Forewords
New update Ver 1.34 arrived for Metal Slug Defense on October 6th, and you know what my opinion on it was?
CAAAAAATTTTSSS!
Honestly though, what the heck was SNK Playmore smoking when they decided to do a crossover with Battle Cats?! The Cats are so horrible that absolutely nobody would consider using them, not even in Single-player Mode! The absolute worst was the basic Cat! Although it has a super fast movement speed and production, it dies in one hit from anything! You're better off with the basic Rebel Infantry! Not to mention that the Battle Cats Event Stages were so easy even the "HELL!" difficulty level can be beaten by a noob and his crap deck!
But then SNK has had enough of the fandom's whining on how incredibly ball-sucking Ver 1.34 was. So they put up a Ver 1.35 two weeks later, and BOY! Was the fandom finally satisfied with it! The new stages were quite challenging, especially the one where the Cat Base spams an endless amount of Black Wall Cats to the point that even the Slug Gigant is helpless against them, and that other one where the Cat Base spawn a Bun Bun Black right at the beginning! Oh, and did I mention that the Iron Nokameow (yes, Iron Nokameow, not Iron Nokana) has a Special Attack that not only hits the entire field but does a ton of damage too? Only downside to the Iron Nokameow is that its Special Attack takes forever to charge, and the unit itself is also jet engine fuel for the Kessi II. If anything, I would say that Iron Nokameow is best reserved as a wall unit to temporarily halt enemy advancements.
Okay, that's it for my personal opinion on the Battle Cats Collaboration Event. Look forward to the Kraken (hopefully) on November 4th.
Chapter 9: Sinking Feeling part 2
Time: 0730 Hour, 31st of December, 2040.
Location: Cargo Holds, KMI cargo ship "Orochi"; somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
The relative silence of the most overlooked corner of the Orochi's cargo holds was slightly disturbed when the Red Eagles and Marines came down there in a hurry via a conveniently placed ventilation shaft. The Mercenaries' arrival was followed by an explosion that travelled down the same ventilation shaft, which they evade by lying on the floor.
"Well, that was a close one." Jason commented on the fireball. "Can't believe that Future R-Shobu was crazy enough to airlift a Bull Chan and drop it right on top of us."
"Back in my old tours of duties, I've seen many examples of vehicles being dropped on people's heads by aircrafts." Flynn told everyone present. "But this is the first time someone did it in a sneaky way."
The Mercenaries looked back at the ventilation shaft they came through, and sees it charred and in shambles as a result of the fireball.
"Now let us hope that the RAP Joint Force weren't crazy enough to sink this whole ship just to make sure we won't win." Jenny remarked.
...
Mission briefing
Never expected General Morden to have the Kessi III demolish the bridge of the Orochi in response to your arrival there. But nevertheless, you Mercenaries did a good job thinning out the RAP Joint Force troops on board.
However, it is not the time to relax just yet. For all Regular Command remembers, the last cargo ship that was hijacked by the Amadeus Syndicate was sunk slowly after they've lost hold of it. So there is no questioning that they intend to do the same to this one.
Find your way to the stern deck ASAP, where you will be airlifted and taken to your next objectives, which I cannot tell you right now due to suspected eavesdropping by the RAPs. Use whatever forces necessary to fend off the RAP Joint Force troops on your way, and try to keep the Orochi in one piece and floating if possible, as the KMI have much irreplaceable valuable cargo on board including the latest models of Slug vehicle prototypes.
Do it quick, as the SPARROWS have detected two large submarines headed toward your current location, and we can all guest the purpose of those two subs.
That is all. Godspeed...
...
MISSION EIGHT START!
"Now I don't plan on sleeping with the fishes anytime soon, so let's get the hell outta this place." Ash voices his thoughts on the transmission from the Regular Army's AI CO.
"Unfortunately, we have to go all the way back to where we started." Leon pointed out to everyone. "But at least we don't have to walk the same path. I saw an elevator close to where we landed earlier."
...
Not too long after the Mercenaries begin their trek through the cargo holds, they came across a Rebel Soldier and Ptolemaic Guerilla chatting with each other about something, while a Ptolemaic Special Force Trooper stood behind them is laughing at whatever they may be talking about.
Before the Mercenaries can do anything, the Guerilla and Special Force Trooper instantly noticed them, whipped out their guns and started shooting. It took the Rebel Soldier a second to notice the Red Eagles and Marines, and he just bailed after having a moment of freak-out.
Funnily enough, the Guerilla and Special Force Trooper's shots missed the Mercenaries entirely, even though they were supposed to be better at everything than the Rebel Army.
"I don't even need to lampshade this trope..." Ash deadpanned about it before he gunned down both enemies with his handgun.
...
The Red Eagles and Marines soon came across a group of RAP troops consisting of a Melty Honey, Ptolemaic Motorcycle and a Future Girida-O that had somehow found its way on top of a pile of shipping containers.
"Another day, another bunch of morons to tear apart..." Flynn said as he fires his handgun at the drivers of the Melty Honey and Ptolemaic Motorcycle, killing both of them via headshot before they can do anything.
The Future Girida-O responds by firing five plasma shells at the Mercenaries.
This time, the shots came very close to actually hitting the Mercenaries, as they ducked behind the shipping containers at the last minute to avoid being hit.
"Close call!" Jason shouted out.
Flynn holstered his handgun, "Not on my watch, time travelers!" before jumping out of cover and making a mad dash toward the Future Girida-O.
The AI-controlled mini-tank only managed one more shot - which Flynn dodges by sliding under it - before the Marine punched it with such a powerful force that, although the hull is hardly dented, the kinetic energy transferred caused the Future Girida-O to flip over. Unable to right itself back up, the AI-controlled mini-tank soon shuts itself down, as though giving up.
"Universal weakness of tanks..." Flynn quipped while cracking his fists. "They become sitting ducks if you flip them upside down."
The Future Girida-O suddenly explodes without warning, laving behind a Laser Gun. Flynn was hardly fazed by the explosion, but he did jump in surprise afterwards.
"Okay, boys, don't be surprised..." Jenny said to the men, as she emerged from cover...and then turns around to shove her Taser right into the face of a Future Rebel Soldier that came out of nowhere, stunning him instantly. "...Just remember to keep an eye out for anyone who attempts to jump on us."
...
Two Rebel Soldiers stood on top of a shipping container, having a conversation with each other as opposed to patrolling this part of the cargo holds.
"And so that guy proclaimed 'I'll take this potato chip... AND EAT IT!' before he simply bites down on that piece. Waste of effort, I know, but it looked cool to him." One Rebel Soldier said.
"Oh, wait, I got one! How about... 'EPIC LIGHT BULB CHANGING!' Also a waste of effort, but also looked cool." The other Rebel Soldier replied and mimicked a pose that was best described as changing light bulbs while dodging machine gun fires simultaneously.
The two Rebel Soldiers then laughed out loud, with their laugh echoing all over the cargo holds.
"Then what about something much simpler, like running away?" A third voice chimed in.
"Running away? Well..." The Rebel Soldiers responded, before realizing something crucial. "Wait, who said that?!"
The Rebel Soldiers turned toward an Ammo Box, which Ash is stepping on with one feet and the other feet on the floor, while holding his Chainsaw in one hand and figuratively chewing the scenery. The Chainsaw is also revving loudly.
The two Rebel Soldiers dropped their jaws and just stood there for a few seconds before they both freaked out and ran away without a fight.
Mina lightly slapped Ash on the back of his head in response. "Ash-kun, there is no way you can ham it up as much as Light Yagami..."
The Chainsaw-totting mercenary put his foot down from the Ammo Box. "Aw, man. And I thought I was channeling Keith David, or Norio Wakamoto..." He then brings his Chainsaw down on the Ammo Box, splitting it in half.
The Ammo Box contained a Shotgun, which Leon snatched up before anyone else could. "This is my kind of weapon, so I should be the one having it." The Chinese-American Marine said.
One of the nearby shipping containers suddenly falls apart to reveal an Armored Unit (which is technically just a Gunner Unit reinforced with a spiky titanium facemask) that then fires a single missile from its hands at the Mercenaries.
Leon simply shoots down that missile with a well-timed Shotgun blast. Flynn then fires his Laser Gun at the Armored Unit until its spiky facemask and eventually its real face was melted all the way through by the beam.
"So, what's next?" Flynn said as he rests the Laser Gun over his shoulder.
A Claw Unit suddenly appears from behind the Marine and slams right through him, knocking him several feet away.
"Ouch..." Jason, Ash and Jenny commented in unison upon seeing the ambush attack.
Flynn got up without much of a scratch, and he seems very angry about being ambushed. "You want this? You'll get it!" The Marine dares the Claw Unit to launch another attack on him.
The Claw Unit (sort of) respond by lunging at Flynn with its clawed arms raised above it.
Flynn then lands a Berserker Punch on the Claw Unit before it can bring down its clawed arms, which pretty much shattered it into several pieces of scrap metals and broken circuit boards. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"
Jason jumped in without giving any advanced warnings, and Vulcan Chopped a MG Unit that jumped out from behind another shipping container. "You missed one." The red-clad Red Eagle mercenary said to the Marine.
...
Location: Submarine Deployment Pen, KMI cargo ship "Orochi".
"You don't see this kind of setup very often, but I do know that this is where undersea vehicles like the Slug Mariners can be deployed in the middle of the ocean."
Jenny pointed out as the Red Eagles and the Marines approached the exact center of the Orochi's cargo holds, where several Slug Mariners were hung by mini-cranes above an opening on the bottom of the ship that led to the surface of the Indian Ocean itself. As the opening was as wide as the cargo ship, a metal walkway with guardrails is held in between the un-deployed Slug Mariners, with metal struts extending from the port and starboard side hulls holding it in place, so that people can cross the gap without having to jump very high or swim in ocean water.
"Let's hope we won't be needing the Slug Mariners when either of those two big subs shows up." Ash shrugged while looking at the opening on the floor.
The walkway was connected to the floors on either side by extendable stairs that were extended at the moment, which the Mercenaries climbs up.
The walkway creaked slightly as the Mercenaries trotted over it, as would any metallic walkways.
Mina peered over the guardrails down at the opening on the bottom of the ship. The contained surface of the Indian Ocean, despite being calm, still gave the Japanese mercenary girl the creeps.
"Do you think there are any Great White Sharks down there?" Mina asked the others.
"I don't think they have any Great Whites in the Indian Oceans, girl." Ash was the one replying without turning around.
Mina kept her sights focused on the contained ocean surface below the walkway for a short while longer.
But then, something in the opening caught her eyes.
"There's something down there." Mina told the others as she pointed a finger at the contained ocean surface.
The other Mercenaries, having noticed something is amiss about their current location, stopped in their tracks and peered over the guardrails.
"Could be just a whale..." Jason reassured, having seen nothing noteworthy down there.
And then that reassuring became moot, as something emerged from the opening with a huge splash.
"Oh, come on... Battle stations!" Flynn cursed and called out as he gets prepared for the ensuing battle.
Boss Battle: Hozmi.
The Hozmi, with its signature dome on its back came out of the opening, and there's no doubt its crew plans to take out the Mercenaries if not the Orochi itself. The first attack of the submarine was to reveal the Plasma Cannon under that dome and fire a plasma ball at the opposite end of the walkway, denying the Mercenaries an escape route.
"Okay, guess there's no avoiding this son of a bitch now." Jason said as he throws a Grenade at the Hozmi.
The Hozmi took that Grenade straight to its Plasma Cannon, but all it did was chipping the paint off. The submarine then returns fire with a volley of plasma ball.
The original Hozmi which was fought by the Peregrine Falcons and SPARROWS in the sewers of New Godokin City procrastinated occasionally, which gave the Regular Commandos ample time to recover and shoot it up. Not only does the one fought by the Mercenaries not procrastinate for even a second, it is also a lot more aggressive with its attacks, firing aimed plasma balls and un-aimed spread of plasma balls at the same time at a very fast rate.
The Red Eagles and Marines had to throw all of their Grenades at the Hozmi while jumping around like mad to dodge the volley of plasma balls. Because there were so much shots, the Mercenaries were grazed by them here and there. Not only that, the best their Grenade spam did against the submarine was deforming its hull without affecting its performance.
"Oh, come on! Even the strongest things I've fought in my past tours of duties weren't this tough!" Flynn complained about the resilience of the Hozmi.
The Hozmi then stops firing plasma balls as it closes the dome, from which a pair of gun barrels somehow extended from it. The gun barrels began making an ominous sound as they charged a powerful shot.
"I'm definitely not going to touch that!" Ash called out.
"Me neither!" Jenny agrees.
The Red Eagles and Mercenaries jumped out of the way as the Hozmi fired its double-barreled beam cannon, which quite literally sublimated an entire Slug Mariner (giving it no chance to self-destruct), part of the guardrails of the walkway, and the ceiling of the cargo hold. The beam had burned all the way through the ship's deck into the skies.
"That thing had made Tani-Oh and Kaladgolg look like weaklings in comparison..." Jenny paled at seeing what the Hozmi can do.
"There must be something we can do..." Leon said. He had emptied every single shell of his Shotgun into the Hozmi but so far did no significant damage. The Chinese-American Marine looked at one of the remaining Slug Mariners, and an idea bulb immediately flashed in his mind.
Flynn notices what his colleague is thinking about. "Better make this quick, brother, because the RAPs inside this thing ain't gonna wait for you." The Marine said as he narrowly avoids a plasma ball that was aimed straight at him.
Leon said nothing as he hopped onto one of the un-deployed Slug Mariners. He then leans down and extended his hands toward the cockpit of the Slug Mariner...
...And pulls the handle that activates its Slug Charge sequence.
"Ash, I need your Chainsaw here!" Leon called out.
Ash knew what Leon planned in his mind, and complies. "You just need to get out of the way first, buddy!" The grey-clad Red Eagle then lunges toward the self-destructing Slug Mariner as Leon quickly evacuated from it, and slices off the chains that hung it above the contained ocean surface.
The self-destructing Slug Mariner plunged toward the Hozmi. As the small sub made contact with the large submarine, the former went off in a deafening bang, which was powerful enough to dislodge an entire section of the Hozmi's upper hull.
The Red Eagles took note of the effectiveness of Leon's idea. After dodging another volley of plasma balls, Jason, Jenny, Ash and Mina nodded to each other, thinking of exactly one thing.
"Well, never thought we'll have to Slug Charge so many Slug vehicles at the same time." Jason took one short moment to point out the fact, and hangs a lamp on it.
The Mercenaries then went to all use the same attack against the Hozmi: purposefully activating the Slug Charge sequence of the un-deployed Slug Mariners and then releasing them onto the large submarine by cutting or shooting off the chains hanging the small subs.
Each of the self-destructing Slug Mariners, upon making contact with the Hozmi, went off in large explosions that tore off entire sections of the latter's hulls.
The Hozmi, in critical condition, attempted a last hurrah by deploying its double-barreled beam cannon and aimed it at the last un-deployed Slug Mariner.
"Don't even think about it!" Jason shouted as he jumped onto that Slug Mariner, activated its Slug Charge sequence, sliced the chains off with his Machete, and then jumping back onto the walkway just in time to avoid the metal-sublimating beam.
The last Slug Mariner crashed into the Hozmi with a deafening explosion. This was the last straw for the large submarine, as another explosion simultaneously occurred inside it that popped the Plasma Cannon right off its socket. Jets of water on its side indicates that the Hozmi had sustained enough damage to start taking in water inside, which forced the Rebel Soldiers, Amadeus Syndicalist and Ptolemaic Guerillas crewing it to commence an emergency evacuation, as they all jumped into the contained ocean surface, and tried their best to swim away as the Hozmi started sinking.
Hozmi defeated.
Having enough of what they've just went through, the crews of the Hozmi ran away from the scene as soon as they got themselves out of the water. One of the Rebel Soldiers didn't make it as he gets chewed up by a shark that came out of nowhere. Said shark proceeds to spit out his bones afterwards.
The Mercenaries shrugged at the fate of that unfortunate Rebel Soldier. "Ouch... Just like Allen when he got swallowed by that killer whale, and somehow came back alive..."
...
Location: Cargo Holds, KMI cargo ship "Orochi".
After the ordeal with the Hozmi, the Mercenaries left the Submarine Deployment Pen as quickly as they can run.
The first thing they run into is a bunch of Pirates whom takes potshots at the Mercenaries with their flintlock pistols. As usual, they missed by a large margin.
Flynn retaliates in behalf of his colleagues by sweeping over the Pirates with his Laser Gun.
As soon as the Pirates went down, more arrived at the scene to mob the Mercenaries.
"Good thing Pirates are usually stupid." Ash throws in a comment as he beheads a Pirate Fighter with his Chainsaw.
Leon took out a Pirate Fighter with a move that was quite similar to Clark Still's Super Argentine Backbreaker. The Pirate Fighter that was thrown several feet into the air landed back on the floor with a sickening crunch signifying the breaking of bones. The Chinese-American Marine proceeds to toss around every other Pirates that dare approaches him.
A Pirate got the jump on Leon, and was about to stab him when a laser beam tore through that Pirate's head, killing him on the spot.
"Watch your back, buddy." Flynn told Leon, pointing his Laser Gun at where the Pirate was a second ago.
The Mercenaries made short work of the Pirates with their combined firepower.
"Well, that wasn't too hard..." Flynn commented. "But if there's anything we've learned from our past missions, its that things never stay easy."
The Mercenaries continued trekking through the cargo holds. Sure enough, they soon came before a group of enemies. Said group consists of a Ptolemaic Commander standing on top of a Ptolemaic Sarubia. The Commander called forth a squadron of Hover Units (manned by Special Force Troopers rather than Guerillas) that were easily shot down by the Mercenaries (though a few did manage to release their missiles before being shot down, which were also shot out of the air). The Special Force Troopers that bailed out of destroyed Hover Units lunged at the Mercenaries, only to find themselves landing face-first into the business end of Jason's Vulcan Chop.
This Commander, rather than freaking out and escaping, had chose to jump down from the Ptolemaic Sarubia and fights the Mercenaries directly.
Hitting the Commando was quite difficult due to his agile movement and the occasional potshots he takes with his pistol, plus the Ptolemaic Sarubia launching rolling mines that forced the Mercenaries to jump in order to avoid. It took a while, but they managed to take out that Commander, and proceed to make short work of the Ptolemaic Sarubia which was more fragile than a Rebel Sarubia.
"Trading one strength for another. I guess it wasn't so practical when the strength traded is toughness." Mina throws in an offhand comment.
Another Ptolemaic Sarubia/ Commander combo appeared from behind the Mercenaries. This one summoned a swarm of Special Force Bikers that rode their bomb-laden bikes on wheelies before jumping off and sending the bikes somersaulting into the air.
The Red Eagles chose to play it safe by standing back and letting the bomb-laden bikes miss them. The Mercenaries chose to actively shoot the bikes out of the air, with Flynn using up the ammo of his Laser Gun to blow up the Special Force Bikers that haven't launched their bikes.
Sitting on a bike as it was blown up proved to be fatal, as demonstrated by the Special Force Bikers being lit aflame when their bomb-laden bikes blew up while still riding them.
The Commander was shot dead by the Mercenaries before he could start attacking them directly. They made short work of the Ptolemaic Sarubia afterwards.
...
As the Mercenaries continued, they ran into an unoccupied Forklift parked right there.
"Maybe we could use that." Ash pointed out.
That said, a Ptolemaic Bradley and Ptolemaic Girida-O appeared slightly further down the cargo holds, and started firing on the Mercenaries.
The Mercenaries simply hides behind the shipping containers since those were apparently strong enough to resist artillery strikes. They then return fire and blows up the Ptolemaic Bradley first.
Flynn charged toward the Ptolemaic Girida-O and landed a Berserk Punch on it. The turret was knocked loose from the chassis before both halves of the mini-tank exploded. "I love my own fists." The Marine said.
An MG Unit that came from behind got the jump on the Mercenaries, as it fired its Gatling Guns at them without warning.
Luckily, the Mercenaries noticed it in time, and jumped out of the trajectory of the bullets.
Ash had the idea to jump onto the Forklift, start up its engines, and then backing the industrial vehicle all the way back, hitting the MG Unit hard enough to have dislodged major internal circuitry as it became inactive afterwards.
"Road kill! Okay, not exactly ran over, but you don't usually get to knock robots out by driving a vehicle into them." The grey-clad Red Eagle joked. He then notices that he was holding onto a lever that would've activated something he doesn't plan to activate at the moment, so he quickly let go of it. "Now which KMI employee has the idea of putting a Slug Charge function on a Forklift?"
"I think only KMI has the answer to that." Mina added.
...
After that section with the MG Unit ambushing them, the Red Eagles and Marines' trek through the cargo holds can be best summarized as piles upon piles of dead Rebel Soldiers, Amadeus Syndicalist, Ptolemaic infantries and Future Rebel Soldiers, with the occasional wrecked LV Armor, Patrol Robots, Supervisory Cameras, Ptolemaic Slugs, Rebel Walkers and anything else that isn't a human.
As the Mercenaries reached the elevator mention earlier, it was guarded by a Metal Claw (the Regular Army's Melty Honey variant) that was hijacked by an Amadeus Syndicalist. As the driver of the Metal Claw was concealed under the hull - unlike a standard Melty Honey - the Red Eagles and Marines' only way of stopping it was to destroy it, which Ash does by spearing the Metal Claw with the fork of the Forklift.
With that done, the Mercenaries made their way into the elevator, having enough of getting mobbed by RAP troops every few seconds.
...
Location: Stern Deck, KMI cargo ship "Orochi"
The Red Eagles stepped out of the elevator, and breathed a sigh of relief after everything they've went through in the cargo holds.
"Let's not talk about the Hozmi, okay?" Jason said as he lied down on the deck floor.
The Marines doesn't seem fatigued one bit. Then again, every other US Marines operating in the other parts of the world faced something just as bad every day.
"Good thing our transport arrived just in time." Leon pointed at the familiar shape and hue of the Regular Hi-Do descending upon the stern deck.
As the Red Eagles were much too fatigued by the earlier ordeals, it was Flynn who waved at the Regular Hi-Do to tell the pilot that the Mercenaries are ready to leave.
"Wait..." Jenny realized something. "Regular Command mentioned two big submarines, right?" The blue-haired Red Eagle got up immediately. "The Hozmi makes one, so where's the other one?"
As soon as Jenny finishes her statement, a huge explosion erupted from the starboard side that rocked the entire cargo ship.
The sound of the huge explosion made the pilot of the Regular Hi-Do exclaim "Holy shit!" as he maneuvered the transport helicopter away from the deck by accident. The explosions also jolted the other Red Eagles awake.
"Damn... Can't believe we overlooked the other bastard..."
...
A second explosion erupted that pretty much broke the Orochi into several pieces, which then sinks toward the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The only part of the cargo ship that is still floating above water is the stern, which the Mercenaries had managed to hang on to.
A large jet black submarine then emerges next to the broken off stern. What looked like the emblem of the Amadeus Syndicate can be seen on one small section of the black sub's hull, half submerged.
Boss Battle: Sea Satan.
"We won't be able to get back to dry land unless we sink this thing!" Ash shouted to the others.
All the Mercenaries nodded to each other before they start shooting at the Sea Satan.
Like the original Sea Satan, this version has only two sets of weapons: a manned turret equipped with a Gatling gun and twin missile launchers, and four ICBM launch tubes. Unlike the original one, the Gatling gun fired anti-tank rounds that pierced through the broken off stern (just like the ones from the upgraded versions of Tani-Oh and Kaladgolg), the twin missiles have much more unpredictable flight patterns, the former two being used at the same time, and the ICBMs having been shrunken down to anti-personnel missile size. The lack of a Bura Gariae airship providing support fire also meant that this version of Sea Satan is much more aggressive with its attacks.
"You might need this!" The Regular Hi-Do pilot told the Mercenaries through the on-board intercoms before airdropping a Slug Vehicle Crate onto the broken off stern, which opened itself up to reveal a Slugnoid.
"Thanks!" Jason said to the pilot as he goes to man the Slugnoid and fires its twin Vulcans at the Sea Satan, at the same time shooting down any missiles that are fired at him and his colleagues.
The hatch of the submarine unlocked from the inside, and one Ptolemaic Special Force Trooper after another came out of it to attack the Mercenaries.
"Get off this ship! There isn't enough room for all of us!" Ash shouted at the Special Force Troopers as he shot and slashed at each and every one that attempts to board the broken off stern.
One of the Special Force Troopers had managed to climb up the stern from the opposite end. He was about to stab Leon in the back when the Chinese-American Marine suddenly turns around, and tossed him straight into the ocean via his version of Super Argentine Backbreaker.
Moments later, the Special Force Troopers stopped coming, and the hatch somehow closes on its own. The manned turret also retracts at the same time, indicating that the Sea Satan is about to dive.
"I just noticed... That guy manning the turret was somehow immune to everything we threw at him." Jason took the opportunity to point out.
"Must be some kind of phase shield... whatever its called that also made Morden immune to everything the Regular Commandos threw at him at the Time Portal Control Room in Garbage Island." Jenny tries to explain.
As the Sea Satan dived slightly deeper, it started launching anti-personnel missiles from its ICBM tubes in large numbers. There were so many missiles that even the Slugnoid's twin Vulcans were having trouble getting to all of them.
One of those missiles eventually went through, and hit the Slugnoid directly, dislodging one of its Vulcans in the process. Jason was unhurt, merely frowning at the thought that the Slugnoid is so fragile.
"Someone should make this thing more resistant to damage..." Flynn comments on the fragility of the Slugnoid.
Very soon, the Sea Satan runs out of anti-personnel missiles to fire at the Mercenaries. As the crews begin reloading the ICBM tubes, the submarine surfaces again, and redeploys the manned turret to take potshots at the Mercenaries. The hatch also popped open to deploy more Special Force Troopers.
Jason took the chance to maneuver the Slugnoid so that it is directly above the hatch. "Eat this, you son of a bitch!" The red-clad Red Eagle taunted loudly as he fires a single cannon shell down the hatch.
That cannon shell ripped through the Special Force Troopers that were attempting to climb up the hatch, and then exploded as it reached the bottom of the hatch.
The shell must've hit something major to cause many parts of the Sea Satan's outer hull to blast out tiny jets of flames which indicates an explosion being contained, with most of the flames coming out of the manned turret, incinerating the Rebel Soldier manning it.
Sea Satan defeated.
"That's it?" Flynn asked the others. "This is the most fragile attack submarine I've ever seen..."
Jason fired a few more Vulcan rounds from the Slugnoid at the Sea Satan to make sure it was really defeated. The jet black submarine's ballast systems not failing the slightest bit made everyone wonder why it hasn't started to sink despite the damage it took.
"Finally, all clear..."
MISSION COMPLETE!
...
Time: 0845 Hour.
Location: On board the Regular Hi-Do, somewhere over the Indian Ocean.
After having spent the last three hours or so on board the Orochi, the Red Eagles and Marines were glad to be sitting inside an aircraft.
"Boy, was the KMI going to be pissed about this..." Ash pointed out to the others. "Let's hope the company doesn't demand us to pay for the damage..."
"So, where are we heading for now?" Jason asked.
Jenny checked the current heading of the Regular Hi-Do with a handheld GPS system. "Looks like somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula. I hope the reason for us being sent there has nothing to do with ISIS..."
Mina, who was taking the free time to wipe the blood of RAP Joint Force troops from her katana with a piece of cloth, said, "I don't think ISIS have reached the Arabian Peninsula yet..."
Leon showed the Red Eagles a photo. Said photo was taken in a desert at midnight, so everything in it are concealed by the shadows and only slightly lit by the moonlight of that time, but there's no mistaking that the sole person in the photo is another person that has already been encountered by the Regular Commandos. "Apparently, one of Morden's old friends, Abbul Abbas was back in action, and he's leading another revolution against the Saudi government, this time with help from all of the RAP Joint Force, not just the present-day Rebel Army."
"And as you can see in this photo..." Flynn pointed his finger at the two colossal constructs behind Abbul Abbas in the photo. "They gave him some new toys to blow shits up with. The Regular Commandos have already fought the original version of that small one, but its the really big one that even I am worried about..."
The smallest of the colossal constructs has the shape of a submarine, which gave away the fact that it was the Ptolemaic Army's Sandmarine. However, the huge one, which seemed to dwarf even Big Shiee in comparison is not identifiable.
"Even I think that beating the huge one will rely on a truckload of luck and heavy artillery..." Flynn told everyone present.
Hearing the unstoppable Marine saying that something has the potential to stop him made the Red Eagles swallow hard and sweat-dropped.
Afterwords
Okay, that wraps up the shenanigans on board the Orochi. Next time on Metal Slug: Mercenaries, we'll be seeing Abbul Abbas taking on the Mercenaries with the infamous Sandmarine, and something that doesn't seem to be in any official Metal Slug games.
To Soldier Of The Future: don't be surprised that I gave Leon Chan the ability to perform a faux Super Argentine Backbreaker. I looked at his profile in Metal Slugopedia and thought that his skillset wouldn't do him any justice if Metal Slug: Mercenaries was an actual video game, and since I wrote MSM while treating it like actual gameplay...
Upgrades given to the bosses:
Hozmi: shoots faster, shoots more plasma balls at the same time, and much more aggressive with its attack, unlike the original one which occasionally procrastinated.
Sea Satan: again, much more aggressive with its attacks, with the ICBMs having been replaced with homing anti-personnel missiles. The manned turret also fires both of its weapons at the same time, rather than just one at a time. Interesting enough, there's also a pseudo-downgrade in that this version isn't supported by a Bura Gariae airship (first boss of Metal Slug 4).
Also, Ver 1.36 for Metal Slug Defense came out just as I was finishing this chapter. I'll be summarizing the update's highlights.
Red Tarman and Zombies Eri, Tarma and Fio: Those guys are back. Last time we saw them was during the Summer Night Horror Event, which was around the time I lost one year worth of progress on the game. Looks like they're not free anymore. *Sigh*
Halloween Soldier: This guy? Since he showed up at the shop, I thought he was going to be a very powerful unit that costs a lot of Medals. Turns out: he cost zero Medals, so he's essentially a free unit. He's also a kamikaze unit, not a continuously attacking one, and to be honest, seems like just a palate swap of the Rebel Zombie. He's also aligned with the Rebel Army instead of the Aliens (which the other zombies were).
Sandmarine: Few people noticed this, but looks like this bastard has been nerfed a little bit. Before Ver 1.36, its homing electric balls can travel much farther than the Sandmarine can see, even able to home in on your base all the way from the opposite end of the map. Now, the electric balls seems to sink closer to the ground as they homed in on to their target and eventually impacting the ground, which means the Sandmarine can no longer shoot your base until to gets close enough. Also, SNK has apparently adopted the name "Sandmarine" which was originally just a fan nickname (the description of Mission 155 was in their own words "Destroy! 'SANDMARINE'")
Big Shiee: Yes, you read that right, freaking BIG SHIEE is now playable! Expect to see it a lot in WiFi Versus from this point on! If you haven't gotten the Kessi II yet, I suggest that you get it ASAP!
Hozmi: I found this quite amusing. Here I was writing about Hozmi, and then BANG! Hozmi is in MSD! This thing is quite similar to Tani-Oh in that none of your units will attack it directly and just walks over it. Unlike Tani-Oh, Hozmi can be hit by any attacks that are executed above it (even the Metal Slug Attack), as its hitbox extends slightly above ground. Big problem: Hozmi can actually attack your base, unlike Tani-Oh which just sits in the middle of the map. Hozmi's Special Attack is also insanely powerful, so much that even units with 25K HP like the Slug Gigant is guaranteed to get killed if it comes in contact with that beam.
Dangling Mutated Soldier: I know they only appear in that limited time new stage, but FUCK THESE BASTARDS! Why? Because of their attacks! Whose idea is it to make the animation of them dropping down from the ceiling also deal damage?! Also, if the Metal Slug Attack collides with one as it drops down, the MSA is stopped by it! What the hell, SNK?!
That concludes the Ver 1.36 summary.
Shout-out index:
"...'I'll take this potato chip... AND EAT IT!'..." - Death Note proves that you can make something as simple as eating potato chips look awesome.
"...'EPIC LIGHT BULB CHANGING!'..." - from an Anime called Muteki Kanban Musume... Not really, its the page image for the Anime section of the Mundane Made Awesome trope page on TVTropes.
"...there's no way you can ham it up as much as Light Yagami..." - Yes, Ash. Like your girlfriend Mina said, you're better off channeling an American. Leave large ham Japanese for someone else...
That is all. "Dismissed!"