After Le Creuset returned, the ZAFT side began another strategy meeting.
"If not for these battle records, the higher-ups probably wouldn't believe our enemy is this strong." Having been "predicted" by Kira once, Le Creuset had already raised the Strike's threat rating to maximum. "That MS—we can only assume its pilot is a Coordinator, and a Coordinator above us at that. So when engaging it, we need three to four MS fighting it at once."
In the past, this many-on-one tactic had plainly been what the Earth Alliance used against ZAFT. But now it was reversed. And yet Athrun and the others couldn't refute it. They didn't even dare talk big or boast. That was how much pressure the Strike put on them.
"Let me lead the team," Athrun said. "These Alliance MS are all in excellent condition—we can do it!"
"Using the Earth Alliance's G units against another G?" A faint smile curled at the corner of Le Creuset's mouth. "Then let's do that. Athrun, you all have experience now—Athrun, Yzak, Nicol, and Dearka, that G is yours. Miguel, Olor, you two lead the other GINNs, carrying D-equipment, to take on the Alliance's new-model ship."
"D-equipment? Isn't that for taking on fortresses?" Yzak asked.
"Ah, I have a feeling this next battle of ours will be as tough as a fortress assault. And if it's heavy laser weaponry, it can support your side too." Le Creuset already had a hunch.
Once deployment was set, he left on his own, leaving Athrun's squad behind.
"Honestly—Captain Le Creuset actually thinks we need support. The four of us needing backup—" Yzak fell silent mid-sentence. In a sense, they really did. When fighting them, the Strike had even switched off its Phase Shift Armor outright. Pure mockery.
"But with D-equipment, wouldn't Heliopolis just…" Nicol murmured.
"What choice do we have?" Dearka shook his head.
"They asked for it. Bragging about being a neutral nation." Yzak couldn't stand that kind of sanctimonious bullshit.
[Weird—the protagonist side got a hell-mode start, but I feel like the other side got a hell-mode start too]
[What a bizarre double hell-mode opening]
[How so?]
[I paused—waiting for an expert comment, then I'll resume]
[Opening: five Gundams, four turn into enemies; your own side starts with a combat knife, incomplete loadout, weapons scavenged. On the mothership side, the officers are basically all wiped out]
[But from ZAFT's side, it's the same. The enemy Gundam's strong as a demon-god, the Red Coats can't get close, and they can bombard the enemy warship all they want without putting a scratch on it—how do you even play this]
[Sick]
[Bow to the expert]
[Seriously—one side's Gundam has hit-and-dodge maxed out and the mothership's armor stat is sky-high, while the other side has four Gundams, two warships, and countless crack troops]
[High-level match, this one]
[So here's the question: Kira's side is running a garbage OS, and the Earth Alliance's "intern" pilots can't even walk straight—but Athrun and company say this OS is so perfect there's nothing left to change. So what's the deal with that?]
[Damn!]
[Damn! Damn!]
[Don't scare me!]
[The implications are terrifying! Seriously, the implications are terrifying!]
[I've got the JP-region comments open at the same time, and nobody over there's noticed—I'm gonna repost the earlier comments over there]
[Platform pausing has limits, take it easy]
[Let's see if they explain the situation later]
"As expected of a world overrun by Gunpla nerds—Gundam may be past its prime, but they still break it down with impeccable logic…"
This kind of plot point was too obvious—practically not a hint but a flat-out statement. Yet the statement itself, if you weren't paying attention, really was hard to catch—and once you caught it, that was when everything clicked into place. Analog Hack could guide not only the characters within the story, but the audience as well. Quite a success.
"Hm? The Popularity Points Shop refreshed." While watching the comments, Inori noticed the Popularity Points Shop had refreshed—no telling when it had happened.
"Let me see." This refresh had put three pieces of equipment in the shop.
A Camera Card Pack? Bought. You could never have too many Camera Cards—an everyday consumable like this was of course the more the better.
"A blue procurement card?"
[Stage Prop Procurement Card (Blue)]
Rarity: 3-Star
Can procure local items as performance props. Depending on the item's quality, a different procurement fee is required. Cannot procure 5-star gold-quality props or 4-star purple-quality props. Procured props are usable only by the current performing character.
Price: 5,000 Popularity Points
Purchases available: 5
Inori had earlier felt it a shame that the equipment on Kira couldn't count as a "performance costume" and so couldn't provide a bonus—she hadn't expected the shop to deliver exactly what she needed right here in the Popularity Points Shop. She did have a purple-quality procurement card, but using it here would be overkill, so she'd never used it before.
[Post-Processing: Full HD Quality]
Rarity: 4-Star
Once applied, the image quality whenever you appear will be no lower than 1080P Full HD.
Price: 50,000 Popularity Points
Buy, buy, buy! Must buy! A true idol has to appear in the highest-definition quality! If it could throw in HiFi-grade audio, that'd be even more perfect. A measly fifty thousand Popularity Points!
"Next, 'procure' that outfit on Kira and turn it into a performance costume." The procurement price was 5,000 Popularity Points—the same as the procurement card itself.
After Inori bought the protective suit, the Stage delivered a new notification:
[Please name the performance costume.]
"Mm, let me think." Since it came from the world of MUV, how about using those three letters?
"Modular_Unison_VitalSuit. MUV Protective Suit for short."
[Performance Costume—MUV Protective Suit (Modular Unison VitalSuit)]
Rarity: 3-Star
A two-piece spacesuit designed with special capabilities. Its creator can modify it to a limited extent. It has been specially tuned for Kira. While Kira is wearing it, Attention +10%.
(The original actually looks like this)
(This setting collection is pretty extensive)
(The one underneath isn't bad either…)
This outfit had been made by Inori specifically for Kira, so only Kira wearing it could boost Attention. It was basically a little piece of "signature gear." The effect was pretty decent.
With Inori's shopping done, the Stage's view finally stirred again—during the earlier lull, the Stage's picture had been in black and white, but because time passed differently in the audience's world, the audience themselves had no sense of the shift. On the bridge, Mu and the others were now discussing what came next. Because these three had discovered, to their great dismay, that apart from Kira, there really was no one who could pilot the Strike…