The sharp Mechon descends out of the sky in flight mode, shifting as he lands and giving the group a sarcastic apology for interrupting. At the same time, a truly incredible number of other Mechon touch down in the valley- including a disturbingly large scattering of Mechon that appear to be carbon copies of Xord. Metal Face takes this opportunity to deride Xord for losing after having talked big so much. Reyn sounds disbelieving over the fact that Metal Face is now talking- to which the machine responds with mockery, declaring he has a good memory and using his recollection of killing Fiora to directly taunt Shulk.
Enraged, the Monado-wielder charges and makes a leaping attack, the ether sword met by the back of Metal Face’s claws and leaving Shulk strangely hanging in the air for a moment. Metal Face exclaims over it having ‘been a while’ since it’s faced the Monado, and repeats that the strange weapon won’t work, swinging its arm out and sending the blond flying. Shulk lands on his back, skidding some distance through the grass, although Reyn and Sharla manage to catch him. Metal Face begins taunting the group over the ineffectiveness of the Monado, and prepares to lay into the group.
He doesn’t get the chance though, interrupted by an ether shot- from Dickson. Kneeling at the top of the nearby cliff, the bandanna’d man calls out to ‘Beast’. Dunban responds, charging down the nearly-vertical cliff face and lashing out at the smaller Mechon, rending them apart with a katana-like blade. Shulk and Reyn are astonished by the reappearance of the older men, but Dunban and Dickson brush it off, apologizing for ‘taking so long’.
Before the next fight you get a chance to manage your party- and its new party member, Dunban. Now wielding blade weapons (a category that apparently includes not only katana and sabres, but also axes for some reason) with his left arm, his level matches that of your party members.
Dunban is a tank, like Reyn- but unlike Reyn, he functions almost entirely off of his agility and ability to dish out massive damage. His Arts are all oriented to dealing out damage in melee and gaining aggro that way, whereas defensively he uses HP and dodging where Reyn tends towards HP and Defence. Unfortunately, you don’t get a chance to customize Dunban’s setup right now, so you’re probably better off leaving him out of the party until you can look over his capabilities and set them up how you like.
What follows is a brief melee with a group of four Mechon- two tall walkers and two quadrupeds. While individually, they’re still not dangerous, you’ll want to keep an eye on your team’s HP until at least one of the bipedal Mechon is down- those two are the ones dishing out the most damage in this fight, and if you’re too incautious, Shulk or Sharla could wind up in some danger.
