Battle Mastery: Map finished within 4 turns after Inspectors appear (All enemies defeated)
Sleigh has run off to either rescue her brother at TLI or berate him for choosing Ibis as the Astelion pilot. However, she has slowed down to allow Ibis to catch up and duel. It seems Sleigh has some serious issues she should talk about with someone else. Ibis has all of 13% chance to hit with her most accurate weapon, so I just kill time using Alert. After five turns, there's a cutscene where Sleigh takes Ibis down and we move on to the real stage as the Tausendfussler finally catches up.
The Inspectors show up after the wreckage of Ibis's Calion is retrieved, prompting Ratsel and Kusuha to scramble. The enemies here are Guarlions and jets, not real threat to these two. I send Ratsel west to take one group of enemies while Kusuha goes south against the rest. Focus and Guard will keep them alive for a turn or two, which should be all I need.
Once about half the enemies go down, the Cybuster shows up to help, though I have no chance to cast anything since it's the enemy turn. And Misaki can't dodge without Focus running because he's an idiot. Fortunately, Ratsel's Graviton Rifle can one-shot Guarlions once Attacker kicks in. Once the last enemy is down, Aguija shows up in her Silberwind and it's even faster than Cybuster. It seems the Inspectors are also interested in Shu Shirakawa and Aguija makes a reference to curiosity killing cats when Misaki's familiars get too nosy. Oh, and she brought some Bugs to play.
On the Tausendfussler, Ibis is desperate for an operational mech and Tsugumi hands her the Astelion prototype. Aguija runs rings around Masaki because he's a dope and even Ratsel can't keep up with her forever, though he does better than Masaki. And finally Ibis launches and somehow gives Aguija a hit that leaves her off-balance long enough for Cybuster to pull off an Akashic Buster. And a RAM Break attack from Ibis is enough to drive her off.
The Astelion always reminded me of a Macross Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode, though the “wing” bits are held completely differently. Filio left a recording in the cockpit telling he has faith in Ibis, that a shooting star rips through the night, never falling into darkness. And the Hiryu finally makes it to the rendezvous.
Even Masaki isn't fooled by the Ratsel glasses, and this guy flew around the Earth three times looking for TLI. Then Ratsel leaves to deliver that Grungust to someone and the Hiryu sets course for Aviano.
In President Midcrid's office, Nibhal Mubhal reports that the Inspectors basically control all of North America and have refused to respond to attempts at communication. The EFA has developed a plan to retake North America: Operation Plantagenet.
At Izu, Commander Laker and Dr. Kobayashi discuss the new pilot for the R-Gun Powered, who used to be on the White Star. This pilot's T-Link contact with Aya will be vital for unlocking the SRX's true potential. Meanwhile, Mai Kobayashi is having bad dreams about being Levi Tolar.
In Aviano, the Hagane has received the Tronium Cannon bow module and is almost back to her old self. Captain Daitetsu and Tetsuya are still worried about the Gespenst and R-Blade units used by the Neo DC, thinking some force might be at work behind the Neo DC front.
For some reason, Tasuku thinks the Astelion is the “Rastalion” for Giado. Also, Princess Shine has received two mysterious packages from TLI, the Fairlions which are the cutest little death machines ever.
Misaki learns SP Regen, and I shuffle pilots and weapons around since the game has sorted them into default mechs without asking me.
Lamia kill count: 49; nearly there, just a good push for a stage or two will do it.
Kai kill count: 31; level 17 (behind a bit, but I can use Cheer)
Arado kill count: 29; this guy will need a lot of kills soon.
