At DC headquarters, Tempest has received word that Wake Island has fallen and starts to doubt Bian for leaving Tenzan in command of the base, but he's not gonna say that out loud in present company. Adler is already suspecting this, but he doesn't press the issue and figures he’ll be able to convert Tempest to his side when the time comes. Tempest leaves because Bian wants to talk to him, and Adler now turns to Egret Fehu
, his other conversation partner.
Egret is of the head scientists on the Earth Cradle project, which is basically a giant bunker and cold-sleep facility that should allow a select number of humans to survive the apocalypse, which they're building just in case they're gonna be destroyed by aliens. He's having an issue with one of the other scientists on the project, dr. Sophia Nate, who refuses to let the Earth Cradle become a DC stronghold, which Adler claims is crucial to their plan of ruling the world. Frankly, he thinks Bian is using too little force and is dragging out the war; if the Aerogaters attack now, humanity is done for. Egret, meanwhile, just sees that scenario as a chance to test the Earth Cradle. By now it seems that in order to be a major scientist in the SRW universe, one must also be a complete nutter.
Bian wants Tempest to reorganize the units on the island for the invasion of Europe, with Tempest only half-heartedly agreeing. He'd rather be sent to the front lines so he can avenge his family as usual, but Bian denies his request. He's the best man to lead Bian's elite forces, so he's needed here at headquarters. Tempest now starts to haggle if he can at least fight the Hagane, which he claims is advancing towards the island. Unless Bian has a reason to let it advance, the ship must be stopped. Bian's answer comes entirely unexpected: he's gonna go out to personally have a look at the Hagane, just to see what they're capable of.
On the Hagane, Latooni is teaching Kuro and Shiro the enemy mech ID codes, which they diligently input into Cybuster's systems. Tetsuya is rather surprised by the sight of cats inputting data, though Kuro and Shiro note they're not just mere cats. They're Masaki's familiars, so they're more like spirits that look like cats, a concept which isn't any easier for Tetsuya to grasp. Best he can manage is repeating any mention of supernatural stuff.
In the Hagane's briefing room, Ingram and Aya are trying to get some information out of Masaki, particularly where he came from. Masaki's not going to bother, especially since they wouldn't believe him even if he told them. Their second question is why he's after Shu, since they don't know anything about the relation between these two. He claims he's trying to prevent Shu from destroying this world as well, which implies this brilliant young scientist/traitor has an unknown history as a world destroyer. Masaki is equally puzzled by Ingram, who seems quite enigmatic to him. He keeps this concern to himself, however.
Aya has managed to track down Masaki's identity through a Federation database: he's Japanese, but he's been missing for a long time. The most plausible theory now seems to be that he was taken to this other world a long time ago, and has now returned along with the Cybuster.
AYA: A different world, Sir?
INGRAM: Yes. Since ancient times, people have believed that another world exists deep within the Earth. It's been called Shambhala, Avalon, Hades...and a few years ago, Dr. Makoto Anzai of the Lost Technology Research Institute announced his Earth Void Theory.
Basically, this theory says there's a netherworld within the Earth, which seems kinda strange for previously-mentioned reasons. They're done questioning him for now, as nothing else is gonna come up as it is. Personally, I think any sort of information on how the hell his mech works would save the maintenance crew a lot of time.
Kuro and Shiro have finished their task, and installed a world map while they were at it. Not that it'll do any good, but it's a nice gesture. Masaki now meets Kusuha, who notes he hasn't been looking well lately. His medical test results didn't look too good either, so she hands him an energy drink she made. It looks like a highly dubious concoction, but his familiars note it would be rude to decline. Hesitantly, he agrees and drinks it. Seems like Masaki was right to be suspicious, as the drink renders him unconscious with seconds. Right at this moment, the bridge detects UCC drop capsules descending from space, and as AMs approach the ship, all units are called to battle stations.
We are facing the UCC's all-female elite guard, known as the Troye Unit. Among a bunch of mooks, two named characters are present: Julia Heinkel and Leona Garstein. Leona insists to Julia that their only mission is to retrieve a new AM and return to space as soon as possible, but Julia wants to see the Hagane and the PTs she's heard about from "Lord Elzam". Even though it's not mentioned in their orders, their top duty is to protect the UCC commander, and this is a good chance to gain some experience. Rai is the only one aboard the Hagane who instantly recognizes this unit, but wonders why their commander isn't here since they aren't supposed to leave him at any time. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was lying in wait somewhere.
Everyone is deployed, and Julia looks forward to testing their strength. They'll serve as an indication of how capable Projects SRX and ATX will be at fighting aliens, which makes Leona thoroughly confused why they're fighting this war in the first place if that's what they're trying to achieve. Masaki is still sick, so he's unavailable on this mission. Good job knocking out one of my best units, game. Anyway, the attack order is given, and I'm put in control.
The same map with new units, once again. I'm facing eight Troye Soldiers in Lions, Leona in a Lion F and Julia in a Guarlion. The Lions aren't much tougher than usual, but the two named enemies may pose some trouble — Julia in particular. Instead of charging towards them, I have everyone position themselves on the mountain near my starting position, and let them come towards me. The mountain gives a 25% defense bonus, which makes a huge difference in keeping my mechs in one piece.
Now that I'm firmly entrenched in a defensive position, they come at me, and the Lions lose major amounts of health from everyone's long range attacks. Irm's Boost Knuckle and Latooni's Mega Beam Rifle are pretty good for this, and the Hagane in the rear picks off some almost-dead units. I've set Ryusei's Wildraubtier to jet mode, and it's nigh impossible for any of the units attacking him to actually hit him. At the end of the turn, Leona thinks she recognizes some of Rai's moves, and moves forward to check.
All enemy units are now in range to receive a full barrage from my troops, and one Lion after the other goes down. Irm manages to be flashy as always, given his newfound arsenal of super robot moves. Even Garnet and the Hagane take down a few, and at the end of the turn no one but Leona, Julia and one Lion are left standing. If you use Rai to attack Leona, a brief dialogue will be triggered about the relation between the Branstein and Garstein families, in which Leona explains why she joined the Army to fight for the Branstein family.
Julia attacks Irm and Leona attacks Rai, and I have both of them defend for now. Irm can take it, though an attack like Julia's Sonic Breaker will still take off a bit of health. Rai takes a bit more damage, but not all that much. Leona is quickly finished off by a combination of Rai's Autocannon, Aya's Roche Saber and Ingram's M13 Shotgun, leaving only Julia. Now's the time to start using spirit commands, because she's a bit tougher. After using Focus and/or Sense, Latooni/Irm/Ryusei manage to take off a significant chunk of her health this turn. The Hagane fires a torpedo at the remaining Lion, leaving it half-destroyed. On the enemy's turn, Julia attacks Garnet, but gets Defense Support from Giado, who takes a bit of damage. In turn, when that last Lion attacks Giado, he receives Defense Support from Garnet, and finishes it off with a counterattack.
Julia is a bit surprised to meet "Lord Raidiese" as an enemy, but Rai makes it clear he's not a part of the family anymore and that he considers his father as much of a threat to the Earth as Bian. Julia has no qualms about finishing him off if he's the enemy, but one more shot from Aya's Boosted Rifle puts her out of combat anyway. They decide to retreat, and I gained a bit of loot from this battle: a Homing Missile and a Chobham Armor.
We don't get to enjoy our victory very long, as the Hagane's sensors detect an unknown unit heading towards its location. It doesn't have any known ID, and it's much bigger than any PT; according to Eita, about the size of the Giganscudo. What could it possibly be?
[BGM Change: Valsion]
The team is greeted by Bian Zoldark himself in his trademark mech, the Valsion. While most of the crew are still wondering whether they're hallucinating or not, Daitetsu strikes up a conversation with Bian, asking why he's here. Bian has a very simple offer: surrender or die. Ryusei and Irm chime in how they'll never surrender to someone like him, though Bian instantly disregards them seemingly on the basis of their age. I don't think we're gonna get much conversation out of him, since Daitetsu's the only one near his age. Bian is tired of talking anyway, and wants to see what they can do. Ryusei charges ahead as usual, and the rest of the units follow as Daitetsu gives the order to attack. Well, this is gonna be fun. He may be a boss unit, but with all the forces we have at our disposal, how tough could it possibly--
Nevermind. Yeah, this seems to be the real boss fight. Luckily, I saved most of my spirit points, allowing my units to buff themselves like crazy. I open with the usual volley of ranged attacks like Boost Knuckle, Mega Beam Rifle, Beam Cannon, and so on, though it does very little damage this time around. As Latooni explains in a cutscene, the Valsion has a damage-reducing force field, which basically means everyone will have to use their strongest attacks to do reasonable amounts of damage.
A separate dialogue scene is triggered if the Hagane attacks the Valsion, where Bian tries to discourage Daitetsu from his current path.
BIAN: It's no use. You'll never defeat my Valsion. The EFA demoted you to keep happened on Pluto a secret and put you in charge of the Shirogane. And now, you're being treated as an expendable casualty on this Aidoneus Operation. Why do you continue to fight for the EFA when they disrespect you so?
DAITETSU: I will not betray the sacrifices of those who died to protect the Earth!
Aside from firing a lot of Energy Taker missiles into it, there's no good way to reduce the Valsion's energy reserves quickly, so it's mostly a matter of slowly chipping away its hits points and avoiding being killed by its Graviton Wave attack, given that even the Grungust takes damage in the thousands from that one. Unfortunately I'll have to let weaker units like Garnet and Giado skip their turn, since they would be mercilessly slaughtered if they tried to take him on. Fortunately, as long as they don't attack they have nothing to fear since the Valsion's favorite target is definitely the Hagane. Aside from Daitetsu, the only other character who seems to have special dialogue when fighting Bian is Ingram.
INGRAM: You want us to surrender...but you don't really want us to join the DC, do you?
BIAN: *smirk* I see that you can analyze more than just EOT...but don't think it'll be so easy with my Valsion!
After 3 turns of reducing the Valsion's health, I am informed I have earned the battle mastery for this map. While the Valsion is undefeatable on this map, the goal was to bring its health below 80% (36000 HP), which I managed. The people on board of the Hagane, however, are freaking out since neither they nor the units in the field stand a chance of actually beating this mech. As a last-ditch measure, Daitetsu orders the crew to start charging the ship's Tronium Cannon, a highly experimental weapon that can only be fired once and has no guarantee of actually working. Tetsuya protests, but Daitetsu reminds him that's an order. They'll need time to charge the cannon, though, and who could possibly buy them some?
[BGM Change: Neppu! Shippu! Cybuster!]
Masaki can. He has fully recovered, and willing to take Bian on. Once again, Bian decides he's not wasting his time on a kid, especially when Masaki starts demanding information about Shu. Fortunately this doesn’t turn into an actual continuation of the boss fight as Elzam now appears, accompanied by another squad of Lions. They've come to take Bian back to the base, since their commander is too important to them to be out here. Bian shrugs and considers this an acceptable request, especially since he has seen what he wanted to see, and has concluded there's no way any of our team could defeat him right now. Elzam and Bian escape, leaving us to deal with the mooks. The Hagane stops charging its cannon and tells everyone to attack, as usual.
One Cyflash from Masaki takes off almost half their health, and from there on every unit deals with one of the mooks. Within two turns, they are all destroyed, and I am officially victorious. Gained a Cartridge as loot, as well.
At the DC headquarters, Julia and her Troye Unit are picking up the new DC AM as they were originally supposed to, and she wishes Bian luck on his European campaign. He wishes her success as well with whatever they're planning they do, and the game's certainly not gonna tell us what that is. At the same time, Leona is meeting with Elzam, and she is happy to report Sanger's combat prowess so far is admirable. He's practically unstoppable with his Type 0 Colossal Blade, though people still think he could do better. Elzam says they're both out of their elements, but figures he'll be able to adjust.
Back on the Hagane, people are discussing what the hell just happened. Bian could have destroyed the Hagane then and there, but refrained from doing so, and thus it's a mystery what he actually wants. Ryusei doesn't care what Bian wants if he intends to conquer the world, which Masaki entirely agrees with.
IRM: It's a nice change of pace to be around you simpletons.
MASAKI: Yeah...I try not to think too hard about things.
Finally, there's the question of what happened to Masaki before the battle. Shiro tells everyone that Masaki got sick after drinking Kusuha's energy drink, which contains ground gecko tails and viper juice according to Ryusei. He's had them before, so he knows. It should be no surprise that at this exact moment, Kusuha shows up with an improved version of her energy drink, resulting in a massive room clearing with increasingly dubious excuses. Initially, Masaki and Ryusei just have to check up on their mechs, but eventually it gets to things like this:
GIADO: W-Would you like to look at the stars, Garnet?
GARNET: S-Sure! ...But, it's noon...
For a moment Kusuha is shocked, wondering if people really consider it to be that bad. Eventually, she does find an unsuspecting test subject in Ingram, who at least manages to put up a good show for her and doesn't show his illness until she's left. What a gentleman he is.
Spending the money earned this mission on maxing out the Grungust’s armor and the Cybuster’s mobility – one upgrade point each, as they tend to get more and more expensive with each upgrade. The Grungust is given the Chobham Armor I got, replacing a Dual Sensor which I give to Rai’s Schutzwald instead.
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