RGR014 - No More Dragons

Stage four, the Fortress stage, is much more technologically advanced than the previous stages. Human and mutant enemies have been all but completely replaced with various attack robots, and the floor and walls have that fresh, clean, metallic look to them. The floor layout is also more confusing, requiring several trips between the two floors in different places in order to find all the necessary keys. At one point, I reached a locked door that looked like it was going to lead to a premature boss battle, but since I had no key, I had to explore the last few rooms I hadn't yet visited. Surprisingly, I wound up finding a boss anyway.

Oh, before I forget: I don't know if the bosses have names; the names I'm using for them are just names I'm making up as I go along. I do that sometimes, you know.

Can your missiles beat my flamethrower?

Number 5 is alive!

Yeah, I walk through walls.
Got a problem with that?

What a waste of barrels.

Final Sub-Boss: Heavy Walker

The first of two final bosses, the Heavy Walker is capable of vertical movement, like the tank from stage two. However, this thing is much faster on its feet. Luckily, it can be stopped in its tracks if the legs take enough damage. It has a front-mounted gun that is only a threat if you stand directly in front of it, so I concentrated on the legs and worried about the gun once the walker was grounded.

The real trouble with the Heavy Walker is its shoulder-mounted plasma gun-type things, which launch a volley of bullets into the air, only to have them all suddenly come hurtling right at you. They have a maximum range, though, and since my gun was powered up to its full range, I was able to stand all the way to one side of the room and pick off one gun from just outside the spot where the gun's shots dissipated. After doing the same on the other side with the other gun, an eye-like object on top of the walker began to flash. I was afraid it might be a self-destruct mechanism, so I rushed back to the walker's side and opened fire until the whole thing went up in flames.

I should maybe get out of the way.

That was disappointing.

Immediately after defeating the Heavy Walker, I found myself in a room with the final key that I needed to access the locked door I found earlier. After picking up a couple of medpacks on the other side, I proceeded into the final boss room.

Final Boss: Supercomputer

The heavily-armed Supercomputer was initially more bark than bite, with its giant movable heat-seeking missile launchers. Since only one missile can appear at a time, and missiles can be shot down easily, I made short work of both launchers. This exposed a central gun that I destroyed in no time. Next up were two small domes on the upper section of the Supercomputer that looked a bit like flood lights, or maybe the doors in Metroid. Each of these fired a couple of shots as I approached, but those were easily dodged.

Once I destroyed the domes, the Supercomputer entered an emergency defense mode, where a central "eye" activated, and lasers began spewing forth from the central core. The lasers were fired in a tight interval, leaving very little room to get between them, though the eye in the center was the weak point. So the only way to finish the Supercomputer off was to get between the lasers, fire a single shot up into the central core, and back out. I probably used up a few medpacks here, but after several shots, I managed to destroy the Supercomputer.

I wonder what the rest of it looks like.

They forgot to give it wheels.

But at least they gave it lasers...

Not that they helped much.

Couldn't you have parked the chopper closer?

Teeny-tiny staff roll!

With the mission successfully completed, Masato and Mizuki returned to their rendezvous point with the exploding ruins of the enemy fortress behind them. Thus, the world was most likely saved.

But you know what? I don't think the story is quite over for these two. Check back later for the further adventures of Masato and Mizuki!