a brief cameo. Shinji and Rei have a moment under the moonlight, interrupted by Asuka's arrival. The latter is fine with being assigned to Londo Bell, as it'll give her a chance to show off her talent. The others show up to congratulate Shinji, in a non-cheesy way. Asuka reminds Hathaway of Quess, in some ways. However, the moment is cut short by Mao asking Amuro to return to the Ra Cailum. Mithril intelligence has revealed the next target of the Neo Zeon is Dakar.

---

The next stage opens with Shinji showing how much he has matured when Asuka asks why they're fighting for the Federation: he was born after the One Year War had ended, and he wants to see if he can make a difference.

Meanwhile, the Gundam characters are discussing the situation. Hathaway is starting to become disillusioned, openly saying he'd commit atrocities or acts of terrorism to end the war. Amuro accuses him of being no different than Char. Hathaway leaves to clear his head, and is followed by Banagher. However, they seem to catch sight of Kaname. They attempt to follow, only to be ambushed by Neo Zeon forces led by Zinnerman who incapacitate them. They ask for information about Marida's whereabouts. They comply, and are released, though some unpleasantries are exchanged. Among them is Loni, who says she'll be participating in the attack on Dakar tomorrow, hoping they don't have to fight.

DEPLOYMENT:
- Banagher, Hathaway: Both forced
- Mao, Kurz, Clouseau: FMP stuff is indeed happening
- Amuro, Kincade, Judau, Ple, Ple Two, Nigel: Some more Gundam.
- Koji, Ryoma, Asuka: Some Super Robots, Ryoma will be key in particular
- Soji, Melda: The rest.

Neo Zeon shows up, and some unpleasantries are exchanged. Also on some random building, Kaname is indeed there, watching with Leonard. She is irritated at the jerk and asks why they aren't taking shelter. He wants her to watch, you see. And then, she will come over to his side...

Objective is to bring Loni under 10000HP. SR Point is to bring her from 10001HP to defeated, using the Smash Hit (auto-crit) ExC action. TacP is to fight her with Banagher and Hathaway. There's no time limit, so I'm free to approach as I wish. The idea is hopefully to bring her down with a Stoner Sunshine supported by Soji or one of the Ples.

Desert Rommel is here for some reason, and has a conversation for fighting Judau. I defeat him with Amuro (he blows up and dies?), before pausing when my cat bothers me to take a bath. Not even halfway through the stage.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 14th:
I continue the stage after my reset, whittling down Loni. Eventually through some math and tests to get her as low as possible, a combination of Stoner Sunshine and Ple Two's Funnels as a Support Attack is just enough to bring her down.

Things quickly escalate as Amalgam shows up, telling Neo Zeon to pull back and relax. G-Hound shows up from there. Interestingly there's different responses here depending on whether Kirks is alive. Among G-Hound are Lane, and a mysterious Unicorn lookalike called the Banshee. It also has an NT-D system.

On the skyscraper, Kaname watches in horror - this isn't war, it's much worse. Leonard says she's responsible, enigmatically calling her a special case amongst Whispered. Banagher and Hathaway are very reluctant to shoot her down. However, Sousuke appears in a dated AS model, calling them slithering little maggots, and if they don't want their asses kicked, to do their duty. He and some of the Gundam vets assure them, they can fight to save lives, not take them.

At this point, I have to restart. I need to have Sousuke kill an enemy in the Crossbow for a secret, but he was unable to do so, and the guide I was using neglected to mention he goes Leeroy Jenkins on Gauron either when the latter attacks anyone or if the next turn begins. I manage things much better this time, ignoring Kirks temporarily and just rushing down. Having Soji to deliver the support with Ryoma goes much smoother. In both versions, Melda gets a lot of kills. It was frustrating to say the least, but with animations off it didn't take too long.

Loni has a MAP, so I stall a bit on fighting her. I have the Yamato attack Gauron to trigger the event, where Sousuke obtains the new ARX-8 Laevatein. They duel up top. When he dies, he tells "Kashim" he loves him. He's surprised the roles ended up reversed, and that he'll be going to Hell first, where he'll be waiting. Melda and Mao take most of the G-Hound forces, Kurz eventually joining them. Asuka, Nigel, the Yamato, Soji, and Clouseau take care of the rest of Mithril. The next turn, I rush down Loni. Kirks has some dialogue for this, remarking he forced her to fight and must therefore take responsibility.

Despite being a Newtype hunting weapon, the pilot of the Banshee, who is definitely not Marida, actually tries to go for Mao and Melda. Contrastingly, Lane blatantly charges directly for Hathaway. There's secret points for having either of the Ples fight the Banshee, so I move them over to do so. There's also some for Hathaway attacking Lane, with both surviving. This causes the former to have an epiphany about war, and wrecking Lane with his new High Mobility Attack. Defeating Marida triggers an event where she declares that she is Ple Twelve and must obey her master...until the Ples tell her to stop. This makes her freak out about a voice event further back in her head, and leaves.

The Laplace Program triggers on the Unicorn after the fight. Sousuke is thanking Al, when he hears Kaname calling to him. She had a communicator on her! However, Leonard still knows she has doubts. To the point of where he hands Kaname a gun and offers her 30 seconds to shoot him. But she can't - she's just not prepared to take a person's life.

Leonard: "If I were you, I would've fired the gun."
Leonard: "In order to be with you, he's willing to fight, and even to kill."
Leonard: "And yet you can't even bring yourself to shoot a pretentious jerk like me."
Leonard: "Mentally, you're just not ready for all this."

He asks for the gun back. Kaname wavers, cries out for Sousuke, and a gunshot rings out. It was Kaname who fired. She's horrified. Sousuke is shocked. G-Hound's main force swoops in. Kaname feels so guilty, she asks Sousuke not to come after her anymore, and to forget about her. She believes she truly is the cause of all the war. But, she can't bring herself to that, so she gives him a direct order as vice student council president:

Kaname: "Come save me!"
Kaname: "I don't care what sacrifices you have to make! Give it everything you've got! Mobilize every one of those useless, annoying soldiers of yours!"
Kaname: "Fight tooth and nail against every opponent, no matter how dangerous! Come and take me in your arms! You can do that, can't you?"

He accepts. They profess their love, and she says she wants to kiss him when they reunite! "No holding back. No matter where we are." It's okay with him, and he promises. As it turns out, he was fine the whole time, he was just using the deception to perform covert operations.

Love scenes aside, a crippling blow was dealt to both Neo Zeon and Amalgam today. Leonard is alive, but his recovery is going to slow their operations drastically. Meanwhile, Neo Zeon's ground forces are in bad shape, so we're moving to attack them in space and hopefully end this once and for all.

Because Sousuke defeated an enemy in the Crossbow, I also unlock it as a unit for him.

---

In the prelude next stage, Riddhe is speaking with Audrey. He tells her to run away with him, but she flat-out says she despises him. Jerid is surprised when we intrude upon the Federation base. Bright asks that Marida be handed over, but they deploy instead.

DEPLOYMENT
- Soji, Tobia, Banagher: All forced
- Judau, Ple, Ple Two, Kincade, Nigel: Some extra Gundam characters. At least one of the first three is necessary.
- Sousuke, Mao, Kurz: Why not?
- Koji, Ryoma, Shinji, Asuka, Velt, Lottie: The rest

Objective is to defeat Marida (Ple Twelve). SR point is to complete the stage in 6 turns, and have someone use the ExC Multi Action at some point during it. TacP condition will appear later. There's only one secret point condition on this stage: have Judau, Ple, or Ple Two speak with Marida. As in, move beside her and use the Convince command.

One group heads west while another heads north. They converge. I use Multi Action a lot, but Mao is the first to fulfill it. As I lower Jerid to half HP, an event starts where he attempts to take out the Unicorn, but Kamille comes out of nowhere to stop him. Riddhe also appears, and is kind of crazy. Both of them leaves once defeated, and after convincing Marida (where the Ples beg her to stand down), I defeat the Federation capital ship with Shinji, and her with Tobia.

Cue an event where Banagher goes to rescue Marida and Audrey. Riddhe stands in his way, but they escape. Marida reappears, but Zinnerman appears, and that gets her to stand down. She jumps out of the Banshee. Banagher catches her and delivers her and Marida to Zinnerman. Kamille also leaves with them.

Then the OG faction shows up, blowing up some Federation Mooks. The Gardim, a mysterious alien force whose objectives are completely unknown, and that one of them by the name of Ghuli is obsessed with speed and defeating Soji. TacP objective is for them to fight.

I'm on turn 4 of 6 at this point. A lot of people still have turns, so I approach, using the battleships to help. Riddhe reappears on turn 5 in the Banshee, calling Banagher out. There's no objectives, secret or otherwise, for them to to fight or even defeat him. I do so anyway with the others who are close-by, letting Kurz get the kill.

Incidentally, a lot of the Gardim AI forces lined up to where they could be wiped out with a Nahel Argama MAP, so I do so. Now, Tobia got enough experience to unlock the Valor spirit command - the first amongst my party. Literally "hot blood" in Japanese, this doubles the damage of the user's next attack. He ends up dealing 15000 damage. I wear down Ghuli so fast that I'm actually able to win on the spot. He wants more, but seems to be recalled by his superiors at this point.

After the battle, we ponder Audrey and Kamille going with Neo Zeon. Banagher internally says he'll keep her identity a secret. However, we receive an unexpected communications: the Nadesico has returned to the UC dimension!

---

Now at this point I can choose to catch up with everything. This amounts to a massive plot dump about Cross Ange information, which is very integral to the game's overall plot. But as I said, I'll be going back and going through those routes directly. Probably much faster and with less mercy since I don't need to worry about keeping it.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 15th:
Things were surprisingly quiet in the AD Dimension since we left. We had back to Senpuji Concern for a party. Also, Kappei's brother now works there, and installs the Ion Cannon on Zambot 3. Fun times are had. Humorously, when Setsuna says it brings back memories, he brings up the time Tieria crossdressed, to some of the girls' interests (and Salia is just stunned). Hanada also reveals he has a girlfriend! She is sweet, polite, charming, and has a bit of mystery. Akito has a suspicion however, and finds her attempting to tamper with Mightgaine.

He may now be an edgelord, but he is a former otaku familiar with Super Robot show tropes, and he is very much aware Mightgaine is a living version of it. Lunna turns out to be a ninja named Kocho, and she asks for death. He refuses, telling her to immediately leave, and that he's sparing her for Hanada's sake.

Meanwhile, while Maito briefly steps away from the party, Joe the Ace appears to deliver a challenge to him: tomorrow at 8am.

SCENARIO 28: The Clash of Right and Wrong

This is in the form of a 1v1 duel as the stage begins. Ruri and Sumiragi's battleships are present, but they can't do anything. After defeating Joe, his Hiryu takes to the skies and uses its aerial advantage to defeat Maito - this happens even if you give Maito a flight unit. He leaves, satisified, but then Shogun Mifune appears with various DG Alliance mooks. Note that he is not an actual Shogun; he's not even Japanese. He's an American so obsessed with feudal Japan he wants to return the nation to those days. Kocho is also here.

Objective is to defeat all enemies. TacP bonus is to defeat Kocho or reduce Mifune to 70% HP. SR point is to have any one unit defeat three enemies in a single turn. You can do this with a MAP like Kira's, or you can just use Multi Action. For a secret, Akito needs to be deployed.

When Kocho goes down, Mifune tries to take the chance to attack the Nadesico - which remains immobile due to repairs. He hits it hard, but Kocho takes the next shot. But because I deployed Akito, he intervenes and shoots Mifune, saving Kocho's life. It also becomes apparent that his goal isn't Nouvelle Tokyo Ciyu, but Zambot 3! It's the epitome of Japanese design, after all.

He gives a speech, and says that after this, the hero appears. On cue, enter Maito in the Might Kaiser, along with Black Mightgaine - a secret I unlocked earlier. Joe also reappears. I spent the next turn beating him down and defeating him. He talks about the worthlessness of justice. Maito concedes that justice might not always win, but he will never let evil win in the end. All that's left is to clean up.

Allulujah gets me the SR point along the way, and I finish Mifune. He refuses to go down, prompting Banjo to say to Kappei they'll crush his will with overwhelming power. Cue a Daitarn 3/Zambot 3 combination attack: the Space Combination, that utterly trashes him. Mifune vows to return as he retreats.

Gaine's super AI is okay, but his body was heavily damaged in the fight against Joe. Meanwhile, he's lamenting his unacceptable loss: he lost Hiryu, and Maito lost Mightgaine. However, Sally finds him and offers him a first-aid kit, in return for him helping her before. She asks why she fights Maito, his reply is he's a villain, and villains fight heroes. He tells her the story of his father: he was threatened by evil men who forced him to work for them, and in the end they killed him like a dog in the street. That's when he started to feel there was no justice in the world. As he leaves saying he never wants to meet again, Sally: pure ball of pureness she is, says she'll never stop believing in justice. Or in Maito. Or even Joe.

Lunna has survived and goes right back to her happy loving life without mentioning anything. The only ones who know her secret are Nine (who realized via voice analysis), and Akito, who tells an observing Maito that he has to win. All their hopes are riding on him.

---

The Martian Successors want to perform a bloodless coup against the Federation. The only Class A Jumper they have access to is Akito. Their forces are weak, but they have a benefactor known as Mr. X. They plan a full-scale assault on the Nadesico. Meanwhile, the team has retreated to Arzenal to plan their next move. Sumeragi converses with Jill, revealing she knows the latter's true identity. Sumeragi feels Jill might be using them, and wants to know her purpose and goal. Jill shrugs it off, saying that it's no leverage over her, but tells her something out of courtesy for the info on dragons: Cagalli Yula Athha of Orb and Marina Ismail of Azadistan are missing. And an enemy of hers, someone who Veda can't track, is the one responsible. Could that be the true enemy, Sumeragi wonders?

Akito has a small chat with Ruri, about wishing to see Yurika again. As Ruri leaves, Mai, the loli maintenance foremane of the Para-Mail Squadron, approaches him with a letter from a man who matches Hokushin's description.

SCENARIO 29: The Result of Revenge

The stage begins as the last one did: a one on one duel, this between Akito and Hokushin. Objective is to defeat him. SR point is to clear the map in 5 turns.

After Hokushin is damaged enough, he brings in his backup. It was a trap after all. He taunts Akito, who calmly responds. In come our own forces. They cry foul, but he doesn't care. He may have wanted to do nothing more than rip them apart himself before, but now, he has a reason to live. To see her face again.

I forgot to mention it last time, but Ange unlocked two new abilities: first, the Ability Unlock attack, her new strongest move. And the Ariel mode special ability: at 130 morale or higher, she has a flat 40% chance of avoiding any attack.

As I damage Hokushin, he says he'll cut off the head of the snake. This amounts to attacking the Nadesico, saying he noticed Akito relies on Ruri for support. And so he'll kill her and let Akito fall into despair. To make matters worse, Founding Nations AI units pop in. However! Boson particle readings are increasing! In jumps...the Nadesico? It shoots a blast and wipes out a chunk of the AI units.

It's Seiya Uribatake. And...Yurika! In the new Nadesico C! They transfer personnell over, and it's time to rock! They promptly use Gravity Wave Communications to hack the enemy, sending away another huge chunk of the Founding Nations forces. Also at Martian Successor HQ, everything goes to hell: their base is completely surrounded, and they left themselves exposed due to searching so hard for Akito. Akatsuki walks in, suave and shirtless, taunting them about their impending arrest and destruction of their forces. Kusakabe asks for the safety of his men, and admits defeat.

In comes the heroic music, and the beatdown. The Nadesico unlocked a new ability: System Seizure. Once per map, it can inflict Agitate (accuracy halved) and Analyze (10% more damage) against all enemies.

Notable on the map are Hokushin's Six, really annoyingly dodgy minibosses and indeed - there's six of them. Some of the enemies like hiding in the water: the Cross Ange cast are useful against them, due to their Freeze Bullets being effective in water. Amusing aside, they're actually racist against the Norma. TacP bonus is for Daitarn 3 and Hokushin to have a battle. After defeating him, he and Akito have one last exchange, where Akito debuts the Distortion Attack S to defeat him. Hokushin's final words before he dies are simply, "Well done." I just need to clean up from there. I finish on turn 4, one more than I need.

Akito tries to leave after the battle, but Yurika calls out to him. He's still her Akito, and she loves him! He may no longer be the guy he was, but he's still Akito. Ryoko adds that he got his revenge. So now, it's time to move forward. The others agree: he trusted them, and that foiled their plans. Yurika even says she'll chase him to the end of the universe if he goes - and Ruri says it's possible due to the boson tracking system. With a smile, he concedes.

All's well that ends well, and the Nadesico Movie gets to have a happy ending! Akatsuki drops in, and a curious bit comes out: the Martian Successors may not have actually had the Calculation Unit...

Back in Arzenal, Ange and Salia confront Jill about the true identity of Vilkiss. Jill knows about its true power, but she also brings some bad news: Ange's sister Sylvia Ikaruga Misurugi is set to be executed in three days, for the crime of harboring her Norma sister...

---

Because of this news, Ange is planning on infiltrating Misurugi on her own to rescue her sister. She feels responsible, due to Sylvia having fallen from a horse and being rendered unable to walk. However, Hilda overhears, saying it's desertion. But she's fine with it: if they both desert at the same time, their pursuers would have to divide their forces. She wants to see her mother. They wish each other luck.

Vilkiss jumps near the old school. Ange decides to use the secret royal family passage to infiltrate. Since she can't use mana, she needs Momoka to open the locks. During this, Ange's old friend Akiho appears before them. Akiho freaks out and begs not to be killed, but Ange says she won't, as they're friends. She asks to shut down the Mana communicator, to which Ahiko wavers. Ange is disappointed, but just ties her now former friend up.

Cut to Ange raiding the palace, shooting anyone in her way. She quickly makes her way to Sylvia. She's happy her sister came for her...then tells her to die. She calls her a monster, saying everyone in their family would be way happier if she wasn't born. She'd be able to walk, their mother would still be alive, and calls Ange a monster. In walks their brother Julio. It was all a trap, and now it is time for _Ange's_ execution.

SCENARIO 30: Hometown of Betrayal

It opens in front of a roaring crowd, where Sylvia whips Ange for the crimes of making her fall from the horse, making her lose the ability to walk, and being born. Even Akiho is calling for blood. Julio cordially thanks Momoka, saying that he up her going to Area D as a long-term plan to lure Ange back. They also have a rock musician as a guest for the ceremony: Purple, from the Mightgaine series. He offers up his blessings for the birth of the Holy MIsurugi Empire. Ange laments, anyone else back there was far better than everyone here.

The calling for her to be hanged pisses Ange off. She calls them unthinking, guillible pigs and starts singing. The royals identify it was the Eternal Story. With an explosion, in comes Tusk! He was sent by Jill to help! Also, all he has is shuriken for weapons. They'll do, Ange says. She thanks Julio for uncovering her true nature, and Sylvia for showing her corruption - and I'm showing her expression there because it is great. She throws one at her brother, making him cry. Like, actually cry. Purple is delighted at the chaos.

In swoops Vilkiss as they're making their escape. The Nadesico also boson jumps in. Yurika gets a strange feeling of the world being distorted, the pillar being the focal point. Cue an amusing scene which I'll just show.

Ruri: I am Major Ruri Hoshino of the Earth Federation Forces' Autonomous Nadesico Squad.
Ruri: We appreciate your cooperation in apprehending this deserter. We will take custody and deal with her appropriately.
Julio: Who gave you permission to jump into Misurugi?!
Ruri: Uh, as an autonomous squad, we don't exactly need permission.
Ruri: But I offer my apologies nonetheless.
Julio: Forgive me for my gruffness, Electron Fairy. Since you are already here, it would give me great pleasure to have you as guests.
Ruri: Would you care to engage in a war game with the Misurugi Defense Forces?
Harry: C-Captain! They are-
Ruri: I'm aware, Harry.
Ruri: Thank you, Emperor Julio. We respectfully accept your invitation.
Ruri: As you will apparently be using live ammunition, we'll follow suit.

As I deploy, Tusk formally joins my squad in his Arquebus that used to be his mother's. Hilda is still missing, and I can't deploy Akito either. Ruri's orders are to secure the Nadesico's escape in five minutes. That is, get it to the edge of the map. SR point is to do so by defeating all enemies. TacP bonus is to have Tusk Support Attack Ange.

##########

My friend asked to play DKC3 after this. We finished off Krematoa, with a slight snafu in not being able to pull off Stampede Sprint skip. Might have a patched version. Discovered a bizarre bug on final K.Rool when trying to pause buffer the last phase - the electricity just goes across the whole screen. We completed the game 103% with 6:00 gametime flat.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 16th

I begin the stage. Maito has a pre-battle conversation where he senses an evil unlike any other he experiences. Vivian strangely, is getting a very unusual feeling from the tower. She worriedly wonders what will become of her. Ersha, Chris, and Salia all get a weird feeling, like someone is looking into their minds.

Stuff goes down on the second turn: Dragons appear! Julio begs us to fight them off. Akito boson jumps in with Hilda, safe and sound. It's not mentioned what happened, but he saved her from police brutality. New objectives are still to get the Nadesico to the line, but now while defeating all dragons.

An amusing thing about Tusk: because he is a male love interest in a female-dominated series, he has the types of stats and support abilities you'd typically see on a female character, like Lunamaria or Sayaka. He can repair and resupply units. The enemies seem to love going for him and Ange though, so I need to forego counters for defending.

The annoying thing about this is that just about everything has Support Defend, so they can block attacks for each other. Once Julio's forces are destroyed, he simpers about it, leading to a great exchange:

Ryoko: "Ange! That brother of yours is a coward!"
Ange: "I don't think of that fool as my brother any longer."
Ange (with a normal smile): "And I completely agree with you."

After defeating the dragons, all I need to do is move the Nadesico to the end point, and that's the stage. Afterwards, Ange and Hilda get locked up for desertion. The other girls come, hurt by the fact that they didn't come to them. Hilda just says they were never friends, and she just used them. Despite this game doing a lot to make the Cross Ange a lot more likeable, they're still jerks. Salia breaks it up, saying they have one week probation. In prison, Ange and Hilda talk about their respective experiences. Hilda had a very similar incident with her mother as Ange did with her sister. In fact, Hilda's mother had another baby when she was gone, and named her HIlda. She dismisses the notion of friends, when Akito comes in and offers some sage advice. "They are a true comfort," he says, and says to apologize to Rosalie and Chris. She simply says "screw you." Even Ange thinks it isn't right. But she also agrees with her, and in fact asks Hilda if she wants to destroy Misurugi together. Bonding happens!

However, in runs Setsuna, Athrun, and Shinn, telling them they're being released.

It's a dragon! It suddenly appeared in the residential block. Ange notices it's singing, her mother's song at that. She sings back, and the dragon...turns into Vivian!? Jill comes running in, and Ange demands to know everything.

---

The next stage opens with Lord Djibril mocking Julio. They exchange barbs. The rest of the Founding Nations from Cross Ange don't have any political recognizition in the AD world; and Misurugi only does so because of having the Pillar or Dawn. Julio counters that Djibril was a puppet of them in the past. Embryo enters, calm and smug. He says the situation is grave now that the dragons know where the pillar is, but consolation: he knows of Ange's existence.

Now, there are two choices for the world, he says. Complete surrender to the dragons, or complete decimation of the dragons. OR! Or, the third choice: recreate the world. They agree.

Jill has a meeting with her circle. Salia is opposed to revealing everything, and expresses jealousy over Ange being picked as Villkiss' rider. Alas, she is the best rider, due to being from the royal family. No other way for it to be used to its full potential.

She tells the team the whole story, if only for ensuring cooperation's sake. It's a big plot dump, so skip ahead if you choose: there was a God long ago. It grew bored of an Earth devastated by war with the devil. Not just that, but how humanity was constantly in conflict. So it abandoned the world for a new one. Yet if he didn't intervene, the same thing would happen. So he created a new people, one who abhorred war, along with an advanced information technology allowing operation by though - that is what Mana is. Everyone in the Founding Nations were a planned creation. It worked: no war, all desires granted, it was a utopia. That was 500 years ago. However, something went awry: some female babies were unable to use Mana. A strange mutation of an old gene: the Norma. They were a source of anxiety, and God decided to make use of them. It was imprinted in the Mana-users minds that Normas were anti-social monsters who rejected the world. This strengthened the bonds between the nations, but also returned discrimination to the world.

And so the world stabilized. An age of prosperity was supposed to begin, but, some would not allow this. Tusk chimes in: the Ancient People. They were born at the same time as God, yet denied living in the countries created by him. So they waged war to created a place of their own, after having their existence denied. Finally, they obtained God's own weapon: the Ragna-Mail, aka the Villkiss, which was the prototype for the Para-Mail. However, they couldn't utilize it without the key. When it seemed it was all over, news hit of Normas fighting Dragons in Para-Mails. The Ancient People traveled to Arzenal, and met the Normas, preparing for the day someone who could unlock the Villkiss would appear. And she did: Alektra Maria von Levenherz: the first Norma born to the royal family. Or in other words: Jill herself. It's her purpose to destroy this corrupt world, her Libertus plan. Tusk has been serving her for a while, as the last of the Ancient People.

Meanwhile, the blood of the Ancient People still exists. It was used to help create Gundam SEED's Coordinators, Daitarn 3's Meganoids, or by analyzing it to defeat God or even destroy the world (like Aeolia Schenberg from 00 Gundam). In fact, Celestial Being, PLANT, and Arzenal have all been working together from the very beginning. Logos and Blue Cosmos were agents of God. The Innovades were also planning to overthrow God, but in their own way. Tying series together.

In the end, God is hoping everyone kills each other off, because it's more exciting and dramatic that way.

However, Ange refuses to help. She is just not the hero type. Plus, she wants to make decisions based on what she seen, not based on others'. She's not against it, but wants to see the truth for herself. However, a Singularity goes off. Dragons are here.

SCENARIO 31: Eternal Freedom

We sortie and converse before the battle. In particular, Hilda does apologize which Rosalie accepts, but Chris wavers. Shinn and Ange also talk about the meanings behind their robot names and respective personalities. Vivian also appears, ready to fight with us. She's still Vivian, after all, as Ange says. The Dragons come in, along with the Enryugo. The only way they're getting answers is to interrogate the pilot.

Victory condition is to defeat Enryugo, without losing Ange, Vivian, Tusk, Kira, Shin,, or a battleship. SR point is to defeat all enemies and then Enryugo in four turns.

Things look like this on turn 3. I mop up the rest of the dragons and go after Enryugo, which doesn't last long under the assault. She just does not have the defenses a lot of other bosses have. Afterwards, she tries to retreat. Ange chases her down and demands answers, as more dragons come in. Setsuna uses the power of GN particles to create a special space

The pilot introduces herself as Salamandinay. She still doesn't give answers, saying that we're enemies of her people. However, as the space fades, the dragons suddenly get shot down. In come the Gardim, same as the other route. Salamandinay decides to call a truce, since they attacked her countrymen. Ghuli is disgusted at enemies so quickly becoming allies. Kira attempts to talk idealism, but he repeatedly cuts him off until Shinn cuts in. This is postplot GSD, so all that stuff happened, but he's willing to move on from the past and fight with Kira here today. Lacus Clyne also arrives in the Eternal. The two obtain combination attacks with Lacus and Lunamaria, and Shinn also unlocks his SEED ability. Athrun also gets a combination attack. Unlike normal ones, Kira and Athrun can use their combos with the Eternal as long as they're on the map.

TacP bonus is for Salamandinay to defeat an enemy. The Gardim seem extra weak here for some reason. Same as before, Ghuli gets orders from higher up to retreat.

Ange and Salamandinay are still going to fight, though. They both sing and unleash simulataneous attacks at each other. Everything goes white as the dimensional barrier begins to collapse...

When everything returns, Ange and Tusk find themselves along on red seaed shores. They're back in the UC world. She gets the chance to ask Tusk about himself: he explains the Ancient People have forever been at war with Embryo. The one who created the people who can use Mana. The one who controls the world from the shadows. The greatest enemy of all time. Or as Ange says, the one Jill called "God." Their fight is to create a world where everyone can live in. She calls his parents good people. Tusk almost ran from his duty, and then he met Ange: the person he was supposed to protect as a Knight of Villkiss. He vows to stand by her side, no matter the circumstances. "Even if I'm violent, fussy, and change my mind at the drop of a hat?" asks Ange. Even then.

As they're pondering, Vivian appears alongside Naga and Kaname (the Cross Ange one, not the Full Metal Panic one). The two have been ordered to protect Ange.

---

Embryo pays Jill a visit as the next stage begins. He's amused that she calls him God. However, his pawns are unreliable. So he'll be joining their little game personally, soon.

Ange and Tusk have been taken to the dragon's world. They call the world where they live (UC dimension) the "True Earth" and the AD dimension the "False Earth". Ange is suspect that they're actually prisoners, but Salamandinay vouches for them. She is amused Tusk has sworn allegiance to Ange herself. More backstory: the world was polluted by war: man vs. man, and man vs. evil. A substance known as Dragunium which purified cosmic rays was supposed to bring about an enlightened age, but instead war broke out over it. The enemies of humanity employed it, and the Dragunium went out of control and destroyed the world. Tusk confirms it as truth: it matches the Ancient People's oral story. Some of the survivors abandoned the Earth in search of a new one. He asks what happened to those who stayed behind: they remade their bodies with the Dragunium to adapt to the environment. That was how their god-ancestor, Aura, was born. The Dragons are those people. The men were the giant ones who took care of the grunt work, but women can transform too. They dedicated themselves to harmony with nature over industrialization. They also fight other threats.

The reason for invading the AD world? Aura was captured by Embryo and is being held there. The Light of Mana is energy from her Dragunium. The truth behind fighting the dragons? The energies from the slain are given to Aura to keep her charged. Also, Riza, Julio's secretary, is a dragon. They're asked to remain for a while. Two weeks later, Sala releases them: the dragons want to learn what the humans are like, and vice versa. She has an interest in putting an end to the war: they have a common enemy after all.

Salamandinay wants Ange to put her future on the line in an "ancient fighting arena." It's an arcade. Ange points this out, and says relaxation and play are important. So she'll game with the princess, just don't expect to win. But then Embryo suddenly appears: someone who can manipulate time and space can be wherever he chooses. He cordially calls Ange by name, and says his forces will attack Arzenal, leaving it up to her to decide what to do. Then he disappears into thin air. Of course Ange is protecting it.

SCENARIO 32: Song of the Dark God

All the 00 Gundam units have been upgraded, including Graham and Patrick's units. Julio arrives with a huge platoon spouting rhetoric - including UC suits - but loses nerve and leaves when informed Ange isn't present. The evacuation of Arzenal is underway. Victory conditions are to reach the 5th turn OR defeat 35 units, the SR point being to do the latter.

On turn 2, Embyro appears in his Ragna-Mail, introducing himself as the Tuner. He's very clearly holding back, with just one single beam rifle attack, although he is as much of a creep as always. He's half-defeated on the enemy phase, when trying to attack Setsuna and Kappei. Tusk and Sala even state he's not using all of his power outright. I also show off to myself what happens when one unit goes hog-wild: Akito gets a dozen kills this stage. Graham gets 7; I really should use him more often. He has a skill called "The Ultimate" but more commonly "Supreme", which gives massive buffs if over 130 morale. It's extremely rare on player units and typically reserved for badass enemy ones. I actually end the map on turn 3.

In swoops Julio again, who destroys Arzenal. Ange gets pissed and goes to kill him. Julio begs for his life, and she simply tells him to die. However, Embryo enters. He cannot allow her to do that. Julio begs him for help.

Embryo: "Ange. You are so beautiful."
Embryo: "Your anger is pure, and hotter than the sun. Unreasonable and absurd to confront. A nobly beautiful flame that can reduce all to ash."
Embryo: "Do not pollute that flame by setting afire anythign less than worthy of it. Let me do it instead."

And then he sings the Eternal Story, killing Julio with a Space-Time Convergence Cannon of his own. As Ange asks what he is, he suddenly cuts down Ersha and Chris (who deploy), saying he wants to heal the sorrows they all have suffered. He goes for Salia next, but Ange goes to protect her. But Salia insists - she wants to fight him, to defeat him, for Alektra. Ange responds by disabling her machine and telling her to retreat. Salia calls her a fat cow as she does so. Embryo summons more Ragna-Mails and begins singing, inviting her to sing the final song.

Ange may have disliked Arzenal for being the worst, but she loved it. She found her true potential as a human being there. Ange and Sala sync their attacks, right as Embryo fires his. Akito calls out to Ruri and Yurika as a massive distortion happens...

...and they find themselves back in the UC world, sans Salia, Ersha, and Chris. The team contacts Londo Bell. Also, Sala isn't going to leave just yet: she learned how narrow her worldview has been, and how people of two worlds can come together in this war. She wants to become Ange's friend. The only problem is her name is too long: she's actually mean mucking it up in dialogue a lot. So as long as she can call her Sala, it's a deal.

Also curiously, Nine recognizes Embryo's Ragna-Mail, but her memories are fragmented...

---

So to summarize: on the AD route split, you can save Kocho/Lunna. This does not affect gameplay at all despite her being a mecha pilot. Meanwhile on the UC route, you can get Melda, the Crossbow, the Super Alloy Z, the Ξ Gundam's Missile Pod attack, and points towards other secrets. Now, you can actually get all but the Crossbow and Super Alloy Z later or regardless, but fluff in Mightgaine scenarios aside, UC easily gets the better deal.

Also worth noting that when you return from a route split, all units on it get a fixed number of kills. In this case coming from UC, the number was 8. Everyone from the Brave Robots to main characters to battleship captains got this.

In both routes, you can get a scene catching you up on the events of the other route. However, there's also a big important meeting. On the UC route which I'm keeping, this is where you get all of the Cross Ange important worldbuilding stuff dumped on you, like Vivian's identity, the nature of the Dragons, Sala, and so on. The biggest and new takeaway that comes up in both routes is that Dragunium? That's the same thing as the Getter Rays. It's why Dragons are able to inhibit them; but Sala concedes they're no match for the true power of Getter. It's also why there's a machine called Shin Getter "Dragon" in-universe. Tying things together!

The conversation comes to a halt as Sala's attendents burst in, relaying the High Priestess has warned of something approaching seeking to destroy order. Misato enters shortly thereafter: the Eighth Angel is descending from space towards Tokyo-3!

Next time: more Evangelion! And more Mightgaine: all of the Evas and Maito are forced.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 17th:
I did a couple songs on Miku, but that's it. Kind of a dead day due to feeling lethargic for most of it, and the usual late start these days. I was actually musing Taiko no whatever, but, way too much DLC for that game and it's not the game I was looking at (it was Rhythmic Adventure I saw that looked cool). But eShop sale, so maybe expect some new games added to the backlog soon.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 18th:
Dead day. Went out to get eShop credit at least, so more games being added shortly. Probably shorter ones. Trying to figure out the last slot on the time.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 19th:
As the stage begins, they talk strategy. Thanks to the wave motion gun, the odds of stopping the angel are about 50%. 50000 times higher than it was! However, there's a singularity! In comes...the DG Alliance? Wolfgang, Catherine, and Joe the Ace are all here. The former two are confused at their surroundings, and briefly listen when told of the situation. Joe doesn't care and wants to fight Maito. Of course, Mr. X who sponsors them turns out to be Embryo. Fear of being stranded in the UC dimension gets them to attack.

Objective is to defeat all enemies in 5 turns, without losing Maito or an Eva. SR point is to defeat six enemies on the first turn. TacP is to have Getter defeat an enemy while Salamandinay is deployed.

DEPLOYMENT
- Yamato, Nadesico, Eternal: The first two are forced battleships.
- Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Maito: All forces
- Ryoma, Salamandinay: For the TacP
- Koji, Ange, Battle Bomber, Guard Diver, Black Mightgaine: Well Embryo showed up, and it's a Mightgaine stage. Koji and Shinji are good friends too, so.
- Kappei, Banjo, Lottie: In the stage preamble they mentioned showing off their combination attack. I've seen it, but I need to crush enemies fast, so why not? For a similar reason, and a friend's suggestion, taking Lottie.
- Kira, Athrun: I want to get Athrun to Ace on this stage, so I deployed the Eternal and Kira as well because why not?

I move south as the stage begins, earning the SR point without incident (accompanied by some text from Harry alleging ten were destroyed). Most of the enemies here take two shots to kill.

As the third turn rolls around, an event triggers with Joe challenging Maito, still insisting he doesn't give a damn if the world is destroyed. Tetsuya enters the scene, disgusted with Joe, and challenging him. However, Maito insists. There's a dimensional distortion, and suddenly, Mightgaine is here! They performed something similar to a Parallel Boson Jump, except it's more of a railway. Normally that would be extremely painful, but, robots can't feel pain in the traditional sense.

The form together to make Great Mightgaine! It's accompanied by an anime cutscene of sorts. Finally, a challenge, thinks Joe. Everyone thinks it's great and/or heroic except Asuka. There's a 10/10 exchange here.

(This is pretty significant for Akito's character: in source, he was infamously nothing like he was before, instead just an emo edgelord, so to speak. But SRW V finishes the plot early and most of the rest of Nadesico's plot is him 'healing', this showing there's still the Gekiganger 3 fan in him to appreciate the madness that is Mightgaine)

But still, on a time limit, so I bring a bunch of people over there to help. On the other end of things as turn 4 begins, I've defeated Catherine as most of the remaining enemies tried to go for Koji. Black Mightgaine and Sala clean up a chunk of the remainder. I use my Supers to take down Wolfgang. Both DG alliance villains actually do listen to reason, until they don't. Banjo surprisingly had a conversation with Wolfgang, asking him if he's fine with his technology being used by the Meganoids. One of the survivors actually contacts him as he's defeated; he tells the team to save the world before leaving.

At this, the Yamato prepares to fire the wave motion gun at the angel. However, a mysterious android is inside, and has sabotaged the power supply! She's shot dead, but says she's accomplished her mission. So instead, in comes another member Brave Express - Might Gunner. They're going to shoot the Angel, even though they're low on energy and it might mean their lives. Suddenly, Joe reappears, giving Mightgaine the energy from his Goryu. With the Perfect Cannon, they score a direct hit, slowing the Angel rapidly enough for the Evas to catch it.

Another little anime cutscene here. Shinji and Maito talk after the battle. Asuka thinks all the talk of heroism is stupid, and also goes full tsundere mode when pointed out she was calling Shinji by name.

---

The next stage opens on the Yamato. It'll be some time before repairs to the wave motion engine can be made. Tobia, Kincade, and the crew are speaking with Soji, about Nine primarily. She seems to have stuff in common with those mysterious androids that attacked. She also seems to be in a funk of sorts. When they ask him to consider his partner, he was waiting for them to say so, and off he goes.

Nine is surprisingly depressed and moody, abruptly asking Soji not to get rid of her, and "please don't hate me". She says she's a liar, and selfish, and mean, and thoughtless. Soji is surprised and said he should be saying that. After all, the only value he has is as a pilot: he's no good with women, and has no idea how to enjoy life. If she gave up on him, he has nothing. Nine's reply is that he sounds like a husband apologizing to his wife. He jokes they kind of are like an old married couple. Which, she admits with a blush, she's fine with that comparison. The subject turns to what he prefers in a machine: speed like the Black Sarana or Xi Gundam? Or power like Great Mightgaine or Getter? I choose speed.

As I do so, more of those androids show up, along with Ghuli. He demands Nine. Soji stands up for her and gets shot. He is surprisingly defiant after, and taunts Ghuli that for all his talk of speed, he spent too much time talking. The androids get gunned down. Soji calls himself a coward who called for backup immediately, and the snipers have them in their sights. Ghuli is amused, and seems to defy orders - retreating to his machine. And the stage begins.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 20th:
Due to going crazy with finishing content in Final Fantasy Record Keeper, no progress today. However, the first NEW GAME!!! Him & Her. I was buying a couple things off the sale, and hey, 12 cents for a puzzle game? Sure, why not!

Still might buy more on the sale, but for now just bought Captain Toad and Miku DLC.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 21st:
Today was just...ugh. But, I technically gamed: I played the Snipperclips demo to see if it was right for me. I decided yes, so NEW GAMES!!! That, Good Job! and Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered. Played the latter back in the day, it was great fun. Especially the multiplayer. Besides that, just some HOME box shuffling.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 22nd:
I got through the first part of the first world of Snipperclips when I was too comfortable to sit up after my bath and switch my games.

---

Once I did so, I went and did the Den event in Shield that has Shiny Tauros. It took about an hour and a half of the day advance trick. The Wild Area is so obnoxious. It was worth it though - not necessarily for the sparkly critter itself. Wobbuffet guy showed up, you see. And he was unusually good - got off two Counters. Snorlax idiot was being dumb with Giga Impacts, and even though I had up Reflect, Dhelmise person got OHKO'd. Actually, they all went down at some point, annoying on the second shield. But my Corviknight knocked down the last shield, the Dhelmise took it to critical...and I had to stifle an amused "YES!" since it was too late, as Wobbuffet Countered again, actually knocking the thing out.

That's right, Wobbuffet guy actually KO'd something.

---

Okay, back to SRW. Forget my exact deployment, but it's the OGs, most of the main characters except the Invincible Robots, Setsuna, and Kira. Also I'm taking Lockon. I have something special in mind.

Objective is to defeat all enemies. SR point is to defeat Ghuli in four turns, without the Yamato being attacked - it's stationary and cannot move. TacP is to have VangRay with its custom bonus: in other words, all attributes except weapons must be upgraded to at least 5.

Enemies approach from the west at the start of turns 2 and 3. Now, for Lockon - as of last stage, I unlocked a new special item for acing 15 pilots. It's called the Iron Emblem. It doubles all experience. He was underleveled, and his first kill with this and Cheer shot him up 8 levels, giving him 9 ExC. With this and Multi-Action, he was able to get 9 or 10 kills total this stage. Kincade was also able to unlock his Ace Bonus this stage - I had him in the Delta Plus, as it's a bit less awkward in terms of having strong post-movement attacks than the mass-produced F91.

Ghuli wasn't a threat. Not with my units starting to unlock Valor. Mightgaine hit him for 15k! I brought Tobia over, and he did an additional 9.9k or so. I had Hathaway defeat an enemy beside him...and he unlocked it too! Since he used multi-action, I had him smash Ghuli to critical, and Soji finished him off.

Plot twist! Ghuli is revealed to actually be a machine! He runs off in a brief existential crisis. Soji doesn't care - they're still enemies - and moves in for the kill. However, a new unit appears, called the Madivia. She blasts the VangRay, nearly destroying it. Minorly annoyed that didn't kill him, the pilot - Jamie Reeta Slaushel, commander of the Gardim forces - moves to finish the job. However, Ghuli intervenes, asking to finish Soji off himself. She grants it as a last request, and blocks attempts to intervene.

However, in swoops a mysterious mech from the Yamato, with a new machine: the VangNex! Even Ghuli is amazed at its speed. Soji enters, and Nine herself is in (read: copilot, more spirit commands). They destroy Ghuli with the Positron Cannon. His final words:

Ghuli: "Hey..."
Soji: "What?"
Ghuli: "Let me hear that suit's name one more time."
Soji: "It's VangNex."
Ghuli: "It really can move..."

A bit of unclear information here on Soji's route: but Ghuli is a soldier archetype whose memories are deleted and uploaded to a new body each time he's destroyed. Jamie thinks of him as a disposable soldier, much to Soji and others' disgust. New objective is to defeat her.

Once it's done, some chat. As it turns out, Nine was around for far longer than expected: she was the system 99 of the VangRay. She was responsible for getting Soji and Chitose transfered to the Yamato. She may be able to save the NCC Earth... Also Soji gets teased by Shinn of all people for not really getting women. He counters that he _does_ understand his partner, however.

It's all a fun heartwarming scene until the Yamato's crew enters, freaking out and asking them what they're doing just sitting around. Neo Zeon is about to drop a colony!

~~

Meanwhile in DLC scenario land, sometime after saving Ange in the AD Dimension, Ruri, Akito, and Yurika are enjoying some time off. Purple is holding a concert nearby; Ruri does acknowledge he was at Ange's execution. Maito and Banjo appear, not for the music (not their type - also too violent for Banjo), but to go see Sally! Akito is intruiged when he hears it's a ramen shop.

Since she is a pure ball of pureness and really good at cooking, she attracted the resturaunt a lot of customers. The other cook there is actually pretty bad. But the real problem is the owner. On cue, Mightgaine villain Hoi Kow Lou of the Asian Mafia shows up, piss drunk. Tanaka - actually his henchman Chinja - appears, acting as a drunk might. Sally asks Tanaka to look for Mr. Sakamoto, she'll look after the resturaunt. Yurika, Ruri, and Maito all help. Banjo however seemingly recognizes him, insisting Tanaka also help. He isn't going to, internally.

The reason he's drunk? He's mad at how downhill things have gone since Purple took over, and then the ramen shop was opened with what little money they had left too. Banjo confronts him, stern but surprisingly cordial. He says that not many people actually know he was the Asian mafia boss - not even the Brave Express Corps. Yet he didn't lose eveything, there's someone who knew him from before. Akito appears, but before they can talk, men in sunglasses, weird suits, and top hats say they want him dead.

As the stage opens, I get the Nadesico, its Aestis, and the Brave Express Corps vs. a bunch of Mightgaine mooks. As things advance and I wipe some out, plot happens and they move to just destroy the whole city. Maito protects the store, turns on the external speaker, and calls out to Mr. Sakamoto to live, he hasn't lost everything! They find him at that moment, but Chinja deploys to protect him. He tells Hoi Kow Lou to run, who refuses to abandon him. He enters the cockpit and says he won't let them ruin his store or hurt his customers.

With this he wipes out three of the four units. Akito and Banjo appear at that moment, shooting the last one down. As they're just in a "crappy Shaomai", they do retreat. It's just cleanup and an easy stomp from there. The mysterious man tries to retreat, but Purple says the evacuation device has been replaced, and tells him to "Go to Heaven!" He explodes.

Banjo again confronts them after the battle. He says he'll be buying their store, as former villains like them can't really operate in public. He'll pay them well, and says they'll donate it to charity. However, a woman named Hou Mei offers him a job at her resturaunt. He is after all, the master of Canton Style Cooking Martial Arts. Akito set it up in secret; he actually greatly respected him. Banjo set up Nergal agents to protect and watch the duo. Akito vows to get his sense of taste back to make ramen himself once more someday.

~~

The next one concerns the Eva pilots. Asuka is being a huge jerk, as always. She chases off Boss and his crew, then asks Rei if she likes being called the Commander's Pet. She completely ignores the question and comments on the Miso Soup. Shinji made it! He asks her if she's enjoying it, and Asuka gets even more pissed that her question got ignored. Misato is worried about their cooperation, but it just so happens there's a trio of very different people who work together who could help: the Getter team.

It doesn't go well, because Asuka is a huge jerk. She calls Benkei an old man, and Boss Borot a means of transportation for the Kurogane Five. Even the eccentric group of badass old assassins give snarky remarks at that one, saying she has no filter, has growing up to do, and in old lady Okiku's case, she reminds her of herself at that age, "cuteness and all." Misato contacts the team, saying Dr. Hell's forces are on approach. They're led by Brocken.

However, some of them are underwater. Getter-3 shines underwater - in fact it's notorious in SRW because there's so few chances for it to shine. Brocken is mostly pissed his big entrance got ruined.

A few enemies defeated later, Asuka continues to be Asuka. A jerk. Koji gives them a speech: to defeat these enemies, they must have justice, love, and friendship. Asuka scoffs at someone having all three, but Koji says that's where they must combine their strengths. Asuka insists on being justice, since that's strength. Friendship doesn't fit her, Shinji concedes. As for love...he considers it. Asuka briefly tsunderes, then says it may be him and Rei. They both muse this, and she gets pissed. Koji's plan backfired. Brocken laughs at this.

Nice little pre-battle scene where the Kurogane Five assure Boss and the others, even saying they could be the Kurogane Eight someday, if they work hard enough.

Finally, Benkei gives up, so Ryoma takes over. He tells Shinji to be a man and lead the way! Hayato tells Rei to keep composure and analyze the situation! Benkei also joins in, telling Asuka she's the strongest, so be the unsung hero and support the other two. And if they do all that, Ryoma says, they could become the most powerful team of all. Asuka continues to scoff. She says she'll lead, stupid Shinji can analyze. And that leaves Rei to back them up. Somehow, this works, although most of the group is stunned at how unusual it is.

In the end, they learned how to work together, in a way. Benkei feels basically useless. Alas, Hayato says: kids will be kids, just as men will be men. They have to watch over, not guide the younger generation. They invite Misato for drinks; she's a bit mortified at being a part of the old man team at 29.

~~

There's very little preamble before the next stage. Just some Gardim chatting on the bridge of their flagship. It is a strange-looking thing, polygonal with lots of white and blue. They're content to just sit back for now and watch how inferior species wage war.

I'm dumped directly into deployment:
- Sousuke, Banagher: Forced
- Mao, Kurz, Clouseau: As you might expect from Sousuke being forced, FMP stuff is happening.
- Ange, Hilda, Vivian, Rosalie, Tusk, Salamandinay: As you might not expect, so is Cross Ange stuff. I need at least one of the first four for a secret.
- Amuro, Judau, Hathaway, Nigel: Rounding it out with some UC Gundam. It's just easiest to make up my mind this way
- Melda: And the Gamilas are here too so

But that's tomorrow.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 23rd:
SCENARIO 35: Light of Ruin

Made a change to my deployment plans: I swapped Rosalie for Athrun. Because I felt I might need a bit more power here, so I switched Chris' girlfriend for their mutual crush.

Neo Zeon is being led by Rakan from ZZ Gundam. Also the Gamillas are here to bask in the glory of having a victory, but are eager to go after the Yamato too. Victory conditions are to defeat all enemies. Despite stating a time limit, there's no defeat condition, but it is necessary for the SR point to do it in 6 turns.


I advance on turn 1, taking potshots where I can. On turn 2, in warps Embryo with his Diamond Rose Knights, Leonard, some Amalgam agents, and even a few Martian Successor remnants. To the Cross Ange crew's shock: Salia, Ersha, and Chris are among the enemies! Tanya and Irma from the Third Para Mail Squadron are also present. All of them were apparently rescued by Embryo, and are without expanation fantatically loyal. Also, Kaname over the radio fully supports the colony drop! SR point changes to beat everyone in 8 turns here for some reason, but it changes back to 6 after defeating a few more enemies: in comes the Garencieres alongside Kamille, Fa, and Marida. TacP and a secret condition is to battle Salia, Ersha, and Chris with one or more of Ange, Hilda, Vivian, or Rosalie. They have prebattle conversations, where they try to talk sense into them but get rebuffed. I brought along Athrun to defeat Chris; no special lines for them fighting, unfortunately.


Embryo left, but Leonard is still around. He's level 50 (!) and still has his gimmick. This however, meant just hitting him was enough for characters to gain half a level from that. And whoever defeated him would be rolling with experience - even if they deal 0 damage. I thought to give it to Amuro, but due to the next stage needing him, I instead gave it to the Yamato. I had Judau defeat Rakan, Banagher defeat Casper, Tusk defeat Ersha, Hilda defeat Salia, and Vivian defeat Irma.


One neat aside, more of how much care is often put into these games: despite being enemy NPCs, Ersha had a special line for support attacking Tanya. Of course, the girls had special lines for fighting each other too.

I was worried throughout this stage, and had to use some battleship slingshotting. Unlike some recent stages, I went all the way up to the final turn of the SR point. By the end of turn 5 player phase, only Tanya, Fowler, and Leonard remained. Tanya was defeated by Mao on the enemy phase, I weakened Fowler and took him down with Bright Noa, and after that defeated Leonard with the Yamato as mentioned. Everyone on board gained 10 levels from this.

However, during that stage, Embryo was busy accelerating the colony! A plan is formed to try to hold it back with the Nadesico, but even blowing it up at this point would scatter debris all over Earth. But Mineva - openly as such - reveals that the Colony Laser could be used to blow it up. DIsmissing how it still exists for now after its supposed destruction in the Gryps Conflict, they come up with a plan to hold it back with the Nadesico until the laser charges and Boson Jump away. Yet it's just impossible...until Mineva reveals something about the Unicorn to Banagher. He fully awakens it and uses its psycoframe to unite everyone's consciousness, allowing the plan to go off without a hitch.


The only question is, where did they jump to? Yurika sort of entered coordinates while unaware. It's Axis. And Inez is here. Mineva welcomes them to Laplace.

~~

After Banagher talks with Mineva a bit, scene switch and it's time for NANI NAZE NADESICO!

Inez explains that when searching out the missing Nadesico A for its Calculation Unit, she and her team were found by the Martian Successors. In desperation, she performed a Boson Jump, and somehow ended up in the UC universe on Axis. Normally the system has failsafes in place to prevent this, as well as prevent time paradoxes. Amuro realizes, this happened at the same time he was stopping Char's Counterattack - he was discovered in the Martian Successors' hands. They switched places. So how did the Psychoframe come into contact with the Calculation Unit

Nanai appears, and explain's Char's Counterattack as wanting to unite Earth and the colonies against war. Laplace's goal, Audrey explains, is to bring about peace in a different way than one side winning over the other. Their organization has a lot of collaberators, including Zinnerman and Alberto. The latter explains Anaheim Electronics was part of Amalgam, prolonging the war by selling weapons to both sides. That is, until they got kicked out for whatever reason, so they joined the Federation in revenge. Kamille helped bring him on board due to AEUG having connections to Anaheim too. They entrust the Calculation Unit, Colony Laser, and Earth's hope to us. With the Calculation Unit, we could travel to any dimension at will.

Cut to the Ples and Marida interacting. Some casual talk, and just as Banagher is about to ask about the name of Laplace, enemies are detected!

SCENARIO 36: Who Inherits the Stars

Due to a secret, I've unlocked the Full Armor ZZ Gundam here. Judau is forced, as is Kamille in the Z Gundam.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 24th
I did a bit of Miku after midnight, played three songs.

---

I also played Snipperclips. Completed world 1, then got partway into world 2 later on. Still going okay.

---

But now, NEW GAME!!!! I ordered the Prinny game remakes for Switch a couple days ago, because I like physical, especially given Nintendo`s track record. They can't take physical away from you. It arrived way sooner than Wednesday as it said it would when picking free shipping. In fact it arrived super early today: 8:45am or so. Good thing I was sleeping downstairs because of my tabletop game today.

Speaking of it, I had some pretty several spinal and stomach cramps after it. Eating didn't help, nor did going to the bathroom. Must've been a posture thing? Anyway, I was feeling burned out of Super Robot Wars, so I decided to play the new game. Once I took a painkiller, because it was being really obstructive even for my high pain threshold. I played it a bit on PSP, finished it on Hell's Finest (1HKO) mode even. I had no desire to prove that again especially with how dumb the final boss is, so I picked Standard (4HKO). Which is almost too easy, as I found...

...well, made it through the first six levels. They can be done in any order, but get harder as you advance through. I picked the order that spawns a collectible on each stage. I intend to complete all levels on all times of day, get all collectibles, and beat all content except the achievements. Since those just get silly in places.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 25th
More Prinny., I was able to make it through the first loop of the game. Sir Sweet's final form is a ridiculous fight, that said. Unless your mashing game is on-point, you have autofire, or the secret move from game overing, it is just impossible to defeat him. Luckily, I can mash. I also made it through the second loop, playing through different stages: Grasslands>Forest>Sea>Tower>Hideout>Fortress. Which is mostly how they're ordered, just with the third and fourth swapped. I used the "runaway" feature to start over without having to do the final stages again.

I was midway through my third playthrough, on the fifth stage, when the date ticked over. Going Tower>Grasslands>Forest>Sea>Fortress>Hideout for this one, which sees me fight a unique boss in Magma Hideout as well as all three instances of a recurring boss. I'm doing very well in this third playthrough: S ranks on the first four stages, plus the third when I went back to it. I may pause and go back to SRW after this run. If not, I'll do the alternate Asagi Story playthrough. Definitely either ordering a controller with turbo or unlocking the Prinny Raid move before even thinking of fighting Sir Sweet again, however.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 26th
I finished off my third loop of Prinny up through the final stage. Again, probably going to wait to take on the final boss again. I can't understate just how hard you need to mash against that jerk. I also took on the first two formerly DLC stages, that were included by default on this Switch port. I was amused by the second one calling out for "Ash" in a voice that was very Pokemon anime esque, though forget which girl's voice it sounded similar to. I didn't bother with the third once I realized it was pretty much Kaizo.

---

A break turned out to be just what I needed for SRW. Got back with my head clear and ready to figure out my deployment without incident.

DEPLOYMENT:
- Judau, Banagher: Both forced
- Nahel Argama, Ra Cailum, Eternal, Ptolemaios: Battleships, the first two were forced.
- Amuro, Banagher, Marida: All needed for secrets
- Judau, Ple, Ple Two, Nigel: A couple other UC Gundams
- Koji, Banjo, Kappei, Soji: A few others
- Allelujah: Grinding him this stage
- Maito, Battle Bomber, Guard Diver, Black Mightgaine: Filled out the final four slots with the Brave Express Corps

G-Hound shows up as the stage begins, Jerid thinking we've aligned with Neo Zeon. And Riddhe is there too, crazy pretty much yandere that he is. Objective is to defeat Jerid and Riddhe. SR point is to do it on the same turn, within 4 turns.

Turn 1 is spent advancing. Turn 2, I get a few kills and move in closer. Turn 3, Allelujah's rampage happens, netting him several kills and levels. Secret objectives are to have Banagher and Marida fight Riddhe, having either defeat him - though you get more points if Marida does so. Kamille also needs to defeat Jerid. Slight miscalculation as he was hitting for minimal damage with his second strongest attack (was too close to use his strongest), but a Sun Attack from Banjo to lower his armor helped see me through.

As they retreat, Neo Zeon appears. Full Frontal talks business: he wants the Colony Laser to force Earth into submission, after which he'll leave them to rot with Dr. Hell and co. Amuro rebukes him as not being like Char at all - he doesn't care what happens to humanity. He also tries to talk ideals, mentioning the Zeta as something that takes the ideas of others into one's minds (apparently in this continuity, Scirocco didn't actually crush Kamille's mind, he was just overwhelmed). But we tell him off, and the fight is on.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 27th
I stall at bit at first, allowing Neo Zeon to come to me. Allelujah scores two more kills here. I also manage to get Bright four kills by using his MAP. Frontal hangs back one turn, but he quickly charges in due to his double action ability. Objective is to defeat him. I split into two sides: one on the right who mostly brings down Angelo, and another on the left to fight Frontal.

Worth noting, Zeta has unlocked its Biosensor ability, which comes with a new attack - two if the pilot is Kamille. Unicorn has also unlocked the Awakened NT-D as of the start of the stage. This has no limit on its transformation, and comes in a spiffy green color.

Secret condition is to have Banagher, Amuro, and Kamille all fight him. I have to restrain a bit, because Black Mightgaine nearly knocks off a third of his HP. But I do so, defeating him with Amuro - who gains 10 levels from it. He urges Frontal to be his own person; he is not Char Aznable. He punctuates this by unleashing the Full All-Range Attack. Frontal vows not to give up as he retreats. And that's the stage.

~~

Two bonus missions unlock at this point. The first is set shortly before the previous mission. Riddhe has recently joined G-Hound, and is shooting the spit with Lane. The latter is not amused. Jerid and Yazan pop in. The latter says to really graduate from being rookies, he needs to pass the test.

No, says Yazan: but it is surviving at all costs. They move towards their location, and the battle begins: we're up against a group of Neo Zeon and Jupiter Empire soldiers, led by Rakan and Zabine. Objective being to defeat all enemies. Each of the G-Hound units has something to say, and all four have conversations with the bosses.

Like most DLC stages, this one is simple and straightforward. At the end of it though, it's revealed the Federation is already close to capturing the Colony Laser. Yazan and Lane are on their way there, whereas Jerid and Riddhe get their orders to go attack us.

~~

In the other which takes place after, the Garencieres is going to meet a group of Neo Zeon defectors looking to join Laplace. The Ples are here generally being brats, especially to Zinnerman and their 'little sister' Marida. However, it turns out to be a trap by Angelo: he'd planned to infilitrate and destroy from within, but that changed on seeing the ship. I have all of them, and Kamille and Fa are present too.

After a couple enemies go down, Angelo tries to use a Psychowave Disruptor to crush Marida's mind, but the Ples help save her. Zinnerman moves his vessel to protect her. When Angelo shoots him, this pisses off Marida enough to power through it, actually destroying the Psycho Jammer outright. It's an easy stomp from there. After the battle, the Ples apologize for being brats: they thought Zinnerman was putting Marida in harm's way just because, but their relationship is closer to that of them and Judau. He says she's pretty much his daughter, and they take that to mean that since they're sisters, he's their father too. He accepts this.

~~

But after this, I get a Special Scenario, due to having the early adopter DLC. Lottie and Velt are talking about their mechs, the former is subtly laying it on. She says she never minds his rambling, even though the latter says the likes of Ange, Kappei, and Shinn say he talks too much and uses too many big words. She also thanks him for putting up with her, being rude and irresponsible and all.

Soji sees it, and is disappointed. Nine has 108 different entries on why he doesn't appeal to women. Marie is eager to hear why: despite are being a braggadocio, he's bad at dates, bad at conversation, bad at setting the mood. He also fails to see Nine's obvious signs, reminding him she's here with a blush when he sarcastically calls Lt. Kato his 'one constant companion'

Lottie and Velt head out together. The former rants that Soji is lazy, a drunk, eats like a pig, and is a terrible singer. Velt just listens, trying to do that instead of talking for once. Lottie realizes - Soji sent them out together! Alone! No, by Velt's request! Now that they're alone, he says he has something to give her. She panics, saying she has to prepare herself...but then a group of Gardim scouts spoil the moment.

They're just level 21, whereas they're mid-30s. It's a stomp. Jamie shows up, but gets destroyed when Velt tells Lottie to release the limiter on the Grungust, letting it unleash the Keito Ragoken: Ankensatsu. He completed it with help of the Yamato Crew, as well as showing off his own Huckenbein's new weapon, the Black Hole Cannon. Jamie quickly retreats, leaving them to deal with the still horribly low leveled enemies, including curiously - some generic unnamed soldiers who look exactly like Ghuli. They have no personality, but are still as speed-obsessed as him.

Lottie with a giggle, is excited to get back home and find out what it was. She wondered earlier, could it be a ring?! She's very eager to hear as soon as they get back...only for him to say, he already gave it to her: it was the limiter release code. She is, needless to say, dumbstruck he had them sent out on scout duty for that reason. Everyone shows up at that moment; apparently everyone had the same idea it was to propose. Even Sousuke goes as far to call him a terrible person. This is coming from someone who was painfully oblivious himself. Velt just brushes it off, as all of them having no idea what it means to unleash such power in robots like that. Everyone but Lottie leaves as he begins to ramble. She's fine with it. And maybe she'll get her chance someday.

That's when Yamamoto runs in, announcing what was learned from the special scenaio: Federation Forces have taken the Colony Laser. Oh, and it gets worse: Dr. Hell has launched a major offensive on Earth.

~~

This means a route split. All the UC Gundams (NCC included) are headed to space to stop the Federation. All the Super Robots (the Evas included) are going to deal with Dr. Hell, led by the Yamato. Meanwhile, everything left - that is, Cross Ange, Full Metal Panic, Nadesico, 00 Gundam, and Gundam SEED Destiny - are headed to the AD Dimension, to investigate Amalgam's link to Embryo.

Apparently, Amalgam tipped the Federation off. As always, get to determine where the OGs go. Secret-wise, the Earth route has nothing. The Space route has the final requirement for two secrets, although you get one anyone on the true ending route. The α Azieru, meanwhile, is just another UC Newtype suit. The AD route has an exclusive character...unless you're on NG+, when they'll join automatically. As I'm on my first playthrough, I'm going AD, but I'd go Space otherwise. But as before, I'll

Arzenal has rebuilt following Embryo's attack. Jill retakes command of the Para-Mail Squadron from Ange and Sumeragi (she previously bought them). Ange remains on standby as the attack alarm goes off...

SCENARIO 36: NECESSARY

A simple map. Objective is to defeat all enemies, SR point is to do it in 5 turns. Stuff goes down after I damage one of the Ragna-Mails enough: back at the base, Jill is refusing to let Ange deploy because of how important she is. If she goes down, they lose. She's willing to make sacrifices, do anything to kill Embryo, and openly calls Ange a tool to be used. However, Embryo has sent in Gates to capture Ange directly. Luckily, Tusk and Sousuke also stayed behind.

However, Embryo just waltzes in, having taken control of Momoka. Tusk shields Ange from a bullet. Ange is able to get through his mind control, enough for Momoka to regain enough of her senses to...shoot herself!? Ange is PISSED, Embryo hurries off.

As I head back to the stage, Gates deploys, along with Ange, Sousuke, and Tusk. Secret objectives are to have Ange fight Ersha, Salia, and Chris. Furthermore, Hilda or Rosalie must batle Chris.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 28th:
I beat each of the girls, and they have their own story. Ersha joined Embryo because he revived all the kindergarten children who died. But Shinn and others point out - he was the one who killed them to begin with. She's a bit shaken as she leaves. Chris and Salia are not as receptive. Chris felt she had no friends, and Salia felt unneeded - especially after Jill snubbed her. Meanwhile, Gates just enjoys the sea salt and blue oceans as he explodes.

After the stage ends, in come the Ragna-Mails. They manage to capture Ange, sink Vilkiss, and blow up Tusk. Ersha remains behind, surrendering to us. Unfortunately she jumps back into her crap Hauser Custom, not letting me use the Ragna-Mail.

Ange awakens in the Holy Mitsrugi Palace, alongside two other surprises: the missing Cagalli and Marina are here - all taken by Embryo to become his wives...

~~

Next stage has a HUGE plotdump of stuff. First, Jill and Sumeragi talk stuff, the latter telling her about the time she became a drunk. Then there's a long scene with Sousuke and Tessa, where the latter explains a lot about the Whispered, and how in SRW V, the project that ended up creating them was also to contact other worlds. Then Embryo is a creep with godlike powers: he increases Ange's pain threshold fiftyfold, so even wearing clothes hurts like hell. Then he turns that pain into pleasure. This almost breaks her, but she manages to resist. Embryo has business in other worlds to attend to, namely destroying them. As he's gone, Salia appears with Kaname. They're setting Ange free?

SCENARIO 38: This Warped World

Stage begins with a bunch of Amalgam soldiers alongside a force led by Chris. Objective is to defeat Chris, SR point is to do it in two turns. Ersha had a remark here in her first battle - the kids who were brought back all dropped dead, like puppets who had their strings cut. She vows to get back.

This really isn't a big deal. I just stay out of her max range so she's forced to approach, then stomp her on turn 2. I give the kill to Ersha because it seemed they forgot to level grind as characters while they were away, they didn't even seem to get many kills! This jumped her by 16 levels. Afterwards, Chris' Ragna-Mail starts to fall. Rosalie confesses her love, and Kira and Athrun give her some help as to what friends truly are. Hilda damages her new suit saving them.

They redeploy, with Chris in her old Hauser and Hilda now in the Ragna-Mail. Salia shows up, but so does Jill in the Ragna-Mail. Secret objective is to have Jill defeat Salia., Again, I seemingly have to do it in two turns. No problem. Salia angsts after being defeated, Jill - speaking as Embryo's ex - tells her in no uncertain terms he's the kind of person who just tells you what you want to hear and gives you what you want, just to use you. Shinn also says, she's just as he used to be.

Meanwhile at the base, Ange is watching. She questions if Kaname truly is herself - it was hinted that she may be getting influenced by one Sophia, one of the Whisperers. But Leonard walks in on them. He gives Ange a look-over, decides she's not his type, and says to hurry up and escape if she's going to. Ange is surprised, to which he replies he doesn't hold much alligance to Embyro. He just wants to keep Kaname out of trouble. Yet in runs Sousuke. Kaname refuses to depart, saying she has to do something with Leonard. Ange urges him not to give up, she's in there somewhere. Him saying Jindai High School triggers her memories. Leonard tries to sic his AS bodyguard on them, but Tusk appears, alive and well, blowing it up. And Momoka! Leonard takes the loss surprisingly well.

Outside, Ange is accousted by angry civilians. She has a gun and fires a warning shot to make them piss off. Sousuke, Ange, and Tusk deploy. Salia charges, and is promptly cut down. Also, Ange somehow has a new pilot suit. Embryo appears. Lord Djibril tells him to "punish the fools" and he obliges - by killing Djibril. Jill says, this is Embryo's true colors. He goes for her next, but Salia jumps in. Her Ragna-Mail warps, and she shields Jill!

And so I've unlocked her as a secret unit. Her main appeal is the cheapest Foresee in the game at 10SP. Unlike Salia and Hilda who immediately do so, her Ragna-Mail doesn't get an Ability Unlock attack.

All that's left is to defeat the remaining Amalgam agents and Embryo! I give some of my underleveled characters the kills here. The agents retreat after being defeated. As for Embryo, in lieu of Vivian, and with it kinda being wasted on any of the other girls, I give it to Sumeragi. Older female commander types should stick together, after all. Embryo dies, although a few of our people wonder - why didn't he do more? The best explanation they can come up with is Yurika saying evil overlords try to make things interesting.

However, the dimensional walls start to break down. Ange proceeds to fire at the Dawn Pillar, destroying it and freeing Aura. Everything goes white, and as the light fades, we find ourselves back in the UC dimension, safe and sound. After a debriefing, we get word from Londo Bell that all hell has broken loose.

~~

So let's do Space route first. I'm going to blitz through these. This stage opens with G-Hound having a talk about the upcoming battle.

SCENARIO 37: Hope Across the Universe

I'm up against a squadron of Federation Units in the battle to take back the Colony Laser, led by Riddhe. I have 9 turns to win the battle, which is more than enough - even though I have to use some of the shitters I haven't been using, like the non-Nigel Unicorn soldiers and Roux. Roux actually catches up fast in the Delta Plus and given the Iron Emblem.

I advance on Riddhe, and after damaging him enough, he activates the Banshee's NT-D in a rage. As he's defeated, he still has more left. However, the Psychoframe allows him to hear other people's thoughts. Mineva, and all the others on the Nahel Argama reach out for him, begging him to regain his senses and returns. He dismisses it as a hallucination until Marida blocks his path, personally telling him not to be overwhelmed. Riddhe just wanted acceptance, really. He hesitates, and that's when the rest of G-Hound shows up. Riddhe decides to defect.

SR point from here is to have one pilot defeat at least two of Jerid, Yazan, and Lane on the same turn. As for who, the secret points are to have Kamille defeat Jerid, Kamille or Judau defeat Yazan. and Hathaway defeat Lane. So Kamille is the simplest. As they're defeated, Yazan saunters off, saying peace is just the lull between wars. Jerid actually seems to take Kamille's words of the futility of fighting to heart. And Lane is told to stop following orders mindlessly like a machine and think for himself. A common theme here - like with Ersha - that what's lost can't be brought back.

The Feds try to fire the Colony Laser anyway after the battle, but a combination of Banagher swooping in to destroy it from within and our forces firing on it from without damage it beyond repair. And maybe that's a good thing.

The Feds have no choice but to bet on us at this point. Especially with Neo Zeon moving in. We've found the coordinates of Laplace's Box too. Something that could end all war, but must never be opened...

~~

SCENARIO 38: Future in the Balance

Before the battle, I get the Crossbone X-1 Full Cloth and the Xi Gundam's Missile Pods. A long one. A ton of Neo Zeon and Jupiter Empire forces appear. Objective is to defeat all enemies. SR point is to defeat Zabine, Rakan, and Angelo within 4 turns, and all on the same turn. This takes all four turns, due to Angelo dragging his feet. Once I do however, I mob them all and stomp them.

Frontal appears in the Neo Zeong, alongside the Rewloola and Loni in the α Azieru. The former says that Char knew about Laplace's Box, but did not open it because it would not end the war - but escalate it. Epic music plays as the Unicorn fully awakens. Objective becomes to defeat Frontal.

After Angelo and Zabine are defeated, they end up retreating. Rakan just dies. A secret objective is to convince Loni with either Hathaway or Banagher, and then defeat her. She regains her senses and retreats.

Frontal is an incredibly obnoxious boss: 76000HP, super tanky, can move twice, and has a MAP. He has pre-conversations with Soji and every Gundam protagonist. Most of them exchange various clashes of ideals, Amuro and Kamille continuing to tell him that he's not Char, he's his own person. His conversation with Kincaid is interesting: he ponders, did the UCC have him there? If so, what was he like? Kincaid uses this to tell him that he's human, not a vessel, but he dismisses it. I spent the turn before bringing down the Rewloola (which explodes). Frontal used his MAP to hit Amuro, miss whatshisface, and even one of his allies.

In the end, by having basically everyone on my team take a shot at him, I'm able to defeat Frontal before the next turn and a much more deadly MAP.

Lots of Unicorn plot follows. Frontal shows Banagher the beginning of it all - the day Laplace was attacked, UC 0001. The incident that caused the Federation to crack down on rebellion, and led to things like Zeon. He then shows him the end of it all, where there is nothing. However, Banagher refuses to accept that. A warm light enters the area, and the ghosts of Lalah Sune and Char Aznable appear. Amuro is here too somehow, and once again he says: you are not Char, Full Frontal. He is his own man. Throw off Char's curse. Char, watching, is left assured that Frontal will not end up like him or Scirocco.

As it fades, Frontal orders Neo Zeon to cease fire. Removing his mask, he accompanies Banagher and Mineva inside. A voice welcomes them: the scion of their family, the Princess of Zeon, and the heir to the red comet. They say there's no one better to entrust Laplace's Box to. They enter to find...the Universal Century charter. The original charter, that had an extra article that was deleted: regarding the freedom and independence of a new species of humanity, saying they will be given special rights to govern. The Federation was the one who attacked, and covered this part up. Syam Vist, Banagher's great-grandfather, has been protecting it all these years. He offers them the chance to show the truth. Char Aznable was offered it, but he refused. Yet all three also decline the box. They do not want humanity to be bound by the past, but to look to the future. Syam is disappointed, yet accepting. The truth will remain between them and their allies.

The war with Neo Zeon is over, for the time being at least. Frontal says he'll continue to lead it as he can, but with hope and possibility towards peace. Tobia and Kincade have a small talk: the Laplace's Box was in their universe as well. Yet, the fighting never ended, even when it was implicitly revealed. Loni also appears briefly, giving us the α Azieru. Another secret unlocked.

However, the Yamato hails us. Things have taken a turn for the worse down on Earth.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 29th

The first stage on the ground route opens with a small scene of Dr. Hell ordering Count Brocken into battle. He orders Baron Ashura to remain behind with him. Hopefully, he internally muses, they can save the world?!

SCENARIO 37: Dr. Hell's Final Wager

G-Hound, led by Buran, is fighting a losing battle at the Photon Power Lab. They're just barely managing to hold them off, but Brocken says it's already too late. Vyscount Pygman has infiltrated the lab. He politely asks that Dr. Yumi lend his services and knowledge to Dr. Hell, and attacks with intent to kill when refused. Ankokuji is here and shoots him, revealing the big scary black guy's true form as some...weird thing. But a mysterious man cuts it down. It's Tetsuya!

Brocken is furious on the outside, and that's about when our team shows up. Okita tells G-Hound they'll handle it, to which Buran agrees. Our forces muse, they're not that bad. They are fighting for peace, just like us, after all. We're not just fighting Brocken - Ashura shows up against orders, vowing to win.

Objective is to defeat Ashura. SR point is to do it in 4 turns, while defeating every other enemy before that.

I divide my forces between the west and the north. Boss takes down a ton during his turn, enduring every attack due to Iron Wall (all damage reduced by 1/4 until the next player phase). I bring down Brocken, followed by Ashura, only taking until turn 3 in the process. Ashura mocks Brocken, as does...Dr. Hell, if he's left until later. After Ashura goes down, he appears alongside a bunch of Mechanical Beasts in the Hell King Gordon, a massive towering machine that dwarves even Daitarn 3. He orders Ashura to retreat, saying he must live, and asks that Koji hands over Mazinger Z. When he refuses, in comes Tetsuya to destroy it. And says that he'll fight to take over the world, and protect it!

Koji is getting a bit crazy here, saying that Maziner Z is unbeatable and the most powerful Super Robot in the world. Sayaka is getting worried. After Tetsuya is damaged enough, which doesn't take long, Dr. Hell moves to attack the Photon Power Lab, seemingly killing Dr. Yumi. However, a mysterious voice says no! Suddenly, the building moves aside, revealing another one beneath: the Science Fortress Laboratory! Koji asks to give photon power to Mazinger, which it does so, allowing it to unleash the Rocket Punch 100 Strike.

Objective is to defeat Dr. Hell. Tetsuya tries to keep fighting on after being defeated, but eventually is forced to retreat when Great doesn't respond. Everyone has some words for Dr. Hell - even Shinji notably says he has to fight here, SRW usually influences him to be a lot more assertive. Only Okita ponders, why is Dr. Hell fighting so hard?

The answer is revealed when Dr. Hell tries to retreat after being defeated. Baron Ashura reappears, their memories regained.They cut down Dr. Hell. Everyone watches like an idiot. Ashura gives their backstory: they were a couple whose bodies were cut in half and sewn together by Dr. Hell, and their memories altered. They were formerly of the Mycenae Empire - Dr. Hell's goal was to use photonic power to fight them. Tetsuya reappears, but DG Alliance mechs block his path. Everyone watches. Thousands of years ago, the Gods of Mycenae fell into a slumber after a great battle involving Getter Rays and Draunium. The team realizes: THAT's what Embryo meant, of gods fightin a demon. The power to awaken them? That was given to Tristan and Isolde. Or in other words, Baron Ashura's bodies.

They self-destruct their mech to complete the ritual. Everything swirls and turns red. Okita orders all units recalled...

~~

SCENARIO 38: The Gates of Hell

No intro, going straight to the title card. A HUGE crater has formed. There's an energy surge disrupting radar and sensors. Okita immediately orders all units to deploy again - something's happening. Tetsuya is still here. From the heavens, descend the gods, led by Hades. They realize what happened, and Hades rewards Ashura's sacrifice by restoring them to life. They're asked if they would like a new body. Ashura declines; that can wait until they've conquered the world. No, the galaxy! The body will serve as a reminder of their rage. Hades praises them.

Koji is not having this, but is confused at how Hades is even here. He defeated him with Zeus in the World of the Past. And because Zeus is now trapped in a space-time gap, no one can save them now. Thus, they'll wipe away the world and claim the power of Getter Radiation.

Suddenly, Embryo appears. He remarks that even after thousands of years, the Gods of Mycenae are as wretched as ever. Hades challenges him to face them with his Ragna-Mail, and scoffs at his notion of calling them devils - he destroyed an entire universe. Embryo says that destruction and rebirth are two sides of the same coin, and that he had no choice given Dragunium was out of control. He's leaving, because he has his own business to attend to, and doesn't really care what they do with this world.

Hades says the only reason they won before was because of Zeus. Even the Super AIs are feeling fear. Tetsuya says anyone who can't fight, just leave. He knew about the gods. The gods unleash their special weapon: the Kedora, which they used to destroy other civilizations. The Science Fortress Laboratory is being evacuated, but it's going to take five minutes.

Objective is to defeat Hades, or survive until the 6th turn without losing the Yamato, Koji, or Tetsuya. SR point is to defeat all enemies in 5 turns, then defeat Hades.

He's a big boy. He even has his Ace bonus! For the record, the AD route only had Embryo at level 50. Frontal was also level 50. Here, the Mycenae Gods and Garadabla are all level 50, and he's level 60 with endgame boss skills. Because of this, I fully upgraded several robots' weapons, and everyone was at 5 blips in everything.

Turn 1, I advance and defeat a big chunk of the Kedoras. They're more bark than bite, and their heads look like Alien. Turn 2, I finish off all of them, as well as defeating three of the gods. Plot happens at the start of turn 3: those same Goryu-looking robots from before appear, with a mysterious voice laughing. Hades is just amused. Joe the Ace is not, who comes swooping in. He may not like Maito or care much for justice, he just joined the DG alliance to get at these guys, their heads, Mr. X! Purple - the rock star - bids a retreat, mentioning the name Exev which Banjo seems to react to.

I sent Maito and Lottie over to help Joe fight off the Atlas Mk-IIs that Purple left behind. I used my SP as carefully as possible, so I had as much firepower for Hades as he could. I actually had to reload at first, when he casually one-shot Shinji! Speaking of, he had interesting conversations with him and Ryoma, enraged that humanity is harnessing forbidden power and Getter Rays. He's also impressed at the Yamato, wondering who could've made such a vessel.

I saved pretty much all of my Souls, Valors, etc. for him. I made sure to surround him for the bonus damage, as well as cast analyze. The result was everyone hitting for close to 10000 damage. He eventually falls...

...and gets right back up. The Science Fortress was evacuated, so Okita orders the retreat. Koji refuses to back down, and challenges Hades. He's knocked away, but then he says that Mazinger has INHERITED the power of Zeus. He activates Mazin Power, causing the machine to undergo a transformation. He completely obliterates Hades with it. Its name is? Its name is...Mazinger Zero! The Great General of Darkness appears, too late to save Hades, and after asking for the name of the machine, vows revenge as he retreats.

It seems everything has worked out? That is, until Dr. Hell appears, alive and well. He taunts Koji, saying that he is just another part of Mazinger. See, his grandfather was actually a terrible man, a monster who sold his soul for science, and used Koji to further his own ambitions. As soon as his will falters, he'll be overtaken by the machine.

It gets...really ugly. Dr. Hell is promptly destroyed by Mazinger Zero, but he doesn't care. He tells Koji, or rather Mazinger Zero, to use that power to the end to become the strongest Mazin in history. Then, he vanishes. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman - not named in-game but called Minerva X - laments that the world cannot escape its doom...

After the battle, Shinji vows to not give up, and save Koji. No, everyone! Joe and Maito also reconcile. Joe even finds his sense of justice a bit amusing, starting to get just a bit into it.

~~

At the next stage, we go from all hell breaking loose to Shinji and the others at NERV, for the testing of Unit-03. Rei learned to make Miso Soup too, thanks to Nine and Bernadette. All part of a plan to have Shinji have soup with his father. She also offers Asuka some, when she shows up in her nearly see-through suit. As they leave, Asuka remarks she's only happy in the EVA, she's happier alone, and no one understands her anyway. Yet...it's nice to interact with other people.

Cut to the aftermath of the last battle. In the hangar, the team welcomes Joe (who's with us until Exev is dead), and welcomes back Riddhe. Kaname is still a bit spacey, however. Then comes a briefing that summing up what happened; it's clarified that the Mycenae Gods did fight the Dragon Clan. Then there's Mazinger ZERO (yes the translation is inconsistent). Mazinger Z kept getting all these new powers because of Mazin Power. It can create things out of thin air. The Mazin Power was supposed to be a way to strengthen Great Mazinger, but...that didn't happen. Also, Tetsuya is Koji's uncle, his mother's younger brother. He was actually killed once, but brought back and put into cryogenic sleep for ten years.

So why couldn't he just be forthright? Well, remember how I mentioned Koji was kind of going crazy? He was being entranced the moment he started to pilot Mazinger Z. Even Sayaka notices, ever since its first upgrade, the Iron Cutter, he'd become more dependent on the machine. Tetsuya just didn't want to crush his spirit - all it would've done is consume him sooner. Koji wouldn't have even had to be in Mazinger Z at the time. The only thing holding it back is how it was Dr. Hell who told him - they're still enemies, so Koji must be trying to resist.

Tetsuya puts it clear: saving Koji comes second. Mazinger ZERO is the incarnation of destruction. It sees everything else as an enemy, and could destroy the entire world. Bright admits, they may have the destroy Koji.

Then Ryoma has another question: Tetsuya's been fixated on him. Why? Before he can get an answer, the alarm goes off. EVA-03 has been infected by an Angel.

SCENARIO 39: Wake Up, Time to Die

The Angel has broken into the Geofront. Shinji and Rei deploy. Gendo gives the orders: destroy it, it's an Angel. Shinji asks, even with Asuka on board? He repeats the order. But Eva-02 is here! It's Mari! She's here to fight the Angel. Yes, even with Asuka in it - they have to do that to have any chance of saving her! Objective is to defeat the Ninth Angel. SR point is to complete the stage within 8 turns.

On turn 3, I weaken it enough to trigger the event. Gendo says that as long as they are fighting to save the plug and not kill the Angel, they'll never win. Shinji refuses to kill Asuka, saying he'd rather die. Gendo says to activate the Dummy Plug. However, it doesn't work, the core is rejecting it. Then the Tenth Angel shows up. Mari activates the Beast Mode to try to defeat it, yet even that's not enough. Rei goes to face it, but even with Mari's help, the Angel starts to consume it. It destroys Eva-02. Shinji freaks, especially as the Gardim appear, but the team arrives.

They manage to calm Shinji. Objective becomes to defeat the Ninth or the Tenth Angel. Now there's a secret condition here. Shinji needs two out of three of: being aced, defeating the Ninth Angel, or defeating the Tenth Angel. He's aced, and the Tenth is invulnerable for now, so...

I rush my forces forward, and actually manage to defeat the Ninth Angel right then and there. Eva-01 undergoes a mysterious transformation, a Psuedo-Evol awakening. It stops the Ninth Angel. Realizing something, Ryoma jumps in and blasts the thing with Getter Rays. The Ninth Angel disappears, leaving Asuka behind, safe and sound. No sooner than is she recovered does Mazinger Zero appear. The Tenth Angel is still invincible, explictly due to it distorting space. Objective is to defeat Mazinger Zero.

Shinji shows a bit of hotbloodedness here. When he first deployed in Eva, he went berserk and was saved by Koji. Now, Koji mech has gone berserk. It's time to save him!

I start off by using Haze on it twice, so it can't use its MAP attack. I brought Graham here to get him some levels and kills, which helps boost morale among the team. I then rush it down. It's absurdly tanky: surprisingly, Joe of all people deals the most damage at 10k, but like, Ange only did 4.8k or so with Discord Feather, with Soul!! After dealing some damage, Tetsuya tries to self-destruct on it. This fails. But, a new mech appears: Mazin Emperor G! It's more than a match for ZERO...although still deals only 5k or so. Later on in the fight, Tobia, Banagher, and Hathaway could only deal double digit damage with their strongest moves!! I have to give Lottie an SP boost so she can weaken it a bit further. The good news is, Awakened Eva-01 is insanely strong - Shinji is able to secure the kill before it can get another turn.

Zero attempts to escape after this. It's weakened though, now's their chance! Another thing is pointed out: Getter Rays can fuse flesh and metal. So the opposite holds true too. They blast Koji...who is sent to the void. ZERO speaks to him, amused at his resistance. It asks what he will do, and he gives his answer: believe in his grandfather. ZERO talks a bit about Mazin Power, and makes perfectly clear he's only allowing Koji to control him because it's power that he seeks. Koji's will is so strong, ZERO will be better off allowing Koji to control him, rather than assimilating him. He leaves with the arc words of Mazinger: he can be a god or a devil. It all depends on Koji's will...

Mazinger returns to normal...and that's when Jamie picks the wrong time to show up. Koji transforms the machine into Mazinger ZERO, being joined by Tetsuya. Hype music plays as the beatdown begins.

Jamie doesn't stand a chance, and I take down the Tenth Angel on turn 6 with Shinji. Just when it seems everything's worked out, severe distortions happened centered on Eva-01. A mysterious voice calls out, and the supposedly late Embryo appears. Alongside him are Leonard and Exev. Yes, they did free Aura, but they have the Mazin Power and Awakened Eva here to accomplish their plan of fusing the worlds. Everything twists and distorts, worse than ever before.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 30th:

SECRET SCENARIO: Come the Messenger

Shinji wakes up. He's been out a day. He asks if the worlds are okay, and Misato says he'd better come see for himself.

Above the Geofront is a massive dragon. That's Aura. Koji and Shinji lament, if they were only able to hold back their power. Aura is just managing to hold back the fusion. It's only a matter of time before she falters however. When that happens, both Earths will be destroyed. The colonies will definitely go too, and the destruction could reach as far as Jupiter. The Federation and Neo Zeon have been warned and are in talks of what to do. Salamandiny returns from speaking with her to confirm this. Aura did tell her something, however. To stop this, they have to travel...to Iscandar!

The Yamato crew is shocked. How does Aura even know about that?! Their goal is clear, all the same. Resume their mission. Not just for their Earth, but for all three.

Meanwhile back at NERV, the Evas are being repaired. Yet the Angel alarm goes off. Gendo muses that _he_ might have to be deployed.

It's...the Fourth Angel?! But we defeated it! NERV isn't too surprised, what with all the dimensional distorting. It's followed by a group of Gardim. Shinji can't deploy, so Asuka and Rei do so, vowing to protect Shinji this time. Also, Mari is here in the Eva-08.

Objective is to defeat all enemies. This is really mindless. For some reason the enemies hate Mari; she actually ends up getting to 50 kills this mission. Once the Fourth Angel is defeat, the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh show up! Back in NERV, Shinji still can't deploy. Eva-01 had its armor taken off anyway; it's being investigated. However, a mysterious boy appears before him, asking if he wants to board an Eva.

He introduces himself as Kaworu Nagisa, and says that they'll go. To THEIR Eva. It's stored in Terminal Dogma, and we get a brief glance of Lilith. And so together, they deploy in Eva-13. Conversations typical of KaworuXShinji happen, Asuka is actually a bit jealous, and Mari sees it. Also since he IS Kaworu, he knows a lot more than he's letting on. Also also Londo Bell shows up and deploys.

Only Akito actually gets there in time to help. I have Mari and Rei defeat one of the Angels each, and Shinji outright one-shots Ramiel. Gendo notes there's nothing wrong with Eva-01; in fact it had nothing to do with the distortion. So they'll be sending the Evas on the mission to Iscandar. What about Eva-13? That's on Misato to decide.

Mechanically: Eva-01 now has the Psuedo-Evol ability: when Shinji is at max Synchro and 170 morale, he can change into it. It features a MAP, enhanced HP restoration, and one of the strongest attacks in the game. Eva-13 on the other hand, has Kaworu as Shinji's boyfriend co-pilot, and the Spear attack, which is only slightly weaker and can be used at 130 morale. The disadvantage is that it has no form of EN restoration, so I'll have to use external sources.

~~

So after that stage, it's finally time for Tetsuya to talk. For that, however, he's prepared a special place. It's...the Science Fortress Laboratory?! Another one, as it turns out. Koji's parents are here; turns out his father is alive, albeit in a mechanical body. He learned of the threat of Mycenae, and built Great Mazinger to help. Mazin Emperor G integrates Getter Ray technology into it. They're working on something even greater, too, but it's top secret for now.

Nergal has provided us with 500000 in extra funds for the trip. A lot of people will be joining us to Iscandar. Hamada and Sally are both here, Sally really really wanted to help Maito, you see. Kaname is here too, wanting to prove to Leonard there is hope, and his efforts are wasted. They haven't been able to located the princesses Embryo kidnapped. Hilda also confesses her love to Ange, who doesn't mind - they're all about breaking down social barriers after all. Frontal - now permanently unmasked - is coming too, or at least is just visiting for discussion with Mineva - who is also coming along, and doesn't mind being called Audrey, G-Hound has also been integrated into our ranks: this is another secret I've unlocked. Yes, even Yazan - as in, THIS Yazan.

He's as professional as he can be, although mildly annoyed when teased/taunted by the ZZ kids. Lane introduces himself to Hathaway, and is very professional. Most of all, Jerid and Kamille have a heart-to-heart talk. The former rivals make clear to each other, it was war. They killed a lot of people the other cared about. They can't take back what they did. For that, Jerid isn't going to apologize. But he will apologize for making fun of Kamille's name. As he leaves, Kamille apologizes for hitting him in retaliation.

Meanwhile, it turns out a couple of spies have been on the Yamato this whole time. They were planning to hijack it to build colonies out in deep space, and such. However, one of them has gotten cold feet and backs out, leaving Ito. Then Embyro appears. Though he's not normally into men, he needs info. Or rather, a companion of his does...

An alarm goes off, and the Shin Getter Dragon appears!? Dr. Saotome - Embyro's companion - is alive, and piloting it. What's more, the Mycenae Gods appear as well. I'm in the deployment phase right now, figuring out who to use here.

 

[System Error]

JANUARY 31st:
Okay, so I decided to use a collection of fast units, as well as those I wanted to gain levels. Professor Saotome is here, apparently revived by the Invaders, and so are the Mycanae Gods. They're still level 50, so good EXP pinatas. SR point is interesting: I need to defeat Shin Getter Dragon in three turns, while defeating 10 enemies or less - Shin Getter Dragon counting among them.

I rush them down to do this, while equipping as many Morale boosting parts as possible. Bright having gotten his ace bonus helps: +5 to everyone in range at the start of the player phsae. All of G-Hound has something to say in their first battle. Jerid and Yazan get a lot of kills here, defeating one of the gods each. Tobia gets the other. Gara, I give to Vivian, who gains 14 levels. She would end up my top ace by the end of scenario by feeding her lots of kills from there: I do need at least one character to make Great Ace, so.

I stay out of range on turn 2 so Saotome approaches on turn 3. I crush him, and he's given a speech about the true power of Getter is how three hearts become one. And like that, three forces from different worlds will become one. Saotome laughs, saying we are indeed worthy to inherit the power of the Getter Rays. Embryo appears, stunned. Also, Go, Kei, and Gai were on Shin Getter Dragon the whole time, ready to take over. They promptly kill Embryo with a Getter Beam, but this time, we're under no delusions he'll be back.

Also, the dragons show up! Vivian's mom included, she's riding on her dad! The Metal Beasts and Mycenaens retreat, and they pursue. Speaking of three-way forces, a bunch of Neo Zeon defectors, Gamillas, and Martian Successors appear. They're unusually weak, and objective is to defeat them all. It's a brutal beatdown from here that takes me to the end of the stage.

Finally, it's time to leave to the UCC dimension. Some Gamillas show up, but they're held off by the joint efforts of Neo Zeon and the Federation, led by Frontal.

It gets fired off. As we warp away, the Gardim plot to make their move in the Large Magellic Cloud...

~~

Two Bonus Scenarios follow. In the first, Joe, Banjo, and Setsuna are enjoying final goodbyes in the AD dimension. Joe doesn't really like Banjo. However, they need to keep focused on their real enemy: Exev subordinates. The duo quickly disarm the subordinates, and I'm up against a group of them with those three, the Eternal, the Pteomy, Graham, Patrick, and Kira.

It's very short and straightforward. The enemies try to bring out something with an Absolute Defense Barrier, but it was designed by Wolfgang. It has to not be inpenetrable given he's not on it, and Joe's Goryu's Drill - another of Wolfgang's creations - does away with it. Simple cleanup, and leading into Sally joining us.

~~

In the other, I get all of my battleships (except Shin Getter Dragon since this takes place before it) against a simulation of a small Gamillas fleet. Okita has something to say when each of them eliminates an enemy. After the battle, a list of mistakes made by each captain is given. They're all ready to get right back into it, however.

~~

We successfully warp back to the NCC dimension, in the space between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud, Before we warp again, Melda leaves us. Planning on sending out a distress signal, and then most likely, returning to the military.

SCENARIO 41: At the Bottom of the Sea of Memories

The Yamato is nearly three months behind schedule on its mission. We have roughly a month to get to Iscandar, counting the time needed to get back. We come to a subspace gate. Kodai, Mori, and Sanada go to investigate and activate it - in their convesation, it's revealed Mori and Yurisha were born from the same accident that caused the former to lose her memories. Also the auto-navigation system? It has Yurisha inside, and while they have no map to Iscandar, they're following her memories to get there.

However, AU09 contacts them, telling them to return to the Yamato immediately.

Soji is trapped in a memory, from the ill-fated M Operation he was a part of. He's roused by Nine, apparently everyone biological fell asleep. The Brave Express Corps and AI were fine, but they're constrained to the Hangar. Only him, Nine, and a crew member called Yuria Misaki are awake. She seems out of it too. As Misaki explains, his consciousness mixed with Nines, so she couldn't be completely controlled. That's how he didn't slip into the Sea of Memories.

The culprit turns out to be one Mirenel Linke, a survivor from planet Zirel. She attacked the crew psychically to take control of the ship, and has no physical form. Misaki releases the power of the wave motion engine, forever trapping Linke's soul between dimensions. The away team arrives at that point, and Misaki reveals her true identity as Yurisha of Iscandar. However, then she falls asleep.

We wake up just on time, as Domel appears. Celestella, Linke's former commander and only other Zirelian survivor, notes these ruins as being the ruins of Aquarius.

 

[System Error]

FEBURARY 1st:
SR point is to defeat all other enemies and reduce Domelaze III below 15000HP within 4 turns. The TacP is to defeat it outright; they'll run below that. I gave Shinji Support Attack for this, but it turned out to be unneeded since Mazinger ZERO just crushed it. On turn 1 enemy phase, pretty much all the enemies went for Salia. I used this stage to give her, Banjo, and Tieria kills.

After I beat them, they're suddenly recalled. And Gardim appears, with...Chitose?! She says she must defeat the Yamato to save the Earth. We give her a good thrashing; she actually has a conversation with Kincade (and probably Tobia/Ryoma/Tetsuya too). After the battle, while everyone promises to help Soji, he is ridiculously depressed over it, nearly giving up all hope.

~~

So the reason Domel was recalled suddenly last stage? Supreme Leader Dessler was assassinated, and he was one of two people who knew his location. He's in shock and obviously innocent, but they're in no mind to listen to him.

On the Yamato, Yurisha has actually awakened, no need to possess anyone. On the subject of Chitose, Soji still hasnt' gotten over it. He plans to just wing it.

SCENARIO 42: Beyond the Gloomy Light

Central Military Commander Zoellik is welcoming Goer back to the universe. He announces to the fleet Dessler's passing, and his intentions to take over as Supreme Leader. He has a massive fleet and intends to invade the capital of Baleras. Then we appear.