But the veterans knew better. They whispered warnings: Don't use it past Stage 43.
I watched in horror as Amuro Ray’s Hi-Nu Gundam carved a bloody path through the Shin Getter Robo. As the Sizzler Blacke crashed into the Nadesico. As the Ideon, its meter now permanently red, detonated the entire galaxy—including itself.
The game saved over my file. The cartridge grew warm. And somewhere, deep in the system memory, the ghost of a single turn—the one that should have ended 30 minutes ago—keeps looping, forcing every mecha in the multiverse to fight an eternal, pointless battle against itself.