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Blaze Dragon posted:If this is happening after the series and EW...holy poo poo, Wufei is just entirely incapable of actually learning a lesson, huh? He's just literally doing exactly the same he did in EW, jeez. It's a bit odd, but so far there's been no mention of Mariemaia's attempted coup (or of the girl herself) - not even in the text crawl. Actually, considering Sato mentioned Dekim and Quinze as being his co-revolutionaries, I've the sinking feeling it all just went down at Libra and Dekim was with the White Fang. Considering, also, that Quatre mentions their Gundams were simply sealed away instead of destroyed like in the EW ending, my guess is EW didn't actually happen - thus, Wufei went with the Katou Organization. Edit: Then again, Zechs does make it very clear that he's REjoining the Preventers and that only happened in EW... Hell, I dunno. We'll see. Brunom1 fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Jun 26, 2017 |
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Jun 26, 2017 03:46
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Blaze Dragon posted:If this is happening after the series and EW...holy poo poo, Wufei is just entirely incapable of actually learning a lesson, huh? He's just literally doing exactly the same he did in EW, jeez.
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Jun 26, 2017 04:11
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HitTheTargets posted:The first noteworthy thing Une does in Wing is kidnap a General, trick him into recording a propaganda piece for Treize, then kick him out of a plane and shoot him in the head. In that order. If you could make a shot like that, you'd do it at every opportunity too. Especially on a man with a voice like "You're saaang... redooce da Forsaz!?"
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Jun 26, 2017 04:18
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 And here we are, with another close race for our top ace. As with the other path, only a single kill separates each of our guys, though Ichitaka didn’t get to go on a rampage on this side.  Now that the SMS has officially joined LOTUS, we need to build some new teams. Daiya’s deploying as an event unit, so here’s how we’re going: Tetsuya/Jun Ichitaka/Sayaka (don’t really like this but it beats him flying solo) Kouji/Boss Combattler/Puria Alto/Michel Zechs/Noin Voltes/Canaria Heine/Klan Ozma/Luca Forward!   Back in Arkholand, in the Darius World, Higant relays intel that the Gate of Zela has opened. The gate is part of a system that travels across the universe in search of a habitable world – it opening indicates that one has been found. Too little, too late, thinks Proist, as her perfect plan, Operation FD, is getting set up right now. Telmina (green hair), steps in to say that Proist’s father, the king, is calling. He’s not about to back off her plan because the gate opened, is he?  Over by the King Darius XVII’s room, Doctor Two is, indeed, reporting the gate’s opening. He says it’s not too late to restart the Ark Project, too – they mustn’t waste their ancestors’ hard work in setting up the gate in preparation of the Darius World’s eventual destruction. As Proist comes in, Darius celebrates that they can now save their people without her having to carry this campaign. Proist really wants to go with Operation FD, though – it’ll create a most magnificent world. And now he wants to prioritize the Ark Project, something that’s been shelved for the past 2000 years? Yes, because, time passed notwithstanding, the gate DID open: they just need to build the arks and that’s it!  As Proist pouts, Nikita and Telmina run in with a report that the Daiku Maryu has been found. She tells them to go after, but not to take things too far. As Banishum confirms, she hopes a show of her prowess will convince her father to sanction Operation FD.   By the Daiku Maryu, Yanma and Haccho are wondering how Daiya and Puria are doing up top. At least they got confirmation that they’ve safely joined LOTUS and are fighting with them. Big man Buby sighs that the whole Daiku Maryu crew wants to go help but the situation down here is still rather complex – they need to do something about Proist first, Lulu thinks. Problem is, even if they do launch an attack on Arkholand, it’ll be a very tough battle without the Gaiking around. Goes to show how mighty Daiya is – unfortunately so, Norza grunts. Perhaps their only option now is just to harass the Darius until he’s back. Of course, considering all the issues going up top, recalling them isn’t the best idea: even if they beat the Darius, it wouldn’t mean much if the surface got trashed. Lulu wonders what her father would do right now… Changed his name from Nouza to Norza since only now I was pointed at the cardinal direction thing going on with the Darius bosses: Norza/North, Vestanu/West, Proist/East (Ist), Sathpage/South. Oh, and if you think this is grasping at straws: Higant/Higashi (東 - East), Telmina/Minami (南 - South), Nikita/Kita (北 - North), Banishum/Nishi (西 - West). Yup, it's bullcrap.  But is interrupted by a call from Kain, who reports to Norza that some Iron Beasts are headed this way… or not – they’ve vanished! He pings a Zelgaia up ahead and it appears the Iron Beasts were destroyed by it? Why in blazes a battleship of the Darius would open fire on their mooks, though? Moreover, said ship is now opening a transmission to us!  Turns out Garis – former captain of the Daiku Maryu and Lulu’s dad – is at the Zelgaia’s helm and he’s pleased to see everyone doing well. But chit-chat will have to wait, as he warns that the Darius have sniffed out our location. Best to get out of here quick. As for what he’s doing in that ship, he tells Lulu that he couldn’t simply stay bedridden; so, he’s travelling the land while getting back on his feet, organizing a resistance against the Darius Empire. Sounds to Vestanu that we might just be able to assault the capital with this resistance on our side. Upon reflection, however, Lulu tells Garis that the Daiku Maryu’ll be heading topside. Norza doesn’t like it one bit, but she thinks it’d still be too risky to mount that attack without Daiya – what if the Dvorak shows up again?  Dick asks what they’ll be doing, then, as fighting the same war of attrition won’t help make any headway. Well, it’s not looking like Proist’s able to put her plan into action right now, luckily, so Lulu wants the Tenku and Daichi Maryu to coordinate with the local guerrilla and help defectors and innocent Darius citizens get to safety. The Daiku Maryu will, in the meantime, try and see if we can’t help solve the surface’s problems a bit sooner than they would’ve been otherwise. And when the time comes for them to assault the capital, they’ll return with not only the Gaiking but all of LOTUS. Sounds good to Garis, who’s proud of how much Lulu’s grown, though she asks him to save the praise for when it’s all over.  With that, she asks Shizuka and Sakon to ready the Zeus Missile to open their passageway to the surface – already done, as Sakon saw this coming. Norza and Vestanu won’t question Lulu’s judgement (what with all the times she gave them hell). And, thinks Lee, if things down here go south, we can always come back in a hurry. The alarms sound once more, Rosa pinging a new batch of Iron and Demonic Beasts headed this way. Norza, Lee and Vestanu set out to keep the things at bay with Garis – they’ll hold the fort here, but Lulu oughta come back with Daiya as soon as can be.  And cut straight to space, with Yumi getting in touch to relay that the folks at the Minerva – including the ZAFT mechs Ichitaka was worried about – are safe and sound. Still, Yumi knows the situation for us will only be getting worse, so he tells Tetsuya to be careful; he says the same to the professor. Getting some news from the surface is a major relief to our team and things only ended that way thanks to all the help we got from the Quarter and crew – Hyouma’s very grateful, though Michel says they only did what was right. Of course, Heine says he needn’t be so humble either. Daiya agrees, committing the old faux pas of dropping the honorifics (as pointed out by Boss, of all people), but Heine doesn’t really care to stand on formalities. Either way we want to address him is fine. Kouji likes it and greets Heine like any regular buddy. Klan comes in, interrupting the mirth, and tells that the SMS has received a new mission – their first as part of LOTUS. She doesn’t know what it’s about, but she’s heard tell that it’s about some anti-war movie? Hyouma and Ippei DID see on the news that there’s this co-production going on with Earth and the Frontier – Sheryl’s doing the theme song and Eida Rossa’s the star. Seems like it’ll be about two different cultures encountering each other amidst nature, with a strong message about love and peace, etc. And since the Frontier-dwelling folk don’t know who Eida is, Sayaka explains that she’s a world-class singer back on Earth (though not famous throughout space, like Sheryl). Kinda like the PLANTs’ Lacus.  Regardless, Bobby comes in with a press release transcript from Ishigami – seems like this thing was his idea (much to Puria’s surprise). Daiya sees his point, though: if the movie’s a hit and drums up the anti-war sentiment with the people, it might force the Earth Alliance to cease hostilities with the PLANTs. Just like the same Alliance stopped two years ago? Puria seriously doubts that. Still, Hyouma figures it’s better than doing nothing, as there are a lot of people who lost friends and family with the Junius Seven drop. Doesn’t hurt to try calming them down. Plus, the Frontier’s government has also been vocal in their desire for peace. Michel does wonder what we’ll be doing with this movie, though, and Ozma enters to answer that: we’ll be assisting with the combat scenes and, also, guarding the singers on site. Furthermore, the movie’ll be shot at Earth, so everyone’s to get ready for the Quarter’s departure. Daiya’s happy to be heading back. We’ll need to tell Alto as well, and both Michel and Kenichi know this descent to Earth will mean much to him: it’ll be his chance to actually fly in a proper sky (though not that of his own world). Michel wasn’t in much of a hurry but now is kinda interested in giving the news just to see the Princess get all giddy.  Cut to Vector Productions, Elmo runs in with big news for Ranka: she’s going to be in a movie! And it’s a big production, being shot at Earth and everything! Deculture!  The rookies of the team are busy getting drilled by Sakonji, with Zechs assisting. As the session finally ends and they’re dismissed, Ichitaka groans that this was just as bad as Reiji’s regimen. Tough luck for him, as Sakonji smelled his amateurism the second he got aboard the Quarter. Still, Ichitaka won’t complain as he wants to go and grow stronger and stronger, and stand tall when he finds Grife. As Alto ponders the kid’s reason for fighting, Alice runs in: it’s Alto’s turn to get a check-up. Alto bellyaches that he thought joining LOTUS would’ve gotten him free of the nonstop exams, and Ichitaka wonders if there’s anything wrong with him. Not really, but the Frontier ran tests on everyone whenever they fought the Vajra – sometimes they got quarantined for a week. Well, Alice is just compiling data on everyone for eventual diagnostics, so it won’t take long. But before that, Michel and Juzo run in and they’ve news for Alto, figuring he’d want to know ASAP. Ichitaka doesn’t like the grin on Michel’s face and hopes it’s not something bad. Absolutely not, and, in fact, he figures the kid’ll like it as well. Fast forward a bit and he’s told them everything. Alto already knew about the movie, but Michel tells him to get hyped some: he’s going to see the actual sky! Alto doesn’t see it as that big of a deal since he’ll fly just the same, though Ichitaka thinks he could stand not to be a party pooper. Michel knows what’s up, though: Alto IS happy, he’s just trying his best to be chill. As the guy seethes, Alice compares her readings with recorded data and confirms a bulls-eye – didn’t even need to actually examine him to see that!  Alto then gets a call from Ranka and steps out for a bit to speak with her: of course, she’s here with big news of her appearance in Sheryl and Eida’s movie. Seems like the director heard her single and really liked it. Nice! The issue is that Ranka has absolutely no experience as an actress and is worrying so much if she can pull it off. “Yeah, I guess it’s not possible,” Alto shrugs. “You really are a huge meanie, Alto! Would it kill you to lie juuust a bit and say, like, ‘you can totally do it!’?!” “If you think, you shall not bloom. Don’t think, and you shall,” he says. What he means is that if she tries tackling this with her head, her acting won’t appear real. What she needs to do is stop thinking and simply immerse herself in the role – become one with it. Ranka’s blown away by his acting insight, but, that aside, isn’t she just an extra? True… Either way, Alto mentions that the SMS will be helping with the shoot, meaning they might see each other on set. That’s assuming Ozma’ll give them some free time, of course. Should she ask him to do so? Please don’t, as Alto dreads the thought of what he’d do if he found out they’d been having these calls. Well, Ranka’s got to go now but she’ll be looking forward to seeing him on Earth. As she goes, Alto grunts over having to quote his dad to cheer the girl.  Another call soon follow – from Sheryl (Alto’s seeing a pattern). If she’s going to fling another “request” his way, he’s NOT DOING IT. Well, isn’t that a nice way to open a call – and she even had some good news to tell him. Is it about her making a song for that movie? He knows and doesn’t really care. No, it’s not that. Sheryl knows that he longs to fly freely across a real, open sky, so…  Some time later, the Quarter’s just reached their designated parking spot and Jeffrey reiterates the mission across the PA – we gotta make a good impression here on Earth. Bobby’s taking off to the set, as he got the job of handling Ranka’s makeup. This is her movie debut, after all, so he wants her looking her best! Now, while Jeffrey doesn’t expect anything to go down, he does tell Monica to keep an eye on their surroundings – he’ll be in his room, on standby. Lam and Mina are a bit miffed that, during their first trip to Earth, they’re getting stuck on the bridge – they’re a bit jealous of Bobby now. Same goes for Zechs and Noin, though he knows some of them had to remain ready to deploy at the drop of a hat.  Over by the set, Luca’s so very moved by the sight of legit earth and water, with the Voltes team seeing that this world’s Earth isn’t any different from theirs – sea smells the same, sky is blue, etc. It’s still not where they were born and raised, though, so Hiyoshi’s feels the moment to be a bit bittersweet. Ichitaka and Kouji wonder if Lady Une and Ishigami set the SMS up for this job precisely to let them get a taste of this side’s Earth – it’s possible. It’s only a shame that Cathy couldn’t get off the ship with us, but she apparently had urgent stuff to handle. And on the subject of people nowhere in sight, Daiya asks where Alto went. From what Michel heard, the Princess had a special assignment – guarding the Queen.  That’d be Sheryl, of course, and she really likes the breeze – she’s feeling so inspired by it. Grace’s also liking the ambiance and is glad she came along; she deserves it, of course, as she arrange this gig. Grace has a laugh, as it’s not like Sheryl to flatter her so. Alto isn’t feeling as peppy, though, telling them to hurry the hell up to the set – Sheryl’s luggage isn’t getting any lighter, you know! They’ll go soon, so shush. Ranka spots them and runs over, Sheryl glad to see she’s climbing up the stairway towards stardom. And regardless of the role she’s got, Sheryl wants her to show a presence befitting the lead – Ranka promises to do her best. Alto’s standing nearby and the best he gives Ranka when pressed by Sheryl is a “Hey…”. But never mind that, what Ranka wants to know is why he’s hanging out with Sheryl first thing after getting here… He’s not “hanging out” – he was assigned as her bodyguard. But Sheryl’s gotta get going, as Grace reminds her there’s a lot of work to be done. Alto needs to follow – and bring that parasol. As he begrudgingly does so, he wishes Ranka good luck. She silently harrumphs that Alto’s being used less like a bodyguard and more like a servant. Regardless, Elmo runs over but, no, it’s not yet her time to get on set. Actually, it seems like, between Eida’s agency wanting to make some modifications to the script and the director having a fit and stomping away, she’ll have to wait ‘til the afternoon. Why not take the time to go sightseeing a bit and, while she’s off, Elmo’ll try to see if he can’t score her a bigger part... though she quietly doubts it’ll be anything with more than a few seconds of screentime.  Mission 8 (Retreat Route) – The Legend of Daiku Maryu   : So many trees around here got flattened… I guess it’s because of that Junius Seven Drop that Alto spoke of…: What a horrible thing, war… So many beautiful places, so many precious lives, gone just like that… : Aimo, Aimo…*Deeper inland...*  : Hm? This song... it’s beautiful. It’s like my soul’s awash with warmth… Where’s it coming from? : …*RUUUUUMBLE!* : Aah?!: The ground’s shaking?!: Hrm!  : WAAAAAAAAH!! : Th-The Daiku Maryu! : The battleship you said was in another world?! : Whoa, the thing looks like a dinosaur! : The Darius Army! And they’re after the Daiku Maryu…! : …! Where’s Ranka?! Did you see her anywhere, Ichitaka?! : She said she was going sightseeing and went right that way…! : The workers are already being evacuated, so we need to get going!: Hold on, Ranka’s—! : Calm down and think, you idiot! You’re not gonna accomplish anything running around on foot! : If you wanna help her, they deploy with your Valkyrie – but we’ve no time to sit here and argue with you! Come on, Luca! : Yes, sir!: drat it! Darius or whoever they are, I’m not letting them hurt her! : Urk… How didn’t we lose them with that?! All hands, battle stations! : Incoming! : Aaaah! Alto! Brother!*Flop!* : (…! She passed out?!)*The guy jumps towards her.* : (There…)*Away!* : Aah!*Bash!*  : Urgh!: Are you alright, Rongo?!: Y-Yeah, I’m good!: (Crap… That got me right in the ribs…): A-Adjust our positioning and ready our counterattack!  : This is Jeffrey Wilder, captain of the Macross Quarter. We’re here to assist you, Daiku Maryu! : All units, engage and destroy the Darius troops. Daiya, head for the Daiku Maryu! : You got it!: Is that… LOTUS?: Do you think that strangely-colored Gaiking is…? : Lulu, it’s me! I’ve got your back!: Daiya! It really is you!: Yeah! Send the Gaiking parts over!: Roger that! Gaiking, Parts #1 and #2! Go! : GAIKIIIIIIING!! : Here we go… Now this is a flame! C’mon, Gaiking! First order of business is paying these guys back for the damage they did to the Daiku Maryu!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGpIemDL3bQ  : There it is…! The Gaiking’s back!: So that’s how it’s really like…!  : Daiya, Puria! : You didn’t forget about us, I hope! : We’ll all fight with you! : Yanma, Haccho, Buby! : Did you enjoy your little vacation topside, Mister?: Dick! drat good to fight at your side again!: Heh…: We can’t let Daiya leave us all in the dust! Forward!: Troops, open fire!: Roger! You know, there’s something about Ranka’s emotional moment being no-sold by a suddenly materializing dinosaur-ship with Aimo getting overridden by GAI GAI GAI DAIKU MARYU GAIKING that really tickles my funny bone. Either way, this is just a simple mission with no gimmicks to introduce us to the rest of the Gaiking team. Let the enemies come to us and take them out one at a time. Now that Daiya’s got his main bot back, he’s pretty much our strongest unit around, and his friends also bring much to the table:  Daiku Maryu (Lulu Arges, Rosa Bernikov) Pilot Skills: Flame L2 Commander L1 Prevail L3 Support Attack L1 Support Defense L1 Spirit Commands – Lulu: Scan Strike Cheer Spirit Commands – Rosa: Invincible Accelerate Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, armor +100 The Daiku Maryu’s a REALLY good ship. First off, it’s bulky as hell and even has a 10% chance to trigger double image with Illusion Protect (when over 130 morale). Secondly, it can transform to make for a very fine attacker: in regular mode, it gets less weapons but moves farther; in Volution Protect mode, it coils up to get stronger weapons (a combined attack with Daiya!) but less movement. It’s got decent-ish ranged attacks but, really, it’s very much meant to be up close and personal. Of note is that, if you don’t deploy Daiya or get him into a ship, the Daiku Maryu will get its head back (which is the Gaiking’s chest) and gains extra weapons. Use it!  Crab Bunker (Yanma, Haccho, Buby) Pilot Skills: Flame L1 Prevail L1 Support Defense L1 Spirit Commands – Yanma: Focus Strike Spirit Commands – Haccho: Scan Accelerate Spirit Commands – Buby: Invincible Trust Squad Bonus: HP +1000, Water rating = A, 1000 Barrier, debuff immunity  Kill Jaguar (Dick Alcain) Pilot Skills: Flame L2 Counter Prevail L1 Support Attack L1 Spirit Commands: Lucky Sense Fury/Direct Hit Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, money earned +10%, Earth rating = A, 15% chance to auto-evade attacks Now these are nice. The Crab Bunker’s a great squaddie for pretty much any Super, but it’s especially good for Daiya as it gives so much good stuff for him and an A rating in water (and it has a Repair Module); three whole spirit commands in a single unit is also a great deal. The Kill Jaguar could work as both a squaddie or it could even lead if you like it enough. Dick’s lack of Focus isn’t great but that 15% Double Image bonus will help – and he’s naturally dodgy. Range is also decent, though, since his best weapon is pre-movement, you’ll likely want to set him with a sniper. And, of course, both these units also have combined attacks with Daiya, so this is a good moment for a quick tangent into Red and White Combined Attacks. L (and possibly K – I didn’t play it) have two types of combos between units: red combos (like Daiya+Daiku Maryu, Jeeg+Big Shooter) require only that the two units be within 5 squares of each other, while white combos follow the standard rule of requiring them be adjacent. Yanma and Dick’s (Puria’s too) attacks are white combos, which is another reason why the Crab Bunker’s a good fit for Daiya. And since we couldn’t do it last mission:  Talgeese III (Zechs Marquise) Pilot Skills: Sword Cut Shoot Down Shield Defense Hit & Away Support Attack L1 Support Defense L1 Attack Combo Spirit Commands: Focus Accelerate Fury/Direct Hit Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, Space rating = A  Taurus (Lucrezia Noin) Pilot Skills: Shoot Down Support Attack L1 Support Defense L1 Spirit Commands: Focus Trust Squad Bonus: Exp earned +10%, crit rate +10, accuracy +5, EN +50 Zechs and Noin are exactly as you’d expect: a very good, though not top tier, midrange attacker and an okay-ish support unit, respectively. Noin, as usual, is held back by just how middling the Taurus is as a unit (keep it transformed, or else), but Zechs clearly got some love in this game. He’s, of course, a very good pilot and the Tallgeese got a boost from W, becoming an even more reliable unit – his squad bonus is kinda “eh” but he’s got some nice close and long-range offense, so you can absolutely field him. If anything, the Taurus hands out some nice bonuses. With that done, the whole team moves forward but the Daiku Maryu crew is standing by to draw in the enemies.  Enemy Phase!  In they come, nothing in range.  Player Phase!  These Protex Iron Beasts are by far the more annoying enemy here simply because they’re underwater. The Daiku Maryu works fine on any terrain, at least. : Lucky; we already managed to find Daiya. Now we coordinate with the Gaiking and get on the offensive!: Take us in, Rongo!: A-Aye, aye!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBOIxjRqlew Granted, that was the weakest weapon…  Next up! : We’re back together with Daiya and Puria!: So we can’t screw up now!: Time to bring out our A-game!  The Crab Bunker isn’t the best attacker on its own, but alright. Rest of our team is still moving in, so let’s wait one more round. Enemy Phase!  The enemy will, of course, prioritize Daiya as they move in. : Yeah, there really is no comparison to the Gaiking’s power and weapons! : My flame’s also burning way stronger!   There goes about 60% of this Bitra’s HP. Between Daiya and Lulu, many of the enemy’s first wave gets chopped in half.  The last enemy gets too close and will pay for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MlOXhmDh4k Not bad at all. Player Phase!  Now, I wanna get Puria’s morale up for reasons. : Hey, we’re shooting an anti-war flick over here, not a monster one!   We’ll get there.  Get to work, Dick. : Surface or not, I fight the same. Take a look, Mister… I’ll show you just how much stronger I got!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vj0dP7FAj0 ”Bad luck!”  I’ll have Ozma lead the offensive with his superlative command aura. The Valkyries are terrible against underwater mooks, though, so they won’t do much against the Protexes.  Best to leave that to Yanma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEOgE3Egxg Good man. Tetsuya and Klan move on ahead as well, each claiming a kill from Daiya’s weakened targets.  Now take a look at Zechs’ new Heat Rod and remember how it was in W. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLoUgFpHCDs Nice.  By the by, Daiya still has one regular weapon that can hit underwater in the form of his own (Dino)Saur Geyser.    Bam. Enemy Phase!  And the enemies play ball, attacking my frontline guys.  : drat it, where’d Ranka go…?! Where are you?!: Alto, the enemy’s dead ahead! Pay attention!: I know, I know, but…!   But Michel’s hit here is juuust weak enough for the Galgoras to survive.  On the other hand, Kenichi scores two kills while Ozma and Luca weaken a whole lotta stuff. Player Phase!  Lulu gets healed up a bit and is ready to bring out her big guns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DITTodZj54k I actually underestimated her power here. Should’ve had her go after the Protex!  Regardless, it goes down with some work from Dick and Yanma.  This really isn’t Ichitaka’s kind of mission, though, as the Rushbird doesn’t work too well on water.     But it can still hit decently. Kenichi and Canaria wrap it up.  It was only now that I realized that I really should’ve focused on deal with the Protexes first, before killing their leaders and sending them underwater.      Either way, Klan and Heine take this one. Luca and Ozma finish off a pair they weakened before. Enemy Phase!  One counterkill for Jeffrey and Lulu, two for Ozma and Luca, two for Tetsuya. And did you know that we actually have 4 (!) shots of the Great Booster in L?! Player Phase! And now it’s just clean-up, so here’s the rundown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KM1Rr7jrCw 4 shots! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofVXtu_oEms Do keep in mind that the combined attacks have rather hefty EN costs (though not as hefty as they were in K). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HwG7oAVU7Q Oh, and this is interesting: this is actually the only mission in the game where you can use this Double Despair Sight! Also, goddamn, is that strong.         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmj2aRwXUM0 Of course, these attacks WOULD be taxing on your EN supply when you use your finishing move as a feint, Daiya! But we’re still all done.  Rosa confirms all enemies dead and Lulu thanks Daiya and LOTUS for the assist; the kid only cares that she’s doing fine. As for the movie set, while there are a few wounded, Ranka turned up safe and Sheryl’s also fine. That’s a load off Alto’s back. Still, Ozma fears that this mess’ll put an end of the shooting… only, no, Jeffrey just got a message that they’re keeping with it: “And as a matter of fact, some are even wondering if it wouldn’t be possible to use shots of today’s battle as combat scenes for the movie.” Ozma’ll never understand these cinephiles, though Cathy suggests he not say anything as he’s got his own share of obsessions. Regardless, Jeffrey calls everyone back to the ship and to carry on our assignment – and he presumes the Daiku Maryu traveled topside to join with LOTUS? Lulu confirms, so he asks them to come with and they’ll get resupplied as well. Daiya and Puria do ask for permission to head over to the Daiku Maryu first – Daiya needs to return the ship’s head and, of course, wants to see his friends again. Plus, Puria has a bunch of stuff to report. Ozma allows it, but tells them to return ASAP.  And Daiya’s so very happy to see Lulu again. He tells of how LOTUS helped him and Puria get by; Yanma and co have been so very lonely without their “sis” around, though she tells them quit crying. When Daiya asks, Rosa explains that Lee, Norza and others stayed in the Darius World to help the guerilla fight Proist. All thanks to Garis gathering all the like-minded folk they met into a single group. Learning the good ol’ Cap is doing fine is a big relief to Daiya, and he’s not all that surprised that the guy went and made a comeback as a big time guerilla leader. That sounds like him. But, Puria wonders, what IS the Daiku Maryu doing at the surface – did they come pick them up? Somewhat, though Lulu also wants to recruit LOTUS’ help for their battle. Not immediately, mind, as go-time will depend on how things progress with the preparations for the assault on the Darius royal capital. Plus, there’s still getting the civs to safe places. Shizuka does relate that the Darius Army activities started slowing down some, though we don’t know why. We can’t really afford guesswork now, but Rosa still has faith the folks below will handle things nicely in our absence. Looks like Daiya better work just as hard up here! And on that subject, Sakon has some stuff that’ll help Puria in her battles: a power-up for her Stinger! He’ll give her the manual to read after it’s done. Shizuka says the new unit’ll be dubbed Superior Stinger and will be available to use right on her next deployment. Nice.  Cut back to the set, Elmo’s just dropped a request for Alto: please take part in the movie and, of course, in a female role! Seems like folks could potentially up Ranka’s screentime, but ONLY if Alto agrees to this. Alto says he quit acting a long time ago (especially as women). Is he wimping out, quips Michel. Hell, no! Why not do it for Ranka, then? Michel figures he’ll have an easier time if he does, in more ways than one. Alto tells him to piss off – this ain’t none of his business.  Elsewhere, the mysterious guy that rescued Ranka – Brera – is getting nagged at by G as his orders clearly stated that he needed to keep a low profile. Brera argues that the girl had passed out, but G isn’t satisfied. He reminds him that half of LOTUS is spread across the island and they’re here to investigate how advanced our forces truly are. Brera DOES want to get his memories back, no? Then he better do as told. He grunts a confirmation, so G moves on to the next subject: how are things at Diokia? They’re currently undergoing preparations to get everything in place – the larva’s inert at the moment. G tells him to keep a close watch. Then, they’ll just need Q1 to emit the required level of Fold Waves…  Back to Alto, Sheryl was actually expecting him to take the acting offer as a way to get out of his bodyguard duties, but he turned it down. Kind of a shame, really, because she WAS looking forward to seeing Alto’s legendary performance as a woman. But never mind that, can she make good on that promise to give him some free time to fly around? Well, he flew not too long ago, so Sheryl considers that promise 100% kept. But that was during combat! How the hell does she figure he had time to enjoy flying with all that going down?! Just a joke – chill. And, well, Sheryl just got another gig besides this movie, so she’ll let him fly around that venue. Alto, without any recourse, decides to come clean as to why he needs some slack right now: while he refused to play a female part, he DID accept to be the MC’s stunt double for when he flies a Valkyrie. Sheryl knew he was holding out on her – he’s not aloof enough to NOT help Ranka. As Alto harrumphs, Ichitaka runs over to let him know that Ranka woke up. Sheryl gives him the green light as, apparently, the girl was calling his name in her sleep.  After a stern warning from Canaria to keep his voice down, Alto gets to see Ranka. She’s very bothered by the fact that she’s forced a stranger to come and rescue her – she’ll likely make a mess of the production as well. Alto is sure that’s not the case, and says he’ll also be taking part in the shooting (as a stunt double, but hey). He’s not doing anything until it’s go-time, so if she has any acting-related doubts, he’s here to answer. And maybe she’ll need that, as Elmo runs in screaming that he’s got “super delicious planetary golden special big news”: the director not only wants her Aimo song to be the main theme, but he also wants her to be the female lead! Seems like Eida got hurt during the previous battle and needed to step down. Canaria raises the very good point that Ranka’s an amateur as an actress – they’re gonna pick her for the role just like that? Indeed, the director heard her singing by the sea and was so moved that he’s adamant that it HAS to be her. Of course, being the female lead means there’s this big kiss scene she’ll have to do – can she handle it as her first step towards stardom? She’ll have to kiss the MC? No… his stunt double. As Alto and Ranka add two plus two, things quickly get awkward.  Well, isn’t that something? Is Alto regretting playing stuntman now? Seems like Ranka hasn’t made up her mind yet, but Alto’s willing to go for it. After all he’s done scenes like that plenty of times before – it’s not that big of a deal. Actually, he silently remembers that he’s ALWAYS been the woman in those scenes, but tells himself that he can do it. Sheryl agrees that it’s just a kiss, though what Alto is really worried about is Ozma. His attention is brought back when Sheryl leans over and kisses him herself. Nearby, Ranka is fretting over her inexperience as an actress and everything, having to do a scene like that… just in time to take a look out in the distance to spot Alto and Sheryl. Whoops. He’s a bit stunned, and Sheryl has a big laugh at him getting all flustered when he was just saying it was “no big deal”. As she runs off (angry Alto in pursuit), Ranka’s still trying to make sense of how she feels. One thing’s for certain, though: she’s not about to concede defeat.  Some time later, the shoot went flawlessly and Jeffrey just got a message from the production thanking the SMS for the fine work. Thankfully, there were no other problems after the Darius Army attacked. The Daiku Maryu crew also lent a hand with things, Lulu saying Dr. Franklin was happy to help with the costumes and whatnot – his sewing skills have many uses, Alice sees. Daiya also had fun and Sayaka expects there to be a private screening for the film crew before release, though Heine sees in Ozma’s seething visage that he’s not keen on that kiss between his sister and his subordinate. Regardless, Une got in touch and said that since things ended sooner than anticipated, we can have a whole day off. Everyone’s hyped, especially Ichitaka, and Tetsuya tells him to enjoy this: starting tomorrow, Noin’ll be helping with the training regimen. The kid’s not worried after being on the receiving end of Sakonji, Reiji and Tetsuya’s drills – he’s not about to get worried over ONE new instructor. Zechs somberly says Ichitaka doesn’t yet grasp how Noin’s like and the kid starts getting worried, saying that he heard stories that she was just an ordinary instructor. She figures those stories started with her old flunkies and suggests he not get his hopes up – rather, he’d best prepare for the worst. Uh, oh.  Back to the island Hiyoshi and Daiya are swimming all over, impressing Megumi and Daijiro that the Gaiking pilot is actually keeping up with the kid. He really is a man of the sea. Boss and co. don’t care, enjoying the beach episode by ogling the Quarter’s bridge bunnies – they can’t decide which looks the best. Sayaka stomps over to yell at them to stop staring and Boss is so disappointed that she’s in her everyday clothes. What gives?! Well, she, Kouji, Tetsuya and Jun and the Combattler team are actually going to tour the island – they rented some bikes, too, to enjoy the sea breeze. As they run off, Kouji only asks Boss to make sure he doesn’t get sunburned watching the girls all day… But why didn’t they invite him to come with? Rude! Boss hustles Nuke and Mucha to follow.  Nearby, Michel’s relaxation is interrupted by Grace approaching. Oh, my, isn’t she a beauty to rival even Sheryl – she’s too good to be just a manager. Grace laughs at his flattering, though he swears he’s being 100% truthful. After he introduces himself, however, Grace immediately recognizes his name – and not in a good way. She offers her sympathies over what happened to his sister and that immediately sets a dark cloud over his head. But Grace came here looking for Sheryl and it falls on Luca to step in while Michel’s sullen – she might be at the Daiku Maryu? Grace’s worried as she should’ve come back long ago. Is she supposed to be working now? No, it’s just that Sheryl’s not been doing too great lately, so she’s got some medicine to take. Sounds important, so Luca and the others offer to help look. Michel isn’t listening, though, thinking about his sister.  And now we jump straight from Greece to around Iraq and Iran, where we find the Minerva. Seems like they’ve been busy since their escape from Orb and Durandal’s very satisfied with their work – indeed, he was right to also give Talia FAITH status, though she credits their victories to Shinn and Athrun (who’s already been with them for a few days, it seems). Durandal likes hearing that and asks if there’s anything to report. There is, actually. Athrun’s been clearly bothered by Orb’s entry in the Earth Alliance and Cagalli’s kidnapping by the Archangel, though Durandal isn’t surprised. Still, he saw the guy’s resolve and is willing to trust him. There’s also something about Shinn, though Rey requests that he be the one to tell. Seems that, before the previous battle, Shinn came into contact with some girl – Rey thinks he cares for her. Well, Shinn IS young, so Durandal asks if he’s fallen for her. The problem with that, says Rey, is that there’s a good chance the girl’s an Extended from the Earth Alliance. Oh. Still, this doesn’t mean Shinn was aware of that when he met her, so Durandal wants to simply wait and see how things go. Talia agrees. In the meantime, Durandal wants the Minerva to keep heading for Diokia – it’ll do them good to have some fun once in a while. Fun? Indeed, they’ll be having an event with Sheryl over there, in the interest of showing the peoples of Earth the PLANTs’ wish for peace. Brunom1 fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jul 9, 2017 |
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Jun 27, 2017 17:33
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With all the other ways it gets better, I completely forgot that the Superior Stinger lost the Double Despair Sight after having it for only one stage. This game is really odd with its use of Gaiking.
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Jun 27, 2017 19:19
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Brunom1 posted:
Man, pretty impressive how Michel can be in two squads at once  I'm assuming the second one is supposed to be Ozma/Luca quote:
I've seen a fair amount of Rocket Punches, but this was pretty rad. 
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Jun 27, 2017 20:23
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Alacron posted:Man, pretty impressive how Michel can be in two squads at once Yes, it was Luca and you'll find that LOD Gaiking is pretty rad with everything it does! 
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Jun 27, 2017 20:37
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The first rocket punch in the series is hilarious though. They don't return by themselves.
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Jun 27, 2017 22:18
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Alacron posted:I've seen a fair amount of Rocket Punches, but this was pretty rad. I feel a little bad for Ranka. Her first day on a simple movie recreating stuff from Macross Zero (IIRC), and everything devolves into a Michael Bay action sequence.
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Jun 27, 2017 22:28
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This would never happen, but it sure would be slightly interesting if it turned out Grife only ever wanted Ichitaka to test those robots, and not actually use them in combat and war. It might inject a sliver of drama into his story. This may be an unfair comparison, but aren't the OG plot and characters in this game just extremely dull? I mean, when compared to W, Z, A, J, the entire Alpha series, Masou Kishin...... I know we're still really early in the game, but by the end of the 7th mission in W (I know, really unfair) Kazuma had already gone from fighting with Duo and Quatre to befriending them, found time to have a mature discussion about war with them, had a small breakdown after being tricked into thinking he'd murdered the crew of the Nadesico, gotten himself in trouble with his father for taking risks, fought a Tekkaman with a loving industrial loader, and successfully argued for his family to not join Warter. Ichitaka just sort of hangs around, getting along with everyone, while Alice occasionally does maid things and overheats constantly, an arbitrary, meaningless problem that will doubtless just go away at some point.
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Jun 28, 2017 04:53
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Montegoraon posted:This may be an unfair comparison, but aren't the OG plot and characters in this game just extremely dull? I mean, when compared to W, Z, A, J, the entire Alpha series, Masou Kishin...... First time I've ever seen J get compared positively to something. The predecessor to L was K right? If there's only two things anyone knows about K, then it's the plagiarism with the music, and how it's protagonist was a MASSIVE prick. Backing off a bit on having a confrontational protag is the safe move after that, but it could also arguably make them more boring. That being said I'm taking a wait-and-see approach since if anything interesting is done with Ichitaka, it's probably gonna involve Kouichi and Shinji, who haven't joined the team yet.
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Jun 28, 2017 05:28
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Alacron posted:First time I've ever seen J get compared positively to something. I hesitated, I admit, but at least Touya and Calvina have real feelings about things.
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Jun 28, 2017 05:41
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Ichitaka and Alice seem like good kids who have had some cool and funny scenes and decent interactions with other characters. Even if these interactions aren't treated as like a big deal Ichitaka fanboying over a couple of characters, and the both of them learning how to Super Robot better, have had fun moments. They're not the most interesting characters but I feel like there's merit in having Original characters and plot that aren't a super major focus. V was sorta similar and I enjoyed the originals from that game quite a bit, though yeah the earlier chapters definitely gave the originals more focus. And honestly coming off the MX lp, having the originals just be good dudes who get along with and support each other is pretty ok considering how kind of an rear end Hugo could be.
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Jun 28, 2017 08:20
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Montegoraon posted:an arbitrary, meaningless problem To be fair, as I found out along this LP, neural networks/AIs ARE a thing that exist and them having to build synapses, learn and adapt themselves by exposure to new input is precisely what they do. Alice's problem is actually rather realistic from a IT point of view (mind you, I only have a superficial grasp on how it works, so don't ask!).
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Jun 28, 2017 11:20
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Brunom1 posted:To be fair, as I found out along this LP, neural networks/AIs ARE a thing that exist and them having to build synapses, learn and adapt themselves by exposure to new input is precisely what they do. Sure. Google Translate is now run off of neural network systems. Google also build a neural network computer capable of beating the best Go players in the world, which was thought to be another couple decades away from being remotely possible. Put simply, they work by taking thousands or millions of pieces of example data, and learning how to associate them with each other. For example, by interpreting thousands of different images associate with the word 'cat' they learn what a cat looks like. Or, by programming one with the basic rules and principles of Go, and then feeding them millions of board positions, they can learn by association what a good move is in any given situation. In Alice's case, unless she's very poorly designed, she must be purposefully overclocking herself to a dangerous degree. Of course, she should be doing that constantly, or not at all. She doesn't need to be in an actual battle to learn how to fight. She would just need to review footage of combat, or analyze the blackbox data from various machines. It would be better for her to do that in a way that won't lead to damaging her hardware over the long term, but I suppose it's understandable that she'd want to develop herself as quickly as possible. Still, simply throwing more system resources at a neural network won't improve its performance in an actual situation. If it hasn't learned how to make proper judgments, then the results will generally be poor regardless. They aren't like the chess supercomputers of the 90's. Their strength isn't in being able to brute force a solution, but to efficiently prune courses of action in an actually intelligent fashion. Alice will continue to be of limited utility in combat, until eventually she isn't. That might manifest as her starting to give okay advice that improves gradually over time on how to defeat certain opponents. Or, and knowing SRW this is far more likely, at some point the team will come up against a nigh-invulnerable opponent, as ya do, and Alice will have an epiphany about how to attack its weakpoint that nobody else can see. Either of those would actually be fairly realistic. Neural networks are capable of developing incredibly broad perspectives. That isn't my point. Her constant overheating is an arbitrary problem. Either she reaches a breakthrough point, and the plot decides it just goes away (it wouldn't, because neural networks can keep improving themselves for a very long time before they start to hit diminishing returns), or somebody equips her with a proper coolant system at any random point. Or, third option, people just stop talking about it, and it vanishes like a fart in the wind. Not that there aren't ways to make the struggles of a character like her interesting, like if they focused a lot more on her developing understanding of combat, but that's just not the route they chose to go with. Montegoraon fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Jun 28, 2017 |
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Jun 28, 2017 20:17
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I think Alice will evolve as an AI due to the power of friendship or hot-blood or something, and her getting over this problem will be treated as a step forward in character development. Or maybe she'll just get an upgrade at some point I dunno. It feels weird to say it is an arbitrary problem which will be handled poorly when the development isn't over yet. So far it's just been treated as an obstacle like Ichitaka's relative rookie-ness is. So I don't think it's really been that dumb so far. And if your problem is that it doesn't really make sense for an AI, well I don't think SRW was ever going to feature and intelligent and accurate look on AI development. Though I recently go through V which has several AI who develop and grow in ways I don't think actual AI would be able to so maybe I was prepared for this.
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Jun 28, 2017 22:37
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I think I get what he means. It's not a character growth problem, although they might be trying to pass it off as one. Basically, imagine if her arm was broken & stuck in a cast. When it's fixed, it doesn't represent any character development; It just got better. It doesn't say anything about her self-confidence or drive.
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Jun 28, 2017 23:25
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Yeah but I think it'd be pretty easy to have that tie in with actual character growth. Like having this issue be overcome thanks to her really wanting to save someone or sacrificing herself or something and this moment of growth leads to her overcoming this AI block. That's not to say that will happen. There's enough srw translations now for me to know they don't always nail their characters and I remember reading somewhere that a lot of the originals from the latter handheld games are kinda bad, don't know if that included L but it's a possibility. But I still think it's a little early to say the resolution to this problem is going to be unsatisfying when it hasn't been resolved yet.
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Jun 28, 2017 23:42
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HitTheTargets posted:I think I get what he means. It's not a character growth problem, although they might be trying to pass it off as one. Hmm, I haven't quite gotten the feeling that they ARE trying to pass it off as character growth. From the moment Rachel first laid down the specifics of this issue, it's been a literal technical limitation of Alice's own hardware. Hell, Goh and Ichitaka themselves liken the solution to being "weight lifting" for AI, exposing her to combat sims and whatnot in a bid for her to adapt. It doesn't seem like it's leading to any emotional breakthrough (or, at least, it doesn't so far - we're not even a forth of the way through the game), but one on a tech-level. That said, I don't mind it at all since I can't really remember ever seeing a character that is limited not by her own inability or psyche, but simply because her brain isn't wired the right way to make things work. We'll see how it goes because, really, the original plot hasn't truly started. Considering I'm going in mostly blind, I'll reserve judgment on Ichitaka and Alice's characters 'til later. Edit: Oh, but if you were to ask me NOW, I'd say I'm liking them nicely. I won't say they're my favorite originals ever, but they're fun characters and I enjoy their interactions with each other and the other characters. Ichitaka and Alice coming in to help the Destiny kids and him fanboying at the Supers were amusing moments. Brunom1 fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jun 28, 2017 |
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Jun 28, 2017 23:42
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Oh yeah, well definitely get a better feel for this once Jerk Uncle and Alice's sister come back.
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Jun 28, 2017 23:51
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 Ooh, now look at this sumbitch. We have a threeway tie for our top aces, but Goh manages to beat out Ichitaka and Quatre due to having a higher level (I’ve no idea what’d be the tiebreaker if they were all 16).  Spent some cash upping the Rushbird, Godannar and Jeeg’s EN supplies along with assorted stats for the non-Vardant Machinas. The Sandrock’s come in pre-upgraded to two bars, so no worries there Mind, I’ve started feeding Infights to Kenji as Ichitaka already has a handful. Still deciding whether I’ll want to give him, Goh or Daiya that EN-Save we got… Anyone who’s beat this all the way care to opine? I’m thinking Daiya’ll be the bigger EN hog, but I’m not 100% sure…  Oh, and everyone’s deploying as event units today, so wave goodbye to your arranged squads! Off we go.  Our mechanics are still working on getting all our units repaired after yesterday’s battle. The Machinas’ D-S.O.I.L.s are working but it’ll be a while before they’re all 100% – at the moment, only the Linebarrel and Deceive are in fighting condition. Mind, the non-Machina units are far from being at their best, Shibakusa notes, and can’t really be sent out in this state. Even Jeeg’ll have a bad time staying together with so many of his spare parts wrecked. Nanae and Morimoto say this was bound to happen as there’s only so much repairs can accomplish when considering all the especially tough missions we had recently – to say nothing of that big Executor blast we took. Shibakusa and Kyo see no choice but to request leave to take the Jeeg and Dannar teams back to their respective bases to get patched up, and Maki can’t well disagree. He’ll run it by Ishigami.  Cut to some time later and Shibakusa’s telling everyone what’s what; Goh didn’t think their units were in THAT bad a shape, but damage has been building up out of sight consistently. Kyo even fears that if Jeeg doesn’t get some fresh parts ASAP and keeps fighting, he’ll simply fall apart in battle. Tsubaki can already imagine Dr. Shiba looking at their data and yelling that Kenji’s crazy way of fighting is to blame. What, him? Yes, him – he switches and tosses parts around with such abandon that they can’t keep all the spares in working condition! Shizuna’s with Tsubaki on this, and figures Kenji oughta start using his noggin more when fighting. “Oi, I know, I know! You can quit with the Stereo Nagging already!” Still, Tetsuya (Kouji) is worried about both these teams leaving for a bit – won’t it leave LOTUS understaffed? It will, but Yamashita doesn’t see another way as we’ll be far safer getting all our mechs fixed up in one go. Alice fears that the teams might get picked off by themselves, but Yamashta says this is still better than risk units breaking down midbattle. Shizuru approves of his foresight and he chalks it all up to paying a lot of attention to everything Reiji says. Indeed, Alice is rather impressed with the speed with which humans learn – exemplary of the potential that lies within everyone. She’s determined not to fall behind and to keep adapting her AI to her new dual role. Shizuna herself very much likes her dedication and wishes “the dumdum” could learn a bit from Alice herself. That done, Goh and the others will be taking off and wish us luck while takin care of the place. No worries, says Shizuna – the Deceive’ll be ready to give any goon that shows up a run for their money.  As for the Rushbird, Maki says it’s not as worn out as the other units – possibly because it hasn’t been active for as long as everyone else. Quatre’s Sandrock is still good to go, too, as the Magnac Corps had brought plenty of spare parts along. And, of course Iczer-1 has no problem fighting by herself. Seems like we got a decent bunch of units, but Izuna still hopes nothing bad happens while the others are away. Mind, Shibakusa says it won’t be long as the Dannar Base crew will be pulling out all the stops to get maintenance done quickly. As for the Build Base crew, they’re only going over to get the spare parts so they’ll return soon. That’s a relief to Ichitaka and, with that, the teams leave. While normally Ichitaka would be using this time to train, today isn’t really normal – he and Alice are leaving JUDA HQ for a bit. Emi asks to come with, at least to stay outside while it’s all happening. Ichitaka says she’s more than welcome – he’s sure Yajima would appreciate it too.  Cut to the Cthulhu Fortress, Sepia reports that Iczer-Σ is ready to deploy whenever – Iczer-2’s up and about as well. Then it’s time to make their desire to destroy Iczer-1 a reality and Sir Violet commands them to fight to their hearts’ content. Still, she does remind them that their enemies on Earth are more than just Iczer-1; Sepia’s aware, having also tagged us as one of the causes behind Cobalt’s defeat. Their primary target remains Iczer-1, but Violet warns them not to get tunnel vision and make bad calls. Sepia confirms, but still promises to destroy both the traitor and our folks as well. Sir Violet is looking forward to it, so off goes Sepia. “I’ll defeat Iczer-1 – my sister…!” Iczer-2 proclaims.  By the Jama Kingdom, Himika’s noticed Jeeg and friends splitting up and easily figures they’re headed home to lick their wounds. Amaso and Mimashi know that to mean that Jeeg’s off to get new parts at Build Base, making this a perfect opportunity to attack the place and steal the Bronze Bell. Himika has a better idea, though: they can use this opportunity to destroy JUDA, our HQ, in one fell strike! Once the place is ashes, it’ll be so much easier to take the Bronze Bell. Mimashi and Amaso both start begging Himika for command of the operation since Ikima has yet to return from his search for Hiroshi Shiba’s own Bronze Bell. The two minions can’t come to an agreement, so Mimashi inches over and whispers at Amaso to listen up: with Ikima gone, it’ll just be him and Himika all alone. Will Amaso let this chance slip through his fingers? Fine, he “magnanimously” agrees to stay and protect the queen. Himika allows it and will grant Mimashi some Haniwa Phantoms – this is a rare opportunity they have, so he better destroy all the humans.  En route to the funeral, Emi asks Ichitaka what kind of person Yajima was: “he was a really righteous guy… the kind everyone could count on and looked up to. I remember how hard he worked to get strong in order to protect Kouichi… Risako always looked so happy with that. He explains that those three had been friends since they were kids – before he even met them – so whatever he’s feeling probably pales in comparison to what Kouichi’s going through. That explains to Alice why he was so enraged after Yajima’s death. They’ve arrived, so Yui lets them off to say their farewells.   : …drat, you dumbass. How could you go and die like this, Yajima…?!: … : Yajima… Yajima…*Door opens.*  : Y-Yajima…: Kouichi! Thank god you’re safe! Yajima said he was going to speak with you and this happened…: I was so worried you might’ve died too!: Risako…: Come on, Kouichi. Don’t stay way back there…: Yajima… That Machina… it was here because I became a Factor… I’m so, so sorry… : Kouichi…  : Did you say your goodbyes?: Yeah. Though it was a closed casket since they couldn’t find a body…: … All of this is my fault. Yajima’s dead because I misused my power… Even his body got…: If I hadn’t been so angry, if I hadn’t fought like that, he…! : Kouichi…: …: H-Hey, where’re you going?!: Anywhere…*He leaves.* : Kouichi, wait! Ms. Ogawa, I’ll go and talk to him; Alice, help me keep track of him!: OK!: I’ll come with you… I’m the one who pushed him to this point.*Off they go.* : Kouichi Hayase… I hope you’ll manage to pull through this…: (Yeah, I… I could never be a Champion of Justice. I was just wasting my time fighting those guys, huh…)*Bump!*  : Oow! Watch where you’re going!: Sorry! I wasn’t paying attention…: Hmm. Well, since you apologized, I might forgive you… Just kidding! Hahahah…hahah…: …Hm.: Something wrong? You’re not hurt, are you?: N-No, I’m fine. I just got a lot on my mind…: Well, listen, my name’s Nagisa Kanou. You look like a student from around here, right? Can I ask your help with something?: Eeh, I guess… Doubt I could help, though.: Hey, now… I might not look like it, but I’m a sophomore in high school, alright? Maybe you could be a bit nicer?: S-Sorry, I thought you were another middle-schooler… What do you need?: It’s my first time in this town, see. I’m trying to find my way home but I just don’t know where anything is! Ooh, my mom and dad must be so worried…!*Time passes.* : Isn’t that just awful? Who comes up to a person and tells them to fight? : But I did do it… I fought and saved Anna – she’s my friend, by the way.: Wow.: Still, I’m done with all that awful business; I even ended up in a hospital after the last time. When she tried asking me to do it again, I turned her down then and there.: But she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She kept going “fight, fight, fight”, so I decided to just make a run for it.: Isn’t that a huge waste, though?! If you’re able to save others, why not do so?!: No way – I’m just a regular girl. My fighting the other day was just an accident or whatever.: But… what if you could’ve saved a friend and didn’t? Him getting hurt would be on you, and I’m sure you’d regret it…: What a weird thing to say. Are you really alright? You can talk to me if there’s anything, you know.: Ah… no, thanks. I don’t deserve any of that…: Hmm, you really are a weird kid. : Ah! And you’ll never believe where they were keeping me! Listen to this: it was at that company— : There you are, Nagisa. Oh, and Kouichi too.: Quatre? You tailing me again?!: Huh? Who’s the cute foreigner?*People walk over.* : Haah, haah… Finally caught up with you…! drat it, Kouichi… you got really fast…: Quatre… and Nagisa?! What’re you doing here?: Whoa, it really is her! When’d she slip out her room?!: What’re you all doing here…? You gonna ask me to fight again?: Huh? Why are you…?: I told you, I’m not doing it! I’m done pretending to be a Champion of Justice!: Is that really how you feel, Kouichi?: It is… It’s my fault the town go so messed up and Yajima died.: After Emi talked to me… I realized that I don’t have what it takes to use that power…!: (He… he’s like me… They’re pushing him to fight…): …: It’s true that we can’t say you were using your powers the right way…: Yeah, which is why I’m not getting back in the Linebarrel…: But you still saw that what you did was wrong. That’s very important.: Huh?: A few years ago, I was grief-stricken over losing my father and that pushed me to make a terrible mistake, to pilot a certain MS... So I know exactly what you’re going through. : Quatre… : Then that’s all the more reason why you should understand, no? We’ve no right to handle any power!: But you’re wrong, Kouichi. I have to keep on fighting because that’s the only way I can atone for what I did. And that’s why I don’t want to see you run away from this – you should now be able to use your power for what’s right.: B-But, I…: (He couldn’t protect his friend… that’s why he said what he did…): (… No, I can’t let this get to me. I said I wouldn’t fight, and I won’t. I’m just a regular girl… Besides, I need to get home – my mom and dad are worried!)*Beep, beep!* : This is Quatre. : We’ve an emergency; Cthulhu invaders and Haniwa Phantoms are moving in on Misaki. : Oh, for the love—… Of course they actually would attack while our guys are away…!: You’re in danger there. Meet up with Ms. Ogawa and return to JUDA ASAP – you’re to deploy immediately when you arrive, so prepare for it.: Yes, sir! : Is Kouichi there with you?: Lemme save you the trouble: no, I’m not fighting.: Kouichi!: …: Well, I guess that’s that. But the priority now is for you to get out of there and find someplace safe. As for the rest, please hurry on over!: And Nagisa Kanou’s there as well, right? I know you might think this is a trick, but it’s dangerous there – would you come back to JUDA with them?: Is there going to be another battle? What’s gonna happen to this town?!: We really should hurry or we’ll all be in big trouble. Here, I’ll bring you to our car.: Hup!: Whawhawhaaa?! What’re you doing?! Put me doooown!*Alice runs off with Nagisa.* : Kouichi, please. Come fight with us – we need your power!: Consider it a request from me, too. Quatre and Ichitaka are the only ones who can fight right now.: Sorry, Emi. I need more time to think… I can’t make another mistake. : Before he died, Yajima’s last words were that… what matters is just what I want to do.: Kouichi…: Guys, the car’s coming. Over here!: Kouichi, I get what’s on your mind, but at least come hunker down at JUDA! We’ll throw a few punches for you while out there!: O-OK… Mission 9 (Rescue Route) – A Will to Fight   : Iczer-1 and her partner are around here… Open fire, Dilos Thetas! Destroy them all!   : Hmhmhm… hahahah! Luck is on our side, it seems! Her Majesty spoke of these people, though I didn’t expect to see them attacking here. : Who goes there?: I am Mimashi of the Jama Kingdom and I have come to crush the humans’ headquarters. I presume you’re also after the same… We should fight together. : Hmph… nonsense. My only goal here is to eradicate Iczer-1! If you do anything to oppose that…: Understood; I won’t. And, in return, I tell you not to interfere when our nemesis shows his face!  : Hold it right there! That’s enough outta both of you! : There you are, Iczer-1… : Iczer-1, if the Cthulhu are back in action, then… : I presume they have appointed a new commander to replace the late Cobalt.: But won’t it be too difficult for you to fight them without the Iczer Robo?: But I must still do so – for both Nagisa and her planet. : Them bots got a whole lot more size than you, though, so if things go south, you better back off real quick. : Thank you for your concern, Shizuna. *Beep, boop.*  : Everyone read me? We’ll have the other Machinas repaired soon, so hold on for a bit!: And the Dannar and Build teams have also reported that their repairs are done. They’re headed this way as quickly as they can!: This one’s looking like it’ll be a long fight, Alice, so take care not to overheat yourself!: My AI has been developing its combat functions nicely; I should have no problems overall! : We’ll be deploying soon, so keep your heads on a swivel, troops.: You listening, Kouichi? Just sit right there with your thumb up your rear end and watch us work real smooth-like! Better that than having you crazy ‘zerker tagging with us!: …: Bah, you’re a real letdown, Kouichi. Guess we’re gonna have to run the “Champs of Justice” business ourselves. Off we go!*Alert!* : Hold on, sis! Something’s coming! : This signal… it’s just like Iczer-1’s?   This BGM isn’t in the game, but screw it. It’s too good to be left out! : You’re… : A good day to you. I’m Iczer-2, your little sister…: Iczer-2… my sister?!: Right. I am the daughter of Big Gold, so I’m your sister.: Big Gold…? That can’t be!: I have been created to end you… no more, no less. : She’s fast…!: Very impressive, dear sister. You’re quite good…: How’s she so fast?! I barely even saw her move!: I’ll handle her. The rest of you please go for the Dilos and the Haniwas!: Okey-dokey! Let’s get to it, folks! Losing anyone’s a game over, so exercise a wee bit of caution. You’ll likely want the Rushbird to trail around Iczer-1 just to act as a safety net against Iczer-2, and do note the abundance of forests around. Setting your units there (ground level, not flying) will be an easy +15% bonus to their evasion and defenses.  Iczer-2 Pilot Skills: Sword Cut Shoot Down Ignore Size Difference Predict Prevail L5 Support Attack L1 Attack Combo L1 Remember when I said there were only a handful of folks who could match or beat Iczer-1 in raw stats? Iczer-2’s your main worry among those as she surpasses 1 is pretty much everything that matters except Skill. Her skills are also, as you can see, quite good. That’s somewhat balanced by the fact that, like Iczer-1, she hasn’t got much in range – only her Iczer Beam reaches beyond point-blank and it’s only 1-3 – so approach from a distance (packing Strike) and you’ll be relatively safe. If you have to move in point-blank, though, absolutely pop a defensive spirit because her strongest attack will HURT. So our units move north a bit to both draw in Iczer-2 and find cover in a nearby forest.  Enemy Phase!  And, good for me, Iczer-2 could only reach Ichitaka for her BEAM attack. : The Rushbird’s all about being sturdy. Only way you’re getting to JUDA is over our wrecks and that ain’t happening!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGgoal5nIG8 Ichitaka: “Your eyes can keep up with her, right, Alice?!” Alice: “Don’t ask the impossible of me, if you would!” I’m actually surprised that hit as it was a 50%. The other mooks are moving in but nothing else is in range.  Player Phase!  We’ll keep Iczer-1 right next to 2, safe next to Ichitaka. By the by, with Focus and inside the forest, 2 still has a 20% chance to hit her. : Come, Iczer-1!: (Iczer-2… my sister. Her offensive capacity is even greater than mine…?!)     Iczer-1: “If you’re also an Iczer, then you must realize who you truly should be fighting!” Iczer-2 taking damage: “Let’s enjoy this bout for all it’s worth, my sister!” Counterattacking: “It’s my turn next, dear sister!”  These Boya Kaengus are still so weak.  We’ll want to give Quatre some levels here to learn Bless ASAP.  : I’ve had my share of fighting in losing battles, but this is one we can’t afford to lose! Go, Sandrock!   It was only now that I realized Quatre’s Shotels don’t have the best ratings against aerial targets. Frail or not, these mooks won’t be oneshot by the Cross Smasher.  I’d rather the mooks attack our stronger folks, so I’ll keep the Deceive back.  : You good to go, Izuna? We’re only dealing with bots today, so don’t worry about holding anything back. Can’t screw things up with that dumdum watching!: Understood, sis. No one’s getting through here! There we go. Enemy Phase!  As Ichitaka nabs two kills from the Boya Kaengus, the Dilos are getting closer. : I’ll simply have to make do with my own strength until Nagisa comes around …! We’re good on that front, though. Player Phase! : I believe it’s time we finished this, sister…: !!: Haah! *Iczer-1’s thrown waaay back!* : AAH!: What’s the matter, Iczer-1? Surely that’s not all you’ve got.: Urk…: Get up! I can’t stand weaklings… if you don’t get up, then you’ll die!: Hrrm… I-I’m not finished…!: Better, dear sister… Now you’re worth killing. Sepia!: Yes!: Call forth the remaining Dilos Thetas and command them after Iczer-1.: Right. Come, Dilos!  : Gaaah!: Hmhmhmhm…: drat it, she’s in a lotta trouble! We gotta help, Izuna!: Aye, aye, sis! *The Dilos gets blasted away and the Deceive moves in after Iczer-1.* : Are you OK, Iczer-1?!: Shizuna, Izuna…: I see you’re well-liked, dear sister. However, blindsiding us won’t help you for long.: Go, Dilos! Bring down that worthless Machina! : Waaah!: Aaah!: Izuna! Shizuna!: I’ll help them!: Oh, no, you will not! : Rrgh…!: Aahahahaha! We are not the only ones you’ve to worry about! : Now just sit back and watch as your companions suffer.: drat it, isn’t there anything we can do?!: We’re too badly outnumbered. If we had at least one more unit…! : Take a look at the transmission, Kouichi. They’re all going to die if this doesn’t change. Our Machinas aren’t ready yet – only your Linebarrel is.: Is… Is that a threat?: Don’t be silly. This is… a sincere plea for your help.: !!*Beep!*  : Back off, Mr. Ishigami! We don’t need that guy’s help! : We can handle this, sir! Don’t force his hand, please!: Alice, watch the Laplace Wall. I’m gonna try making a break for it again! : Roger that!*Boom!* : Urgh! drat it, I can’t! : Are you OK, Ichitaka?!: Th-They’re…: Kouichi…: Hrm…! I… I know that whatever I feel’s likely just a sorry excuse for righteousness… And I know that I don’t have what it takes to be a Champion of Justice…: But… but how could I just walk away from this? If I don’t do something, they…!: Then… become a Champion of Justice. : Huh…?: Do it right this time. And be a real Champion of Justice. : …I will!*He runs off.* : There he goes. It’s just you now, Nagisa.: Huh? : I’m sure that, on some level, you’ve already realized… both the strength that hid inside you, and that your parents—: No, NO! I don’t! My mom and dad are alive, and I’m going to just go back to my normal life!: If that’s the choice you make once you’ve accepted the truth, then I won’t stop you. : Whether you believe anything or don’t is entirely up to you. So I’ll just tell you a bit of reality as it is.: I don’t wanna hear anything… Help me, Iczer-1…!: I’m afraid both your parents are already dead. The Cthulhu killed them when they attacked your town, before you even boarded the Iczer Robo.: That’s… That’s a lie! Daddy, mommy…!: You’ve heard news of all those missing people these past months, didn’t you? That was the Cthulhu’s doing. They infect humans and use them to attack others.: Once infected, the hosts cannot go back to being humans, so Iczer-1 could only kill and eliminate the corpses. That’s the truth behind those incidents… and it was through those people that the Cthulhu found you back then.: …!!: So they set about to infect both your parents and your friends in order to kill you…: Iczer-1 noticed what was happening, so she hunted down those humanoid Cthulhus. She saved your life.: She… She never said anything about that…: Because she knew what a heavy blow it would’ve been to you. She told me she would explain it all once your physical and mental injuries had fully healed… even if that made you hate her.: Iczer-1…: She’s now fighting with all she has to avenge your parents… she needs your strength, but refused to make a fuss.: I think she’s just waiting… waiting for you to fight of your own free will.: I’ve to get revenge for my mom and dad… No. I just have to help her…!*Off she goes.* : Nagisa…: Everyone holds both justice and evil in their hearts. I’d rather not shove childish notions of justice in people's faces, but I'm glad she turned out to have the heart of a Champion. : Ahahahah…! Is something the matter? Surely you two can do something, no?: Ugh… uurk…: Hrrgh…: Kch… : And we won’t even need to use the Iczer-Σ... How disappointing.: Sepia, how about you go and finish them off?: Right!: That’s enough outta you!: I’m here too!: Huh? You’re…!: …Nagisa…?: K-Kouichi...: I... told you we… don’t need your help. What’re you here for?!: I don’t really know why…: Hm?: I dunno if I’ve what it takes to fight, or if I can make good use of this power, or what’s waiting for me down this road… But, right now, I just want to help you guys. Of that, I’m 100% sure!: And I… I was wrong about you, Iczer-1. I thought you were a monster who’d come to drag me into some fight and ruin my life... but that wasn’t true.: What do you say, Shizuna, Izuna? What’d ya want me to do?: Urgh… Please… whoop their asses…: And come help us…! Lend us all a hand, Kouichi!: You got it! Now you just let me handle this!: I wanna help Iczer-1 too! I… I just need more power to do it! A lot more!: Come! Linebarrel!! : Please… Iczer Robo!  *Both bots charge after the Dilos mob!*   *And pull Iczer-1 and the Deceive closer to JUDA.* : Ah—!: Oho… : You’re not killing my friends! : Haah… haah…: Hmph. So that’s how it’ll be, huh? Your partner’s beckoning you, Iczer-1.: Na-Nagisa… You summoned the Iczer Robo by yourself…?: Iczer-1… I’m ready to fight…!: Truly, Nagisa?: Yes; I want to help you. I couldn’t live with myself if I just watched you all get killed.: Why don’t you unite with the Iczer Robo, dear sister? That’ll also give me a far more enjoyable battle…: …: Nagisa, I’m coming! : Very good… Sepia, the time has come to fulfill the promise we made. I’m summoning the Iczer-Σ!: Understood!   : That’s...!: They still had another trick up their sleeve?!: I’m detecting the same energy readings as the Iczer Robo. But the output… theirs is even higher!: Ahahah… Do you see this, Iczer-1? It is my other half: the Iczer-Σ!: Iczer-Σ...!: We’re going, Sepia. Your power should far exceed that of the Earthling girl… In other words, their Iczer Robo is of no consequence! : Right, Iczer-2. I’ve long waited for this and now I will destroy the Iczer Robo and avenge Cobalt!: Iczer-Σ... Can I best it with how battered I already am...?: No… Nagisa’s here fighting with me, along with my friends of Earth. I’ve nothing to fear from anyone!: … I won’t run anymore. Kouichi also chose to stand and fight… and if I’ve the power to do the same, then I’ll use it to defend Earth with all of you!: Ichitaka, Quatre, sorry for the headache I gave you guys.: I should apologize as well for trying to press you into joining our battles…: Forget about it… And Shizuna, Izuna, I’m gonna pay ‘em back twice what they put you two through!: Kouichi… I’m counting on ya.: Oh, enough with all that mirth! Come forth, soldiers of the Underworld and Haniwa Phantoms! : You think you’re gonna scare us with that?! Come on, Kouichi – this is where we turn this whole thing around!: Yeah!Whew, now that was a lot of stuff going down. Nagisa’s finally joined us for good, which means Iczer-1 now unlocks her ability to summon/desummon the Iczer Robo over 130 morale (not in this mission – she’s stuck on the Robo). Now for the actual new addition to the team:  Linebarrel (Kouichi Hayase) Pilot Skills: Factor Sword Cut Guard Prevail L2 Support Attack L1 Attack Combo L1 Spirit Commands: Invincible Strike Squad Bonus: Melee weapons’ damage +100, mobility +5 Kouichi, as you’d expect from the protagonist, is pretty good all around his stats. All that exposure to Super Robot shows gave him a case of Gekiganger syndrome in that his spirit commands aren’t really tailored for dodginess but he’ll make do (a barrier’ll be a nice safety net). That said, with a D-S.O.I.L. base level of 95, Kouichi’ll regen more than any other Machina pilot (nearly 28% and that’s before the D-S.O.I.L starts rising). And as everyone’s been telling us throughout these missions, the Linebarrel’s really, really good. It’s got a crapton of power, good accuracy, defenses, mobility and even range now that the Executor was unlocked. The plot says you WILL have to field him and, really, there is no objective reason not to.  Oh, and just like the Iczer Robo covers Iczer-1’s lack of range, the same happens for Iczer-2. She’s rather bulky with that Prevail L5, too, so keep that in mind. Like before, don’t attack her at point-blank unless you really have to, and, in that case, pack some defenses.  Let’s put the kid to work. : You’ve got a lot of nerve to torment my friends like that… and you’re gonna get it all back with interest!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf4kJWnmv2I When did Ishigami slip him that suit…?  Quatre and Ichitaka tag team a Dilos into the ground.  Ichitaka himself weakens this one, setting it up for Iczer-1. : My sincerest thanks for your resolve, Nagisa. Please entrust your strength to me!: OK!      Boosh. Shizuna, meanwhile, slaps a Boya Kaengu some. Enemy Phase!  Of course. : Sepia, now is the time to bring peace to Cobalt’s soul!: Right, Iczer-2. We will destroy the Iczer Robo!: Synchronize yourself with me, Nagisa. Do that and the Iczer Robo’ll know no defeat!: Got it, Iczer-1! I’ll do whatever I can!      Iczer-2 attacking: “This place will be your grave, Iczer-1!” Iczer-1 attacking: “Indeed, battle is inevitable when dealing with her…!” After that, the closer Boya Kaengus start attacking/dying to people: two to Iczer-1… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlOYZ8LXpQ And one to Quatre, which allows us to see the dynamic finish of this.  On the other side, the Dilos are mobbing our Machinas.      No kills but Shizuna and Kouichi do a lot of damage to them. Player Phase! Brunom1 fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jun 30, 2017 18:34
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 Our guys FINALLY arrive, including the folks from the other bases. As Kenji proclaims the certainty of our victory with their arrival, Goh’s raring to give the baddies a taste of the fully-repaired Godannar (courtesy of Shibakusa). Time to clean house.  Losing Kenji or Iczer-1’s a game over, so keep an eye on them (especially Iczer-1, what with that bug).  Off we go, with Kenji, Shizuru and Miu each taking a weakened Dilos. Reiji jumps right into the fray to spread his command aura, taking a Boya Kaengu.  Get to it, Yagyuu.     Just short of a kill but that’s fine – Kenji and Kyo take both.  Pop a kill for Shizuna, Iczer-1 wrecks a Haniwa with an assist from Ichitaka and Quatre gets this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvdaHc-gptA Here’s the DK for his Heat Shotels as well.  Cha-ching! Here we go… but he doesn’t have enough SP to use it! And you’ve got the idea, so let’s save some time. Long story short: the Boya Kaengus made the mistake of attacking stuff and got promptly wrecked by pretty much everyone, the Dilos were already on their last legs and all died to counterhits. Player Phase!  By the time Mimashi got here, only a handful of his troops are still standing. Let’s get him off our hair before dealing with them.  : You came all the way from Kyushu just to get your rear end beat by me? Oh, you shouldn’t have!: It is you who came here only to meet your end! I’ll be taking your Bronze Bell as an offering to Her Majesty!: Well, we can’t have both of those flying, so you’re gonna have to run back to mommy with a whole buncha nothing!    Hits from Ichitaka and Iczer-1 bring him down to size.          And considering I can’t have Quatre use Bless, I’ll just cut my losses and have Tetsuya kill him with Luck cast. : Curse you all… How am I to face Her Majesty with just another failure?!: Hah, that’s what you get. Now grit your teeth ‘cause we’re about to rain a lotta pain on top of ya!: Hrrrgh… retreat! : Alright, that’s the fatass taken care of, so let’s go and wrap this all up! : Hold on! There’s… something else?  : Enemy reinforcements?!: What, they sent a tiger Haniwa now? : They can send whatever, it won’t change jack! If it’s a baddy, it’s going down! : Is that… Baruba? Stop – he’s not an enemy! : Are you sure about that, Kyo?: I am. But if there’s no one controlling it, then…: Ah? : Grrroowrr!   Kenji: “Whoa! Just like that?!” : What the hell! The thing just attacked me, ya moron!: Easy, Kenji. He’s just testing your strength. (Does Kyo know that tiger? He’s so familiar with it…): What, so the thing wants to know where folks stand in the food chain? Sound good – I’m gonna have to teach him who’s king ‘round here!: As for everyone else, do your best to avoid engaging him!: Copy that, but if it looks like Kenji’s life is in danger, then I’ll defer to my own judgment. Is that fine?: Yes, thank you.: You heard him, troops. Do not engage.: Aye, aye! You don’t actually NEED to deal with Baruba using only Kenji, but we’ll get there in a sec. Iczer-2 had already lost a handful of HP from Iczer-1, so adding in Reiji, Goh and Yagyuu gets her right in the red. We don’t have enough attacks to kill this round, though. Enemy Phase!  As Iczer-2 gets no-sold by Ichitaka blocking her attack on Iczer Robo, Reiji shoots down a weakened Haniwa. Last Boya Kaengu goes to Jeeg, while Quatre shivs the other two Haniwas. Player Phase!  And out you go.     Iczer-1: “I don’t want to hurt a sister of mine!” : Your defeat is sealed, Iczer-2! Prepare yourself!: You underestimate the Iczer-Σ if you think you’ll best us so easily!  : Their power’s unbelievable…!: They still got that much juice left?!: Your end comes, Iczer Robo! : AAAH!: Hahah… How’s that, Iczer Robo? You cannot best the Iczer-Σ even with the help of all these worthless Earthling weapons!: Urk…: Yours won’t be a pleasant death. Sepia, go and sate your hatred!: Look on, Cobalt. Victory will be ours! : …I won’t be beaten by you. I can’t!: Nagisa..: You killed my mom and my dad… I will NOT let myself lose to you monsters!! : (What… what is all this strength…?): Hmph, you waste of oxygen… Now we end this!: Stand firm, Sepia – concentrate!: Roger, Iczer-2!: We’re going, Nagisa!: OK! I’ll keep you safe, Iczer-1!: Haaah!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCdcr_q-L0 Iczer-2: “Die alongside your partner, dear sister!” Sepia: “You killed Cobalt, and now I’ll kill you in turn!” Iczer-2: “Not even ashes will remain! Disappear!” Iczer-1: “Nagisa’s granted me her strength…! I will not fall to this!” Nagisa: “I can’t lose… I don’t want to lose!” Iczer-1: “Nagisa!” Iczer-1: “Iczer Robo...!” Nagisa: “Lend us all of your power!”  : Sepia!: Cobalt… forgive me…! Hrk…! : Tch! I have to stand down…! : Iczer-Σ... Truly a foe to be respected.: Hm…: That was the Iczer Robo’s true power…?: It heard Nagisa’s heartfelt wish to help and fight with Iczer-1 and answered in kind. While we wait for Baruba to close in a wee bit more, we clean up the remaining Haniwas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZxEbfAw7t4 And here’s the DK for Kouichi’s hanzo steels. Looks pretty slick. Fast forward a bit and Baruba’s right upon us. And if you ignore Kyo’s warning and try to attack with anyone besides Kenji:      : Grrrrr…*Casts Iron Wall, Focus and Vigor!* : I think we made it mad…: No, on the contrary. It’s just answering our tactics in kind. : To test the strength of every one of us?: …Him casting Iron Wall could be a problem but Baruba only has 8.8k HP, so you can still blow past all that with your available troops.           The plot kicks in under 30%, though, and you’ll want to take him out all the way for a B-Save part, mind. : Grrrr…: Whoa… This thing’s looking like it wants to chow Jeeg whole…! : Heh, now things’re getting interesting! If you wanna wrestle, I’m game!      : Grrr…: Yow, he just took all that on the chin and didn’t even care.: Groowr!*Baruba charges after Kenji!* : Whoa!: Grrrooowr!: This crazy cat…!: Fight him hand-to-hand, Kenji! Show him how strong you are!: Yeah, fine! C’mere, kitty! Dynamite Kiiiick!! : Grrr…: O-Oi… he’s looking like he’s just toying with me…!: Grroowwr! : He took off?!: And, drat, is he fast. One second and, poof, gone.: The hell’s up with that thing…!: Is that everything? Anything else waiting to jump out the woodwork? : Radar and sensors are all looking clear, so I think we’re good.: Yeesh… For a second there, I thought that would’ve been it for us.: Thank you so much for your help, Kouichi!: A-Aw, stop. You’re embarrassing me now…: You’ve my deepest gratitude as well, Nagisa…: No, I should be the one thanking you, Iczer-1. : What about you, Alice? How’s the head?: I’d detected several spikes in temperature during the operation, but no problems overall!: Glad we managed to get here on time. We were already en route to JUDA when news of the enemy attack came in – I was on pins and needles the whole way.: Hell, I was even expecting to find the Dancouga around here when we came in…: Maybe it needed extensive repairs just like our units did?: Or maybe they’re off on some other mission – we didn’t see them show up during the Junius Seven drop, remember?: I guess even Champions of Justice aren’t omnipotent. Too bad.: A very fine job today, ladies and gentlemen. Why don’t you return to JUDA and we’ll give our new members a proper “welcome aboard” party?: Kouichi I understand, but aren’t you jumping the gun with Nagisa, Mr. Ishigami?: No, it’s fine. I’ve already made up my mind to fight with Iczer-1.: Ah, Nagisa…: Hey, Kouichi, I dunno how friendly you two are, but how about taking it down a peg?: Whuh…?! What’re you suggesting with that, huh?! Didn’t I just bail you two out, even?!: And, FYI, we literally ran into each other on the street – you’re reading way too much into it…: What exactly happened, Nagisa?: Um… I just had a talk with him about stuff, you know? : Oh! And, Kouichi, keep all that embarrassing stuff between us, okay? Can you do that for me? It’ll be our dirty little secret!: … Hm?: W-Why’d you have to say it like that?! And why’re you glaring at me, Miu?!: Kouichi… I can’t believe you…: N-Now hold on, Emi! This is a huge misunderstanding!: Hahahah!: (At last I see you laugh, Nagisa… Come what may, I promise to defend both your smile and your planet.) : (Even if you are my sister Iczer-2, I will not falter.) Ishigami makes good on his promise for a party and with copious amounts of his traditional sushi, too. Quatre hoped he’d have chosen to switch things up, but nope – he’d already had to eat the stuff yesterday, too, while Ishigami was welcoming Kouichi to JUDA, and has yet to recover. Still, Nagisa was blown away by the tremendous amount the guy brought in and Yamashita explains that Ishigami’s got this habit of making sushi for ANYTHING even remotely worth celebrating. As she flinches over the thought of having to eat so much of the stuff, even Goh admits he couldn’t handle it either. And that’s not even mentioning all the calories that kind of food has – Nagisa’s already worried at all the kilos she’d take in with the president serving this daily. Goh’s a bit surprised she cares about that sort of stuff, but of course she does. Is something wrong with that? No, Goh just throws his hands up in the air and leaves the subject be: “I just can’t wrap my head around the minds of teenage girls.” Shizuru pokes him that that’s not really an “age” issue – maybe he ought to try and understand how women feel? As Goh harrumphs, Tetsuya says that that’s why his wife took off. N-No, that’s neither here nor there. Nagisa didn’t expect the Godannar’s pilot to be a married man and wonders who could be the wife… but, since she left, that’s obviously a touchy subject that she feels is best not pried into. Iczer-1’s looking from afar and is so very relieved to see her partner getting along with everyone. Alice quickly brings her off her reverie to also partake in some sushi. Alright…  Kouichi himself is being welcomed aboard by Tsubaki, who introduces herself and tells him to ask if there’s anything he doesn’t know. They’ll all be working as a team and fighting for Earth as a whole! The other shoe still hasn’t dropped on the fact that he really is fighting for Earth now, instead of a nondescript ideal of justice. Same for Nagisa – she knows she has much to do but it all feels so surreal. Still, Goh says that, as they fight, they’ll come to understand why they were given this strength and, in the meantime, they ought to just set their own goals and work towards them. Kouichi’s so very touched to get advice from a big-time hero like Goh, but the guy tells him not to worry – he’s just a pilot like any other. As for Izuna, he takes the time to thank Kouichi in person for his help and even bows his head, making him all bashful. Shizuna yells out that Izuna doesn’t need to thank him that much – Reiji and Nagisa could’ve just as easily saved them even if the kid didn’t step up to the plate. Only reason Kouichi got to do it is because he beat the others to the punch. He just got lucky, see! Still, Izuna says it doesn’t change the fact that he DID help them out and didn’t she herself ask him to? Th-That was just a ruse to throw off the enemies! Who in their right mind would come to this dumdum for help?! Izuna sighs that she’s being unreasonable and that really ticks her off. He’s done it now and Shizuna’s gonna give him what-for! Kouichi gets in-between them and says that, one, she shouldn’t be hitting him, siblings or not, and, two, a pretty girl like Shizuna should stop channeling that hot-headed boy inside her head and try letting her other side through.  He compounds his point by clipping her hair a wee bit up with his tie clip – nothing wrong with a teenage girl styling her hair every once in a while, right? Shizuna’s stunned for all of five seconds before yelling at him to piss right off. And, FYI, fixing her hair doesn’t change jack – he’s still a huge dumdum! As she stomps off, Izuna following, Shizuru and Mira see that despite the kid’s admiration for Goh, he’s got a more deft touch with girls than the guy does. There’s some good potential there. Kouichi eagerly asks if they mean he could grow up to be like Goh and they confirm – though he might not want to do so on a few subjects. That goes way over the kid’s head.  And now that things have calmed down, Kenji and Tsubai want Kyo to explain what he knows about that tiger thing. Well, to start, Baruba is an Animal God – an extremely ancient man-made creature. Kenji’s blown away by all the info he’s got but Kyo simply says he’s simply spent more time studying than others. But, regardless, the big question: is the beastie an enemy or a friendly? That all depends on whether we can actually control it or not. Sounds like a pain in the rear end to Kenji but he’ll be ready to tangle with it one way or another. The door opens up then, Emi coming in and calling Kouichi over to the infirmary – it’s standard practice for all Factors to undergo and medical check after each battle to make sure they’re all in good health. He can’t well say no, so off they go.  : Um… Kouichi?: Wh-what?: I… I’m sorry for what I said yesterday.: Ah? What’d you mean?: That it was your fault that your friend died…: O-Oh, right… But, really, I should actually be thanking you for that.: Huh?: It was only because you said what you said that I realized how wrong what I did was. That’s what helped me really think of how a Factor should be and turn my life around.: I wonder if Yajima would forgive me now…: Kouichi…: I see now how arrogant I was, tagging myself as “justice incarnate”… Talk about ridiculous, huh?: So, starting today, I’ll be fighting and thinking about what justice really means.: (He really is growing… bit by bit…): Then I also have to try my hardest…!: Ah?: O-Oh, never mind me – I’m just thinking out loud. Come on; you need to get yourself checked out and ready for the next battle.: Y-Yeah, alright. Thanks for showing me around.: Come to think of it, you’ve also been through a lot, yeah? Don’t forget to take care of yourself too. You’re looking a bit pale, I think.: Ah… J-Just worry about your own business, thank you very much! You despicable little man! Cut to the Cthulhu Fortress, Big Gold isn’t happy over Sepia’s death; Sir Violet begs her forgiveness and orders Iczer-2 to explain herself. Theoretically, the Iczer-Σ, with her and Sepia, should’ve been wholly superior to the Iczer Robo... but the thing went and somehow displayed far more strength than expected. Iczer-2 also ponders that maybe’s Sepia’s unstable mind could’ve had a negative effect on the bot’s performance – she’ll try and draw out the full might of the Iczer-Σ by herself and, if successful, Iczer-1 and the girl are as good as dead. With that, Violet dismisses Iczer-2 and orders her to heal her wounds in preparation for her next deployment. As she goes, Iczer-2 silently promises Iczer-1 to make her pay for this humiliation. Big Gold then turns back to Sir Violet and raises the subject of the Jama Kingdom – she wants them contacted.  Back at Shangri-La, Masaki reports Kouichi’s entry into LOTUS. That’s gonna make it harder for them to capture the Linebarrel. Crazy-looking fat guy Riku grumbles that Katou should’ve let him handle things from the get-go instead of folks like Sawatari or that rookie. Katou says it’s precisely because he puts so much stock in Riku’s strength that he’s assigning him a different job – after all, he should know that capturing that Machina isn't their SOLE objective. Riku ought to use his imagination to figure that out. The more average-looking guy, Soubi, seems to get it and has a fun thought: LOTUS as a whole fights with so much faith in their ideals and in their righteousness. And as we're made to fight on and on and on to the point of exhaustion, they’ll show us the powerlessness of justice and drive us into despair. That is what their mission is. Riku sniffs and asks if Soubi’s implying his imagination’s lacking; no, he’s just suggesting he use it to also think up some fun stuff. Regardless, Katou’ll let both Riku and Soubi have their shot soon enough and Masaki sees no issues with that. Riku’s all giddy, eager to display the power of his imagination to Kouichi; whereas Soubi wants to make him realize how, ultimately, justice and ideals are all illusions. Wufei’s looking on with a (deeper than usual) scowl: “This man… why does he loathe justice and ideals this much?” Brunom1 fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jun 30, 2017 18:34
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For the EN Save debate, since I had Kenji glued to the Big Shooter for basically the entire game, and the way the AI targets things means the Jeegs aren't targetted all that often means you're better off giving it to your Supers. Goh is a pretty decent choice for it, since if you want him to combine quickly, you pretty much have to strap Mira to him, and you don't get accel or a small bit of EN regen with her. I'd probably just go and save it for the Gaiking out of all of those options though, Daiya gets into a lot of scraps with the enemy and has the range to counter from pretty far away. Glad to see Kouichi is shaping up a little bit. He just needs some more hot blood in his veins and he'll be a bonafide super robot pilot in no time.
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Jun 30, 2017 19:06
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Brunom1 posted:
I don't think that's the right Nagisa mugshot. I'm not even sure if it's the right Nagisa.
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Jun 30, 2017 20:51
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: …I won’t be beaten by you. I can’t!
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Couple of typosBrunom1 posted:
Ought to be "search for" I think. quote:
Iczer-2 taking revenge on herself would be a pretty neat trick.
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Jun 30, 2017 20:56
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One mission you have the heroes fight a genocidial tyrant who wants to wipe out an entire race. Realistic, if it wasn't for the robots. The next you fight the Chtulhu Invaders and the Jama Kingdom, who are using their giant monsters to try and KILL ALL HUMANS!!!  This is why I love Super Robot Wars
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Jun 30, 2017 21:05
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Inferno-sama posted:I don't think that's the right Nagisa mugshot. I'm not even sure if it's the right Nagisa. Nope, that's not the right Nagisa (though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise). Alacron posted:Couple of typos Fixed everything.
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Jun 30, 2017 21:49
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Okay, so...now we've met the character Soubi from Linebarrels. And where one of the major complaints against the anime series gets leveled. Spoilers incoming. See, Soubi in the manga...is one of the good guys that is recruited into JUDA's ranks some time after Kouichi stops being an rear end in a top hat and joins himself. The end of volume 5 and all of volume 6 is devoted to Soubi's recruitment. JUDA's secondary role in the manga of collecting all of the Machina in the world for plot reasons leads them to learn about Soubi's Machina. Soubi is living in an isolated mountain village in Japan and his Machina, Talisman, gets picked up by JUDA's (and the Katou Organization's) sensors. Soubi's village is interesting, in that he is the only young person there; everyone else is old and frail while Soubi serves as the village guardian. It is here that one of the big drawbacks of being a Factor gets slammed right into Kouichi's face as part of his journey of learning both sides of the hero coin: Factors (and Machina, for that matter) do not age at all, and are effectively immortal (think Connor McCloud from Highlander and you get the jist of it). Soubi looks like he's 18-21 years old but is in fact closer to 80 years old, give or take, and thus has practically become a recluse protecting this lone village for most of his life. Thus, the Katou Organization and JUDA duel over convincing Soubi to join their side, with JUDA ultimately winning. Soubi's recruitment arc is one where not only does Soubi learns to move on and open up to the world, but also where Kouichi learns another lesson in being a hero: everything has a price, be it outliving everyone you know or something else. The arc overall is probably one of the better arcs in the manga, due to how much world building it goes through and how it develops the characters. Now, Soubi's anime characterization...is non-existent. He's just with the Katou Organization with no solid explanation or backstory. So why did Studio Gonzo jettison all of his backstory for the anime? Shock value, plain and simple. We'll see part one of that in a few stages.
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Jun 30, 2017 22:35
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I have no idea why they changed Soubi so much between versions but it annoys me. I don't get why they didn't actually adapt the manga and instead kind of did their own, worse, thing (with an awful opening). Also Koichi changing portraits and battle sprites once he joins is neat. He's smiling! And he has a cool suit! Now he can truly be a Champion of Justice. Also also, small grammar mistake on the first post: "What’s the matter, Iczer-1? Surely that’s now all you’ve got." I'd quote it but  .
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Jun 30, 2017 22:47
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I'm guessing that the Linebarrels manga was still ongoing while the anime was being made yeah? I know a lot of anime adaptations are made to run for one season and have a satisfying conclusion and in those cases they wind up having to make their own endings too, like the original FMA anime. So I'd guess Soubi's story didn't fit into the ending they had in mind. But given how people are talking it seems like the anime changed a lot more than just Soubi and the ending, so I dunno.
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Jun 30, 2017 23:24
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Alacron posted:Iczer-2 taking revenge on herself would be a pretty neat trick. Perhaps she's the only baddy with enough self-awareness to realize that it was her own decisions that led her to this failure. Attacking a whole swarm of units in the same power tier as yourself only has one outcome. Especially when you don't seem to give a poo poo about your partner when your mecha is clearly powered by empathy. So really, she has nobody to blame but herself.
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Jun 30, 2017 23:31
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Alacron posted:I'm guessing that the Linebarrels manga was still ongoing while the anime was being made yeah? I know a lot of anime adaptations are made to run for one season and have a satisfying conclusion and in those cases they wind up having to make their own endings too, like the original FMA anime. So I'd guess Soubi's story didn't fit into the ending they had in mind.
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Jul 1, 2017 00:45
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Got a new update coming in soon, but it's pretty big and this page already has plenty of stuff. Think we could get like 7+ posts to push us to a new one?
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Jul 2, 2017 21:11
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Probably.
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Jul 2, 2017 21:12
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Possibly?
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Jul 2, 2017 21:15
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Impossible.
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Jul 2, 2017 21:18
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There's no way it can be done.
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Jul 2, 2017 21:25
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Maybe it can after all!
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Jul 2, 2017 21:29
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*checks* This is post 318. That's a bit further away than I expected.
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Jul 2, 2017 21:42
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7 posts? N-nani!?
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Jul 2, 2017 21:43
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