Part 37: Battle

Chapter 16 Battle

We've got a couple class changes to get to before starting the mission.

Promotion Time



Henry improves his offense even further, making him one of the deadliest fighters on the team. He's a bit fragile in comparison to Lucina or Donny, but he'll kill things well enough.



Kjelle becomes yet ANOTHER E rank sword user added to our squad, furthering the voter's hatred for lance users. She's certainly not slow anymore, but her offense is a bit lacking with the relatively low strength and no Support ready to aid her. She learns Swords and Avoid+10.



No more E swords, I'm tired of it. She gets an Arm Scroll so she can start wielding real weapons already.



The team that's climbing Mount Tall-as-hell Tree, with Nowi coming back as the Shepherd's weakener of enemies.

Let's start.



"Yes, come closer," said the hairy spider to the flies...

General Cervantes! Lord Excellus was right—the Ylissean League approaches!

...So we're going with that name, I see.

...Are you daft, boy? Did you not hear what I was JUST saying?!

A thousand pardons, sir!

Hmm... They must have some skill to make it this far... But no matter. We will show them the meaning of the word "fear"...

The meaning of "beard," sir?

Er, yes, I'm sure they would be most impressed... But perhaps—



Y-yes, sir! Of course, sir! ...Sorry, sir!

...They are impressive, though, aren't they? My whiskers? Ha ha! I've not shaved since my very first battle. And have I ever lost? No! Not even once! Ergo, my moustache makes me invincible. It's science, my boy—science!



Killing him ends the map, which is an emergency option when things turn awry from constant reinforcements. There's a few Thieves that will run to the top, along with a few enemies that also carry items. There's a lot of loot here if you wipe everything.



Lissa supports her son as he unleashes Radiant Dawn on a poor Fighter.



The Ylissean siblings combine their forces to take out an idle Pegasus Knight.



At least she died in a pretty place. Lucy gets a Beast Killer afterwards.



Donny gets with his bestest buddy Nowi to snipe a Thief out of existence. They get a Medium Bullion afterwards.



Cherche helps Henry to boost his defenses, then Robin partners with Chrom.



Chrom stands in the middle of combat to attract the promoted enemies, while Cherche flies on the outskirts to swoop in on the left Thief.



Kjelle gets a needed strength boost from Gregor and lands on an Event Tile giving EXP.



Chrom takes out the first foolish Fighter that thought he could defeat him.



Strength!



Lucy takes out a Warrior without much harm, though the stats are showing the Valmese are done playing around damage-wise.



Nowi chips a Hero, Kjelle dodges a dangerous arrow from a Warrior, and Lucy brings a Warrior to the brink of death.



Maybe this is good run of levels for this mission.





Silver Sword drops from the Hero.



Say'ri chips an enemy down, while Robin switches to the lead and eliminates another Thief. She picks up a Speedwing for her victory.



Kjelle finishes off the Warrior for her first Myrmidon level.



That certainly is a Myrmidon level....



Owain finishes off a Hero. Cherche flies over and chucks an Axe into the left Thief's face, looting the Master Seal from his cloak.



Lucy pincers an aggressive Hero, healing with Aether before the final blow.



Robin takes some major damage before taking out the Valmese Warrior. Note that these enemies have Silver weapons and will switch to bows whenever possible to get the most accuracy.



A Pegasus Knight falls to Robin's spells, gaining a level and Mend Staff afterwards.



Way to not help, Morgan.



There's going to be a lot of promoted reinforcements coming from the south. And keep in mind, turn 3 is just starting so you can't idle around from the starting location.



Owain now has 30 speed, making him by far the fastest unit on the team though with mediocre power. He makes up for that somewhat by gaining B rank swords, letting him wield Silver swords. The Bow Knight drops a Steel Sword.



Maribelle heals Robin with a Physic Staff, and gains even more magic for more healing, etc.



Nowi continues to weaken advancing units for...I guess it's basically Kjelle that needs to be fed kills.



Cherche one-shots her fragile counterpart, gaining even more killing power. Her speed is pathetically low at 15, though.



Nowi chips the Warrior down to a sliver before some transfer shenanigans has Kjelle finishing him off.



The rest of the team group together in the middle before southern reinforcements arrive.



Lucy takes out a Fighter and retrieves a Killer Axe afterwards.



Owain takes out another Fighter before the reinforcements move up. Enemies in the north won't move until another batch of reinforcements arrive, so being pincered isn't a concern right now.



Nowi will block the middle tree trunk to force the reinforcements around the long way. Maribelle will hide behind Gregor for the next batch of asshole reinforcements.



Oh hey, Fliers that appear from the sides to swoop in and kill your fragile healers and Dancers if you didn't place them in that one tiny safe zone



Morgan, you're being a really terrible brother.



It's a bit cramped here. We should fix that.



Gregor smashes Sniper and gets good level like speed. Gregor also get Master Seal from coward weapon user.



Say'ri supports Chrom to give him enough speed to double the fliers, while Lucy takes out a Hero with her brother's help.



Cherche weakens a Peg Knight for Kjelle to feed on its meat EXP.



Oh come on! You and Owain need to lift or something.



Nowi takes out her Warrior target, unlike Owain who only manages to weaken his.



Good news: These are the last reinforcements. Bad news: It's 4 Bow Knights with Silver weapons.



Lucy takes out a couple Fighters to gai-oh damnit, we're back to this again?



Nowi gains every stat except skill and resistance, which I guess makes up for the horrendous level last time. She has officially hit double-digit speed



A few enemies down, and the area looks a bit cleaner. At least there's room to breathe.



Lucy and Henry start off the turn with a few less Falcon Knights in the sky.



Finally, Owain gains some strength and a bit of resistance for good measure. He also learns Astra.

Astra activates on (Skill/2)%, dealing 5 hits at half damage per activation. Once it activates, Dual Attacks and other abilities cannot activate until the 5th strike, but criticals can still happen. So basically weapons with high crit like Killing Edge work best with Astra users. Useful info to mind is that Dual Guards block all of Astra so enemies having it isn't as harsh.



Gregor and Donny clean up some more enemies.



Gregor and Lucy takes care of some foes during the enemy phase.



Even Henry joins in on the fun as he takes out two Bow Knights.



RIP you valiant sword.



Nowi cooks up the flier to a good melting point for Robin to roast up some wings. She gets a Short Spear for felling the Pegasus Knight.



A couple turns later, Nowi moves up to the north and counterkills a Fighter. She levels with every stat gained except resistance.

She weakens a Hero to little health before starting our turn again.



Nowi continues her rampage by chipping a nearby Warrior. Kjelle thanks her by the only way she knows how: killing more people.



Enough with the speed! She even gained defense before strength, what the hell.

She gets a Steel Bow afterwards.



Cherche axes the Hero to the floor, while Nowi counterkills a Fighter.



Donny gains his usual levels, getting everything but magic stuff and more importantly learns Sol. Sol activates on Skill%, healing half of the damage he inflicts on the enemy. Remember that it heals from damage done, not the total damage, so dealing 200 on a 1 HP enemy isn't going to do heal anything.



Nowi sets her sights on the last mook of the map, letting Kjelle take the kill for the



DAMNIT



Maribelle gains better levels than her. MARIBELLE (Actually, she's had quite an impressive run. 17 Mag is huge).

Ugh, anyways a few turns later Kjelle and Robin land on the 2nd Event Tile.



Relationship booster.

Chrom gets attacked by Cervantes.



Why? What does it achieve?

Do you even need ask, whelp? Emperor Walhart is destined to rule this world, plain and simple.

Yes, but to what end?

Irrelevant! Walhart's mind is beyond the grasp of common men.

So you don't even know what you're fighting for?

I tend to my own beard, boy. A soldier does not question orders. But he gives his loyalty—and maybe his life—in the service of greater men.

Greater men? Is living only to conquer so great an ambition?

What could be greater! Once I had dreams myself of commanding a nation... But Walhart? Aye, he dreams bigger. He would rule the entire world! Mine is nothing compared to the moxie of the Conqueror. I am but a single tiny hair on the beard of a flea in his great moustache! Have you not tasted the thrill of being part of something bigger than yourself?

Not at the price of inflicting cruelty and suffering, no.

Hmph. Then we have nothing more to discuss. Prepare to learn the meaning of the word "beard." ...Fear, I mean fear!



Chrom deals nasty damage with his Noble Rapier giving him Effective Damage against him.



Cherche borrows a Hammer to knock some death into Cervantes.



Blasted science, you have...played me for a...fool...



Oh god, she's so sloooooooow.

Cherche learns Quick Burn, which starts her off with +15 Hit/Avoid and its effect goes down each turn. It's decent, but definitely one of the lesser starting abilities for a promoted class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXxyHq09adM



Cervantes also drops a Medium Bullion.



I...wait, marry? I really don't understand Say'ri sometimes.

Say'ri, do you know the way up to the shrine?

Aye, sir. Follow me—and let us be quick about it!



*Huff huff* Ugh... How many stairs are there in a case of stairs? Because I'm already sick of this stupid staircase!

The Voice truly lives all the way up here?



Music: You Have Power... Like Mine



Ah, my lady... I'm so relieved to see you're all right.

So you are Lady Tiki? She who speaks for the divine dragon?

...Marth? Oh, Mar-Mar, is that you?!

...My name is Lucina, milady. Though I did go by the name Marth for a time. Might we have met?

...Alas, no. I'm sorry... You reminded me of someone I knew.

But he is gone now. Lost during my endless sleep...

......

You and your father are of the exalted bloodline, are you not?

Yes, milady.

Do you yet possess the Fire Emblem? It should have been passed down through your family...

I... Yes, I have it...

Ah! What relief to know it has not been lost.

...But where are the Gemstones? I see only Argent.



Yes, there are five of them—Argent, Sable, Gules, Azure, and Vert. Each holds a portion of Naga's power. When mounted upon the Emblem, they allow one to perform the Awakening.

The rite by which the first exalt channeled the divine dragon's power...

The very same. With the Fire Emblem's power, the exalt was able to defeat Grima. But such power was too much for men, and so the Gemstones were scattered. I kept Azure here with me.

My kingdom had safeguarded Vert for generations. But the gem was recently stolen by Walhart's men.

Milady, do you know where the other two Gemstones might be?

The remaining Gemstones, Sable and Gules, are no longer known to me. They may have been taken long ago, at the time of the Schism.

Regna Ferox was founded during the Schism. As were most all nations in the realm, I believe.

Wait—does that mean you guys have one of the Gemstones, Basilio?

Ha! As if anyone would entrust the oaf with such a thing!



You most certainly did not.

Hmm... Must have slipped my mind. Regardless, yes. The West-Khans once safeguarded Gules. But it was lost long before my lifetime.



With it, you possess two of the five Gemstones. Now you must seek out the others and perform the Awakening. Our world must be defended from Grima at all costs!

But I'm confused... I thought Grima's power was sealed away.

Yes, but ever since, there have been those who would change that. Grima's life force grows even now, and with it, the long shadows of despair.

......

When will he return? And where?

I cannot know these things. But I can feel his presence... It looms, closer and closer...

This task is a heavy burden, but as he of exalted blood, it must fall to you, Chrom.

I understand. Thank you, for all your help.



We owe you a great debt, milady.

Ah! You... You have it...

...What?

You have power...like mine.

I do?

I... Ah... Forgive me... I am still groggy from my slumber. My words outpace my thoughts.

Are you all right, milady?

I am fine... Just very tired... I haven't the strength to join you in the fray. Not yet.

But I will call the people together, in prayer, for an end to this conflict.

(The group converse at the base of the Mila Tree)





Soon bards will sing of this day... "They who conquered the Conqueror!"

A tune I'm most anxious to hear.

But a man like Walhart will not roll over dead at the first sign of trouble...

Aye, my lady...as you say. He will muster his forces to put down the Rebellion. Then his gaze will turn to us. Against his full might, we would not last long.

Where are his armies garrisoned?

The Valmese Imperial Army is comprised of three main divisions: one controls the north, one the south, and the third the lands between. Emperor Walhart commands the northern forces. Their might easily exceeds our own. The south is led by my brother, Yen'fay. His host is said to rival Walhart's.

Divisions, are they? Hmm...

I see a plan brewing in those eyes of yours, Robin...

If we could divide their divisions—disrupt communications, supplies, et cetera... Then introduce misinformation to add to the confusion...a whisper here and there... The panic would spread on its own...and all the quicker for their great number. Such a giant force could collapse under its own weight.

Say'ri—the third division, stationed between the other two...

Aye, sir, at Fort Steiger, halfway along the highroad. In fact, not so far from where we stand now. We might stand a chance against them... But it would take speed, and luck. I wager Walhart and Yen'fay will hear of our exploits soon, if they haven't already. I suggest sending the bulk of our army to the north and south to mask our plan. An elite force, led by Sir Chrom, might then quietly slip through to Fort Steiger. What say you?

I say, "aye."

Aye.

Fie! We could all be dead before nightfall, yet not one of you so much as hesitates. Your courage is...an inspiration... Aye, we will win this war yet, by gods!