<< Previous Chapter
>> Next Chapter
^^ Index
Seconds later, when they actually walk through the door barely two steps away from them...
----
... holy shit, Yoneda is actually pissed.
[Maria]
Commander!
[Yoneda]
Out of my way! Those bastards went to all that trouble to give me a place to die!
[Ogami]
No, we won't get out of your way! There's no way we'll let you go by yourself, commander!
[Ogami]
The ones who shall go to Tenkai will be us... the Imperial Assault Force, Flower Division!
Furthermore, we most certainly aren't going to our graves.
In order to defeat Tenkai... in order to protect the Imperial Capital... the Flower Division will sortie!
----
[Yoneda]
... you're not plotting out some sort of elaborate plan to escape the doomed Imperial Capital, a plan that involves piloting the Koubu and legging it out of here as fast as humanly possible, right?
[Ogami]
...
[Ogami]
Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am!?
[Yoneda]
The type of person who stopped to give that possibility some serious thought?
[Ogami]
With all due respect, sir, please shut the frak up now.
----
----
[Ayame]
They should already be at their limits with the evacuation of the citizenry...
[Ogami]
When you say "too much"... about how large are the enemy's forces?
----
[Ogami]
Ten? Fifteen? Thirty?
----
[Kohran]
They'd poured out from 'bout seven locations in the Imperial Capital, all at once. Th' numbers are exceedin' one thousand at each of 'em.
Naturally, the one time the enemy actually BOTHERS to field his full forces, it's to use them as a plot device that we most certainly won't be facing down in the actual game.
[Ogami]
So at the very least, we're looking at over seven thousand units...
----
[Ogami]
...
[Maria]
Captain...
[Ogami]
I know, I know. A man can dream, can't he?
[Yoneda]
See, Ayame-kun? Aren't ya glad that I convinced you to recruit a Russian commissar?
[Ayame]
I could have filled that position fairly easily, I think.
[Yoneda]
Well, you ain't Russian, and that's the sad truth of it.
[Ayame]
... I'm not even sure where to START.
----
----
[Ogami]
Not unless we had about seven Kannas.
[Ayame]
... what did I tell you about what would happen if we cloned Kanna?
[Ogami]
But it doesn't MATTER how much collateral damage is done if there ISN'T any Imperial Capital left! Especially not with the way you fire the Shogeimaru's onboard cannon, Ayame-san.
[Ayame]
... you've got a point there.
[Maria]
Please don't get yourself convinced by him, Ayame-san.
----
We're on the eve of the final battle with the odds horribly stacked against us. This is no time for level heads and rational thought! And-- you guessed it--
-- it's time for ridiculous amounts of HOT BLOOD!
[Ogami]
Everyone! Don't give up! Even now, there are people suffering while we're just talking!
It's true that we're in a difficult situation. This is definitely our worst crisis to date.
... and the hot-bloodedness appears to be gushing out of Ogami's ears from some previously untapped internal source.
[Ogami]
But... think back. To everything that we've gone through up to now.
----
----
----
[Sumire]
You are quite correct... if all we have done in the past is fail, then we have no hope of winning, do we.
[Iris]
W-We're all going to die!!
[Kanna]
Goddamn it, way to get everyone's spirits down and everyone depressed.
[Ogami]
L... let me finish? Please?
----
Gee, Ogami, that's... kinda circular. 
"We've never failed to win BEFORE! So if we work together NOW, we'll never fail to win!"
----
----
----
[Kanna]
Says YOU.
[Sumire]
... super-human powerhouses excluded, of course.
----
----
[Iris]
Hey, Oniichan! If it's you, Oniichan, then you'll definitely be able to think of something! Right!?
[Ogami]
(Iris...)
(... Tenkai announced that the moment of the Imperial Capital's destruction will be at four in the morning. That means... there's about an hour remaining.)
(... think, Ogami. What should... what should we do!?)
Sometimes...
... it really DOES take an idiot to find a plan so ridiculously risky that it might actually work. 
Granted, they don't have anything to lose.
[Ogami]
That's right, we'll strike at the enemy's base! We can ignore the cannon fodder and take down Tenkai in one fell swoop!
The sorcerous incantation surrounding the Imperial Capital is most likely Tenkai's doing. Thus, if we defeat Tenkai...
----
[Kanna]
... come to think of it, did anyone ever say WHAT that sorcerous thingamajig is supposed to do?
[Ogami]
I'm assuming that it's the trigger for some gigantic bomb or something?
[Kanna]
Really? It's just that there's been a lot of demonic energy been hanging over the Imperial Capital for the better part of half an hour, and it hasn't actually been HURTING anyone, so--
[Kohran]
Remember th' purple mist that Miroku created t' unleash on us? Th' one that Miroku claimed was poisonous, but wasn't?
[Kanna]
Yeah, that was pretty retarde--
[Kanna]
... no way.
[Kohran]
Yeah, I'm guessin' that no one bothered t' tell Tenkai 'bout that.
[Ogami]
At this point, I'm not even sure that I can muster up the will to even ACT surprised by Tenkai's senility.
----
It must be refreshing to have such a simple-minded outlook on life.
----
[Ogami]
But... it's too early to feel relieved. There remains the challenge of actually locating the enemy's stronghold...
[Kohran]
It won't be able t' determine Tenkai's exact location, but it can sense accumulations o' demonic energy in th' Imperial Capital an' project it on a map!
... assuming that it doesn't get overloaded from the sheer amount of demonic energy sitting on top of the Imperial Capital right now, of course.
[Ogami]
Right, we'll give it a try! Let's go!
[Maria]
Alright, everyone! We're going to the steam-powered computer's room and prepping it for analysis!!
Back in the 1920s, computers were so huge that one system would take up the better part of a room! The More You Know.
... ignore the people in the audience insisting that computers didn't actually EXIST back in the 1920s. 
----
----
----
----
[Ayame]
...
[Yoneda]
...
[Ayame]
Are we even talking about the same person anymore?
[Yoneda]
I dunno about you, but I was referrin' to Kanna.
[Ayame]
... she's a--
[Yoneda]
My comments still stand!
----
Footsteps!
[Yoneda]
Oh... it looks like they're finished preparing.
[Kohran]
Awright! Th' preparations are complete! All that's left is t' put on th' finishing touches!!
Large-scale monitor, switch on! Steam-powered computin' device, begin calculations!!
BOWEEP
[Kohran]
Th' thing is... th' steam-powered computer ain't capable of sensin' nothing but th' location and strength of th' "demonic energy."
[Maria]
In other words... this means that we can't specifically pinpoint which one of them is Tenkai.
[Ogami]
What's probably the most certain is that Tenkai will be the largest glowing dot...
[Kohran]
Hmhmhm...
----
Alright, there's one point...
And there's another one...
----
----
----
... one that's large enough to overflood the computer's sensors and short-circuit the entire damn thing.
This next boss battle's going to be a bitch. I can just sense it. 
----
[Ogami]
I... don't think that large glowing light was Tenkai.
[Maria]
... why?
[Ogami]
Among all the strictly-arranged points of the sorcerous incantation, only that light was being displayed outside of the symbol...
That just keeps bothering me, for some reason...
----
----
----
----
----
[Ogami]
But--
[Maria]
When have the enemy ever been at all cunning?
[Ogami]
Well, you never know, they might--
[Kanna]
More importantly, Captain, when have you ever been RIGHT?
[Ogami]
W-well... you never know...
----
[Maria]
In any case, we don't have time to hesitate. Let us sortie!
[Ogami]
... yeah, that's true. Okay, I got it. Let's just assume that that strong light is Tenkai.
----
[Ogami]
... but I swear, if it actually turns out that I'm right, I'm never going to let any of you live it down.
[Sumire]
Ahahahahahahaha--
[Ogami]
...
[Sumire]
I-I apologize, I thought you were making a joke. I--
[Ogami]
N-No worries, I--
[Sumire]
Come to think of it, why do I even bother apologizing? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--
[Ogami]
GodDAMN, I can't wait 'til we beat Tenkai.
----
[Ogami]
Imperial Assault Force, Flower Division, sortie! Our objective is Tenkai's stronghold!!
FUCK YES, TRAIN TIME!
While the entire Imperial Capital is collapsing above our heads, turning entire parts of the city into a giant fault line, we can always rest assured that the Rolling Thunder will never allow itself to be hampered by anything as trifling as "blocked tunnels," "collapsed ceilings," or "broken tracks."
Godspeed, train. 
{NEXT TIME: In Which Royal Fuckage Occurs.)
<< Previous Chapter
>> Next Chapter
^^ Index