Part 40: Chapter 39: Showdown at Sol Marta

Chapter 39: Showdown at Sol Marta

Connection regained. Continuing program.
Loading Excerpt- Hopes for the Green Land: Collected Writings, J.
Sol Marta is a pretty big place. Infiltrating it took some time, especially since the main door was locked.



Beyond this is a place called the Al Ciel Sphere.
Al Ciel Sphere...? Isn't that the land creation...
Right. It's where Frelia sang to create the second tower of Ar Tonelico.
It seems someone's locked the place up.
Does this place not open from the outside?
No, it can be opened. We just need to activate the emergency release system.
When both systems declare emergency, this door should unlock.
So, we need to produce glitches at those two system locations.
Well... Yeah, I guess.
Where are the systems?
I'm sorry. I don't know that one either.
So we'll just have to search by foot.

Long story short we found the stupid things and broke them.

Feinne's Fourth Wall Lectures:
The management apologizes for the rude tone of the intruder who provided commentary in our last installment. Anyway, first thing's first: while I have a good cut of Sol Marta, it's also straight up an hour long. You might notice if you go looking through things that the video of Sol Marta that's up isn't quite so long. Something went wrong with the video at some stage, so the actual part where we glitch out the release system isn't in the video. I'll try to fix it at some point, but neither the video nor the actual content is interesting enough for me to freak about it.

So let's talk Sol Marta. The first thing to note about Sol Marta is that it's huge. There's numerous branching paths and side areas to explore, and they're well worth it. There's several IPDs, two Harmobody Suits, the best female vanguard armor that we can find, and the best possible non-crafted gear for Croix. The next thing to note about Sol Marta is that it is absolutely filled with the nastiest enemies in the game. Many of the fights can take some serious time if you're not packing Instant Kill Girl Power, and there's a nearly never-ending supply of them. The upside is they also drop some incredible and valuable items. The solution is to use the crafted item 'Pop-Up Funboon' to fully deplete the enemy gauge, which makes the dungeon suck less.

So the trick to Sol Marta is that once we find out about the door, we can go back to the start and use a pair of switches to move the main bridge left or right. We can then go glitch out the emergency systems, which in turn unlocks the door. Sol Marta can be kind of grueling the first time, though it's a perfect place to train if you're feeling underpowered.

This took us to the heart of Sol Marta, and into conflict with its Guardian...

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Please leave now.
Raki, stop it already. Frelia is here.
If you do not leave now, authorized force will be used against you.
Raki! Listen to yourself! Do you plan to attack Frelia!?
Attack Frelia? That is impossible.
Frelia is currently in Her chambers in preparation to reset this world.
What!? Is someone else pretending to be Frelia!?
We have to hurry to the chambers, now!
I won't let you pass!

This time, there was no messing around. Raki came at us full force, and we shoved all the power of the Infel Pira right back into her wretched Child of Light face.



Boss Battle: Raki
And this is it. The infamous third battle with Raki. Those familiar with the game probably know that in the North American release Raki has a special attack with some, um, unintended consequences. When her third Enemy Phase starts, she'll use a Jamming attack that is bugged out and will crash the game. I don't think I need to explain how fucking lame that is. That said, the solution is to go hard and fast to pop Replakia on your second Player Phase at the latest and kill her in one brutal Red Magic. Don't do what I do in the video because while it's dramatic as hell it's probably not a good idea. Raki herself is the strongest she's ever been, and if you've not gotten good at blocking her attacks she's always a risk to not even let you get to the turn she'll bug out your game.

Of course those stupid things aren't so easy to destroy.



No, she's just sleeping. This type of robot must be crushed to pieces.
What do you mean...!?
So, they're invincible?
Close enough.
But don't worry. Once they shut down like this, they won't wake up for a while.
Alright, then let's find out who this Goddess is!
She said She is in Her chambers. I wonder how deep we have to go?
It's most likely where Frelia's sleep pod is.
It's beyond those doors right in front of us.

Of course all these fights with Raki remind me of the old days.

Fit For Training:



I thought she was going to come attack us right after the battle.
That wouldn't happen.
Being invincible is pretty handy, you know?
I know someone who was like that. He would get stronger and stronger after every defeat.
They use that to become stronger.
...Really?
It's true. I fought with them, and lost.
...I wouldn't want to be on their bad side.

Of course the inner door was locked as well. It seemed whoever was responsible for all of this understood the importance of security.

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There's a lock on it. Well, I guess it's only normal.
Can we do anything about it?
Not much... It's locked from the inside. There's nothing I can do.
Who can unlock it?
Most likely, whoever's inside this room, and I'm not sure, but maybe Raki.
...Raki?
Raki is also the Security Center of Sol Marta.
At least, the Raki I knew managed all the doors to this place.
Hehe, just as I thought. Right along with what I expected...
There's a chance I can use that trick.
Trick...?
That's right. Let's go back to where Raki is.

Luckily I'm hardly a novice when it comes to hacking Tower systems.



I'm going to analyze her Memory Data while she's asleep.
If things go well, I can set that door to be open at all times.
...You... can do that!?
Possibly. I'm pretty sure that I can.
You're so vague.
It's better than not trying.
And I might be able to find clues as to who hacked into Raki.
If you want to, go ahead. I trust you.
But, how will you do it?
Wasn't there a convenient, non-profit public facility? Government owned and cheap in every way?

We returned with Raki to the Hot Stop. It was time to get hacking.

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......
What a stupid sensor...
Um, sorry to bother you Reki. But I have a favor to ask.
No no, everyone! This is when you're supposed to leave.
She's still trying to justify herself.
I'll be straightforward.
I want to use the "high-tech" part of your high-tech Dive System. May I?
Of course! Who will be Diving into whom?
I'll be the one Diving. And she's the one being Dove into.
If these machines are from the First Era, 700 years ago, they should be able to analyze her memory.
Uhm, SRFD-10321, alias name, Raki. And you said you wanted to use Data Analysis Mode, right?
I'll go prepare for that immediately. Please hold on for just a moment!
It seems she really does lack emotion...
Diving in Data Analysis Mode requires very high level skills.
You will enter the Binary Field with no protection, so it will put your life at risk.
Therefore, you are required to have a Type I Data Diver license. You do have one, right?

Like that's a problem for me.



I see. Alright. You'll be held responsible for your safety in this case.
So much for qualifications...
Please standby.
I can't get any pings on the Resident Registration Server, so I'm deciding based on my own judgment.
Is that... legal?
Never mind that. It's fine. Can you start me up now?
Alright! Here we go!

This was the first time I'd been in the Field since that day.



I'll search for the call address here... And...
Now, come on out!

Of course, if I was going to mess with one of the maintenance-roids, I was going to need a bit of help from a friend. Loathe as I was to call her up.



Wha-what's going on here!? Where...?
It's been a while. I'm happy to see you. Hehe...
Mir! Where in the world are you? You just left without saying anything!
Oh, I'm sure I told you I was going on a journey.
Anyway, there's something I wanted you to check for me. Is it okay?
Err! Hmph, I don't care!
It's an emergency. Please?
...Oh, alright.
You know a lot about maintenance-roids, right?
Well, yes, I guess. I do give maintenance to my Mei Mei.
I don't have a clue about any of this, so I wanted to ask you for a favor.
Access the body I'm in, SRFD-10321, aka. Raki, and open every single door there is within Sol Marta.
That's hacking. What, are you trying to take over another tower now?
No, I'm on the good side this time. So? Are you going to do it or not?
...Alright. But in return, promise me one thing.
...What?
When you're done with whatever you're up to now, come back to Sol Ciel.
Hehe, what? Are you lonely?

I did perhaps leave some loose ends back on Sol Ciel.



Don't just leave with your security set up all over! Having to defuse all the bombs is such a pain!
Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking about getting rid of them eventually.
Well, it's fine. It seems you're in a hurry now, so I'll be sure to have a nice conversation later.
That's great. So like, do you think you can work on this any faster?
Alright, alright! Hold on a sec!
I just opened up all the doors within the place called Sol Marta.
I also put passcodes so it can't be locked again by anyone else's control.
Oh? Seems like you're really into this.
Don't talk to me like that after I did this charity work for you. Besides, there's a reason for it.
Reason...? What's wrong?
There's been a sudden boost in the number of accesses lately. No, it's more like an attack...
It's definitely an attack. Raki has obviously been hacked into.
The problem is it's all technical stuff, like Ring Control, Energy Waveflow Controls, FFT Analysis...
It seems there's someone who's very knowledgeable in this field.
...It appears that way.

And that's when the big boss decided to make an appearance.



Ahh... What!?
It seems that someone decided to appear.
I suggest you strengthen your security. Don't get caught napping or you'll be attacked again.
"Again!?" The first time was by you!
Yeah, well, anyway, goodbye.
W-wait...
So... who might you be?
That's my line. Will you please not hack into my stuff? What a devious virus...
Virus? Me? Compared to what you're doing, I think mine's a little better.
Is it? You're all viruses to this world. That's why I will purify you all.
...!
That consciousness disappeared...
Oh no! I need to go back!

We were made.



What!? Then our plan failed!?
No, the doors are stuck in open mode. The problem is...
Looks like she's here...
Oh my, a customer.
Reki!
Yes?
You stay here.

We were greeted by a familiar little thing.

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Haha, so it was. I had my doubts about it being just a collection of emotions.
Oh! It's that...



This doll has some letters sewn on it...
"Well done, the world will change."
...What is this?
Maybe it's a message from the big boss. To us.
Big boss...?
It's just an expression. Don't take it too seriously. Then again, it might not be.



And now we have proof.
Here it comes...!

It wasn't really a match for us. I'm pretty sure whoever that girl was, she's saving her best hits for the direct matchup...



The world's sublimation is soon...
Looks like we don't have much time at all...
Let's hurry...

Sublimation, eh? I don't like the sound of that at all...

Next Time on Ar Tonelico 2: EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION