The acting head of the SDF is Major Rin Dojima. Her unit is currently entrenched on the 11th floor.
Quite a trek.
Dojima... I recognize that name. I think I met her once before, on the day of my exam.
Either way, you should head up—er, down, rather.
I wish I could turn upside-down.
Would you like me to turn you upside-down when we're done here?
GOD YES. I wanna be a bat
Well, if you'd like to be a bat, I won't stop you. But... Hoo. Okay. Okay. I got this.
You got this.
I DON'T GOT THIIIIIIIIS
You had this!
Right. I had this. Okay.
Wise Soldier: Likewise, if one gets the jump on you, you're in grave danger.
Our friendly neighborhood soldier here is not whistling dixie. Overworld dragons will get a surprise attack on you, meaning two free hits, if they run into your back—but the same treatment directed towards them will get you a preemptive attack. This is massively useful. Practice this strategy at all possible times. You'll thank yourself later.
I hope these books are recoverable. There's quite a lot of important information stored here.
All they've been is turned upside-down. I have the fullest expectation that they're fine.
But what if monsters or dragons have tried to consume them?
Why would a dragon eat a book?
For learning.
I'm glad they're having fun.
As am I!
Yeah man, I mean, it's important to discuss that hot, hot city hall bookage.
Wait...
I'M NEVER GONNA GET TO SEE HOW ONE PIECE ENDS
Oh my god!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
That's the one about the pirate with the straw hat, right?
I can't believe it. Mio's gonna be so disappointed.
I haven't read much manga in quite a long time. Not since... oh, 1993. I did catch up on Jojo some at one point, though, at this one client's behest.
Do you think Araki-sensei will ever finish Part 8?
lmao that guy's immortal
Aesthetic comment: Different weapons have different models. I appreciate this every time it happens in video games. Thank you.
Hold on! There's... there's a Hammerhead over there. Be quiet.
Great silent faces, everyone!
tbh i'm a little surprised not talking didn't kill Koron
Kill the damn drake.
yeah ok let's kill the dragon
Chesto!
That does help!
yeahhhhhhh!! go team!!
Now please treat Satsuki, I think she's bleeding.
You do need to try and stay out of the line of fire, Satsuki. You're very agile, but you're not the... sturdiest?
ehhhhhhhhhh
(Wait.)
No prob, boss lady! I'll work on that.
Damn rubble.
Damn rubble.
Make us double back around... grumble, grumble one of these days...
Youka?
Nothing.
Don't worry, I get it. Realizing you've missed something and having to double back around is terrible.
And a turn here... a turn there...
Oh! You're keeping a map?
Doing my best to be of service, Captain.
Your form is good, though I think I could give you a few pointers—I've drawn a few maps, myself.
Your advice would be appreciated, Captain.
Aerosol can, buhbumbuhbum! Monkey outside, buhbumbuhbum! Shootin' all night, buhbumbuhbum!
What in god's name are you doing.
It appears to be a funky dance.
( Your pack is astonishingly well-organized, Chisa.
Thank you, I try. It used to be that I could only fit about twelve things in here on average, but, uh, that was before I used purses.
Aren't purses lovely?
I offer thanks every day that I live in a world where they exist.)
...
Does the room seem like it's crackling to anyone else?
C'mon, I dare you. Jump out of a corner, why don't you. Come on. I'm waiting.
Um, Youka?
Isn't that our comms feed?
Oh!
Mr. Gatou! How are things going up th—
Down th—
Over there?
Thank you
Well, I'm glad you're feeling good, rookies. Here I was a bit worried you were gonna give up on me already.
Never, sir.
Heh. And Nagare asks why I've got high hopes for you. Well, not like there's anywhere cozy to relax here. It's like we're through the looking glass, huh?
I'll admit that these drakes we've fought have jaws that bite, but I have yet to see any claws that catch.
Yeah... give it a few floors, kid.
Naturally.
We'll send him straight to hell—
Great attitude. Kicking these things out of City Hall is the start of humanity's counterattack!
If you and Nagare are handling the frontal assault, we'll attempt to cut off the Dragon's retreat.
You're really on the ball today, Inomiko. I'll trust you kids on that—this time, we'll make sure there's nowhere he can hide.
And me, right?
You're younger than me, Fudoji, you're still a kid. Over.
You hear that? I'm still a kid at heart!
maintaining a youthful outlook is the most important thing to counter aging
Satsuki gets it! Good work, good work~
OMG HEADPATS
headpaaaaats
HEADPATS HAVE GIVEN ME THE STRONGTH
I CHARGE INTO BATTLE WITH THE STRENGTH OF TEN MILLION CATS!!!
YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH
The most brilliant stabbing.
I'm not entirely sure what just happened, but it appears her toxins were more effective than usual.
The power of hard work and guts, I suppose.
When using EX on a status move, your infliction rate also gets buffed. I already mentioned this, but it is very cool. Scorpio is level 2 now, so the poison ticks are now sexier. I love Trickster. I love every class in this game.
the most brilliant stabbing
Nice work, Satsuki! Advancing!
...so to say this dragon's day was ruined would be an understatement, tbh. Let us consider this a good omen.
Oh, this'll definitely be useful. I can use it to treat burns, among other things.
Oh?
The Imperial can breathe fire. It nearly killed me... to say nothing of everyone else.
I see.
From everything I've learned, it sounds like a terrifyingly powerful foe.
When it howled, I felt my entire body trying to seize up... like its voice was reaching into my body and paralyzing my muscles. I can only imagine how terrified they must've felt...
A fire-breathing Imperial Dragon with a paralyzing roar... 'Warcry' is an apt name.
did you just name the imperial dragon
Did you come up with that all on your own, Captain?
What? Um, I mean, I guess I did—did really nobody name it yet, am I the first? I swore—I mean, it just came to me, you know—
How authorial of you. Are you certain your ladyfriend, Ms. Akaneno, shouldn't try switching roles for a bit?
I can't tell if you're making fun of me or not.
neither can she
HOLD EVERYTHING IT IS LOOT TIME
Oh, there are some spare sticks of RAM. Who keeps these all stored in here?
Gardening tools, some cutlery... Do you think that Unit 4 will be able to make use of these?
Those guys? Deffo. Frankly, I hold nothing but respect for ol' Waji and his Waji-y ways to make things out of stuff.
Best to make the best of a bad situation!
I hadn't shown the skills menu yet. Here it is. I had the SP to buff Whirlwind Roll a tad, so I did—having the AOE to pick off stuff Satsuki doesn't leave dead is useful, and it still has a higher EX-per-use generation than Diagonal Slash, though frankly it's a touch odd that this skill lowers in overall EX generation per level. It goes from 5.4% of a gauge to 4.9%. That's weird.
It's bright out there... and the petals shake loose so easily.
As I understand it, that's the Bloom's reproductive method. About the only place it can't sprout, as I understand, is inside of a human stomach.
Though it is very toxic, of course. I would recommend not being like poor Yamamoto from the infirmary, who had the bright idea of trying to snack on one and is currently in agonizing suffering.
That's why he's in the infirmary?!
Not to mention the air quality.
It does seem to drain some of the oxygen from the air. If you're experiencing any difficulty breathing, Captain, that would be why.
Eh? I'm not, though. I thought the air was fine.
S-Class individuals seem much more resistant to the effects of the plant, so... I guess that's why you're the Captain.
gawd yeah i had to use an air bag once or twice while i was out there
Anyway, please head through that hole to descend around the perimeter of the building.
What I saw was more than 'abnormal'. At first, I thought it was the kind of sight I hadn't seen in eight years—but, no. This was beyond that. This was a world where this sort of thing should not have been possible.
The building. It's breaking apart... and floating.
My body almost moved on its own while I was jumping. Leaping from piece to piece of rubble floating still in midair, as petals of Bloom flew in from below us, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
This is the sort of place Tokyo is now. The rules have gone out the window.
I...
We passed a soldier on the way, trembling on a floating piece of debris.
Halted Soldier: Damn it, the hell are we supposed to do?! We've gotta link back up, but half of our troops are already down. My legs are shaking... I can't move!
I...?!
The petals poured out of the eclipse. No, not 'poured'—a better word would be 'bled', sinking out of it like they were falling out of a being's body. The inverted rain of that sickly orange flower wrapped this reef of buildings.
A number of SDF soldiers quit upon the sight of this. Even for hardened soldiers, some things are just too much.
So they'd rather give up and wait for death?
I think it's understandable. When faced with an unbelievable threat, many would collapse and believe fighting impossible. And for some... maintaining some sense of normalcy is the only way they can stay sane in times like this.
Are they so spineless that they wouldn't fight for this precious normalcy of theirs?
jesus fuck that's a lotta flowers
This will probably come in handy... Chisa?
My brain was racing as I leapt across the buildings. My body kept moving me forward. Some part of me... I can't deny that some part of me wasn't excited. Some base, primal part of me was stunned to be in such an impossible situation, but relished the chance to take vengeance on the foe who'd killed Renji and Kyoshiro.
This is... unforgivable. Destroying City Hall like this...
I won't let them have our world. I will not let this world go.
By my blade, I will fell Warcry and reclaim this city.
That's the spirit!
Your spine is appreciable. No wonder you're not part of the SDF.
Please be nice to the SDF. They're trying.
If a 19-year-old girl who's spent at least half of the last decade in and out of hospital rooms has more spine than the ones tasked with protecting our nation, then I believe that that is a touch worrying.
I think that says more about you than it does about them, Koron.
I find myself agreeing.
You spent how much time in the hospital?
Don't worry yourself. My stays were shorter than you might expect. I got a perfectly good education, though I can't say the same for a number of my classmates considering how little attention they paid.
Is being psychic that physically taxing?
The Koron Nagataka of 2013 and before was not a girl who was particularly concerned with physical activity. She left me very few tools to deal with the sudden surge in my own extra-sensory abilities.
and that's why she's fun-sized
My family isn't particularly tall to begin with, even besides the physiological strain my psychic development no doubt played on my adolescence.
Well, you've grown into a very pretty young lady!
Your judgment is sterling as ever, Miss Fudoji. And might I say that the stresses of aging have done little to mar your own beauty?
Aww, you're exaggerating.
Ladies, ladies, please, you're both beautiful.
And Richter.
Thank you, Satsuki.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY,
LOOT
Oh! It's a little Paras doll! How'd this get in here?
A Paras! I loved Paras when I was a boy. The lore is a touch dark, but how can you say no to those cute, beady little eyes?
paras paras
The Bug type has always been my favorite type of Pokemon, you know. When I was in school, some of my friends called me "Insekter" for my passion regarding the world of bugs and insects. Obviously, the novelty of having a Pokemon that was itself host to parasitic fungus akin to Ophiocordyceps sinensis was incredible, though I was a bit surprised when I played Emerald Version later and found that there was another, completely different sort of dead cicada Pokemon. They're very different, though, and have completely different appeals. I just think that it's still such a wide pool of inspiration to take—though the most recent games' bugs were wonderful, I was a little disappointed to see that they were all repeats of general varieties of bug, though of course I can't say no to Infernopod's little mustache or the sparkliness of Snomnom's outer sheet. Actually, in particular, Schabelle is surprisingly accurate for being a kickboxing cockroach—did you know that cockroaches are actually obsessively fastidious? They clean themselves with an insane fervor—
paras paras
paras is nibbling you affectionately
I would be happy to return Paras's affections.
Yukihami's German name is 'Snomnom'?
That it is.
That's adorable.
That it is.
The Paras Guard is the first status resistance accessory we've gotten. Each one of them grants a 50% chance for ailment skills to miss the equipee. An important thing to note in this game is that if you equip status resistance to both accessory slots, you become completely immune to the ailment. This will come in handy a shocking number of times if you're careful.
MONKEY ALERT
Finally.
Ahh, that felt good.
THAT DIDN'T
Ah, the claws that catch.
Wild Apes actually have a move. It deals two hits for slightly more damage than their regular hit.
Randoms in this game have earpods in and can't hear you when you warn them about the demigods of Unit 13.
Oh, I see her, I recognize her hair.
It's very bright.
Major Dojima!
I'm Chisa Inomiko, captain of the newly-formed Unit 13 of Murakumo. We've come to make a delivery.
A delivery?
Like so!
Sergeant Ikoma: New weapons and ammo? We really owe you one!
You carried all that down here by yourselves?
It's no big deal. I'm good at organizing, if nothing else—and besides, we all need to work together here.
And I can carry a lot.
...I can see that. You're the survivor from the test a month ago, aren't you?
Yes, ma'am.
I heard you were asleep.
I woke up.
Sergeant Ikoma: Well, with the kind of equipment we had now, our unit was hanging on by a thread, and it took a lot just for that. Thanks to you, we'll be able to fortify our position and take control of this zone—
?! Hey, come in!!
One moment, I'll try and clear up the signal!
Transmission: Anyone... answer...!
Even if we couldn't hear every single word, we could hear enough to know what that meant. My grip tightened on the hilt of my sword.
We're—we're getting massacred out there?! Hey—you, Murakumo!
Major?
We're stuck here—hurry up and go do something!
Due to the Imperial Dragon's distortion, we're unable to monitor that area. If you could just wait a bit longer, we'll proceed to confirm the situation—
Major Dojima—
Shut up! Men, if we push from here to the roof, we can support the Imperial extermination!
And charge forward into a sea of dragons in this sorry state? 3.7, where would you place their odds of survival?
18.7%. I can't call that a solid plan.
But—!
Do be apprised, Major Dojima. I imagine you have your orders, and so do we.
Right. Please, Major—this is what we're here for. Keeping control of this position is critical to us taking City Hall back—you and all of your men need to defend this position. Without this Escape Point, we'll lose the majority of our ground.
This Imperial won't take any more lives if I have anything to say about it. Trust us, Major. Please.
...
She looked down, and clicked her tongue.
Get down to the roof, then! Hurry!
Right! Richter, Youka, Satsuki, Koron—let's move to support Gatou's unit!
