Part 5: Jackie

All right, what do you say we get off this island?





Music: Shogyo-Mujo


Well, nevermind that then.


Well, this certainly is an interesting development! Look, Sagi! The soldiers came to wish us a happy getaway.

All right, I'm sorry! But hey, we're not gonna get anywhere moaning and groaning about it. Break through and head for the liner! Try not to fall behind, Guillo!

I know what to do! We'll see who's falling behind who!





We are now thrown into a few waves of battles. The first two waves is two soldiers with guns. They go down easily.





The third wave is soldiers with swords, naturally more dangerous than soldiers with guns. They aren't too hard either, but...







...once again, gameplay victory =/= plot victory.

It looks like this could be the end, but...









...that, I was not expecting. Also, nice butterfly wings.





Now we have one more wave of sword soldiers. The girl is now an AI partner and operates much like Guillo did in its AI phase, complete with seemingly heightened durability. After trouncing this wave of soldiers, a new foe appears.





Gia...Giacomo!


Video: Jackie-Oh

Music: Chaotic Dance 2


Sagi, I presume? Hmph, what a disgrace. I'll see to it that the Service's tarnished name is washed clean...in blood!





Here's the second boss of the game, Giacomo. He continues the trend of absolutely unforgiving boss battles in this game.





Just try and escape! Thrashingale!





Yep, there goes nearly half of Sagi's health, and now he's knocked down. You can basically expect to take 150 damage from Giacomo every turn. Sometimes he'll do an incomplete combo for something more like 80, but that still adds up quickly and I don't have any good healing items yet.





I had Sagi use Taunt this fight. That...may or may not have been a good idea. As it turns out, Taunt does indeed direct enemy attacks at the user, so Sagi spent the rest of the fight getting pummeled.





Pictured: the result.

Fortunately, Sagi was able to get off some good attacks before he fell, and Guillo and the girl were chipping away too. I had Guillo toss a Fate's Cordial on Sagi and then got Sagi to immediately heal himself, putting him at 180 HP – enough to survive Giacomo's nastiest attack strings.





...Or so I thought, but then Giacomo unleashed a full combo with Thrashingale tacked on the end for 341 damage. Yeah, in case you can't tell, Giacomo is VICIOUS.





Guillo was able to finish him off in time, though.





...That's fine. You may have won the day, but I assure you I'll be back to settle the score! Sagi! Your name is marked!


Giacomo and his men limp off...







Talk about unfair odds! I don't know how I do it.

Um, who -

Milliarde.

Huh?

That's my name. Milliarde. But you can call me Milly.

Okay...um, Milly...but why did you rescue us?





You looked so defenseless, surrounded by Imperial soldiers with nothing but a ragged puppet to call your own. I couldn't bring myself to stand by and do nothing.


Wow, what a bitch! I think I like her.


...But I'm getting ahead of myself. You're planning to board that liner, right? If you don't hurry, the liner will be gone and we'll have more soldiers to deal with. Come on, let's go!


Milly walks offscreen toward the dock.


The wench thinks she's coming with us.





Oh, you thought so, too? There, you see, Guillo? Meemai thinks so, too.

Are you sure? I could feel her evil vibrations from twenty feet away.


Milly storms back over, proving that Imperial women have a sixth sense for knowing when someone is insulting them.


Hey! I heard that! Stop chatting and get moving!







Guillo, time to go!

...The wench is actually coming with us...





Video: Leaving Alfard

Music: Tripartite Talks and the Secret Soul





See him in.


The lord, Baelheit (you may recall him as the man who employs the Dark Service) goes into his office.





Oh, and that's the guy who killed the Emperor, Shanath. Looks like it's time for some villain dialogue.

Also, take note of the little girl. She dribbles a ball against the floor for the entire cutscene. It's a little irritating.





Where have you been? I thought I told you to stand by during the operation!

My apologies. Adjustments to the continent's levitation system took longer than expected.

...Olgan was killed.

Pardon?

I said, Emperor Olgan is dead!

Then that boy did it?


Interesting...looks like Shanath has an agenda separate from Baelheit's...


According to the officer assigned to the operation, the emperor was already dead when they arrived. What's more, the list has been stolen. It had to have been someone else's doing.

But does it really matter, milord? The emperor's death is hardly what I'd call bad news...

No, the operation was a complete failure. The emperor is dead, the boy is has escaped, and the list is gone.

Shall I chase him?

No need. I've already made arrangements. What I want you to do is look into WHY the boy was able to escape with all that was going on. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say Verus had something to do with it.

Yes, milord. I'll look into it immediately.

One more thing. During the operation...We found one.

…! But none of the soldiers involved in the operation were on our list.

Precisely. Which means it must have been someone from the missing list.

So...did they secure it?

Yes. A soldier named Valara brought it in. At any rate, Olgan's death has hastened the need to act on our plan.

May I begin with Diadem and Sadal Suud, then?

You may proceed with Anuenue as well. DO it quickly.

Yes, milord.


Shanath walks over to the little girl.


Come on. We're going home.





Well, that was complicated. I'm curious why Baelheit would order the assassination of the Emperor, and yet here he is saying he didn't want the Emperor dead. Perhaps Shanath arranged that, too? And apparently the monster we fought is more important than just some random creature.

Well, let's take a break from that and go back to our protagonists.





Music: Four Seasons of Peace I


Whoa...

...So wench? Why are you following us?

Hey, look! Aren't those the mines of Azha? They're so lively!








N-now, now...Hey, Milly. When we get to Hassaleh, we'll be going to Sheratan. How about you?

Me? Well, I guess if you're heading for Sheratan, then I guess that's where I'm headed, too.

Oh no you're not, wench! Why are you following us?!

Now is that any way to talk to the girl who saved you life?...Anyway, I know it's not very ladylike to say this, but I'm the only daughter of a wealthy Imperial family.

Agreed. Not very ladylike at all.

Do you want to hear this story or not?

Guillo, let's just listen to what she has to say.

Fine!





Why, yes, Milly DOES have a unique portrait for sticking her tongue out at Guillo.


So, you see, I'm what you might call a sheltered girl...oh, you know the rest. The sheltered girl usually ends up running away from home, right? So I took a page out of that book and put all I knew behind me...And that's when I stumbled across you two and your little predicament.







Yeah, I'm definitely going to like the group synergy these three have to offer.


Good, that settles it! Thanks for having me along. Oh, look! We're almost there! Time sure flies when you're chatting. Sheratan, here we come!

Why don't you stop her? Sagi?!





Aww, what's the harm? She's all by herself. I bet she feels so helpless.

Helpless?! Oh, that explains how she trounced the same soldiers that had US at the ends of their blades. You could drop a ton of bricks on her, and the bricks would be helpless!

Look, we owe her for saving our lives. Stop grumbling, OK? Come on, Guillo.







Nothing happens by standing here. I just like this picture.





Rarely heard world map music: The Borders of Wind and Earth.


Well, I'm looking forward to some new adventures with out full party! See you next time for the trip to Sagi's home.