Part 14: Neo-Atlantis is About to E*X*P*L*O*D*E

Chapter 11: Neo-Atlantis is About to E*X*P*L*O*D*E







Get behind me, Rez! Looks like we're gonna finish this one up early!

Elly, no!

*fwoom*





_{I am suddenly less confident than before.}

I tried to warn you! Nothing works on Su-Zaku!





Hmm hmm hmm. Run, little mice! Run!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD








OH GOD SHE'S EVERYWHERE HOW IS SHE EVEN DOING THIS

THE SKY! Flaming birdwoman is above!

Trog's right, there's no cover out here!

Yes, no cover! What a predicament! Whatever will you do?!

In here! Quick!








*pant* Okay! Okay. I think we're safe. She didn't see us.





I love it when the prey tries to hide. Scamper off to your hole, mice. I'll see you soon.



She took a bazooka shot right to the face and didn't flinch. Just laughed at us.

Elly?

...What have we gotten ourselves into?




This world's already been gutted by its fiend. Su-Zaku will "chase" you around the overworld map, by which I mean every random encounter will be a boss fight with her. The good news is, you can run! The bad news is, it's not 100% guaranteed, and she'll be more than happy to rearrange your face if you fail.

(As a side note, I think Su-Zaku is actually male in the game, but screw it. This is my LP. She's whatever I say she is. )




Is safe now. Bird woman cannot fit.

What are those things? Did they cram an entire train down here?

If there was one, it's long gone. These tracks haven't seen active use for ages.





채ㅡㄷ 소ㅑㄴ ㅈ묘! *beckon*

O... kay.

Ah, more language issues. That's certainly something I never tire of.

Why, Dente d'Antaine! Was that sarcasm?

No, of course not.








ㅒㅗ ㅜㅐ! ㅗ디ㅔ!!

Language barrier or not, I know a bad situation when I see one.

You jerks picked the wrong day to mess with innocent people!










You have to be careful with this fight. Even though Rezen and Elly have solid agility scores, the Atom Ant will lead off with its smash hit "Goody Two Shoes," and Rezen's quirky sense of humor makes her susceptible to post-punk power pop.

Ha! I kid, of course. Rezen prefers modern pop. Also, we waste this scrub with little or no effort.




쫌ㅅ? You speak... Basium?

Sure do.








Er...





No? Well alright then.

Woman is strange.

Something about an air of mystery, eh?

Air was not mystery. Smelled of flowers.

Cherry blossoms! I have got to find out where she buys her stuff.





Dente, you've got better senses than the rest of us right now. Can you tell what's going on out there?

Mm. The young lady was correct; there's a town not fifty meters from this tunnel. They appear to be surrounded by a barrier of light.

Perhaps is protection from Sue.

Who?

Bird lady. Sue Zaku.

Trog, I don't think...

No. No, let him have this one.








Wow. Everything's so high tech!

Sure, let's make everything out of glass and metal. What could possibly go wrong?

Don't be such a Debbie Downer. Hi! We came from the tower and only speak Basium!

ㅛㅐㅕ 애ㅜ'ㅅ ㄴ묘.

It appears we'll need to find a translator.

No need. I understand you perfectly.

Great! So, where are we?

This? This is Neo-Atlantis—or what's left of it, anyway.

Atlantis? As like Espers?

Huh? I can't understand his accent.

I think he's asking how this place got its name.

Closely enough.

I think it's some mythological thing. Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. Communications are down. Fuel's scant. Travel's non-existant. The tunnels help, but they're full of mutants and feral monsters. Besides, Su-Zaku'd just pick us off if we tried to get to them.





...we're pinned down. We have no idea what's happening on the other side of the city.

How are you keeping Su-Zaku out of this area?

We're situated on a main power line. It powers our shield generator. As long as the underground plant's online, we're safe.

Hope it holds up.

You and me both.












We interrupt this regularly scheduled LP update to bring you an example of FFL's awful, awful localization.





He sure don't, game. He sure don't.







Hey! Twins!

Yup. I'm Nick.

Ooh, lemme guess. You're Nack?

Steve, actually.

Well, that's no fun.

Why does everyone assume twins' names have to rhyme?

Mine and my sister's rhyme!

You have a twin, too? Small world.

I'm beginning to suspect Espers may have twins more often than humans.

Es-what-now?

Not important. Where's the loot!





Yeeeeeeeah buddy!




As you'd suspect, the gear here is phenomenal. Army helmets all around, swap out Elly's bazooka for some Balkins, and we still have several tens of thousands of gold left. Also on sale is the Suit, which has an armor icon next to it, making it a suit of Suit.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, Dragon armor's protection from elemental attacks is about a million times more useful, so I don't bother with it. Besides, it's a crap-ton of money for just six more Defense points and O-Physical. Elemental attacks tend to be more problematic, and we can absorb big physical hits just fine after increasing our HP. Speaking of which...




I'm gonna level with you, Nick.

Steve.

Whatever. We need 'roids. The biggest and best you got.

Steroids are so last century. What you guys want is Monster Growth Hormone.

Is safe?

Not in the least.

But we sell it anyway!

How much does it cost?

I'm not gonna lie, it's pricey.

Not just gold, either. Gold doesn't go real far, what with no one to trade with.

Will you take rare swords?

Sure!

Rez, you don't have to do that.

Ehn. I've still got my knife, and I don't really trust that sword, either.

Huh? It's just a sword.

Here, you draw it.

Okay?



I don't get it.

Wait for it... Waaaaaait...

Blood Blood Blood Feed Drink

You stop that right now.

Sorry.

Sword polite. Who is knowing?




The Vampic isn't going to be useful with Rez's low HP, so it's taking up a valuable spot in our inventory. It's gotta go.

Now for the fun part. Agility and Strong potions are 300 gold. Right now, we have about 25k. Both Trog and Elly are around 50 of their respective stat. There is no longer any excuse for not maxing them out. While we're in there, we grab some HP400s and push them up to the cap, too. They've been behind the curve for a while now, and this should patch things up nicely.

I really can't stress how much easier a (mostly) sword-free loadout has been. Spells, guns, and heavy ordinance are cheap—at least, comparatively speaking. This means you actually have gold to do things with. It's pretty cool!




Are you sure you want to drink that? It has smoke pouring out of the top.

It's either this or get pummelled to death by tunnel monsters. We don't have a lot of options here.

Upside bottoms!







I still have misgivings about whatever was in those drinks.

At least there's no side effects!

Hanging's too good for her! Burning's too good for her!

Well, not many, anyway.

BLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

I probably ought to handle talking until they come back down. Hi! We're new here. Where's a good place to hang out?

I can tell you where not to go.





Seriously, all those guys do is drink and fight and hey where are you going

Drink!

Fight!

Take a wild guess.










Who wants some

쫌ㅅ'ㄴ ㅗㄷㄱ ㅇㄷ미?

I know it's difficult, but try to settle down a bit. Just breathe.

How about you, helmet? You been eyein' me funny since I walked in

Uh... yeah? You're red faced and screaming at everyone.

Is rude talking back

Man, I hope this stuff wears off soon.

What the fuck? Who do you assholes think you are?

I don't like your face.

Sorry, that's the Monster Growth Hormones talking.

No, they wore off a few seconds ago. I seriously don't like his face.





...better finish what I started, then.

See you outside, meat.





The hell I will! Socho, you're going to get yourself killed one day!

Hey, wait a minute! I know you!

Is pretty tunnel girl!

Wh—oh! I thought you looked familiar! Okay, everyone just calm down and listen...







...that's why you never talk about the Christmas party.

What does this have to do with anything?

Like I was saying before someone interrupted...

Tee hee.

...these four saved me in the tunnels. My E-Whip was out of batteries. They jumped in, guns blazing. Didn't even ask who I was.

Heh. Quick to fight, but hearts of gold. I like it.

Excusing Trog. Is still punching outside, or...?

Quiet.

Hmpf.

Anyway, I'm Socho Akana. This is my sister, Sayaka.

How do you do?

Is most polite person yet. Trog honor with firm handshake.

ow ow ow

Sorry about earlier. We were kind of hopped up on growth hormone.

Ehn, I've seen it before. It was more postering than anything. We get all kinds of freaks busting in here and trying to take over because of the shield generator. Sometimes, we have to teach them a lesson.

Well, at least we're on the same page now.

Which means absolutely squat, since we can't do anything about Miss Firefeathers up there.

You're after Su-Zaku, too?

ㅆ디ㅣ ㅗㄷㄱ, ㅠ개솓ㄱ!

ㅁㄱㄷ ㅛㅐㅕ 녁ㄷ?

Go on! We can trust them!

There may be... a solution.

Trog will listening.

We cobbled together some scanners and have been examining Su-Zaku for a while now.

She's not invincible—not really. She projects a force field that negates energy. Kinetic, combustion, magical, you name it. But, it's not part of her biomorphic field.

Bio-what-now?

It's not something she can do on her own. We wouldn't have realized it if it wasn't for Sayaka's background in biogenetics.

In other words, once her shield's down, it's down for good.

And then, we strike!

Ha! Is best part! Trog love the striking!

How do we cancel her shield, though?

It seems to have a harmonic signature—that's how I found it in the first place. If we can generate strong enough anti-noise, the field will be negated, and she'll be left unprotected.

I put together specs for a machine that'll do it, but...

But?

We don't have the parts. Most of them are halfway across the city. Even with the tunnels, we'd be sitting ducks.

...But we won't be.

What?

You blow across the city on your big noisy machines wearing those huge tin cans on your head, and Su-Zaku'll spot you a mile away. Besides, I don't care how disciplined your guys are. By the time you get everyone organized and changing directions, she's already had half of you for lunch.

Heh. Good tactics. Ex-military?

Yeah.

We can't ask you to do that for us. It's too much.

Well, we're doing it either way! So there.

You guys... You're alright.

Likewise.

Alright, we need three parts. The first is a microprocessor. The ones we can salvage here aren't powerful enough.

After that, we'll need a fresh, blank circuit board.

And the third part?

We'll worry about that later. You bring me the first two parts, and I'll know I can trust you. After that, we'll get the third one together.

Trog is not understanding zappy metal. But, can get behind defeating Sue.

Sue?

Long story. Alright, you got yourself a deal.

Glad to hear it. We'll start tomorrow. For now, take a load off, enjoy yourself. Nobody's gonna mess with you here.







If I only could, I'd make a deal with Gooooooood~

Oh my God what is that noise.

Rez?

Seriously, it sounds like someone's murdering a dog!

Heh! That's what passes for singing around here. We do open mic every Saturday. Helps to pick up people's spirits.

And I ran.... I ran so far awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~

Not singing like that, it won't!

Oh yeah? Why don't you give a shot, tough girl?

What?

Yeah! Put down the root beer and get up there! Let's see what you got!

I, uh...

C'mon, Rez. I've heard you sing. You got this!

Um, okay...

It's the fiiiiiiiiiiiiiinal countdooooooooooooown~

Okay! And that was Tim's rendition of some song we can't figure out because he completely butchered it.

_{Like you're any better.}

Next up, one of the outsiders from the tower'll be trying her luck. All the way from Base Town, give it up for Rezen Vox!

*faint clap from the back row*





Um... H-hello, everyone. I'm gonna sing a song now...

WHAT? WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!

G-give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above...

BOOOOOOOOOOO YOU SUCK

...

Oh no you d'int






It's the only beer we got, so savor it. Where'd you serve?

Base Town, tower guard.

Infantry, huh? Commissioned?

Just a private. I went AWOL to climb the tower with Rez. Guess I'm not much of anything anymore.

Nah. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

...heh. And what's your story?

Master Gunnery Sergeant—or used to be, before the world went to hell.

Sir.

At ease, private, we're off duty. I do what I can to keep the town running, but it's just a matter of time. No one here knows how to repair the shield. When it finally goes down, we're toast.

What the hell happened here, anyway? Su-Zaku?

Some of it. Su-Zaku just popped out of the tower one day and started wreaking havoc. We fought her for a long time, but the more we threw at her, the worse it got. Eventually, the joint chiefs made the hard call.

What call?

...

Sorry, not my place.

They dropped the bomb. The bomb. Right on us.

_...Jesus.

Honestly, we all knew it was the right call. None of our other weapons had any effect. If Su-Zaku wasn't stopped, the whole world would've been up a creek. As soon as we got the notice, we got as many people to shelter as we could.

I guess it didn't work, huh?

You think? The whole goddamn world's fallen apart since. Used to be members of Neo-Atlantis' finest, now we mug civilians for petrol. Some life.

Bleh. Well, you done feelin' sorry for yourself now?

Wha?

Yeah, the whole world's gone to shit. So what? We got a chance to make it right now. Don't waste it.

...Some things never change, no matter where you go. Here's to you, private. Semper fi.

*clink* Ooragh.







So what's her deal, anyway?

Who, Rez? Just a lonely girl with a dream.

Must be tougher than she looks to get this far.

Yeah, she's multi-talented.

I live for the applause, applause, applause~

Live for the applause-plause, live for the applause-plause~

She's really come out of her shell since we started all this.

Hell of a voice, too.

Yeah. The whole troop's good people. Real good.

*belch* Ha! Another!

Oh Trog-kuuuuun~

Even that one?

Especially that one. Though I'd keep an eye on your sister anyway.







Ra ha rahaha! Rama ramama~

Sa Ga ooh la la! Want your bad romance~

WOOOOOOO YAAAAAAAAAAY

Thank you! Thank you!

Marry me, Rezen!

No, you're creepy! Thank you everyone!

Way to knock 'em dead, kiddo.

That was awesome! Did you see me?

Ah, indeed we did! A fine performance, fine indeed.

Dente? Are you... are you drunk?

Perhaps, my dear, perhaps! Sayaka was kind enough to break the seal on some vintage sherry. Ah, my, but it was a delight! Damn fine girl, she is. Damn fine girl.

That's the spirit! Bartender! Another root beer!

You got it!

You guys really rolled out the red carpet for us. Thank you.

Y'all are worth it. Enjoy yourselves. It's gonna be a rough one tomorrow.




Next Time: Good News and Bad News