Part 42: Battle 19: To Free Bahamut

Task Organization










Bypassing Element







Magical Attack Element




Reserve/Training Squad

Situation



In our absence, forces from Altair have fortified the area in front of Bahamut's resting place and are contesting our entry into the area.

Enemy Forces



Terrain: None. It's a flat, open expanse with no obstacles, barriers, cover, or concealment. One giant avenue of approach.



Disposition: The enemy has adopted a strange formation with their leader in front, with two layers of units that presumably provide some kind of additional attacking or support capacity.

Most likely/most dangerous course of action: The enemy obviously intends to draw us into attacking their leader and then unleash some kind of magical attack once our units are clustered around him.

Mission



The OFF will conduct a direct attack on the Altairan forces in front of Bahamut's chamber in order to clear the way before initiating contact with Bahamut.

Execution



Concept of Operation/Scheme of Maneuver: In order to fulfill our objectives we will bypass the enemy leader and conduct a penetrating attack on the support units to his rear while our magical artillery eliminate the strange rabbit-like enemies directly behind him. The reserve/training unit will move in and assist as appropriate to fill any gaps and dispatch weakened units.

End Order



Concerned about the unknown capabilities of the enemy's rabbit-beasts, Sendak and Yoyo made the first move against them. I'm not sure if calling Hyperion in was excessive, but the results were interesting.

Author's Note: Despite causing non-elemental damage, Hyperion's spell level is based off your dragon's poison stat. If you're wondering why I jacked Flammie's poison up to 99, there you go.



Among the charred remains were a magnificent suit of armor and an assault wand. along with a mana restorative. I have no explanation as to why a bunch of rabbits had such fine equipment.



Continuing with the pattern of overdoing it, our mages dropped a comet on the other rabbits. Astonishingly enough, the rabbits managed to survive the attack.



Inky solved that problem by poisoning one group to death, but unfortunately the enemy had spaced their units in such a way as to prevent the more common spells from reaching all of them.



Seeing that the first phase of our plan was complete, myself and Palpaleos led out group in wiping out one of the enemy's identical support forces to the rear. Unfortunately, the enemy didn't last long enough to give us any idea of their real capabilities.



Pinky was more interested in attacking the enemy's leadership than doing anything to finish off more of the support troops.



With myself and Palpaleos able to dispatch a group on our own, sending Matelite's entire group on one of them was a case of severe overkill.



At least Clyde kept focused on the plan. I think probably because he believed he'd have more entertainment crippling one of the magic users. The enemy's simple attacks in response had no effect on Clyde... but that can't be all they have.



MIst's group was similarly successful, wiping out a third group. So far we hadn't gotten any idea of their capabilities, and I was beginning to worry.



Sue also found it more interesting to toy with a weaker enemy, using a sonic boom to destroy one of the rabbits outright.



Their counterstrike was distinctly odd, but none of us could make it out or determine what it was supposed to do. It certainly didn't seem to bother Sue.



Bikkebakke's group could have engaged the enemy leader, but chose to use a ranged attack instead. Clue followed up with a blast of flames, to no significant effect.



As the enemy began to move, we got another look at the rabbit's magic. The only word I could use to describe it was bizarre.

Author's Note: The skill is called Make Friendly and is presumably some kind of charm spell, but since dragons seem to be immune to status effects...



We finally got a look at the abilities of the enemy's magic users: they appeared to be primarily healers. Their healing ability was in another league even above the empire's healing mages, instantly undoing all the damage that the enemy's leader had endured. If all five had remained alive, there would have been no possibility of outpacing their healing.



The enemy's leader turned out to be somewhat underwhelming on his own, having flashy attacks that accomplished very little. It probably didn't help that he chose to to attack Pinky.



To put a stop to the enemy's healers, Matelite and the Royal Guard brutalized yet another group into submission...



While Mist's squad finished the final group. Hyperion dealt with the last group of rabbits, but they had nothing as spectacular as the first group. Apparently they had been a bit of a fluke.



With all of his supporters dead, we began concentrating our fire on the enemy's leader. Despite all of our efforts, it was a slow process.

Author's Note: Inky's Dark Light skill in action.



Eventually the Royal Guard moved in to weaken him...



But to everyone's surprise Bikkebakke's group actually succeeded in bringing him down.



By this point, I'm beginning to think that for some reason the monsters from Altair raided one of Yoyo's wardrobes and stole all of her gowns.



Perhaps the strangest thing of all was that before he died the Altairan thanked us... are they somehow compelled to this as well?



Leaving the slaughter behind, we gathered before Bahamut's shell so that Yoyo could communicate with him. Unlike all the other dragons, he allowed the rest of us to approach.



I sometimes wonder why Yoyo addressed the dragons verbally, but I suppose it's polite for those of us who can't hear..



The process requires her to open herself to them completely... I think perhaps that's the difficulty Sauzer had. He couldn't stand to approach them so openly.



In contacting Bahamut she had to control the five dragons she's already gathered.



I'm frankly amazed at the way she forced them to bend to her will.



We'll hope that it doesn't come to a war inside Yoyo, but I feel a bit better about her chances in such a situation after seeing the way she contained the dragons.



For a frozen moment Yoyo stood silent, apparently in mental communication with Bahamut, then collapsed on the ground.



While our first impulse was to agree with Sendak, Yoyo had other ideas.



Despite her weakness, she insisted that we had to leave immediately.



The way to Altair was opening, although she refused to take time to describe her contact with Bahamut until we were onboard. With that as an incentive, we left the battlefield in record time.