LP Beach

Welcome to Super Robot Wars Compact 3.

What is this game?
Super Robot Wars Compact 3 (SRW C3) is a turn-based strategy RPG for the WonderSwan Color that came out only in Japan on July 17, 2003.

What series are in this game?
There are quite a few series that are in this game and some of them even feature their own plots that intertwine together in interesting ways. Other series’ plots have already happened and they’re just sticking around to help.

• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
• Aura Battler Dunbine
• Aura Battler Dunbine: Tales of Neo Byston Well
• Betterman
• The Vision of Escaflowne
• Mazinger Z
• Great Mazinger
• Getter Robo G
• Shin Getter Robo (Manga)
• Super Electromagnetic Robo Combattler V
• Combination Squadron Mechander Robo
• Haunting Legend Acrobunch

Of these, Betterman, Escaflowne, Mechander Robo, and Acrobunch make their SRW debuts in this game. Tales of Neo Byston Well isn’t in the cast list, but it’s still present. Despite making its plot debut here, it technically debuted in SRW 4.

This will be my fifth screenshot LP, having already done SRWs D, R, BX, and K. Posts will be accompanied by the raw, unedited video footage of my gameplay, for better or for worse, and a link to a version of the same chapter in the test poster, which is for archival purposes. Do not expect perfect gameplay or playing animations for every attack. Even though this game lacks any sort of voice acting, I will point out the voice actors for the characters who appear, should they have one.

Barring any direct questions in the LP thread, I’m not going to go too in-depth into the game mechanics. The primary focus for this LP is to deliver the story to an English reading audience.

This game has a system where you can do certain stages in any order you want, as well as a single route split decision. I’ll only be covering a specific order in regards to the stage choices, but I will cover both sides of the route split.

As always, any thoughts, feedback, or pointing out spelling errors I’ve missed is appreciated.
Special thanks to all the talented people I interact with on Discord for their support.

Additional special thanks to Mattman324 for helping me write the unit descriptions.

CHAPTER SELECT

SCENE 1: EARTH

Chapter 1 (1-1): Falling Sparks | 舞い堕ちる火種

Photon Power Lab Route Chapter 2 (1-2): Castle of Back Iron | 黒鉄の城
Photon Power Lab Route Chapter 3 (1-3): Tragedy of General Garuda | 大将軍ガルーダの悲劇

Science Fortress Lab Route Chapter 2 (1-2): Power of Justice, Fire On | 正義の力、ファイヤーオン
Science Fortress Lab Route Chapter 3 (1-3): Ballad of the Red Butterfly | 赤い蝶のバラード

Chapter 4 (1-4): A New War | 新たなる戦乱

SCENE 2: ANOTHER WORLD

Van Route Chapter 5 (2-1): The Guardian Awakens | 守護神目覚める
Van Route Chapter 6 (2-2): The Brilliant Swordsman | 華麗なる剣士
Van Route Chapter 7 (2-3): City of Schemes | 策謀の都
Van Route Chapter 8 (2-4): Tod’s Fierce Attack | トッド激進

Nie Route Chapter 5 (2-1): Aura Battlers | 聖戦士たち
Nie Route Chapter 6 (2-2): The House of Given | ギブンの館
Nie Route Chapter 7 (2-3): Battle at Chiron Castle | キロン城攻防
Nie Route Chapter 8 (2-4): Tod’s Fierce Attack | トッド激進

Chapter 9 (2-5): The Raiders of Elf Castle | エルフ城攻略戦

SCENE 3: A NEW POWER

Chapter 10 (3-1): Strike! Omega Missile | 叩け！オメガミサイル

Chapter 13 (3-2): Power of Justice, Fire On | 正義の力、ファイヤーオン (Photon Power Lab Route)
Chapter 11 (3-2): Castle of Black Iron | 黒鉄の城 (Science Fortress Lab Route)

Chapter 11 (3-3): Deathmatch! A Storm is Brewing in a Man’s Path | 死闘！嵐吹く男の道 (Photon Power Lab Route)
Chapter 12 (3-3): Tragedy of General Garuda | 大将軍ガルーダの悲劇 (Science Fortress Lab Route)

Chapter 12 (3-4): Preventer | プリベンター

Chapter 14 (3-5): Encounter | 遭遇

Post-Choice Cutscene

Chapter 15 (3-6): Call of the Behemoth | ベヘモットの呼び声

SCENE 4: 700 YEARS OF AMBITION

Chapter 16 (4-1): Revival | 復活

Chapter 17 (4-2): Close to Upper Earth | 地上に近き者

SCENE 5: GATHERING WILLS

Chapter 18 (5-1): The Queen of the Red Storm | 赤い嵐の女王

Chapter 19 (5-2): Goraon’s Take-Off | ゴラオンの発進

Chapter 20 (5-3): The Secret Door | 秘密の扉

Chapter 21 (5-4): Lost Paradise | 失われた楽園

Chapter 22 (5-5): Absolute Fortune Zone | 絶対幸運圏

SCENE 6: MADNESS OF POWER

Chapter 23 (6-1): Satellite Destruction Strategy | 静止衛星破壊作戦

Chapter 24 (6-2): The Doctor's Ambition | 博士の野望

Chapter 26 (6-3): Hyper Jeril | ハイパー・ジェリル

Chapter 25 (6-4): Paris in Flames | パリ炎上

Post-Choice Cutscene

Chapter 27 (6-5): Birth of Brahman | ブラフマン誕生

SCENE 7: THE FINAL BATTLE

Chapter 28 (7-1): The Manipulated | 操られし者

Chapter 29 (7-2): Algernon | アルジャーノン

Chapter 30 (7-3): The Final General | 大将軍の最後

Chapter 31 (7-4): Cross Fight | クロス・ファイト

Final Chapter (7-5): The End to Eternal Ambition… | 悠久な野望の果てに･･･

Epilogue

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Some starting notes. I’ll be introducing all characters like this: (Character name. Source. CV: Voice Actor’s name). Being on WonderSwan Color, this game doesn’t have any voice acting, but I’m still including it anyway to help you “hear” how they speak and to help make any voice actor jokes more obvious. The OG characters’ voice actors will be from SRW OG Gaiden. Things in brackets [] are stage directions. Things in parentheses () are either what I listed above, notes from me, your TL, or anything else. I had to lift all of the mugshots from my recordings, so they might not be perfect. Also, there aren’t any locations listed for the cutscenes like the other games.

Each chapter is given a number, like (2-4). The first number is the Scene (think “Act”), and the second is where it is on the list when you select a stage. This is relevant for some Scenes.


Welcome to Super Robot Wars Compact 3.

Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Commencement of a Distant Battle


Begin by choosing your protagonist’s name and the name of his mech. The defaults are Folka Alberk and Ialdabaoth respectively.


Universal Century 00XX.

It seemed that Earth had overcome its greatest crisis in history…

The hard fought battles on the ground…

Koji Kabuto of the Photon Power Lab, piloting his beloved Mazinger Z, settled his battle with Dr. Hell. Tetsuya Tsurugi of the Science Fortress Lab and his Great Mazinger put an end to his fight with the Mycenae…

Thanks to the nonstop efforts of Getter Robo, the Saotome Lab is about to defeat the Hyakki Empire once and for all. The war between the Nanbara Connection and the aliens from Planet Campbell is also nearing its conclusion…

And in space…

The Titans emerged from Zeon remnants and the Federation’s corruption. Glemy’s faction split off from Haman's Neo Zeon. Treize’s OZ became sick of all the fighting in space…

These organizations are now largely dormant, and their remaining soldiers flocked to the largest group, the Titans…

It seemed that Earth had overcome its greatest crisis in history…

…But the problems were just beginning…

The Earth Federation took the situation lightly and designated the Argama, a veteran of many battles, as a special guerrilla force, leaving the remaining fighting to Captain Bright and his team…

On the surface, all backup for the formerly cooperative Super Robots was suddenly cut off…

Six months have passed since this new status quo was established. The elimination of remnants from each organization was progressing extremely slowly. In the face of growing public criticism, the different factions within the Federation have simply continued to shift blame onto each other without coming up with any solutions…

And yet, a new war is about to unfold upon the Earth…

We begin with Scene 1, “Earth”.


[Intense shaking]
I figured. The wisdom of our ancestors only extended this far… I don’t believe their nonsense, but this day has come at a convenient time…
[More intense shaking]
However! This can’t be the end! My ideals won’t be shattered by something like this!!
[Even more intense shaking as the screen fades to white]


Captain Bright, the ZZ has landed.
(Kamille Bidan. Z Gundam. CV: Nobuo Tobita)
Good. Tell them to come up to the bridge.
(Bright Noa. Gundam CCA. CV: Hirotaka Suzuoki)
If we were going to end up relying on them, we shouldn’t have given them their freedom at the end of the war…
(Quattro Bajeena. Z Gundam. CV: Shuichi Ikeda)
Captain, they’re joining us of their own volition, right?
(Fa Yuiry. Z Gundam. CV: Miyuki Matsuoka)
It’s a failure on our part as soldiers to be unable to clear out the remaining hostile groups in six months. All I can do is apologize…
[Door opens]
It can’t be helped, Bright. It’s better that we do what we can for the time being.
(Judau Ashta. Gundam ZZ. CV: Kazuki Yao)
That’s true… Compared to a certain period of time, the Earth Sphere is more peaceful.
(Roux Louka. Gundam ZZ. CV: Naoko Matsui)
But that’s only temporary. The Titan remnants are still active… And that’s not to mention the enemies lurking on the planet.
Even though Dr. Hell is gone, there are still Mechanical Beasts, right?
(TL Note: Mechanical Beast = Kikaiju.)
That’s what Koji said.
It looks like he’s running around, taking them out one by one. Not very efficient if you ask me.
(Emma Sheen. Z Gundam. CV: Maya Okamoto)
What about the Getter and Battle Teams?
The Getter Team is dealing with the remaining Hyakki forces. The Battle Team is focused on searching for the Campbellian forward base.
Unlike before, everyone’s acting on their own.
Indeed. Now that the enemies have lost their chain of commands, their movements are more difficult to predict. We have no choice but to split up and hunt them down individually.
(I hope this doesn’t backfire…)
I hope everyone’s safe…
(Leina Ashta. Gundam ZZ. CV: Maya Okamoto)
Same here…
You look upset. Is something wrong? Are you that worried about them?
That’s part of it, but I just have a bad feeling about something…
A premonition?
Kinda. Haman and Glemy’s grudges still linger. It’s like they’re being drawn to something…
Judau…
Bro…
[Beeping]
Captain! We’re receiving an SOS from Jaburo!
What!?
Is it under attack?
Jaburo’s pretty large, right? Is there really any force left in the Earth Sphere that can attack it?
You’re right. I don’t think Neo Zeon or Hyakki remnants could do that.
Or perhaps it’s some sort of accident?
Open a line with Jaburo immediately and confirm the situation!
It’s no use! I can’t get through to Jaburo! Huh!? The SOS stopped.
!
Oh no!
Is it really an enemy attack!?
Captain, we need to head to Jaburo immediately.
Yeah! All hands, level one battle stations! This ship is now rushing to Jaburo!


Where am I… Is this his doing too? Dammit!
(Folka Alberk. OG. CV: Yasunori Matsumoto)
[Beeping]
This response… Are they being sent here too!? Why are they coming here of all places? I should check it out…


Chapter 1 (1-1): Falling Sparks


Hmph. All bark and no bite…
(Alion Lucada. OG. CV: Shigeru Shibuya)
Lord Alion, are these the strongest warriors they’ve got?
(Shura Soldier)
Maybe. I thought they’d be a good warm-up, but I’m only disappointed.
What should we do with this facility?
We’ll set it ablaze. Let’s burn it down as spectacularly as possible. That way, prey will gather… Prey to sate our hunger.
Sir!


Situation report!
There are multiple heat sources within the facility! They’re not Mobile Suits!
What!? What are they?
Unknown!


!!
Hahaha. You guys are lucky. You have seen Lord Alion of the Shura Army in person.
Shura Army!?
That’s what I said. Whether our relationship lasts or not is up to you, but it wouldn’t hurt to remember that name.
(Shura Army… I’ve never heard of them before.)
More importantly, are you warriors? Have you come to save the people of this facility?
Why do you ask?
We’re trying to see if you’re going to fight us. I mean…


…Even if you don’t intend to, it doesn’t matter. I’ll crush you just like I did with this place.
So you’re the ones who attacked Jaburo.
Of course it was them!
Dammit! All units, deploy! Don’t let them get away with this!


Hehehe… Very good. It’s more fun to defeat those who fight back than those who run away.

First off, let’s go over our starting units. Shoutouts to Mattman324 for writing these unit descriptions, since he has far more insight into the gameplay mechanics of this game than me.


[MSV-006 Zeta Gundam (and Waverider)]
Whether you're peeking into this thread and it's your first time experiencing SRW or you're here from the modern games, getting Zeta Gundam in the first batch of units must seem rather strange. Most games slow their roll to have this major MC unit show up a fair bit later! Well, sadly, this game is balanced like an old SRW, by which I mean Zeta stinks. Oh, don't get it twisted, this is one of the first games with the Waverider Crash as a move and it only requires a Level 4 Newtype - but the rest of its moves are not particularly impressive for their cost and range, and getting a Newtype that strong takes a lot of effort. Sadly, certain balance choices in this game make this unit far worse than you may expect, too... Kamille's nothing overly special either.

Unfortunately, while in a lot of older SRWs you could occasionally get away with using Zeta purely as a Waverider in the early game - the Hyper Mega Launcher being usable in both forms - the problem is that the HML in this game is bizarrely underpowered given attacks we'll see later. Also -15 accuracy hurts badly. For reference, in this game, by the endgame you probably aren't going to see an NT level above 7, and that's endgame stuff, don't expect to get to even 4 for a while. Because of this, UC mechs having bad accuracy is a lot heavier of an issue than usual.


[MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki]
The Hyaku Shiki has only ever really been good twice in SRW, those two times being GC and Z, and it's bounced between mediocre and bad in the rest of its appearances, but C3's version is particularly pathetic. It might even be worse than OE's, which says a lot, because OE's is the worst unit in that game! Don't let the stats looking eerily similar to Zeta's fool you into thinking it's MC fodder, the -10 accuracy on its best three attacks hurts, the 4 ammo on the Clay Bazooka hurts, the 40 EN for the Mega Bazooka Launcher hurts, and the 100 EN out of a base 120 for the MAP version of that is indescribable pain. And the worst part is they're all range, which... ok, so, to summarize for all future units - the most common faction in the game will fill its entire ranks out with units that take a giant chunk of damage away from all incoming range moves, and one of the other common ones will have every single enemy from mook to major boss have an ability that lets them dodge half of all range moves. If you are a range unit in C3 and you are not so hideously broken that you can afford to get away with it, you are at a massive disadvantage. And this hurts the Hyaku Shiki badly.

Lt. Quattro is a stand up gentleman, but much like Kamille, I can't really say he's much worth using because of this, sadly.


[MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam (and G-Fortress)]
Having a 5 P range is nice, and the Hyper Beam Saber is actually a decent move, but it is eternally held back by being otherwise entirely too similar to the Hyaku Shiki. At least the Hi Mega Cannon isn't purely MAP in this game, but 100 EN out of 160 is super rough on the MAP (and 40 for the non-MAP version, which is 1-3 and isn't post-move, because why have nice things). But the thing that eternally screws this unit over is that the Hyper Beam Saber is the only reason you'd really want to use ZZ that much, and it's a 1 range attack on a 5 movement unit that can't fly. You're not going to get a good chance to use the thing too often. And while you might think the ability to transform might redeem it… The problem is that G-Fortress mode has absolutely no offensive abilities whatsoever, which means that any turn you use it to rush into battle, you run the heavy risk of it actually getting involved in that fight. And that simply is no good.

By the way, if you did want to use this, do keep in mind that that Hyper Beam Saber is going to suck no matter what because every single UC pilot has bad Melee! Judau is actually worse than Leina in that regard. He DOES get a relatively early Luck, so that's nice, but...


[RX-178+FXA-05D Super Gundam]
Trash. Utter trash. The B land is the cherry on top. Don't let this thing having more mobility than Zeta fool you into thinking it's good, you will spend so many turns either unable to attack the enemy with its dogwater ranges or unable to meaningfully damage them. The Long Rifle is a decent attack and if you're using this at all, use it to poke things so other, better units and their pilots can kill them for their PP. If this thing had two pilots or could transform it might be semi-useful, but alas.

Emma stinks in this game and might be the worst* pilot in the game in spite of starting with a level in Basically Gunfight. Replace her with Roux or Leina if you really must use this unit. (brief rundown - Roux is the worst of the UC people you get this time for combat outside of Emma, Fa, and Leina, but she's at least sort of passable, and Leina is a joke character in all the Compacts but at least theoretically eventually can be good, use her for memes if you must). (*: certain very specific morons aside.)
(TL Note: I’m going to use Leina because this is the only game you can.)


[MSA-005 Methuss]
I'm going to lump this and the MA mode together, so here - Methuss is the best UC mech you start with purely because, as a repair unit, it has an actual use for now. It can get UC pilots levels, it can heal the actually useful units, it can use the levels you get in those pilots to cast spirits that help those units survive longer. Fa is great for this, because she's almost entirely support, to the point where she doesn't even start with Newtype! As for its ability in combat, well, the Methuss has literally never had that. It's the same as in every SRW - it has a pair of beam guns that deal no damage, a beam saber that deals no damage, and then the designers go home and forget the grenade launcher and the giant pillar it smashed the Zssa into a garbage pile with.


[Argama]
It stinks badly. C3 is one of the last few games where every battleship was useless garbage you had to lug around, or at least garbage that took too many resources to make good to be worth it. Bright, however, comes with Accel and early Strike (and gets Gain pretty early), which is nice as you'll be stuck with this thing as a millstone for a while and with high Commander levels it can at least occasionally chip in in fights.

BGMs in this game are decided by the pilots. Zeta Gundam pilots use Mobile Suit Battle. ZZ pilots use Judau in Space. CCA pilots (Bright in this case) use Segment III - SALLY. There’s no way to change pilot BGMs in this game.

One thing about this game that’s interesting is that there are no space maps. In fact, none of the units in this game have space terrain ranks.


Our first objective of the game is, as you’d expect, to defeat all enemies. Transform the Gundams and start moving westward, keeping to the river. We’ll want to rendezvous with a new ally there soon.


I forgot to take a proper screenshot of him, but our first boss is Alion in the Agares. It’s a close-ranged fighter, so use the Mobile Suits’ superior range and blast him from a distance.

The plot continues at the start of turn 3.


These guys are stronger than the guys in the base! Should we retreat?
Oh? If you want to retreat, you must first make a choice. Will you be killed by me, or die fighting the enemy? It’s your decision.
Ugh… I’ll die fighting the enemy!
Captain! An unidentified mech is rapidly approaching from 10 o’clock!!
What? Enemy reinforcements?


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Crimson Shura God
I should have realized it was you guys based on how my mech is reacting.
What’s that!?
It looks kinda like Alion’s machine…
So it’s their friend?
No… Wait. Something’s wrong.
Are you still planning to keep fighting like this? Consider the situation. Don’t you think there’s something strange about this world?
Folka, eh? Fighting is everything to us. No matter where we are, we fight! Well, you might not understand since you’ve lost your spine.
I’m just not interested in it anymore.
If you take fighting away from us, what’s left? You’re no exception, stupid as you are.
I’ve already realized that there’s something I must do. Where is he? Where is the Shura King?
Hahaha. What a strange thing to ask. You’re lucky you found me first. I’ll never let you meet the Shura King alive! I’ll defeat you and gain your power!
Heh… Go ahead and try.
Hmph. A spineless coward is no match for me!!
Hey, I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but could you please not ignore us?
If you don’t want to die, get out of here.
Hey!
That’s our line! You should be the one running away!
I have business with these guys. If you’re not going to get in the way, then leave.
You’re the ones who attacked us out of nowhere first!
If you’re going to attack Jaburo too, we’ll take you on!
…Do as you please.

Now we have the main character.


[Ialdabaoth]
Yes, this Super Robot you get on stage 1 has about twice the HP and more Armor than all the Reals, of course. And yes, it has more mobility than all of them. And better attacks, too! Kishinken is a nice spam move, Kishin Soujuugeki is a perfectly cromulent counter move for opponents at range (and while 1-5 may not be perfect as your longest range option, it's still usable), Kishin Mougekiken is your main offensive spam move - it easily two shots every mook on this stage and 3 shots every boss, for instance - and Goha Kishinken is what you use to slap bosses around if you absolutely need to - and that +50 Accuracy is absolutely juicy. And it has three part slots for some reason! Literally the only real weakness of Ialdabaoth is that it can't fly and Kishin Mougekiken is B Air (and it's basically all Bs underwater but water is the sort of thing you have to force yourself to need to use in C3), but with three parts you can make up for this.

...Also yes, it can't fly, but Valefor, its brother unit which is supposed to be identical in all but coloration, can. No one knows why.

Anyway, it is really funny that on top of Ialdabaoth being an amazing unit, Folka is also a top tier pilot. Fighting Spirit gets him morale quickly, which is great, because for some ridiculous reason they gave FOLKA an ability that casts Luck every turn when he hits 130 Will. He also comes with a level of Counter and Basically Infight, and while those are nice, be aware again that level up abilities in Compact 3 were not really designed around the levels you actually reach in a playthrough of Compact 3.

Yes, there is a reason that most people say that Ialdabaoth is the best unit in C3. It's not, but it's entirely feasible to solo the entire game after about two or three stages of buildup by just putting all of your resources into this unit and letting it have a go, and at that point power isn't really relevant. No matter what endgame team you are using, whether it be a full team of 14 units or a reduced one to try to salvage what EXP you can get, one of those units should always be Ialdabaoth.

Another scene happens at the start of the enemy’s third turn.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - One Who Walks the Path of Strong-Fisted Supremacy
I found you, Folka! How dare you!!
(Fernando Alberk. OG. CV: Wataru Takagi)
More of them? Who is it now!?
They just don’t stop coming!
Fernando? Stop fighting already!
You’re still saying that!? And after you humiliated me…
You’re wrong! Listen to me! I…
And now you’re trying to make excuses!? You’re rotten to the core! Repent in the afterlife!


Enter Fernando in his Valefor. Think of him like a hostile Ialdabaoth that can fly. Deal with the guys south of the river first before shifting your attention to the north.

This is where I’d put the first battle and boss dialogues… If there were any! This game has very few battle dialogues between characters. However, Alion and Fernando do have things to say when they’re shot down.


I can’t believe they defeated me! Did I underestimate them? At least I’ll no longer be bored.
Are you still going to keep fighting?
I told you, fighting is everything to me! I look forward to our next brawl! HAHAHAHA!
[Alion retreats]
Are we just going to let him get away!?
Right now, our goal is to retake Jaburo. Don’t chase him.
He’s right, Judau! Don’t get ahead of yourself.
I know that!


Damn you!!
Wait! Listen to me, Fernando!
Shut up! I told you I’ll get you back for all the humiliation you caused me!
Just listen to me!
I’m retreating for now… But don’t die until I kill you myself!
[Fernando retreats]
Fernando… I…

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


We finally repelled them…
But why were they here?
I think we should ask that guy.
Indeed… This is Captain Bright Noa, Captain of the Argama, part of the EFF. Who are you?
…It’s best if you don’t get involved with me.
We have to. Jaburo has been destroyed and we’ve suffered great losses. Someone needs to explain what happened.
I don’t care.
You’re related to those Shura guys, right?
…
We’ll use force to arrest you and find out what happened.
You want to fight me?
I’d like to avoid that if possible, but…
(You’re not looking to fight for no reason… You’re not like them.)
Very well. I’ll tell you what I know.
First, can you tell me your name and affiliation?
I’m Folka. I don’t belong to anyone.
Are you fighting the Shura Army all by yourself?
Yes.
What does the Shura Army want?
To fight. They love fighting. They believe winning is everything.
What? So they didn’t attack Jaburo for a tactical purpose? Just to fight?
Exactly. That’s what they live for. Are we done here?
Wait. There’s still something I don’t know. Where are you guys from?
…This is our problem. I won’t drag anyone else into it.
“Our problem”? Are you a Shura too?
Yes, I’m a Shura. But I’m different from them.
Come on, you can tell us more.
I cannot.
We’re getting nowhere.
Hmm… Folka, could you please board the Argama?
…
We can’t let you off the hook right now, since we know nothing about the Shura Army. Besides, you need information too, right?
…Fine.


When the stage is over, you can give your pilots bonus Pilot Points, or PP. I’ll go over PP in a future update. You should always dump as many PP as possible into the pilots you’re planning on using for the long term, like Folka. I think you get one bonus PP per enemy shot down.


We can talk at our leisure here.
I have nothing to do with what they did. I feel sorry for the dead, but that doesn’t mean I have anything to tell you.
Why don’t you want to talk?
I can take care of the Shura Army by myself, so you don’t need to know about them.
Do you really intend to fight an entire army by yourself?
And where does the Shura Army come from, anyway?
If you don’t know about them, I guess this isn’t the Shura Realm after all.
Shura Realm? What are you talking about? This is South America.
South America? What’s that?
What do you mean? It’s the southern American continent.
America? You have multiple continents?
Huh?
Let’s back up a sec. What’s the Shura Realm? Where is it?
I don’t know.
You don’t know? Then how did you get here?
During a battle with the Shura Army, everything went white and I was hit by something. The next thing I knew, I was here.
You expect us to believe that?
It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. I still don’t know myself.
So you were transported here from the Shura Realm?
That seems to be the case.
How many Shuras are out there?
I don’t know how many, but if they’re Shura, they’ll be fighting.
Oh no… So you’re saying they’re attacking other places?
Lieutenant Emma, please check that immediately.
Roger.
I think it’s time I left.
Wait. I have one more question.
I don’t care. As long as the Shura are here, I’ll fight them. I’ve already told you all that I can. We’re good, right? I have nothing more to say.
You don’t know anything about this world, do you? How are you going to find the Shura Army?
…
We’re working to quell conflicts throughout this world. We need a way to contact you if we run into the Shura.
So you want me to join you in exchange for information?
Yes. We’d like as much detail about the Shura Army as possible.
Yeah, we have the same goal, so we should get along.
…
We need to know more about the Shura and you need to know more about this world. Will you accept?
…Fine.


Wait! Fernando!
I’m not in a good mood right now. If you don’t want to die, leave me alone.
Just listen. You’re chasing that coward, right?
Are you trying to piss me off?
You’ll only fight worse if you keep getting worked up like that.
…What do you want?
It seems Folka got captured by that Argama unit from earlier.
Hmph. That’s impossible. Even though he’s a coward, I can’t imagine he’d back down against a group like that.
He wasn’t taken prisoner. He boarded the ship of his own accord.
What? I see what’s happening now. He probably thought he couldn’t defeat the Shura by himself, so he’s trying to take control of this Argama.
Hmm… Maybe that’s the case.
(Damn him! Has he really gone soft!?)
Hey, Fernando. Even though we have different jobs, we’ve known each other for a while, yes?
…
It’d be one thing if Folka were by himself, but it’s going to be pretty tough to deal with all those guys by your lonesome.
Get to the point.
You can have Folka. I just want to fight the Argama.
Fine. I’ll go along with your plans.
Great. Just leave the planning to me. I’ve already found out where some of our comrades are. This is going to be fun.
Damned Folka…


Well, it does look pretty cool.
It really is a robot from another world.
I don’t see many weapons on it.
Don’t get close to the Ialdabaoth!
Don’t scare me like that. We’re just looking.
The last thing I need is for it to be harder to control after absorbing your powers.
It can do what!?
Are you really piloting such a dangerous robot?
Dangerous? Why call it that? Isn’t it natural to give oneself to a Shura God in order to control it?
The Shura God Ialdabaoth… That’s cool as hell.
So in your world, you have to give your own power to your robots?
Isn’t that the case here?
It depends on the machine. For example, Mobile Suits are powered by thermonuclear reactors.
Thermowhatnow? I don’t really get it… So you’re using some other power source instead of your own bodies?
I don’t really understand what you’re talking about. Is it like ki?
Ki? I don’t really know what ki is, but the Shura Gods convert the pilot’s life force into power in order to move.
Life force… So the longer you pilot it, the shorter your lifespan becomes?
Is that a problem?
Having your life taken away by a machine…
Riding a Shura God means you’ll die in battle at any time. Conversely, it’s not a big deal if you have a shorter lifespan as long as you survive.
Not a big deal?
I disagree with the concept, but I guess it makes sense.
Judau…
Woman, can I ask you something?
Me? I might be able to answer…
Why are you on this ship? This ship is meant for combat, right? Why are there non-combatants on board?
Leina is my sister. It may sound dangerous, but this is the safest place for her.
Is this world so dangerous that the safest place is aboard a battleship?
Well, not everywhere is like that…
I know I’m not useful in battle, but I’m doing my best for my brother and everyone.
Folka, I want the world to be a place where she can live happily. Not just her, but everyone else too. I’m fighting because I think I can help bring about that kind of world.
…
Judau cares about his sister. If she’s on board, he’ll fight harder.
Hearing you say that bothers me.
Oh, really?
For your sister’s sake, huh… Okay. I’ll fight alongside you as long as I’m on this ship.
Are you serious, Folka?
Tell your Captain that.
I wonder… It seems like he’s not really paying attention to us.
He must have something on his mind.
Folka…


The Federation is too unorganized right now to get any solid intel.
It makes sense that they’re scrambling like this since Jaburo was destroyed.
I’m concerned about the Titans.
Even if they’re active now, we can only fight them one group at a time.
Even if Jaburo were functioning, they only care about protecting themselves. They’re not thinking about others.
Captain, for now, I’ll keep in regular contact with any research labs that’ll still cooperate with us.
Please do. We really should go back to searching for the Titans…
I’m worried about the Shura Army.
Them too… Maybe instead of searching for ghosts, we should focus on the Shura, however many of them there are.
Lieutenant Emma, have there been any Shura sightings?
None at the moment.
Then let’s bolster our forces.
Captain, I believe the Photon Power and Science Fortress Labs will be willing to help us.
I agree.
Wouldn’t it be better for them to split up to gather information on the Shura?
The Shura are looking for people to fight. Don’t you think they’d gravitate towards Super Robots?
I see. Even if they split up to gather information, that would only mean the damage would become more widespread.
I’ll start contacting the labs.
Please do. We’ll head out to rendezvous with one of them.
By the way, about Folka…
You mean his change of heart? It is a bit concerning…
I doubt he’s a spy, but it’s best to be careful.
You’re right.

I'll be honest, I was not expecting this game to be the next one you'd play until I saw it at the end of K. The whole Compact series is an odd duck, Compact 1 didn't have OG's, Compact 2 was split into 3 games, later re-released as Impact, and this one has a lineup of obscure series, with only Escaflowne and Betterman showing up later in X-Omega and DD, respectively. Can't wait to see more. Also, Ialdabaoth in the OG games is awesome.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, Jaburo was destroyed, and the Argama encountered the Shura Army and the man chasing them, Folka.


This is the intermission screen. Going from top to bottom and left to right, the options are “Unit Ability”, “Modification”, “Save”, “Pilot Ability”, “Pilot Training”, “Load”, “Transfer”, “Power Parts”, and “Next Map”.

You can spend a pilot’s PP under “Pilot Training”, but I’ll go over that once we get enough PP to actually use. You can spend money under “Modification” to upgrade a mech’s stats. You can equip parts to your mechs in “Power Parts”. “Transfer” lets you swap pilots around to mechs from the same series, such as all Universal Century Gundam pilots to other UC mechs. The same can be said for all Mazinger and Great Mazinger characters, Dunbine characters, Betterman characters, and Gundam Wing characters once we get them.

We do have two UC Gundam pilots, Roux and Leina, who were unused in the previous stage that can be put in Mobile Suits if you want to use them. I put Leina in the Super Gundam and Roux in the Methuss, if nothing else because I want to and because this is the only game where you can use Leina for more than half a stage.


This is the stage select screen. Some Scenes let you choose the order that you do some of the stages in. Here, we’re given a choice between going to the Photon Power Lab or the Science Fortress Lab. These choices are mutually exclusive and change the flow of the early game. For the purpose of this LP’s main story, I’m going with the Photon Power Lab, but I’ll cover the Science Fortress Lab route as well.

SECRET ALERT
Getter Decision
If you want Getter G now, go to the Science Fortress Lab.
If you want Shin Getter later, go to the Photon Power Lab.

You can only have one Getter and one potential other character in the game, and which one you get depends on your initial choice here.

When you choose a stage, you get a small preview of the map as well as a basic description of what you’re running into.


The battle with Dr. Hell may be over, but Mazinger Z continues to battle Mechanical Beasts. Will you head to the Photon Power Lab?


Photon Power Route Chapter 2 (1-2): Castle of Black Iron


Haa… Haa… Did we manage to escape?
(Sayaka Yumi. Mazinger Z. CV: Tomoko Matsushima)
We made it this far, so we must be in the clear!
(Boss. Mazinger Z. CV: Hiroshi Otake)
Geez, how are there so many Mechanical Beasts left?
Don’t ask me! Koji’s not here, so we have to do this ourselves.
For the love of… Why is Koji taking school so seriously now!?


Ahh! They caught up with us!
W-what are we going to do?
I don’t know…
If we retreat into the Photon Power Lab, Dad will be in danger.
We’ll just have to tough it out!
Sorry to keep you waiting! MAZIN GO!! PILDER ON!
(Koji Kabuto. Mazinger Z. CV: Hiroya Ishimaru)


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Theme of Z
Good. Made it just in time.
Koji! You’re late!!
Sorry, sorry. Traffic was killer between school and the lab. I’ll make up for my lateness! Come at me, Mechanical Beasts!

We’ve got the Mazin crew now.


[Mazinger Z]
Mazinger Z in old SRW was, generally, a powerful early-game unit that fell off badly late game due to lack of upgrades besides the Jet Scrander and the fact that it had B Space. But Compact 3 doesn't have Space, and so few units are good that Z can hang with the best of the best. The Rocket Punch being 1-5 P and fully free and +15 Accuracy (Compare to ZZ's Beam Rifle which was 50 power weaker, +0 Accuracy, had an ammo cost, and was Range) helps a lot here. You will be spamming a lot of Scrander Cutter, Iron Cutter, and Breast Fire for most of a stage, but when Koji finally hits 120 Will, take note that while Daisharin Rocket Punch's Accuracy stinks badly, 2-5 P and only 50 EN is actually a really good finisher as a workhorse move. And hey, 3 parts!

Koji's not bad either, but the biggest, most important thing he brings to the table is Guts. If Koji is going to die, instead he will be put at 10 HP. Obviously this doesn't work over and over again, but it gives Koji a lot more life than you'd expect. And since Great Mazinger is a slightly worse unit (we'll get to that), Mazinger Z can hang pretty much forever with your group.


[Aphrodite A]
No, not Diana A, screw you lmao. If Sayaka levels up one time, she surpasses her unit's Limit in Evasion, which really says as much as needs to be said. You use this because you want to repair people and the Methuss doesn't do it enough. Sayaka doesn't even have her usual massive SP pool!


[Boss Borot]
Has more Limit than Aphrodite A. Boss Borot keeps his old-school stylings where he stunk, but his finisher could theoretically hit really, really hard. You'd hope having 4 part slots might help, because V-Ups still exist, but... sadly, V-Ups are rather scarce in Compact 3. Boss himself gives Borot more use than you might hope, though. He can't hit for shit, but he has Essentially Infight, Guts, the very rare and valuable Counterattack (automatically crits on counterattacks at 120 Will, which means 1.5x damage!), and an interesting ability called Pride that can theoretically help you get Will, except that Boss's ability to hit things and dodge things stinks. Really, on its face, it looks like Borot only can help you with Resupply.

However, ignore all of that. One day in the future, Boss Borot is going to very briefly be the most important unit in Compact 3.


Have Boss and Sayaka move south onto the Photon Power Lab. Its excellent terrain not only grants increased defense and evasion, but also provides HP and EN regeneration at the start of every turn. Flying units do get the regeneration, but not the defense bonuses. Make sure you land Mazinger.

The Mechanical Beasts are so easy to defeat that even Boss Borot can do some serious damage.

An event happens at the start of the third enemy phase.


…
(AI)
Oh come on! There’s still more of them!?
There’s no point in complaining. Just do your best!
Even so, don’t you think there are too many of them?
We beat Dr. Hell, so how are there so many left?
Who cares?

And another scene at the start of the fourth player phase.


Koji, if this keeps up, we’ll be defeated!
Someone do something!
You idiots! We’ve gotten through worse than this!
Even so…


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
(TL Note: Banger alert. This is my favorite song in the game, and I love it far more than the OGG version. It usually plays whenever the Argama joins the fray.)
Are you okay, Mazinger Team!?
Finally!!
Thanks! Now that the Argama is here, we have the strength of a hundred men!
Come on, you’re doing great, Koji!
You’re the same as ever. All units, deploy!


Deploy the troops.

It’s been a while, Koji.
Kamille!
Now that we’re here, you can rest easy!
Are people always fighting, no, killing each other in this world?
(This place is no different from the Shura Realm.)
Killing each other? Oh, no. Those Mechanical Beasts aren’t manned.
Not manned? How are they moving?
They’re controlled by an artificial intelligence.
Basically, those robots think and move by themselves.
They move…on their own?
Well, at least according to what was programmed into them.
What’s with this world? What do you gain by letting machines fight for you?
You don’t know about Mechanical Beasts? Are you the rumored rookie?
We’ll talk about that later.
Koji, focus on the battle in front of us!
Leave it to me. Let’s mop them up!


With the Argama Team here, it’s easy enough to rush straight into the enemy and shoot them down. With the Methuss and Aphrodite’s healing, you shouldn’t be in any danger. There is the Ghoul to the west, which is technically a battleship, but it’s controlled by an AI so it’s extremely weak.

The map ends when all enemies have been shot down.


Phew! It’s finally over!
That was a close one.
Seriously. If the Argama didn’t show up, we’d be toast.
By the way, who’s the new guy?
That’s Folka. He’s fighting the Shura Army, so he’s been assigned to us in order to help us defeat them.
…
What’s the Shura Army?
Oh, you mean that new enemy we were told about earlier?
The same.
They’re from another world, but that’s all we know about them.
Another world? It looks like another annoying enemy has appeared.
Indeed. I’d like to ask for your help in defeating the Shura Army.
All right. I’d love to help.
I’m curious. Is this a military base?
Technically. Why do you ask?
Well… I’m surprised these warriors agreed to help so easily. And, more importantly, I sense no murderous intent. There’s no tension coming from them at all.
This ship is special.
Captain, we got a transmission from the Battle Team.
Hyoma’s squad? What does it say?
It has coordinates of Combattler V’s current location.
Last I heard, they were chasing the Campbellians.
Are they reporting that they found their base? Captain, we should head there too.
Okay. Let’s head to the Battle Team’s coordinates!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, Jaburo was destroyed, and the Argama encountered the Shura Army and the man chasing them, Folka.


This is the intermission screen. Going from top to bottom and left to right, the options are “Unit Ability”, “Modification”, “Save”, “Pilot Ability”, “Pilot Training”, “Load”, “Transfer”, “Power Parts”, and “Next Map”.

You can spend a pilot’s PP under “Pilot Training”, but I’ll go over that once we get enough PP to actually use. You can spend money under “Modification” to upgrade a mech’s stats. You can equip parts to your mechs in “Power Parts”. “Transfer” lets you swap pilots around to mechs from the same series, such as all Universal Century Gundam pilots to other UC mechs. The same can be said for all Mazinger and Great Mazinger characters, Dunbine characters, Betterman characters, and Gundam Wing characters once we get them.

We do have two UC Gundam pilots, Roux and Leina, who were unused in the previous stage that can be put in Mobile Suits if you want to use them.I put Leina in the Super Gundam and Roux in the Methuss, if nothing else because I can.


This is the stage select screen. This game is divided into “Scenes” which are basically Acts. I will be using these terms interchangeably. Some Scenes let you choose the order that you do some of the stages in. Here, we’re given a choice between going to the Photon Power Lab or the Science Fortress Lab. These choices are mutually exclusive and change the flow of the game. For the purpose of this LP, I’m going with the Photon Power Lab, but I’ll cover the Science Fortress route in another update.

SECRET ALERT
Getter Decision
If you want Getter G now, go to the Science Fortress Lab.
If you want Shin Getter later, go to the Photon Power Lab.

You can only have one Getter in the game, and which one you get depends on your initial choice here.

On this “non-canon route”, the Argama is heading towards the Science Fortress Lab.


Great Mazinger fights against the Combat Beasts after defeating their commanders, including the Great General of Darkness. Will you head to the Science Fortress Lab?


Science Fortress Route Chapter 2 (1-2): Power of Justice, Fire On


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Hero is Mazinger
Tetsuya, why did you suddenly deploy?
(Jun Honoo. Great Mazinger. CV: Yumi Nakatani)
I got a call from the Lab. After I defeated the Great General of Darkness, dormant Combat Beasts have begun to move. It seems they’re on their way here.
(Tetsuya Tsurugi. Great Mazinger. CV: Keiichi Noda)
You’re kidding! What are you going to do?
I’m going to fight back with Great!
Don’t be ridiculous! The Combat Beasts are going to attack all at once, right?
No matter what they’re doing, this is my job!
Let’s get the EFF and the other labs to come help.
Reinforcements are already on their way.
Then we just have to hold out until help arrives.
I’ll defeat them before they get here!


They’re here!
How are they here already!? Venus A, go! Queen Star In!


I’ll send them all to Hell!
Hey! There are too many of them!
I’ll be fine with this many. Besides, this number of Combat Beasts prove that they’re attacking with everything they’ve got. Once we win, they won’t have any left.
Yeah. Let’s do our best!
Let’s go!

First up, the two new units.


[Great Mazinger]
Great Mazinger is balanced to be essentially a slightly better Mazinger Z - slightly more stats in every way, and slightly more power on its weapons. This would generally make it better, which is bad when getting one over the other early is meant to be a choice, so it's balanced out in the weapons, and this is unfortunately the single thing that buries the utility of this unit. While all of its moves are 50 stronger than their Z equivalent, 100 in the case of Breast Burn, this always accompanies two out of three of a noticeable loss of accuracy, a noticeable loss of range, or an upcharge in attack price. Great does not have Z's utilitarian Scrander Cutter and cannot hit Range 5 with its normal moves, and I am honestly unsure why Atomic Punch even exists on it compared to Z's great Rocket Punch. Breast Burn being 40 EN instead of 30 also really sucks. But the thing that truly differentiates the two are the finishers. While low accuracy, Daisharin Rocket Punch backed by Strike is a workhorse move, and on some enemies you don't even need the Strike, Great's Thunder Break is weaker, more expensive, and 1-2 non-P. It's basically useless. And the main thing Great Booster will do for you is expend itself on a counterattack or Support Attack before the thing you want to hit it with, although at least unlike Compact Color, you can stop it from doing the latter.

It doesn't help that Tetsuya is worse than Koji. He does have Fighting Spirit, which is nice enough, but not as good as Guts, and while Support Attack and Potential are alright, Potential is a lot better if you have Guts if you understand my meaning. Also, for reasons that I cannot fathom because they do not make sense to me, Koji has the ability to use Great Mazinger's Sword to parry attacks, but Tetsuya DOES NOT. What the absolute hell, devs.

(I should mention, Double Burning Fire is in this game as one of the three combo attacks - yes, SRWs having nearly no combo attacks is not a new experience! - but it costs 70 EN and is actually weaker than Great Booster. It's the only reason you'd ever consider using Great even with the low amount of units in this game, and it's purely to make Z better. And if you're wondering "but what if I do this route instead of the other one," uh, well, we'll get to that soon, but don't!)


[Venus A]
Very much just strictly better than Aphrodite A in basically every regard, although I guess its version of Photon Power Beam being 2-4 P (Mazinger's is only 1-2!) over Breast Missile's 1-5 occasionally hurts? Counterpoint, though, you shouldn't be doing much attacking with Venus A. It's a repair unit through and through, and Photon Power Beam being melee is important not just in that it's melee, but in that every single Mazinger pilot including the girls are Melee focused. Sayaka's slightly worse than Jun, I guess, but neither of them is particularly good to begin with. Use her and Sayaka in Mazinger and Great if you're doing a Girls Only run I guess.

Quick note, though, this unit can Fly but it has B Air. Do not keep it in the sky. It won't hurt the movement in this game, but the minute you get into combat you will absolutely feel that, as even its shockingly good base armor for this game won't help you that much.


Land both Great and Venus and camp on top of the Science Fortress Lab. Much like the Photon Power Lab in the previous stage, it gives some excellent defensive bonuses and HP/EN regeneration every turn. Blast the Combat Beasts as they get close. Focus on thinning their numbers.

Enemy reinforcements spawn at the start of the enemy’s second turn.


…
There’s still more of them!?
Don’t be discouraged! If you lose your fighting spirit, you’ll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!
Got it, Tetsuya.
Besides, if I were to lose here, I wouldn’t be able to face Koji.
Yeah. We can’t let that happen here!
Exactly! No matter how many of them there are, they can’t beat Great!!

At the start of turn 3…


How are you holding up, Jun?
I’m fine, but this is getting pretty tough.
Venus is reaching its limit. Jun, retreat into the lab for now.
There’s no way I can do that! Are you really planning on fighting them all alone!?
Great and I will be fine!
Like hell you will!


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
(TL Note: Banger alert. This is my favorite song in the game, and I love it far more than the OGG version. It usually plays whenever the Argama joins the fray.)
Tsurugi, are you okay!?
Captain Bright! That was fast.
This isn’t the time to be stubborn! Captain Bright, please help us out.
Roger! All units, deploy!


Deploy the troops!

There are so many Combat Beasts left…
We didn’t expect there to be this many either.
It’s amazing that you’re still standing.
Fighting is all I can do.
You’re the same as always, Tetsuya.
Well, we have a newbie who’s very similar.
…
So you’re Folka, huh? I hear you’re from another world.
That’s correct.
Why did you come to this world?
Do I need to answer?
Excuse me?
I didn’t come to this world of my own free will.
Hmm… Is that really the case?
What do you mean?
Hey, Tetsuya! This isn’t the time for that!
Tch… You’re right.
I’m sorry. We’re exhausted from fighting these Combat Beasts.
Are people always fighting, no, killing each other in this world?
Killing each other? Oh, no. Those Combat Beasts aren’t manned.
Not manned? How are they moving?
They’re controlled by an artificial intelligence.
Basically, those robots think and move by themselves.
They move…on their own?
Well, at least according to what was programmed into them. We’ll talk more about this later. Let’s focus on the battle.
Yep. Let’s just get this over with quickly!
What’s with this world? Do people have machines that fight for them?


Now that the Argama is here, have them move south, wiping out all the Combat Beasts along the way. This guy here, the Demonica, is the closest thing this stage has to a boss, but it’s still quite easy.

The map ends when all enemies have been destroyed.


Done and done!
Somehow, we managed to defeat them.
We should be fine for a while. More importantly, that guy…
You mean Folka? We’ll introduce you to him, but just so you know, we don’t know anything about him except that he’s fighting the Shura Army.
He won’t say anything else? That sounds extremely suspicious.
The Shura Army is my problem. It has nothing to do with you.
How do we know you’re not a Shura spy!?
What would you do if you were in my position?
Huh?
Tetsuya, calm down! He was sent here from another world. It’s fine if he doesn’t want to talk.
Enough talk. You’re just like me, and I don’t say that lightly.
…Fine. But if you make a single wrong move…
Hmph. Do whatever you like.
So, what’s the Shura Army up to?
They don’t seem to be doing anything at the moment.
That’s why we’re here. In order to defeat the Shura Army, we need your help.
You mean Great’s help? That’s fine. We’ve already mopped up most of the Combat Beasts, and taking a vacation doesn’t suit my personality.
Welcome aboard.
This will increase our firepower.
Yep. It’s reassuring to have Tetsuya and Jun with us.
I wonder if the Battle and Getter Teams are okay…
Same here. Captain, where are we heading to next?
I’m thinking of going to the Saotome Lab next.
We’re going to recruit the Getter Team?
Exactly. We don’t know the enemy’s strength, so their adaptability will be necessary.
Are they really that strong?
Getter Robo has different forms that are best suited to the air, land, and sea.
It can transform and respond to the situation, huh…
That’s the easiest way to think of it.
Okay. Argama Team, we’re heading to the Saotome Lab right away!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, the Argama came to Mazinger Z’s rescue and recruited the entire Mazinger Team.


We’re heading to the New Volcanic Cave.


The Combattler Team has finally located the enemy base. Will you provide reinforcements?


Chapter 3: The Tragedy of General Garuda


Forgive me, Miia. I didn’t know that I was a robot just like you… If I had known that sooner, I might have been able to accept your feelings… But it was too late. Everything was too late. Miia, you were the only one who loved and accepted me. And yet, I was foolishly led to believe that I was a genuine Campbellian. They exploited my pride, forcing me to fight for their conquest of Earth. Mother! I hate you! No, I curse all Campbellians! I curse you all!!
(Garuda. Combattler. CV: Osamu Ichikawa)


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Theme of Combattler V
This is where we believe the enemy’s base is.
(Kosuke Kita. Combattler. CV: Sachiko Chijimatsu)
All right! I’ve been waiting for this day. We’ll definitely defeat the Campbellians!
(Hyoma Aoi. Combattler. CV: Yuji Mitsuya)
Hyoma!!
(Juzo Naniwa. Combattler. CV: Keaton Yamada)
Hmm?
I want to defeat them too. Let me pilot for a bit!
No way. This is our final battle. We need to work together.
That’s right. Win or lose, this is it. We need to do our best.
(Daisaku Nishikawa. Combattler. CV: Kazuya Tatekabe)
Yeah. I’m sure Grandpa is watching over us from beyond the grave. We have to make sure we win.
(Chizuru Nanbara. Combattler. CV: Miyuki Ueda)


W-what’s that statue?
Combattler V, you’ve come a long way. However, this is the end for you.
(Oleana. Combattler. CV: Masako Nozawa)
Like hell it is!
We’ll show you what we’re made of!
Enough talk! I’ll tear you apart and kill you one by one! Come out, demons!!


It’s time for the final battle!
I can’t believe they had this many left!
Quit talking and let’s get this over with.
My thoughts exactly! That’s why we came all the way here. Let’s destroy the Campbellians!
Yeah!

How good can you count?


[Combattler V]
Standing at a height of 57 meters, and weighing in at 550 tons, Combattler V provides essentially the same utility it used to always provide in older games - it has more spirit uses than everyone else in the game, and this is big. Get ready for Hyoma to cast Yell on Turn 1 for a very long time because it automatically activates Super EM Yoyo, your main workhorse move (although V-Laser not requiring Will actually is nice on the enemy turn). Be warned that your three strongest moves all have large costs associated with them, so V is going to have to be something you use strategically to get the most use out of - but even if it is not even close to the best "big, one morbillion pilots" robot in this game, Combattler's sheer volume of SP will keep it going, and to its credit its armor isn't awful either in this one so it's less of a glass cannon than in some games.

Hyoma and the rest of the pilots are not bad, either, which is nice. Hyoma has both Supports, Potential, and Defense, because in spite of the Twin Lancer not being an attack in this one it still comes up to matter. Daisaku might also potentially get the incredibly rare Intimidation spirit that lowers enemy Supports to 0, which is cool.


This map can be easy or hard depending on your first turn. The best thing to do is land Combattler and move it slightly north-east, onto some defensive terrain. On that, you can easily tank and counterattack anything that comes at you. Don’t forget your Spirits, as Daisaku has Guard and several team members have HP-restoring spirits.

An event happens at the start of turn 3.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
Huh? Is that the Argama?
They got my message!
Battle Team, is this the enemy’s base?
Yes, it is. That stone goddess statue seems to be their boss.
Understood. Deploy all units!


Deploy the squad.

Their boss is a statue?
She looks like a goddess at least…
Mazinger could topple that statue by itself!
Koji, don’t underestimate someone based on their appearance!
She’s right. Be careful of its lasers.
But I don’t think it can move quickly like that.
Are sentient stone statues common in this world?
This one’s special.
Is it okay for us to destroy it?
You’re Folka? Your robot looks strange.
Well, it’s a lot cooler than that big thing.
Dammit! I can hear you, you know? If you’re so eager to die, then come! I’ll burn you to ashes with my Narmagne Ray!


The boss of this part of the stage is Oleana. Combattler and Mazinger can tank her hits, but make sure you have your Mobile Suit pilots use their defensive spirits like Focus and Alert when they get close.

Anyway, the plot continues once you topple that statue. No one has anything to say to her. Make sure you use Luck so you can get double money from her.


Ugh! What nasty pests! I can’t afford to be defeated! Garuda! Where are you, Garuda!?


Mother… I, Garuda, am here…
Tch. There you are!
Stay frosty, Hyoma!
Hey, doesn’t something seem off?
Oh?
Where were you? Well, whatever. Save your mother.
Save you? Heh… HAHAHAHA.
What’s wrong, Garuda?
Mother, prepare to die!


GAAH! Garuda, have you lost your mind!?
I haven’t lost my mind! I’ve just had enough of you Campbellians!
Damn you, Garuda! Is this how you treat your mother!?
HAHAHA! I no longer consider you my mother! I will no longer fight for the Campbellians!
WHAT!?
For my robotic self and for the late Miia, I challenge you to a duel to the death, Combattler!
What did he just say? Garuda is a robot!?
Hyoma!
Garuda…
What are you saying? Without me--
SILENCE!


Damn you, Garuda! If you didn’t betray me… AHHHHHHHH!
[Oleana explodes]
Combattler V, the stone monster is gone! Now, duel me to the death!
Wait, Garuda! What’s going on!?
Enough talk! Have at you!
Garuda!!


The last boss on this stage is Garuda in the Big Garuda. Get rid of the mooks around him and bring him down. You can outrange him with the Gundams, then go in for the kill with Combattler and Mazinger.


Garuda! Eject!
I won’t accept any humiliation!
What are you talking about!? Hurry, before it explodes!
This battle is over. There’s no need for you to die.
I’m satisfied. I was tricked into believing that I was a genuine Campbellian and that I should fight for them. But in the end, I was able to fight for myself.
What’s this about being tricked?
Now that you mention it, you said you were a robot…
That’s right. I’m not a Campbellian. I’m a robot.
Garuda…
Combattler, this is the only thing I have no regrets about. Miia, I’m coming to see you now…
[Garuda explodes]
I knew it. Pride alone can’t change anything… Something is needed to prevent tragedies from repeating themselves… Something more…
Garuda… I wish we’d met under different circumstances…
He was a proud and powerful warrior. He just believed in the wrong things.
Because Garuda destroyed Oleana, we were able to stop the Campbellians…
Yep. Maybe he was a good person who was tricked into doing evil.

The map ends when all enemies have been defeated.


Now that that’s done, tell me about the Shura Army. Have there been any movements?
No. We haven’t heard anything yet.
Come to think of it, no one’s seen them since Jaburo.
What are they up to?
…They’re probably gathering in one place.
What? Why are they doing that?
They don’t just fight blindly. They think of ways to win.
I see. Since we’re an army, they’re trying to form one too.
In that case, we need to step up our recruitment.
All right. I’m sorry, but will you join us once more?
Is that why you’re here?
What do you think?
We have no reason to refuse. Combattler V is a robot created by Dr. Nanbara to fight for peace, after all.
Hyoma…
Yeah. There are still enemies out there, so we can’t just do nothing.
Where are we heading next?
Hmm. I think we’ll head to the Science Fortress Lab to pick up Great Mazinger.
Tetsuya, huh… That would be a big boost to our firepower.
Then let’s get going, Bright!
All units, return to the ship. We’re leaving!


It feels like forever since I last saw Tetsuya.
It hasn’t been that long, but after all those battles…
Of course it would feel like it’s been forever.
At least we were able to finish off the Campbellians.
I feel like we’ve been fighting forever too…
[Beeping]
Captain Bright of the Argama, this is Lucrezia Noin of the Preventers.
(Lucrezia Noin. Endless Waltz. CV: Chisa Yokoyama)
The Preventers… An organization that works directly under the federal government.
There’s been a unique incident that you should know about. That’s why I’m calling you.
What happened?
We’re still not entirely sure, but it seems some of our troops are killing each other.
Friendly fire?
Yes.
Why would they do something like that?
What’s the cause?
We’re still looking into it.
Is it the Shura Army?
Or maybe some other force is developing new models.
We thought so too, so we’re rushing to confirm, but unfortunately, we can’t get close to the scene.
You can’t get close?
There are no survivors, so we can’t confirm it, but we believe that it could be either mass hypnosis or a virus, so entry is prohibited.
A virus? You mean an infectious disease?
Yes. There were too many people to control by any known mass hypnosis, so it seems some sort of pathogen could be the cause.
Why isn’t the EFF doing anything about this?
They’re apparently contracting a company that specializes in these sorts of things.
I guess that could be considered an action.
Thanks for the heads up. Could you contact me again once you know more?
Roger that.
That’s one hell of a disease.
It hasn’t been determined yet if that’s the cause.
She also mentioned it could be hypnosis.
We’ll be fine.
I think it must be something else…
All we can do is wait for the pros to investigate it, right?
[Beeping]
What is it now?
Incoming SOS from the EFF!
What does it say?
Tokyo is under attack by an unknown army!
That must be them!
Just because it’s an unknown army doesn’t mean it’s the Shura.
Captain, your orders?
No matter who’s attacking, we can’t abandon Tokyo.
Then let’s get going already!
But what if it really is the Shura?
What do you mean?
Well, from what I’ve heard, didn’t they want to fight us?
That’s right. If they were targeting us, don’t you think they’d attack us directly?
Yeah. It’s probable that they’d go after us directly, but for tactical reasons, we can’t rule out the possibility of them attacking somewhere else first.
I see. So they’re using Tokyo to lure us out?
Makes sense to me. Though it would be terrible if this is a completely new enemy.
Either way, we’ll kick their asses!
Okay. The Argama Team will now head to Tokyo!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, the Argama saved the Science Fortress Lab from a Combat Beast assault. Tetsuya and Jun join the crew.


Our next destination is the Saotome Lab.


Getter Robo can fight on any terrain, including land, sea, and air. Will you head to the Saotome Lab?


Science Fortress Lab Route Chapter 3: Ballad of the Red Butterfly


Damn you, Marshal Hidler! How dare you keep me locked up!
(Kochioki. Getter. CV: Hiroko Kikuchi)


…
You know the plan, right?
…
I’m going to lure out Getter Robo. You guys stay hidden.
…
[The AI robots hide]


Come on out, Getter Robo!
(I’m an Oni! Even if the Hyakki Empire has fallen, I can’t afford to lose!)
What’s wrong, Getter Robo!? Are you scared!?
CHAAAAAAANGE DRAGON!! SWITCH ON!!
(Ryoma Nagare. Getter. CV: Akira Kamiya)


There you are, Getter Robo!
That voice belongs to Kochou!
She’s still alive!?
(Benkei Kurama. Getter. CV: Joji Yanami)
Somehow.
Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were dead.
If you were still alive, why didn’t you contact us?
Hmph. Why would I do that?
What are you talking about?
Wait, Ryo. It looks like she wants to fight us.
(Hayato Jin. Getter. CV: Keaton Yamada)
There’s no way she would do that.
Is that true, Kochou?
Indeed. I came here to kill you.
That’s a lie! You turned back into a human!
What are you talking about? I’m Kochoki. I’ve never lost to anyone!!
Tch. It seems she’s lost her memories.
What’s the plan, Ryo?
What’s the plan? I don’t want to fight her.


…
What the!?
What’re you doing, Kochou!?
I won’t let my guard down around you guys anymore!
Kochou, do you really not remember!?
Silence! I’ll shut you up for good!
Dammit… I guess I’ll have to make her remember while we fight!
Is that even possible?
Doesn’t matter. We have to do it.
Exactly. We have to save Kochou no matter what!

Do you believe in the Getter?


[Getter Robo G (Dragon, Liger, Poseidon)]
YYYYikes those stats. The armor of a Gundam and the mobility of a Mazinger, and only 5 movement? Tomahawk is a decent spam move and Tomahawk Boomerang... functions, but Getter Beam is a rough attack. It's basically just Breast Burn. Then, you get to the finishers. Change Attack is on all three of the Getter Gs and it's a 2700 1-2 non-P move, which means you will rarely use it given it costs 60 full EN, and Shine Spark is 1-5 non-P, costs 70 EN, and requires a whopping 135 Morale. I'd like you to consider Combattler's moves from last time, and specifically its two finishers, which were big and clunky - these are smaller and just as clunky. So the form that's usually your main combat form and which is the only form good at anti-air in any form has no good attacks that chew through armor, that's bad.

Ryoma is nice though. Starts even at this point with Strike and Gain and has enough SP to use Gain twice, good for a starting stage where he doesn't need Strike.

About Liger, 9 movement is nice, but it's still statistically just worse than a Gundam. Your only attacks that can hit fliers are the only long range move (yes, that 1-5 move has 4 ammo, after which you can't hit above 2 range - Brad Skywind laughs at you) and the 60 EN move all forms get. Against grounded foes, though, you'll be closing in to 1 range and using The Drill Arm to hit things, and to its credit, the move is free and quite strong. And with the power of Mach Special, you can dodge 50% of all attacks at 130 Morale in addition to Open Get!

Hayato starts with a pretty cheap Flash and Accel, which are nice, and automatically has Basically Instinct (Abandon, an extremely expensive skill in this game...) and Support Attack (which, good luck using that often lmao). However, if you know your glitches, you know your glitches, and C3 Hayato hides an extremely funny secret known to the JP community as God Hayato... but we'll discuss that on a unit that's actually WORTH getting. Suffice to say, the beginning of the end of this game is when Hayato Jin starts showing off his more questionable skills.

Man, when Mazinger is more tanky than your Getter 3 without question... Getter Cyclone is one of the worst moves in the game, because to gain access to a move that hits fliers and doesn't have shit-all for ammo, you have to spend 20 EN on it. Daisetsuzan Oroshi is at least kind of nice? 2300 for 10 EN on a 1P is nice. Really, the issue here is just Liger's but magnified - the minute you run out of those 4 Strong Missiles, you're stuck at 1 range besides the Change Attack at 2 for 60 EN.

Benkei is ok. He starts with Yell, and that's good at least. We'll see more use out of him on a good unit, though sadly, Shin Getter 3 is about as shit as Getter Poseidon is.

Overall, Getter Robo G is not a great unit, and the thing that makes it laughably bad is the fact that if you get it, you aren't getting Shin Getter Robo, which is much, MUCH better. And your reward for getting it early is that you also pass up on Combattler, which is a better unit... it's just, there's no reason to really go for this. When Great is worse than Z, and Getter is worse than Combattler as well as the units you get later, why take this split?


I did forget to take a screenshot of the terrain and of the boss, so here’s Kochoki. Basically, Hyakki Robots are surrounding the Saotome lab. Transform Getter into Liger or Poseidon and park on top of the lab to take advantage of its superior terrain. If you charge at Kochoki, you’re likely to get overwhelmed and shot down.

This stage also has one of the few secrets in this game.

SECRET ALERT
Kochoki
Reduce Kochoki’s HP to below 30% and then convince her with Ryoma.

There also seems to be a bug where if you immediately transform into Liger, you can recruit her without lowering her HP, but I haven’t been able to reproduce it myself.

The plot continues at the start of the second enemy phase with, you guessed it, enemy reinforcements.


…
Great. More of them.
No matter how many there are, we won’t be defeated by mere AI!
Hear, hear! Bring it on!

Help arrives at the start of the third player phase.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
Captain Bright! You came!
See? They’re doing just fine.
Not really.
There’s just no end to them!
Okay. We’ll provide support!


Deploy the troops!

So this is what’s left of the Hyakki Empire, eh?
No wonder they’re having a hard time dealing with them.
Seriously, where were they hiding all these guys?
It’s really annoying. Haven’t they fought enough already?
I think that’s the idea.
(This is exactly what the Shura Army wants…)
Are you the newbie Folka?
I am.
Sorry for getting you involved in our fight.
There’s nothing to apologize for. My fight with the Shura has already involved the people of this world.
Let’s destroy the Hyakki already!
It’s fine if we destroy the Hyakki mechas?
Hmm? What do you mean?
Of course it’s fine. There’s no one piloting those things.
I see…
Let’s focus on clearing out the Hyakki mechas.


Now that the gang’s all here, start picking off the Hyakki mechs one by one. Make sure to not destroy Kochou’s mech if you want to recruit her. If you’re on this route, you might as well.

Here’s the recruitment conversation with Ryoma after you reduce her health.


Kochou! Why do we have to fight?
I told you! I am Kochoki of the Hyakki Empire!!
You’re wrong! You were turned back into a human!
Wrong, wrong, wrong!!
Haven’t you fought enough? The Hyakki Empire is gone.
What’s going on? What are they trying to do?
I think they’re trying to help her.
Help? She came here to fight. Isn’t fighting back the right thing to do?
Not fighting is ideal.
Not fighting? An outcome without any death, huh…
But I have to be the best…
Then why don’t you be the kindest person in the world?
That’s right. As long as you’re a cold-hearted demon, you can never truly be the best at anything!
Stop it!
You’re not Kochoki of the Hyakki Empire.
Kuh!
Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Indestructible Machine, Getter Robo
You’re the beautiful Kochou!
…Ryo? What was I…
Kochou, pull yourself together!
Thank you, Ryo. I’m fine now.
[Kochoki turns blue]
Huzzah! She’s back to normal!
Yeah. I knew this was how this would end from the start.
Thank you, Hayato and Benkei.
Kochou, why did you return to the Hyakki Empire?
After our fight, I was captured by Hidler, who hypnotized me.
Damn that Hidler! How dare he do that!
Well, at least you’re still alive.
These are the last vestiges of the Hyakki Empire.
You should retreat, Kochou.
Ryo, I’m going to fight.
But…
It’s fine. You know how strong I am, right?
All right. But please, don’t do anything reckless.

We now have our first secret character of the game.


[Mecha Kochoki]
Has 20 more Mobility than Great Mazinger and barely any less defense, making it somehow the tankiest unit on this side of the split. The mech’s not amazing, but it is a fine unit for this bit of gameplay, even though the finisher is bad. 50 EN will eat through your stocks way too quickly. The spam moves are fine, though.

The real prize is Kochou herself, as she's the bearer of two very interesting abilities - Encouragement, which means she starts with 10 extra Morale, and Magnificence, which gives her 2 extra Morale whenever she dodges. Level 3 Potential at base and Support Defend aren't bad either! She does suffer from a rather common issue in C3 which is that she lacks Hot Blood, but the real issue is, sadly, that she's mutually exclusive with Shin Getter and the Hyakki who joins along with it, and they're just... a better pilot in a better unit. Same old story, same old song and dance.

Make sure to heal Kochoki up as you continue to mop up the rest of the enemies. They shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

The map ends when all enemies have been defeated.


Okay, I think we’ve stopped their assault.
Kochou, is that the last of the Hyakki Empire’s military?
Yeah… But they have secret bases all over the place. They might have more.
They should know by now not to mess with us.
You must be Captain Bright. I’m Kochou. It’s nice to meet you.
Likewise.
It looks like the Hyakki Empire is now pacified.
Yeah, though I don’t know if they’re truly gone. But we have bigger problems now…
What happened to the Shura Army that you told us about?
We haven’t seen them since our initial encounter.
Have they gone into hiding?
I doubt it. They’ve been scattered all over the planet. They’re probably trying to gather in one place.
Why do you think that?
Perhaps seeing how strong you are, they realized that they can’t win by themselves. They’re trying to gather their own army.
I see. Then we’ll be able to predict what they’ll do.
But a small number of them were able to destroy Jaburo. If they’re going to build an army, then we need to bolster our forces.
And that’s the gist of it. I’m sorry Getter Team, but will you join us?
Of course! If it’s for the sake of world peace, we’ll be happy to help.
Yeah. The Hyakki aren’t our only enemies.
Then it’s settled! So, where are we going next?
The closest location is the Photon Power Lab.
So we’ll be recruiting the Mazinger Team?
That’s the idea. All units, return to the ship so we can depart.


The Photon Power Lab, huh… How’s Koji doing?
This is Koji we’re talking about. He’s doing fine.
I hope he’s not causing any problems for Sayaka.
Seriously.
[Beeping]
Captain Bright of the Argama, this is Lucrezia Noin of the Preventers.
(Lucrezia Noin. Endless Waltz. CV: Chisa Yokoyama)
The Preventers… An organization that works directly under the federal government.
There’s been a unique incident that you should know about. That’s why I’m calling you.
What happened?
We’re still not entirely sure, but it seems some of our troops are killing each other.
Friendly fire?
Yes.
Why would they do something like that?
What’s the cause?
We’re still looking into it.
Is it the Shura Army?
Or maybe some other force is developing new models.
We thought so too, so we’re rushing to confirm, but unfortunately, we can’t get close to the scene.
You can’t get close?
There are no survivors, so we can’t confirm it, but we believe that it could be either mass hypnosis or a virus, so entry is prohibited.
A virus? You mean an infectious disease?
Yes. There were too many people to control by any known mass hypnosis, so it seems some sort of pathogen could be the cause.
Why isn’t the EFF doing anything about this?
They’re apparently contracting a company that specializes in these sorts of things.
I guess that could be considered an action.
Thanks for the heads up. Could you contact me again once you know more?
Roger that.
Mass hypnosis? Who could be doing that?
No one knows yet, Tetsuya.
And I’ve never heard of a disease like that before. We should consider this an enemy attack.
There have been diseases that have been discovered recently.
Could this be one of those?
Both explanations seem possible.
Well, all we can do is wait for their investigation to finish.
[Beeping]
What is it now?
Incoming SOS from the EFF!
What does it say?
Tokyo is under attack by an unknown army!
That must be them!
Just because it’s an unknown army doesn’t mean it’s the Shura.
Captain, your orders?
No matter who’s attacking, we can’t abandon Tokyo.
The Shura Army, huh…
Doesn’t the Shura Army just want to fight?
What do you mean?
If they wanted to fight us, wouldn’t they just go after us directly?
Yeah. It’s probable that they’d go after us directly, but for tactical reasons, we can’t rule out the possibility of them attacking somewhere else first.
I see. Could Tokyo be a decoy?
We’ll know once we get there.
Okay. The Argama Team will now head to Tokyo!

Man, so many usually good units are bad. A Great Mazinger worse than Mazinger Z, almost all UC units are terrible, and the only "good" unit being Combattler. Hope the new series units are better.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Depending on the route you chose earlier, you’ll either have the Mazinger and Battle teams, or the Great Mazinger and Getter teams. They’re mutually exclusive. This LP will go under the assumption you chose the Mazinger/Battle route, but I’ll mention any dialogue featuring the other characters in quotes.

Last time, the Argama got an SOS from Tokyo. They seem to be under attack by an unknown force.


For the finale of the first Scene, we’re going to Tokyo.


Tokyo is under attack! It seems to be an enemy no one has ever seen before… Are you ready for combat?


Chapter 4: A New War




Oh come on! What is it now?
(Hitomi Kanzaki. Escaflowne. CV: Maaya Sakamoto)
[A flash of light]
What? A hot gust of wind?
[The screen turns white]
Lord Van, are you ready?
(Balgus. Escaflowne. CV: Tessho Genda)
Yeah, I am.
(Van Slanzar de Fanel. Escaflowne. CV: Tomokazu Seki)
You must slay the dragon for your brother’s honor.
That’s enough. I’ll never turn my back on the enemy!
[The screen returns to normal]
Huh? Was that a dream?


What are those!?
I’ve never seen those before. That can’t be the Shura Army.
If it’s not the Shura, then who are they?
Has another new enemy appeared?
I don’t know who they are, but we can’t ignore any attack on Tokyo. Sortie immediately!


Deploy the troops.

This whole situation looks awful.
It looks like the enemy’s goal is to destroy Tokyo.
What do you mean, Kosuke?
This enemy isn’t targeting military buildings. They’re attacking indiscriminately. That can only mean…
…Their goal isn’t domination, but destruction.
Precisely.

These guys aren't targeting military buildings. They’re attacking indiscriminately!
How awful…
Why do such a thing?
I don’t think they’re thinking that hard.

Dammit! Why attack in such a pointless manner!?
You’ve got to be kidding me!
I won’t forgive you even if you apologize!
…
(Cyborg Soldier)
The army is here? I need to evacuate!


Enemy troops are on our southern to eastern flanks. In hindsight, the best thing to do would be to start moving everyone eastward in preparation for allied and enemy reinforcements, but that’s not necessary to be successful on this map.

The plot continues at the start of the second enemy phase with enemy reinforcements.


Kamille! I found you!!
(Jerid Mesa. Z Gundam. CV: Kazuhiko Inoue)
Jerid Mesa? You’re still alive?
I won’t die until I kill you!
Even though this unknown enemy is attacking?
The only thing that matters is you, Kamille! As long as I kill you, I don’t care about anything else!
Jerid, you asshole!!
Don’t ignore me. I’m here too.
(Yazan Gable. Z Gundam. CV: Hochu Otsuka)
Yazan Gable?
You know him, Judau?
(Said by Tetsuya if you have him)
We’re not close, but back when I was running a junk shop, I tried to steal the Zeta and…
I was unlucky back then. If you didn’t betray me, I would be piloting the Zeta instead!
So why is that thief here?
Thief!? I’m only here because of the Argama!
So you’re here for revenge?
Exactly.
So there are people in this world who think like this? What a bunch of idiots, fighting to satisfy their own grudges…
Enough talk! Let’s go, Kamille!!


Now we’ve got Jerid in a Baund Doc and Yazan in a Hambrabi as bosses. The Baund Doc is surprisingly tanky for being a Mobile Suit, which the Hambrabis are as agile as you’d expect.

The plot advances at the start of the third player phase with a flash of light.


Super Robot Wars K - No Need for Promises
Where am I?
(That’s the robot that appeared in my dream…)
Is that another new enemy?
(The way it appeared is similar to how I came to this world…)
It seems there’s only one this time.
I’ve never seen a machine like that before.
Are you residents of the Demon Realm?
What are you talking about?
No! This isn’t the Demon Realm!
What!? There’s still a civilian here!?
Who are you?
I’m Van Fanel of Fanelia. Where am… Oh!
Is something the matter?
Stay back! It’s coming!
Something’s coming? What are you talking about?
Maybe he’s talking about another robot like his?

Something’s coming? What’s coming?
From the way he’s talking, it sounds like an enemy.

You need to run! The Earth Dragon is coming!
A dragon?
Run! Do you want to be eaten alive!?
[The screen flashes]
What?
What’s happening?
I knew it! That light is the same one I saw when I arrived in this world!
Ugh… I feel sick. I might throw up…
Incoming!


What’s that?
This way! I’m your opponent! What’s wrong? You’re hungry, aren’t you? Come and eat me!
…!
(Earth Dragon)

We got a temporary new ally.


[Fanelia Guymelef]
Is not a Guymelef, it's just a Melef! Fake news, Compact 3! It's also notably a commander model, as Fanelia has at least three Melef types (a less ornate version of this and a less ornate version of this in red - it might have more but it's been a bit). I shouldn't need to explain that this thing is a temp unit, and will be swiftly replaced. I will point out that that Dragon can kill you in two hits, and even on defensive terrain it's not exactly uncommon that it hits Van, so keep a Trust backed up just in case. You may wonder why it is that Van is so damn bad at dodging that this would be an issue, but we'll get to that.


And here’s the Earth Dragon. It’s strong enough that it’ll destroy Van if it hits twice (or once with a crit). Move Van onto the school for the terrain bonuses and use Focus when engaging the dragon. If Van ever gets hit, make sure to use Trust on him. There’s a good chance that a stray Hamarabi or Yazan might see how weak Van’s Guymelef is, so they’ll change course and start attacking him. If you haven’t already, send some units to the east to back Van up.

There’s a bit of dialogue that takes place after Kamille fights Jerid for the first time.

Jerid! Why are you doing this?
Until I kill you, I can’t take a step forward! That’s the kind of man I’ve become! You’re the wall standing in my way!
You’re being selfish! You only judge things as winning or losing.
That’s right! That’s why I’ve thrown away everything to come here!

Eventually, you’ll shoot down the three bosses.


Dammit! Why!? Why can’t I win!? What am I missing!?
As long as you’re consumed by your emotions, you’ll never beat us.
Dammit all! Kamille! I’ll get you next time!
[Jerid retreats]
Jerid…


Tch! I’ve been shot down!
Brace yourself, Yazan Gable!
Hmph! I don’t want to die yet.
[Yazan retreats]
Dammit! He got away.
Revenge, huh…
Focus on clearing out the rest of them.
Roger.

No lines are said when the Earth Dragon is shot down, but the stage ends when all enemies are defeated.


What the hell was that thing!?
Was that a mythological dragon?
That was the first time I’ve seen one in person!

I never thought I’d have to fight a real dragon.
Killing a living being doesn’t feel very good.

Hey, brat! Van Fanel, right? How did you get here?
Brat!? Rude!
What’s gotten into you?
That flash of light when he appeared is the same as the one that I saw when I was sent to this world.
So that kid also comes from another world?
It’s possible.
What are you talking about!?
Do you know anything about the flash of light when you came to this world?
A flash of light? Ah. I was fighting the Earth Dragon and was blinded by something…
So you saw it!
I don’t know anything about the light. All I know is that I was fighting for my life when it happened.
Just like me…
So if you fight in another world, you’ll get transported to Earth?
I don’t think that’s it…
There must be some sort of trigger.
A trigger? Folka was fighting the Shura and Van was fighting the Earth Dragon, right?
Van, what is this Earth Dragon creature anyway?
Don’t you have them too? In Fanelia, one needs an Earth Dragon’s Energist to become King.
By Energist, do you mean that red stone you’re holding?
That’s right. You don’t know about Energists? How are you controlling your Guymelefs?
[The screen turns white]
What!? My Energist is…
Eh?
[Fade to white]


Have more Upper Earthers been summoned?
(Nie Given. Dunbine. CV: Makoto Ataka)
It looks like it. But to be summoned in a place like this…
(Marvel Frozen. Dunbine. CV: Mika Doi)
Hey! Isn’t that an Aura Ship? And a big one at that!
(Keen Kiss. Dunbine. CV: Yumi Takada)
It’s massive. Did Silky really summon that?
Silky Mau shouldn’t have that kind of power.
Isn’t that an EFF ship? There are a lot of robots I’ve never seen before around it.
So those are Upper Earth machines? At least we found them before Drake did. I want them to fight with us.
Same here. I’ll go say hello. I wonder if Drake is aware of them.
What’s going on!? How did they get here without an E Ferario’s power!? Upper Earthers should go back to Upper Earth!
(Cham Fau. Dunbine. CV: Maria Kawamura)
Cham!
But… I’m sorry, Marvel.
I feel the same, and I’m an Upper Earther too.
I just hope they’ll cooperate with us…


You still haven’t been able to contact the Generals?
Sir! While we’ve located Lord Fernando, we still haven’t found Lords Altis, Maysis, or Magnaz yet.
I see…
By the way, we’re still also looking for Lord Mizar.
Hmm… I don’t think you’ll find Mizar.
Why’s that?
Hehehe… Do you want to know?
Yes.
Ambition…
Ambition?
Ambition. He’s strong because he has ambition. Strong ambition can grant strength. Why don’t you try having ambition yourself?
…I’ll think about it.
Hehehe… If you keep hesitating, you’ll never get stronger.
…
Continue searching for the Generals.
Sir!
(I must heal my wounds and regain my strength as soon as possible!!)


Is everyone safe?
Yes. All are accounted for.
Good… Where are we anyway?
It looks like we’re in a mountainous region.
Confirm our location and contact the Federation.
Roger.
In the first place, what was that light?
I can’t see the Mystic Moon, so I guess we’re not on Gaia.
Oh, you’re safe too.
People of the Mystic Moon, what have you done? What are you going to do to me!?
What are you talking about? Wasn’t that light from the stone you took from the dragon?
What? You’re not the ones behind it? Energists don’t have that kind of power.
That’s odd… I can’t get through…
It seems you’ve finally noticed.
Who are you? Are you with the EFF?
I’m Marvel Frozen. Believe it or not, you’re no longer on Earth.
This isn’t Earth?
Correct. This is Byston Well, the world between the land and sea.
The world between the land and sea? What’s that supposed to mean?
(Said by Jun if you have her)
I’ve been sent to yet another world, huh…
A few days ago, there was a massive earthquake.
Since then, we’ve gotten more visitors from other worlds.
And you are?
I’m Nie Given, currently fighting Drake from the Country of Ah. Can you help us?
Asking us to help you right off the bat…
Nie, didn’t you say you were going to leave it to Marvel?
W-what’s that talking little thing!?
Fairies? They’re real?
In Byston Well, they’re called Ferario.
Ferario? I don’t really know what’s going on, but it seems we’re really not on Earth anymore…
What are we going to do now?
We have to find a way back to Earth.
This isn’t the Mystic Moon? Now that I have the Energist, I want to return to Fanelia as soon as possible.
Fanelia? I’ve never heard that name before.
It’s where I’m from.
Um…
Hmm? You’re here too, girl?
What’s going on?
Don’t ask me. I don’t know either.
W-what are you planning to do?
Oh! You’re that civilian from Tokyo. You must have gotten caught up in that light.
Seems so…
What’s your name?
Hitomi Kanzaki.
Kanzaki, we’ll protect you. Of course, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to return to Earth safely.
…Right.
Even civilians were dragged into this.
I still can’t believe this is another world.
I mean, just look outside.
Can we really go back home?
If we came here with the power of Van’s stone, it stands to reason that we can use it to go back.
Hey, can’t you use that stone to take us home?

Is this really not Earth?
Considering that we’re looking at a fairy and we can’t contact the EFF, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
Is there any way we can get back home?
We came here through the power of that stone. If we use that power again, we should be able to return to where we were.

Look, I don’t even know how we got here.
So we can’t go back?
Maybe we’ll find something out if we go to Fanelia…
There is a way to go back to Earth in this world.
There is?
I don’t know how you came here, but I was summoned by an E Ferario.
So that fairy with you can send us back?
No. Cham can’t.
But she’s a Ferario, right?
Cham’s a Mi Ferario, not an E Ferario.
Mi, not E!
So where can we find an E Ferario?
I know of Silky Mau, who’s being held captive by Drake.
Is that why you’re fighting, Marvel?
That’s part of it, but after meeting Nie and Keen, I’m fighting to stop Drake’s ambitions. He’s breaking the rules of this world and using us Earthlings to pursue his own selfish desires.
I have to get back to Fanelia quickly. I don’t have time to fight this Drake guy.
Do you know how to get back?
This Energist was extracted from a Fanelian Earth Dragon. If I can draw out its power, I think it’ll take me there.
You can do that?
The Energist is proof of my right to rule. I will master it!
Right to rule? Are you a King?
I haven’t been anointed yet… I feel bad for dragging you all into this. Once we return to Fanelia, I’ll find a way to return you to the Mystic Moon.
So we have two choices. What’s your call, Captain?


>Go to Fanelia with Van
>Cooperate with Nie

Welcome to the only real route split in the game (unless you count choosing between the Photon Power Lab or Science Fortress Lab earlier). There is a single secret involved in this decision.

SECRET ALERT
Billbine Night Camo
Choose to go with Nie.

For the purpose of this LP, the “canon” route is choosing to help Nie out after recruiting the Mazinger and Battle teams.


Can we really rescue this Ferario from Drake?
Drake’s forces currently consist of a few robots called Aura Battlers and fighters called Doros. I think it’s possible if we work together.
It’s worth a try.
[A flash of light]
My Energist again!
It’s just like what happened in Tokyo…
Huh? Why is my pendant glowing?
[Van and Hitomi disappear]
He’s gone… I hope he got home safely.
Captain! Hitomi is missing too!
Was she caught up in that light?
Who is that Hitomi girl anyway…


The third one came with some sort of machine.
(Drake Soldier)
Huh?
(Shou Zama. Dunbine. CV: Shigeru Nakahara)
I’m going to rest now.
(Louser Luft. Dunbine. CV: Tetsuko Hino)
Are you afraid, Louser?
(Drake Luft. Dunbine. CV: Shoji Oki)
Watching the rules be broken is not pleasant.
Should we not have done it?
(Burn Burnings. Dunbine. CV: Show Hayami)
Well…
Ah crap.
What’s wrong?
Oh? I see…
Silky looks like she’s in pain.
(Garalia Nyamhee. Dunbine. CV: Miki Saijou)
We need at least one more!
(Shot Weapon. Dunbine. CV: Masahiko Tanaka)
Shot! Let her rest! You’ve already used her too much!
Sir!
I’ll leave it to you!
If she’s done, let’s put her back in the water prison!
If we must.
Do it!
Sir!
Lord Shot, you should rest.
Take care of those three.
Yes, Lord Shot!
What’s that?
It’s a Ferario!
Isn’t that one from Given’s place?
Get me a bow and arrow!
Upper Earthers, go home!
[Cham leaves]
Tch! It’s Cham Fau.
It is the Ferario who’s allied with Nie Given!
Double layer the barrier!
It’ll be done, my lord! Open the bottom!
You three from Upper Earth. it’ll take some time to explain the situation. Would you mind accompanying me?
What if I refuse?
Silky Mau doesn’t have much power. Even if you refuse, you can’t return to Upper Earth by yourself. Hehehe…
What if I still refuse?
I will force you to obey.
Like hell you will!
[Burn punches Shou]
Burn!
You’re lucky, Upper Earther. You have the power to ride the Aura Road.


I can’t see the light of the Aura Road anymore.
Dammit! Another Upper Earther was summoned by Drake!
It’ll be fine, Nie. At least one of them must understand our cause, like Marvel!
So this leader, Drake, is trying to conquer this world?
Yes. Before this whole thing started, machine technology didn’t exist in Byston Well.
So we’re dealing with robots in a medieval Europe situation?
Yes. A man named Shot brought machines into a world where people fought with bows, spears, and horses.
Shot Weapon? I heard he recently won several awards for his drivetrain and energy efficiency systems.
Come to think of it, there were rumors that he suddenly disappeared. I guess he was making combat robots in another world.
So even here there’s the contradiction of using fighting to stop fighting, huh…
We don’t fight because we want to! Rimul’s father shouldn’t have taken things this far.
Who’s Rimul?
Drake’s daughter.
I don’t want to fight, not just because he’s Rimul’s father.
It’s not as easy as you think. It’s difficult to change the mind of someone who holds ambition.
Huh!? What do you, an Upper Earther, know about anything!?
Nie!
Sorry, but I’m not like the others.
Nie! Niiiiiie!! Three of them! There are three Upper Earthers!
Really?
In other words, those are three people who are now missing from Earth.
Seems that way… No one ever expects to be summoned to another world.
I’m sorry, but we’re going to go ahead with the plan tomorrow.
You’re going to rescue those people?
Yeah. I hope it goes well, but if they try to resist…
Yeah, yeah. Let’s do our best tomorrow to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m exhausted, so I’m gonna get some sleep.
Thank you.
Don’t worry about it. We want to go home soon, too.


Let me show you the Aura Battlers. This one is a Drumlo.
You want us to pilot a robot right away?
(Tokamak Lobski. Dunbine. CV: Fumihiko Tachiki)
Can I see the cockpit?
(Tod Guinness. Dunbine. CV: Hozumi Osaka)
Only if you agree to help us.
Take off these shackles and we’ll be best friends.
Very well.
So there’s the monitor. The panel is on the front… It’s surprisingly simple.
There’s no way it can move.
Maybe for the people native to this world, but the people from Earth have the power of Aura. With that power, these machines will move.
But, you know, it looks like there’s an engine.
That acts as a backup.
I can’t believe in the existence of a bioenergy like Aura.
You responded to our summoning, remember?
Oh, a two-way mirror. You can see through it from the inside.
It’s practically invisible from the outside.
Wow.
We use polished kimai lagus shells.
That Shot guy is very impressive, eh?
If we’re successful, will you send us home? Or maybe you’ll make us Kings of some land here?
If we can get Silky’s help. Or you could stay here and rule over a plot of land the size of California.
You know about California?
Isn’t that where Shot’s from?

In an alternate universe, after having recruited Tetsuya and the Getter Team, Bright decides to go to Fanelia with Van.


For now, we have no choice but to rely on someone who teleported to Earth.
But what’s the point if he can’t control the stone’s power?
I can control it. Balgus and everyone are waiting for me in Fanelia!
[The screen flashes]
The Energist again!
This is just like in Tokyo…
What? Why is my pendant glowing?
[They disappear]
Huh!? Where did everyone go!?
They were probably sent somewhere else by that light.
I was hoping they’d help us out…


Ugh! Where are we now?
Finally…
Finally?
Huh? Is that the Earth?
How are we seeing the Earth in the sky?
Earth? Oh, you mean the Mystic Moon. I wish I could send you back directly.
Impossible… There’s no way a place like this could exist this close to Earth…
(TL Note: The game shows Hitomi’s mugshot instead of Bright’s here for some reason, but it still has his name.)
Welcome to Gaia! Now, let’s go to Fanelia!
So we’ve come to Van’s world, eh? If that Earth is real, perhaps we can just fly there in the Argama.
So that’s what Earth looks like…
Unfortunately, I’m not picking up anything. That Earth doesn’t exist.
I figured, but this place is mysterious.
This is Van’s world, after all.
I know that the power of the stone can take us to another world, but…
Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to get you back home.
(Why was my pendant glowing too?)
Let’s pick up the pace. We don’t have time to fool around.
Don’t be in such a hurry, Folka. You’re not the only one who wants to get back.
But…
There’s no point in staying here. Let’s head to Fanelia.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

This is the start of Scene 2, “Another World”. As a heads up, this route is on the Great Mazinger save file, so the Mazinger and Battle teams aren’t recruited. Any time Tetsuya, Jun, Ryoma, Hayato, or Benkei talk, assume that a Mazinger or Combattler character is saying something extremely similar.

Last time, the Argama was sent to Byston Well after a battle against an unknown enemy group. Captain Bright decided to take Van’s offer to go to Fanelia in hopes of finding a way to return home.


For the first stage in Scene 2, we’re off to Fanelia!


After the Argama Team arrives in Gaea, another world, Van invites them to his homeland, Fanelia. Will they be able to return safely?


Van Route Chapter 5 (2-1): The Guardian Awakens


ACROBUNCH, GO!
(Tatsuya Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Hidekatsu Shibata)


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Dream Hunters
Hey Papa, where are we?
(Jun Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Shigeru Nakahara)
Hmm… I don’t know, but I can feel the romance.
Come on, Father…
(Miki Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Katsue Miwa)
I guess with Dad’s romance, you don’t need food.
(Ryo Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Akio Nojima and Hideyuki Tanaka) (They changed voice actors partway through the show)
We stopped in Tokyo to stock up on supplies, but then there was a blinding light and now we’re in the middle of nowhere!
(Reika Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Kazuko Sugiyama)
Earlier, I saw an animal I’ve never seen before.
(Hiro Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Norio Wakamoto)
Hmm. I’m not recognizing any of the local flora.
Are you for real, Hiro!? I wanna see it. Tell me next time!
Anyway, let’s find a place to have a nice meal. Reika, did you get everything you wanted?
Eh!? Well, the fighting started, so I was trying to get out of there quickly…
Give me a break. Do we really have to start foraging for food?
Can we even eat the food around here? Shall we start with the fish in the river?
Whaaaat? You know I’m not a fan of fish.
You won’t survive if you’re picky. Right, Papa?
I thought I asked you to call me Dad instead of Papa.


We finally found you!
(Cera. Acrobunch. CV: Kazuko Yasunaga)
I don’t know what trick you used, but you can’t outwit us!
(Groizy. Acrobunch. CV: Tamio Oki)
(TL Note: Groizy’s name (グロイジ) in Compact 3 is typo’d as “Kroizy” (クロイジ).)
You’re still following us?
It’s bad enough you’re sneaking around!
We weren’t following you! We came to Japan because we detected a response from the Quaschika. What are you doing here?
The Quaschika is in Japan? Why would it be in Tokyo of all places?
They have to be mistaken.
Probably, but there might be some connection between the Quaschika, us arriving in Tokyo, and suddenly being transported to wherever this place is.
I see. I didn’t think there’d be any ruins in a developed city, but perhaps there is.
If that’s the case, let’s skedaddle and go check it out.
What an interesting idea. If the Quaschika is there, I’ll kill you so I can take my time looking for it!
I knew you’d say that.
Sounds good to me. All units, attack!

Be silent so you can hear the earth.


[Acrobunch]
Only a temp on this stage, sadly. 6 pilots automatically makes this one of the best units in the game, and you might notice by looking at them now, they're not running around with substandard SP amounts either - and they'll gain it really quickly. The Buncher Drill/Drill Charge is kind of useless (it is really accurate but you have so many Strikes...), but Finger Missile is an amazing spam move, Wing Saber is Mazinger's Scrander Cutter on uppers, the Buncher Cannon/Launcher Cannon is a great counter weapon (although 20 EN is a bit steep), and the Holy Sword is only 40 EN for that level of power - Great Mazinger could never!

Also, among these six pilots, they have access to nearly every single spirit, up to and including MIRACLE. Their spirit layout is pretty good, too. For SOME reason, the really cool skill Kouchou has that's meant to make her great (the one that gives her 10 morale at the start of the stage) is also on Tatsuya, which makes Acrobunch even deadlier and ensures you always have the Cannon online. Free Support Attack and Potential isn't bad either.

By the way, the sheer volume of wrongly written names on Acrobunch and its pilots is massive. It's incredibly likely that the devs didn't have good materials for the show, which explains how it shows up in this one.


These are Groizy and Cera’s machines, though chances are you won’t be seeing them here unless you rush at them. Feel free to fight with Acrobunch while you can, because it won’t last long. You can choose to charge into combat or stay on the mountains for the defensive terrain.

The plot continues at the start of turn 3.


What are you doing!? Destroy Acrobunch!
Cera, I just found a Quaschika signal!
What!? We need to go after it immediately!
[All enemies retreat]
Just what you’d expect from Goblin. They prioritize their objectives.
Well, let’s eat while we still can.
Now’s not the time for that!
He’s right. We can’t let them have the Quaschika.
Let’s hurry and go after them.
[Acrobunch retreats]


Oh? The signal’s gone.
What’s wrong?
I was briefly picking up combat signals.
I don’t see anything.
Maybe the radar is malfunctioning?
Hmm… Is Fanelia fighting any wars?
That’s impossible. Fanelia is a peaceful kingdom.
So, what’s the plan?
This place is safe. Let’s go to the castle.
This is your country. We’ll trust you.
Lord Van!
(Merle. Escaflowne. CV: Ikue Otani)
Merle!
Lord Van, I’m so glad you’re safe. I was worried about you.
Lord Van!
I, Van Fanel, have completed the dragon-slaying ritual and have brought back the dragon’s Energist.
Oh!
(Fanelia Soldier)
I’d recognize that stone anywhere!
It’s a real dragon Energist!
We, the Fanelian Knights, recognize you.
Thank you, everyone.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Epistle
(TL Note: Another banger alert.)
W-what was that!? Is something coming?
Is it a monster?
Where did it come from!?


What’s going on? I see smoke.
Is there a fire?
We’re under attack! All women and children, flee to the mountains! All men, prepare for battle!
An enemy attack!?
Guests, please leave this to us.
But…
We’ll hold them off with our Guymelefs. I’m counting on you all.
Sir!
What should I do?
Lord Van, please retreat to the cathedral with the guests.
The cathedral?
Yes. If something goes wrong, escape with Escaflowne!
Escaflowne…
Cowards! Show yourself!!


Is that a Guymelef?


You messed up. How utterly useless.
(Dilandau Albatou. Escaflowne. CV: Minami Takayama)
My apologies!
(Zeibach Soldier)
We have no need for the useless. Ah well. Prove your worth by burning everything to the ground!
Sir!


Dammit! I won’t let you burn our home!


So for this first turn, you literally cannot do anything, for there are no units to control. Just a bunch of NPC Fanelian Guymelefs. The next turn is when things actually happen.


I, Van Fanel, the new King of Fanelia, enter into a blood pact with you, Escaflowne. O dragon, awaken!
Hey, what are you doing?
I’ll fight with Escaflowne.
Huh?
Good, it’s just as the ancient text says. I can move it!


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - No Need for Promises
So that’s Escaflowne… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before…
What are you guys doing!? Hurry up and hide!
We can’t do that. Even though this is another world, we can’t just stand by and watch a town get destroyed.
Exactly. We can fight too. Deploy immediately.


Deploy the troops.

Who the hell are they?
If they’re piloting Guymelefs, it seems some country is attacking us.
All the more reason we have to save the civilians!
By the way, their capes are amazing. Even with modern science, it’s impossible to visually disappear like that.
Is that how you fight in this world?
There hasn’t been a war in a long time, and I’ve never seen a cloak like that before.
It’s really unfair!
Why would they attack like this?
Most likely, they’re taking advantage of the King’s absence.
It seems that even in this world, there are people who love fighting and causing conflict.
Anyway, we must make sure the citizens evacuate safely. The enemy’s strength is unknown, but I believe in you!

First up is the headliner.


[Escaflowne (Humanoid and Dragon forms)]
Escaflowne, on its face, is not a bad unit. Yes, it has no bulk, its HP and Armor both suck (though it has more armor than some of the gundams...), and its S size ensures it will take a ton of damage and probably die in one or two hits if it is hit. But its mobility is good and the S Size helps there, too. Of course, a mecha only armed with a sword is disadvantaged, but it can use that sword to Parry and its weapons are honestly not bad - the 1-4 is your longest range move but isn't the worst range to be stuck at in C3 and it is very accurate, the 1-3 is a great spam move, and the finisher is honestly not that bad overall, although man, 50 EN is a tall ask. Plus, all of them have an amazing crit rate, with the +45 crit on the finisher in particular being very enticing. And 6 movement might be bad, but after transforming, it gets 8 movement and even more mobility shaves off the issues. This form even is A Land and Sky and has Land movement, something I doubt you'd expect looking at it but it can use terrain to its advantage well enough. The attacks aren't great. The 1 range sword is inaccurate and not as useful as the Guymelef Form's basic moves, and the 1-2 range attack is nice at only 10 EN but -20 accuracy suuuuucks.

However, all of that leaves aside the actual issue that makes Escaflowne from a neat unit into a very, very underpowered one - the man sitting in the cockpit. Van sucks. His SP is shit, he gets Training super late past the point it would be useful and his fifth spirit is Charge - yes, Charge, with all ZERO FUCKING MOVES IT WORKS ON, because all his moves are post-movement, and while he actually does have the Melee and Skill to suit this mech offensively, his Evasion is absolute dogwater trash which means he's going to take a ton of damage and die way before you can get good use out of him. Oh, and his skills are all shit too, mind you. He has Fighting Spirit, which gives him morale when he takes damage, which... fucking why? He has Infight but that levels up way too slowly, he has support attack and barely any range to use with it, and of course, like Tetsuya, he does not have Defense meaning that Escaflowne's sword for defending can't even be used.

I do not know who on the design team hated Van, but whoever it was, they basically changed this unit from a solid MC in this game to unusable dreck. The worst part of this is that you DO have to use Van, because there's a force deploy later in a situation that a low level Van will instantly die to.

Even if he’s not the best, I will be using Van for the rest of the game. I mean, when else can I?


The objective is to wipe out all enemies. The NPC Guymelefs will slow them down, but they’ll most likely die before accomplishing much. Even so, make sure they don’t kill any enemies to prevent any loss of money or dropped parts.

Mattman has a gameplay note for this section.

Ah, here we are, finally time to start talking about why Range is shit in C3 - one of the reasons, at least. Every single important Escaflowne enemy from mook to miniboss to major boss possesses an ability called Stealth Cloak. Stealth Cloaks in canon were basically a cloak of invisibility - they had a high energy upkeep and the mooks had some issues with them, but even those got ironed out by the end of the series. Obviously, this would be pretty hard to implement in a SRW in a sane and rational manner.

So, they didn't!

The Stealth Cloak in C3 makes it so that all range attacks have a 50% chance of missing, flat out. It does not matter what kind of attacks those are, it does not matter what unit used them, it does not matter if the pilot casted Strike - flatly, they all have a 50% chance to miss, and if the cloak is activated the unit loses 20 EN. That sounds like a lot, but understand that this gives even the weakest mook at base upgrades SIX activations of their Cloak before they run dry, a point long past when you should have killed them.

This also means that every unit whose main spam move is Range is sitting in the corner watching as Mazinger Z kills everything from 1-5 P range with a Melee move that generally two shots the mooks.

Now, the good news is, this isn't the be-all-end-all. Escaflowne is not the most common enemy force in the game, so while the Stealth Cloak is highly annoying it's actually not something that would kill any of these units. The problem is that it's only half the problem, and the other half is arguably worse. But we'll get to that...

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


[Epistle plays again]
How are you taking this long?
These guys weren’t in any of our spy’s reports.
No excuses!
Sir!
TAAAAAAH!


Balgus!
Balgus?
He’s fighting a mech on foot?
Lord Van! Take the guests and escape!
I won’t turn my back on the enemy and flee!
But if this keeps up, our losses will only rise.
We should retreat and regroup.
Lord Van!
Dammit! Let’s go!
Go where?
The mountains behind the town.
All units, retreat to the nearby mountain while making sure everyone else is all right! Don’t get hit by any stray rounds!
I won’t let you get away!


You shall not pass!!
That’s enough, Balgus. Retreat!
Watch out, Balgus!


BALGUUUUUS!!
Balgus!
Ugh! Lord Van, please escape with Escaflowne. One day, you will restore Fanelia… For its people…
Balgus!
NOOOOOOO!!


Lord Van… Please stay safe…


Where are we? Judging by the stars, I’m pretty sure we’re still on Gaea.
Is everyone here?
Seems so.
Captain! Hitomi’s missing!
What!? Split into groups and look for her!
Was she sent somewhere else?


What should I do? I’m all alone in a place like this… Please tell me which way I should go… Ah!
Ehehehe.
KYAAAAA!!


Hitomi?
Van, what’s wrong?
I thought I heard Hitomi’s voice.
Which way?
I barely heard it, but I think it’s this way!


Momma! NOOOO!
Hehehehehehehe.
You again? Not satisfied with being a petty thief, you’re attacking an innocent woman!? Unforgivable!
A-Allen!?
Take this!
(Allen Schezar. Escaflowne. CV: Shinichiro Miki)
Guh!
Are you hurt, madam?
Ahh!
Why are you here? Did something happen to you?
Ah…
You passed out? Great. What do I do now?
Hitomi!!
What happened!?
Calm down on the murderous intent.
What did you do to her!?
Don’t draw your sword. If you do, I’ll be forced to kill you.
What!?
It’s a knight’s duty to meet a sword with my own. I don’t draw my sword for fun.
[They clash swords]
Foolishness.
HAAAAAA!
[They clash again]
Nice swing. However!
[They clash one more time]
Ugh!
You didn’t step in far enough. You’re too good to kill, so I’ll just knock you out.
Van!
Will anyone else step up?
Kamille, what happened?
Captain Bright! Everyone!
That guy just knocked Van out!
Really?
It’s true. I’m the one who did it. But you should know that he drew his sword first.
Just what’s going on here?
I was helping this young lady when she was being attacked.
Hitomi!?
Eeek! Help me!
So that guy who just ran away was the culprit. It seems there was a misunderstanding.
I’m sorry for the trouble.
It seems something happened to you. I’d like to invite you to my castle.


Another world? Such a thing exists?
Yes. That’s exactly what happened.
I see. If the King of Fanelia says so, then it must be true.
It seems being a King makes you trustworthy.
I’m glad we cleared that up, but what should we do now?
I need to find a way to get back home…
What’s your name?
Oh. It’s Hitomi. Hitomi Kanzaki.
Hitomi… What a nice name.
Allen, I apologize for entering your country without permission. We’ll be leaving as soon as possible.
What are you planning to do?
I’m going back to Fanelia.
We were attacked by an unknown enemy and were sent here during the fighting.
If possible, we will be returning to Fanelia as soon as we can.
That won’t be possible.
Why’s that?
What do you mean?
Fanelia was destroyed. Everything was burned to the ground.
What!? Y-you’re lying!
How do you know that? It’s only been two days since the attack.
Apparently, our merchants witnessed it. You have my condolences.
Are you serious?
What exactly happened? If you tell me, maybe I can help you.
Fanelia…was destroyed…
Lord Van!
Merle!? You’re alive?
Our merchants found her and brought her here. Do you know her?
Yes.
Lord Van, I’m so glad you’re safe.
Merle, what happened to Fanelia?
It’s gone. Everything is in ashes. All of our knights were killed, and any survivors were scattered. Everyone’s gone. I was looking for you, but thought I’d only find a corpse…
Dammit. What have they done!? I’ll never forgive them!!
If only we were victorious, then this wouldn’t have happened…
Ryo, don’t blame yourself. There are some things that are outside of our capabilities.
Merle, you’re lucky to be alive.
Van… Oh! Everyone, we need to run!
What’s wrong, Hitomi?
We need to get out of here! The enemy is coming to attack us!
What? They’re chasing us?
But how do you know that?
I can see it!
You can see it? You’re seeing this castle being attacked?
Yes! We need to leave now!
Hitomi, you’re tired. You need to rest.
No! Please believe me! It’s true! I saw the same thing in Fanelia!
You knew Fanelia was going to be destroyed!?
Not exactly, but…
But?
I saw giants appear and burn down the city.
If you saw it, why didn’t you say anything?
I wasn’t sure.
What changed?
I’ve had precognitive abilities since I was a child, but they’ve only gotten stronger since coming to this world.
I find it hard to believe in precognition, but there’s a chance that the people who attacked Fanelia will attack this place too.
Let’s prepare to leave just in case. Is that okay?
Yes…


Whoa! Hey, where did you come from?
Don’t get too friendly with us, got it?
Huh?
I’m saying don’t get close to Lord Van! The last thing he needs is a stranger like you!
That’s not my intention.
…
Ah, hey! Stop!
I’ll be taking that stone of yours!
Hey! Come back here, you cat burglar!


TAAAH!
You’re still not stepping forward enough, Van!
Dammit!
…
It looks like we have guests.
Ah. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to peek or anything.
Oh, it’s you.
Yeah…
This is why outsiders are such a pain. They have no manners.
Ah! My pendant.
I don’t need this.
Why you little!
Lord Van!
Huh? It’s you guys.
Van… You’re sparring?
Yeah. Folka, right? Is there something you need?
Just satisfy my curiosity.
Go on.
Are you suppressing your feelings about fighting? You’re taking on an opponent you can’t beat.
I’m not fighting because I like it.
Hey, slow down! Folka! Van!
Are you confident in your skills? There’s no way you can beat Lord Van.
Only if he agrees.
You want to fight?
Sir Folka, setting aside his skills with the sword, it seems Van is unable to contain his anger at himself, let alone his anger towards his enemies.
You’re angry at yourself?
Folka, what would you have done? What should I have done when that light appeared? Balgus and everyone are dead, and I’m the only one left alive. What should I do?
Van…
You fight. You’re a King, aren’t you?
Is that why you’re suffering?
Tch!
Ah! Lord Van, wait for me!
A King is supposed to lead.
At least Van doesn’t seem like a dictator…
(Perhaps “his” methods were wrong after all…)

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

This is the start of Scene 2, “Another World”. As a heads up, this route is on the Mazinger save file, so the Great Mazinger and Getter teams aren’t recruited. Any time Koji, Sayaka, Boss, or a Combattler character talks, assume that a Great Mazinger or Getter character is saying something extremely similar.

Just as an aside, “Aura Battler” refers to both the humanoid machines that run off of Aura and their pilots, usually from Earth. This is differentiated in Japanese as “聖戦士” (seisenshi) or “Holy Warrior” for pilots and “オーラバトラー” for the machines. In English, they’re called the same thing, so that’s what I’m using.

Last time, the Argama was sent to Byston Well after a battle against an unknown enemy group. Captain Bright decided to help Nie out with fighting Drake in hopes of finding a way back to Earth.


Our first location is the Drake’s Army Training Grounds.


Having decided to cooperate with Nie and his group, the Argama team launches an attack on Drake’s Army’s training grounds. Are you ready for combat?


Nie Route Chapter 5 (2-1): Aura Battlers


Acrobunch, GO!
(Tatsuya Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Hidekatsu Shibata)


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Dream Hunters
Hey, Papa, where are we?
(Jun Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Shigeru Nakahara)
Hmm… I don’t know, but I can feel the romance.
Come on, Father…
(Miki Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Katsue Miwa)
I guess with Dad’s romance, you don’t need food.
(Ryo Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Akio Nojima and Hideyuki Tanaka) (They changed voice actors partway through the show)
We stopped in Tokyo to stock up on supplies, but then there was a blinding light and now we’re in the middle of nowhere!
(Reika Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Kazuko Sugiyama)
Earlier, I saw an animal I’ve never seen before.
(Hiro Randou. Acrobunch. CV: Norio Wakamoto)
Hmm. I’m not recognizing any of the local flora.
Are you for real, Hiro!? I wanna see it. Tell me next time!
Anyway, let’s find a place to have a nice meal. Reika, did you get everything you wanted?
Eh!? Well, the fighting started, so I was trying to get out of there quickly…
Give me a break. Do we really have to start foraging for food?
Can we even eat the food around here? Shall we start with the fish in the river?
Whaaaat? You know I’m not a fan of fish.
You won’t survive if you’re picky. Right, Papa?
I thought I asked you to call me Dad instead of Papa.


We finally found you!
(Cera. Acrobunch. CV: Kazuko Yasunaga)
I don’t know what trick you used, but you can’t outwit us!
(Groizy. Acrobunch. CV: Tamio Oki)
(TL Note: Groizy’s name (グロイジ) in Compact 3 is typo’d as “Kroizy” (クロイジ).)
You’re still following us?
It’s bad enough you’re sneaking around!
We weren’t following you! We came to Japan because we detected a response from the Quaschika. What are you doing here?
The Quaschika is in Japan? Why would it be in Tokyo of all places?
They have to be mistaken.
Probably, but there might be some connection between the Quaschika, us arriving in Tokyo, and suddenly being transported to wherever this place is.
I see. I didn’t think there’d be any ruins in a developed city, but perhaps there is.
If that’s the case, let’s skedaddle and go check it out.
What an interesting idea. If the Quaschika is there, I’ll kill you so I can take my time looking for it!
I knew you’d say that.
Sounds good to me. All units, attack!

Be silent so you can hear the earth.


[Acrobunch]
Only a temp on this stage, sadly. 6 pilots automatically makes this one of the best units in the game, and you might notice by looking at them now, they're not running around with substandard SP amounts either - and they'll gain it really quickly. The Buncher Drill/Drill Charge is kind of useless (it is really accurate but you have so many Strikes...), but Finger Missile is an amazing spam move, Wing Saber is Mazinger's Scrander Cutter on uppers, the Buncher Cannon/Launcher Cannon is a great counter weapon (although 20 EN is a bit steep), and the Holy Sword is only 40 EN for that level of power - Great Mazinger could never!

Also, among these six pilots, they have access to nearly every single spirit, up to and including MIRACLE. Their spirit layout is pretty good, too. For SOME reason, the really cool skill Kouchou has that's meant to make her great (the one that gives her 10 morale at the start of the stage) is also on Tatsuya, which makes Acrobunch even deadlier and ensures you always have the Cannon online. Free Support Attack and Potential isn't bad either.

By the way, the sheer volume of wrongly written names on Acrobunch and its pilots is massive. It's incredibly likely that the devs didn't have good materials for the show, which explains how it shows up in this one.


Feel free to fight with Acrobunch while you can, because it won’t last long. You can choose to charge into combat or stay on the mountains for the defensive terrain.


These are the bosses for this short segment. I don’t really have much to say about them, since they won’t stay on the map for long.

The plot continues at the start of turn 3.


What are you doing!? Destroy Acrobunch!
Cera, I just found a Quaschika signal!
What!? We need to go after it immediately!
[All enemies retreat]
Just what you’d expect from Goblin. They prioritize their objectives.
Well, let’s eat while we still can.
Now’s not the time for that!
He’s right. We can’t let them have the Quaschika.
Let’s hurry and go after them.
[Acrobunch retreats]


I thought I just saw something…
Is something wrong?
No, it’s nothing. You know, it’d help us out if Given launched a surprise attack on us.
Whew. Piloting these things for the first time is pretty tiring. Shot, you created an amazing machine.
Heh! Tokamak can’t even stand properly. You’re all bark and no bite.
I think I understand what you meant when you said bioenergy is the key to this machine.
So you’re saying once we get used to these things, we’ll keep getting stronger?
It all depends on how much bioenergy, by which I mean Aura, you have.
I never imagined that a rising star in the robotics world would be in a place like this.
You should watch what you say. I hold a noble position in this world.


It should be around here…
What’s that?
It’s the enemy! Upper Earthers, are you ready?
Tokamak, Shou, you good?
Good enough to do this!
Let’s go! Let’s go!


[More enemies spawn]
Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Scars of War
It’s Drake’s Army!
Aye. It seems they’re testing out a new model.
Indeed. I don’t see many Aura Battlers.
All right. Let’s strike before they can bring in reinforcements! Deploy!


Deploy the troops! If you took the Mazinger route at the start of the game, you’ll have to leave someone on the bench. Sorry, Boss.

Don’t let your guard down. Aura Battlers are powered by the pilot’s Aura Power.
In other words, its strength depends on who’s piloting it.
I see. It’s just like my Ialdabaoth.
Right, you said your machine functions by absorbing your energy.
So there are robots like that on Earth too?
He’s not from Earth. He came to Earth from another world.
It seems your circumstances are complicated.
Anyway, let’s stick with the plan of destroying the Aura Battlers, but saving the pilots.
I know it’s a long shot, but please try.
All units, try not to kill any pilots. Let’s go.

We got some new units!


[Zelana]
The Zelana is a mini battleship. It can't dock units, and its only attacking moves are a pair of frankly awful Range moves (we'll get to the full reason as to why that sucks but even at this point this thing isn't good. It’s better than the Super Gundam, though). However, it does carry exactly one key quality that makes it automatically worth considering using for the long haul - it has Repair and Resupply, on a relatively tanky flying unit, which can change pilots and equip different subpilots. Purely for this, it is one of the best support units in the game. Just never expect it to do DAMAGE.

The Knight Who's Named Nie is also kind of a weird guy. His stats are melee focused, but he's running around with Gunfight, which I guess makes sense for his base unit, but then his spirit set is wildly unsuited to a support unit and his Defense is godawful - and he gets Holy Warrior way too late. Commander is nice, but the central issue with Nie is that there's never a moment in this game where there's a good unit to put him in - there's only three Dunbine units obtained after this point (two of which are the Dunbine and Billbine), and the best unit he's available for that really lets him go at things is not a very impressive one. It's just kind of sad. If this game gave you even one random enemy Aura Battler at any point he'd be way better, and C1 where he was way worse gave you like ten of the damn things, but oh well.


[Fou]
What a strange machine. You'd expect this thing to have the ability to Repair or Resupply, which it does not, or to have the weapons it start with, which it does have the missiles and the machineguns but not the claws or the undercannons - but it has the Aura Shot installed halfway into the show, and not even as the finisher! It's wholly Range and if Ragnell hasn't gotten to my explanations as to why that sucks, don't worry, time is short. All in all, this thing is not very good... or at least, it wouldn't be good, if not for that mysterious "Combine" ability it has. We'll get to that later.

Shame we can't say that about the pilot. Keen kinda sucks. She does EVENTUALLY get Aura Battler, but don't expect it any time soon. Her Support Attack and Defense are neat but not that helpful. She gets ok support spirits but Marvel does it better. I guess her sole claim to fame is being the only Range-focused Dunbine character, but like... there's a reason none of the others are like that...


[Dana O’Shee]
Somehow this is the only SRW to have this thing, although Real Robot Battle Line had it. It's not as bad as it looks! Though it is pretty bad. Only 1 range P, 6 movement, for some reason only 3 part slots... But it has a bunch of dodgy pilots and Aura-based attacks can HURT later on. Obviously you're using this machine to train pilots for later, though. The thing you have to remember is that all Dunbine machines can, potentially, be 2 pilots, which makes them a lot more interesting. It is sad that while we got this, we didn't get its fully completed form in the Bozune though - only EX has had that one. Good news, though - thanks to the Aura Barrier, this thing is the absolute best unit at the game at dealing with Doros, which automatically makes it a good unit for the next few stages. What's so important about the Aura Barrier? Well, you'll see.

Marvel is a bit weird in this one. Usually she's only a few steps behind Shou at worst, but here she's noticeably worse in most aspects, only having Holy Warrior and Support Attack, and having a spirit set which (besides Focus) is totally support focused and does not include Hot Blood. However... that includes Cheer and Confuse, making her a good supporter. Which matters for reasons which will not be apparent until way, WAY later.

Of course, she has a subpilot! Cham Fau, like in most SRWs, is able to be the subpilot for just about any Dunbine unit. She comes with Cheer and Luck, and will get Rouse later (and probably some other good spirits but I actually don't know her full list - honestly Cheer and Luck are really enough for me lmao), but unlike most SRWs she comes with a very special ability in this one! Aura Power Amplification allows her to, if she is in a Dunbine unit as the subpilot for someone with Holy Warrior, raise the Holy Warrior level of her main pilot by one. This skill probably does not sound important, but trust me, it is.

Fun fact, this is the only SRW game that doesn’t have “Dunbine, Tobu” as the main Dunbine BGM. Instead, it’s ”Aura Battlers, Segment 2”.


The objective is to wipe out all enemies. You don’t have to worry about reinforcements. Aura Machines tend to have very low bulk, but high firepower and evasion.


The only enemies you have to worry about are the bosses, that being Shou, Tod, and Tokamak in Dunbines, and Garalia in a Doro. Even then, Garalia is in an Aura Fighter, making her only slightly harder to shoot down than the grunts.

Aura Battlers on both sides have Aura Barriers, which reduces all incoming ranged damage. That, plus their flying, makes them very difficult to shoot down with Mobile Suits. At least the Super Gundam can use its beam saber to whack them. Aura Fighters do not have this property, but Aura Battleships later in the game do. Be very careful as you fight.

Mattman has another gameplay note regarding Aura Battler enemies.

Ah, here's the other half of the "why does Range suck" equation. See, Stealth Cloaks are bad. You instantly know when they activate after you casted Strike that they feel bad, they're the kind of mechanic that shows why Compact 3 was a highly rushed game in a big, bombastic manner. This is what shows it was an untested game in a more fundamental one, though.

The Aura Barrier in Compact 3 is, as it is in many SRWs, a reduction barrier. Barriers in SRW come in generally two types - Reduction and Negation. Negation makes all damage below a certain threshold 0 automatically, Reduction reduces all damage by a set amount (generally a way smaller one than Negation can go up to). Aura Barriers in this game reduce the damage of all Range attacks, which is much more true to the source than in past games where it generally reduced only Beams for... some reason (in the show it can block nukes!), and it reduces them by 1000.

That doesn't sound bad at all, I'm sure! In fact, that exact statline - or WAY STRONGER, see also UX, BX, X, T, and Y where that's the baseline ability and they can get stronger - are used in a bunch of more modern SRWs. But the problem is, this isn't a modern SRW - and reducing damage from all attacks of a specific type by 1000 hurts a fucking lot when it's on a unit meant to be 2hkod by spam moves, and has 3000 hp or less... because that means your 1500 damage Beam Rifle is now a 500 damage beam rifle.

The good news is, unlike the Stealth Cloak, this is a problem that can be gotten around, and there are a small number of Range units that are simply so ridiculously overwhelming that they can spit in the face of the Aura Barrier and still deal a few thousand damage no issues. Hell, to a degree we even saw one earlier - Acrobunch's Buncher Cannon is partly as strong as it is BECAUSE it'll be hitting hard enough that Dunbine mooks can't just ignore that you shot them in the face with it. Plus, YOUR Aura Battlers also get the Aura Barrier, which means weak Range-based mooks are useless against them. The bad news is that the vast bulk of Range units can't hit strong enough to breach the barrier strongly, and Dunbine mooks just so happen to be by far the most common enemy you face in this game... and after the early game they're almost wholly melee focused. What this means in practice is that against, oh, a third to half the stages in this game, units that primarily use Range moves are just generally useless... and they're not exactly acquitting themselves against the rest of the game, it's sad to say, so why bother using them at all?

The sad thing is, much like the useless PP system, all of this could probably have been made totally irrelevant if they'd just implemented a New Game Plus mode, as you'd have a lot of incentive to fool around more on NG+. Alas and alack.

There’s a post-battle dialogue when Marvel fights Shou.

Do you think I’ll let you drop me that easily!?
My fellow Earthling, please stop helping Drake.
What!? Who are you!?
I’m Marvel Frozen, the pilot of this Dana O’Shee. You’re a foolish man who helps Drake without distinguishing what’s right and wrong. Why are you helping Drake without knowing anything about this world or the Kingdom of Ah?
Tch!

Besides that, just take out the bosses one by one.


I’m not going to die while training Upper Earthers.
[Garalia retreats]
They’re weaker than I thought!
As long as they’re Doros, Mobile Suits are good enough.
It’s a good thing they didn’t bring many Aura Battlers.


Even if we were attacked first, it wasn’t entirely one-sided, was it… I don’t want to die in a place like this.
[Shou retreats]
I have a feeling he’ll join our cause.
Why do you say that, Marvel?
Just a hunch…


You’ve got to be kidding me. I wasn’t planning to have a sword fight in the sky. I’m out of here.
[Tod retreats]
What? He retreated so easily.
They were Earthlings who were summoned very recently. They’re probably not used to fighting yet.
Earthlings? How do you know that?
Only Upper Earthers possess enough Aura Power to operate Aura Battlers.
I see…


Uwaaah! What should I do?
[Tokamak explodes]
Dammit! Why didn’t he eject!?
If he was never summoned, he wouldn’t have died like that…

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


Good, we repelled Drake’s Army! Let’s go straight to Lars Wah and attack him!
Nie, what are you talking about? Burn’s Drumlo or their main army wasn’t here.
Who is this Burn fellow?
He’s Drake’s confidant and the Commander of his army.
So the reason why they retreated so easily was because their Commander wasn’t present, huh…
Those guys are no match for me!
They might not be our enemies.
The issue is, the next time we fight, we’ll probably have to deal with a seasoned Commander and more Aura Battlers.
We managed to shoot down one today, but I don’t think the other two were taking this seriously.
Is this Burn a competent Commander?
Yes. We can’t underestimate him.
In that case, we should regroup.
Okay. Let’s pull back for now and come up with countermeasures.


I received a letter from Romn Given saying he wants to talk.
And he wants us to go to him? How presumptuous.
It’s fine. Go to the House of Given and scout out the enemy.
Sir.
He probably won’t join us. When that becomes clear…
So I should also prepare the Aura Battlers?
Have the Upper Earthers prepare to depart immediately.


Romn Given will be here shortly.
Mmm.
(Is that the same woman from before?)
…
Thank you for coming, Sir Burn Burnings.
(Romn Given. Dunbine. CV: Masato Tachizawa)
Anything for a neighbor.
Then do you have a response to my letter?
Yesterday, during a training exercise, an Aura Battler belonging to the Given family launched an attack on Drake Luft’s troops. We require an explanation for that incident.
I didn’t write a letter to explain myself.
I’ve heard rumors that you’re planning to move your army towards the Kingdom of Mi.
So you’re killing soldiers while they train because of mere rumors?
Speaking of which, what about your intrusion into my territory?
This is a photo of that event. You can clearly see a Doro! This is an unprecedented military action never seen before in this world.
Where are you going with this?
Sir Burn, if you and your Aura Battler side with us, we’ll overlook this. We’ll even pay you.
(Does this guy think he can buy people with money?)
I’m rather expensive.
That doesn’t matter! I’ll pay five times as much if it’ll stop Drake’s ambitions! Any price is cheap to stop the fighting.
I don’t think Lord Drake’s mind will change just because he loses one man.
You’re one of his most influential knights.
You’re overestimating me. Are you going to buy out the Upper Earthers too?
Ehehehehe. He talks a lot without even knowing Tsuo is here.
(TL Note: It’s hard to parse here, but Cham and Tsuo are hiding in an adjacent room.)
Shot has just developed an Aura Battler that anyone can pilot.
Ehehe.
Hmm? Ah! It’s Tsuo! That traitorous Romn!
So your plan is--
Excuse me for interrupting your conversation.
[The soldier whispers something to Burn]
So you want me to join you? I understand. Can you give me one night to think about it, Sir Romn Given? I’d like to stay at a nearby inn and discuss it with my subordinates.
Very well. I’d like an answer by tomorrow morning at the latest.
I might drop by again tonight.


Accursed Romn. You play dirty by having Tsuo present! But that’s exactly something he would do. Send a message to the Bull Beggar! Prepare for battle at the rendezvous point.
Sir!


What exactly are they thinking by bringing Upper Earthers here?
It looks like they’re serious about using Earthlings as a fighting force.
I see. So they want them to gain experience in areas other than fighting.
Even if Burn doesn’t join us, we can still have a card to play with the King of Ah.
How so?
Over there is Tsuo the spy. He’ll remember our conversation with Burn verbatim. As we expected, Burn appeared to go along with our offer, even if it was just to test the waters.
Burn didn’t seem like he’s that stupid.
It’s gonna be fine. Nie’s plan is perfect!
Nie, we can’t let our guard down. Even though you have Upper Earthers with you, Drake’s Army has the advantage when it comes to the terrain.
It’s going to be fine, Father. This isn’t a strategy for fighting. For now, let’s wait for Burn’s reply tomorrow. We’ll proceed with our preparations to meet with the King.
I don’t think things will go that smoothly…
I agree. It might be a good idea to be a little more vigilant.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.


If you’ve been funneling all of the bonus PP and kills into a single character, like Folka, you might have enough points by now to purchase a single skill. Skills in this game are extremely expensive for how little PP you get. My recommendations are Defense (防御) (enables sword cut and shield defense) if a pilot doesn’t have it at 25 PP, Concentration (集中力) (SP costs become 80%) at 80 PP, and Revenge (復讐) (increases counter damage by 1.2x) at 115 PP. You can see the full list of skills and what they do here.

Last time, Van’s home was destroyed and the lads found themselves in another kingdom.


Our destination is the Asturia Frontier Castle.


Hitomi predicts that the enemy will attack the Asturian castle that Allen is guarding… Are you ready for battle?


Van Route Chapter 6: The Brilliant Swordsman


They really did appear!
Could it just be a coincidence?
What’s with that Guymelef? I’ve never seen it before. Are they the ones who attacked Fanelia?
No, not them.
(What exactly is this power I’m sensing?)
Hehehe. We should just attack this place.
Who are you lot? Why are you attacking this castle?
We are Drake’s Army. If you surrender quietly, you may live. If not, we’ll kill you all!
What!? Who are they?
Drake’s Army!? They’re a military force from Byston Well!
How are they here and attacking this castle?
Were they sent here like us?
I doubt it.
Why’s that?
If they were sent here like us, they wouldn’t know where they were. And yet, the fact that they’re attacking this specific castle means they might have a way to travel here at will.
So they’re targeting this castle on purpose, huh?
We don’t have time to think about that!
We’d like to deploy. Is that all right?
No. I can’t let my guests fight.
Well, we’re going to anyway. Anyone who can sortie, please do so!


Deploy the troops!

They’re here and they look motivated.


(Kukuku… Very good… Fighting is what makes you human… Now the war will spread even further… Kukukuku…)
It doesn’t matter how many of you there are. We’ll crush you all!


I swear on the name Allen Schezar that I won’t let that happen!!

First, our new unit.


[Scheherazade]
When the devs designed this unit, I imagine they were thinking of this as being the more economical option compared to Escaflowne's raw glass cannon energy. The problem is that Escaflowne is too glass and not enough cannon, so it stinks and the massively dodgier Scheherazade comes out on top. Thrust and Continuous Thrust are fine enough moves as attacks go, nothing too crazy, and Feint Attack is a mediocre finisher, but it doesn't cost too much, just 30 EN (even compared to Breast Fire, it's a steal!), and it also has probably the funniest animation in the game from the perspective that if you aggressively reset, it will fuck you over at least once.

Of course, while Van is the thing that kills Escaflowne, Allen is the thing that makes Scheherazade work. He isn't perfect - no Valor sucks, although... by now, Ragnell probably has that command on Folka, right? Yeah, Valor being 1.5x kinda saps the general utility of that spirit away - but his massive Melee and Evasion stats mean he can survive with minimal investment and still deal notable damage, and his abilities are good for his unit - Counter, Defense (SCREW YOU, VAN), and Magnificence, which gives him 2 morale whenever he dodges - which he's going to do a lot. The actual worst aspect of this unit is that he lacks Focus, the best spirit you'd want for a thing like this - he gets Strike and Essentially Intuition and surely one of those wasn't needed. I get that you have to hammer in that he's a guy who entirely ignores Stealth Cloaks just by being chad enough (which is, honestly, a good reason to field him right there) but surely Focus does that enough - but if you're using Allen on the last stage he won't disappoint you.

(Oh, do note - Van didn't want a Minovsky Craft but Allen kind of does, his anti-air is all B rank. Just so you know.)


Fighting for Drake is a bunch of Aura Fighters led by a single Drumlo. The best place to intercept Drake’s Army is either using the castle and walls’ surprisingly excellent terrain, or using the cliffs for the same reason. Since all of the current enemies are flying, the Scheherazade will have a hard time dealing with them. Escaflowne’s dragon form will do just fine, however. Despite being land-based and melee-focused, the Ialdabaoth hits flying units well enough. Just watch out for those Aura Barriers reducing your ranged damage. Please see Nie Route Chapter 5 for a write-up on fighting Aura Battlers.

The plot advances at the start of the second enemy phase.


Ah! The invisible giants are here!
Really?
She predicted an enemy attack once before. Everyone, be careful! The enemy that attacked Fanelia is here!
What!?


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Epistle
The heck is that? It’s more like a fort than a castle.
Those are Zaibachian Guymelefs!
What’s Zaibach?
It’s the largest nation in all of Gaea.
But why did they attack Fanelia?
Van, do you have any idea?
No.
Oh, what’s this? The dragon we’re pursuing and our allies are fighting together.
Just what are you scheming? I heard you attacked Fanelia in the west.
Us? Attack Fanelia? Why would we ever do something like that?
Then how was Fanelia destroyed?
It must have been a wild dragon or something. A fitting fate for a backwater nation.
You bastard!
What a bold-faced lie!
People like you are why war never ends!
So there’s scum like this in this world too…
Are you sure about this? Our allies found out.
We’ll just kill everyone who has seen us. I see an army we don’t know about who’s perfect for taking the blame.
(Kukuku… What idiots… They’re fighting on their own without me doing anything… It’s only a matter of time before they rule the world…)


We’ve got Guymelefs to our south and west being led by Dilandau. The grunts are easy enough to deal with, and Dilandau is just a slightly stronger version of them. Outranging him is easy for our Mobile Suits if you’re good at coin flips. Otherwise, use your chosen Mazin’s rocket punches for long distance melee damage.

A small scene plays after Allen fights Dilandau for the first time.

Nice moves, Dilandau!
Hahaha. You’re strong, Allen! I’m so happy!!
It’d be a shame to kill you.
I agree. Try to entertain me before you die.


Uwaaaaah! My face! My face!
Did I get him?
How dare you take my beautiful face from me! I’ll make you pay for this!!
[Dilandau retreats]
Wait, Dilandau!
He got away.
I wanted to take him down.
Why?
It’s probably because that Dilandau man had a bloodthirsty, insane light in his eyes.
Exactly. We’re bound to fight him again.

There’s also some dialogue when you shoot down the Drumlo.


Is this the end?
(Retreat.)
(My apologies.)
(It’s fine. We’ve created enough sparks.)
(Understood.)
I’ll remember this! We will meet again!!
[The Drumlo retreats]
(Well, I guess I’ll retreat too…)
Do you think they’ll come back?
Drake’s Army, huh…
(This sense of unease is fading… What was that about?)

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


We managed to survive.
But the castle’s in ruins.
I’m sorry, Allen. If I wasn’t here, this wouldn’t have happened.
Don’t apologize. This all started when Zaibach attacked Fanelia.
But…
At the very least, Drake’s Army is the one that invaded my nation. You’re not at fault.
How did they get here anyway?
Were they teleported here just like us?
But since they targeted this castle, doesn’t that mean they can freely travel between worlds?
If that’s the case, then they’ll return.
It seems this castle has lost its purpose.
What will you do, Allen Schezar?
Let’s head for Falas, the capital of Asturia.
Are you running away?
We can’t afford to suffer any more casualties.
Is that how a knight acts? I will not flee! I will never turn my back on the enemy again! To avenge the people of Fanelia, I will fight to the very death!
To recklessly choose death is not courage! Van, you are the King of Fanelia. As long as the King lives, as long as someone lives, tomorrow will surely come. To endure this humiliation is true courage. A knight’s life exists to save the lives of others. Never forget that.
To recklessly choose death is not courage, huh… Perhaps I’ve been too impatient…
It seems the decision has been made. Everyone, return to the ship. We depart immediately!
(What was that power I sensed earlier? It feels as though I’ve felt it before… Something that makes me feel uneasy…)


I’m surprised to see you return so soon, Allen.
(Princess Millerna Sara Aston. Escaflowne. CV: Mayumi Iizuka)
Princess Millerna? If anyone is surprised, it’s me.
But why didn’t you tell us you were returning? I would have prepared a proper welcome for you.
My apologies. This decision was made quite suddenly.
…
Oh? And who’s this young man?
This is Lord Van Fanel, King of Fanelia.
Now that you mention it, I thought I recognized you. You see, I visited Fanelia once long ago. It’s truly a beautiful country, blessed with lush forests.
Allen Schezar, who is this lady?
She is Princess Millerna of Asturia.
You know, I’ve never seen Guymelefs like yours before.
They are guests who have traveled from a distant land.
Hmm… Well, if you say so. Your long journey must have been exhausting. This city is safe, so please make yourself at home.
Thank you very much.
It’s a relief that they’re taking us in.
But what are we going to do now?
For now, let’s just get some rest.
Huh? Hey, Lord Van.
What’s up?
I don’t see that girl anywhere.
Who are you talking about?
Wait, where’s Hitomi!?

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.


If you’ve been funneling all of the bonus PP into a single character, like Folka, you might have enough points by now to purchase a single skill. Skills in this game are extremely expensive for how little PP you get. My recommendations are Defense (防御) (enables sword cut and shield defense) if a pilot doesn’t have it, at 25 PP, Concentration (集中力) (SP costs become 80%) at 80 PP, and Revenge (復讐) (increases counter damage by 1.2x) at 115 PP. You can see the full list of skills and what they do here.

Last time, the Argama teamed up with Nie and his father to fight against Drake Luft and his army.


Our next location is Romn’s manor.


It’s unlikely that the plan to thwart Drake’s ambitions worked on Burn… Are you ready for combat?


Nie Route Chapter 6: The House of Given


We’re attacking Romn’s manor! Kill anyone who tries to escape.
Sir!
Advance! We have to finish this before Nie shows up!
Isn’t this a bit one-sided? Is this really okay?
Burn, you’re more of a wild card than I thought.


There’s more of them than I expected!
Why is Burn doing this… Wait, did he see Tsuo!?
He must have suspected something.
Damn it all!
Nie! We need to hurry up and get ready for battle!
Tch! They’re faster than I anticipated.
What’s the play, Burn?
We stick to the plan! Kill every last one of them!
(I can’t stay with Drake’s Army after all.)
Shou Zama, Tod Guinness, I’m counting on you!
I got this.
I quit.
Excuse me?
I’ve been thinking a lot since coming to this world. I don’t think Drake is in the right.
What!? If that’s how it is… Shou Zama has defected to the enemy. Kill him!
I won’t let you!


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Scars of War
Something’s wrong with the enemy!
This is Shou Zama. Please accept my surrender.
Are you serious!?
Can we trust him?
I think we can, but…
There’s no point in debating this. Everyone, deploy!


Deploy the troops! Once again, if you went the Mazinger route, you’ll have to bench someone. Sorry, Boss.

Captain, what do we do about him?
Hmm… Shou Zama, right?
Yeah.
We can’t trust you at the drop of a hat.
This isn’t the time for that! Burn intends to destroy the Given family!
Will you join us in stopping them?
That’s the plan!
Nie, we have to hurry!
Upper Earther! Protect my father with your Aura Battler!
Roger!

We’ve got a new unit!


[Dunbine]
Finally, some real food. Dunbine is one of the best mecha in the game for reasons that aren't totally apparent at the moment, and we'll get to those later. For now, note that amazing Mobility backed by a pilot who can actually dodge, Bunshin giving it a 50% free dodge at 130 Morale, and the ability to have 2 pilots thanks to the Fairy system explained with the Dana O'Shee. Its damage is honestly pretty good too, Aura Giri being only 10 EN and Hyper Aura Giri (which isn't a thing in the show. Aura Giri isn't either really. It's all made up SRW stuff because devs in the 90s didn't actually remember that much about Dunbine. Could be worse, Daimos, until X-O and DD, was running around in SRW without a home release!) being 30 when they're moves that gain power based on the pilot Holy Warrior level and are already ok at base is nice. It's even better than Breast Fire at this point, much less Breast Burn! You do wish it had more than 2 range P though...

Shou, of course, is a monster of a pilot. He already has Level 2 Holy Warrior, which means with Cham he can already fire Hyper Aura Giris, his stats are great, he has Support Attack - which might not seem great given Dunbine's low range but we will GET TO THAT soon - and unlike certain other pilots, he actually has Defense so he can use the Parry function of all the Aura Battlers! And his relevant stats are quite good, especially his Evasion.

Of course, the Dunbine also has Combine. Which means, it's finally time...


[Dunbine + Fou]
Ah, finally. We can talk business.

This unit probably, on its face, looks like a joke. It's just the Fou's weapons, plus Aura Shot from Dunbine, plus a random Ram attack that isn't very strong. How good could it possibly be? Well, yes, it is all those things...on a potentially 4 pilot unit, two of the subpilots of which can have abilities that buff the main pilot that stack with each other...with 8 movement...120 base Mobility...the armor of a lesser Super, and an Aura Barrier...which still has Bunshin for some goddamn reason...

See, it turns out the best way to make a unit with its only melee move being a shitty 1 range ram move good is to make it literally invulnerable because it can't be hit! This thing is nuts and the fact that the Zelana is a Repair/Resupply unit that you could use to make any of its pilots arbitrarily high leveled is the icing on the cake, though honestly, it doesn't need it. It basically singlehandedly justifies Marvel being support focused because now you can have someone like Shou handling offensive duties while two-to-three subpilots fling support spirits everywhere. Do keep in mind that the only upgrades that matter to this thing are Dunbine's, as far as I remember, and it's Dunbine's pilot who is the main one - this will remain important as the game goes on, for reasons we will get into eventually.


Despite what the plot said, nothing happens if an enemy gets onto the Given Manor. The only objective is to defeat all enemies. Have Shou pull back to the main group as they advance. Or, you can turtle up on the manor’s excellent terrain, but that shouldn’t be necessary for fighting primarily Doros.


Bosses are Tod in a Dunbine, Garalia in a Doro, and Burn in a Drumlo. Garalia is easy pickings, but Tod and Burn will be difficult to hit without help from Spirits. Keep their Aura Barriers in mind as well.


Garalia, it’s time to pay your dues.
Shut up! I haven’t been defeated yet!!
You’re just bluffing.
Is this how far a Doro can go? If only I had an Aura Battler…
[Garalia retreats]


Stop helping Drake. Join us!
Not a chance! I absolutely hate the power of friendship.
Tod!
Dammit! My machine won’t listen to me! Sorry, but I’ll be leaving now!
[Tod retreats]


I’ve heard the reports, but I never imagined they were this strong…
You’re rushing things too much. You can’t win a war like this!
I know more about war in Byston Well than anyone else. I will never forget this humiliation!
[Burn retreats]

The plot advances when there are a few enemies left.


(The Scars of War plays again)
(So that’s where they are… What a pain…)
What are you doing here!?
We’re reinforcements sent by Lord Drake!
What? They were hiding more Aura Battlers?
It’s only natural to prepare reinforcements. This shouldn’t surprise you.
(But I’m starting to feel uneasy… What is this power I sense?)
We can’t back down now! Repel them no matter what!


(So you can’t fight without support… I’ll have to do their job for them…)


Enemy reinforcements in the rear, but they’re nothing to worry about. Just more Doros and a single Drumlo.

There’s a scene when you shoot down the grunt in the Drumlo.


Is this the end?
(Retreat.)
(My apologies.)
(It’s fine. We’ve created enough sparks.)
(Understood.)
I’ll remember this! I’ll get you next time!!
(Well, I guess I should retreat too…)
[The grunt retreats]
Who were those guys who came as reinforcements…
(My uneasiness is gone… So that mech was the source of that power, huh…)

The map ends when all enemies are shot down.


All right, we fought them off!
But what about the manor?
Nie…
Father! Are you hurt!?
Nie, Drake intends to attack this country.
He’ll attack the Kingdom of Mi?
The rest is up to you.
[Romn dies]
Yeah…
I feel bad for Nie…
I’m sorry. We weren’t strong enough.
There’s no need to apologize. It was Drake’s Army that killed him!
Curse you, Drake! I’ll pay you back double for this!
Yeah. We can’t let this slide.
According to my father’s last words, he’s going to attack the Kingdom of Mi. Cham, go spy on Laas Wau!
Okay! I’ll go check it out!
Nie…


Good work out there. Come closer.
Sir!
Go to Furaon Elf, the King of Ah, as quickly as possible.
Right away, my lord!
When you killed Romn Given, he was in the middle of sending a letter to the Kingdom of Mi, correct?
A letter? He was?
Didn’t you find such a letter?
Sir?
It was inside of his desk. This letter here, in which Romn was telling the King of Mi to attack our Country of Ah. Have you already forgotten?
O-oh, that letter.
And being the great soldier that you are, you will deliver this letter to King Furaon. You may be asked about the circumstances surrounding Romn’s death. You are to explain everything thoroughly.
Sir.
Therefore, I wish to act on behalf of King Furaon and punish the Kingdom of Mi.
Sir.
In order to mobilize my army, I need King Furaon’s permission.
Sir.
Leave now! I’ll lend you the Bull Beggar.
Sir!


So this time we’re going on the offensive?
I don’t think we should…
Why not?
Drake has already taken the next step.
Meaning what?
Meaning that he’s obtained King Furaon’s permission to attack the Kingdom of Mi.
Drake is quite the strategist. I’ve never talked to him, though.
That’s why I wanted you to join us as soon as possible.
I’m sorry.
Is the Kingdom of Mi fighting Drake like you guys?
No. They weren’t fighting, but they were at odds.
Then why don’t we just capture Drake’s castle while his army is attacking elsewhere?
That’s certainly possible, but it’ll be pointless if Chiron Castle in the Kingdom of Mi falls.
How many troops are stationed in Chiron Castle?
They have cavalry, but no Aura Battlers.
They’re not able to defend against Drake’s Army…
I see. It seems we have no choice. We’ll go to Chiron Castle and confront Drake’s Army.
Shou!
What? This is what I signed up for, right?
I know! Just tell us something.
Tell you what?
Have you met Rimul? Is she okay?
Rimul? You mean Drake’s daughter?
I met her once. She’s a strong-willed girl. She even claims her own parents are in the wrong. How do you know about her?
Nie wants to know.
Then why didn’t he ask me himself?
Nie’s too busy! Poor guy. Beh!
The heck’s that about?
Hehe… Anyway, I look forward to fighting with you in the future.
Same… First, can you teach me how to maintain an Aura Battler?
Sure.
He doesn’t look like he’s ready for combat.
I think it’s better than always being on edge.
…You have a point.


Great job, Lord Burn. You use that weapon excellently.
The trigger feels loose and the movement of the left arm is a bit heavy.
Roger that. I’ll make the adjustments.
Please do.
I’m glad you’re having fun.
I am. I’m glad it’s ready just in time for the war. All that’s left is to get King Furaon’s permission.
Is war really that easily justifiable?
It’s because of Lord Drake’s foresight that he submitted a petition to the King. Speaking of which…
I’m back.
Well done. Now we have our justification. Hehehe… But conflicts beyond minor skirmishes aren’t permitted, huh… With this slip of paper, we have the King’s authority.
So it’s finally time?
The Kingdom of Mi, which threatened us along with Romn Given, will now be punished!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, the Argama and Allen decided to take refuge in the city of Falas. However, it seems Hitomi has gone missing.


Our next location is Castle Asturia.


Having escaped from the Zaibach Army, the Argama reached the capital, Castle Asturia, but… Are you ready for combat?


Van Route Chapter 7 (2-3): City of Schemes


Help! Anyone!!
Good luck with that! Guymelefs are useless underwater!


Hitomi is over there! Did she get kidnapped!?
Captain, the enemy’s objective remains unclear, but we must rescue her.
Indeed. However, we’re in a densely populated area. Exercise extreme caution and ensure no civilians get caught in the crossfire.


Deploy the troops!

If they’re underwater, just leave it to me!
No, we can’t let them get away! Leave it to Liger!
We’ve been had! Dive! Dive!!
Princess Millerna, this place is dangerous. Please return to the castle.
Very well, Allen. I shall report the situation to Father.
I leave it in your hands.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Epistle
Found you, Van!
What!?
Hehehehe. You can’t escape me!
You’ve come back without learning your lesson. Your madness will lead to destruction.
Who the hell do you think you are? If you get in my way, I’ll kill you too.
Do you really think you can?
To think you’d appear at the same time as that submarine.
You’re trying to kidnap her, aren’t you?
Oh, you mean the girl we captured? I’m just following orders, though I do have a lot of things I want to ask her.
Dilandau! If you harm even a single hair on her head, you’ll answer to me!
Oh, it’s you again, Allen Schezar!
Protect the city and save Kanzaki!


The objective is to defeat all enemies without letting the submarine exit the southern part of the map. The sub can only travel through the canals, so block off its route with a fast unit. If you have it, this is a rare chance to take advantage of Getter Poseidon’s water terrain ranking. I ended up giving the Ialdabaoth a Minovsky Craft, allowing it to fly.


Dilandau is back as the first boss of this stage. He’s exactly the same as he was in the previous stage. Also, even though Hitomi is being held captive in the submarine, you still need to destroy it. Thankfully, it lacks any sort of attack and you don’t have to lower its HP without destroying it. The sub is always underwater, so your best bet at dealing major damage to it is Getter Poseidon, the Ialdabaoth, and Escaflowne’s dragon form.

There’s a quick scene after Van fights Dilandau for the first time.

Stop! Don’t fight here!
It’s all your fault. This city is burning because you’re here. My wound is aching because you’re here.
I…
That’s right! You should just die!!

I shoot him down quite quickly, though.


You unknown soldiers really have done it now!


Dilandau, retreat. If this commotion gets any bigger, other countries will find out.
(Folken Lacour de Fanel. Escaflowne. CV: Masato Yamanouchi)
Dammit! Just when things were starting to get good!
[Dilandau retreats]
He got away again.
We have to take him down quickly next time. He’s a sly one.
Protecting the city is more important right now.
You’re right.

The plot continues at the start of the fourth enemy phase with some unexpected reinforcements.


So this is where you were, Kamille!
Jerid!? How did you get to this world!?
Heh… We were brought here by some strange people.
You too, Yazan!?
This is a good opportunity. Let’s turn this other world into your grave!
Wait! This isn’t the time for us to fight! We need to find a way back to our world!
I don’t give a shit where I am. As long as I can defeat you, that’s all that matters.
Exactly. Settling my score with you is more important than returning to my original world, Kamille.
Jerid, how could you say something like that!?


That’s right, the Titans are here too. Jerid and Yazan are more powerful than the generic MS pilots. Just make sure you use your defensive spirits to avoid being shot down.


Dammit! I still can’t win!?
Jerid! Haven’t you had enough? Help us so we can return to Earth!
I only care about killing you!
What’s the point of us fighting each other in another world like this!?
I can think about that after I’ve killed you. Next time, I will win! Get ready for that!
[Jerid retreats]
It’s foolish to risk your life for revenge.


Dammit! Is this the end!?
Yazan Gable, surrender quietly!
Don’t make me laugh. I won’t give up until I defeat you all!
[Yazan retreats]
Dammit! Why do we have to fight each other, especially in a different world!?

There’s also dialogue when you take out the submarine.


I’ve had enough!
W-wait a minute!
Silence! I’m taking you down with me!
It’s going to explode! Rescue her immediately!
[The sub explodes]
Are you all right?
Y-yes. Thank you!
(She’s magically aboard the Argama)
Are you hurt?
I’m fine.
You’re an idiot for getting kidnapped.
Well, excuse me for being an idiot!

The map ends when all enemies are shot down.


We managed to repel them.
I’m sorry. If we weren’t here, this wouldn’t have happened.
That’s not true. Dilandau’s forces attacked us even though we’re allies. You don’t need to feel guilty.
But Dilandau’s target is me. If I never came here…
Lord Van, it’s not your fault! They’re the ones who attacked Fanelia!
Why are they attacking in the first place?
They must have a reason to go so far as to invade an allied nation just to capture him.
Why are they so fixated on Van?
…
Is there any legends or stories associated with Escaflowne?
The ancient texts I have only contain instructions on how to operate it.
Ancient texts? It’s old?
I don’t know when it was made, but it’s been passed down through the generations in the royal family.
So it might contain some sort of secret.
And then Zaibach attacked when they learned of that secret, right?
We won’t learn anything by talking about it here. I’m going to report this to the King. You all should get some rest.


From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like you have good news.
My apologies. I tried my hardest to plead your case, but…
So the King couldn’t provide us any assistance?
Correct. He got angry and yelled about how I was a fool for putting our people in danger.
It is what it is. Your King seems to have his own issues.
But we only protected the people when we were attacked…
That’s enough, Allen. I’ll just leave.
Lord Van…
Don’t be hasty. Surely the King said more than that.
Yes… An envoy from Zaibach arrived and demanded we hand over Van and Escaflowne.
Whoa, that’s bad!
They’re making demands despite this attack being their fault?
What a bunch of fools. They must be confident in their strength.
Regardless, we can’t stay in this country any longer.
What should we do?
Don’t ask me. I don’t know anything about this world.
Let me tell your fortune!
Fortune telling?
Yes. Besides my precognition, I can also tell fortunes.
Can we trust you?
Do you hate me or something?
Not really.
We don’t have any plans right now. What’s the harm?
Just leave it to me!
How do you plan to do this?
I’ll use a method called dowsing. Do you have a map of this world?
Will this work?
Yes. Now I’ll shake my pendant…
Is this a reliable method?
She predicted the enemy’s attack, so it’s worth a try at least.
We should go in the direction the pendant is pointing.
That’s the Principality of Freyd.
Okay. Let’s get going.


Kukuku. I’ve really acquired a useful power… With this, war will surely break out in that world called Gaea.
My apologies. Our plan called for the destruction of that castle.
It doesn’t matter. I’ve found something even better.
Something better?
That’s right. Folka was among the enemy, wasn’t he?
He was.
How fortunate. If we use him, we can escalate the war even further.
Then let’s capture him.
No. I’ll use this power to bring his army into this world. Kukukuku. HAHAHAHA…


Allen, are you sure you should be coming with us?
I am. The King didn’t seem to mind, and I want to know what’s really going on.
Even if you say that, it’s not like we know anything either.
Since being sent to this world, there’s a lot we don’t know.
I wonder what’s happening back home right now.
My apologies. If only I didn’t bring you to Gaea…
Don’t apologize. Didn’t that guy in Byston Well say that dimensional gates were opening more frequently? Something is starting to go wrong in various worlds.
!!
Captain Bright, change course immediately!
What’s wrong?
At this rate, we’ll be swallowed up!
By what?
Here it comes! We’re too late!!
[A flash of light]
Whoa! Everyone, hold onto something!
Good grief… Where are we being sent to now?


[A flash of light]
Dammit! What the hell was that!?
I don’t know.
We were following Van as he was heading towards Freyd, but where are we now?
We’ve lost sight of them.
After all the trouble to find him… Damn you, Van!!
What should we do now?
Are you so incompetent you need my orders? Find him immediately!
Sir!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, Nie’s father died and Shou Zama joined our cause.


Our next location is Chiron Castle.


Following the successful surprise attack on the Given family, Drake’s Army begins its advance into the Kingdom of Mi. Are you ready to defend Chiron Castle?


Nie Route Chapter 7 (2-3): Battle at Chiron Castle


Can we really defend this castle by ourselves?
Like it or not, we’re the only ones who can put up a fight.
If this castle falls, Drake’s Army will only get bolder.
They’re here! And in huge numbers! I also see a new Aura Battler.
So they were still hiding most of their strength, huh… All units, prepare to intercept!


Deploy the troops! Boss and Sayaka are the bench warmers. It’s worth noting that if you didn’t move Cham to Shou’s machine, she’ll still be with Marvel.

Cham, define “in huge numbers.”
Um… There’s one new model and…a lot of Drumlos!
Drumlos!? They’ve sped up their production.
Damn you, Shot Weapon.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Scars of War
They’re here! There are so many of them.
I’ve never seen so many enemies in one place before.
We’re at a disadvantage by defending the castle.
It would be one thing if we could fight without restraints, but it’s unreasonable to have to worry about the castle at the same time!
Regardless, this is what we’re doing!
Hyoma, are you okay?
We just need to defeat the enemy before they reach the castle, right?
Yup! If we shoot them down early, then they won’t be a problem!
All right. Let’s meet them head-on!


Despite what the dialogue says, nothing happens if an enemy gets to the castle. Just focus on thinning their numbers. You can either advance or take advantage of the castle’s excellent terrain.


For bosses, we’ve got Burn, Tod, and Garalia. Burn is in a new Virunvee, and Tod and Garalia are both in Drumlos. Use normal anti-Aura Battler tactics.

The plot advances at the start of the second enemy phase with reinforcements.


So this is where you were, Kamille!
Jerid! How did you get to this world!?
Hmph. We were brought here by some sketchy guys.
You too, Yazan!?
This is a good opportunity. I’ll turn this world into your graveyard.
Wait! This isn’t the time for us to fight! We need to find a way back to our world.
It doesn’t matter where we are. All I care about is killing you.
That’s right. I’ll worry about returning to my world after I kill you!
Jerid, you’re still on about that!?
Who the hell are you guys?
You’re fighting against the Argama, right?
The Argama? You mean those guys fighting with the Zelana?
We’re here to kill them. Shall we form a united front?
Right now, our priority is to capture the castle... Very well!
Hehehe. We’ve only gotten stronger! Today we’ll settle things once and for all!


Jerid and Yazan are here. They’ll take full advantage of the forest’s terrain, so they’re a bit harder to hit than before. Save your Spirits for the bosses, and they’ll start dropping like flies.


This siege is practically over anyway.
Burn Burnings!
Shou Zama, this operation is over.
It’s because people like you are working for Drake!
I’ll settle our score another day! Look forward to it!
[Burn retreats]
Damn you, Burn! You say whatever you want!


Dammit! I’ll remember this!!
[Tod retreats]
Tod, why don’t you understand? You’re being used by Drake.


I’m not used to Aura Battlers yet, huh…
Garalia, have you made up your mind?
I’ve finally been given an Aura Battler. I won’t let myself be killed in a place like this!
[Garalia retreats]
Her Aura Power is rising.


Dammit! Is this the end!?
Yazan Gable, surrender!
Surrender? Don’t make me laugh! I can’t let it end here… I’m retreating!
[Yazan retreats]
Dammit! Why did he come all the way to another world? Why do humans have to keep fighting each other!?


Dammit! I still can’t win!?
Jerid, that’s enough! Right now, instead of fighting, we need to find a way back home!
I only care about killing you!
What’s the point of fighting in another world like this!?
The point is to surpass you! If I can’t do that, then I can’t move forward!
[Jerid retreats]
It’s foolish to risk your life for revenge.

The map ends when all enemies have been defeated.


Enemy reinforcements!?
We’re withdrawing immediately!
Why? I can still fight.
We need to respect King Vinegan’s wishes.
His wishes?
In case of an emergency evacuation, we’re to escort Ladies Pat Hood and Elle to the Country of Rau.
Are we going to turn our backs to the enemy? I can still fight!
Calm down, Koji! You can’t fight all of them alone.
This is our fault. If only we could have properly defended the castle…
We did our best. It’s frustrating, but this is all we can do. We’re heading to the Country of Rau!


It’s great that we were able to safely bring Lady Elle and her retinue to the Country of Rau, but what should we do now?
We wait. Cham is currently gathering intel on Drake’s Army.
Even so, how many Aura Battlers does Drake’s Army have?
Shot is churning them out at Laas Wau’s factory.
So they were being made even before they attacked the Kingdom of Mi?
If that’s the case, then we need to destroy that factory as soon as possible to limit the number of enemies.
But we can’t just let Drake’s Army attack whoever they want.
What should we do?
Not much. All we can do right now is wait for Cham’s intel, right?
That’s right. Without her information, we can’t properly decide what to do next.
Oh! Cham’s back!
We’ve got big trouble! Drake is about to attack Elf Castle!
What!?
What does this mean? Isn’t Drake one of King Furaon Elf’s subordinates?
King Elf is someone who doesn’t try to do anything himself.
So Drake is trying to usurp him?
Well… If the King was competent, this never would have happened.
There’s no point bringing that up now. In any case, we need to go and defend Elf Castle.
That’s right. The factory is important, but we can’t allow the King to fall! We’re departing immediately!


I’m about to take over the Kingdom of Mi.
Congratulations!
Now the stage is set.
Yes. Let’s get rid of the incompetent King Furaon.
I’m still developing new Aura Battlers, but what should we do about pilots?
The moon should be full tonight. We can use Silky to summon more Upper Earthers.
They might turn on us like Shou Zama.
Let’s carefully educate our new recruits when they get here.
I’ll leave that to you.


We made it in time.
Cham, where is Drake’s Army?
They’ve set up camp in the nearby forest.
Do you know exactly where?
Yeah. Why?
I want to launch a surprise attack.
A surprise attack?
Yes. In order to counter their army, the best strategy is to launch an attack while their guard is down.
But will we be fine on our own?
We can ask King Elf to send us reinforcements.
With our forces and King Elf’s reinforcements, we can take down Drake’s Army, huh… At least, it’ll be worth a try.
But will King Elf really help us?
He’s someone who prefers not to do anything, right?
I’ll meet with him directly and plead for his aid. Everyone, please head to Drake’s Army ahead of me.
Wouldn’t it be better to wait here?
If we do, there’s a possibility that Drake will make his move.
I’ll do everything I can to convince him to help us.
All right. Let’s head towards Drake’s Army.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Last time, the Argama left Astoria, but was caught up in another teleportation on their way to Freyd.


Our next destination is Drake’s HQ.


The Argama has been transported to another world yet again. In front of them is Drake’s Army… Are you ready for battle?


Van Route Chapter 8 (2-4): Tod’s Fierce Attack


W-where are we now? A battlefield?
Who’s fighting who?
One side seems to be Drake’s Army.
Did we end up back in Byston Well?
That’s the Aura Ship that was summoned the other day!
It was summoned back?
Great timing! We’re having trouble because our own reinforcements haven’t arrived yet. Sorry, but could you please help us?
Understood. All units, deploy immediately!


Deploy the troops.

You seem outnumbered.
How could you launch an attack with such few men?
Well, reinforcements were supposed to come from Elf Castle.
Who are you?
He’s a summoned Upper Earther, just like me.
They should have seen the flames of war by now…
So you’re just expendable pawns, huh…
Shush! With this many people, a surprise attack was our only option!
I’m just saying what I see.
We can talk later! I really need your help to defeat Drake’s Army!
Understood. Let’s go, everyone!


We’ve got all the units from the other route split, that being Marvel in the Dana O’Shee, Nie in the Zelana, Keen in the Fou, and Shou in the Dunbine. Please see that split for descriptions of the units.


The only objective is to defeat all enemies. As mentioned previously, Aura Machines’ barriers reduce all ranged damage, so watch out for that if you’re relying on Mobile Suits. Try to have the scattered Aura Machines rendezvous with the main force. They may be extremely agile, but one bad roll and you’re down a powerful unit.


For bosses, we’ve got Burn in a Virunvee and Tod in a Dunbine. Only Tod has lines with Shou.

Shou Zama! We’ll settle things here!
I know Tod’s piloting that thing, but it’s faster than normal! Has his Aura Power increased!?
Shou Zama, the only thing you have going for you is a good machine. I’ll make you realize that!

The plot advances at the start of the second enemy phase.


Hmm? They don’t seem to be the same guys we fought before.
What do you mean, Folka?
I don’t feel the same power from these guys as I did from the guys we fought at Allen’s castle.
What power? I don’t feel anything…
You fought Drake’s Army before?
Yes. They attacked my world.
That’s impossible. We’ve been keeping an eye on their movements. They never had the chance to invade another world.
(What’s going on? So the guys who attacked Allen’s castle weren’t from Drake’s Army?)
!!
Everyone, be careful! The enemy is coming!
What!?
Enemy units detected. The signal pattern is… Guymelef!?


I found you, Van! So this is where you fled to!
Dilandau! You came to this world too!?
What the hell are you talking about?
You came here without knowing anything?
Again, what are you talking about!? My patience is wearing thin!
This isn’t Gaea, your world.
This is Byston Well. Can’t you see that?
Byston Well? It doesn’t matter. I only care about the Dragon! I’m going to get you today, Van Fanel!


Dilandau and his squad are here in flying Guymelefs. Technically, they’re the same ones they’re always in, but in their flight form. Now you have to worry about hitting flying units with physical attacks. He doesn’t have any lines with Van or Allen.


Dammit! I was arrogant. I let my guard down.
Are you running away?
I can’t die here!
[Burn retreats]
If we could have defeated Burn here, things would get easier.
It can’t be helped. We should be grateful that we managed to shoo him off.
That’s right. We might have died here if those guys never showed up.
You’re right.


Dammit! I can’t move anymore!?
Tod! Why are you panicking!?
I can’t afford to keep losing, especially after having come all the way to this world!
This isn’t the time for that! Just leave!
Shut up! I’m trying!
[Tod retreats]
Tod Guinness, to think we came to Byston Well together…


To think you could damage me like this…
Why are you targeting Escaflowne!?
Everything is for Lord Donkirk’s sake. I shall withdraw for now, but I will return.
[Dilandau retreats]
Dilandau…

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


We’ve driven off the garrison!
All right! Let’s keep this momentum up and strike at Drake’s main camp!
Nie, overextending is dangerous. Isn’t it enough that our surprise attack was successful?
We can’t lose a chance like this!
Everyone is completely exhausted.
But…
It looks like we don’t have time to argue.


We can’t afford any more casualties! Nie!
Fine, fine. Let’s retreat for now.


We weren’t able to defeat Drake, but we did manage to pull off a successful ambush. Thank you.
Don’t mention it. We just happened to be passing by.
It seems you have some new units and pilots since we last visited.
Ah, you’re referring to the Escaflowne and Scheherazade.
You remember Van, right? He’s piloting the Escaflowne.
The Scheherazade is my personal Guymelef.
What’s a Guymelef?
It’s what they call robots in Van and Allen’s world.
Is that right…
What brings you to Byston Well?
More importantly, how did you get to Byston Well?
Well… We were traveling when we were suddenly teleported.
If you have nowhere to go, would you lend us your strength?
Before we agree to anything, can you tell us about Drake’s Army?
What about them?
I think I mentioned it during the battle, but Drake’s Army appeared in Van’s world, Gaea.
Oh, that. Like I said, we’ve been keeping a close eye on them. They haven’t made any movements to indicate that they’re attacking another world.
Besides, even if dimensional gates have been easier to open, it’s not like we can freely choose our destination. Invading other worlds just isn’t feasible.
I see… Then who was that army?
The people who attacked my castle certainly called themselves Drake’s Army, and they were piloting the same Guymelefs as the ones we just fought.
Even if you say that…
(Attacking while disguised as another army to cause conflict… It couldn’t be…)
It seems we have no choice but to ask Drake directly.
Then…
Yes, I’ll help. After all, I left my country to find out the connection between Zaibach and Drake.
We’ll help too. We’re also concerned about the force that attacked Allen’s castle. Plus, Drake might have a way to get us back to Earth.
Thank you so much!


Are you Lord Drake?
Who are you?
I am Mizar, a Commander of a mercenary company. Would you be willing to hire us?
(Mizar Touval. OG. CV: Toru Okawa)
Hire you? Why come to us instead of King Elf?
If I help the losing side, I wouldn’t get paid.
I see… But if we’re winning, then we don’t need your help, do we?
Certainly, your army is sufficient against the soldiers of Elf Castle. However, you won’t beat the guys who launched a surprise attack against you. If you underestimate them…
I’ve read the report. Do you know anything about them?
We’re a mercenary company. We’re always gathering information.
So this Upper Earther army is a nuisance to you too, is that it?
As expected, you’re quite perceptive.
What are your terms?
A little bit of military funds and one of your latest Aura Battlers.
Our latest model, huh? Hmph. I don’t like how you know about that, but I’ll admit you’re quite organized.
Thank you.
However, I don’t trust you. If you want my trust, you’ll have to show me some results first.
As you wish.
(Kukuku. Now that the forces are even, there won’t be a clear winner. Plus, I can get the latest model in this world… I can hardly stop myself from laughing!)


It’s strange… Looking at this scenery, it’s hard to believe this is another world.
I know how you feel. How did we even get to this world in the first place?
I mean, Folka came from another world.
Then we were sent here…
It seems that in this world, dimensional gates have become easier to open ever since the earthquake.
The question is, is the earthquake the cause or part of the effect?
Oh crap! Oh crap! Drake’s Army is on the move!
Are they heading here?
No. They’re heading to Elf Castle!
What? Then it’s fine.
What do you mean by that, Shou!?
There’s no reason to help a King who doesn’t keep his promises.
I agree with Shou.
Nie, not you too! We can’t just--
If we lost this battle, we’d be dead!
But that doesn’t mean we can let Drake do whatever he wants.
I don’t intend to, but…
We’re here to show the world that we’re on the side of justice.
So we’re not going to defend the castle from Drake’s Army?
But…
What are you fighting for? For a King who broke a promise? Or was it to stop Drake’s ambitions!?
You’re right… I’m sorry. Let’s head to Elf Castle right away! Shou, Keen, go ahead and start scouting!
Roger!
Got it. I’m sorry, Marvel.
Apology accepted.
Come on, Shou! We have to go now!
Are you going to join me in the Dunbine?
Why not? Look, Keen has already left!
Right!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

Despite having the same name as a chapter on the other route, the events are slightly different.

Last time, the Argama failed to defend Chiron Castle.


Our next location is Drake’s HQ.


Drake’s Army is targeting King Elf next. Intercept their attack to protect the country. Are you ready for battle?


Nie Route Chapter 8 (2-4): Tod’s Fierce Attack


How’d it go, Nie?
I wasn’t able to meet with King Elf, but his subordinate promised to send reinforcements.
Good job, though I am concerned that you weren’t able to see him in person…
There’s no point in worrying about it now.
Well, we’ve come this far…
Right now, all we can do is trust them and launch a surprise attack!
All right. Once the Argama launches, everyone is to sortie!


Deploy the troops! Boss and Sayaka are still the only ones on the bench.

What the hell!?
Ambush!
Is that the Zelana!?
Well done, King Furaon.
This is my chance to show the Upper Earthers my power! If I succeed here, Drake and Shot will think more highly of me!


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Scars of War
There’s more of them than I expected.
That proves that they were making them with Laas Wau.
Let’s go ham until reinforcements arrive!
Yeah. Let’s do as much damage as we can!


Between us and victory are a lot of Aura Machines. You should be used to fighting them at this point.


Bosses are Burn in a Virunvee and Tod in a Dunbine. Only Tod has lines with Shou.

Shou Zama! We’ll settle things here!
I know Tod’s piloting that thing, but it’s faster than normal! Has his Aura Power increased!?
Shou Zama, the only thing you have going for you is a good machine. I’ll make you realize that!

Anyway, the plot continues at the start of the third player phase.


When are the reinforcements going to arrive?
I’m sick of waiting!
It seems King Elf is using us as sacrificial pawns.
Dammit! This was his chance!
What do we do? Should we retreat?


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - No Need for Promises
Those are Aura Battlers I’ve never seen before. Are they enemy reinforcements?
W-where are we? A battlefield?
Which armies are fighting?
Isn’t that Van’s voice?
You’re the guys I met in Hitomi’s world…
What are you doing here? Didn’t you go back to your world?
Yeah, I managed to return to Gaea, but it’s a long story…
You can tell us all about it later! Is that other mech your friend?
Yes. Allen Schezar, at your service.
We’re in trouble because promised reinforcements aren’t coming. I’m sorry, but could you lend us your sword?
All we have to do is defeat Drake’s Army, right?
You know about Drake’s Army?
That saves us the trouble of explaining! Let’s go!


Van and Allen are here. Please see the other route for their unit descriptions. They spawn far to the south, so make good use of Escaflowne’s dragon form and Allen’s Accel to have them join the fray as soon as possible.

The plot continues at the start of the next enemy turn.


!!
Everyone, be careful! The enemy is coming!
What!?
Enemy units detected. The signal pattern is… unknown!?


I found you, Van! This is where you fled to!
Dilandau! You came to this world too!?
What the hell are you talking about?
You came here without knowing anything?
Again, what are you talking about!? My patience is wearing thin!
This isn’t Gaea.
This world is called Byston Well! Can’t you see that?
Byston Well? It doesn’t matter. I only care about the Dragon! I’m going to get you today, Van Fanel!


Dilandau and his squad are here in flying Guymelefs. Technically, they’re the same ones they’re always in, but in their flight form. Now you have to worry about hitting flying units with physical attacks. He doesn’t have any lines with Van or Allen.


Dammit! I was arrogant. I let my guard down.
Are you running away?
I can’t die here!
[Burn retreats]
If we could have defeated Burn here, things would get easier.
It can’t be helped. We should be grateful that we managed to shoo him off.
That’s right. We might have died here if those guys never showed up.
You’re right.


Dammit! I can’t move anymore!?
Tod! Why are you panicking!?
I can’t afford to keep losing, especially after having come all the way to this world!
This isn’t the time for that! Just leave!
Shut up! I’m trying!
[Tod retreats]
Tod Guinness, to think we came to Byston Well together…


To think you could damage me like this…
Why are you targeting Escaflowne!?
Everything is for Lord Donkirk’s sake. I shall withdraw for now, but I will return.
[Dilandau retreats]
Dilandau…

The map ends when all enemies are defeated.


We’ve driven off the garrison!
All right! Let’s keep this momentum up and strike at Drake’s main camp!
Nie, overextending is dangerous. Isn’t it enough that our surprise attack was successful?
We can’t lose a chance like this!
Everyone is completely exhausted.
But…
It looks like we don’t have time to argue.
(TL Note: He says this despite enemy reinforcements not spawning.)
We can’t afford any more casualties! Nie!
Fine, fine. Let’s retreat for now.


We weren’t able to defeat Drake, but we did manage to pull off a successful ambush. Thank you.
Don’t mention it. I’m relieved to see familiar faces.
How did you get here?
I don’t know. We were suddenly sent here while traveling.
If you don’t have anywhere to go, would you mind helping us out?
But before you answer, how do you know about Drake’s Army?
They attacked Allen’s castle on Gaea.
That’s impossible! We’ve been keeping a close eye on them. There’s no way they could have invaded another world.
Besides, even if dimensional gates have been easier to open, it’s not like we can freely choose our destination. Invading other worlds just isn’t feasible.
I see… Then who was that army?
The people who attacked my castle certainly called themselves Drake’s Army, and they were piloting the same Guymelefs as the ones we just fought.
Even if you say that…
They might be imposters posing as Drake’s Army.
What do you mean?
When Drake’s Army came as reinforcements during the fight near the Given manor, I felt something strange.
Couldn’t that just be your imagination?
So something about them felt off to you, Folka? Something that makes you think they’re fakes?
And you think they’re the same “Drake’s Army” that attacked them on Gaea…
I don’t know… Something just feels wrong…
(Attacking while disguised as another army to instigate conflict… It couldn’t be…)
It seems we have no choice but to ask Drake directly.
Then…
Yes, I’ll help. After all, I left my country to find out the connection between Zaibach and Drake.
Thank you so much!


Are you Lord Drake?
Who are you?
I am Mizar, a Commander of a mercenary company. Would you be willing to hire us?
(Mizar Touval. OG. CV: Toru Okawa)
Hire you? Why come to us instead of King Elf?
If I help the losing side, I wouldn’t get paid.
I see… But if we’re winning, then we don’t need your help, do we?
Certainly, your army is sufficient against the soldiers of Elf Castle. However, you won’t beat the guys who launched a surprise attack against you. If you underestimate them…
I’ve read the report. Do you know anything about them?
We’re a mercenary company. We’re always gathering information.
So this Upper Earther army is a nuisance to you too, is that it?
As expected, you’re quite perceptive.
What are your terms?
A little bit of military funds and one of your latest Aura Battlers.
Our latest model, huh? Hmph. I don’t like how you know about that, but I’ll admit you’re quite organized.
Thank you.
However, I don’t trust you. If you want my trust, you’ll have to show me some results first.
As you wish.
(Kukuku. Now that the forces are even, there won’t be a clear winner. Plus, I can get the latest model in this world… I can hardly stop myself from laughing!)


It’s strange… Looking at this scenery, it’s hard to believe this is another world.
You got that right. We couldn’t believe it when we first came here either.
Even now, this feels like a dream.
First of all, how did we even get here?
Is this really another world?
Folka first came to our world, then we were sent to another.
It seems that in this world, dimensional gates have become easier to open ever since the earthquake.
The question is, is the earthquake the cause or part of the effect?
Oh crap! Oh crap! Drake’s Army is on the move!
Are they heading here?
No. They’re heading to Elf Castle!
What? Then it’s fine.
What do you mean by that, Shoul!?
There’s no reason to help a King who doesn’t keep his promises.
I agree with Shou.
Nie, not you too! We can’t just--
If we lost this battle, we’d be dead!
But that doesn’t mean we can let Drake do whatever he wants.
I don’t intend to, but…
We’re here to show the world that we’re on the side of justice.
So we’re not going to defend the castle from Drake’s Army?
But…
What are you fighting for? For a King who broke a promise? Or was it to stop Drake’s ambitions!?
You’re right… I’m sorry. Let’s head to Elf Castle right away! Shou, Keen, go ahead and start scouting!
Roger!
Got it. I’m sorry, Marvel.
Apology accepted.
Come on, Shou! We have to go now!
Are you going to join me in the Dunbine?
Why not? Look, Keen has already left!
Right!

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

This is where the routes combine. This LP will be following the route that went to the Photon Power Lab and Nie’s route as the “main” route and anything in quotes will be dialogue if you went with Van or to the Science Fortress Lab.

Last time, Van, Allen, Nie’s group, and the Argama decided to join forces and protect King Furaon Elf.


The final location for this Scene is Elf Castle.


Drake’s Army, riding on its momentum, approaches Elf Castle. The final battle for the Kingdom of Ah begins. Are you ready for combat?


Chapter 8 (2-5): The Raiders of Elf Castle


I’ll show that cowardly Elf the power of the Bastole!
I won’t let you have all the glory!


Did we make it in time!?
Shou, what do we do now?
We need to draw their attention!
Roger!
It’s the Dunbine!
Garalia, leave Elf Castle to the Mud Squad. Let’s take down that Dunbine!
Roger that!


Combine the Dunbine and Fou and stick near the northeast edge of the village. Reinforcements will arrive shortly. As a note, if you didn’t move Cham to Shou’s machine in the previous stages (as she’s originally defaulted to Marvel’s), she’ll be automatically moved to the Dunbine. Same with Shou if you moved him to another machine.

The plot continues at the start of the next turn.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
Hmm? Oh, Shou! They’re here!
I need backup! The castle is in danger!
All units, deploy! Defend the castle!!


Deploy the troops. We’re at the point where you have to start benching units, one if you went to the Science Fortress Lab and two if you went to the Photon Power Lab. Boss and Sayaka are on the bench in this case.

Whoa, is that a new model I see?
Just because they have a new model doesn’t mean they’ll win!
You got that right.
Even so, look at all those enemies.
Even after a successful surprise attack, we didn’t impact their numbers much…

There are so many left.
If we overextended after the surprise attack, we would have bit it for sure.

There’s more of them than I thought.
So you came. I’ll be your opponent!
They’re coming! We must defend the castle at all costs!


Burn and Garalia are the first bosses of this stage in the Virumvee and Bastole respectively. Yes, I did forget to properly examine her. Shame this game lacks a Scan spirit… Anyway, despite the objective of the map being “defeat all enemies”, the stage actually ends when you shoot down Garalia. Of course, that would mean giving up on a lot of money and exp, so it’s best to save her for last.

The next scene happens at the start of the next enemy phase.


Enemy reinforcements! They still had more lying in wait!?
I’m feeling that strange power again…
Jerid! Why are you with Drake’s Army!?
We’re mercs that Drake hired.
Don’t tell them anything.
Shut up! All I care about is killing Kamille. I don’t care about your plans.
What!?
Wait! I finally realize what I’ve been feeling.
What is it, Folka?
I’m feeling the same power from these guys as I felt from the guys who attacked the Given Manor.
(“[...] Allen’s Castler” if you went with Van.)
…
So what is it?
It’s someone I know.
If it’s someone you know, then they’re part of the Shura Army!?
It’s time you showed yourself, Alco!
How did you know?
(Alco Katwor. OG. CV: Tomohisa Aso) (Replaced the Drake Soldier from before)
I’ve seen your power enough to get bored of it.
I knew you’d get in our way. I’d be going against Lord Mizar’s orders, but I’m going to kill you!
So Mizar is behind this after all…
So what if he is? It’s none of your business since you’re about to die!


Alco the Transformation is here along with Jerid and Yazan. Alco, despite being a Shura, doesn’t have a Shura God for himself. He usually uses mechs that compliment his current disguise. Here, he’s using a Drumlo. You’ve fought Drumlos and the Titanjob brothers enough to know how to fight them at this point.

There’s another scene at the start of the next enemy phase.


Alco, what’s taking you so long?
(Magnaz Ald. OG. CV: Tadashi Miyazawa)
So you’re here too?
You!? How dare you speak to me, a General!
A General? You? Heh. That’s a funny joke.
What was that? Fine. The Strategist told me not to kill you, but I’m going to do it anyway!


Our next Shura General and the last boss of this stage is Magnaz the Heavy Quake in his Andras. This is by far the bulkiest boss we’ve fought yet, so be careful in how you attack him. Thankfully, he’s really easy to hit, so you just need to make sure you don’t get shot down by his counterattacks.

Once again, there are no combat dialogues. It seems those are very rare in this game. Regardless, the bosses start falling like flies.


Whoa! A direct hit!?
Jerid!!
Kamille! You are my…
[Jerid explodes]
Jerid…
Forget him, Kamille. If you hesitate in battle, you’ll suffer his fate next.
I know, Captain.
Kamille…


Ugh! My Mobile Suit won’t move!
Yazan Gable! Just surrender already!
Don’t make me laugh! I won’t give up until I kill you all!
[Yazan retreats]
He got away again.
Honestly, his only good part is how fast he is at running away.
It can’t be helped. For now, focus on the remaining enemies!


Dammit! Is my Aura Power still not enough?
Burn Burnings!
I won’t be killed yet! Shou Zama, I’ll defeat you next time!
[Burn retreats]
All right! Burn retreated!
Now it’s Garalia’s turn.
Her Aura Power should be lower than Burn’s. We got this, everyone!


What!? My machine is malfunctioning!
What are you doing, Magnaz!? I never gave you the order to sortie!
But…
No excuses! Retreat immediately!
Dammit!
Are you refusing to follow orders?
Ugh… Fine…
You’re as obedient as ever.
You don’t know Mizar’s power.
Tell him that I’m coming for all of you.
Don’t regret this! I’m going to be the one who’ll kill you!
[Magnaz retreats]
Are you sure we should let him go?
If he were to go all out, we wouldn’t make it out unscathed.
He was strong, but I thought he’d be stronger.
He was appointed as a General, but he’s no match for me. However, it’s best if we focus on the remaining enemies.


Dammit! This machine is useless!
Blame your own skill. After all, you’re only capable of transforming your body.
What did you say!?
Am I wrong? You became Mizar’s lackey because that’s all you’re good for.
You bastard!!
Alco! That’s enough. Retreat!
…Sir.
[Alco retreats]

As I said before, the map ends when Garalia is shot down.


I won’t lose like this! I’ll take the Dunbine down with me!
Shou…
W-what the hell? Garalia is different from normal! I can feel more power from her than Burn!
She’s stronger than Burn!?
Are you all right, Shou?
Feel my power!
I won’t lose!
Those two stopped moving!
Shou! Why did you stop!?
Shou, is something wrong? Can you hear me?
I can’t lose!
I know you don’t want to lose, but if you stay still like that, you will die!
Why you!
You can’t beat me!
[The screen flashes]
What’s that light?
Are their Auras interfering with each other?
[The screen flashes again]
W-what’s going on?
Shou! Get away from her Bastole!
No! We’re going to be blown away!
What!?
[Fade to white]


Where were we sent to now?
A familiar sky… Did we really…
Our current location is over the Pacific Ocean. It seems we’ve returned to Earth.
I-I see…
Phew. We’re finally back.
I’m glad we’re back, but I’m not entirely happy…

So we finally made it back, eh?
I wonder if us leaving them like that was a good thing…

…This is Lucrezia Noin of the Preventers. Argama, please respond.
This is Bright of the Argama.
I’m so glad you’re safe. We’ve been searching for your ship ever since we lost contact.
It’s a long story, but we ended up in another world.
Another world?
We’ll debrief you later. What’s the current state of the enemy?
Right. Currently, the Earth is under invasion by the Congistar Army.
Congistar?
That’s the name of the enemy faction that appeared in Tokyo.
Even though we went missing, the EFF should have been able to handle it, right?
I bet they took their sweet time too.
You’d be wrong. Most EFF bases were annihilated.
W-what!? Even if their response was slow, how could such a large force launch a full-scale attack on the ground?
It wasn’t any army. It was caused by a weapon called the Omega Missile.
Omega Missile?
What the hell!? Please tell us in greater detail.
Let me start from the beginning. Within a few days after that first attack, Congistar deployed a powerful missile base in satellite orbit capable of long-ranged attacks.
Then wouldn’t destroying the base solve that problem?
The EFF took immediate action, but it seems the Omega Missiles are attracted to nuclear engines. All Mobile Suits were destroyed within moments.
W-what!?
So the bases were destroyed by Omega Missiles by locking onto the Mobile Suits stationed there…
Correct.
Then aren’t those missiles heading towards the Argama right now!?
You’re fine. I’ll send the full report, but it seems the Argama is currently in the satellite’s blind spot. Plus, if you constantly scatter Minovsky Particles at combat concentrations, you can escape detection to some extent.
But if we can’t use our Mobile Suits…
Large-scale operations are impossible. Right now, the Preventers are focusing on defending and destroying incoming missiles.
Hmm… I see. Are there any plans to destroy the missile base?
We’re currently coordinating with various parties to formulate a plan.
Right when we returned… Seriously now. We’ll gladly cooperate. Let me know how we can help as soon as you can.
Roger.
Are there any sightings of the Shura Army?
There have been several battles where we couldn’t identify the enemy, but they don’t seem to be Shura related.
I see… They must be looking for us.
Also, regarding that mysterious illness I mentioned before, a specialized company has been established to take care of it. The disease is now officially called “Algernon”.
Has it spread since then?
Yes. The number of cases seems to be increasing. Sorry, but I have an incoming call. Please give me a moment.
I wonder if the cause of the illness is still unknown?
It might be a new type of virus or something.
That’s scary.

A mysterious illness, huh… What the heck is going on?
It’s probably a new type of virus.
It’s also possible that it’s an enemy chemical weapon.

Captain Bright, we have an emergency. It seems Tokyo is under attack again by the Congistar forces.
Captain, we’re about 10 minutes away from Tokyo!
All right. Battle stations! This ship will now head to Tokyo!


It’s been a long time, Strategist.
(???)
What do you want, Maysis?
Do you think I’m here because I like you? I’ve come to deliver the Shura King’s orders.
(Maysis Mark. OG. CV: Yuriko Yamaguchi)
Oh, so he’s alive! How’s he doing?
Like you give a crap. Here are his orders: Effective immediately, take command of the Shura army scattered throughout the planet.
So he’s leaving it all to me, eh? Is that everything he said?
It is. Strategist, what’s your answer?
Tell the Shura King that I will spread the laws of Shura in his name.
Heh… Sure you will.
There is no one who wouldn’t be inspired upon hearing his name. Kukuku.
Strategist, just what are you plotting?
Whatever do you mean?
If your mind is consumed by evil, you’ll only plunge into your own death.
Is that a threat? You shouldn’t act on baseless speculations and delusions. You might be the next one to die, you know? Kukukuku…
Tch. I’ll be taking my leave.
Give my regards to General Altis.
Hmph.
[Maysis leaves]
Kukukuku… So the Shura King still isn’t at full strength yet…


Dammit! Is there a way we can get back? While we’re here, Drake is--
Calm down, Nie!
Yeah! I’m sure the Captain will find a way for us to get back!
But when will that happen!? By now, Drake has surely occupied Elf Castle! Next, he’ll march on the rest of Byston Well!
Look, there’s no point in making a fuss.
Hmph. You only think that because you’re back in your home world! I care about my country!
Enough already! You’re not the only one who’s worried about his country or people.
Both of you, stop yelling!
What!?
I may look calm, but I’m extremely worried about Gaea and the Zaibach Army.
What’s your point?
The Argama’s crew won’t abandon us! I mean, you heard it too, right? Earth is in a terrible state right now! Yet they still fought for us with genuine concern!
We have to repay them, even if only a little, or we’ll lose our sense of justice.
Dammit…
Nie, think of this as a test. To have the power to stop Drake, you’ll need to be able to weather anything.
Marvel… You’re right. We have to repay our debt to them. Jacoba Aon might be watching us.
That’s right! If we do things properly, Jacoba might bring us back!
Who’s Jacoba?
She’s the leader of the Ferario. With her power, we might be able to go home.
I’m sorry, everyone. You snapped me out of it, Van.
It’s fine. I was once sent here due to the power of an Energist. I’ll help you however I can.
Thank you.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.

This is the start of Scene 3, “A New Power”.


Our first location is Tokyo.


The Argama crew safely returned to Earth, but Congistar is attacking Tokyo! Are you ready for battle?


Chapter 10 (3-1): Strike! Omega Missile


I’ll flatten every single one of them!
(Jimmy Orion. Mechander. CV: Akira Kamiya)
I’m surprised there’s so many of them! Let’s combine!
(Ryusuke Shikishima. Mechander. CV: Akio Nojima)
TRISER! MECHANDER MAX! GO!!


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Tri-Attack! Mechander Robo
(TL Note: Enjoy that bitcrushed Aniki.)


Dad, Mechander MAX’s combination was successful.
(Mika Shirakawa. Mechander. CV: Keiko Yokozawa)
But it’s still in the testing stage…
(Professor Masazo Shikishima. Mechander. CV: Masaya Taki)
(It’s risky, but we have no choice…)
Mechander MAX, this is Shikishima. I’ve just launched a robot I created in secret. Combine with it and fight!
A robot?
(Kojiro Yoshima. Mechander. CV: Kazuyuki Sogabe)
Indeed. Mechander MAX can dock with the hangar on the robot’s back.
But this isn’t the time for that!


Oh! Kojiro, look!
It’s a robot!
Okay, Jimmy! Let’s do this! Combine!
TRISER! MECHANDER CROSS!!


Enemy geostationary satellite No. 5 has launched an Omega Missile! Its target is near Tokyo Bay!
What?
ETA is five minutes!
Dammit. So the enemy’s satellites react to even the smallest of nuclear engines.
This is amazing. With this robot, these guys are no match for us!
Let’s take our time beating the crap out of them.
You can’t afford to waste time. An Omega Missile has been launched, and its target is the Mechander Robo you’re in!
What!?
It’ll hit your robot in about five minutes!
Professor, that’s not fair!
Don’t worry. If you power down within the time limit, the nuclear engine will shut down and the Omega Missile will lose its target.
So we just need to defeat the enemy within five minutes and shut this thing off?
That’s right. I’m starting the countdown. 4:59…4:58…4:57…

First up, this guy and his bitcrunched BGM glory.


[Mechander Robo (and Mechander MAX)]
Mechander Cross! Standing at over 120 meters tall, around the same size as Daitarn 3, but only being L size because, uhhhhhh... Mechander is here to fight. It's actually got pretty great stats (although like Combattler its mobility is maybe a bit low for a robot as acrobatic as it is - and Mechander's unbelievably light too so that could still be allowed, I think!) and is generally powered by a nuclear reactor that is activated upon the combination of the jet, Mechander MAX, with the full robot - in the first half of the story, at least, it gets an upgrade way later that C3 doesn't really show off all that well... The shield and sword it has are nice, and its attacks are pretty great too, especially the incredibly strong free Mechander Fencer and its finisher in this game, Mechander Flame, which is 40 EN for 3000 power (gee Great Mazinger how come they let Mechander have an attack like that?). And obviously, it has a shield and a sword. With that said, you will absolutely, positively curse out the fact that Mechander UFO isn't P. And also that "Shark Rocket" (which is actually named the Aerial Torpedo Jaws...) only has 5 ammo.

Power Out! Mechander MAX, Go! Though Mechander Robo says it has to Decombine to turn into this, don't worry - it's just the same as transforming, MAX can Combine back into Robo at any point. It plays a bit like how the Core Booster used to in old SRWs - a short range Vulcan Cannon (...which is actually named the Gyron Machinegun because it's the Mechander Gyro that uses it...), long range missiles (which should be the Sky Donkey!), and the Bull Thunder, which may as well be the old beam cannon the Core Booster had, and while obviously not having Robo's Sword or Shield hurts, it is very mobile, and its pilot is actually not that bad at dodging so you can get a bit of use out of it. As a form, you could definitely do a lot worse than the Mechander MAX.

The pilots are solid too! Jimmy Olson does admittedly have a major issue, which is that he's the mule that handles ALL of the important combat spirits, but he makes up for it with one significant thing - he starts with Revenge, the second costliest and most useful Skill in this game that can be bought, which increases all damage on the enemy turn by 1.2x. He also has Defense and Potential at his base level which are nice. Kojiro has Accel, which is good, and mostly has support spirits in the rest, and Ryusuke mostly has defensive spirits.

Overall, Mechander is already one of the best robots in the game, but it will get slightly better later as it's one of the few things in this game that gets a proper upgrade. Not the one it got in the show though, sadly.


The objective right now is to defeat all enemies. My advice is to land Mechander and use a nearby building’s defensive terrain to help weather the enemy’s attacks. Also, start moving it towards the northwest for an easier rendezvous with the Argama. Don’t worry about the incoming Omega Missile for now.

The plot continues at the start of the third turn.


What’s going on? The Congistar forces are fighting a mysterious robot!
Attention Argama. That robot is called Mechander Robo, developed by yours truly.
Mechander Robo?
I don’t have time to explain things right now.
Why’s that?
An Omega Missile was launched from orbit!
What?
Omega Missile? What’s that?
Hyoma! That was just explained!
It’s the Congistar’s weapon of mass destruction!
Got it! We just need to be careful of its explosion radius, right?
The first missile will arrive in under three minutes! You have to finish this battle before then!
For the love of… It’s as you just heard! All units, fight while keeping an eye on the time limit!


Deploy the troops! Sayaka, Boss, Keen, and Quattro are sitting this one out.

Oh, it’s the feds!
We’re not exactly part of the regular army, though.
Now that we’re here, we can’t exactly let ourselves get killed.
There’s a lot of mechs that I’ve never seen before.
The feeling’s mutual. You can’t judge a book by its cover.
That’s right! Let’s do our best!


Try to have the main force rendezvous with Mechander as soon as possible. It’s most likely in danger of getting shot down by this point, and you do not want to be responsible for its repair cost. Trust is very helpful in keeping it alive.

Anyway, another event happens at the start of the third enemy phase.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - One Who Walks the Path of Strong-Fisted Supremacy
The Shura Army!!
Weren’t you fighting in Byston Well, Folka!?
Fernando…
How do you know about Byston Well?
How do we know? Weren’t you just fighting Magnaz?
I knew it. Mizar is pulling the strings.
This isn’t the time for this!
A missile is coming!
A missile?
That’s right! A Congistar missile is heading this way!
Like I give a damn!
What’s with that attitude? Do you want to die together!?
We just need to defeat you before it arrives, right?
Good luck doing that!


Fernando and Alion have arrived to make things a lot more complicated. Watch your back line and deal with a two-front fight.

The Omega Missile arrives at the start of the fifth enemy phase.


Dammit! We didn’t make it in time!
All units! Watch out for that missile’s tracking and its explosion radius!


This is the Omega Missile. On any stage on Earth, this missile will spawn at the edge of the map at the start of the fifth enemy phase. It offers no money and very little experience when destroyed. However, its AI is easily manipulated.

• An Omega Missile will spawn every 5 turns no matter if you deploy Mechander or not.
• The Omega Missile will target the closest available playable character, though if Mechander is on the map, it’ll vaguely head towards him.
• The Omega Missile has only one attack, a 6 ranged post-move self-destruct MAP with 4500 power.
• The Omega Missile will use this attack at the earliest opportunity, even if it only hits a single unit.
• The Omega Missile doesn’t care about friendly fire. It will explode to damage a single unit even if it injures its own allies in the process.

Mattman wrote his own writeup on the Omega Missile:

Ok, so, this thing. I'm assuming Ragnell went over the basics on what it is (it spawns every five turns in every stage in this chapter, and will spawn no matter what units you use - you can bench all your Gundams, Combattler, and Mechander to get all the nuclear powered guys to the bench and it'll still pop in, though IIRC Mechander vaguely makes it move towards it), so let's instead get into the most important thing - how to actually beat the Omega Missile. It can't respond to attacks, so you can theoretically get all your units 7 tiles away from its movement limit to dodge the giant MAP and then gang up on it - but it has a ton of HP and the actual REWARDS for doing so are pretty minimal, it's only like 100 money I think? So it's not rewarding. You're better off having it blow up.

And this is finally where Guts came in, and why I said all that time ago that Boss is one of the most important people at some point in the game. It is incredibly easy to send Boss Borot off to where the missile spawns, something Ragnell has assured me he is going to show off, with more than 10 HP, and the bomb's incredibly simplistic AI will have it blow up the minute it sees a unit in range - so you're left with one weakened but not dead Boss Borot and an entire rest of your squad that took no damage. Very useful.

(Oh, and since I can't read the comments and I know someone's going to say it, to pre-empt - Combattler is nuclear. It runs on a nuclear engine. The power generated then is converted into Super Electromagnetic energy. Enjoy thinking about that the next time you play J!)

In every stage that the Missile spawns, the exact same exchange with Jimmy and Bright is played. I won’t be saying it every time.

As this happens in every stage for the next while, I’ll be sure to point out where it spawns so it doesn’t catch you off guard like enemy-phase Fire Emblem reinforcements.

Fernando and Alion do have words to say with Folka after their first battle.

Fernando! The Shura must change! Don’t you understand that!?
Are you still going on about that!? As a Shura, defeat is the same as death! Normally I wouldn’t mind if it was you… But you showed me mercy!
I… I didn’t want to kill you…
That kind of thinking is unnecessary for a Shura. I… No. I have nothing more to say. Folka! I’ll finish you off with my ultimate technique!!


Gah!! Damn you… It seems like this is the end. Now, do it, Folka! End my fight!
…Just go. You’re not the one I need to kill.
What!? Bastard! How long do you intend to insult me!?
Hate me if you want, as long as you’re alive to do it.
What!? Are you saying you won’t kill me!?
For me, the pain of losing a loved one is far heavier than any physical wounds… That grief would be unbearable…
Grief? You would grieve my death!?
No matter how much you hate me, I can’t bring myself to kill my brother.
What? I don’t understand… But I’ll make you regret not killing me!
[Fernando retreats]
Fernando…

What are you fighting for?
Hmm? Do I need a reason to fight?
Have you ever thought about a world without war?
I don’t understand. How can we live without fighting?
People can live without fighting!
Shut up! I’m a Shura!!
Alion!


I’ve lost… Dammit! Come on, do it already!
Do you want to die that badly?
Shut the hell up! I’ve lost! Just kill me already!
I won’t kill you.
What!? Are you going to insult me the same way you insult Fernando!?
If that’s what you think, then so be it.
Quit screwing with me!
I won. What I do is up to me. You’ll understand someday. For now, just leave.
I’ll remember this!
[Alion retreats]

The map ends when all enemies are defeated (including the Omega Missile if it spawns).


What about the Omega Missiles?
They’re still in space. If we retreat now, we’ll be fine.
Who are you anyway?
I am Shikishima. I built Mechander Robo at the request of the Earth Federation.
Professor, is that robot also nuclear powered?
Yes. If it weren’t for your Minovsky Particles, this city would be engulfed in flames by now.
Hmm… It seems this will be more annoying than I thought.
The Omega Missile is launched in response to nuclear engines, so it would be best if we could avoid fighting with mobile weapons as much as possible.
I don’t think that’ll be possible.
Captain, would you allow the Mechander team to join the Argama?
What do you mean?
I’m no soldier. I can build robots, but I’m not confident that I can command them effectively.
But why us? Wouldn’t it be better if you handed them off to the JDF, since we’re constantly moving from battlefield to battlefield?
No. I want my creation to be used as effectively as possible. I believe it would be best to entrust it to you.
I’m looking forward to working with you.
Understood. We’ll take good care of them.
However, please be careful of the Omega Missiles.
Of course.
Folka, that was the Shura Army.
Yes… The Shura Army, which was acting individually in the past, are now following orders from their Strategist.
You’re referring to a military position, right?
Yes. Strategist Mizar… He’s the most ruthless man amongst the Shura. He’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Things have gotten a lot harder.
Harder? What do you mean?
His skills are not to be underestimated. He will seek victory to further his ambitions, no matter the cost.
If someone like that were in command of an army like the Shura…
Yes. This is the worst case scenario.
We won’t get anywhere by staying here. I’m also concerned about Algernon. We need the Preventers to gather more intel.


Hehehehehehehe…
(Medusa. Mechander. CV: Natsuko Fuji)
What’s so funny, Medusa?
(Osmel. Mechander. CV: Tsukayama Masatane)
A subordinate’s mistake is your mistake. You need to take responsibility.
Zip it, Medusa! You have some nerve to talk to me like that! Do you think you could have done better?
I could take over Tokyo in an instant! Hehehehe…
What!?
I am the princess of Ganymede! I swear in the name of the Ganymede royal family that I will destroy Tokyo!
Medusa…
…
Your Majesty?
…
Of course, Your Majesty! As you command.
I have just gotten an order from Emperor Hedron. Medusa, the Shinkiller, a machine that I designed, will soon be completed. You will command it and crush all who oppose us!
Sir!


Captain Bright, have you learned anything yet?
Yes. First, let’s discuss the Shura Army.
What did you find out?
Well, beyond minor skirmishes, they haven’t been active at all.
They haven’t been active? Does that mean they’ve disappeared?
No. It just means they’ve become more organized.
I agree. I suspected they were plotting something in Byston Well, but I never imagined that they’d extend their reach to multiple worlds.
We’ll have to deal with them as soon as we know more. There’s no point in rushing, Folka.
Yeah…
Actually, we have gotten word about another force besides the Shura. The Preventers told me that the remnants of the Mariemaia Army are in Brussels.
Mariemaia? But isn’t she…
Yes. She’s legally dead. At least, that’s how it’s recorded everywhere in order to crush any remnants from rising up.
So someone leaked the truth, huh…
Noin is in Brussels, right? Is she all right?
The Preventers are going all out to stop them. It wouldn’t hurt for us to go help them out.
Yeah. I have a bad feeling about this.
Come on, Judau. Stop jinxing things.
Sorry, sorry.
Next is in regard to the Congistar Army. It seems they’ve started attacking from a giant flying fortress.
The forces we’ve confirmed so far are the Omega Missiles that Professor Shikishima mentioned, the fighter-like robots we fought in Tokyo, and large humanoid robots.
If we know where their base is, let’s stop them right away!
We can’t do that.
Why not?
The Omega Missiles, right?
Exactly. We can’t attack their fortress until we destroy their missile-firing satellites first.
Then let’s go after them!
They have more than one of those. I’m thinking we need to bolster our forces.
Who do you have in mind?
Tetsuya’s Great Mazinger and Ryoma’s Getter Robo, right?
Yes.
So that’s Congistar. What about Algernon?
Regarding that, I was put into contact with a specialist company called ModeWarp, but it seems they’re having difficulties too.
What? So there’s nothing we can do?
Not quite. We’ve been introduced to a company called Akamatsu Industries that’s currently investigating the site in question.
So we have several places we need to go to.
Yes. Let’s get going right away!


I’m glad to be back on Earth, but with our current forces, we can’t sink the Argama. If Jerid was still alive, we would have a chance, but… What to do…
C-Captain Yazan!
(Titans Soldier)
What is it?
An unidentified mech is approaching from our 6!
What!? Is it the Argama?
No, it doesn’t seem to be.
Then who is it!?
The reaction says… Shura! It’s a Shura Army mech!
The Shura Army!? Dammit. Why are they after us?
[Phone beeping]
Are you the Titans?
Who’s asking? I have no business with the Shura Army.
But we have business with you. You’re after the Argama, correct?
What does our grudge with the Argama have to do with you?
Everything. Do you know a soldier named Rakan Dakaran?
Rakan? He’s a Neo Zeon soldier… Go on.
We’ve made an alliance with Neo Zeon. They’re planning to attack the Argama soon. Rakan says that if you were to join him, victory would be assured.
I see…
Rakan says that in order to bring down the Federation, all remnants need to work together. He hopes you’ll agree.
Tch. He’s got some nerve… But it’s not a bad offer. Fine, I’ll cooperate.
Heh. You’re a reasonable guy.
Having come this far, I have no intention to cling to any grand cause or pride. I’ll do anything to sink the Argama.
You would have made a great Shura.
I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, let’s get on with it.

Video of this chapter.
Archived version of this chapter.


The next 4 stages can be done in any order, with the locations being the Science Fortress Lab, the Saotome Lab, Brussels, and the ruins of an amusement park. If you went to the Science Fortress Lab at the start of the game, replace the first two with the Photon Power Lab and the Nanbara Connection. I’ll cover those two stages later.

I’ll be covering these stages in an order of my choosing, mostly because I record these many weeks in advance. I won’t be covering any differences in the dialogue if you do these in a different order, as that’s 24 different variations and I don’t have time for that. I don’t think there is much variation anyway.

Last time, the Argama Team discovered the threat of the Omega Missiles and recruited the Mechander Team. We need to get the band back together to face all these threats.


First up is the Saotome Lab.


Getter Robo can fight on land, sea, and air. Shall we head to the Saotome Lab?


Chapter 11 (3-3): Deathmatch! A Storm Brewing in a Man’s Path


Come out, Getter Robo! Fight me!!
(Tekkoki. Getter. CV: Koji Yada)


Looks like we’re being summoned.
Who is it now? We’ve been so busy lately.
Let’s get this over with.


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - The Indestructible Machine, Getter Robo
We’re here! Huh? I recognize that Hyakki Mecha!
It’s been a while, Ryoma Nagare! I’ve come back to fight you!
What!? Isn’t Tekkoki supposed to be dead?
Yeah. I can’t believe it.
Only I can pilot this Mecha Tekkoki! The fact that it’s here is proof that I’m still alive!
That’s true… Why do we have to fight?
Exactly! The Hyakki Empire is gone!
That’s precisely the reason! When we fought before, I was forced to fight with an incomplete Mecha Tekkoki on Hidler’s orders. Our duel was interrupted by him as well!
But now that the Hyakki Empire is gone, there’s no reason for us to fight!
No reason? I only care about defeating you! The Hyakki Empire has nothing to do with it!
Tekkoki… How about we settle this with soccer, like in the old days?
I refuse. Ryoma Nagare! Let’s settle this with a duel!
I don’t want to fight you!
I don’t care! Let’s go!


What!?
Tekkoki, I wouldn’t call this a fair duel.
I know nothing of this! I poured my heart and soul into this Mecha Tekkoki solely to fight you in a fair duel!
Tekkoki… Why don’t you fight with us?
Excuse me?
You want to duel us, right?
Indeed.
Then why don’t we team up? Once this world is at peace, we can have our duel with no distractions.
I agree. There are all sorts of enemies around these days. Who knows who’ll keep getting in our way.
…Very well. But you better keep your promise.
[Tekkoki turns blue]
You have my word!
Now, let’s get rid of these weaklings!

Took us long enough to get the best Getter.


[Shin Getter Robo (1, 2, and 3)]
Shin Getter 1 still has way too little HP (although HP Regen S is nice - Shin Getter trades that for Open Get), still has B Ground, and is still M size in spite of being 55 meters tall. But its mobility is not awful and its armor is workable, and its weapons are so, so much better. Tomahawk Boomerang and Getter Tomahawk are great spam moves, Getter Beam at this point is a move that absolutely slaps Breast Burn around and calls it useless, and then there's the finishers. Shin Shine Spark and Stoner Sunshine cost an arm and a leg, but they hit like a truck, and Stoner Sunshine being 1-7 makes it eminently abusable against bosses.

Shin Getter 2 has 10 movement holy shit. It's not quite as dodgy as a (good) Mobile Suit, but it's shockingly close! And while it's lacking the 25% dodge of Open Get, it trades Mach Special for Shin Mach Special, which... is the same thing as Mach Special. Hmm. But the attacks are where Shin Getter 2 really breaks free. Drill Missile and Getter Drill are generally the best spam moves Getter gets - although against flying enemies Tomahawk is better than it, obviously, since it can't anti-air, the only SG2 move that can't - but Mirage Drill is a 1-3 P 2500 move for 20 EN, and yes, basically every unit in the game would kill for that. Drill Tempest is... a move that exists, you'll usually just want to switch to 1 and use Getter Beam or one of the flashy finishers than it, but it does occasionally come up!

Shin Getter 3 sucks, sadly. It's actually less tanky than Sandrock Kai EW (which we’ll get to later). The Getter Missiles are honestly pretty good as a support move, but no matter how far you go, you'll never get away from old SRWs looking at Shin Getter 3 and going "Getter Missile as a 2-7 or 2-6, Hammer Arm as a 1 range non-flying hitter, and Daisetsuzan Oroshi (possibly Nidan Gaeshi) as a 1 range non-flying 50 EN move". If your enemy is underwater it's passable, I guess, but just stick to 1 and 2.


[Mecha Tekkoki]
Has decent stats in everything including being tankier than Shin Getter 3, has passable mobility, and all of its weapons are either free or pretty cheap and hit relatively hard? It's not a Wing unit, but Tekkoki is actually pretty good at base. And that's good, because unlike 80% of the other obtainable units in this game, Mecha Tekkoki has an advantage that's near unique in this game - it actually has 4 part slots. This means that this is the only unit in the game that benefits to its totality from V-Ups that isn't also extremely awful. Very, very important.

Tekkoki as a pilot is solid. He doesn't get Hot Blood, but he's statistically solid in everything and comes free with Potential and Support Attack, so he can continue his role as a workhorse pilot throughout the entire game.


Have Tekkoki and Getter rendezvous, preferably at the Saotome Lab to the north (for its terrain). Reinforcements will come from the north, so staying in the city wouldn’t help.

Speaking of reinforcements, at the start of the second enemy phase…


…
There’s more of them!
But they’re weak like the rest!
No matter how many of you there are, you can’t beat Getter!
Yeah! Bring it on!

And at the start of the third player phase…


Super Robot Wars Compact 3 - Wild Dance of the Machine God
Captain Bright! You came!
You look like you’re doing fine.
Not really.
Seriously. There’s no end to this!
All right. Let’s provide them some cover!


Deploy the troops! The benchwarmers this time are Keen, Quattro, Roux, Sayaka, and Boss.

The Hyakki Empire had this many mechs in reserve!?
I have no idea where they were hiding.
Who’s that guy? That looks like a Hyakki Mecha.
That’s Tekkoki, a former Hyakki soldier. He’s fighting alongside us now.
An oni? Can we trust him?
Yeah. Tekkoki always keeps his promises, even when he was with the Hyakki.
I’m not fighting for peace or anything. This is purely for myself.
(Fighting for himself… For himself…)
It’s tough when people judge you as friend or foe based on first impressions.
You would know, Shou.
We have robots here who look just as cool as his!
Are you talking about Mechander?
Let’s drop this subject. Tekkoki, we’re counting on you.
Likewise!
Let’s clean up this Hyakki trash!
Okay. Everyone, focus on the Hyakki Mechas!


The Argama spawns way in the northwest of the map, which is why I suggested you have Getter and Tekkoki start heading north to the lab. You may think it’ll take a bit for the Argama crew to see some action…

But at the start of the next enemy phase…


I’ve found you, Argama! Now, prepare to die!
Yazan! You’re still after us!?
Hey! Why are you with Neo Zeon Mobile Suits!?
Because we share the same goal to sink your sorry ship!
Even so, you shouldn’t team up with Zeon!
Until we restore Neo Zeon, we will not be destroyed. We will stop at nothing to achieve our dream!
(Rakan Dahkaran. ZZ Gundam. CV: Ryusuke Obayashi)
As the saying goes, we must throw away our pride and join forces. You’re not the only ones who can do that!
Don’t be ridiculous! Are you planning to fight with hatred and resentment like that!?
Hahaha. Maybe your mind will change after we kick your ass!
I’ll change your mind with my fists!


Yazan and Rakan are here. The Hamrabi is the same as usual, but Rakan’s in a Dreissen. The Dreissen is far stronger than any Mobile Suit we’ve encountered so far. That’s not to mention you’ll probably be fighting him while he’s taking full advantage of the forest. The Doven Wolves that accompany him are also extremely bulky, on par with minibosses.


This is where the Omega Missile spawns on this map.

Yazan and Rakan don’t have anything to say to Kamille or Judau.


Tch. Looks like I’m done.
Yazan! Give up already!
This is for revenge! My fight won’t end until I kill you all!
Yazan…
Next time! I’ll kill you next time! You’d better be ready!
[Yazan retreats]


You’re strong…
Stop this pointless conflict!
As long as we fight, there’s no way we’ll stop!
What utter nonsense. Don’t you have anything better to do?
We’ll just observe for now. I’m retreating!
[Rakan retreats]

The stage ends when all enemies are defeated.


Good. We managed to repel them.
Thank you. You saved us.
It’s fine. More importantly, do you know why we’re here?
Yeah. This is about the Congistar and Shura Armies, right?
Yes. I thought of recruiting you, but to think there were this many Hyakki Mechas still around…
It’s fine. We’ll join you.
Are you sure?
Certainly, there were a lot of them, but this is the first time we’ve had to fight so many at once.
It’ll be faster to take down the enemies we know about rather than chase hidden enemies.
Thank you. I’m looking forward to fighting with you once more.
Likewise! I’m happy to help you out if it means bringing peace to the world!
Our force has grown quite large before we even realized it.
But that doesn’t mean we can relax.
You’re right. Let’s move on to the next location immediately!