Part 45: Smug To The Bitter End (Part 1)

Welcome back. Last time on Exit Fate, we launched an attack on the bridge-fortress of Ft. Brahma and managed to wrest it from Almenga control. Following that, we investigated the disappearance of a scout patrol in the forest, only to run into Trevor and Sick, sporting colorful new capes and incredible demonic powers which they used to beat us to a pulp. Before they could strike the finishing blow, however, a magical fog blinded them, conjured by Brunhild, of all people. We took the opportunity to flee, but how are we going to progress knowing Trevor and Sick are out there? It's time to find out.

Music: None




Get everyone back inside, and close the gates!
Why? What's wrong?



Fade to black...

Music: Suspicion - Suikoden V, "Suspicion"



Yeah... I guess we're safe for now. But it was awfully close...

Fade to black...



You said you could feel their presence. Can you still sense them now?
No, I can't sense their presence anymore... but I don't know how far away that means they are.
General Vinyard, I understand you are shaken by what happened, but it seems there is little we can do about the situation. We must focus on the task ahead. If we wait any longer, we may lose a great opportunity.

Music: Kirgard - Suikoden V, "Harbor Town by the Lighthouse"



Are you sure? What if those demons are still out there?
It's a risk we have to take. They approached Daniel when he was nearly alone. I doubt they'll attack again if we mobilize the entire Elysium army. The capital is the last stronghold of Almenga occupation in Kirgard. Taking it back would mean a huge victory.
Think about it, Daniel. This could take a large worry off our minds.



Give me a moment to prepare. We'll depart for the capital as soon as we're ready.
Please hurry.



And with that, we have control returned to us. We can talk to Eander to launch the attack on St. Reinard, but there's a few things we can take care of first.




To begin with, directly south of the room we were in is a treasure chest containing Battle Plan #8, the plan for the battle against Pereious at Vishnu Citadel. While we're at it, we might as well pick up some of the other Battle Plans that are currently available to us. They're quite well hidden though.




The first one we can pick up requires us to take Alex back to the Sacred Circle of Druids. Remember this place? There's literally no reason to ever come back here, so this is an easy Battle Plan to miss.





Especially considering that you need to talk to some random person here, and if Alex isn't in your party, you won't receive it.



Battle Plan #15 is Forest Raiders, another "what-if" scenario.



Forest Raiders has us facing off against the Forest Defenders, led by Alex. Appropriately, literally every enemy on the map has the Forester skill.




Also appropriately, Richard and Ljusalf can be found on the enemy side as well.




The other Battle Plan we can get right now requires us to head to Faraday and speak to Cantor, the man who hypnotized us way back when.

Hmm, I see... that's very interesting. I'm not sure how much of it is relevant to my research, but I'm glad you took the time to come see me. Please take this in return. It was a gift from my last patient, but I have no use for it. Perhaps you will benefit from it.




Battle Plan #16 is Oischin Conquest, taking us to Faraday.




This scenario has us fighting the Oischin Army, which is composed entirely of sorcery units and led by Galius. Marian is also around to make trouble.



It's also the first time we see an enemy army with two commanders, as Deus is leading a detachment. To no one's surprise, battles with multiple commanders require us to take out all of them in order to win. This won't be the last time we see this concept used.

Music: Kirgard 2 - Xenogears, "Wings"



Anyway, now that we've taken Ft. Brahma, we can also explore the area surrounding St. Reinard.



Immediately north of Ft. Brahma is a town, which we'll come back to in just a second.




To the east of that is a small lake with a road circling around it, at the north end of which is St. Reinard.



Not surprisingly, though, we can't enter the capital.



Just to the east of St. Reinard is a small path leading into the mountains. You can see it if you squint.



It turns out to be the bandit cave we found all the way back in the very first update. Unfortunately, there's nothing in there but severely underleveled enemies. I was honestly kind of surprised; I was expecting SCF to have put a treasure chest in the boss room or something.




Other than that, the only thing left in this area is a southern road which takes us to the Jinen Gama. We don't have any reason to go back there now, though.



Now then, let's see what's in this town.



Music: Valduz - Final Fantasy IX, "Vamo' Alla Flamenco"






Valduz has nothing noteworthy in terms of shops, but everyone in town is talking about a recent dragon attack.




There's also this fancy fellow in the center of town who we can ask to join us, but...



... he has other things on his mind.





However, there is something we can do about this issue while we're here. A few people in town will mention that dragons have the ability to shapeshift, and that they are quite majestic even when transformed. Hmm, you know, we did just meet someone that meets this description...



If we speak to the blue-haired knight after talking to either of the people shown above, we can call him out. The weird thing is, though, that you don't need to have spoken to him previously in order to get this option--you only need to have spoken to either of the men that talk about dragons shapeshifting. This can lead to a hilarious exchange where you speak to the blue-haired knight for the very first time and blurt out, "Hi! YOU'RE A DRAGON!"




In any case, it turns out that yes, this guy is a dragon.

My name is Avelion. I have come here in order to find a stray one and prevent it from being a threat to this land any longer.
A real dragon... If we could have such power on our side... If we were to help you deal with this dragon, would you be willing to help us in return?





We dragons exist on a different level from you. You would not stand a chance against this one. But I suppose your recklessness is understandable. After all, the people here have had no prior experience with our kind. I was just told that someone saw the dragon fly off to a nearby mountain called Mt. Ea. Perhaps it's still hiding up there.




Welp, this wouldn't be much of a sidequest if we didn't follow him. Mt. Ea is right next door to Valduz, though the path that allows us to enter it won't appear until we've revealed Avelion as a dragon.



Music: Ea - Final Fantasy IX, "Hunter's Chance"




Mt. Ea is a very short side dungeon, but it has a number of branching pathways that lead to dead ends.



And of course, there are monsters to fight.




Paragons, the cannons with feet, spend most of their turns using Silencer, which does what it says on the tin. They're long-range attackers, so they can hit anyone they want with it.




The Deathgaze up front just likes to hit things really hard. Interestingly, though, this points out another bug: getting hit physically seems to dispel Silence. This wasn't the only time it happened here, either.




Deathgazes also have Tail Smash, which does even heavier damage. It's nothing we can't handle, though.




Moving on, we also run into Earth Worms, recolors of the asshole Carrion Worms from Gaia's Heart.




Like their little brothers, Earth Worms have an incredibly annoying bite attack that causes Poison, as well as a slightly weaker tail-slap attack.



Fortunately, their damage is much more manageable now that our warriors have nearly 700 HP, and they don't have anywhere near the resilience that the Carrion Worms displayed.





A couple of the side paths here lead to treasure. Battle Plan #9 is the Ft. Brahma battle from last update.



Lastly, we run across a Chimaera.




Chimaeras have a couple of attacks based on their various heads. Snake Bite does moderate damage and inflicts Paralysis.




Lion Claws just does straight damage. I'm guessing that these guys also have a third attack involving the goat head, but I never saw it while recording.



Anyway, Mt. Ea doesn't really live up to its reputation as a mountain, as we reach the top in just a few screens.

Fade to black...

Music: None





Hang on, what are Ice and Tiama--oh. Ohhhh.

Well, I...
After those reports about a dragon attack, I'm sure our old friend Mr. Vinyard will come take a look sooner or later. And we, of course, will be waiting for him.
If this dragon doesn't get us first...



Oh my, it's an uninvited guest.
What brought you to this land, Tiamat?
Ohoho, you're always so serious... You know my aims are always the same. I'm just attracted to the chaos on this continent.
And your presence is only worsening the chaos... but after all, that's your purpose, isn't it?




And just as expected, he shows up. My dear Avelion, I still have a score to settle with this man. Why don't you let me take care of him first before we have our own fun? I picked this place for a reason. Nothing will hold me back now.
Hmm, so you've encountered this man before? That is very interesting. He originally intended to fight you in my place. If he came here for that same purpose, then I will not interfere.
Wait a minute, what are you trying to say?



Uh, what?
I need some space here.












OPTIONAL BOSS: Tiamat

Music: Boss Battle - Wild Arms 2, "Battle vs. Solid"



Well boys, let's bag us a dragon.




Despite her imposing stature, Tiamat isn't really that difficult of a boss. She's got a couple of moves, including Dragonclaw, which hits a row for decent damage...




... and Disruption, which does moderate damage and inflicts a status.




Which status that is seems to be random, though.



In any case, Reod swipes the first of what is sure to be many copies of Lock.



And... that's all Tiamat manages to get off. For a dragon, her HP is abysmal.

Music: Boss Battle Won - Chrono Cross, "Victory (A Cry In Summer)"



Our reward for the battle is a Black Dragonplate, an armor that grants disintegration resistance a whopping +34 PDF for 18 weight.

Music: None






I've never seen such power displayed by a human before.
Maybe you just haven't been looking hard enough?
Hmm... I intended to return home after solving this issue... but I think I will remain in this form for a while longer to learn how you can use it so well.








Unfortunately, it seems that Avelion is still quite unused to his human form. He's got an incredible HP total, second only to Sormaus, but other than that he's fairly Daniel-esque, and not even in a good way, because Daniel has him beat in every stat except MDF and SKL. I'm not really a fan.





His damage is all right and all, but we can do better.



Anyway, it's time to head back to Ft. Brahma and launch our attack on St. Reinard.



As always, we can talk to Bast to change our army formation. We don't have all that much to do today, though.




Specifically, our only change is to put Avelion into Keyser's unit instead of Reod, turning him into even more of a defensive powerhouse.



After that, it's time to get this show on the road.

Fade to black...

Music: War 2 - Final Fantasy Tactics, "Decisive Battle"






I've been looking forward to this battle. I hope it was worth the wait!




We've got some new music for this war battle, as well as all of our units together again.



Ash is the enemy commander this time around with a beastly cavalry unit. Like Pereious, we're probably going to have to give him a sacrifice in order to kill him. One thing the above screenshots didn't show, though, is that there is a huge distance between our army and the capital.



For reference, we need to head up the road for an entire screen...



... continue up another screen's worth of road...



... and head east to reach St. Reinard. So I think we're going to be skipping ahead a few turns.





By the end of turn 4, we've made a bit of progress. Ash, on the other hand, seems to have turtled up save for a lone scout. But just then...




An ambush!?
Ahaha! They walked right into it! Divide them and wipe them out!




Hey, what the fuck!? It's my turn!



By the time the ambushers are done with their hax, Eander is dead and a number of our other units are injured.

Music: None



And Bast wisely calls a retreat. I wouldn't want to face an army that gets to move on my own turn either.

There's no advantage in pressing on right now! We should fall back to Ft. Brahma and rethink our strategy!
You're right, Bast. We underestimated them. All units, retreat!




Fade to black...

Music: Empire - Final Fantasy Tactics, "Anxiety Before The Battle"




What's the point of celebrating? You know we're fighting a losing battle. They retreated this time, but they'll come back sooner or later. We lack the strength to defeat them, and we're completely isolated from the rest of the empire.
So what? What else can we do? Surrender? Where's the fun in that?
There's no strategic advantage in holding out. You know as well as I do that the battle is lost. Lady Brunhild will not come to save us. Your plans have failed, Ash. If we negotiate our surrender, we can at least return to Almenga.



This game isn't over yet. A chance like this will never come again, and there are still so many things left to enjoy. Wouldn't it be a terrible waste to let it end prematurely?
You're mad, Ash. You're leading us all to ruin. It's a mystery to me why Lady Brunhild entrusted you with this mission.




Fade to black...

Music: Mission - Xenogears, "Leftovers from the Dreams of the Strong"



Clearly, the enemy was already anticipating this attack before Ft. Brahma fell and prepared an ambush ahead of time. This battle may be harder than we were hoping, but we still have the upper hand on them.
That's right! We only retreated in order to come up with a proper plan. Our next attack will definitely succeed.
Don't take this too lightly. Even if they stick with the same strategy, there are many patches of forest around the capital that could hide a potential ambush.
Well, you're our chief strategist! Think of something! A mere ambush tactic can't stop us at this point!



Uh oh. I'm not sure I like where this is heading.

We can do it, but it'll cost us.
It'll cost us either way. We're dealing with their strongest troops so far, so we can't expect an easy victory.
Yes, but...





Yes! I have an urgent message for you! I haven't read it, but it came from a Kirgard soldier who said he escaped from St. Reinard to deliver it to you.
Someone from St. Reinard!? Let me see this message.



What does it say?
Is it something important?
The soldier who gave you this... Is he still here? Did he say anything else about it?
He's here, but he said he was given the order to deliver this message by his sergeant. He also said he didn't know what was in it himself.
Come on, stop leaving us in the dark. What does it say?




Some of our own men were forced to fight us at the battle? Barbaric!
But think about it. If they all rise up against Almenga during the next battle, it'll be an easy win for us. They probably don't even have enough of their own men left to defend the city.
Maybe.
You're not sure, Keyser?




I'm just being careful. We don't know how the enemy general operates, and we don't know what he is planning. I'm questioning whether an uprising like this could be organized without Almenga discovering it.
It's good to be cautious, but think about the alternatives. If this is a set-up, what is their goal? They're not proposing any particular strategy for us. All it might do is entice us to attack without a proper plan. Is that really worth the effort?
I agree. I see little reason to believe there's anything else at work here.
They must be controlling our men at St. Reinard through fear. They don't know what the real situation is like. If we show them that our victory is inevitable, they'll certainly switch sides, planned or not. We have to take this opportunity, even if it's just for the sake of our men!
It's fine with me.



Hmmm... in this situation, it'd be better to stick together. I suggest we move in from the east road this time.
All right. It's decided, then. We have two days. Make sure everything is ready by then.

This update ended up a lot longer than I expected, so I'm splitting it in two. Part 2 will be up tomorrow.