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Thunder Force V (PS1)

Thunder Force 5: Perfect System PSX
Genre: Action
Perspective: Side view
Visual: 2D scrolling
Art: Anime / manga
Gameplay: Arcade, Shooter
Setting: Sci-fi / futuristic
Published by: SPAZ, Working Designs
Developed by: Technosoft Co.
Released: 1998
Platform: PlayStation (PSX, PS1)

The story of Thunder Force V takes the player away from the conflict between the Galactic Federation and the ORN Empire as explained in previous games, and brings us to Earth in the future. At the very end of Thunder Force IV, the pilots of the combat vessel LEO-04 "Rynex" were forced to eject from their ship due to a massive explosion caused by the destruction of their last target, the fortress of Vios. The explosion severely damaged Rynex, but did not destroy the powerful vessel. Some time later in 2106 (it is not specified how long), Rynex drifted into the Solar System and reached the Oort Cloud, where the spacecraft was retrieved by the EASA SEKIKA 3 probe, which had was built by the Government of the United Earth to explore the cloud. After analyzing the spacecraft, the probe brought the Rynex back to Earth's Moon, where a huge lunar station inhabited by the brightest on Earth was soon launched with the aim of separating extraordinarily sophisticated weapons and electrical systems.

The only problem was that Rynex was so advanced as Earth technology that it was impossible for scientists to even realize how each of the systems worked - much less how they were built. Finally, they built a massive, artificial island in the South Pacific Ocean called Babel, then built the Guardian supercomputer to delve into the mysteries of the ship. As the ship's cockpit was missing, it was impossible to know anything about the aliens who had built the ship, so scientists dubbed the invisible race "Vastians" (an Esperanto word meaning "Great Distance") and renamed the Rynex. "Le Vastian d'Acier" or "Vasteel" for short. The plan worked, as Guardian not only proved that it could decipher Vasteel's complex systems through reverse engineering, but also implemented and advanced the technology that had made Rynex so great as a that warship. From that moment, all the great discoveries of that time were attributed to Vasteel and the many wonders that the ship contained. As Vasteel technology made space travel possible for humanity, the Government of the Unified Earth instructed the Guardian to build large fleets of interstellar ships that they planned to use to colonize other planets.

The public was unaware that the fleet produced at Babel by Guardian was in reality an armada of heavily armed warships, known as the Sword Fleet. After the Turing Code (a security program that mitigated Guardian's AI) was mysteriously removed from the system, Guardian reached mindfulness and in return, began to deliver massive strikes against Earth itself . The Government of the Unified Earth was quickly defeated, but its last attempt was to send Cenes Crawford and a group of pilots against Guardian and its forces using the series of space fighters RVR-01 "Gauntlet" designed and built before l annihilation of half the population of the Earth caused by the rebellion of the computer. Ground Combat Unit No. 222, now renamed Thunder Force 222, was tasked by the group to assemble and fight Guardian forces across the planet in an effort to destroy the computer and regain control of the Earth herself. Before this fight, Cenes was already dead twice, but a particular brand of Vasteel technology has enabled more use of cloning than ever before - a program known as "Circulate-Death". Cenes and the other 3-2 pilots are all members of CD - pilots who died at some point during military service, but because of their relentless skill, are required to pilot complex Gauntlet fighters like ordinary pilots were deemed too incompetent to be in command of such a trade. In an act of mistrust, the pilots approached their mission with vigor, and largely succeeded in their attempts, until Cenes made a discovery: Guardian ALLOWED them to win all the time, returning several times and withdrawing battle scenarios, even when he had the advantage. Cenes couldn't believe the Guardian was letting them push him around, but when the supercomputer launched a massive self-destruct command that destroyed the Sword Fleet, she decided to fly in her RVR-02 "Vambrace" in Judgment Sword, the command ship that Guardian downloaded its central core.

After fighting the Guardian core, the AI ​​sent a message to Cenes, and also asked him something else, which she thought long after the battle ended and her ship itself was essentially dead, floating. in the space. Cenes resolved this knowing that she had to die and remain dead - while Guardian retaliation and the subsequent destruction of the majority of the populated areas of the Earth had also destroyed the military complex where the DNA profiles of CD drivers stored. So, in fact, it was his third, and even, his final life. Cenes realized that she could either stay in space and watch her ship die and she died - or she could set off a shock wave that would tear the ship apart and destroy it completely. It is not surprising that Cenes has opted for the latter option, since it reveals all the information it learned about Guardian in a final transmission to the Government of the United Earth. In closing, she tells them that the Guardian's last words were "May Fortune be with you ..." and then she says, "Now for my last words ... I hope this ship REALLY explodes well!".