Let's Play (?) Super Robot Wars OG - Moon Dwellers

NOTE: Please take the contents of this with a pinch of salt and an expectation of occasional hyperbole.


In a mysterious place, two robots face each other down. Al-Van beseeches E-Celda to rethink his actions. Attempting to pilot the "royal throne" is unforgivable. E-Celda replies that he has something that he must pass on - everything concerning the Fury. Al-Van demands to know if he's gone mad. Does he really mean to make everything that their people have suffered thus far be in vain? Does he mean to consign the wishes of Shana-Mia and her predecessors to nothing? He, more than anyone else, should know what it means to take the royal throne. E'Celda tells Al-Van to stand aside, because he won't be pulling any punches.

The two machines grapple, and Al-Van notes that there isn't the slightest hint of hesitation in E-Celda. Yet, even if E-Celda was his mentor, as a knight of the Furia Holy Knights he cannot allow passage. As they grapple, E-Celda's unit is struck behind and blood runs down his face. Another man, Caro-Lan appears. He praises Al-Van for allowing him the opportunity to execute the traitor. He's impressed that the royal throne was able to withstand that attack. Furthermore, their Larseilam has no effect on it. Al-Van is horrified that Caro-Lan attacked a fellow without the princess' permission, but Caro-Lan replies that the rules of knights have no bearing on Agents such as he. Even if E-Celda is the protector of the royal family, the penalty for stealing the royal throne Granteed is grave indeed. Caro-Lan orders Al-Van to finish off E-Celda himself. Such is the wish of the knight commander. And what of Shana-Mia, asks Al-Van? But before Caro-Lan can answer, the Granteed attacks him. E-Celda flees the scene, saying that he has to go - for the sake of two peoples. Al-Van takes off in pursuit.

Caro-Lan is contacted by a shadowy figure, to whom he explains that the Granteed is heading to the outside world with Al-Van in pursuit. The shadowy figure asks if Al-Van was told the truth by E-Celda, but Caro-Lan dismissively replies that he is still ignorant. Caro-Lan offers to pursue as well, but ??? tells him not to worry. E-Celda is not long for this world, and even if Granteed falls into "their" hands, they have no means of controlling it. Even if E-Celda is intending to put into action his plan for co-existence, they still have Shana-Mia.

In the outside world, Fury units controlled by So-Des are attacking a lunar facility. So-Des whinges about how boring this job is, but the doldrums are chased away when the Granteed arrives. E-Celda sends out a call to any survivors that might be in the ruined facility, but to no avail. So-Des taunts E-Celda, saying that he's not that big a fan of killing. Humans break too easily. But if they're in a mobile weapon and you know just where to aim, you can prolong their agony that much longer. He laughs psychotically, and E-Celda realises he's going to have to fight this one out.

The Granteed is damaged, enough for its Potentiality L6 to activate. The enemy force consists of three Glassid-Lu's and So-Des' Kaleitsed. Once it hits 130 morale, the Orgone Cloud will activate and the Granteed will basically become unstoppable so Finger Cleave some faces.

Once he's beaten, So-Des mocks E-Celda and flees. E-Celda flies over to the ruins, looking for lifesigns. He finds two of them. A girl named Katia who recognizes him as Celdoa, and an unconscious girl named Melua. Katia sobs. Her parents, their friends, everybody else is dead. E-Celda apologises. Katia asks where Tenia is, but E-Celda replies that they're the only survivors. They need to get moving, the enemy will catch up to them soon. He opens the hatch and Katia helps pull Melua inside. She notices the ring above, and realizes it reminds her of the Belzelute. Melua wakes up and starts freaking out, but E-Celda tells them to strap him, he's bringing them down to the Earth.

INTERMISSION

Al-Van arrives at the ruins of the base, horrorstruck at the scene. He searches the ruins for any signs of life, but receives a call from Caro-Lan's shadowy friend. He's chewed out for venturing to the outside world without permission and taking the Raftclans with him. Al-Van notes that Ashari-Kreutzer has been wiped out, and ??? states that it was the work of the Guests. Al-Van is ordered back to base with a new mission, but before he can leave, a unit appears on the horizon. Tenia asks about her parents and Katia and Melua, but Calvina replies that there's no signs of life. Calvina addresses Al-Van, demanding to know if he's the one who did this. He's annoyed that the Raftclans was seen, and leaves. Calvina makes clear her intentions to give chase, but Tenia yells that she wants to go look for survivors. Calvina coldly retorts that they're all dead. The Belzelute loses power and sinks to the lunar surface, and Calvina angrily notes that she's lost her chance at revenge.

We get a text crawl summarising the past three games for us. Cue choice between Earth and Space.

We're going to Earth apparently, and we get Touya's dream from PV2. Shana-Mia talking about how everything is her fault and she wants you to forgive her.

In his house in Sapporo, Touya wakes up wondering why he keeps having the same dream. He notices that he's gotten an email mentioning he's received his allowance. Touya bitterly comments about how sending money is his dad's method of parenting before heading to school. Touya mentions the dream kept him up again, and Akimi wistfully comments that he wishes he had a beautiful girl waking him up too. Unfortunately, he just gets his sister. Akemi indignantly tells him to get up on his own for a change then. Touya mentions that counselors check up on him from time to time since one of the other students went missing. Akemi made lunch for Touya again, and he sheepishly asks how she has the time with how busy they've been lately. Akimi is about to spill the beans but Akemi steps on his foot and reminds him about the concept of company secrets. Touya curiously wonders if Mogami Industries, a major corporation, is so hard up on manpower that they rope the president's kids in.

At Mogami's HQ, Kouta and Shouko are visiting from Tokyo. Akimi and Akemi are shocked to see Fighter Roa here, and Kouta's surprised they've heard of him. Apparently somebody's been putting videos of Fighter Roa protecting Asakusa up on YouTube and Spacebook. Kouta reveals that he doesn't know how to Internet, and Akemi is shocked that somebody in this day and age doesn't use it. Anyway, turns out old man Jinpuu here is old friends with Kouta's granddad. Evidently the Compatikaiser initially fell near here when it first tumbled out of the world where it fought Dark Brain. Kouta explains a bit about how he met Roa when the Shura showed up and started raising cane in Asakusa.

EARTH STAGE 1: SOULSABER VS COMPATIKAISER

Roa reminisces about the good old days. After her lost his mothership (FORESHADOWING) in the battle with Dark Brain, he had nowhere to go. Luckily he crashed here, and there were two boffins on hand to help patch up his robot. The Soulsaber appears, and Kouta calls it the Soulfood. The twins explain that it has two modes, FF (Fighter First) which is the melee mode with Akimi at the wheel, and GG which is the useful mode with Akemi as main pilot. Kouta notes the similarities between it and the Garmraid Blaze, but Akimi replies that they have to run back to the hangar every time they want to switch modes. Eventually they're gonna sell the designs to the Federation to supplement the Personal Trooper and Armoured Modules. Akimi doesn't like the idea of somebody else using the Soulsaber, since he's quite fond of it.

Anyway, the mock battle begins. Your goal is to reduce the Compatikaiser (15000 HP) under 3000 HP. If you do it without taking a hit, you get the SR point.

Akimi is immensely proud of himself, but Jinpuu points out that the Compatible doesn't have G-Thundergate docked at the moment. Well so what, replies Akimi, the Soulsaber is missing its flight unit too. But it's time to switch to the GG equipment, so everybody takes a break. Akimi does a little victory dance while Akemi tells him to shut up, she's trying to concentrate. Their dad Zuiun gives them a call to find out how the mock battle went, but he's cut off mid-sentence by something in the sky. Everybody runs outside to see what's up.

EARTH STAGE 2 - FATHER, SON, AND FATE

Everything's gone to hell. Some strange aurora-like phenomenon appeared in the sky briefly. It's different from the Black Sky, the barrier that Ruina put around the world back in OG2nd though. Furthermore, a robot has appeared in the sky, descending toward Sapporo. Akimi wants to saddle up with Soulsaber and go after it, but Jinpuu thinks this plan is retarded. That robot looks like bad news, he says. Roa tells Kouta to go after it. He hasn't seen it before, but there's something about it he doesn't like. Roa offers to babysit the twins, and Jinpuu relents.

At the Shiun house, Touya notices that both his teevee and Internet are out. He notices a really loud sound and runs outside to see what the ruckus is. The Granteed lands in his front yard, and Celdoa notes that the Cytron System is acting up, seemingly thanks to that optical phenomenon. He tells Katia and Melua to head into his house, and that the boy there is his son Touya. They're to meet up with him later, he needs to hide the Granteed for now. Katia starts to introduce herself to Touya, when Fury units show up.

So-Des explains that by taking the Granteed out of Gau-Ra, the gate of Vodar has been opened. So-Des licks his lips in excitement, noting that the Granteed's Orgone Energy levels are even lower than before. Touya recognizes his dad's voice, and demands to know why he's here when he's supposed to be building robots on the Moon. His dad just tells him to get into the robot, and Touya flips out at him. Why the hell does he need to get into a giant robot without any explanation? Because everybody is going to die otherwise, explains his dad. Touya still demands answers, but Katia tells him that his dad is seriously injured. His dad asks him just to listen to him this once, and Touya relents. Touya climbs into the throne-like seat in the rear of the cockpit, and the Granteed immediately powers back up.

The objective is to shoot down So-Des. SR point objective is to destroy four of the enemy Restreils in two turns.

Once you've done that, G-Compatikaiser and Soulsaber (FF) arrive to lend a hand. Kouta's not sure why the "Guests" are still attacking, since they had a ceasefire with the Zuvork. Dad contacts Kouta and explains that he's not an enemy, and asks for their help in protecting the city. Not that he really needs any since, since the Granteed is basically the immovable object if you stack Fortitude with the Orgone Cloud. When So-Des attacks Granteed, he beats down his erection at the thought of dragging dad's corpse out of the cockpit.

When he's beaten again, he laughs that dad's time is up and they won't meet again before leaving. 色あせる心 (yesss) from GC starts playing, and dad apologises for not being there for Touya. He still remembers the day that Touya was born, the first time that he held his son. The weight of that curious little thing is burned into his memory. Touya tells him to save the reminiscence for later, they need to get him to a hospital. But dad doesn't reply, having passed on with a smile on his face. Touya screams for him to wake up, but to no avail.

At the Shiun house, Katia and Melua are having an awkward introduction to Roa and company. They explain that they came down from the Moon with Celdoa who, Touya interjects, is dead. Katia and Melua refuse to believe it, but Kouta carried the body into the house himself. Katia explains that their parents were employees of Ashari-Kreutzer, another robot manufacturer. They were working on a unit called the Belzelute. But the facility was wiped out, and they're the only survivors. Touya asks Katia a barrage of questions about his dad, but she only knows the robot's name: Granteed. Touya flares up at them, demanding to know how they don't know anything despite working with the guy. Melua breaks down into tears, and Akimi tells him to lay off.

EARTH STAGE 3 - GOLEM'S TRAP

Jinpuu checks in with the gang. The Federation seems unaware of what transpired, since the Internet and communications are all fouled up in the area. Jinpuu suggests bringing the Granteed to the Federation's Far East Base so they can figure out a way to hide it. Katia asks if they're to be interrogated, but Kouta assures them that they'll be among friends. The Federation arrives to assist us, but we've already cleared everybody out. But suddenly, their Lions start to act a little funny. Roa tells Kouta to get ready for a fight, the Kaiser Scanner suggests something is wrong. And sure enough, they open fire on us. Shouko recognizes this as being the same thing that happened to her once before, the amoeba thing from the OG Saga Drama CD. We're going to have to neutralise the units without killing the pilots or destroying the city. Akimi tells Touya to go hide while they take care of this. Touya runs inside and starts having an anxiety attack.

Roa paints a line around the edge of the city and your goal is to reduce all of the enemy units below 2000 HP without destroying them. You get the SR point for not shooting down any enemy units inside of the line. Because Touya's in the house, you only have G-Compatikaiser and Soulsaber FF to work with.

After defeating the enemies, there's no sign of the "amoeba". Its signature vanished when the last unit was shot down.

Back in Touya's living room, we receive a call from Kai who thanks Kouta for saving the pilots. Kouta wonders why the Amoeba has shown up again after all this time, still gunning for the Kaiser. Kai suggests we head for the Yakumo Base, since the Aggressors are on their way to the Shakotan Peninsula. He asks that we bring the Granteed and Soulsaber, as well as their respective personnel too. Touya doesn't seem too enthusiastic about the prospect. Meanwhile, Akemi is still thinking about the last battle. They managed to pull it off without any casualties, who's to say they will next time? She's afraid that it might eventually be them.

EARTH STAGE 4 - EVERYONE'S REASONS

At Mogami's marine plant, Zuiun is talking with Kai, apologizing for his kids' mischief. On the contrary says Kai, they saved some lives. Zuiun seems pleased that his kids might be rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Aggressors and the Steel Dragons. Kai asks him about the "package" they picked up, and Zuiun mentions that the pilot is still comatose. We're not sure where it came from, but it doesn't seem to be from Earth. For starters, it uses technologies we don't have, and the markings are in an unfamiliar language. The pilot appears to be an ordinary human girl, but they won't know for certain without further tests.

At Yakumo Base, our robots are being left out in the cold. Turns out that none of their hangars can store a fifty meter tall robot like the Granteed. No sooner do we have time to stretch our legs and an announcement comes over the tannoy. More "Zuvork" units are attacking, this time Mogami's marine plant. The twins immediately want to go, as does Kouta. Shouko has reservations but Kouta browbeats her into agreeing, since the Compatikaiser can't fly without the G-Thundergate. Touya gloomily waves them off as they run off to be heroes again.

At the plant, Zuiun tells the "Zuvork" units that they are an unarmed civilian facility and to kindly piss off. The apparent leader of the enemy force appears to take absolutely no heed of him, instead ordering his troops to capture the facility and search for the Ariard. They open fire on the plant, but the cavalry arrives. It's the G-Compatikaiser carrying the non-flight capable Soulsaber. Zuiun flips his wig at them for being stupid enough to come. They're test pilots with absolutely no combat experience, who mistake luck for skill. Akimi gets his back up and they start arguing, but Akemi tells them both to knock it off.

The objective to clear the map. SR point is to do it within five turns.

On the second turn, the Aggressors show up. Hugo, Lat, Arad and Seolla at any rate. Kai and Lamia went ahead to Yakumo Base.

After the battle, Zuiun thanks the Aggressors, Kouta and Shouko for the save. Then he rounds on his children and yells at them. Akimi gets his back up, but Aqua points out that Zuiun's reaction is because he was worried about them just as they were about him. We're to return to Yakumo, and Kouta fears the inevitable telling off he's going to get from Kai. They leave, and Zuiun thanks Aqua for expressing what he couldn't quite get out. Aqua implies that his way is better, alluding to her father. But before that goes anywhere, Hugo asks Zuiun if he has any idea why the plant was attacked. And, whether he thinks those were actually Zuvork attacking. Zuiun expresses the possibility that it might indeed be another race. But who? Balmar?

The Aggressor kids meet with the twins, with Arad noting that the age disparity is the opposite from Raul and Fiona (where he's the elder sibling). Akimi bluntly asks what they're doing all the way up in Hokkaido, and Seolla declines to comment. Akimi's not surprised, but he's no idiot either. The unknowns attacking this plant wasn't mere coincidence, and he suspects his dad is hiding something.

EARTH STAGE 5 - THE CRYSTAL DRAGON

Akimi demands to know what his dad is hiding, and Zuiun tells him to mind his own damn business. Akimi gets a bit petulant, saying that if his dad won't share, he'll just have to found out from Izu. Zuiun gives him some words of advice about there being situations that there's a time and a place for sticking your nose into things, and is relieved when Akimi leaves.

At Yakumo, Lamia reports to Kai that the pilot of the crashed unknown is still in a coma. They've been poking and prodding the Granteed ever since it arrived, but have learned nothing useful about it. Celdoa Shiun's name appears in the Federation's census, but as Lamia points out, the Shadow-Mirror doctored that easily enough back in the day. However Kai is pretty confident that he's indeed Touya's father, since faking a parent-child relationship isn't quite that easy.

Kai goes to meet Touya, introducing himself and his XO Lamia. Melua notes that Lamia is beautiful, "almost like a doll". Katia and Melua introduce themselves, and Kai states that they'll be transported to the Far East Base at Izu. Kai asks Touya if he was born and raised in Sapporo, and Touya replies that he was. Kai asks if he has a mother, and Touya responds that his mother Yuzuki Shiun died when he was a child. Kai asks if there's anybody alive who could corroborate Touya's history, and Touya says that his teachers and friends from preschool to the present day. That'd be a lot to forge, so Kai seems satisfied that he's legit.

At Yakumo Base, the OG Sensor in the Compatikaiser picks up something very nostalgic and a song I haven't heard in years starts playing. Roa freaks out, yelling that a gate is about to open. And sure enough, a dimensional gate opens and out comes a... dragon? Shouko wonders if it's a Youkijin, and Roa is surprised to see it still alive. He identifies it as Crystal Dragoon, one of Dark Brain's lieutenants. Roa points out that Dark Brain is already destroyed, so why is it here? For revenge? Dragoon replies that its intentions are not revenge, but it also has no intention of telling you anything more. It blows away part of the base, and Kouta yells that he'll take Dragoon on. Roa mentions that Dragoon's power was top class even amongst Dark Brain's army, but Kouta scoffs, saying that we beat Dark Brain so what threat is one of his subordinates? Shouko points out that we had the entire team for that one, whereas we have a mere three units this time. Kai orders the civilians to evacuated and Roa wonders what Dragoon is planning, since he deliberately whiffed with a potential surprise attack.

The objective is to hold out for 8 turns. SR point is to reduce Crystal Dragoon's HP below 40000 within that timespan. Dragoon has 61500 HP, for reference.

Touya wants to help, but the transport's pilot tells him to not to go and get himself killed.

After reducing Dragoon's HP, it seizes Compatikaiser and starts crushing the cockpit, saying that the pilots are extraneous. Katia and Melua wonder if everybody is going to die again, and Touya starts wigging out. He refuses to die without knowing anything, he leaps into the Granteed. He just needs it to move, long enough to get Dragoon's attention. But it refuses to move. Katia yells that she's coming too. She has a theory - the reason why Tenia was Calvina's co-pilot: perhaps these things won't move with just one pilot. That's why they were called to Ashari-Kreutzer. She leaps into the cockpit with Touya, and sees the same device she was in the Belzelute. She flips the switch and the Granteed activates, dumping the instruction manual directly into their hippocampus. Touya frantically bats at the controls like a cat, and Katia calmly tells him to chill the hell out. He demands to know why she's so relaxed, and she says it's probably her link with the Cytron Control System. Dragoon seems concerned about the readings he's getting from the Granteed, and decides not to play with fire when he's not in top condition himself. He flies away (rather than using a gate to escape). Despite Kai's objections, Kouta takes off after him.

Kai wonders what possessed Dragoon to show up now of all times, and wonders if Dark Brain has any other lieutenants running around. He turns to Touya, and asks him if he can get Granteed moving again. Not alone, says Touya, but Melua points out that his dad was piloting it alone. And like the Compatikaiser, it dumped all the necessary information on piloting directly into their brains. Jinpuu shows up, wanting to take a crack at discovering Granteed's secrets. For now, we're heading to Izu Base on the double.

During the intermission, you get a few new toys, including Kai's punchy Gespenst pack.

EARTH STAGE 6 - GUNNER GUARD

At Izu Base, the gang is tuckered. Three live battles in one day. Radha's prepared rooms for them, Touya is glum as always. He wonders why the Aggressors employs kids even younger than him, and Radha explains that they only care if you're good at robots. Lat explains that they were more or less raised as human weapons by the School, so they didn't exactly have a lot of other marketable skills.
Akimi still holds out hope that the Soulsaber won't become a mass-produced shell of its former self, but rather a hero unit like the DGGs. He's also revealed to be a major fanboy for the SRX Team. We're going to be doing tests with other pairs of pilots to see if they can get Granteed moving, like Hugo and Aqua or Arad and Seolla. Touya and the girls are going to be exchanging information with Gilliam.

In the command room, Gilliam shows Kai footage of the so-called "Crossgate Burst". Something exploded out of the Crossgate and released a massive energy discharge. That was the cause of the earlier communications issues, as well as the strange optical phenomenon. After that, Zuvork units and other unknowns started appearing near the Crossgate. However, the Zuvork privy council made a ceasefire with us, so Mekibos is looking into what's going on. In the confusion of the Crossgate Burst, several objects descended to Earth, one of which was the Granteed. However, according to Zuiun, the "sleeping beauty" recovered by his company fell before the Burst. Zuiun believes it to be an alien race besides the Zuvork. Gilliam isn't telling the whole story, but pulls the need-to-know BS when Kai asks. However, he does say that Hagane ran into the Alles Geist in orbit. It seems to have reconstituted itself, and crawled out of the Crossgate. Here we go again, sighs Kai. Laker puts a bunch of boffins are our beck and call, including perennial favourites Robert Oomiya and Eric One.

In the hangar, surprise surprise, only Touya and Katia can get a reaction out of the Granteed. Robert notes that the Granteed isn't too far from La Gias, Balmar, or Zuvork technology. Instead, it more closely resembles the Shura conceptually. At the very least, it seems to be older than dirt, which is a testament to its construction. The question of why only Touya and Katia can move it is raised, and Kenzou Kobayashi theorises there might be some special element in them. The ring above the rear pilot seat seems to read brainwaves and thoughts, not unlike the T-LINK System. We'll need to bring there here to figure anything else for sure, says Eric. And Kenzou thinks we should also grab Josh and Rim, since the Granteed's man-machine interface resembles the Sympathia.

Meanwhile it's time for the Soulsaber GG's testing. Akemi objects to this, it's almost midnight for heaven's sake. But Jinpuu has a bad feeling about things, and wants to get them in their best condition in case things go south.

GG apparently stands for Gunner Guard. No sooner does the GG start its test, but the base detects gravitational anomalies nearby. Akemi wants them to head back inside, but Akimi once again decides this is the perfect chance to show off the Soulsaber's power. But Akemi's the driver, and she starts heading back into the base. A large force of Zuvork units warp in.

The enemy force approaches from the sea, while the AI-controlled Akemi flees toward the hill to the north. To nobody's surprise except perhaps Akemi's, enemy reinforcements head her off. The SR point becomes to let her get four kills by the end of the 5th turn.

Meanwhile Touya is still being questioned by Gilliam, who plays good cop and tells him that he doesn't have to answer anything he doesn't want to. Gilliam states that nobody else could get Granteed moving, and he has three theories as to why. Their life data is input into the system, they have something on them that triggers it, or they themselves are special. Touya mentions that his dad called the Granteed the "sword of the imperial family" and that his real name appeared to be Eselda Shun. Gilliam files these keywords away for future reference.

Everybody praises Akemi for her decisive action in kicking arse with the GG. She however is quite modest, chalking it all up the machine's performance. Aqua turns it around by pointing out that she drew out its potential with no experience, and Hugo agrees. Akimi tries to get in on the praise, but Jinpuu's not having it. Jinpuu feels responsible for putting them in harm's way, but Akemi points out that they got the data they needed.

Mekibos related the information related to our crashed unknown "Drift Wing" and the sleeping beauty, as well as Eselda's name and title back to Zovork homeworld. No joy there, but Mekibos does said that the Privy Council didn't authorise any combat action on Earth. Gilliam asks if he can trust that, but Mekibos points out that as he's in Paris right now as a political hostage of sorts, he doesn't have much reason to lie. However, it might be Gorykunl, the Zovork war merchants. They've been moving in the shadows since the climax of the Seal War.

EARTH STAGE 7 - THE ULTIMATE PREY

A transport plane is cruising along, escorted by Gilliam. There's a test in the offing, and we're waiting to see a result. Gravitational anomalies are detected, and the Hiryuu Kai exits warp. The test of the spatial transference system they got from Zovork evidently works a treat. Lefina thanks Yon for her assistance, but she replies that she's following her Master's orders. Lefina wants to do a check of the ship to make sure everything's in working order, but Gilliam tells her that they're to double-time it back to Izu.

Back at Izu, Shouko is telling Kouta off for sleeping in so much. The twins have been up since 6, since apparently neither of them slept well last night. The mechanics went over the Granteed all night and didn't learn anything new. We do however learn that there's been some personnel changes in the Steel Dragons. As a result of us accidentally assassinating the previous President, Tetsuya's been demoted to first mate of the Hagane. The new captain is Colonel Gint Kitaumi. Furthermore, the new commander of the Steel Dragons is Commodore Miles Boothroyd, rather than Lefina.

Down in the hangar, Laker is inspecting the Drift Wing, which bears an uncanny resemblance to an Earth plane. Eric mentions that it contains a black box of unknown technology, but they can't really examine it too much without turning the thing on. Laker gives them the okay to conduct a thorough investigation, but tells them not to share their findings with anybody besides Commodore Miles. Orders from the high command, and all that.

Irm introduces the two new members of his team: Lieutenant Calvina Coulange and Festenia Muse. Rio explains that they're survivors of the Ashari-Kreutzer attack, and Radha takes off like a shot. Katina introduces her Octopus squad teammates to Calvina, who notes how young they all are. A strange observation, given that at 22 years old, she's not exactly a Christmas cake yet. Katia and Melua burst into the room, overjoyed to see Tenia in one piece. They're all surprised to see the other one alive, and Calvina gives us some background. On the day of the Belzelute's test, she was ordered to take Tenia with her since it won't move without her. The Belzelute has a Cytron System, you see. Anyway, when she returned to the base, she found an unknown unit had blown the place up. The Federation has given it the codename of Thorn, and Calvina wants revenge against it.

She asks Katia and Melua how they survived, and Katia explains about how Celdoa rescued them with the Granteed. Calvina inquires about Alistair Links, but Katia shakes her head. They returned to Earth, and Celdoa passed away. Touya shows up and asks Calvina if she knows anything about his dad. Calvina replies that she can't, in a deliberately rude manner. Touya is disappointed, wondering how she as a test pilot knows nothing about the Granteed. His dad just showed up out of the blue, gave him a robot, died and left him under attack by all these weird enemies. Calvina asks if he thinks he's the protagonist in a tragedy. So what, he lost his dad. Boo hoo. Does he have any idea how many friends she's lost? Touya retorts by asking if she's had the particular experience of sitting in a cockpit next to the corpse of his only family? Irm tells them both to stop using personal tragedy as a metric of comparison. He drags Calvina into a team meeting before she can piss anybody else off.

Down in the mess hall, Akimi is geeking out after meeting the SRX and ATX teams. Ryuusei pays compliment to the Soulsaber, saying that it has a handsome face and rocking the classic super robot look. Ryuusei notes the little wings on the head, and asks if it detaches like a core fighter. Eventually, says Akemi, but right now it's basically an escape pod.

Elsewhere, Marion is explaining to Kyousuke that she found some juicy information in the wreckage of Grand Christmas. Plans for a new Gespenst model that the Shadow-Mirror were working on. Axel confirms that the plans are legit. Kyousuke suggests they send the plans to Tesla-Reich to see if they'll build it, but Marion says it's almost ready to roll out. She'd like Kyousuke to collect some data on it. She asked Axel but he refuses, since he doesn't like Gespensts apparently. The new fangled Gespenst is called the Type H, with the H standing for Haken apparently.

Roa is giving the lowdown on Crystal Dragoon to Kai, explaining that Dragoon was one of Dark Brain's twelve lieutenants. Of the twelve, he is certain of the destruction of at least seven of them. As you're aware, Dark Brain's goal was to destroy the sentients of main worlds in order to absorb their negative wills (literally Keisar's plan in Alpha 3rd). To that end, he wants the Kaiser's Overgate Engine. During the final battle, the Kaiser used a kamikaze attack on Dark Brain. Meanwhile his allies launched an offensive on the Dark Brain Army using their mothership, Avatarship Grandread Fenossa. Avatarship refers to the fact that the soul of the god who gave his species their wisdom and power resided within the vessel. The whole machine god thing sounds unsettlingly like Gan Eden, but Roa states that the Grandread lacked a sense of self. They found it in the form of a "idol" containing great power, and then stuck battleship bits onto it. Roa doesn't know what happened to it since he fell to this world. Maybe it took out the Dark Brain Army, or maybe it was destroyed. With any luck, Crystal Dragoon is the only surviving lieutenant. Wouldn't that be grand? In any case, Dragoon appeared to be after the Overgate Engine still - but to what end?

Kyousuke returns from his meeting with Marion, and delivers news of the new Gespenst. Hugo is interested, as he used to fly one. And he's just in time, says Excellen, since Arriere has just woken up. He inquires as to her condition, and she replies that Eric has created a new medicine that should stave off the progression of her condition for two months or so. Arriere wonders that, if the Alles Geist has regenerated, has Devant as well?

In the mess hall, Irm is leisurely drinking tea while Calvina asks why he pulled her away for a "meeting". She asks about the Alles Geist, which Rio explains didn't used to look quite as grotesque as it does now. Calvina notes its resemblance to the Einst, and Ryoto states that resemblance is familial. After all, it was powered by the core of a Jetzt Regisseur. Calvina puts her head in her hands at the lunacy of the scientists in this world. At any rate, the leader of the Gaia Sabers turned out to be a Balmarian who put a bunch of technologies in a blender and made a upstart god smoothie. Alles Geist was one of the ingredients, so it's a bit odd that he's suddenly alive again and has been juicing from the looks of it.

Its pilot Devant is an Idealant, an artificial human. His sister Arriere and Ing are also examples, though the latter is more of a Machinery Barshem. Ing's not sure that Devant made it out alive, as he hasn't sense any human consciousness from it. True to its name, it's piloted by a "ghost" from the looks of it. Ing briefly wonders if Alles Geist has resurrected, could Euzeth as well? No, he's certain that Euzeth was completely annihilated.

Tsugumi meets up with Viletta, who says that they're awaiting word back from the top brass who are currently in a meeting.

In the meeting, Miles stiffly comments that the warp device given by Zovork worked. However, one or two pieces of over-technology aren't going to erase all the damage the Inspectors and Guest did to the Earth Sphere.

Laker reasonably points out that this will be a quantum surge in the Steel Dragons' ability to react to crises. We just need to install the other one in the Hagane and we'll be golden. However, Laker's not just to talk about that. Four days ago, the Fabula Fores suddenly exploded. Foul play is suspected, but the observation posts recorded nothing. Furthermore, the caverns have been caved in upon the ruin. Cliff, who was there, speculates that there was some kind of explosive set up to go off in one of the unexplored sections of the ruins. But the question is whether it was automatic, or if somebody triggered it. As a result, the Geant Chevalier has been unsealed and prepped for use. The Steel Dragons have meanwhile been given top secret orders from the high command. Former President Brian Midcrid (aka President Mutton Chops) enters the room. He flirts with Lefina a bit with a roguish wink, and Miles asks him to respect decorum. Brian explains that he's here to give you some background on your next mission.

A little while ago, they discovered a four kilometer wide artificial construct in Martian orbit. The issue is that it's home to yet more aliens, this time called Gadisword. This name is notable in that it's news even to Mekibos. They seem to be more humanoid-types like the Earthers, but unlike the last few aliens we were visited by, Gadisword extended the olive branch of friendship at first contact. Their vessel, the Rubble Pile, ended up in the Sol System as the result of an accident and they seek peace with the Earth. As a show of good faith, they've even offered to let us check the place out. The Steel Dragons will be escorting Brian to the Rubble Pile as ambassador, per the orders of the new President Harold Mellinger. Brian is pleased by this, as it gives him an opportunity to ask Lefina out to dinner again. The Hagane however, will remain at Izu, as we don't want to send all of our firepower off-world at once.

Because Alles Geist made planetfall somewhere, Arriere will be staying behind as a member of the Aggressors as a counter-measure. And the Aggressors will be temporarily rolled back into the Steel Dragons. The twins are being sent home, a piece of news that has Akimi freaking out. Akemi agrees, stating that their job is fi- oh look, the alarm is going off again.

Calvina states that if the Ashen Thorn (Raftclans) is among the enemy, she's going after it. Absolutely not, says Gilliam. Nor is the Granteed. Touya says that he's perfectly fine with that, he has no intention of piloting it. Calvina snaps that unlike like the little boy Touya, she has plenty of reasons to fight. Gilliam still shoots her down, stating that Belzelute is their only lead to figuring out the Granteed. She cockily replies that she's not going to get shot down, and Gilliam reminds her that he outranks her.

Reports of Zuvork mobile weapons attacking cities around the country start pouring in. We're scrambled to Tokyo to intercept the attackers there, while other units will be dispatched to the other locations.

In Tokyo, a young man whose face was graffiti'd by his college roommate as a practical joke presides over the destruction of the city. His name is Jua-Mu, and Al-Van's orders are the only reason he isn't turning the entire city into a car park. The Hagane arrives, and Jua-Mu replies that he couldn't have asked for better prey.

The objective is to reduce the Vorlent (Jua-Mu's unit) to below 2000 HP or every other unit besides him below 1500 HP. SR point is do the Vorlent objective in five turns. Another annoying stage where you game over if you destroy an enemy unit.

When you send him packing, the enemy flee in the direct of Asakusa, but Kai forbids Kouta from giving chase.


EARTH STAGE 8 - THE SHINING GRANTEED

Back at Izu Base, everything is going wrong. Gravitational anomalies are signaling the imminent arrival of baddies, and the ES Wave pattern doesn't match known Zovork profiles. The base opens fire as soon as the unit appears, but none of the shots land. Instead, the unit appears a distance away having seemingly teleported, destroying some MP Huckebeins in the process. The Ashen Thorn turns its sights on several other points in the base, causing instant damage to them without moving. Gilliam's Gespenst is hit directly in its cooling unit while trying to protect the command tower. Several more enemy units warp in, and all of the base's defences are offline. The Ashen Thorn activates its Cytron Sighting system and locates the Granteed and Belzelute, blasting open their hangars.

In the hangar, a panel is blasted loose by the impact and Katia tries to push Tenia out of the way of it. Calvina yells that she's going out in the Belzelute, but both both girls are unconscious. The twins run to sortie in the Soulsaber and Calvina grits her teeth that she's unable to fight in this situation. But Melua chimes in that, just maybe, she can get the Belzelute moving. She wants to protect Katia, Tenia and Touya and find out why Ashari was attacked. Calvina can make no guarantees of her safety, but it's better than dying in this hole. And so Touya is left to carry the unconscious girls to the shelter while literally everybody else signs up to fight but him.

The Belzelute and Soulsaber sortie, and Calvina's revenge sense immediately tingles. She spots the Ashen Thorn and flies straight at it. She screams that it killed everybody - Alistair, Melua's parents, the lot. She won't stop until she's strangled the life out of him. Akimi tries to help but she screams for him to stay out of this. But Akemi refuses, since Melua's in harm's way.

Objective is to destroy six of the Dona Lympi (purple robots). SR point is to do so without letting either of the MP Huckebeins get destroyed. In other words, rub some prayer beads.

After some exchange of fire, the scene changes back to the hangar. The situation looks pretty dire. Katia wakes up and asks Touya to carry her to the Granteed. If they don't do something, everybody is going to die. Touya finally decides to get in the robot, realizing that there's no other option. Robert makes no attempt to stop him, since he's one of like, a dozen kids piloting giant robots for the Steel Dragons. Just make sure not to die, he says, since it'll be difficult for him to research the Granteed if it gets blown up.

Outside, Calvina is suffering the Belzelute's terrible design. One of the Tesla Drives is damaged, and it doesn't really have the legs for ground combat. But the Granteed launches, and Al-Van secretly contacts it, believing the pilot to be E-Celda. Touya tells Al-Van that his dad died of the wounds that they inflicted on him, and Al-Van is shocked. Calvina uses that opportunity and tries to charge Al-Van down while he's preoccupied. But instead, the Raftclans rams its fist into Belzelute's abdomen mid-flight. Al-Van tells Touya to relinquish the Granteed to them, and he will pull back and spare the lives of Calvina and Melua. Katia tells Touya not to listen to him, but Touya doesn't know what to do. Melua asks Calvina to please not self-destruct the unit, because she has a plan. If they jettison the unit's legs and fire the verniers, they should be able to break free of the Thorn's grip. Long enough to fly back to one of the hangars. Calvina tells her to try, and the plan works. Al-Van is disappointed that they chose the path of greater bloodshed, but will respond in kind.

The Raftclans activates its time altering system again and lands a hit on the Granteed. Al-Van reports to another knight Fu-Lu for her to send the transport, since he's secured the Granteed. Al-Van states that he will answer any questions that Touya might have, since he's so fixated on knowing "the truth". But Touya replies that they already slaughtered Katia's parents, so what's to say they won't use the Granteed for the same purposes? In any case, his father died trying to get this to him, so he's not going to give it up without a fight. But suddenly, Touya hears his dad's voice in his mind and the Granteed begins to glow. The Extractor's output skyrockets, and Touya calls it Bhaskar Mode. Al-Van is completely aghast that somebody besides E-Celda managed to activate it, and Fu-Lu says that she'll be there as soon as she can. Al-Van digs in his heels to try and hold the Granteed off.

Objective changes to reduce the Raftclans Aurun to 37000 HP.

After you reduce his HP, Al-Van realizes that one hit from Granteed did a number on his Extractor. He decides not to flirt with danger and retreats, telling Fu-Lu to rendezvous with him later.

Back in the hangar, Katia is shocked that Touya doesn't know how he used the Bhaskar Mode. It was like the Granteed itself told him to use it, or perhaps the Cytron System. Touya apologizes to Gilliam for launching without permission, but Gilliam says that his actions saved the base. He asks if Touya noted anything particular about the Thorn's pilot. Touya noted that his voice sounded almost mechanical, and that he thought the Granteed was still being piloted by his dad. And that when he captured the Belzelute, he offered terms in exchange for the Granteed's surrender. He also called himself a knight, though Touya personally thinks that taking a hostage is rather unchivalrous. Gilliam tells him that he can leave the Granteed with them, but Touya says that he's going to keep piloting it. He's afraid, but running away will yield him no answers. Gilliam says that's fine and all, but really it's down to Katia to decide since it won't work without her.

Meanwhile in the hallway, Calvina is raging out at how pathetic a spectacle that was. Not only did she fail to get revenge, she had to flee to save herself. But, she reasons, if the Ashen Thorn has appeared before her twice, she'll make sure the third time's the charm. Melua approaches her and Calvina tells her to sod off, she's in a bad mood. However, as Melua goes to check on Tenia, Calvina thanks her for that ballsy maneuver that saved them.

Tenia's perfectly fine and as chipper as ever, and is surprised to hear that Touya finally nutted up. He reiterates that he's not going to unravel any of the mysteries surrounding his dad and Granteed without getting his hands dirty. He asks the girls to help, and Tenia's all aboard, since she wants revenge for her parents. Melua and Katia want to know the truth as well. Touya is pleased, but solemnly notes to himself that knowing the truth won't bring back any of the people they've lost.


EARTH STAGE 9 - RESONANCE

On a plane headed to Izu, our old buddy Clifford Gygax seems to be as sleep-deprived as ever. Between the Fabula Fores blowing up and the Crossgate Burst, things feel like they're ramping up for another war. Glacies says that she'll fight if need be, but Josh refuses, stating that his unit was the only one unfrozen. Rim protests, but he says that if something happens to her, Chris won't be able to come back. And moreover, Glacies doesn't have a lot of time left. Cliff agrees, there's no need for them to fight since the Steel Dragons are getting the band back together.

Down in Izu's hangar, Calvina is telling Robert to hurry up and repair the Belzelute. He tries to point out that they're a bit short-handed at the moment, what with the entire bases' PT forces decimated. Jinpuu offers to lend a hand. Calvina vets his engineer cred by engaging in a debate about the suitability of children in robots. For her part, she doesn't like having to bring Tenia or Melua along, but it's the only way to get Belzelute to move. Jinpuu replies that he's not interested in her backstory, he's just doing his job as an engineer. This apparently gets him the job.

The D folks arrive at base, and Eric explains that Geant Chevalier is being brought out of the fridge as we speak. Gilliam apologises but they're being sent back out on another mission. The Geant's cockpit can fit four people at a rather intimate level, so instead we're contracting out the Excellence Rescue to head back to Antarctica in style. Josh hears about the Granteed from Gilliam, and notes similarities between Touya and himself. "Hey Josh, look what I got you: a giant robot that allows a cosmic horror to bore into your soul!" "Yay?" Glacies stares at the Granteed intently, but before she can explain why, yay more alarms.

Yet more unfriendlies warp in, this a Zelanio-class battleship. The blue-haired bloke who attacked Mogami's marine plant Bilgo is here. They scramble some Zovork units. Granteed, Belzelute and Soulsaber GG launch to hold the line till the Steel Dragons arrive. Melua reports that the Belzelute's Extractor is running higher than last time, allowing her to use a new weapon. Bilgo orders that they start by severing the enemy's chain of command, and if the "traitor" dies as well, more the better. But the battleship takes a hit and SPACE MANBOW takes to the sky. Sorry, Geant Chevalier takes to the sky. Josh activates the Sympathia and immediately Granteed and Belzelete's Cytron Systems resonate with it.

Objective is to clear the map, with the battleship fleeing at 20000 HP. SR point is to shoot down everything but the battleship in six turns. You have three MP Huckebeins here to lend a hand, and they're a damn sight more useful here than they were last stage.

On the fifth turn, the Hagane arrives and drops off the rest of our team, who always seem to be late to the party. That's okay though, since Akemi had killed most of the map by then.

When the ship is destroyed or reduced to the threshold, it warps out. Kai praises Josh on helping to protect the base, while Aqua asks if Rim and Glacies are doing well with a smirk. Touya comes over and Josh asks him if the Granteed had a similar reaction when he turned on the Sympathia. Cliff might have the answer though. According to the telemetry, he puts forward the theory that the Sympathia is a simplified version of the Cytron System. In other words, the Cytron System is the original technology.

Gilliam checks in with his cute assistant Saika, who says that there's been no response from "sleeping beauty". Gilliam believes the enemy's goal was to recover her or the Drift Wing. Soon, she says, the Hiryuu Kai should be departing to head for the Rubble Pile.


STAGE 10 - LARSEILAM

With the route split finally over, the band is back together.

Deep in the Moon, in the Gau-La Furia, Fu-Lu is reporting to her boss Gu-Landon. He gives her the mission to recapture the Granteed, since the gate of Vodar is open and there's nothing stop the Baura from coming through. After the last great battle, only three of the moon knights remain including himself. She wonders if E-Celda's son might be of use to them since he activated Bhaskar Mode, but Gu-Landon rejects the notion. He will not suffer to use any part of E-Celda's plan since it rejects the bloodline descending from Creator Fureim. They need Granteed back, he stresses, for their plan to progress. They still possess Basileus the Dragon God, but they need the throne itself. He calls in So-Des, who will be assisting Fu-Lu in her mission. And he'll be using the forbidden technique of Larseilam, since Agents such as he lack the same scruples as the Knights.

At Izu Base, a really funky event BGM plays while our gang chew the fat. Gilliam asks Yon if she can report to Mekibos, since he wants to ask his opinion on something.

In the mess hall, Excellen is trying to get information out of Josh about Antarctica, but Kai reminds her about military secrecy. Kyousuke notes dryly that something big must have happened. Josh explains a bit more about the connection between Granteed and the Sympathia. Apparently in the back of the cockpit, he found some writing in the same language that was found in the Fabula Fores. Ergo, it seems likely that they were both built by the same race.

Kenzou's autopsy of E-Celda has yielded some interesting results. There is a notable difference between his parietal lobe and that of a human's. He theorises that it reacts with the Cytron System to cause expansion of consciousness and a long-range empathic connection, as well as... but he trails off, because it concerns his own research.

Meanwhile, Yon is reporting to Mekibos. The head of Gadisword is apparently Marm Cuysuid. The other important figure on Rubble Pile is Herluga Isberga. Her initial impression of them is that Herluga seems to be the more aggressive and ambitious of the two. She explains that there was a civil war within Gadisword in the past. At the conclusion of that conflict, their homeworld came under attack by mobile weapons of unknown affiliation. Whether by the accidental use of an experimental weapon or enemy action, some catastrophe befall the homeworld with many cities being lost. Rubble Pile became the de facto capital, and in an attempt to use warp to escape, was blown to the Sol System by mistake. Mekibos thinks this story is a bit odd. How could they make it to the Sol System in a single warp, when they're so far away that even Zovork has never heard of them before? Yon mentions that a force believed to be Gorykunl attacked the Rubble Pile as well, which annoys Mekibos, as it means more work for him.

Saika reports to Gilliam that the "sleeping beauty" has regained consciousness. She doesn't appear to speak any Earth languages, so information exchange will prove difficult. Gilliam tasks her with using any means necessary to communicate that we aren't enemies, be it body language or whatever. Once the meeting is over, he'll come down himself.

In the hangar, Eric is trying to explain the concept of Orgone Energy to Tenia, who isn't getting it. It's a energy that permeates the natural world, basically the "qi" stuff that martial arts purports to tap into, and is a fundamental force akin to gravity and electromagnetism. Rather like TE Energy, in fact.

In the meeting room, it's announced that former commander-in-chief Gaspar has decided that Touya and the girls will be stationed with the Steel Dragons. If Touya doesn't comply, he's to be threatened with legal action. Miles replies that there's no need, since Touya has decided to fight of his own volition. Daniel replies that the five of them, Calvina included, are to remain under observation for the time being.

In the briefing room, it's explained that Gadisword would like us to locate. Her name is Fairy Klivia, who was Marm's guard but stole a fighter and fled to the Earth. The reason for her flight is unknown, she might be a spy or a saboteur. Miles displays her personal data, and it's none other than the "sleeping beauty". Gilliam borrows Yon's translator to try and interrogate Fairy.

Saika has meanwhile taken Fairy out into a park, in an attempt at communication. It sorta works? Saika can work out emotions, but that's basically it. Speaking of emotions, Gilliam shows up and he's annoyed that she took Fairy out of the hospital. Saika reminds him that he told her "any means necessary" and he slaps his forehead. She's wearing a Mogami Industries uniform, which Saika evidently borrowed from Jinpuu. The Akatsuki twins come over, and Fairy suddenly gets excited. But Gilliam brings her back to the infirmary.

Back in the infirmary, Faded Heart starts playing again while Gilliam fires up the translator. But it's no good, she appears to have amnesia (dun dun dunnn). She has no idea how she got here. Gilliam asks why she was pointing and yelling at Akimi, and she replies that Fio is alive, but evidently doesn't actually know why she said that.

Alarms go off as per usual, and Jinpuu argues with the twins that they don't need to fight anymore for like the tenth time. For once, Akemi agrees with Akimi. She's afraid, but if she has the means to protect people who can't protect themselves, she's willing to do it. Jinpuu gives up and lets them go.

Today's guests are Fu-Lu and a contingent of her forces. She recognizes the Geant Chevalier as being one of the "keys" to seal the Baura. Josh turns the Sympathia on, and gets a reaction from Fu-Lu's unit, suggesting it's not a Zovork unit. Katia tells Touya to be careful, they don't want to be captured by the enemy. Touya tells her to say that to Calvina.

Objective is to pass five turns or destroyed everything except the Raftclans Faunea. SR point is to complete the latter objective in four turns.

On the second turn, So-Des appears in a Raftclans and activates the Larseilam. There's a flash of light and suddenly everybody realizes the Granteed is missing. Furthermore, So-Des is gone as well. There's no sign of either of them on the IFF or radar. Fu-Lu notes that Caro-Lan did indeed destroy the Granteed's Larseilam when he landed the sneak attack way back in the prologue.

Once the field is clear, Fu-Lu peaces out. The rest of the team are ordered to remain on standby.

Somewhere else, Touya and Katia wake up to find the Granteed separated from everybody else. To make matters worse, So-Des' has his rifle trained on the cockpit at point-blank range. He orders his goons to prepare to warp them, but suddenly his unit takes a hit. Yuuki, Carla and the Excellence Rescue appear. Carla praises Yuu for his excellent sniping. Free to move, the Granteed opens some distance. So-Des is informed that the sneak attack has completely destroyed their warp device. He pulls his hair out in fury that even using the Larseilam, you're making a fool out of him.

You now to wait four turns or reduce the Raftclans to 40000 HP. You have the Granteed, the Ravens, and the Rescue. It's more likely to be the former, since So-Des will sit in one place and turtle for the most part.

On the fourth turn, the Kurogane arrives and So-Des decides to flee. Kurt wonders if they should stop to mention the half-sphere they saw on the way here, but Ratsel suggests they leave. The new leader of the Steel Dragons is a bit of a tool he suggests, so he'd rather nobody know they were here.

Raul and Fiona explain that they chanced upon some weird giant half-sphere on the way here. Irm asks Touya and Katia if they have any idea what happened, but it was about the same for them. A flash of bright white light and they were suddenly elsewhere. Tasuku wonders if time stopped or something, but Raji explains that is physically impossible. Except Lat pulls up footage of the battlefield. An opaque marble white hemisphere approximately 1.5km wide enveloped everybody for a period of three minutes. The object was centered around the Thorn, and moved to the southwest along with it. Raji studies the footage and puts forward his theory. The hemisphere is a barrier, the contents of which are bathed in chronotons whose temporality has been slowed infinitesimally close to zero. The Thorn's local temporal state is unaffected, allowing it to move as normal. A frightening prospect, and Russel starts to list off the ways that the enemy could use it to kill us Tasuku asks him to stop. Kai states that we need to develop a counter-measure ASAP.

Afterwards, Akemi resumes her questioning as to the identity of the attractive woman in the Mogami uniform. Not wanting to breach military secrecy, Jinpuu pulls a BS story out of his arse at top speed. He claims that she's a new member of Soulsaber's maintenance team hired just a week ago, and her name is... uh, "Fairey Firefly". Akemi seems unconvinced, but Jinpuu claims she was injured in an enemy attack and suffered head trauma, losing her memories in the process. Akemi doesn't buy this story, since it was Gilliam and Saika that she saw with Fairy, rather than a nurse. But she doesn't pry any further, though Akimi swallows the story immediately.

Gilliam meanwhile is asking Raji for his ideas on how to counteract the enemy's time stop ability. Judging from Touya's testimony, it can't be used in quick succession without consequences. Mizuho worries about the fact that the green Thorn didn't use it to compensate for that weakness. That brings Gilliam to his next point. He knows why they disassembled the Timeflow Engine. But on the other hand, the enemy now possesses a weapon that can enable them to defeat us instantly if they so choose. No matter how you slice, we're overwhelmingly outgunned without a counter. Raul and Fiona agree with it. Faced with the prospect of blinking their eyes and finding everybody dead, the Timeflow Engine doesn't seem so bad. Therefore, their trip to Antarctica is canceled - time to roll up their sleeves and do some science.


STAGE 11 - THE TRAGIC NIGHT I

Kurt and Ratsel discuss whether the data given by Kai might give them a clue as to whether Sanger is alive or not. They're going to keep their distance for the time being.

Axel and Alchemie are planning to head to Tokyo to investigate one of the things that fell after the Crossgate Burst. Touma offers to help since his many part time jobs gave him a good knowledge of the city, but Axel tells him to stay.

In Shinjuku, another funky new BGM plays while two guys talk about getting drunk. A military truck drives by, saying that there's a curfew at 2100. Probably due to the attack in Shibuya, says one of them. The other one comments on how the Internet is alight with rumours about the end of days, the other points out they do that every single time something bad happens. Yeah but there's also that big gate in the sky, maybe it connects to Heaven or Hell? (天国 and 地獄, not 天獄 and 時獄 thank god). One of them notices something over the other's shoulder and boom, stage title drop.

A black miasma fills the sky over Shinjuku, and strange unearthly creatures appear from nowhere. They sweep through the streets, devouring humans whole. Alchemie identifies them as clumps of negativity, and Axel wonders if they're also from the Crossgate. Alchemie suggests that she summons Persönlichkeit and he agrees.

At Izu, reports start coming in of our new unknowns and their feeding frenzy. Furthermore, the "Red Ogre" (Persoen) has appeared and is fighting them off. Laker orders the Steel Dragons to Shinjuku, but Miles refuses to move without authorisation from high command in Paris. But reports start coming in that Paris is similarly being attacked by the weird creatures. The Hiryuu Kai's warp system is in maintenance and won't be ready for 48 hours explains Tetsuya, and Miles shouts to stop giving excuses and start thinking of solutions. Gint interjects here with a bit of reason, suggesting we assist Shinjuku first and collect as much data on these things as possible. Even if we stop the maintenance midway, we only risk the warp system going terribly wrong at the worst possible time. Miles agrees, and orders us to head to Shinjuku.

In Shinjuku, the Federation is attempting to evacuate the citizens without much success. The creatures are multiplying and cutting off evacuation routes. Axel wonders where they're coming from, and Alchemie says they're literally rising from the Earth. So Hell, or perhaps the Crossgate. The Dragons arrive on the scene, and Miles orders the other Federation troops to focus on evacuating the citizens while we neutralise the threat. The Psychodrivers immediately start feeling bad vibes from the creatures - hostility and hatred. The Cytron System picks up on it as well. Axel says that they resemble but probably aren't Ruina, but rather Alchemie thinks they're the spirits of the dead. However, physical attacks work on them. The real problem is that they seem to be endlessly respawning.

The objective is to clear the map. SR point is to defeat thirteen of the ghosts in four turns. Alchemie's cheap-as-chips Attune will come in handy going forward, and particularly here since the ghosts are surprisingly dodgy.

After you clear those up, a ton more of them show up. After Akemi's killed all of them too, we get reports that the ghosts have shown up in Osaka and Yokohama as well. And what's more, even MORE of them show up and surround us. Grab the salt.


STAGE 12 - THE TRAGIC NIGHT II

We pick up where we left off, with our heroes surrounded by the 2spooky ghosts. The thirty ghosts form into clumps and combine into larger ghosts. Gint suggests that we destroy all of them simultaneously and see what happens. Miles asks him to explain his reasoning, but Gint points out that there's no time for a lecture in the middle of a firefight since the ghosts aren't just attacking us.

Objective to clear the map. SR point is to follow Gint's suggestion and kill all enemies on the same turn. They each have just shy of 20000 HP and regenerate 10% each turn.

When you defeat the first one, it splits back into smaller ones just as Gint predicted they would. However, while six of the smaller ones went into the fusion, only three came out after the big one was shot down. Furthermore, the small ones have next to no health.

There's no sign of any more ghosts showing up once we've cleared the lot. The Hiryuu Kai heads back to Izu in order to get its warp system up and running, because we might need to head to Paris.

Back at Izu, Sakae reports to Laker that the Steel Dragons have wiped out all of the ghosts in the Kanto area. However, the AM battalions in Osaka aren't able to keep them from respawning. Laker has an idea about how to get some more firepower for the Dragons though.

Laker contacts Ratsel and asks that he offer any aid that he can. Ratsel agrees to send Touma, Yuuki and Carla over to the Dragons. In the meantime, he's on his way to Tesla-Reich to pick up a package.

Several people including Calvina, Kouta, Shouko, and the L&E Corporation (R guys, L&E stands for Lightning & Eternal as though to twist the knife deeper for R fans) are officially rostered in the Steel Dragons again. Josh has vehemently rejected Rim and Glacies' recruitment, but Sakae asks Kai to try and convince him to yield.

In the hallway, Kouta mentions to Shouko that we're heading to Osaka next to fight some ghosts. He wonders if Michiru is fighting the ghosts with his bare hands as we speak. So he asks her to fly back to Asakusa with the G-Thundergate and pick up the G-Bankaran, since Michiru might need it.

Down in the mess hall, the Soulgain and Ashsaviour have had their maintenance done, reports Minaki. Furthermore, the Kurogane is heading to Tesla-Reich to pick up Dragon and Tiger, along with the Grungusts and a new unit - the Gespenst Haken. Still no sign of Sanger though.

More Faded Heart as Kai tries to convince Josh to let his waifus join the fray. The high command has authorized the unfreezing of Dea Blanche Neige, Forte Gigas, and the Fabularis. Josh gets annoyed at Kai for not understanding, and reiterates that only he needs to fight. Glacies tries to point out that the Fabularis will enable her to fight with him, but he flatly refuses all the same. She asks him if he no longer has need of her, and he shakes his head. Rim explains that we only made it through the Seal War by working together, and that she doesn't want to be the sole survivor because she sat out the fight. Furthermore, the consequences of their dad's actions are still ongoing. Did he not himself say that he wanted to put an end to it for good? Isn't that why he signed up for the exploration team? Glacies says that just as she needs him, he needs her. Josh finally yields on one condition: that if Cliff judges their units unfit to sortie, they sit the fight out. They both agree, and Josh asks for their units to be unsealed.


STAGE 13 - GO WEST, STEEL DRAGONS

In a ship bearing a striking resemblance to Wendolo's old ride, a handsome man comments that something cool has popped up on Earth again. Some manner of biological weapon that multiplies rapidly. Kinach from Dark Prison is here, and a new face, a pink haired woman named Iradoya. The handsome fellow, Gomoudokka, who will henceforth be called Gom because his name is difficult, apparently saved Kinach from the guillotine. Gom wants another "Xibe Drive", and he's sending Kinach down to Japan to fetch him one.

Daniel reports that the city of Paris has been sealed off, and they've abandoned Federation HQ. Gay Paris is now, in both meanings of the term, a ghost town. The ghosts' codename going forward is Lamaris, which is probably a corruption of "lemures", the malignant dead from Roman mythos. We're being ordered to ship out to Osaka immediately and throw everything we have at the Lamaris there.

The heads of the squads have a meeting with Miles, where he basically reveals the deal with Fairy and the Drift Wing, and how we suspect Gorykunl is the one selling Zovork tech to the enemies. And the key to restoring Fairy's memories is likely the Akatsuki twins, as she recalled the name of somebody she used to know upon seeing Akimi. We're going to be transporting her, because high command notes that we're the safest place she can be. Or rather, notes Irm, she'll be bait to lure out the enemy. Miles asks if he said something, and Irm says nothing.

On a Zelanio-class battleship, Bilgo is meeting with Kinach. They're going to warp units down to Osaka in order to investigate the Lamaris.

No sooner do the units arrive on the scene, but Amoeba seizes control of them. This causes a bit of a stir back up on the ship, since the Bioroids are completely non-responsive. Neither reboot nor self-destruct commands are going through either.

Miles orders us to break through the enemy and continue on to Osaka. Roa immediately identifies the enemy as being controlled by the Amoeba, and Kouta reports this to the rest of the team.

Objective is to clear the map. You will fail if the Hagane fails to reach the eastern border of the map in five turns, and it's AI controlled. SR point is to let it reach the edge without taking any hits. Since the G-Thundergate went to back to Asakusa, you're using the regular Compatikaiser. Which means you get to use Kaiser Tornado, so everything works out in the end. This stage is notable in that it's the first time the enemy is twinned.

After a turn passes, it turns out that the enemy aren't targeting the Compatikaiser for some reason. Rather, they seem to be simply trying to stall for time. Or trying to keep you from getting to Osaka? In either case, they will move to intercept the Hagane and will frequently hunker down and defend if you try to attack them.

Once you clear them all, it's off to Osaka we go. Save some okonomiyaki for me.


STAGE 14 - THE WICKED CLOWN

In the Hagane's crew quarters, Fairy wakes up. She can immediately tell that they're flying through the sky, which surprises Saika. Saika informs here that she can only move around the adjacent areas, and Fairy blearily wonders why she's being monitored.

In the hangar, Eric is attempting to rip the black box out of the Drift Wing. Jinpuu asks what the hell he's doing, since we're about to go into battle with the Lamaris, but Eric isn't about to let combat interrupt science. After all, maybe if he figures out what makes this thing tick, he might be able to get closer to Fairy he says, with a perverted laugh. Jinpuu reacts with the appropriate level of horror, but the conversation is broken up by Azuki announcing that we're about to enter combat.

Meanwhile in Osaka, the Federation Huckebeins are blowing up Lamaris right and left, only for new ones to replace them. Michiru is trying to help evacuate a child, but they get cornered by a Lamaris. Shouko calls him, telling him to get ready, since she's dropping his partner off. She drops the G-Bankaran, and Michiru scrambles inside to clear a path for the kid. The Hagane arrives moments later and scrambles the gang. Katina tells Michiru that his skills better not have gotten rusty since last they met, while Tenia is intrigued by the Bankaran's bizarre appearance.

The objective is to clear the map. No SR point objective yet. 御意見無用!

After you've destroyed a bunch of Lamaris, the three groups of six that were sitting above the train depot combine into three Lamaria Karna, the bigger ones. The Hiryuu Kai arrives with Compatikaiser in two, so you can reform G-Compatikaiser.

On the next turn, something new warps in. It's a Buddha, says Kouta. No, says Michiru, it's a clown. Isn't it a sphinx, says Shouko. But no, it's Debudedabide, one of Dark Brain's lieutenants. Where's Skull Knight, asks Roa, but Debu claims not to know. Your gang share their thoughts on Debu's appearance. Yuuki offers "bizarre", while Leona offers "garish", and Axel "a bad joke". But more concerning to him and Alchemie was the gate that Debu popped out of, which looks familiar. Debu proclaims himself the supreme leader of the Dark Brain Army, and Roa says that he's figured it out. Debu's the one behind the "Amoeba" that was controlling those units to attack Kaiser. And what's more, he's the one responsible for banishing them to the Endless Frontier. Debu admits to it, the Madnet is one of his toys. Though as for sending Kouta to Endless Frontier, that appeared to have been happenstance. Roa asks if his goal is the Lamaris, and Debu's sudden silence proves he's right on the money.

SR point objective pops up here, to destroy all three Lamaris Karna in the same turn.

Once you destroy all the Lamaris, Debu decides to leave.

In the hangar, Eric and Jinpuu have made some findings in their investigation of Drift Wing's black box. It appears to be a generator of some kind, and its output increased in response to the presence of the Lamaris.

Two hours later, Gint has the Dragons return to ship, confident that no further Lamaris will spawn. Miles takes this as a sign that the Dragons can decisively defeat the Lamaris, even though he doesn't know why. What he DOES know is that this means that he's in charge of the squadron who holds the key to the conflict. A perfect opportunity to add a few more medals to his chest.


STAGE 15 - TAIPEI SCRAMBLE

In a fancy throne room, Princess Shana-Mia (who looks very sad) is addressing the Knights of Furia. The actions of E-Celda have once more opened the gates of Vodar and allowed the threat of Baula to plague them again. She reminds Gu-Landon that the Larseilam is not to be used without permission, and that they're not to attack Earther cities. The Fury don't seem to have any better idea what the Lamaris' deal is, though they refer to them as Gevirn, evil spirits who feed on miasma. Gu-Landon nominates Al-Van to go down to Earth and investigate the ghosts, and Shana-Mia tells him that he's not to go picking any unnecessary fights.

On the Hagane, Roa is explaining a bit of backstory. Debu's intervention was the cause of Kouta, Axel and Alchemie getting sent to the Endless Frontier, though he didn't appear to have done it on purpose. He didn't have complete control over the gate, and therefore wanted to capture the Persoenlichkeit in order to use the Einst's latent ability to spatially teleport. As to why they were sent to Endless Frontier in particular, Roa has no clue. Though he supposes that Debu's plan was to use the Madnet to carry off the Kaiser, since Dark Brain wanted the Over Gate Engine to heighten his own world-jumping powers. Crystal Dragoon and Debu likely used the spatial jump capabilities of the Dark Iron Castle to make it to this world, but didn't quite make it in time to save Dark Brain. Likely because Grandread Fenossa damaged them, though Roa notes that the survival of two DB lieutenants suggests the Grandread was sunk. Kai asks if he knows where the Dark Iron Castle might be, but Roa notes that it's protected by powerful camouflage so they'd probably have to stumble upon it with the Kaiser Scanner.

Meanwhile, Miles is sending the Hiryuu Kai to Taipei to destroy another swarm of Lamaris. To better understand the connection between the Drift Wing and the Lamaris, we're bringing it along as well. Meanwhile the Hagane is heading back to Izu to pick up the extra spatial jump system sent by Zovork. Fairy is being brought along, so that hopefully Akimi's similarity to whoever she knew will help jog her memories. But then, oh no bad news, it turns out that the Ashen Thorn has shown up in Taipei attacking the Lamaris.

The Lamaris fuse into their Karna forms, while Jua-Mu reports that the Steel Dragons are on their way. Al-Van reminds him that their job is to investigate the ghosts and to avoid conflict with the Earthers, which makes Jua-Mu sarcastically refer to as an unnecessary kindness. They detect something warping in and assume it to be Zovork, so Jua-Mu offers to go intercept them.

The Hiryuu exits warp to find Jua-Mu and company waiting. Lefina lets the Granteed sortie, but orders it to be recalled to the ship if any Thorns appear. Al-Van orders Jua-Mu to fall back, but Jua-Mu replies that he will stall the Dragons and cuts Al-Van off. He will not allow this opportunity to get away from him. For the sake of the Fury's long-requited wish to be fulfilled, for the sake of his family still asleep, and to avoid another tragedy like that befell Adu-Mu.

Objective is to clear the map. SR point is to reduce Jua-Mu's Vortlent below 24000 HP in four turns.

When you reduce Jua-Mu to the threshhold, Calvina charges him down and seizes his unit. He mockingly asks what she intends to him, her dear student Julian. Calvina demands to know how he's alive and Melua asks if she knows him, but Calvina tells her to shut up. Jua-Mu taunts her about what happened at Ashari-Kreutzer and throws her off of him, disparaging her as being "just a test pilot". He taunts her some more, but offers her a piece of info: his real name. Calvina completely loses all the wind in her sails at this revelation, and her morale plummets back to 100.

After Jua Mu is defeated, he's ordered to retreat by Al-Van. Calvina is beside herself, because he was an enemy from the very start. And then at Izu, the pilot of the Ashen Thorn saw right through her moves. Could it possibly be...?


STAGE 16 - THE NAME THAT SHOULD BE FORGOTTEN

Back in Taipei, Al-Van notes that while they've been able to damage the larger ghosts, he's unsure if they can wipe them out. The Dragons arrive on the scene, but the Granteed is not allowed to sortie for fear that the enemy will deploy their time altering tech to capture it. Melua is worried that Calvina's going to do something stupid, and Calvina tells her to mind her own business.

Objective is to defeat all Lamaris and Lamaria Karnas. SR point is to move the Belzelute adjacent to Raftclans Aurun within five turns.

When she gets there, Calvina immediately grabs the Raftclans. She demands to know what his deal is, and he addresses her by her nickname of "Calin". She realizes that he's Alistair, and he introduces himself as Al-Van Ranks. Calvina goes completely crackers, torn between refusing to accept it and begging to know why. He replies that he wanted to her to live happily elsewhere, but instead she joined the Steel Dragons and now stands before him. He asks her if she'd think about handing over the Belzelute and joining their team. As a show of good faith, he won't murder Melua either. He tells her to join them, the Fury, or he will be forced to destroy her along with the Belzelute. She flips at this, and screams that she'll never forgive him. All this time she thought he was dead, when in reality he was the culprit. Al-Van shrugs her off and tells her that he'll give her time to think his proposal over before nonchalantly vacating the premises.

In the Gau-La Furia, Al-Van reports to Gu-Landon with his theory that the Cytron System is the reason why they and the Steel Dragons are able to destroy the Lamaris. He also suggests that they might be able to convince the pilot of Granteed over to their side, and Caro-Lan asks why he'd consider that possibility. Al-Van replies that only the princess can activate the Granteed's function as a Key and reseal the gate of Vodar, but somebody of the Shuun bloodline would be a boon to their forces. Gu-Landon shoots down this theory, explaining that his bloodline is precisely the issue. No, the princess will pilot the Granteed, and her knights will protect her.

Back on the ship, Kai asks what her conversation with the Ashen Thorn was all about. She reveals that he was Alistair Links, real name Al-Van Ranks. Gilliam recognizes the name from Ashari-Kreutzer's casualty list, which sets Calvina off again. He wonders why a member of the staff would kill everybody, and Calvina screams that she has no idea. Kai warns her to calm down, and Gilliam agrees that she doesn't quite fit the profile of a sleeper agent given how much attention she draws to herself. She mentions that he tried to recruit her to join the "Fury" but isn't sure what it refers to. She mentions Jua-Mu, as being a kid she taught piloting skills to. Gilliam wonders if there were any other Fury sleeper agents there, and Calvina breaks down while reading off a list of the deceased. Lefina mentions that Miles is the one who'll have to decide what to do, but Calvina silently thinks that she will kill Al-Van with her hands no matter what.


STAGE 17 - HOOK AND SWORD

Miles passes down the order that Calvina is to be confined to her quarters until the High Command renders its decision about what to do with her. The Hagane is gearing up for its test of its spatial jump system, while the Hiryuu is to be on standby at the Taoyuan Base.

Touya tries to get more info about his dad out of Calvina, but she blows up at him too. She told him before, she didn't really know him, and why would she hide things now? Touya wonders if she might know anything about the Fury since she hung around with Al-Van, and she yells that she doesn't know anything. Touya presses the issue and she screams at him to shut up. Irm shows up and tells the two of them to knock it off. He's here to tell Calvina to go sit in her room, and she yells that nothing will stop her from fighting the Fury if they show up. Aya asks her to calm down because she knows where Calvina is coming from. Calvina scathingly asks how Aya knows what she feels like, and Aya coolly replies that she's not the only one who was betrayed by somebody they believed in. Aya explains that she has a few choices here: she can either make good on her promise and kill Al-Van. She can use him as a way to tail the Fury and figure out their plan. Or she can approach him and sound out his intentions. But if she just goes flying off the handle, all of those options go out the window. Therefore, says Irm, cool off and take her punishment for now, because he'd prefer not to have to chase her down as a deserter. She storms off, and he notes that Al-Van was definitely not just a colleague to her.

Meanwhile the Kurogane is on its way to Taiwan to deliver some robots to use, namely the Chokijin and Grungusts. Kyousuke explains the nature of Sanger's absence to Arriere, explaining that he got pulled into the same kind of gate that Kouta and Axel did before the Seal War. Raji meanwhile is having Marion fire up the assembly line at Tesla to start manufacture of the Timeflow Engine. Calvina mopes in her room.

Meanwhile, the Kurogane has encountered a spatial distortion, and Ratsel orders Kurt to put the crew on alert. Ratsel sorties in the Trombe, as Debudedabide appears. Ratsel goes to deal with Debu until such time that they can ascertain the nature of the distortion.

There's no point in attacking Debu, so just wait out a couple of turns. Space splits open and Debu claims that this is absolute proof of interference from the "outside world". The rupture spits out Haken and Aschen, who aren't quite sure what to make of the fight they've ended up in the middle of. Haken asks Sanger if the huge fat thing is one of his buddies, and Sanger denies it. Haken apologises for sending them to the wrong world, but Sanger says that he's grateful because this is indeed the right place. Aschen reports that the gate has closed behind them, while Debu makes plans to capture and study them. Sanger makes plain his intentions to return to the Kurogane and grab his beloved robot "Dygenguar". Haken, mishearing this as "Daisanger" refers to Sanger as "Little Sanger" and says he's going to stay out of a giant robot fight while on foot.

Objective is to get the Kurogane to the island where Sanger and company are by the end of turn 6. SR point is to do it by the end of turn 5. Ending a turn adjacent to a Madnet unit will inflict stun on your units.

After being recovered, Sanger goes to tell Kurt about the guests while Haken decides to kick back and relax. Aschen points out the Gespenst Haken and Haken does a double-take to see his old buddy Phantom here and scaled up to giant robot size. He talks to it, but Aschen reminds him that it's meant to be piloted and therefore incapable of response. He wonders if he'll make it to the party if he leaves now.

Sanger sorties in the DGG and Debu announces that he's the supreme leader of the Dark Brain Army. Sanger tells him to shut up, because he's the sword that cleaves evil and it's time to draw the curtains on the clown. Haken sorties in the Type-H and introduces himself to Ratsel, who is surprised he can pilot it. Haken replies that it was originally designed to be used by him, so he instinctively knows how to use it.

When you reduce Debu below 56000 HP, he declares that he's hungry and will therefore be excusing himself. Back on the Kurogane, Haken asks if we've got any Crossgates lying around so they can go home. We do, but it's heavily guarded by the Federation and he's on a ship crewed by undesirables. Aschen asks if he'd like her to hurl him into the Crossgate from outside of the firing range of the defence fleet, and Haken wonders how fast he'd be going when he hit the gate. Ratsel asks Haken to cooperate with them for the time being, saying that the Steel Dragons will eventually have to visit the Crossgate. Aschen agrees on the condition of three square meals a day and time set aside for afternoon naps. Haken agrees to join "Dark Horse" on their little adventure.


STAGE 18 - THE SKULL KNIGHT

Crystal Dragoon drops out of a gate, and Roa warns Kouta to tread carefully since they don't know what his objective is.

Initial objective is to defeat every enemy except Crystal Dragoon. SR point is to deal 19000 damage or more to him in a single combat.

After a couple of turns, another gate opens and Skull Knight drops down right next to the Hiryuu Kai, which can't be moved. He immediately sneak attacks the Hiryuu with his Cryskull Beam, taking out the ship's jump system. Kouta wonders why Skull Knight speaks in Kansai-ben, but Shouko yells that this is hardly the time for stupid questions. The Hagane jumps in and gets the drop on Skull Knight, who evidently didn't know it could jump as well. It deploys the DGGs, Grungust Type-0 and the Type-H to help out. Also Shine's Fairlion. Haken calls Skull Knight by his name, but it turns out to just be him coming up with a nickname off the top of his head. Bone Fighter would work too.

After the map's been cleared, Skull Knight and Crystal Dragoon make good their escape. To make matters worse, it'll take three days at minimum to repair the Hiryuu's jump device. And even better, Debudedabide has shown up in Jakarta with a hot mess of Lamaris.

Melua turns out to be a fan of Shine, and visited her kingdom before. Thankfully, no Lamaris have shown up there. Aqua notes Haken's surname and asks if he's related to Excellen. He evades and expresses interest in her outfit, which she clarifies isn't a swimsuit. She explains its technical use, but he's not interested in that. Meanwhile Lamia and Aschen are staring each other down, and everybody notes the resemblence. Aschen lays down the law by insulting Lamia and then stating that she will be referred to as Aschen nee-sama. Lamia explains that Aschen is W07, and is Lamia's prototype if you'd like.

In the briefing room, Miles explains that Debu showed up in Jakarta and made off with the Lamaris there. This seems peculiar, since why would they need to capture them for? Roa reiterates that finding the Dark Iron Castle will be a pain in the arse because of its powerful camouflage system. That being said, Miles says that the Hiryuu will be hanging out in Taoyuan until its jump system is fixed. Meanwhile, the Hagane will be heading for Jakarta to mop up the remaining Lamaris.


STAGE 19 - RUNAWAY GHOST

In the briefing room, a number of the members have been gathered. The SRX Team, the D folks, and the J folks (minus Calvina, who is probably beating up her pillow). Katia surmises it's related to the man-machine interfaces such as the Sympathia and Cytron System. Kai agrees with this assessment, and says that Kenzou Kobayashi has a special mission for them. He explains that according to his research, the Lamaris consume the will of humans in order to multiply. He even postulates that they might be able to subsist off the energy of inhuman stuff like Youkijin or Einst. He believes that the fusion into the Karna Types is a self-defence response when faced with powerful wills. To that end, he'd like the gathered members to help him prove this theory.

Touya seems uncertain about this, but Josh gives him pointers that might help out. Since neither of them are Psychodrivers, he suggests focusing on something in his mind's eye. Tenia suggests food, and Melua agrees that chocolate or cake would work. Katia sighs and says that throwing food is no good. Ryuusei comes over and agrees. For example, when he uses the T-LINK Sword he focuses on the mental image of a sword of light, says the "incantation" and then yells the attack name. (Tenjou Tenga Nendou Bakusaiken!). This last bit, he stresses, is crucial. Touya's not exactly convinced, but Josh and Ryuusei assure him that they've got his back.

The Hagane arrives on the scene and spits out the "Alpha Team". Also Arriere for some reason. Ryuusei reminds Touya to imagine a sword of light, and Touya gives it a shot. The focused willpower of Alpha Team causes the Lamaris to combine into their Karna forms immediately, proving Kenzou's theory right.

The preliminary objective is to clear the map. The SR point is to destroy 15 enemies in 2 turns.

After you clear 15 enemies, the psychics all feel a familiar presence. The Alles Geist arrives on the scene, bigger and uglier than before. Arriere wonders if its progression into a Jetzt has accelerated. Lamaris appear as well, and Alchemie warns Arriere that it's particularly gunning for her. Something is controlling it, and Arriere wonders if Devant is still in there somewhere.

The Alles Geist, having been juicing on a diet of Crossgate energy, and become the Endlich Geist has 82400 HP. It's the yellow team, meaning the Lamaris are hostile to it. More Lamaris are called in response to the Endlich Geist's presence as time goes on. Once you've slapped it around a bit, it flees.

After the battle, it's basically been proven that the Lamaris act in response to strong wills, and wills too powerful to be absorbed can be used to kill them permanently. Kyousuke wonders if this means we have to rely on the Psychodrivers all the time, but Josh pointed out that everybody on the team combined their strength to push Perfectio back into the Crossgate, psychic or not. Alchemie mentions feeling intense feelings of rejection from inside the Endlich Geist, and Arriere wonders if it's rejection of her.


STAGE 20 - SERENDIPITY

In the Rubble Pile, an adorable girl named Sally is talking to her "nii-san" Sieg, who grumbles about being called that while on the job. Presumably he's okay with it in the bedroom though. At a strategy conference, Herluga announces that everybody's buddy Marm (their leader) has taken ill. Apparently the stress of all that's happen to them has taken its toll on his heart. He's alive, but unconscious. Therefore to prevent the Rumble Pile from crashing into the Sun and ensure negotiation with the Earthers, continuity of government must be preserved. So he's naming himself supreme leader. This doesn't exactly go down a storm, and to make matters worse, he introduces his new best friend: Gomoudokka Gorykunl. Sieg and Sally are upset about this, but their boss tells them to shut up. Gomu-Gomu claims that the Earthers are all insane barbarians, so culturally speaking, it's better for Gadisword to throw their lot in with Zovork. Neither Sieg nor Sally seem particularly thrilled about this.

On the Gorykunl ship, Iradoya announces the successful coup d'etat. Bilgo denies any such thing, saying that Marm was only the leader by dumb luck. He was just the minister of the environment, after all. They're still in pursuit of the Xibe Drive that the Federation recovered. Until the Xibe Drive is turned on though, they can't accurately locate it. She's got an idea of where they might find it, chalking it up to her woman's intuition. She's just messing with him though.

Tetsuya is pleased that we've taken a big step in understanding the Lamaris. Ginto, however, takes a different perspective. The city is evacuated, but there's no guarantee that they won't return once the population - a large quantity of potential sustenance - moves back into their homes.

Meanwhile Akimi is chatting with "Fairey" on a monitor about a man's romance - the super robot spirit. She's utterly bemused, but feels a sense of nostalgia from the topic. Akimi abandons pretense and asks if he resembles anybody she knows, and Saika cuts the conversation short there. Akemi is still suspicious about Fairey's situation, asks Saika why they can't talk to Fairey face-to-face. Saika invents a cover story and runs off to report this to Gilliam, who is impressed by how sharp Akemi is. Keeping up the charade is going to be difficult, and Saika wonders if just telling the kids might be better.

In the hangar, the boffins have gotten the Drift Wing fired up. Eric's theory thus far is that the "black box" in the aircraft absorbs and converts energy, not unlike the Compatikaiser's OG Engine. Alarms go off, and Gorykunl's ship warps in. Yon notes the Liege Geios in the center of the enemy formation, saying that it's likely a manned commander unit. Haken asks their deal, and Irm explains that they're merchants who pay a high price for rare finds - such as Haken's cute sidekick. Haken tells Aschen that they've been through a lot together, and she tells him that she'll kick him to death if he tries to sell her.

Objective is to reduce Iradoya's Leige Geios below 28000 HP. SR point is to shoot down Bilgo's Geios Grude, which retreats at 23000 HP. The Garoika (purple urchin dudes) will make a beeline for the Hagane and attempt to dodge or block if you attack them with anything else. Bilgo detects the Xibe Drive's activation inside the Hagane and heads to attack it, with Iradoya reluctantly tagging along.






Notes et al (spoilers):






- 負念 is getting used more and more. Need to call it something. Negativity? Or as Asakim called it in Tengoku, Malice? "I must cut off the source of the Seven Malices" says XN-L. "No XN-L, you are the Malices" says Roar and then XN-L was Dark Brain.

- Lamalis are basically physical manifestations of the residual thoughts of humans, that started appearing after the Crossgate Burst rained light all over the Earth. Roughly analogous to the Neshama from Alpha 3 or the Idom from Z3. Kenzou Kobayashi had the theory that a strong positive will (like that of a Psychodriver) can suppress their power, which is why the Steel Dragons are good at mopping them up. Debudedabide wants to collect a bunch of them and use them and Endlich Geist in a ritual to create a suitable vessel for Dark Brain. But then Quad Action Auntie pops out of the Crossgate and blows him up.

- Both the Fury and Guardisword have their own nicknames for the Crossgate, respectively "Lu-Kuku Vordu" and "Zemon", both seemingly being something akin to "Gate of Hell" in their languages. Either way, establishes that Crossgates are bad news. Also the Fabula Fores was called "Zig-Geis Vordu" in the Fury language.

- Late to the party I know, but バスカー is probably Bhaskar and probably coming from the Sanskrit word भासकर bhaskara, meaning "shining".

- Kadum Hakham are a species, not an individual. They have the stated purpose of creating and nurturing sapient life strong enough to overcome "the Great Trial". Apokalypsis from Alpha 3? Who knows.

- Zanel appeared in the Machine Heroes' world and imparted its "teachings" before going to sleep to prepare for the Great Trial. Ages later, Roar's ancestors had forgotten most of Zanel's teachings and excavated it, incorporating the sleeping Zanel into the core of the Grandread Fenossa. It continued to fight even after coming to this world, but eventually Skull Knight threw it into the Guardisword homeworld's Crossgate and it ended up absorbing a ton of 負念, negativity and Zanel woke up. During the ritual to try and create a new vessel for Dark Brain, Zanel popped out of the Crossgate and named itself XN-L and stated its purpose was to rid the universe of the Negative Amalgams (負の思念集積体, aggregation of negative thoughts) such as Dark Brain. Its roundabout method of doing so was to destroy all sapient life, since they're the source of the seven negativities that the Amalgams are formed out of. This plan is kinda dumb not just because of the obvious, but because killing all sapient life would just leave behind the malignant spirits that will almost certainly end up being the source of Keisar Ephes' power in OG too. In fact, Keisar's plan was literally to kill all living things and rule over a world of dead souls to seize control of "fate" from the Infinite Powers. Apart from that, XN-L beats the usual OG foreshadowing drums: mentions Twelve Keys when addressing not just Sympathia units (which Perfectio called imitations of Keys), but also Granteed Dracodeus and even some of the Psychodrivers like Ryuusei. That they mustn't be allowed to possess a Key, and that the union of Twelve Keys must be averted. It also namedrops the Taikyoku again, specifically that the Steel Dragons' wills shall never reach the Taikyoku or something. It reiterates this point with its dying breath, getting cut off by the explosion before it can finish. Apart from that, it repeats a line that the Kadum in MKF had (七戒を犯す愚者に死災を、death to fools who violate the seven precepts), which I've heard people speculate to be anything from being about the seven negativities (1. don't be mad, 2. don't be sad, 3. don't not be glad, etc) to referencing the Book of Noah which had seven laws that non-believers had to follow to be assured a place in the next world.