Part 48: Suspension Of Disbelief

Welcome back. Last time on Last Scenario, we investigated Raka Mural, the ruins that Tiamat found centuries ago, only to find that she had already destroyed the important knowledge it contained when she was there. Following that, we ran into Bergheim, for some reason, and once we were back on the ship, we learned that we had received an urgent message from Colonel Alison, aboard the Lemuria. Apparently Castor had left the airship and Tiamat had taken over in his stead, and she was determined to attack Entalar. Alison managed to delay her by pretending that the ship needed maintenance, but we need to help her out before that excuse wears thin. Let's get to it.

Music:



Following the events of the previous update, we find ourselves on the Brunhild. As promised, Bergheim has decided to join us, and we can find him hanging around the bridge.



No, no, that's a terrible idea. Worthless. How about this, then? Just you wait! I'm already coming up with backup plans for you! You'll need me when the time comes!





Although Moritz mentioned last update that Alison had sent us the location of the airship, we don't actually start the raid on it by sailing to a spot on the world map. Instead, we simply tell him that we're ready for the attack, and things proceed from there. Let's do it.



Elsewhere...

Music:





Once we've confirmed we want to attack, we cut to the Lemuria, where we find Tiamat pacing.



Why are these repairs taking so long? You said it would only take a few days!
That was only an estimate! It's because you didn't let us land in Condor that it's taking longer than expected. If we had direct access to manpower and equipment, we could've been done by now.





What? But--
Aren't you listening? I said get everyone back inside. We're leaving. This has taken long enough. I'm running out of patience fast.
But we're not done yet with repairs! We need to think about our safety!
Our safety!? If you're worried about your safety, you'd better stop making me angry. All I care about is getting to Entalar. We're leaving! Now!
...
Move it!



Fade to black...

Music:



We can't take this ship through the forests, but we can get close enough.



What? That's...
What's going on?
There! Behind the woods!



What!?
Did they see us coming?
We're not going to make it in time!
Isn't there anything we can do!?





WHAT!?

What the hell? Are you trying to kill us all!?
What!? If you're doubting my calculations, why don't you check them yourself?
Oh! I certainly will!
We don't have time for this!
Randolph, is it possible?
I... I guess it's possible, in theory. The ship's flying low, and we can go fast enough. Certainly, we can fly, for a short while. But what do you think's going to happen when we land?



What... I... That's even worse! Even if we timed it just precisely enough to be able to jump down onto the Lemuria, the fall would probably break everyone's legs at best. Why are we even considering this as an option!?

You can't be serious. If the aim is only slightly off, we'll crash into the ground and we'll all die. There's no one who could pull off something like that.



Oh for fuck's sake, now we're stuck with this plan, aren't we?

Don't be an idiot. It can't be done.



Now you've done it. This kind of challenge really gets my blood pumping again. Attention crew! All hands, abandon ship! I repeat, all hands, abandon ship!





I have to stay. Someone's gotta steer this thing, right? What? You think I'm planning on dying here? I've lived through worse!







If you can't fight, then get lost!
But... But...
No buts! Out! Out!



The credit for getting us all fucking killed, maybe. Ugh, I can't believe we're actually doing this.



To go this far... we really can't be sane.
Everything that's happened in my life up till now has been insane.



Yes! It is! It is so bad! What have we seen in this game that even comes close to something like this?

All right! Hang on tight!





Fade to black...

Music: None



This is the worst fucking plan.



I get that our party was desperate, and we needed to do something fast. But still. This is the worst fucking plan.



Fade to white...



Fade to black...

Music:





It works, of course. We all knew it was going to work; we wouldn't have much of a game if it didn't. But that doesn't stop this idea from being fucking retarded.





Oh, and I know it looks like I did a really shitty job of capturing the characters jumping, but that's how it is in the game. Our characters don't fall in from the top or bottom of the screen--they just kind of pop into existence in the middle, already moving forward. There's no way to capture it well.

Ahh... that was close. I'm amazed that worked.
What happened with the captain always going down with his ship?
It's the second ship I've lost. You get used to it. But I'd sink a hundred ships if it meant I'd get to fly this thing.
We're not there yet! We have to find Tiamat first!
I hope you don't mind if I tag along.



Anyway, that's enough whining from me. We have control again here. The Lemuria is crawling with Kingdom soldiers, but they'll only show up in battles rather than appearing on the field.







First order of business is to head through the door on the right, where we find a new spellcard:

Chi (0MP): Restores a small amount of MP to the caster.
Crisis: Transfer (0MP): Restores full MP to the caster, but reduces their HP to 1.
Stat changes: +8% max MP, -8% STR, +5% INT

Chi is basically a (very) poor man's Enlight. Using it restores about the same amount of MP that Enlight does each turn, but there's the kicker: with Chi you have to cast it every turn to get those gains, while you can just cast Enlight once and forget about it. The same goes for Transfer, since Enlight's crisis Brainstorm does the same thing without the HP loss. That said, the Chi card does have some pretty massive stat bonuses for a spellcaster, so if you aren't really using a spellcard slot, you can just stick it in there for the bonuses and nothing else.







Now then, in order to actually advance we need to head through the door on the left. Although the Lemuria is a large structure made up of many interconnecting rooms, the path through the ship is fairly linear right now since the majority of doors are locked. Also Moritz has decided he wants to be the narrator for this segment.





A little ways in we encounter a Floor Cannon. Why there's a cannon in the floor of a random hallway is beyond me, but I didn't design this ship. Floor Cannons aren't too much of a threat, with only a regular attack for about 450 damage, but they have a fair chunk of HP. They're more of a pain when they show up with other enemies.





Just down the hall is what appears to be Castor's room, at least from what we've seen in our previous cuts to the bad guys. I'm just now noticing that Castor did not appear to have a bed.







We continue on and run into an All-Seer just a few yards away. I don't know if my perception is skewed or what, but it felt like the encounter rate was significantly higher than normal in this area. I was hitting battles every several seconds.



Like their previous recolors, All-Seers don't attack, but they have the capability to draw other enemies into the fight by declaring "Intruder Alert!" On the Lemuria these enemies can be War Machines (above) or Rosehart Troopers, which we'll see in a moment. If the All-Seer is still alive for a second round, they will buff their new partner with Emergency Boost as well, though as usual I can't tell what stats it raises. As for War Machines...





... well, they do that. Fortunately Mk. II Fire Shell is uncommon, and their regular attack only does about 575 damage, though that's still a good amount. They're fairly resilient physically and have high HP, but they're also weak to ice, so Lorenza can Iceray them into oblivion.













We head through what appears to be an engine room and end up in another corridor, and some soldiers show up to greet us: some Rosehart Troopers and a Rosehart Elite. Human soldiers have leveled up once again, but the Troopers still don't know how to do anything except swing their swords for 375 damage or so, and their HP is pathetic. The Rosehart Elites last a bit longer, and can randomly bust out M-Renew to heal themselves and their buddies for 1000 HP, but they still fall pretty easily.









That's all the enemy types for this area. We head through a nearby door and upstairs to find another hallway with a whole bunch more doors. Most of these are locked, but there is one we want to check out.





And that would be the door on the right, which contains a chest with the Terra Bow, a weapon for Hilbert. It's stronger than anything Hilbert can currently acquire, and as its name implies, it deals earth damage instead of physical. Though how an arrow can do that is beyond me.









Not too much further to go now. A little ways ahead we find the bridge, but there's nothing here but a save point.









Instead, we want to head through a nearby door, which brings us to... another save point. I think we know where this is heading.







Music:

It's over, Tiamat. You're all alone. As soon as Castor got what he wanted from you, he abandoned you on this ship. You have nothing left.
Ha... Hahaha... Are you kidding me? I know fully well that he was trying to use me. I was using him just the same. He'll get what's coming to him. Once I've destroyed Entalar, I'll take revenge on him as well!
Enough already. It's been long enough, Tiamat. I remembered, just now. For the last ten years of his life, my father watched over you, without ever telling me. But... just once, he mentioned a name. It belonged to a woman that I had never met before.



You remember that name, don't you? You must know it very well. But... the woman by that name no longer exists. She died over 300 years ago. Because you killed her.
Hahaha... Yes... You're right. I killed her. She, and all the others at Raka Mural... they all had to die. And when Esmeralda died, that's when I awakened. That's when Tiamat was born.
You poor, poor woman. My grandfather longed for Esmeralda, enough that he spared your life in the vain hope that she'd return. But he has come to understand it now. That Esmeralda is dead, and you are not her. You are only a shell of the woman with that name. There is nothing inside of you but emptiness.



These centuries of torment have to come to an end. Her spirit should finally be allowed to find peace.
Esmeralda was weak. She couldn't bear the weight of the things she discovered. She had to become me in order to survive. I understand that everything must come to an end, but I can't die until my goal is completed. I want to destroy everything. This lifeform that populates the planet is hopelessly broken. I'll set fire to the entire world. Burn it down to ashes. Everything must return to the source. And then, we can all start over from the beginning again.



BOSS FIGHT: Tiamat

Music:



Showdown time.



When Thorve said that Tiamat's strength was likely to be beyond anything our party had seen before, he was not lying. Tiamat has seen an immense power upgrade since we fought her last, and has gained an enormous HP pool to boot. However, she retains her weakness to light, which means that the Holy spellcard we picked up in Raka Mural is about to get a whole lot of use.



Oh, and speaking of Holy, Tiamat carries its counterpart:

Unholy (190MP): Deals major dark damage to one enemy.
Crisis: Black Hole (90MP): Deals moderate dark damage to both all allies and all enemies.
Stat changes: +5% STR, -6% INT





Just like the first time we fought her, Tiamat hits like a truck. She will always start the battle with White Fist, which is strong enough to one-shot Lorenza and inflicts amnesia as well. I was very fortunate during my actual recording when this missed, giving me a lot more time to prepare buffs. The shot you see here is from when I went back and re-recorded.





She follows White Fist with Black Fist, a technique with similar power (though we now have P-Shields up) that inflicts blindness.





Once Tiamat has used her two Fist techniques, she discards them in favor of Total Eclipse, a powerful magical attack that can wipe out our entire party in the blink of an eye. This is one case where Hilbert's darkness immunity weirdly worked against me--although he didn't take any damage, that also meant he wasn't building up any Crisis. And since only he and Ethan are faster than Tiamat, that made it much harder to throw out a crucial M-Heal before she attacked again.





Finally, in between castings of Total Eclipse, Tiamat will unleash a very powerful regular attack. It was around this time that I found myself very happy that I still had a few Purple Herbs kicking around.





Anyway, with her weakness to light, it should be obvious what the strategy for taking down Tiamat is: Holy, Holy, Holy. Like last time, this battle is a damage race, so everything we do is geared towards getting Lorenza to throw out that cool 3000 damage every turn she gets. Nothing the rest of our party can do even comes close to that power, and if we can keep Lorenza alive this fight can be over very quickly. Of course, the same thing can happen in Tiamat's favor, so we have to be very careful.



But if we can keep our defenses up, Holy is simply too much for her.

Music:



For our trouble, we land ourselves a ridiculous amount of experience and gold along with the Black Cleaver, a new axe for Ethan that deals dark damage and also grants +25 RES.

Music: None



No... I will not be defeated... I'll get you... I'll make you pay for this...



Music:

Eaaghh!!
How can she still have this much power left!?
Hahahaha!! So this is how far I can go if I let go of all inhibitions...



But it's too much... even for me. I can already feel my control over it slip away... Hahaha... As soon as I've reached my limit, all the energy will be released at once!



What!?
Hahaha... I don't care about anything anymore. I just want to destroy you. If I'm going down... I'm taking all of you with me!! Die!!!







Music: None

But as the light fades, we find that we are decidedly not dead, and that a figure has appeared behind Tiamat.



Ghhhh... Let go of me!!
Quick, Ethan! Open the hatch! Use the lever to your right!
Alison! Wait!
There's no time! If you don't do it, we'll all die! The men on this ship are my subordinates! It's my duty to protect them! And you, you all have to keep fighting! Do it! Now!
No, stop!



Thank you, Ethan.



As the hatch opens, Ethan raises his arm in salute.

Colonel. You always were my best.
I apologize. I can't salute you back...
Aahhhhh!!!



Noo!!





It's over... Now it's just him left.



Fade to black...

Music:



And our view suddenly shifts to the world map. For several seconds the Lemuria floats motionlessly, and it looks like the game might be waiting for us to take control...





... but eventually the airship starts moving on its own, eventually coming to rest in front of Stonewall.

Fade to black...



Thank you, Colonel. It was very close, but we still pulled through in the end. But we couldn't have done it on our own. We got some help this time.



Y-Yes. It was my plan.
Ah, I see. Then we're in your debt as well. On behalf of the Republic, let me offer you our gratitude for bringing this mission to a good end.
Uhm... yes, thank you. I'm... going to look at the engine room. Excuse me.









So, captain, how are you enjoying your new ship?
Great, great. It'll take some getting used to, but when you're out on the deck in the open air, it's amazing. But anyway, that's not why I'm here. We found something.
Found something?



It contains a set of coordinates, and a very short note. You know what it says? "I found it. I'm waiting for you." Just that.
Just like we thought...
The place he marked is an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. I don't know about anything of interest there, but I guess he found something there nonetheless.



Oh, sorry. We'll leave this for later. You have another guest.





General Grauss? So you are the Imperial Chief General. I've heard a lot about you. I heard the success of the new Emperor during the civil war was largely due to your support.
Indeed. And our close brush with defeat was largely due to your interference, Colonel Drakovic.
Hahaha... that's true.



I cannot forgive you so easily for what you've done to my country. But... if we hold grudges forever, there'll never be peace again. It's in our best interest to work together for now. I personally want this war to end as well.
Well, I'd like to issue a formal apology for the Republic's actions. Since the attack on Farin base, a lot of mistakes have been made. On both sides.
But soon, we'll be able to put it all behind us.
All that's left is to find Castor... After all the time we spent searching for him, now he's actually inviting us in.
Sounds like an obvious trap.
Castor wouldn't set up a trap that simple. Moreover, he's not interested in tricking us. He wants to prove his true superiority. His power by now should rival--no, surpass Tiamat's. He doesn't think he'll need tricks.
This ship must have weapons, right? We can use those to attack his hideout, and bury him without having to risk our lives out there.





Huh? I don't understand your reaction.
Sorry, General. We can't do that.



Wait, you did? When?

I know he's not an evil person, and these people, who've known him for much longer, know that too. There's still hope for him.
This sounds very dangerous. Is it really worth the risk to go down there?
No matter how dangerous it looks, we can't give up before we've tried. We'll keep fighting for as long as we can.



I think it's very irresponsible.
It's no use trying to change our minds, General. It's already been decided. You should know by now that we've always been like this.
All right! We know where he's hiding. Let's go there and finish it once and for all!
I strongly disagree with this. I won't stop you from going, but you should think about what you're doing first. Castor said he's waiting for you. That leaves the initiative to us. Why should we leave in a hurry when there are other things that require our attention?
You have something else in mind, Drakovic?
Oh, come on, General. You must be having the same idea. Even if Castor acted on his own behalf most of the time, it's the Kingdom who gave him that power.



You want to invade the royal capital? Indeed, with this airship and our combined strength, it can easily be achieved...
The Kingdom is in chaos. The King put great trust in Castor, and was then suddenly abandoned by him. Now half their country's in our hands, and the entire world has united against them. We've even captured their most powerful weapon: this ship. We'll beseige the city and use the Lemuria to drop troops and take over the castle. They've suffered so many defeats lately... If the King is captured, the Kingdom will quickly fall apart.
We can take care of that. We'll be able to infiltrate the castle more easily than a large army.



Well, I won't say no if you're offering. So, what do you think, General?
I have no objections. We can break past the Rosehart Bridge and press forward towards the capital from there.
Good, good. It's decided, then. We'll leave the timing to you, Hilbert.
Got it. We'll leave as soon as we're ready.
They'll wet their pants when they see this thing flying over their heads.
Well then, I'll take my leave to organize the upcoming battle. I assume you'll be doing the same?
Yes. I will go inform the Emperor of our plan. We will meet again within the walls of Condor.





Next time: It's time for us to take the fight to the Kingdom.