Part 10: Episode X: Fei Fong Wong and the Seeker of Power
Episode X: Fei Fong Wong and the Seeker of Power
Welp, time to wander the desert wastes because
A bit of trekking into the desert reveals a pair of Gears bunny hopping across the dunes. Apparently Aveh’s soldiers hail from the same military academy as the ones from Battlefield 1942...
“I'm worried about doc... Guess I may as well follow those Gears."Several hours of wandering the desert later...
”I thought for sure that I could keep up on foot with giant robots hopping fifty feet at a time...”
That cannot be good...
"W, what the heck is that thing?"
Two more Gears go bunny hopping past Fei. I guess Kislev got all the Gears equipped with the jetpacks. No wonder they were winning the war for a while there.
“I'd better follow them so as not to lose sight of them..."Fei immediately loses sight of them and wanders for several more hours...
Fei’s irritation with endless sand is interrupted by a gang of sand bikers cruising past.
“I hope doc's alright!" ”Hmm... This gives me an idea... Eeyah!”
“Head out on the highwaaaaay! Looking for adventure in whatever comes our waaaaaaay! Yeah, darling gonna make it happen . Take the world in a love embrace Fire all of your guns at once and explode into spa—“Fei runs in front of the speeding motorcycle...
”Heymisterdoyouthinkicangetarideonyourbikemyfrienddocisouthereandimworriedabouthimsoineedtofindhimbutwalkingisnothelping!” “Wa-a-a-a!!”
Fei Fong Wong: Kind of a dick.
And with that, Fei jacks the guy’s bike and speeds off. Meh. Fei already killed half a town full of innocent people. Grand Theft Auto is a drop in the bucket of his conscience at this point.
And hell, who cares about that stranded soldier that’s probably going to die of exposure or thirst out in the middle of the desert? Soldiers are jerks.
Fei proceeds to take his newly acquired ride to go on a joyride doing wheelies and totally sweet jumps across sand dunes. This continues for several hours...
No, really... He tools around the desert doing sweet jumps, busting out power slides, and popping wheelies well into the night.
Unfortunately, his joy riding is cut short by a gear landing in front of him and blasting him off his bike from the impact. I suppose doing a Superman on a stolen military issued motorbike was just kinda asking for trouble...
Music: Fuse
Fei tries to make a run for it, but another Gear lands in front of him to bar his path. Aveh Gears are DAMN good at their bunnyhopping accuracy.
“Aren't you overreacting a little for just stealing a motorcycle..." ”And you guys are the ones that wrecked it back there. Don’t expect me to buck up for that stunt if it’s busted...”
Oh hey, Weltall is back. And...it turns out that Weltall had machinegun nipples this whole time. That would have been helpful earlier. Didn’t the thing have a jetpack too in Elly’s flashback...?
The hatch to Weltall pops open and Citan strolls out...
"Doc! You're alright?"
"Yes, of course..." ”I was only gone for about an hour tops. I came back to Dazil and you were nowhere to be found. So I went back to the forest to see if you had returned there and to make some repairs. What on earth are you doing out in the middle of the desert?” “Uhh...looking for you...?” “Fei...the next time I ask you to go kill a couple hours having some drinks at a bar...go kill a couple hours having some drinks at a bar...”
“...I was gonna but the guy at the bar convi—“ “"Looks like we do not have time to chat.”
Turns out nipple machineguns are no way to take out a Gear. We need some proper cybernetic kung fu action up in this joint to get the job done right.
"Hurry and do what...?" "I cannot use Weltall very well! Only you can use its full potential... Hurry up and get on board!" ”But I don’t like piloting Ge—feh... You know what? Screw it...” "...A, a, alright."
Up next in Robot Wars is Weltall vs. Two Unnamed Army Red Shirt Gears.
Take a wild guess as to how that goes...
After the very brief, very one-sided battle...
“HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!” "W, what the?"
Meet our first major villain: Johnny Cash.
Click to view cutscene
"Who are you!?"
"Huh? Right... I know you."
"You killed... her."
"Her?"
"No."
"It wasn't. Not me I..." "You coward."
"It was you!"Music: Emperor of Darkness
Ah. I thought that Gear looked familiar. It’s the smug boss dickbag from back during the big Lahan brawl. I guess Fei’s Super Desperation Move didn’t take him out like the others.
“Here we go again..."
“You certainly showed how much power you had back there in Lahan, didn't you, Fei!?" "How much power I had? What are you talking about!" "A greater power... is what I need to fulfill my mission. I sent those Gears into that land as a catalyst to awaken the power in you... To make contact with you." "As a catalyst!? You mean you caused that intentionally!?" "That's right. The death of your loved ones... And you powerless against it happening... The grief, the screams from your heart born out of the tragedy... There! That was the catalyst for triggering your power." "You mean you attacked my village just to get me in that Gear!? Why!? Why did the villagers have to die...?"
“They were wretched vermin, only living from day to day without ever fulfilling their prescribed destinies! And have you forgotten? You were the one who destroyed the village. I did not lift a finger." "No!! I was just trying to save the village and its people! I never intended to destroy it!!"
“It is the very essence of you... the voice of desire from within you that craves destruction." "Shut up! Even if that were true, aren't you still the one who caused it!? If you hadn't come, the village wouldn't have suffered the way it did!" "Ah, so now you resort to blame? I see... That sounds like something 'you' would say. That's good. Your basic nature remains unchanged." "Crap...” “You said you need my power? What were you intending to do with it!?"
"D, destroy god?" ”I’m like Level 9. You’re jumping the gun a little bit here, guy...” "Yes, we will destroy god. That is our purpose... That is our destiny!" "Don't be ridiculous! I won't get involved in such a thing! If you want to destroy your god, or whatever it is you're on about... do it by yourself!!!" "Hah, hah, hah... You resemble your father."
Fei briefly channels the spirit of Nowe.
“Nothing is more beautiful than a scream of death." "What did you do to my father!? What happened between you two!?" ”’cuz if he owes you money or something, that’s between you two. Got it?” "Hmph, do you really wish to know? There is no use in you knowing it now." "What!?" "Your power is still beneath that needed for my purposes. Anything unusable must be tried until it becomes suitable." "What?"
Suddenly a giant sand worm appears. Sure...sure, why not...?
Music: Knights of Fire
“You may indeed gain some happiness from not knowing. But surely, that is not what you truly want...? If you want to know the truth... and that is what you want, isn't it Fei...then this is what to do... You must show me that you have attained the level of strength I require... To do that you must destroy others by using your own strength! Then you will gain all that was lost in exchange for that scream of death! Ha, ha, ha, ha!!"
It seems Grahf had a remote control installed in his Gear so he can have it dramatically fly away while he’s cackling on his shoulder. Grahf is really into the theatrics, if you couldn’t tell...
Fei protests to Grahf’s abrupt departure. However, the giant sand worm is a more pressing issue at the moment.
Time for our second boss fight: the originally titled Wyrm. This battle is fairly simple. Though, you may notice we’re slightly drained from that skirmish with the Aveh gears and there was no time to fix ourselves up between battles. Xenogears pulls that kind of shit more than a few times. It’s not such a big deal here. But there are spots later in the game where the game will throw a fuck you one-two punch of multiple bosses in a row or a gauntlet of enemies before a major battle or other such junk. It's kind of a dick move...
With that said, the Wyrm’s primary gimmick is that it will suck out Fuel from Weltall after every time it is attacked. Unless we’re really pissing away Fuel, it’s not all that big a deal. It’s just really annoying as the attack animation is about eight seconds long every time. What do desert worms need with fuel anyhow...? Other than that, it just pecks at Weltall for some mild damage.
The Wyrm is also rather resilient and lower level attacks will do no damage whatsoever. Instead, it is best to build up our Attack Level to bust out a Deathblow. Deathblows work a little bit differently than they do with ground battles. An appropriate attack level must be achieved by using standard attacks before the Gear will be powered up to perform a Deathblow. It’s similar to how building up Magic levels worked in Chrono Cross.
Anyhow, once we achieve the necessary Attack Level (just one, most easily accomplished by just using a throw-away Weak attack) then Weltall can bust out its Deathblow. In this case, a robotic Shoryuken is the most effective worm stomping method.
Four or five Deathblows are enough to take down this stupid beer belly sporting worm. With that take care of; let’s go chat with the doc.
"Fei!" ”It is the big red button to the upper right of the console that says EJECTION that opens the cockpit...”Fei pops out of the cockpit...
"I am so glad that you are unharmed. The Gear had only temporary repairs made on it. They were not made to survive an outright battle like that." "..." "Fei?"Two Gears slam down next to Weltall...
"Oh no! The Aveh Military! Not now...! Fei, I think we should remain calm..." "..." "Fei?"
Welp... Tune in next time where Fei loses all his weapons and $5000 to get out of this fix.
Trippy Anime Flashback
Music: Fuse
Music: Grahf, Emperor of Darkness
Grahf Portrait – I can’t be the only one to initially think his portrait was a yawning guy with a really pointy nose and some booger thing hanging out of it...
Wyrm Concept Art – The sandworm from Dune has really let itself go...