Super Robot Wars Z-III Rengoku-hen "Chain-Hell Chapter"
Walkthrough by Mark Neidengard
mneideng at ugcs dot caltech dot edu
INTRODUCTION.
Well, here we are, almost at the conclusion of the epic Super Robot Wars Z
franchise. We've seen these games on at least three different systems,
possibly four if you're playing both the PS Vita and PS3 version of this game.
I've been doing a series of these "one-and-a-half-steps-removed from a full
translation" walkthroughs for some time, and I expect you can find my entries
for the previous members of this series at places like GameFAQs.com.
The standard disclaimer for me these days includes the following stuff:
* One: these translations are intended for informational and educational
purposes: the original work is the property of the very hard-working
creators.
* Two: you may find cases where my Romanzations differ from fan, or even
"official", consensus -- my choices are driven by the goal of putting the
least barrier between the Japanese original and an English-speaking
audience. Don't expect recondite systems like Kunrei-shiki in this house.
* Three: I will be editing these sporadically as I go along: they are a work
in progress and will go through at least one full debugging pass before
upload to gamefaqs.com. Having said that, I welcome constructive feedback
at the contact address listed above.
Given the way Real Life(tm) has been going of late, I should probably add Four:
I will be working as fast as I can find time for, which is likely to be much
slower than either you or I want. I will proceed at Best Effort levels, and
hopefully we can have fun together regardless.
So, without further ado:
PROLOGUE:
O FOR A MUSE OF FIRE--
(No, nope, scratch that. Too epic. Lesse...)
ANOTHER WORLD, ANOTHER TIME, IN THE AGE OF WONDER
THIS LAND WAS GREEN AND GOOD, UNTIL THE CRYSTAL *CRACKED*--
(Whoops, not that either, uhhh...)
(...Sodding auto-scrolling text...)
(...Fishes out smartphone video cam...)
Yeah okay, so once more they will replenish themselves, cheat death again,
powersource = The Crystal, et cetera, so forth. You know all about the
parallel worlds, the Great Dimensional Quake that brought them together, and
the Multidimensional World that resulted. Otherwise you wouldn't likely
be playing this game AND using an English-language FAQ, since Rengoku-hen only
comes from PSNJ and *that* implies a nontrivial amount of sticktoitiveness on
your part. You probably even remember how the Geminids sought to seal
the people of the UCW and ADW inside the Time Prison, which certain do-gooders
foiled more effectively than John Madden and his Turducken. That's Old News.
What has gone BEFORE, is prologue.
What YOU want to know about is, what the hell have the main characters from
the previous games been up to? And where does Advent, interdimensional man of
mystery and forward commander of the radical wing of Chrono, spend his
vacation? Here's a hint: it involves *yet another* parallel Earth...
CHAPTER 1. The Green Earth
Shocking revelation #1: Advent's mech can ignore the Time Prison effect and
teleport interdimensionally at will. Certainly Advent's squad mate Blue is
shocked, especially since what greets him isn't the "blue" Earth he's used to
inside the Prison, but rather a "green" Earth. Neither the Geminis nor the
conservatives in Chrono come here, and that means Blue doesn't have to
camouflage his mech to look like Advent's souped-up machine. Just who Advent
is, and why he's singlehandedly swung the power balance in Chrono in favor of
revolution, are topics the writers intend to stay coy on for as long as
possible.
Instead we get a clarification: the Geminis turn out to be nothing more than
ONE battalion out of many among the Sidereals. All of whom, it would seem,
are on Advent's shit list. "Code Blue" isn't entirely following all of that,
but there's little to do but help his enigmatic commander. Whoever they are,
they're opposed to human evolution, and that's reason enough to blow them to
kingdom come.
Unlike the blue Earth, this green Earth lacks anything like a central
government: easy then for the Sidereals to subvert one nation-state at a time.
As an interstellar alliance, the Sidereals have a broad base of skills to
draw from -- and even two mecha as mighty as these won't be enough to stem that
tide. That is where the Sphere Reactors, some of whom are scattered around
this world, come in...
CHAPTER 2. A Maiden's Prayer
And they'd better come in fast, given the sorry state of the resistance in the
first town we visit. Overrun by aliens whose might and even purpose they fail
to comprehend, the soldiers face an unappetizing choice between a cowardly
flight, or a futile final battle to buy those still left a bit more time to
flee themselves. Unlike how the blue Earth pulled together in the wake of the
Quake and subsequent invasion, this scenario is another, equally plausible
outcome: total chaos.
If only, one of the soldiers muses, ZEUTH were here to pull off another of
their miracles. A ZEXIS would be fine too. But it's that futile death behind
door number three you have to watch out for, and if someone's got to die, the
group's lonely ace -- Setsuko! -- would rather it be her and her alone. The
bad guys don't give her fellow freedom fighters much time to deliberate, and
and they CERTAINLY didn't give them much time to patch Setsuko's mech back
together.
Now, the Maiden of Sorrows is no idiot: between her friends dying, and her
dying, and NONE of them dying, she's striving for the final alternative.
Her pride as a Glory Star member is still quite intact, and she's going to
need it in order to fend off Giltar Beronne: a smug, calculating man with no
scruples about using kidnapped children as human shields.
Apparently it's Setsuko he wants, and the building tension of the hostage drama
only gets severed by a well-timed snipe shot from Advent. Giltar leaves in the
usual self-righteous huff, and beating back the rest of the invaders will have
to mean that Setsuko trusts Advent for now.
That's harder than it might be because a) he fired a gun in the direction of a
hostage (maybe he's really Al Pacino in disguise?) and b) given that he knows
her Sphere Reactor cognomen -- not exactly common, or savory, knowledge. He
admits to having a keen interest in the whole Sphere business, assuring her
that her Valgora, torn from her during all the dimensional upheaval, will find
its way back to her waiting arms. Or more likely it'll be the other way
around: Advent's sharking up a list of lawless resolutes who can stomach the
enterprise of taking the green Earth back, as it were, hamlet by hamlet...
CHAPTER 3. The Charging Lion
Advent is super sure of himself that Setsuko will choose to accompany him and
Blue, both because concentrating power makes obvious sense and because they are
Fated(tm) to travel together. Well, he isn't wrong. Setsuko's decided that
the resistance aren't in any more immediate danger now that the city has been
evacuated and has in fact fallen under enemy control after all. She reckons
Giltar's main mission is seizing control of this world's Ley Lines, which form
a web connecting the Sidereal strongholds she's encountered so far. At least
that means it'll be easy to find the Sidereal bases going forward.
Parenthetically, "Blue", like "Advent", turns out to be a code-names. None of
the Chrono members are too keen on their personal histories being spread
around, so *all* of them maintain the same veil of secrecy. Still, Advent's
good will and self-confidence is something both Blue and Setsuko find
infectious.
Meanwhile, the resistance members driven into the nearby badlands are in
desperate need of some mechanical assistance before, you know, their next
suicidal charge into the teeth of the superior enemy. And what better mechanic
to bust some enemy heads than Rand, who conveniently appears just as Giltar's
forces are about to polish the rebels off. Giltar, indignant at this turn
of events, makes the cardinal mistake of calling Rand "The Crasher", giving
the resistance folks a chance to scurry to safety. With Mail nowhere to be
seen, nothing will quench Rand's fury save the demise of his tormenter.
Well, maybe some help from his friends wouldn't go amiss either. Setsuko
and Rand's reunion has to go on hold, since Giltar's been promoted to
generalissimo of the whole occupation force and has piles of goons to prove
it. This makes him more prone than usual to high-and-mighty speeches, all of
which increases the likelihood of Rand beating his brains out with a spanner.
Polite conversation resumes once Giltar has fled in terror. While Advent's
limited in what he can talk about, that matters little to Rand: his instincts
are telling him to join Advent's quest straight away. Like Setsuko, Rand's
been separated from his rightful mech... and of course from Mail who he figures
would be accompanying it. Rand's approach (setting himself up in business,
getting a mech, starting a journey to find Mail) is far more rational than
might be expected from a ravening Lion, and even when offered a cold brewsky
in honor of his addition to the Lawless Resolutes(tm, I think that's my default
party name from now on) he first prioritizes fixing the resistances' ailing
fleet of mecha. As he was originally paid to do.
All of which sounds very promising. But given that Setsuko senses from Advent
the same thing she senses from Rand, does that make Advent a Sphere Reactor
too? And if so, is he part of the grand game of gathering other people's
Spheres?
CHAPTER 4. Hanging in the Balance
It doesn't take Rand long to ask that very question, occasioned by a tasty
picnic lunch from master chef Blue. How is it that Advent and Blue seem so
similar to Earthlings, right down to the seasonings they prefer? And how was
Advent able to reach this world despite the Time Prison? Well for starters,
Advent and Blue come from another "blue" Earth, which originally existed in
the same world as this "green" one -- in fact, the two planets were only a
few lunar distances apart (which sounds perilous gravitationally speaking,
but whatever) until a Quake hit. Said Quake was caused by the Sidereals, and
Advent -- who's got the benefit of a space-time hopping mech -- has been
running around ever since trying to bring them down.
It sure sounds like he's a Sphere Reactor, but he won't say for sure until the
third other Sphere Reactor in this world joins the team. ...That would be
Crow, who's doing his best to balance benevolent community service with
extracting bodyguard fees from the hard-pressed resistance folks. His penchant
for being in debt, and his determination to get out of it, are as strong as
ever!
His hard work gets interrupted when some Firebugs turn up, still trying to
fill the void in their lives left when their "Princess" perished. They've
hired themselves out to the Sidereals, and seem to think they can persuade
Crow to rejoin them and eke out a living. All this accomplishes is pissing
him off, though he keeps his cool enough to taunt the Firebugs that they
aren't even worth his bringing the Blaster out to face them.
Cue the arrival of Advent and the crew, who rapidly fall in and help Crow
avoid a group lynching.
Come to find out that Traia personally requested that Advent find Crow: they
know each other from their exchanges of info on how to free the blue Earth from
its Prison. Thanks to the vagaries of interdimensional travel, and to the fact
that Crow appeared in a more recent game than Rand and Setsuko, it seems that
Crow got to spend more time in his timeline than they did in theirs, before
coming here -- in other words, this game follows immediately after whichever
game a given Sphere Reactor previously appeared in.
And yeah, like the other pilots Crow isn't sure where his Re-Blaster ended up.
What he does want to do is get back to Traia and Esther and resume servicing
his debts (though perhaps not _in_ the Re-Blaster very often, since piloting
it apparently costs more than the money it makes him). Advent makes him this
deal: help take out the Sidereals on this world, and he'll help with Crow's
debts back in the other world.
Now, about Advent's identity. He is very careful to say that if one terms
"Reactors" those who can draw upon the power of the twelve Constellation's
Spheres, then he's not one of them. See, there are things he doesn't yet know
about his own mech -- just as the Sphere Reactors don't know everything about
their Spheres. This much he does know: his Aescaleps is equipped with a device
that detects Sphere Reactors, and that's proof enough that the Sidereals are
pursuing their own Sphere research. His journey is indeed one to save mankind
and punish the Sidereals, but it's also one of discovery about what the Spheres
really are. Hence LR's next target: the Sidereals' sphere research lab.
CHAPTER 5. The Sphere Chasers
Word is starting to get around the Sidereals' rank and file that somehow the
rag-tag rebels aren't quite as rag-tag as they used to be. That's a worrying
thought, especially if said rebels were to launch a raid on a certain base.
But Giltar's Special Forces folks sound pretty sure in the ace up their sleeve,
an ace that their regular-army fellows might not want to see played. After
all, this base _does_ have a lot of weird stuff tucked away into its shadowier
corners. For instance, there's this girl who has an "Inspiration" about
Advent's mech...
Something has destroyed the special forces' reason, leaving only a hatred
that is actually _palpable_ to Setsuko (no Newtype, she). Advent has an idea
what that might connote, and his worst fears are confirmed when the remaining
scientists flee.
The bad guys have come up with horrible enhanced insect hybrids, hoping to
use their mindless combat instincts to further mess up the Earthlings' day.
It's working in the sense that the insect chimeras are messing up everything
in sight, including the base. So of course they must be stopped!
Pretty straightforward if you ask me. As the LRs make their way inside the
base, they run into a woman named Clavia Argo: the resident Sphere researcher,
and a red-haired guy who doesn't seem to know _who_ he is...
CHAPTER 6. Fugitives
Clavia seems pretty depressed, actually, perhaps as a result of getting left
behind when everyone else fled. She does brighten considerably when the topic
turns to the powers of the various Sphere Reactors among the party. So much
so in fact that she's basically decided on her own to tag along with the group
and study the Reactors at close range, even if that means switching sides of
this conflict. After all, she was impressed into the Sidereals against her
will, around an Earth year ago when her homeworld of Eskohl was overrun.
She is in fact quite the spazz, but her intentions seem good enough. The red-
haired guy is the complete opposite, being apparently the calm sort of
amnesiac. As a low-level researcher Clavia doesn't _know_ what was done to
him, but she can take an educated guess: the same sort of thing that was done
to those insects from the previous battle. Before the team can decide whether
to take him along or not...
..Word comes in from Blue, who's spotted the Sidereals fighting amongst
themselves. It _was_ a many-on-many engagement, but by the time the LRs arrive
it's down to many-on-one. And that "one" is piloting the same kind of mech as
Giltar, making him some kind of bigshot. Sardias Axe by name, and he throws
himself on the team's mercy. That's a tricky proposition, but given that his
pursuers include the Firebugs, Crow declares that at least _they_ must go.
Setsuko's still worried about the mystery guy (who's under Advent's care) but
with live adversaries at hand, she can't afford to be too distracted.
As usual, the bad guys have reinforcements hiding in the wings. And as
usual, so do the good guys. The mystery guy, of his own volition, has
petitioned Advent to jump in and beat some Sidereal patootie. He may not
know his own name, but he does feel plenty at home in the cockpit. Perhaps,
the man reasons, battling will lead him to find out who he really is?
Despite appearances, Advent is no Pollyanna simpleton. He's well aware that
all these exploits are going to draw more and more attention to the LRs,
probably resulting in adversaries appearing that the team won't be able to
handle. This is a serious strategic problem, but strategy has to take a back
seat to tactics when the wolves are scratching at the door. At least the team
has some new firepower, thanks to the mystery guy who Setsuko christens "Orion"
based on the symbol on his mech.
Even Sardias is interested in joining the war effort, though it turns out he's
NOT the commander-level dude his mech would have led one to believe -- one
steals the best vehicle one can if one wants to beat a hasty getaway. Saru
("Monkey", for short) hails from the second planet of the E3 System, and
*never* thought he'd have been sent so far from home. It's almost comforting
to think that people everywhere face the same familiar struggles, though an
absence of struggles would be even better. Speaking of which, "Orion" suffered
more stress than he let on in the previous battle and requires some of
Setsuko's first aid. Clavia, meanwhile, is hard at work collating the data
she's just seen and preparing a report that Advent claims will determine the
course of battles to come.
CHAPTER 7. The Battle for Terminal Base
Resistance reconn forces have snuck up close to the nearest Sidereal regional
base, which straddles more than one Ley Line. Unlike previous Sidereal
installations that occupy pre-existing Earth structures, this one is newly
built and especially annoying to some of the fighters in the group. Should
they attack it out of spite (which one of the fighters mis-ascribes to a desire
to "make things easier for the next wave")? That would be a big fat "no",
thanks to some kind of superweapon that Giltar has been polishing just for this
day. He most especially wants to show its destructive power to Setsuko, having
apparently latched onto her as his nemesis.
Clavia has a guess what this unseen, unheralded weapon is: a Dimensional
Transposition Cannon. She knew of it only as plans on someone's drawing board,
but it seems that FULLY OPERATIONAL BATTLESTATION status has been achieved
behind the scenes. This is a major headache, since the base it's protecting is
where data on the whereabouts of the Sphere-bearing mecha has been sent for
archiving. Plus toppling said base would throw Sidereal control over this
whole region into chaos, boosting the rebel cause immensely. The rebels are
prepared to do their part in creating a diversion, but for Advent to take out
that D.T.C., he'll need Clavia's help as a hacker.
Setsuko wants Orion to stay behind, but he sees no reason to do so. Amidst the
fog inside his head, one emotion remains clear: his hatred for the Sidereals.
He means to fight until its source becomes clear, and that strikes Setsuko
as...*drumroll please*...terribly sad. Maiden of Sorrows in the HIZZY.
The target has the oh-so-practical designation "Terminal Base", as though it
was the only such structure in the universe. One presumes there's one of these
planned for wherever Ley Lines intersect, but maybe the Sidereal construction
crews are backlogged. Advent's scrounged up an assistant with the codename
"Red", who is in charge of a cobbled-together transport ship Advent's
christened the "Green Earth". The sight of the ragged rebels delights Giltar,
who assures Setsuko's teammates that all of them will share the same miserable
fate as her. Typical Giltar, sniffs Sardias: the one person on this continent
_least_ suitable for command. This evaluation predictably provokes Giltar to
fire his D.T.C. *and miss*, which is just as Advent wanted: such a powerful
weapon can't possibly be rapid-fire.
The resulting time lag is the team's chance to storm the base and earn bonus
payouts from Advent should they succeed. Crow is all over them apples, vowing
to carry Clavia safely to where her part of the mission awaits. She eagerly
takes his suggestion to cover her eyes for fear, which makes him grin immensely
-- she's the first female he's seen in eons who actually reacts _normally_ to
the stresses of this kind of job. What an honor, she stammers. The team's got
four turns till the D.T.C. onslaught forces them to retreat, so there's
precious little time to waste.
At the destination, Crow has to dismount and play bodyguard as he all but
bodily carries Clavia inside. She's got a severe lack of self-confidence (and
of experience staying calm under hostile fire), but Crow turns out to be
impressively apt as a motivator. Forget about who she _was_, he tells her, and
think about who she _can_ be. And she'd better do it quick, since doods with
machine guns aren't likely to give her all day.
True again to form, Giltar strides onto the battlefield in person when he
figures he can no longer lose, meaning to lord his victory over the hapless
ruffians who DARE sully his doorstep. That smugness comes to an abrupt end
when Crow emerges and resumes his sniping. Clavia, it turns out, has done more
than just breach the database: she's figured out that the D.T.C. uses
Dimensional Energy, and can be reconfigured as a long-range *repair* mechanism.
She's every bit the woman Advent figured her for, evidently. In fact, she even
manages to hop in a mech and save Crow from an unexpected long-range shot...
which wouldn't have done jack, but her initiative itself is very promising.
Battlefield romance for the win! And Giltar, deprived of his whole support
system, for the impending loss.
Crow boots his ass off the battlefield before he can even finish his "Rue The
Day" speech, and with his flight the other Sidereals bail too. The base itself
seems unharmed, which might imply that it's destruction is riskier than the
team realizes. Clavia will get to check that out, though while she does so
she'll nurse a minor grudge against Crow for thanking her "for making his bonus
larger". Crow, you might recall, just does _not_ relate to women optimally...
Anyway, the result: this base functions much like the ZONEs, gathering
Dimensional Energy from channels running through the planet's surface. Some
might recall how a malfunctioning ZONE once laid waste to Insalaum, and if the
Sidereals intend to keep playing with the Ley Lines on this world, history
might just repeat itself here...!
CHAPTER 8. Shikuu's Caprice
What is it about the Spheres that gets Clavia out of bed in the morning? It's
the prospect of bending space and time themselves to the user's will. Mind
you, there's the danger of accidentally laying waste to a planet or several
by accident, never mind on purpose via weapons like the D.T.C. Also, setting
aside the Earth's advantageous position for using Dimensional Energy -- the
fact is that Earth's (approximately) the farthest planet from the bright center
of the galaxy, and all the power struggles transpiring there.
..Whoa, hold the phone. Altering space-time has become pretty old hat by this
point, but galactic-scale Game of Thrones?! More or less, smirks Sardias,
though as a emigree from a similarly back-water planet he doesn't know all the
details. One thing he's fairly certain of is that the warfare isn't just
about territory, which a _frigging_galaxy_ has plenty of to go around. The
conflict has been playing out for centuries (at least) across a panoply of
different settings, and the main Sidereal force is taking part near the
galactic core.
If anything, the Earth should count itself fortunate for being far removed from
the main loci of strife. Many planets have lost things the Earthlings can take
for granted, and chief among them is, for lack of a better word, "human-ness".
Emotion, life-force, will -- all these are on the wane in the places Saru and
Clavia have visited. In point of fact, few other planets have mounted even
token resistance to the Sidereals' invasion, and Clavia suspects this must be
somehow connected to why so many Spheres seem to be gathering on Earth.
Don't forget: the Spheres' power makes physical distance irrelevant. Saru
might view the parochial Earth as a poor fulcrum for galactic court intrigue,
but in Clavia's view it might in fact be the _perfect_ place to stand to move
the world. With the right application of Sphere power, the Earth's abundant
Dimensional Energy could become anyone's Black Lotus, so to speak.
So that could explain what the Sidereals want with the Sphere Reactors, but
it's still unclear how they've been gathering intel on them. If Crow had to
guess, it might be something like how mature Reactors seem to have an innate
sense of who other Reactors -- mature or not -- are. That's been true for
the three gathered here, as well as for Eim and Yuusar, and if his guess is
right, it should mean that the Sidereals have at least one Reactor in their
midst too. And probably a very mature one at that. Clavia professes not
to _know_ of such a person in the science division, but it certainly wouldn't
surprise her.
Chit-chat is cut short by an intruder alert: a single mech has come to
confront the base and its resistance forces. Either that means the bad guy is
suicidal or, from the vibes Crow and friends are getting, it means that
everyone is about to have a_very_ bad day. Given the size and sheer
creepiness of the mech, I think the latter is a foregone conclusion. The
Reactors on the LRs yell for the rebels to get the fuck out of dodge,
abandoning the base and getting as far away as possible from the adversary,
one Shikuu by name.
There's no doubt that Shikuu is vastly stronger than Crow and friends, and the
only possible saving grace is that he's not serving the Sidereals because he
agrees with their cause. To Advent, Shikuu names himself more of a Sidereal
"contractor", which isn't very comforting when he gates in a bunch of lackeys
for the lolz. There's no point in running right away, especially since doing
so would mean the resistance forces' doom. Rather, the team have to hang on
for five turns, and do as much damage as they can.
The Silent Cancer's mech is massive and helluva grotesque, but as any Lion
knows, huge prey can eventually be devoured once its neck is snapped.
That'll take a lot of snapping however -- more than you have turns given the
current power scale. Advent has no choice but to order a retreat before
someone gets seriously hurt, and Rand can only answer with an infuriated
"We'll Be Back!". Indeed.
It's a painful defeat, not the least because it's a result of such a massive
power disparity. Word comes in that the nearby rebels have scattered under
Sidereal pressure. Whatever the dangers a berserk ZONE pose, in this case the
non-destruction of the Sidereal's base seems to be because they were confident
in their ability to simply take it back whenever they wanted.
The shock might be greatest for Clavia, who'd been so focused on the
possibilities offered by the Spheres that she'd had no notion what their actual
use looks like. Turns out they can be instruments of terror... or instruments
of overturning that terror, depending on who's playing. Sadly, Clavia didn't
have much time to hack into Terminal Base's computers, so she and the team
still have no idea where the Sphere-bearing mecha are. Orion snorts at this:
any third-grader could have retrieved that data given a little time in that
base, and in fact that's precisely what he did: he's got the locations of an
area where said mecha are being analyzed. The specific mech is code-named
"Hamariel", the guardian angel of virgins -- hence, Virgo: it must be the
Valgora!
CHAPTER 9. The Maiden of Sorrows Returns
The loss of Terminal Base means that the rebels will need a new staging area,
and the search for the Valgora dovetails nicely with the search for new digs.
There's only so many Ley Lines, so there's only so many places to search --
seems like a major positive development (so long as the LRs can act before the
bad guys realize they've been hacked). Still, the thought of reuniting with
her Sphere gives Setsuko pause, and not because of the side effects (which have
subsided greatly for her of late).
It's the thought of warfare spreading and worsening that weighs on her, even as
she acknowledges that many things can only be protected by taking up arms.
Then again, the Valgora Glory is more than just a weapon to her: it's a symbol
of the bond she shares with her old teammates. The same could be said for the
other Sphere-bearing mecha and their owners too for that matter -- but that's
presumably a topic for subsequent missions.
The approach to the base is easy -- almost too easy. No, scratch that:
*definitely* too easy, as proven by what happens when the team get past the
outer guards. Inside is Giltar, who uses something he calls "Malfunction
Shock" to cripple the LRs mecha _and_ do physical damage directly to their
pilots in the process. In fact, it seems that Giltar might have deliberately
dialed the weapon back slightly, the better to watch his nemeses get
dismembered by his hunters. The real question is, how did he know to expect
the LRs here?!
What's more, Giltar seems to have an uncanny ability to anticipate Setsuko's
weakness: to wit, she's got a really hard time with the concept of other
people suffering (her own suffering she can endure just fine). When
reinforcements arrive, the first thing Giltar does is start killing and
tormenting _them_ as a way to induce Setsuko to surrender herself to him. Of
course Rand and Crow yell at her to not listen, and even the resistance
forces would apparently rather die than see Setsuko subjugated. Which, when
they won't shut up about it, seems to suit Giltar just fine.
However, there's one thing about Sphere Reactors that Giltar may not have
thought through. Those very same weak spots, when provoked too much, can
become the Reactors' greatest strength, and when Setsuko feels herself
synchronize with one of the rebels who's about to die, she finds renewed
determination to end all this sorrowful warfare and is able to summon her mech
via remote control. It seems the Sidereals have made a few modifications to
its Gunnery Cover, but its Sphere is very much active -- and entirely capable
of reversing the damage the Malfunction Shock wrought.
Advent realizes that Setsuko has almost reached Third Stage: a step closer to
the Truth. She's also firmed up her own resolve considerably: taking Giltar
down and stopping the fighting is a pretty easy equation when you think about
it. Part of Giltar's problems may be that he refuses to fully commit himself
to battle -- if his schemes don't avail, he lacks the conviction to go it on
guts alone.
Setsuko is very happy to have her mech (and her connection to her teammates)
back. She's also tuckered out from all this emotionally- fraught stuff, and
fall asleep straight away in the cockpit. Let her nap, says Advent: when she
awakens, a new battle will begin. And given that the Sidereals now know that a
Sphere has fallen into the hands of their enemy, that battle will be fierce
indeed.
Interestingly, Clavia's personality seems to have noticeably brightened in the
wake of Setsuko's infusion of Dimensional Energy. After Crow persuades her to
go keep watch over Setsuko (so that it's not just two dudes watching over an
unconscious co-ed), he and Rand muse anew over just how scary the Spheres
actually are. That's not all though: they know full well that they're still
breathing only due to emotion interfering with Giltar's lethal efficiency. How
_did_ he know the team were coming? That's a can of worms, given that Orion,
Clavia and Sardias all have prior connections to the Sidereals. Then there's
the possibility of spies among the rebels, and... Advent himself. And for the
sake of completeness, there's even the possibility that Giltar himself was
bluffing when he claimed to have expected the LRs arrival.
The only choice is just to keep trudging forward, which The Heat ought to
appreciate. So, for that matter, should "The Unbreakable". At least the
Valgora's been recovered, with improved Sphere interfacing to boot, and that's
a comforting thought. One can only hope that with it, Setsuko can one day
rejoin her long-lost comrades...
CHAPTER 10. The Wounded Lion Roars in the Wilderness
Advent means to take the LRs along a Ley Line to the central northern part of
the continent for reconn, leaving the rebels to consolidate their forces at
this base. Setsuko will be leaving her old mech to the kid whose death she
nearly witnessed. Orion doesn't seem to approve of her sentimental attachment
to her past mecha, and tells the kid not to get cocky (which as we know is a
time-honored tradition). The kid's seen enough of Setsuko's peculiar comrades
to know that she'll need all the good luck she can get.
Outside, Rand and Crow are enjoying NOT having to camp on rough ground for a
change: Advent and Blue are doing a pretty good job of securing decent
accommodations for everyone these days. One thing Rand _isn't_ doing tonight
is drinking, which for him is atypical when leisure presents itself. Turns out
he's thinking of Cielo Beater, the man who literally pounded "service with a
smile" into him along with repair technique. Said dude is also the father of
Mail, who for now we'll call Rand's "fiancee" (keeping in mind that Mail is
more or less the diametric opposite of Rand's buxom physical ideal). Rand
recounts how Cielo vanished during one of the Quakes, and how he and Mail have
been searching for him ever since. Now with even Mail gone, Rand has to admit
that there was a small part of him that wished Orion's info was on the Gunleon
instead of the Valgora.
Given that, he figures that swearing off booze till he finds Mail is the least
he can do. Crow is left pondering whether the mystery mechanic who saved his
life Back When(tm) might actually be this Cielo character. Advent walks up at
this point, assuring Rand that his lucky star is ascendant, with good omens for
reunions in the works...
Speaking of Mail, we see a bit of a cryptic scene where she seems to be acting
as the prophet of some "Lion God", and getting the townsfolk to sing it's
stupid theme song in order to receive miracles...
But back to Rand: as a testament to how much he evidently drinks, his teammates
heap praise on him for making it three days without a drink. Of course, Crow
has taken it upon himself to drink Rand's share in the meantime: it'd be rude
to the procurers not to put their hard work to some use! Though Rand's been
putting a brave face on it, the lack of booze is building up stress, and he's
just itching for a suitable outlet.
When a group of Sidereals turn up, it sounds like Crow is rather stressed too.
He refuses Advent's orders to let the Sidereals have their way with a village
nearby the Ley Line the LRs have been following (Advent has reasoned that
beating the Sidereals back here would be a temporary respite at best), telling
Advent that he's never consented to be Advent's subordinate. Advent notes that
this unwavering sense of personal conviction is a bad habit of the Swaying
Scales, to which Crow spits that he _does_ have a personal name.
Rand's wrath can't be contained, and as he rushes to battle it brings the rest
of the team with him... even Advent, who wants everyone to know that he's only
helping to avoid strategic problems later.
Guess what: there's reinforcements hiding in the wings. Saru guesses them to
be the next-gen unmanned drones the Sidereals have been working on -- which
would make sense, since the LRs have been drawing steadily closer to the
center of the Sidereals' power base. Rand seems quite happy to pound them
into scrap, but he gets interrupted when Mail (incompetently) pilots the
Gunleon onto the battlefield. Rand rushes over to her, getting peppered with
enemy fire and caring not a whit: the pain he feels now is nothing compared
to the pain of not knowing where was. Rand's plan _was_ to buy time for Mail
to escape and not get mixed up in all this, but since she's determined to be
with her "Darling" and give him back his mech, he'll go with it.
The Gunleon certainly seems happy to have him back, entering Magna Mode
immediately for some Mail-sanctioned mayhem.
Any physical wounds Rand sustained are nothing compared to the wounds in his
heart at the thought of Mail being lost and alone. So he says. HOW SWEET.
Not to mention it's back to seriously pounding that alkie now that Mail's back.
The happy reunion is pretty short lived, since Mail now has to explain to all
the bumpkins in town why their "Lion God" just came to life and tore several
enemies to shreds.
After all, if YOU saw a giant yellow lion and a weird pink-haired girl fall
from the sky, wouldn't YOU assume they were a god and its priestess? Uh huh.
The fact that some of the worshippers actually had their prayers granted could
be explained, says Advent, by the "God helps those who help themselves"
phenomenon. And hell, if one really insists on believing that the Wounded Lion
Sphere took a conscious hand in answering prayers, is that such a bad thing?
But there's a new problem: if the Gunleon leaves this town, who will protect
it? The LRs themselves, of course! Sardias points out that the greater their
exploits become, the more the Sidereals will focus on them and the _less_ on
hapless Ley Line-straddling villages like this one. And besides, even if Rand
isn't 100% thrilled to have his beanpole-ish fiancee back, Sardias is
certainly a fan.
Interestingly, the first time Mail gets a good look at Advent, her first
impression is that he reminds her of Asakim. Ooooohhhh....
CHAPTER 11. Swaying Scales, Steady Will
Giltar is fast running out of chances to prove himself to his betters (like
Shikuu), and his desperation hasn't gone unnoticed. With much menace, Shikuu
gives Giltar one more chance by putting him in charge of the defenses of
Central Base -- which one imagines must have been constructed by the same folks
who built Terminal Base. After Giltar scurries out of Shikuu's sight, someone
name Shikoku asks if he means to sortie personally. Shikuu's next appointment
on the other Earth is still some ways off, so he's got some time to kill and
some _serious_ ass sunglasses to kill it with. Maybe Shikoku can help him out
by commanding the inevitable "enemy reinforcements" squadron when Shikuu
clashes with the enemy Sphere Reactors? (Apparently not this time...)
Elsewhere, Crow's decided to find out what Advent's real deal is once and for
all. For instance: Advent calls himself a member of Chrono's "progressive"
wing, determined to defend the process of human evolution. What, therefore,
would the "regressive" wing of Chrono be protecting? What does "evolution"
mean in this context, and what does "protecting" it constitute? Crow can
accept Advent's vagueness about the Aescaleps, but Advent's vagueness about
_himself_ strikes Crow as a bit much.
That he's waited this long to call Advent onto the carpet is thanks to the
trust he's felt instinctively -- a trust he reckons Crow and Setsuko share.
But things have been far too convenient since Advent showed up, what with two
of the Sphere-bearing mecha discovered in such short order. And don't go
calling it "fate" or some bullshit either -- Crow doesn't go in for that mess.
Advent tells him that it's not so much bullshit as _reality_, a reality that
Crow too will be able to perceive in time.
Their conversation is interrupted by word that the bad guys are on their way:
odds are that Shikuu perceived the approach of his fellow Sphere Reactors.
Advent tells Crow that there's some time left before the showdown, and asks
that he come after he's had a chance to calm himself. After Advent walks off,
Crow admits to Clavia that he too would like to believe in what Advent's
pitching. Crow might not have his Sphere back like Rand or Setsuko, but with
Clavia protecting him, just maybe he'll be able to contribute against Shikuu
anyway.
Not that Crow ever meant to rely on his Sphere anyway. He's well accustomed
to doing things the hard way, as his fellow pilots well know. And screw
whatever Advent thinks he knows about him. As predicted, the Silent Cancer
appears on the field, seemingly unfazed by Rand and Setsuko's bravado about
defending this world. Clavia meanwhile says that she feels her heart shrivel
just by looking at the guy: the Silent Cancer is a foe who, quoth Advent, has
cast aside emotion. Perhaps. But the bloodlust is still evident, and if Crow
has his way, the rest of Shikuu's emotionless facade will fall in short order.
A little damage and Shikuu shifts to recovery mode, repeating his offer to
Rand and Setsuko to join him. He is _not_ working for galactic domination,
nor does he personally want their Spheres. What he won't say (of course) is
who does, and Crow's gotten sick of hearing that lately. He breaks ranks
and starts blasting, vowing to make Shikuu pay for overlooking him. Crow,
more than the others, seems to have grasped the importance of breaking the
emotionlessness that's the core of the Silent Cancer's power.
That makes Crow especially dangerous in Shikuu's book, and he means to send
Crow on a voyage to death from which he'll never return. Crow's used to
having his mecha getting the crap blown out of them, and he means to eject
at the very last second. But before he can do so, a recording from Traia
pops up -- it's been put there in case the Scott SP is ever damaged beyond
repair. She's figured that Crow (a Stigmatic) is bound to get caught up in
some dimensional upheaval or other, and has put a little experimental gadget
into the mech "just in case", hoping that the dimensional transfer part works
well...
Crow _almost_ gets caught up in the detonation of his old mech. But "almost"
only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and apparently curling. Instead,
the Re-Blaster teleports in and gets Crow back in the saddle. Even Shikuu
has to crack a small smile at how quickly Crow turns down his offer of
joining the Sidereals, and if Shikuu thinks the powered-up Re-Blaster is to
be taken lightly, it'll be a major disaster for him.
Shikuu's final offer to Crow is for him to dismount his mech and let him
free Crow from the Cycle of the Spheres. Poetic, and better than "I'll kill
your ass", but still not an attractive offer.
Even in their immature form, the three Sphere Reactors are enough to make
Shikuu go off and rethink things. That there's much more throwdown in store
from him gives Clavia pause, but Crow gives her un-pause by pointing out that
the LRs have upside potential too. Clavia is _clearly_ starting to fall for
Crow, and not just for his Scales powers, and whether that's a good thing or
not is anyone's guess. What Crow knows for certain is that -- fate or not --
Traia deserves his eternal thanks.
Blue and Advent are pretty impressed that Traia's been able to crack the
problem of interdimensional transfer -- she'll need that and more if she's to
help ultimately break the Earth out of its Time Prison. Advent steadfastly
maintains that Traia's actions "changed" fate and are therefore consonant
with it, whereas Crow will have to agree to disagree with that slippery a
definition. Both they, and the other Sphere Reactors, agree that their goal
is coming into view -- as are the studlier enemies that protect it.
CHAPTER 12. The Promised Final Battle
It's the night before the Big Battle(tm), and Sardias is waxing philosophical
while joining Rand for a cold one. Mail is all pouting-face, wishing she could
have time alone with her Darling, but she sobers up when Sardias announces
that, win or lose, his journey will end tomorrow. Unlike Rand and Mail, he's
got no particular reason to continue this fight, and precious little stomach
for it either. Rand at least is certain that Saru can find things other than
warfare to do with his life, and that's worth a toast.
Orion's walked off on his own, with Setsuko busily trying to find him. That
leaves Crow and Clavia at loose ends. Clavia's heard about the other women
quote-quote "in" Crow's life by this point, and doesn't intend to try to lay
hands on him till the others can rebut. Rather, she wants to do what only she
can, and that pertains to Advent (who's conveniently elsewhere preparing for
tomorrow's battle).
From everything she's been able to piece together, the Aescaleps doesn't appear
to house a Sphere itself. Rather, its Sphere Reactor detector and other
features lead her to believe that the Aescaleps itself was constructed
specifically to gather Spheres together -- just like Asakim's Schlogger.
Neither of them think of Advent as the enemy, but the similarities in their
mecha _are_ striking. What he and his mecha are is just a HUGE mystery. Crow
tells her to concentrate for now on living through tomorrow's battle: her
research and all can resume afterwards.
Orion, meanwhile, is doing the very best to keep to himself. When Setsuko
turns up and tells him to take care of himself (the air being pretty chilly and
all) he as much as tells her he hates her. As she tearfully runs off, it seems
he actually did so on purpose: for some reason he's trying to keep her at arm's
length...
Giltar knows this is his last chance, and he orders his troops to lay down
their lives if necessary to defend this base. The Firebugs don't really care
whether the Sidereals prevail or get booted out of the continent, but they do
intend to ensure that future employers will remember their part in the battle
kindly.
With the Resistance holding off the bad guys elsewhere, and Shikuu seemingly
well and truly absent, this seems to be the perfect chance to take down the
base and its occupants. Future battles await though, so nobody is allowed to
do anything foolish here.
About the only fool is Giltar, whose long-term fixation on Setsuko has always
made her rather puzzled. Stalker or not, Giltar opts to flee rather than
have his mech destroyed entirely... for reasons that will have to remain
unclear.
With the base toppled, it would seem that the fight between the Sidereals and
the Resistance is now back to even footing. Everything abruptly goes from good
to bad in a major hurry, when Sardias gives some kind of signal to Clavia, who
switches goes from soft-spoken to insane-ass in an instant. She slaps Crow's
hand away and runs off. Sardias is about to leave too, announcing him before
he does as the vice-commander of the Antares squad of the Sidereals. Antares,
you might recall, is a principle star in Scorpio -- and he, as it turns out, is
the Sphere Reactor for the Resentful Devil-Scorpion. (Which is interesting in
part because the term he uses is a homophone for one of the names of
Capricorn).
Clavia shows back up, totally unhinged. And very dangerous in fact, since she
wields the true Scorpion's Venom that caused such problems before. As the team
struggle under its influence, Red carries out a suicide attack to disable
Clavia, and "Black" and "White" follow suit to keep Saru occupied. With no
other chance, the team flee -- which suits Sardias just fine. He then makes to
tranquilize Clavia, promising to finish things himself next.
CHAPTER 13. Impending Venom
The "Scorpion's Poison" turns out to be a variety of virulent nanomachines, and
although the three Reactors are suffering most from their effects, many of the
other color-coded resistance members are feeling it too. It'll take time for
the medicinal nanomachines to fully kick in, and even when they do there will
still be the shock of betrayal to work through. Had Advent not kept some of
his agents in reserve, the entire force might have been wiped out altogether.
Orion meanwhile is totally unaffected by the Poison, and as usual running his
mouth about how none of this would have happened had people not placed their
trust in others. For that matter, why is Advent himself unaffected, hmm?
Advent would rather drop the question than reveal more about himself, but he
does inform Orion that he'll be watched from now on.
..That said, even the mighty Advent needs info, and even second opinions from
time to time. Orion's assessment of Saru and Clavia tallies with what Saru
himself said before going rogue: Saru does not appear to have been a _double_
_agent_ in the sense of a saboteur or assassin. He had too many chances to
kill the team off that he didn't take. And if Saru was somehow deliberately
leaving the team be, it came at the cost of extensive damage to the Sidereal
cause. Any further questioning of Saru's motives will have to come face-to-
face, and given how opportune a Sidereal attack would be, that won't take long.
Unlike Giltar, Saru's battle formations have no real flaws. And unlike Giltar,
he doesn't drive the Shaulas Leader like a drunken orangutang. He's intrigued
that Crow wonders where Clavia (his people's "princess", or something like
that) has gotten to, though typically he won't give a straight answer. To the
stricken Reactors, he admits that he was sent to gauge their strength from
within -- had they not accepted the apparently rogue warrior, he'd have tried
some other approach. That the Antares (vice) commander would have undertaken</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
the mission himself should, Saru smiles, be taken as a testament to the other
Reactors' power. Certainly Giltar the buffoon wasn't up to the job.
Saru isn't really fighting to win this round, planning instead to let Giltar
finish the job for him. And Giltar better deliver too, or Saru might just
remember to report how Giltar tried to kill him while he was undercover.
Giltar targets Setsuko first (of course), but Advent gets in the way. In
order to not get hosed himself, Advent is forced to activate the true power
of his mech, inadvertently triggering another Quake...
Which deposits the LRs (sans Advent) back onto the Blue Earth... where they're
discovered immediately by Gadlight of all people. ...Which should tell you
something about where this game fits into the overall chronology!
CHAPTER 14. Inside the Time Prison
Joy of Joys, it's the Quarreling Twins' Reactor, responsible for the whole Time
Prison business and countless associated evil deeds. You'd think this would be
a case for "Slay Evil Instantly", but when Gadlight asks for time out to talk
things over, Crow (the level-headed one of the bunch) thinks it's worth hearing
him out. Gadlight, it turns out, is sick and tired of being at the Sidereals'
beck and call, and is thinking that four Spheres could prove preeeety powerful
in getting them to fuck off. Assuming of course that the LR Sphere Reactors
level their shit up some first. Work for him, the deal goes, and he'll see to
it that Chrono leaves this planet alone -- and that in the long run a
counterattack against the rest of the Sidereals will be in the cards.
This far-fetched sales pitch gets cut abruptly short when Shikuu shows up,
followed in short order by Annalotta (which REALLY really shows where this game
fits in the chronology). Gadlight, it seems, has no choice but to play this
farce to the hilt and fight the LRs anyway. And when he fights, he fights to
win.
When Gadlight lets slip that Traia is at work in this world (and, he thinks,
too late to save anybody) Crow is immensely relieved. Traia is a lot more
powerful than Gadlight gives her -- or any of the Earthlings for that matter
-- credit for.
Gadlight isn't about to let anything bad happen to Annalotta, especially not
now that she's with child. By ensuring that she leaves on the early side,
he sets the stage for his own disgrace. However, it'll take a lot more than
this to actually _defeat_ him, and just like Eim did, he regenerates his
mech before the LRs' eyes.
Bad news? Not entirely, since Advent makes a belated appearance too. He
informs Gadlight that neither Advent himself, nor any of the Reactors
gathered here, are destined to defeat him. Rather, it is "He" who will be
Gadlight's undoing. He tells the LRs to come away with him, leaving this
world's battle up to certain other warriors they know well. Advent sounds
sure that the next time he sees Gadlight, Gadlight's twisted wish will be
completely severed...
Advent brings the LRs back to the Green Earth, where they've still got their
work cut out for them. It seems the Quake Advent caused (inadvertently, he
claims) has made the Sidereals lose sight of the LRs, which gives them the
perfect chance to take down Central Base and liberate the continent. There's
still Scorpio to think about, but at least Cancer shouldn't be with him.
CHAPTER 15. Beyond the Final Battle
With all that's happened, there's one major open on the eve of the final (for
now) battle: what of Clavia? Rand and Mail know better than to believe Crow
cares nothing for rescuing his former comrade, woman or not. Crow doesn't
argue the point; instead, he wonders aloud why Clavia traveled with the LRs
in the first place. Unlike Saru's mission of subterfuge, he senses something
different from Clavia... who, he notes, seemed genuinely enthused when talking
about the Spheres. The personality change she underwent when converting to the
bad guys' side was NOT normal...
..In fact, says Orion when he walks over, it was the result of all the
hidden hatreds in her heart being unleashed at once. Making her kind of like
him, actually. What hatreds could that petite little thing have harbored?
Well let's see: there's the hard work for no reward, the total lack of
coworkers who value her... the always being left out of everything... Plenty
for her to resent, as evidence by how effectively she paired with the Resentful
Devil-Scorpion Sphere.
Still, not everyone with good cause for revenge actually devotes their life
to exacting it. Setsuko in particular finds resentment-as-lifestyle to be
UNBEARABLY sad since she's, well, Sorrowful by nature. Orion snorts at her
do-gooding and stalks off, but it's possible her soulful eyes may have gotten
through to him a little. In any event, none of the Reactors want any regrets
from tomorrow's death-match.
The base's defenses will never be any thinner than this. The first wave are
all drones, though the Scorpion (and Clavia) must be somewhere close by.
Very close as it turns out when the first few bad guys go down. The An Arless
is a beast, but Setsuko refuses to fight it out of hate. Even a victory under
such conditions would just make hate that much more prevalent. It's the
process of overcoming hate, and the sorrow it brings, that makes her strong!
Clavia superficially hates Rand and Mail for being all love-love together,
and Setsuko for having all these dudes protecting her. But in reality,
her feelings are being buffeted about by that Sphere -- and it's up to Crow
to bring her back to herself.
...Or SO YOU THOUGHT. In fact, it's up to the Maiden of Sorrows to bring
Clavia back to her senses. Her Sphere seems to have helped, though even
Setsuko herself can't say how. Maybe the Spheres aren't all bad?
Correctomundo, says Advent, noting that all three of these Reactors are about
to ascend to the next Stage.
Unfortunately, it's at this point when Orion springs into action. Well not
actually "Orion", since the guy's real name is Barbiel the Needle: the TRUE
Reactor of the Resentful Demon-Scorpion. And this time, Setsuko's suffering
doesn't seem to slow the guy down one bit. It further turns out that Barbiel
is Saru's boss. Central Base isn't worth the effort to defend any further,
nor to destroy -- such is the lack-luster value of this planet's Ley Lines.
Nor does Barbiel have any further use for Clavia, having apparently exhausted
the hatred his poison awoke from her psyche. He even safely ejects her from
his mech, vowing a rematch with the other Reactors -- especially Setsuko, whose
very existence he hates (especially how she keeps calling him "Orion" after
all that's happened).
For now, you could call today's outcome a victory of sorts -- the balance of
power is basically back to 50-50 on this continent, with prospects still
bright for taking the fight _to_ the Sidereals. And _that_ means that Advent
can get back to all the work he's been shirking back on the other Earth. But
don't worry... "He'll be back" and whatnot. Clavia seems back to her old
self, minus her recent memories -- so Crow leaves her in the keeping of the
rebels at Central Base to recuperate. That this nasty side effect accompanies
Barbiel's poison is all the more reason for Crow and the others to stay on
this Earth until they've bashed his skull in.
Advent promises that when he returns, he'll introduce them to a new Reactor:
the Quarreling Twins! Except that this Reactor will be on the side of the
LRs... Until he does come back, these Reactors have to gather as much info
on Barbiel and the Sidereals as they can. And though none of them can bring
themselves to voice it, they all know instinctively that this next round of
warfare is going to be MUCH WORSE than anything that's come before.
----------
(zOMG autoscrolling text again! Whar's mah camuruhh?!)
Even as the Reactors steeled themselves for their perilous journey, the other
Earth bore witness to the last stand of the Geminis. The Battle of the Spheres
had begun sooner than they had forseen. And with the breaking of the Time
Prison, the true battle across the parallel worlds was about to begin...
----------
Yeah yeah, IN AD 2101 WAR WAS BEGINNING, you know the drill. For great
Justice, take off every Zig. But here ends SRWZ3R, and begins the main event
of Z3T. See you on the other side!
