Part 12.4: Wherein lots of things are lost FOREVER.Calvina isn't quite as accurate as Kira with her ultimate attack, but with a quick casting of Focus, she can nail him and put him extremely close to death. Close enough that
our new main character can get her first kill.
He drops a very useful item, a Megabooster that increases movement by 2 squares. Not sure which lone cowboy we should give it to though, that would really break up formations, and Calvina is already several levels ahead of the curve.
Don't let the door hit on the way out.
The Layzner is one of our most evasive units, but even it takes a bump now and then, especially against more accurate units like these. But thats what Roanne is for.
David: So manly he can do a battle scream without any expression on his face.
As the enemy approach, they line up beautifully for
the Archangels Lohengrins, which damages most of them enough that they're easy pickings. No regeneration here, our boys can easily polish them off in that state.
Miguel, still stuck in that crappy GINN, is badly hurt after that attack, but is being covered by Nicol. Blade and Kira team up to take him down.
Cagalli is in no danger here. Why did it take so long to get such a good pilot?
As usual, most enemies go for the Archangel, which mercilessly guns them down.
A few sneaky ones go for David, who can't fire back.
As ordered, I turn off Support Defense when Mu is the one doing. This option can also let you switch between defenders if you have multiple options.
No matter how much the game might try to tell us Natarle is a better supporter than Murrue, we know its a lie.
Fear Davids Face of Vengeance.
Nice to see SEED Mode hasn't made Kira any smarter.
It ends predictably anyway.
Oh hey, Kuzzeys actually useful now!
Our turn again, and with just a few enemies left, I use Calvinas map attack to speed things up. She's getting basically no XP from them at this point.
Also, she now has over 50 kills, making her an Ace and letting her start with extra Will.
The last few enemies fall, with Nicol going down to
Davids Electofist of Death, like so many others.
He drops a Water Jet, an item we might want to discuss later.
"All those burning refugees will add hot air for bouyancy."
Hey, you helped. Don't sell yourself short just because in your own anime you don't get to kill anything for another 10 episodes.
...The Duel ignored her after the first shot and went for the Ship.
Again, I'd ask how that makes any sense given the timeline, but whatever.
I guess Kiras an atheist? Well, Flay's existance is proof that there is no benevolent god in this universe.
Yes, Kira. Tell us, why can't this woman, who's outperformed you despite all the obstacles thrown at her and all the random benefits hurled at your feet, be allowed to fight alongside you as a full member of the team? Why can't you acknowledge her as an equal? Explain, oh so noblest of heroes. We're all ears.
CURSE YOU WOMAN!! WHY MUST YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!?!?
Oh, I almost forgot. Flays not only a whore, she's a cheating whore, who apparently dumped Sai like a sack of rocks for a boy that two levels ago she hated as a mutant space monster. And I can't see why, I doubt its physical attractiveness, given that every goddamn character has the same face in SEED...
Well said, oh manliest of men.
...I guess what Andy said about Eiji being a random spaz was bugging him? Or something?
D-Boy detransforms, and theres the sound of glass breaking.
Stupid as it sounds, what Mu said kinda fits.
Natarle? Showing hope for the future? Is all the misery of the dead refugees and D-Boy finally making her happy?
She still doesn't want to breathe the same air as those dirty civvies, of course.
"The Misery must be concentrated in one spot, its more potent that way."
"If they see one useless guy doing nothing, they'll start to wonder if our policies on useless people are changing. And we can't have that."
Anyway, back to intermission, and Puzzle Robo:
Ryoko is in a badly damaged Ground Frame Aestivalis and has to kill something this turn without dying. She has enough SP for one spirit command, and her movement range and available weapons are shown. Neither Radam Beast have any terrain benefits. How do we take on these foes, and which do we go for?
On other fronts:
No-one did badly this time, other than Eiji and David taking the odd knock. This fight did show us the damage difference between the likes of the Layzner guys and our better-armed units, though. Their small size does hold them back in that regard. Calvina went on several rampages with her heavy guns, but they paid off thanks to the resupply units filling her up. It is taking XP from the others though.
Knowing all this, who should get upgrades where?
Also, who should get the Megabooster? Whoever it is will be hard to keep together in the same group as their partners, and would likely end up hogging XP. Not all of our units are designed for such solo work either. Perhaps we should hold off until we get someone without a partner, like a new super robot? Thoughts?
Also, the other new part is worth talking about. The Water Jet gives a unit S ranks in Water, which is very handy as most units have very bad ranks in water and treat it as rough terrain so they can barely move in it. However, most of our units can simply fly over water, with the exception of the Strike. If you didn't catch the hints that we're about to get into a water level, well, we are.
However, just because a unit isn't being slowed down by the water doesn't mean they're not hampered by it. A lot of weapons, especially beam weapons (but not beam sabers for some odd reason) do almost no damage in water, which means some units are in trouble fighting underwater enemies. The Water Jet can fix this too...somehow, allowing for underwater lightshows as before.
So, what should we do for this level? Give the Strike the Water Jet and rely on everyone else to use appropriate attacks, or switch the Strike to the Aile Pack for flight and give the Jet to another unit like the Bellzelute or the Archangel to maintain its firepower?
And finally, with the new Skygrasper, we can give Cagalli a Striker Pack too, so all three are in use at once. If we don't change anything, she gets the Aile pack which improves dodge and adds an extra square of movement, both useful for a repairer, but she'll have next to no firepower. Are we ok with this?