Part 14: Getting the band back together

Last time on LPFFVIA, we crammed three people into the same diving helm in order to traverse the Serpent Trench.



Don't ask me how it works, it just does.

More importantly, that means Matt's scenario is finally over. In fact, all three scenarios are over! And that means...



...we have gathered our party and are finally allowed to venture forth!



That's not what we asked!

What you ask is the same.

No matter the order you play the three scenarios in, Tim's group is always the first to arrive. It makes sense; their route is much shorter than any of the others, especially if you consider that Indy most likely had to make his way through the caves as well, since it's not a good idea to bring imperial generals in through the front door... as Tim came to realize.



Banon!

We're asking you to spill your blood.
Emperor Gestahl is racing to acquire ever greater Magitek power.
That's the reason he wants the esper that was discovered here.
If we allow the Empire to continue amassing weapons of Magitek destruction...
...history's greatest mistake will be repeated.

"Narshe has no weapons of Magitek Destruction! Bush lied!"

The War of the Magi...



I had thought humans to be wiser creatures...





Somehow, Matt still manages to arrive before Indy, and I'm not sure how that makes sense, but maybe the whole phantom train scenario takes place outside of time or something.


Who have you brought along?

I am MrThou, a warrior of the kingdom of Doma.

Uwao... Bruce!

Damn, you guys were right. That is pretty much hilarious.

The Empire killed everyone in Doma, down to hte last child...

Kefka... poisoned them...

Barbaric!

"Next I expect you will tell me they all leave the toilet seat up and pour ketchup on their pasta!"

Elder!

Come on, the sooner you just admit that they're evil, the sooner we can get on with this plot thing. You know no one is leaving this room until you do.

But... that was because Doma was collaborating with the Returners.
As long as we remain neutral, we have nothing to fear from the Empire.



Dramatic entrance!



The Empire's poised to attack Narshe as we speak!

What!?

Indy, where did you manage to get your hads on information like that?

Meryl here was one of the Empire's gener-



And so MrThou backhands Bruce across the room.



I know I liked this man for a reason.

The infamous General Meryl...
The woman single-handedly responsible for the decimation of Maranda...






Bah, stupid Indy, jumping in just when it's getting good.

Meryl has promised to join the Returners! She's fighting on our side now!

Did she actually say that or did we just say "okay we're recruiting you now" and take the stunned silence as a yes?

(Indy is good at taking stunned silence as a yes.)

Be that as it may...!

I promised I'd protect her, and I won't give up a woman I've sworn to protect!

I question his definition of "protect". I think he means "preserve".

Indy... You still haven't gotten over that, have you...?

I was also an Imperial soldier.



The Empire is evil, but that doesn't mean that all of its citizens are.

goddamn

is that common sense

in a SNES RPG



And then the Empire attacked.



Like so.



All together now.

SHOCK!

---



Kerka, sir... What about the civilians?

What about them? Kill them all!

But, sir, Narshe is a neutral city...!

Idiot!


There's a reason "oppose" rhymes with "dispose"... If they get in your way, kill them!
March!

I have to admit, as much of a pissant as Kefka is, that's a pretty good line.

---



They're here for the esper...

We moved it up into the cliffs above the valley.

Then that's where we'll make our stand!

---


Don't go falling for him now, thinking he was protecting you out of love back there.



And yes, this is still one of the better lines in the game.

So much for my next suggestion...

---



You can use magic, too... can't you? But... it's different from mine.

I was raised to be an Imperial Magitek knight.
When I was still very young, I was artificially infused with magic.

...Is it possible for you to love other people?

DAMN IT AERIS NOT NOW

...? Are you mocking me?

No, she really is that dumb. Sorry, nothing we can do.

---



Fine. Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.

---



And here we are. (Born to be kings... no, wait, that went to a bad place.)

Anyway, we have a chance to re-equip everybody here. Talking to someone causes Aeris to switch places with them, so you can easily get at all the characters. (Which is good because I picked up a couple of Magus Hats for the ladies - +5 to magic, hell yeah!)

When finished, speak to Banon.



Indeed we are.



Oh, it's you again.

Would you like an explanation?

...sure, why not.

You'll fight using 3 different groups. Press Select to switch between them.

oh is that so

because

I have some ideas about that

and they do not involve pressing select much at all

Defeat Kefka before his men reach Banon, or the battle is lost!
After you've made 3 parties on the party formation screen, press Start to begin the battle.

Here they come!

AUDIO: Save Them!


So. Say hello to Team Why is this kid even on a battlefield to begin with swear to god when I find who's responsible for this the only reason they won't get latrine duty for life is that I'm going to kill them myself...



...Team Holy Shit This Is Awkward...



...and Team You're Already Dead, and if you're wondering what Indy is doing here it's only because he's the only person in the group who won't throw up looting the bodies after what the other three are going to do to them.


Excellent! Now I won't have to hunt you down later!

*stupid horse laugh*

Kefka's expendable mooks file in.



While they slowly make their way up to us, we'll have a quick chat with our companions.

My past is behind me... I have nothing to do with the Empire now!

"You know. Other than sticking my sword in them. That hardly counts."

Kefka... Is he the one who put the slave crown on me...?

Yes, it was, so why don't you go show him what you think about the Empire's "invasive procedures"?

Bruce fight hard!

You do that, Bruce. Go fight hard. Somewhere else. Somewhere I don't have to look at you.

Kefka...! What do you hope to gain from all this?

Loot, slaves, you know, all the good stuff that you can't have because you're on the "good" side.

I will avenge the people of Doma!

"I mean... I will stand here and watch you avenge the people of Doma, but that's almost the same thing. Really."

It's time to put everything Master Duncan taught me to use...



And that's everybody!

...what?

Oh.

All right, fine.

Curse the Empire! I'm not gonna let them walk all over people!



So, the two of you go up somewhere you won't be in my way...



...while the people who don't suck (and Indy) charge into the fray.







Aeris learned a thing! Which she'll never use, but it's okay, it'll sit there in the menu looking pretty.



SUPLEX

...and that leaves only one more enemy. This one looks like one of the ordinary brown soldiers, but it's walking back and forth in front of Kefka rather than heading towards Banon like the rest, and the actual fight is something completely different:



SUPLEX



Oh, and you can steal a nice shirt from him.

That leaves only the boss.



Unfortunately for us, Kefka cannot be suplex'd, and perhaps worse yet, he knows Blizzara, and it hurts like a motherfucker.



Unfortunately for Kefka, he only has 3000 HP, and Matt's final hadoken knocks off the last few before he gets another turn.

(Looking back, I should probably have healed after that Blizzara. OH WELL. Honestly, I'm used to being a couple of levels higher when I get here.)

Don't think you've won!

And he runs away.

He drops a Peace Ring relic, which prevents berserk and confusion, and is probably the last thing I'd expect Kefka to carry around.





Pfft. Ain't nothin' to it.

Where's the esper?

Is it all right?

---



Apparently so.

It also appears to be... alive.

Is that even possible...?

Wizards were involved. Don't think too much about it; you're probably just going to hurt yourself.



Aeris doesn't appreciate Indy's tone, so...



...she knocks him off the mountain.

Meryl, probably thinking she owes him something, pulls him up again and that really ticks Aeris off-



-so she knocks everybody off the mountain.



They're reacting to each other!



if I were to take a guess

and this is only a guess mind you

I would say "cold"

because

Hmm? Wh-what's going on...?
Please... tell me!
Who am I? Who!?

Silly question. Why, you're Aeris, the world's only half-human half-plot-device crossbreed!

Aeris!

The esper...
It's responding to her!

Aeris...
Get away from that thing!

I wish he'd make up his mind. I thought this was the plan all along.



Anyway, Aeris isn't listening, and I get the feeling the esper wouldn't give a fuck either way.



16-bit nudity!



And off she goes.

...I didn't remember to unequip her gear.











--



Hey, this seems familiar, somehow, almost as if I watched a similar scene at some point...

Are you awake?

Indy jumps out of bed.

...Where's Aeris!?

She turned into a... something... and flew off. She looked like...

"...like?"

"_{she looked like a furry okay}"

"NOOOOOO"



Apparently Indy's howl of despair alerted the others to his existence or something. Tim comes in through the southern door.

Indy! Are you okay?

He nods.

Something happened to Aeris...
There must be some sort of connection between her and that esper... We need to find her!
Witnesses said she went streaking westward across the sky, beyond Figaro.

Unfortunate choice of words, but technically correct, I suppose.

Damn it, Aeris.



They head into the main room where the rest of the group is waiting.



Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Empire will be back again for that esper.

And someone needs to protect Banon...

A former Imperial soldier...
But still... We must help her!

Let's split up.

Tim has never seen a horror movie.

Those who aren't searching for Aeris will stay here to guard against further attacks.
Figaro castle can shuttle the others to the western province.
It shouldn't be hard to track down clues in Kohlingen or Jidoor as to Aeris's whereabouts.



We need to make a party.

If said party contains three or less people, we will be able to hire Batman later on. I assume we want to hire Batman, so, three people, and none of them may be Bruce.

For reasons that should be obvious.

Much as it may disgust me, I'm going to recommend Indy (if you, for some strange reason, care about his backstory), just to get it over with, and the Super Figaro Bros. will both be quite helpful in the upcoming areas. Meryl isn't quite up to scratch yet, and MrThou is... well, MrThou. But I suppose you knew that already.