At the DC's headquarters on Aidoneus Island, Bian and his subordinate Adler Koch
receive a report on their progress so far. Aside from the EFA bases they've conquered so far, they've also turned against their former leaders, the EOT Council. The fleet that recently attacked their base has retreated, unable to penetrate the DC's defenses. The FE Brigade's Izu base, however, is quickly gathering PTs and readying the second carrier that has been stored beneath the base. This carrier is powered by Tronium, an element with very complex and useful properties that was only recently discovered as a consequence of Meteor 3 landing on Earth, and Bian realizes the DC might be in trouble if the EFA actually gets to use this thing. Having chosen his next target, he summons the best man for the job...Elzam von Branstein, who is now apparently a DC officer. Wonder if dad put him up to this. Bian gives him a newly-developed mech, the Guarlion, and sends him on his merry way.
At said FE Brigade base on the Izu islands, Laker has invited Daitetsu as he wants him to become the captain of the aforementioned carrier, the Hagane. Seeing how well his previous two ships fared, I'd almost expect the Hagane to be shot down on its first appearance, but third time's the charm I guess. Daitetsu himself hasn't entirely recovered yet from the Shirogane incident, but agrees to be the ship's captain because he wants revenge for his fallen comrades. The plan is discussed: while they don't stand a chance against the entirety of the DC's forces, a targeted assault on the DC headquarters should take out their central command structure, causing the rest of the forces to fall into disarray. This is acknowledged to be an insane plan, but it's the only chance that they've got, so they have to try. Desperation is as good a plan as any, so I say we go for it. Compared to the Shirogane, the Hagane is better outfitted for battles like these, prompting Tetsuya to ask what happened to the third carrier that had been built. Turns out the EOTI developed that one, so the DC probably have one of these things too. They go to check out the carrier, leading to another scene switch.
Ryusei and Rob are working on the R-1 in the underground dock, and at the moment Ryusei's running target practice simulations. He's doing well until it suddenly shuts down, leaving everyone to wonder what just happened. Rob says the T-Link System overloaded, though he wonders how that's possible since he didn't even turn it on in the first place. Once again, I'll just give a brief explanation here, just so this makes sense: the T-Link System, or Telekinetic Link System, is basically the R-1's main gimmick. It's a system that both runs on and amplifies the pilot's psychic abilities, allowing various tricks that would otherwise be impossible. Rob is left to wonder if it turned itself on, which he considers pretty much impossible, but concludes that at any rate the R-1 isn't ready for action yet.
Instead, Ryusei will be given the Wildraubtier for now, which is stated to be an R-1 prototype. Unsatisfied with the current situation, Ryusei wants to get the R-1 running as soon as possible, but Rob brings up the above issues with the T-Link System. Ryusei has no idea what that is, leaving Rob silently surprised that the pilots aren't told about that. It sure seems HE isn't gonna tell Ryusei, for that matter. Way to go, Rob. Could just be because he's interrupted by Irm, though, who comes to warn Ryusei that the Wildraubtier has a history of testing accidents. The last person who got injured that way was Kyosuke, the protagonist of the other route, and apparently Hans Weber was to blame for that one. Rob has temporarily fixed the problems, though, so Ryusei shouldn't be in any particular danger. This solution of his had better not involve duct tape, or heads are gonna roll.
In the underground dock, we re-meet Kusuha, who is talking with one of the Hagane's operators, Rio Meilong. Rio is pretty impressed with the Hagane, but once again Kusuha thinks all these machines are kinda meh. She does note Rio is "interested in this kinda thing too", which leads Rio to wonder if she knows someone else who's interested in mechs. As if by magic, Ryusei walks in, leading to a very awkward encounter as he wonders why she's wearing an army uniform. Rio introduces herself, but Ryusei doesn't pay any particular attention to her. After she was rescued from the wreckage in chapter 2, she was offered a job on the Hagane since she was a registered nurse, which now leads to Ryusei giving her an earful for placing herself in danger like this. Well aren't you a giant hypocrite, Ryusei? Rio loudly comes to Kusuha's defense, who is now left completely speechless.
Fortunately, this argument is cut short as large group of DC AMs is approaching the base. Elzam contacts Laker, telling him there will be no negotiations — surrender or die. Predictably, Laker chooses neither, and the attack commences. All units are scrambled and ordered to protect the Hagane, which is still docked underground. However, Daitetsu makes it clear he intends to launch because the ship is a sitting duck otherwise. He gets his wish, though it'll take a while to launch.
The SRX team and Kai's squad are in position now, with the exception of Ryusei whose mech doesn't seem to be working after all. Yep, that's it then, heads are gonna roll. His regular Gespenst is wrecked too, so that isn't an option either. For now he can only sit around while the mechs are transported to the Hagane. Garnet and Giado do a bit of their usual wisecracking, almost ending in a dick joke before Kai once again tells them to shut up during missions. I do have to say, the dialogue can get surprisingly raunchy sometimes. Never quite crosses the line, but the game is not particularly subtle about it either. In some instances, the blatant censor-dodging makes the dialogue even funnier, so personally I wouldn't have it any other way.
Time to get moving. I'm facing a reasonable number of enemies here, and they're all making a beeline for this point. The main objective, for now, is to prevent any enemies from reaching it while the Hagane is preparing for launch. If a single enemy moves onto that square, it's an instant game over. They aren't that tough, but their movement rate is nothing to sneeze at: their mechs can move at 5 squares per turn, and their jets can move at 8 squares per turn. As you can see, this is initially a matter of taking out those jets as soon as possible. Most of the time they go down in a single hit, though, so as long as I keep all my units within attack range I should be able to take them down easily. Then there's the mechs; there may be a lot of them, but they're not particularly tough compared to my team of badasses, so this shouldn't prove to be too much of a challenge after all. I had already taken out their front lines before I managed to get into position, so there were originally more enemies there. Once again, I have my units use Focus where applicable, and as I don't see much else of use that Giado and Kai can spend their SP on at the moment, I just have them use Spirit for a little damage boost. I make sure that Garnet does use Bless this time, though, since otherwise it'd practically be free XP I'm throwing away.
Winning this battle is a matter of prioritizing: use everything in your arsenal to destroy any enemy that can get on the point within 1 turn. It's tempting to treat this like a normal battle and just cut my away through their ranks, but the instant-lose condition in this case makes it risky. Thus my units carefully pick off every approaching enemy descending on the point as if they were a giant meat grinder, and soon the enemy can barely approach my improvised wall of mechs anymore. Then, after a few turns, a cutscene starts. The enemy is bringing reinforcements, led by a black Guarlion bearing the Branstein insignia. Yeah, guess who.
In the blink of an eye, Elzam makes his way across the map towards Rai, eliciting a WTF reaction from Giado as he witnesses the mech's speed. Elzam briefly greets Rai before he attacks...and misses. Elzam notes Rai is better than he remembers, and Rai says he's not the kid that Elzam once knew. This leads to a brief discussion between the two regarding Elzam's reasons for joining the DC and why Rai declines to do so. Elzam claims the DC is doing what is right, and wonders if Rai even has the ability to back up his ideals like that. He says the Branstein family name was too much for Rai to handle, after all. At this point Rai just tells him where to stick it, which pleases Elzam.
The latter then retreats, leaving all other characters stunned at what just happened. Rai silently wonders why Elzam didn't destroy the Hagane's exit route when he had the chance, as this will give us the advantage we need. Regarding the reason Elzam retreated, it doesn't take long for a possible answer to present itself: a MAPW launch warning is issued as a cruise missile has been detected approaching the base. For now, however, the crew just focuses on getting the Hagane to launch, and soon it emerges from its underground dock, ready for battle. We no longer need to protect the point now, and can just focus on destroying all units. Elzam remains present on the map, but I don't have to destroy him to win this level. It's not very probable that I could currently kill this guy anyway; both his stats and those of his mech are still way above those of my units, and trying to hit him would most likely result in insta-kill counterattacks. Besides, once again gotta focus on finishing off the mooks as fast as possible for my BM.
Soon all units are taken care of, I get my BM, and the Hagane prepares to take down the missile...only to find its anti-air weaponry is malfunctioning. Gee, what are the odds of that. The base itself doesn't have any way to take it down either, and jets would have to enter enemy territory to take down the missile at its current position. It would seem we're screwed, but Ingram has a plan. He wants the Boosted Rifle to be delivered to the R-1, and have it snipe the missile that way. The plan is initially decried as ridiculous since it's a supersonic missile, but once again, what choice do they have? Besides, says Rob, with accurate ballistic calculations it would actually be possible to do it that way. Not very likely, but possible.
Without even being sure whether it will function properly, the R-1 and Boosted Rifle are brought out. If it malfunctions now, Ryusei is probably dead meat...and what do you know, it malfunctions. The R-1 at least has the excuse of being an experimental mech, but with the amount of times even non-experimental equipment breaks down in this game, you'd think the EFA would have to start hiring better mechanics. This leads to a scene where Ryusei is basically shouting a Rousing Speech at his mech, reminding it of its reason for existing and telling it to move.
RYUSEI: Dammit! C’mon, R-1, move! Why are we here!? Hm? Answer me, R-1! We’re here to save everyone from the DC and the Aerogaters! That’s what you were made for!
The missile draws ever closer, and at the last moment the R-1 miraculously starts back up, finally allowing Ryusei to get a clear shot. And with that single shot, he destroys the missile in time and saves the day. It causes a huge explosion, but everyone is unharmed, including the Hagane. The Hagane now makes a break for it, towards Aidoneus Island to continue their mission. One of the DC mooks says they should pursue, but Elzam says their mission here is complete and that they should return to base.
ELZAM: Rai and the Hagane survived. Commander Bian said they’d be our saviors…and now, I believe it.
Aboard the Hagane, this time it's Rai's turn to do the post-battle brooding. He knew he'd be facing his brother in this war, but what mystifies him is that Elzam would join the DC. Ryusei notes he's surprised Rai's father is a UCC commander, which Rai immediately takes as a jab at his loyalty, but Ryusei quickly defuses the situation saying that's not what he meant. Eventually, Rai may have to fight his own father, which Ryusei finds a very strange thought. Kai's squad now comes along to congratulate Ryusei on his shooting skills in battle, including Latooni. She's still doing her silence thing, but Garnet "translates" for her. I swear, she's either telepathic or she speaks fluent mime.
RYUSEI: She’s quiet, isn’t she?
GARNET: Yeah. It’s kind of a long story, but she’s a nice girl once you get to know her…
Back in the briefing room, the SRX team is given all necessary explanation regarding the upcoming mission, which is mostly a bit of exposition to explain stuff like EOT and Meteor 3, which crashed into Aidoneus 7 years ago, causing the DC/EOTI to build their base there. It's heavily fortified, and according to Ingram their odds of success are only 9.7%. Understandably, Ryusei considers these ridiculous odds but Rai is looking forward to the challenge. As long as it's greater than 0%, eh Rai?
We now have a functional Wildraubtier, along with some basic weapons for our new mech such as Mega Beam Rifles and a Steel Knife, as well as a new weapon called a G-Revolver. Think I'll let Rai have it, the Wildraubtier is already packed with weapons.
