Battle Mastery: 15 or more enemies defeated by turn 4
Axel has landed on a DC ship and explains to Lemon and Vindel what he's been doing since he arrived six months ago. Soulgain had been damaged in Operation SRW and fell to earth. Axel hasn't even been able to walk until recently, though he never explains where he was treated or how he hid that strange mech. Axel wants to pursure his vendetta against Kyosuke (“Beowulf”), but Vindel wants to leave him alive to take on “THEM.”
In the L5 sector, Lune has met up with the Hiryu near the White Star. Gilliam and Viletta are also aboard. Lune thinks there's something fishy about the Neo DC: even with Colonel Van Vat Tran's talents, six months is not nearly enough time to build up the power they have.
Elsewhere on the ship, Gilliam is pondering the strange mechs seen with the Neo DC, the ones that shouldn't exist in this world. It seems he knows (or suspects) where they came from and who made them. The White Wraith seen during Operation SRW is, of course, the Soulgain. However, the unknown enemy from the moon is a mystery to him. Viletta comes into report that his Gespenst Type R is ready for action.
A sudden enemy attack forces everyone to scramble: a loose ring of Bugs, fighters, and Huckebein Mk I Is supported by battleships has surrounded the White Star. The allied fleet is completely useless here, just sitting on the great terrain. Sadly, if I want the BM (or to even finish the stage), I'll have to move out and blow things up.
Gilliam has natural SP Regen and Hit & Away, and everyone's leveled enough to cast Concentrate a few times. It's kinda important for the Hiryu to get a few kills (or at least build its Will to 120). I move everyone out to start shooting the enemy, keeping them close enough to board the Hiryu later (and use the Command aura).
On turn 3, four unknown mechs teleport in... it's the Inspectors, Mekibos, Vigagi, Sikalog, and Aguija. Mekibos wipes out the EFA fleet guarding the White Star. When turn 4 starts, I have 14 kills if I been counting right. Now, the reason I insisted on getting the Hiryu's will up is simple: Its E Field blocks status effects, and Aguija's Silbelwind carries a Spiderweb, which would make it very difficult to escape. Gilliam finishes one more Huckebein with his Neutron Beam and flees to the Hiryu after acquiring the BM.
Now, some players might turtle up on the White Star to use its terrain bonuses to kill the Inspectors and get some good drops, but I've heard that this can take a couple hours and hundreds of resets to make sure you hit them. Screw that, I'm running.
Afterwards, the Inspectors' leader Wendolo arrives at the White Star. He's a creepy blonde fellow who keeps his eyes closed all the time. The Inspectors report on the situation on Earth and say they must destroy the barbaric Earthlings.
Viletta learns SP Regen and Attacker, her Gespenst Mk II R receives mobility and energy upgrades. I've received the Graviton Launcher secret weapon I earned on stage 6 and it eats 40 energy per shot. I might give Viletta EN Save to compensate later. The Launcher can actually be moved to any mech. Its full upgrade bonus is extra mobility and energy, but ten bars of HP and armour are very expensive.
Captain Lefina and Sean both learn SP Regen. The captain also gets EN Save to power the big guns. The Hiryu receives HP, energy, and armor upgrades.
Lune learns SP Regen and Attacker. The Valsione gets mobility and energy upgrades to fuel its Psy-blaster MAP weapon. Its full upgrade bonus can increase the chance of activating Double Image, but I'll be cheap and leave it for later.
