Part 46: Smug To The Bitter End (Part 2)

Welp, let's try this again...

Fade to black...

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




Oh, come on. First you get units that can move on my turn, and now you get a bunch of extra men? What gives?





Let's do this.



Ash seems to have swapped out his Scatter skill for Light Feet, but he's still the same otherwise.




We thankfully have a bit of a closer start this time around, but we're still pretty far away, so once again I'm going to be skipping ahead a few turns.






Once again, we've made a bit of progress by the time we're done with our fourth turn, but we still have a ways to go. And we have another event.






Whoa! Now that's a unit!



Now's the time! Everyone, move in! Our target is General Ash!
You're... betraying me!? How dare you!
Don't get angry at me, "dear". It's not my problem if you can't take care of yourself.
You... bitch!
Look! The Kirgard toops at St. Reinard are moving against the Almengans! We've got to help them! But... isn't that one of the enemy generals leading them?



Tarlia may not have that much in the way of attack power, but her defense is off the charts and 1200 men is going to ensure that she causes quite a bit of carnage before she goes down. And she will go down; that's a guarantee. Fortunately, she doesn't count towards our efficiency rating, since let's face it, there's literally no way to save her.





Better yet, she still has her hax from the last battle and gets a move on the enemy turn, which she uses to obliterate one of the enemy sorcery units.





Unfortunately, while the AI may not like to engage juggernaut units at melee range, it's perfectly happy to throw all of its ranged capabilities at them. Every single scout and sorcery unit in range goes after Tarlia.



By the time they're done, Tarlia is down to 797 men. Weirdly, though, the enemy melee units all decide to bunch up around her without attacking, which means that by the time Ash's turn to move comes around (enemy commanders always move last), he can't actually reach her.



That sounds like the sort of thing Tarlia could capitalize on.




Continuing the trend of AI units prioritizing sorcery units above all, Tarlia moves north and removes the remaining sorcery unit.



Oh right, and I guess we have another battle going on here. We've got an enemy scout and infantry nearby, but they're the only guys in range.



I move Paris into the scout's range while leaving everyone else back.





Once again, the enemy scouts continue their onslaught against Tarlia, dropping her to 490 men.




The southern scout also takes the bait and attacks Paris, while the infantry nearby moves southeast.



Now that Tarlia's down to 490 men, she's no longer in the AI's "do not attack" category, so the enemy cavalry surround her and beat her to a pulp.



Ash once again cannot reach her, but by the end of the turn Tarlia is dead in the water.




She also decides not to do anything as our turn begins. Well, it was fun while it lasted.




Now then, it's time to take care of the enemies near us. Paris goes after the infantry, but he's the only one who can reach him, so he's likely going to take another hit. He should be fine, though.




Eander is just overkill at this point.



Everyone else forms up.





Tarlia gets killed to start the enemy's turn 6.



Paris also takes a predictable hit, falling to 192 men while dropping the enemy to 176.



Not much else happens. The enemy is now shifting towards us, but there's still a bit of distance in between the two armies.





Outsider takes out the southern infantry, while everyone else moves up a bit.




And the enemy continues to close in.




So we continue our cautious advance.




But Ash doesn't take the bait, even going as far to move his personal unit back into the mountains.





Well, we can at least finally do something. Outsider goes after the forward infantry.



We move up a little more, but I still intend to make the enemy come to us.





And come to us they do, though not in the fashion I would have expected. The weakest of the enemy cavalry attacks Outsider, but it only results in the cavalry getting crippled.




The stronger cavalry, meanwhile, attacks Jovian, with much the same result.




Outsider takes another hit, but continues kicking the shit out of anyone that comes after him.



That's all the enemy can do this turn.



And that means it's time for the customary display of overwhelming force.




Erin gets things started by finishing off the weakened infantry.




Shiro follows up by taking out one of the cavalry to the north, opening some attack routes for our units there.




Outsider decides he doesn't need any of this long-range bullshit and kills the cavalry right next to him.





Marian and Keyser team up to defeat the adjacent infantry.




Next up, Bast adds to his kill count.




Merrick rushes out ahead to take a daring shot at one of the enemy infantry.




Eander rides in to support him, and unsurprisingly one-shots another enemy.




Griever covers Merrick's other flank, attacking the northern infantry.



And everyone else moves up behind them. Daniel is going to be hanging back for this battle, since the last thing I want is for Ash to rush in and one-shot him while everything else is going smoothly.






Eander and Griever start taking some hits from the enemy scouts.







And then they get attacked by the nearby infantry, but manage to stay alive.



Ash is once again stuck, unable to reach anyone.





Okay, now I really want to know what Bast's kill count is.




Griever, meanwhile, uses her remaining men to take out the adjacent infantry.





Next up, Shiro and Outsider kill a second infantry...






... and Marian and Keyser kill a third.




Jovian, meanwhile, goes after the scout next to Ash.




Erin follows up by killing a fourth infantry.




Merrick bravely steps up to take the first shot at Ash himself. He's the only one who can reach Ash, though, and it's now pretty much a certainty that Ash is going to kill him. Godspeed



And a bit more backend shuffling to end the turn.





The weakened scout goes after Griever, but it's not enough to kill her.




The other scout attacks Jovian...




... and Ash annihilates Merrick. But he's now in range of every single one of our long-range units.



Let's end this.





Keyser and Jovian take out one scout...




... Bast scores himself another kill...








... and we grind Ash into the dirt.



Music: War Battle Won - Suikoden V, "Cry Victory!"





Hey. Hey Ash. SUCK IT.

For the A-rank, we land ourselves our first glimpse at the top tier of accessories with a Purple Bandana, which grants +16 SKL. The B-rank reward is a copy of Cure-All, and the C-rank reward is... a Brown Herb. Yeah.

Music: None



And I never thought I would be helping Kirgard, but times have changed. I've served my country loyally for many years, but recently, things have not been the same anymore. Putting Ash in charge of this mission was just the final straw. I tolerated it up till now, but I couldn't let him destroy everything when there was no chance of victory anymore.
I'm grateful for your help. You've saved many lives on both sides. But, even if you were just turning against Ash, I doubt you can still return to your country now.
I'm prepared to accept the consequences.








Tarlia is, for lack of a better term, a walking brick wall. With the second-highest natural PDF in the game, along with high HP and MDF, she is a prime candidate for the front row if you want to protect someone behind her. While she's definitely a warrior, though, her STR is a bit lacking for a frontliner, roughly comparable to Angel's. If you want a more offense-minded warrior there are other options, but if you're looking for a defensive warrior there's no one better.





Tarlia attacks with a giant fuckoff axe, which makes it rather surprising that her STR is relatively low. During my first playthrough of this game, I actually used Tarlia for quite awhile before I realized that hey, she's not actually doing as much damage as my other warriors.

Music: Suspicion - Suikoden V, "Suspicion"




Even your closest allies turned against you, and now your reign in this country is over. Do you have anything to say to that?



"Well done"? That's it? After all the blood you shed for this invasion, doesn't your defeat mean anything to you?
It's all part of the game, isn't it? That's what makes it exciting. Win or lose, anything could happen. That's why it's fun.
Fun...? This is not a game, General. There's nothing enjoyable about this.



What do you think the purpose of our lives is? These lives that you and I throw away so easily. Everything ends eventually. All you're building up will vanish some day. If nothing's lasting, why should we care about anything except our own enjoyment? What other reason is there to live?



Okay I'm pretty sure Ash just called me a tryhard. I thought shit like this was reserved for pre-teens on Xbox Live.





Hey, what are you...
Haha... the poison is already taking its effect. I'm not going anywhere.
Poison!?
A rather... lethal kind.



You have no idea what you're up against. You're just doing exactly what he wanted you to. Haha... even Tarlia doesn't know anything. Goodbye... Daniel Vinyard. This is where it all ends for me.




And thus died General Ash. He died as he lived: being a smug prick that nobody liked.

Ugh... Do you have any idea what he was talking about just now, Tarlia?
No... but I'm certain there were many things I didn't know about. Ash's sudden promotion and those two mysterious men are proof of that.
Well... at least this is the end of the Almengan occuptation of Kirgard.



Fade to black...

Music: Reinard Castle - Suikoden V, "Fortified Castle"




By leaving this city, I became responsible for the worst catastrophe this country has ever had to endure. I swear on his majesty's grave, I will never let anything like this happen again!

Music: Darkness - Chrono Cross, "Dragon's Prayer"






Oh no, that's...
You know what it is...? No, that can't be... It's the two demons?



Is it going out of control because Ash is dead?
Regardless of what it is... we have to take it out before it causes any more damage.
Let me fight by your side! This is my responsibility as well!




At this point we're given the opportunity to save and change our party.



It's probably a good idea to do this, since our party has abruptly become just Daniel, Eander, and Tarlia. I load everyone back in.

BOSS FIGHT: Riftgate

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



And without so much as a fade-in, we're abruptly tossed into a fight with the Riftgate, another returning boss from Last Scenario. We've been on a real kick lately.




Now here's the thing. The Riftgate has Ravage, which deals a good amount of damage, but this battle is really supposed to be a gimmick battle. Every couple of turns, the Riftgate is supposed to spend a turn charging, and then follow up with Atomic Incineration, an attack that does heavy damage to the entire party.




But the boss's script must've bugged out or something, because he never used it. He just kept using Ravage, over and over and over. Needless to say, that made the battle a hell of a lot easier.



So we steal a copy of Blink from him...







... and then just go all-out. With Daniel on Cure duty, I was never in any danger.

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



We get Battle Plan #10 for our trouble, which is the plan for the battle we just fought.

Music: None




Fade to black...

Music: Reinard Castle - Suikoden V, "Fortified Castle"







Well well, who do we have here?










That's it!? Then where is Leonius? Don't tell me he was killed!?
You mean... you don't know yet!?
What do you mean? What do we not know?

Music: Suspicion - Suikoden V, "Suspicion"



It should be noted that Daniel and company had no way of knowing this until now. For all they knew Leonius had just been his usual incompetent self when Almenga attacked.

What!?
It's true. It was all his fault. We... We thought it was an accident at first. They showed up out of nowhere, and all the gates were left wide open. That's why we lost so easily. Once they'd gotten into the city, the general even came to us and told us to surrender. But it was no accident. I didn't believe it until I saw him myself. General Leonius, talking to the Almenga guys, welcoming them into the city. He was in league with Almenga all along. I'm sure of it.
I can't believe it... Leonius of all people?
But why would he do that?
I just don't know. I can still hardly believe it myself.







Next time: We return to where we first lost ourselves. And it's finally going to be time for another party vote!