MMX Command Mission Part 18- "A platypus?!"

BURY THE PLATYPUS?! Part 18's sequence of events are set in motion by one primary goal...getting the Melda Key from the deployment center. The Melda Key unlocks a door early in the area that has a hidden boss who blocks the way to Zero's version of X's Ultimate Armor. Unlike the Tianna Key however, we have the power to take down the boss now rather than needing to prep for it, so the waiting around for the key feels less productive this time. Still, we make the best use of our time here. In order to get the Melda Key, we need to do more than deployment as well since we have to get the Reverse Water force metal first. In order to pass time for it, I visit the shops at home and Lagrano to get/make some useful gear. The Gain WE +10 Force Metal is in the shop now which makes certain playstyles easier to pull off (like being able to spam Nova Strike as X more often) and is basically a must-have. Power and Speed +5 are in stock too now which I can make Power +10 with and I do so later. With Cinnamon being level 30+ now she can also make us some encounter rate Force Metals which will help with grinding and story progress both. After spending some cash, I visit the grave of Silver Horn to find a deployment unit that needed one of the Mini items and return to base hoping for my deployment team to be back. They aren't, so I revisit Melda Plant anyway. There's some good loot as well as a grinding spot that I show off here involving Meltdown which helps with EXP and FME grinding. I grab the Gatling Buster 2 for X and Generator sub-weapon from where Botos died, then leave to see if the deployment's back. They still aren't, so I decide to invade Epsilon's house. The Ch. 9 location focuses on Preons and forced encounters with a laser tripping system, so Exodus is helpful here as you can just run from each fight. We stop by to get a weapon for Marino which will help with grinding later, shut off the first gate, then return to base again. Luckily we got the Force Metal from Melda's deployment and send another team for the key. To kill time for the next deployment, we use Marino's upgraded Beam Miracle we got from the Ch. 9 base to bully the Metal Mettaurs in the Gimialla Mine secret area for ~half an hour. The "boosted zenny" weapon getting a 2x power variant makes it easier for Marino to one-shot the metal Mets meaning their full payout can be doubled much more often. In battles with 2 gold Mets it's possible to get over 28000 Zenny in one battle, and I take advantage of that with 2x Power Charges and start rolling in enough money to buy out the rest of the important stuff in Lagrano shop with plenty for next chapter's shop. After swinging by Lagrano to get some extra toys, I return to base to find we were lucky and get the Melda Key. We return to the Melda plant and enter the locked area. We find a Meltdown as our final deployment pick-up as well as Duckbill Mole, the guardian of a certain treasure. This "treasure" is Zero's ultimate form known as Absolute Zero, an aerial form which inflicts Ice damage in close combat. Fortunately for Duckbill Mole, they'll never be on the receiving end of it as they're vulnerable to Water/Ice attacks and use fire to warm back up + heal themselves. These 2 are much less threatening than Rafflesian and the Belladonnas as they don't really need to beaten a certain way. You can just hit them a lot and be fine. This makes them feel like they're supposed to be the first hidden boss you fight and Absolute Zero is supposed to help get Ultimate Armor X. Given that the Belladonna's can be frozen and one of Absolute Zero's Action Trigger attacks can freeze, it feels even more like that was the idea. With the platypus powerhouses destroyed, we get Absolute Zero in our arsenal. Abs. Zero offers boosted LE, WE gain, speed, and power as well as a simpler Action Trigger if you're bad at motion inputs which can hit airborne targets. The forced Water damage means it's less effective against certain targets however, and he also goes into a permanent Berserk status when below 25% LE. And, surprisingly enough, if you have the execution skills for it, Black Zero's action trigger can do more damage than Abs. Zero would. This doesn't make Abs. Zero bad or anything, but it does require a bit more situational knowledge to get it's best benefit. We'll return with hopefully the rest of Chapter 9 knocked out as we clear more of the Grave Ruins Base in the next part. Epsilon's final battle draws near. Hope you all enjoy even though this was a long part with not much "new" being shown off and plenty of cuts/edits had to be made to speed it up. Feel free to join my server here.   / discord