Part 6: UPDATE 3A: Heroics

Update time now!

Update 3a: Heroics

When we last left off, we had just waged a campaign of violence and slaughter culminating in the capture of a rebel leader. Specifically, he was rebelling against shirts.



So now Prince Yumil comes to take a gander and for some reason Freddie and Qad are put in the same position? I mean, Freddie's not tied up, but still. Have him standing at attention or something, he just killed a LOT of people so your blond friend over there could get some jollies!



Yumil speaks first. As you can see by the rapidly expanding speech bubble that made its way into my screenshot.

: "Thank you for saving us. ...You told me your name was Freddie. Are you the same Fre--"

: "Hey, who ordered you to take them alive?"

oh rhade

never change

: "...There must be a reason why they did that. I believe it would be beneficial for the kingdom to listen to what they have to say."

: "Shut up! There is absolutely no need to listen to their bitching! The only thing that matters for these lower-class scum is what they have to face at this moment. The work load is too harsh, the living conditions are sad... They only think of themselves. Why listen to those who don't think about the future and of the entire kingdom? Instead they believe that they're the only ones who are miserable!?"

"My butler has burned my dinner four times this month alone! FOUR! Where's MY goddamn revolution?"

Anyway obviously Qad has something to say to this.

: "Speak for yourself!! We only think of ourselves? Who took everything away from us for their own good? You!! The so-called upper class that can't do anything without the protection of Lodis! The heartless beasts that prey upon the people and indulge all their desires!!"

It's hard to catch in screenshots, but as Rhade says this next part he punctuates every half-sentence or so by kicking Qad in the balls.

: "...You call us beasts? We dedicate our lives to the peace and prosperity of this kingdom."



: "and get compensated accordingly!"



The last one is a doozy.



: "Why!? These scoundrels tried to kill us... My lord! They tried to kill you, for their own selfish end!!"



: "My lord, this is part... No, this is the last stage of the inspection. Please stand back and watch."

: "What... What are you doing?"



yeah time for me to step in here I think

shit's gettin weird

: "Sir, I believe Prince Yumil wants you to stop."

: "You're quite bold for a rookie. The prince is too merciful. As a member of the royal family, he needs to learn the business of the world. Isn't this a good opportunity for him? He can see for himself how to punish those who oppose us, the upper class."

oh that's IT

: "Stop it!"



: "Ugh!"

Oh yeah Rhade is like twenty levels higher than us. This manifests in cutscenes as knocking Freddie the fuck down.



: "Freddie!!"

: "Well, isn't that too bad. There goes your achievement, kid."

Rule #1 of the armed services: Never try to slug a superior officer, no matter how much of a homicidal maniac he is. Presently Rhade returns his attention to Qad.

: "You have raised your sword against the lineage of the Progenitor. Are you prepared to accept the consequences?"

: "Isn't that lineage too noble to be mere puppets of Lodis?"

: "...Alright."



jeez Yumil way to pour on the drama

stockholm syndrome much?



All of a sudden, some blond guy out of nowhere blocks the fuck out of Rhade's fire sword dealie!!!

: "You call yourself a knight?"



: "What the...!? Who the hell are you!?"



While Mystery Man has Rhade distraced, some chick runs in and unties Qad.

: "Here, this way."





: "You!!"

oh look it's a hobo



Jeal's first instinct, naturally, is to hit this guy with his axe.



BUT IT'S ANOTHER SWORD GUY

WITH ANOTHER ENCROACHING SPEECH BUBBLE

SHIT

: "Saradin!"

AND NOW IT'S SOME OLD LOOKING WIZARD DUDE



: "Disperse the shadows!! Ray of paralysis!"



(yes, this is an in-game spell. Fire-element witches learn it.  And so does Saradin. )



Jeal and Rhade (and presumably Freddie) are hit with the paralysis ray and everything goes white.



: "Damn it!"

THEY TOOK MY WALLET

AND THEY DREW A DICK ON JEAL'S FOREHEAD

: "Don't let them get away!"

Jeal and Rhade run off, leaving Freddie and Yumil alone.



: "I couldn't... I couldn't do anything..."

: "...Yumil..."

At this point the Prologue ends. At the beginning of Chapter 1, like the beginning of all chapters, we get a story montage. Each visual shot is basically in the style of a painting someone might make to symbolize the events the narration is describing. Also, they turn sepia. So... like a 1920s newsreel I guess?





The incident concluded with the public execution of the mastermind... Rumor spread among the population that they executed a person who had no relation to the incident, to save face.

(just in case you can't tell, that's Stabilo. He wasn't important enough to get rescued by MotBQ characters.)

Meanwhile...



Expected to dwindle, the rebels' activities have instead intensified and become more violent than ever.



The outcome of the public execution was not as expected... It not only affected the lower class, but the upper class who were disgruntled by the injustice, as well as the middle class...

(So in other words, everybody. I think that covers about everyone. Everybody was pissed.)





Oh hey, Godeslas DOES have an office. He doesn't hang out in that inexplicable throne room all day. Who saw THAT coming? Presently there's a knock at his (presumably offscreen) door.

: "...Come in."



: "Well... I'm sure you are aware that the rebels' activities have become more aggressive recently. Their strength is minimal; what concerns me is that they initiated their actions simultaneously in various parts of the kingdom. This must mean that they are getting their act together. So, in order to stop the uprising and suppress the rebels, we will organize the troops specifically for that purpose. ...Your performance at the military academy, one month of field training and actual combat... I can't believe you've just recently graduated. I have no idea why you came to the Southern Region, but I'm willing to test you."

NOTE: If you order Freddie to walk back and forth between Tenne Plains and Akka Castle over and over before going to Volmus, it is possible for him to have been in the army for decades at this point. I don't think this scene changes. (Please don't do that, by the way. It's not healthy. Your mother and I worry about you.)

Anyway, important question: Why is Godeslas in the Southern Region? He pretty obviously hates it here.

: "You are now a captain in the Southern Division. I will assign you a group of men and a tactician. This will be your battalion! Now head to Crenel Canyon and subdue the rebels in Fort Tuatha!"

Wow, a promotion! I'm gonna slug officers every DAY if it gets results like this! We get our own battalion, and it even comes with a tactician! I wonder who all of this assured incoming flood of new characters will be!

: "...Sir, why did you choose me?"

: "Don't get me wrong. This does not mean your actions have been justified! The abduction and attempted murder of Prince Yumil while he was in our jurisdiction... We even need rookies like yourself to help clear our reputation, that's all. ...I want to make one thing clear, though. I'm not asking for your opinion or consent. You hear me!? This is an order!! Just keep quiet and follow my orders! You will be provided money. Organize your troops and attend to your duty. ...Understood?"

: "...Yes, sir."

: "Don't ever show sympathy for them again... You can't do anything about it alone. Set aside your personal feelings. Focus on your regiment... and what you can do for your kingdom."

So in other words all Freddie has to do is give up his ideals, his personal code, and any reason he may have had for joining the army in the first place, follow his orders blindly, and suck up to his superiors, and then one day he too can get a big office in a big castle so he can work a job he hates in defense of people he doesn't care about and a region he obviously wants to leave at the first opportunity.



Yeah, Godeslas is kind of a prick, but let's be honest: His life kinda sucks. That explains why he loves sitting on his throne in front of the rookies so much: anything to make it seem worth it.



Our new destination: Crenel Canyon. We're not going there yet, though (not in THIS update). Too much stuff to do. (maaaan it's Flama 4, any other playthrough of mine and this would totally be Freddie's birthday. I got all excited for nothing. )



Since we now run our own battalion, we get some extra options in the menu: The Hugo Report and Training.



Since Hugo now works for us rather than us trying desperately to impress him, we get information from him whenever we want. (We actually had access to the Hugo Report before, just in a gimped form that didn't really have any of the interesting parts.)



The People section lists pretty much everybody who gets a unique portrait and their relationships with each other. Right now, the blue section is the Palatinean Army (and government), the red section is the rebels, and there's also a green section within the red which is reserved for the Zenobians (those guys who showed up and wrecked shit at the mine). White lines are people who have an incidental connection, blue lines are bros, and red lines are people who dislike each other (although we don't really have any of those just yet). Note: Freddie and Yumil's line is white; Freddie and Godeslas's line is blue. Yumil and Rhade (who is off to Yumil's right) don't have a line. WEIRD.



Select a person's entry and you can see a summary of what you know about them at this point in the story. As more stuff happens, these entries will update. It's a cool feature, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to be referring to this. We'll see.



The Events section of the Hugo Report is your standard fourth-wall-breaking watch-cutscenes-again apparatus. I'll only be using this for BIRTHDAYS!



"Miscellany" is your big wall-of-text lore compendium. I could post this stuff if enough people were interested.



Lastly, Tips is the in-game equivalent of a Megadump. If you put the game down for a couple of months and forget how to play, come straight here and you should pick it right back up.



The more important new option is Training. Select Training, pick a Unit, and fork over some dough, and you can get in a bonus battle. Where normal battles only last between 1 and 4 actions per character, Training battles keep going until one side is wiped out. Win, and you get precious expees. Lose, and you're out the price of admission.



Characters that die in training battles are only dead until the battle's over. Worth noting is that soldiers can't be promoted in training, which is why Dio and Freddie, with no soldiers to promote, have been benchwarming so far.

Anyway, that's that, just a few more organizational type things and this update will be about done.



Marty, as a former unit leader, is the only Fighter/Amazon I'm able to promote at this point, and only to Berserker. My plans for him don't involve this, but I'm switching him over for the meantime because it's strictly better than letting him stay Fighter.



Also, a new round of renamings!



Joke's on you, bud, I'll probably only have to refer to her by name like 3 or 4 times!



This idea was what is known in the vernacular as ThE mOtHeRfUcKiN sHiT's BiTcHtItS! One more for good measure:



Named in honor of the one guy in fiction angrier than Rhade.

Next time: We start commanding our ~brand new~ battalion!