Part 48: Army Of Two

Welcome back. Last time on Exit Fate, we fended off an attack from the Imperial Elite Guard, led by Brunhild, then followed her into the woods at Jormundgand. Not surprisingly, we found her there, looking for another fight. Before she could make a move, however, Clint showed up to fight her instead, and told us to flee. The outcome of that battle is unknown, and we've fled into enemy territory. Where do we go from here? It's time to find out.

Music: Muspelheim - Wild Arms 2, "Two Lovers Split Apart"




We begin this update panning over a town we haven't seen before. The camera settles on one of the larger buildings.





It's a quiet town. There's not much going on. We'll be safe here for now.
Are you sure? We're still in enemy territory.
I know the owner of this place. He doesn't sympathize with the imperial rule.
So even this country is internally divided...
Of course it is. It's impossible to make everyone happy.




I've only been with the Elysium army for a short time, but it's surprising how well everyone is working together. You're already a better leader than you might think.
Thank you... I guess we'll have to wait here for a while.
Do you have any idea how to get out of here?
They're probably looking for us as we speak. Going back to the Jormundgand would be too dangerous, and the rest of the border is too inaccessible. We'll just have to rely on Eander... Anyway, there's something I want to ask you.



Do you really think she was speaking the truth, about her being your mother?
It wouldn't make sense for her to bring it up if she was lying. Besides, it doesn't even surprise me anymore at this point.
Well... obviously I've never known her myself, since she died before I was even born, but her name was Sigrid Famnira. She came from a rich merchant family. Lady Sigrid met Prince Siegfried when he was just a young man. I think they got married not long after that. But their happiness was short-lived. Sigrid fell ill, and did not appear in public for almost a year. She never recovered, and died in late fall. It was only three years after their marriage. I think it was the year... 1513.
1513...?



But, about what Lady Brunhild said... Could Sigrid still be alive, thirty-two years after she supposedly died?
She said that the terms "dead" and "alive" no longer applied to her. What could she have possibly meant with that?
I'm sorry. I have no idea either. It's all been a big shock to me, to hear how much the emperor and Lady Brunhild kept secret from us. I wonder... Lady Gudrun was demoted in favor of Brunhild, even though she'd been at the emperor's side for so long.



Elsewhere...

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



Huh. Brunhild made it back to the capital pretty damn fast, it seems.



And would you look who it is.





...
You need not tell us.
We already know.





We are NOT to be ordered.
Those who lack power cannot give orders.
We order YOU not to interfere.
We are leaving.



...



This time, Daniel may destroy them.
Let us pray he will.
In any case...




But still, there never used to be this kind of periodic shifting... Could it be a sign that the destined time is at hand?
The destined time? You like using such abstract terms, don't you? His strength, his resilience and his success are all beyond what you had planned. Did you foresee this as well?
Maybe.
Maybe? You don't want to tell me? ... Or are you not sure yourself?



I opened more than one path for him.
I see... Well, I shouldn't be staying here with those two on the loose. I'll make sure they're monitored.










Brunhild and Gudrun briefly pause as they pass each other.




It's taken care of.
But what's going on? If they're no longer obeying our orders, then we have to...




Back with Daniel...

Music: Muspelheim - Wild Arms 2, "Two Lovers Split Apart"



I've fought both of them before, and if those battles were any indication... I think she's more than a match for him. But he seems like a real survivor, so I can't say with certainty. I just know that he w--

Music: None



What's wrong?
Get up! Now!
Wha...?

Music: Fuse - Xenogears, "Fuse"





Fade to black...






Oh balls. Trevor and Sick aren't even running here, they're just floating towards us at high speed.

Hahahaha... Feeling tired yet?
Don't worry. We'll be right over.
Oh god...
Do you see now? We have to keep running!
But it's useless! We can't keep this up for long!




Tarlia starts to lag behind.

I'm... I'm sorry, I just can't keep up anymore.
Damn it... They just won't slow down. At this rate, we'll...

Music: None



Fade to black...



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




Don't thank me.




After Deus warned me, we came here as fast as we could. We completely walked over their border guard.
I owe you all. But... we're not safe yet.



I don't like this... Still, they're not backed up by the Almenga army this time. This might be the only chance we'll ever get to destroy them.



Don't underestimate them. To be honest, I'm not even sure our entire army will be enough to take them down. But we'll never make any progress as long as they're still around. We don't have a choice. Let's do it.



We're given a chance to change our unit setup here, but there's not many changes we can make that will really help us. So let's get started.

Music: Demon War - Final Fantasy Tactics, "Night Attack"





How amusing.
Yet not very fair.
But we'll entertain ourselves with you for a while.



And thus begins the most lopsided battle in the game: the eight thousand one hundred seventy-five soldiers of the Elysium Army...



... against two men.




To absolutely no one's surprise, Trevor and Sick are the most powerful units we have or ever will see, capable of both annihilating any one of our units in a single shot and taking quite a beating before they go down. But though their stats are incredible, the rules of the game are still in our favor: Trevor and Sick are both sorcery units, which means they can't counterattack, and though each of their units represents a single person, their attack power will still drop as they take damage and their "men" decreases. The trick will be getting into attack range.



And it'll have to be one hell of a trick, because Trevor and Sick ain't your regular sorcery units. Normal sorcery units have an attack range of three squares, but the commandos have a range of five, meaning there's no way to attack them directly without first walking into their range and hoping we survive.



So we're going to have to do just that. However, rule #1 for this battle is that Daniel doesn't get to play. Putting him anywhere near the commandos is just begging for him to get instakilled, so it's better to just leave him where he starts and not move him for the entire battle.




The commandos begin their advance.




We set up just outside of their range.




So of course they line themselves up to take out our closest units.




But instead of sending in just a couple of units, we dump as many people as possible into their range. That will give us the best chance of a unit advancing far enough to hit them.





Oddly enough, Trevor decides that his best move is to get right in Griever's face and then attack Paris. I can work with this.




Sick performs a similar move and obliterates Ljusalf.



I don't think it's too hard to figure out what our strategy is here.





We attack with everything we have, first sending Griever and Shiro after Trevor. Griever sets herself up behind Trevor to prevent him from retreating.





Likewise, Eander and Outsider do what they can to Sick.



Everyone else starts surrounding them.





Trevor attacks Marian next, one-shotting her.




Sick, however, is unable to strike down Outsider with his attack. We're getting somewhere.








The combined might of Eander, Griever, Merrick, and Shiro is enough to defeat Sick.






Everyone else who can attack Trevor does so, but he remains standing.





And he gets off one final fuck-you.







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





This is one of the war battles in the game where I simply cannot fathom how one is supposed to get an A-rank, as I don't see how it's possible to get enough units in range to attack Trevor and Sick without losing at least three of them. But maybe SCF or someone else can chime in.

In any case, even the B-rank reward is pretty great. Heal is the third-tier healing spell, restoring a boatload of HP for 95/114 MP. But the A-rank reward is fucking taunting me: it's the Demon Robe, an amazing armor which is only obtainable in this battle and grants +20 PDF and +20 MDF for only 5 weight. The C-rank reward is a Diamond Dust.

Music: Muspelheim - Wild Arms 2, "Two Lovers Split Apart"



We may have won the battle, but we're not done with Trevor and Sick just yet. I just want to pause briefly here and mention that I really like how this game shows that Trevor and Sick are not to be trifled with. An unwinnable battle in an RPG is one thing, but as some posters pointed out, that kind of gameplay device always leaves you with the annoying feeling that the game is taking control away from you. But barely scraping out a partial victory after having to throw all the effort and resources you have at an enemy is a much more effective method of conveying that message to the player. So kudos to SCF here.

At least they're not posing a direct threat to us for now. They retreated further west, and it doesn't look like they intend to take us on again.
Maybe not on their own, but if they join forces with the imperial army...
Hmmm, if you put it that way, it's strange that they came all by themselves.



We don't have a choice. If we want to make any progress, we'll have to get rid of them first. If we leave them be, there's no telling when and where they'll strike next, and next time we might not be this lucky. Deus, you said you've researched them. Do you have any idea what they really are?
Unfortunately, I don't know what their true origin is, but I did find something that might bear some relation to them. I found some old records at Cento Temple that speak of something that happened hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. It's hard to say how much of it is truth and how much myth, but it may be interesting.



The north? Does that refer to Almenga?
Most likely, yes. Almenga and Kirgard were one country at the time. According to what I've been able to decipher, the world was on the brink of destruction, or at least the known world at the time.
But these demons must've been defeated in the end, right? How were they slain?
I'm afraid it's not of much use to us.




Well, that's the solution, isn't it? We have to make those two rise up against the emperor.
But how do you suppose we do that? They don't seem to be taking orders from Almenga to begin with.



We couldn't stop them even if we wanted. There's no way we could make them turn against their masters. They don't have a master to begin with.
Hmm... I guess we're not going to get anywhere with this.



If the way these two demons were created is the same as what happened in this war, and these ancient demons came from Almenga, then the process they used must've been retrieved from old records.
Makes sense, but that information is probably at the imperial capital right now.
Yes, but I might know where it originally came from. You see, we know very little about the distant history of Almenga. Most records have long been destroyed.



It was an extremely valuable discovery, and many sages were sent there to translate these old writings. But it's also a severely restricted area. Information from what they called the "Hall of Memories" is only released after receiving the emperor's approval.
So you think some of these secret records describe how to create these demons?
I think it's worth looking into. I'm sure most works have already been taken to Vanaheim, but the actual translation is done on-site, so we may still find something.
It certainly sounds worthwhile. With as little as we know, any sort of clue may prove helpful.



Oh hey, Yan Angwa's decided he wants to be relevant again. I find it hilarious that every time he does this, I don't even realize he's in the cutscene until he starts talking.



That depends on what we can find in there. I simply want to know more about the nature of these demons.
Suit yourself. Anyway, Tarlia. Where is this place?
It's southwest of here, on the shore of a large lake. It's close enough that we shouldn't have to worry about the imperial army.
All right. Let's go there right away. If it's as important to Almenga as it sounds, there may still be some troops defending the site, but they should be no match for us.



Fade to black...

Music: None



They were probably only here to keep out looters and bandits.
I wasn't expecting anything else. They couldn't have held this position even with a larger force. What about the scholars?
There weren't many civilians left either. They said most of them fled after we broke through the border. We questioned the others, but it doesn't look like they know anything useful.



Next time: Brunhild can't have been the first person to try summoning demons...