u/Imaginary-Maize4675

...and a nuclear war at that.

Let me explain. The first story arc contains some pretty silly plot elements, like an attack by a Western-made cruise missile on a factory/enterprise in the USSR and an operation by unknown forces under a UN false flag, armed with experimental US technology, in North Korea/Hanka Republic, in close proximity to the USSR's borders.

For reference, for those unfamiliar, in the FMP world, the Cold War hasn't ended and is likely to escalate due to the emergence of new technology and equipment. A direct attack on the Soviet Union and its ally/satellite by "unknown" forces with the latest generation of Western weaponry is a casus belli...

It's strange that the author wouldn't have considered such a thing at all... But this seriously undermines the credibility of the story, despite some of the best mech designs and lore.

I'll whine a bit, and hope I don't offend anyone.

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks the entire last arc, starting roughly with the landing on Theocracy and continuing with the orbital bombardment + further down the story, is a complete failure, as it essentially boils down to a repeat of the beginning of '86.

So, the author openly played along with Legion, who violated their own fundamental directives and programming limitations by building space-grade electromagnetic mass accelerators and other such things, just to... What? Choose the "let's shut down Skynet" ending? Why?

Why couldn't they have chosen more unconventional scenarios for the development of military operations and technology? - the introduction of new walkers into the Hyades army, based on experience and data from the use of Reginleives, but in models suitable for regular soldiers (effectively doubling the number of vehicles and significantly diversifying their armament)

- Vik's experiments in hacking the Legion's neural processors and creating the possibility of reversing control or simply splitting the Legion in battle

- infiltration operations using rebuilt, captured Legion vehicles into its territory and conducting operations to eliminate critical production and control points

- the development and implementation of new weapons systems that significantly weaken the Legion's numerical advantage

- and who knows what else?

But instead, we have "Segregation 2.0." What would YOU like to see in the "86" sequel instead?

Chao Meiling

Chao Lei Feng

A brother and sister from Lost Stories who staged some kind of murky rebellion, somewhere between the overthrow of the eunuchs and the formation of the United Federation of Nations, for some unknown reason and purpose, and eventually joined the main body of the Federation of Nations, though they rarely appeared afterwards.

Interesting facts:

1. The little sister, in theory, should look very similar to Jian Lihua, as she posed as her during the rebellion, although the resemblance isn't particularly noticeable in the picture.
2. The brother piloted another special version of the Shen-Hu, or more accurately, a defensive variant, as it was modified to use shield generators instead of a super-cannon, and was called the Wang Hu.
3. Based on the model designations, it's likely that there should be two more models of this frame besides the Shen-Hu and Wang-Hu, but nothing is known about them yet.

The interaction of Li Xingke and Chao Lei Feng with their vehicles in combat, like sword and shield, was meant to reference the founders of the Chinese Federation from Re:Code... It's unclear what role Chao Meiling was supposed to play in Tianzi, other than the already-known Empress double—any ideas?

As a concept, the idea of ​​Chinese characters expanding the Federation's representation of people and opinions in the story was interesting (though their rebellion seems pointless – given the family's power and influence, it would have been possible to draw Tianzi's attention to any problems in the country without attempting to assassinate her). But ultimately, the Chao siblings essentially disappear from the rest of the story...

It's a shame, since such minor characters, theoretically intended to help explore additional aspects, particularly the Chinese Federation, often prove more interesting than many of the main characters, but due to the game's laziness, their potential is wasted... It's one of the reasons I don't like this game, but to be fair, the art is beautiful.

Centurii-chan just for fun

The idea is based on two points:

1. The Battle of Munda, during the civil war, when the course of the battle with the Pompeians was so unsuccessful that at some point the ranks of the Caesarians wavered. Then Caesar, dismounting, grabbed his shield and rushed forward, shouting that let this day be his last, just as the entire campaign was for the soldiers themselves.
2. He enjoyed such love and devotion from his soldiers that even those people who had not distinguished themselves in other wars, with insurmountable courage, went to any danger for the sake of Caesar’s glory. For example, Cassius Scaeva, who in the battle of Dyrrhachium, having lost an eye gouged out by an arrow, wounded in the shoulder and thigh by javelins and having received the blows of one hundred and thirty arrows with his shield, called out to the enemies, as if wanting to surrender; but when two of them approached him, he cut off the hand of one with a sword, put the other to flight with a blow to the face, and he himself was saved by his own who came to the rescue.

Roughly speaking, due to the fusion of these illustrious moments, Caesar is associated with the "Shield" and can possibly be summoned as a Heroic Spirit with enormous levels of defense and survivability.

What are your opinions on this theory?

I can't accept an answer along the lines of "It's politically/ideologically inappropriate."

Let me clarify. Aside from the purely Japanese cast of parochial characters like "Demon Musashi"—naturally, "who is this anyway???"—and, on the other hand, the wonderful duo of the magnificent Ryouma and Oryou, Red Line does feature foreign characters.

The Germans of the Third Reich include Major Reiter, who for some reason summoned the "homeless" samurai Okada Izou instead of some "true German hero," and Maxwell's Demon (actually a theoretical concept, not a heroic spirit—WTF?) and his master. Let me remind you that the Nazis are the genocidal guys who started World War II.

The Chinese are Lanlan Fang from Shanghai and her lancer Li Shuwen (I'm not pushing anything on anyone, but I think Li is much more interesting as a hand-to-hand assassin, since, after all, Servants don't usually expect a punch in the face). They, however, are the main victims of the Japanese Empire's war crimes and genocidal policies during the War—the Nanking Massacre, Unit 731, the comfort women, and so on... Nevertheless, the Chinese couple is present in the narrative.

The Japanese Militarists are Reiji Magatsu and his "firm", aiming to exalt the influence of the magical faction in the Empire through its use in battles and, consequently, prolonging the war as much as possible. In short, a faction of war criminals and fanatical nationalists, a kind of embodiment of Japan's dark past.

The features cameo appearances by US Air Force pilots flying bombing missions to Japan, particularly the city of Tokyo, a city of millions... Bad guys?

So, all these guys and girls are in the story, despite their "inconvenience," but there's not a word about the USSR, even in the context of World War II. So, what's the big deal?