Part 33: (Part Three, Chapter 5) In which no one on this goddamn continent understands how sieges work

Skrimir accepts a challenge to single combat with Zelgius and barely escapes with his life. His defeat sends a wave of doubt and fear through the Laguz Alliance.

Ranulf, knowing that the situation has turned against them, orders a full retreat...







Hey, have you heard? The sub-humans are retreating!

General Zelgius is amazing! As long as we have him, Begnion has nothing to fear.



However...if you wish to praise General Zelgius, I suppose that is all right. He is the glory of our forces, after all.



---



Who gave him an order like that? I don't care for such a petty victory!

Yes, damn you, Zelgius, for daring to end a war with minimal casualties. You sick, sick, bastard.

Begnion Senators. Assholes.

I understand, my lord. I was hoping that this would be the end of the sub-humans, once and for all. However, can we really punish him for winning the battle?

No, you fool! That's what makes it even more bothersome! Zelgius and the apostle are both making mockeries of the senate! They're more of a threat to Begnion than those filthy sub-humans are!

My lord, please let me fix this painful situation. I shall take to the battlefield and earn us the result Begnion desires.



Who is in charge here, my lord? Must you follow Zelgius's orders?

Hah, I see your point. I shall leave everything to you, then. Make Begnion proud, Lord Lombroso.





Before he left, Tibarn asked me to take you to Gallia, where you'll be safe. Are you ready to go?

No. I won't leave, Ike. I won't leave this place.

Reyson, please...

I've lived with the hawk tribe for twenty years. They are my family. I'll... I'll stay here and fight.

Reyson is the third of the game's herons. Twenty years spent in the company of Tibarn has had a noticeable impact on the archetypal heron personality; Reyson is actually just a little bit badass. Only a bit, though; he talks a lot of "fighting" but he's no more able to fight than Rafiel or Leanne were. Still, though, he's never unwelcome in a fighting party.

...Well, since I can see I won't be changing your mind... You can join up with us. The Greil Mercenaries can stay here as long as we want. After all, we're not on anyone's payroll right now. We're free agents.

Ike... Thank you.



Well, it's Base time and - hey, whats th- is that snoring?



Huh. Well, let's just leave him t-



I thought you were asleep.



Until you came within fifty paces of me. Yaaaaaawn...

Do you mind fighting alongside us?

I like it fine. As long as I can catch some sleep, I don't care where I am. What can I do for you?

Ever since you joined us, I've been meaning to ask you about Jill. The last I'd heard, you were running some kind of delivery service with her. How did you end up passing through Crimea and then coming here?

I stopped to chew some fat during a delivery. That's all.

How's Jill these days?

Last I heard, she got mixed up with the army again, fighting for Daein's emancipation.

I see. Don't you think you ought to go back to Daein and give her some support?

She's a big girl now. She doesn't need me always lookin' over her shoulder. Jill can do whatever she wants.

I don't understand. I thought you two were... You know. Living under the same roof and all.

She's the daughter of my dead teacher. Nothing more. Hey, if you don't want me hanging around, feel free to just say so, all right?

No, it isn't like that. You're great on the battlefield. I appreciate you being here.

Good. I like your mercenary group. They're laid back, and we have the same goal: crushing the empire.

That's true.

Anyhow, is that all? I'm gonna nap until we deploy. Don't wake me up until then.

All right.



Hmm?

See that bag on my wyvern? There's a souvenir in there for you. Feel free to take it.

A souvenir?

It's a small thing. You don't need to thank me. ...Yaaawn... Zzz... Zzz...

Asleep already? What a strange guy.

[Received a Corrosion!]

Nifty! Corrosion is like Disarm's evil twin. When corrosion activates (as happens [skill stat / 2]% of the time), it will subtract durability from the enemy's equipped weapon equal to your level - and may I remind you that each promotion is worth 20 levels, regardless of when the unit actually promoted. That means that we can already subtract ~30 uses at a time, and by the time our units class up to third tier, we can instantly melt enemy weapons. The advantage to using Corrosion over Disarm is, of course, that the enemy cannot reequip a destroyed weapon (dur!) and enemies haven't really worked out how to trade weapons between themselves, so unless the enemy in question has a backup weapon they will be left completely helpless once Corroded. Of course, the flip side of this is that you can't steal destroyed weapons either (dur!) and, even worse, you might accidentally destroy stuff that enemies would otherwise drop. So be careful when you use this, is all.



Ranulf won't be joining us for this mission, what with him being busy coordinating a retreat and all, but he's in the Base right now, so we put Quickclaw and Counter on him. He'll be a countering machine. In other skill management news, we put Blossom on Ike because I'd like him to actually maybe gain some stats other than speed - not that I'm complaining about Ike getting speed, it's a potential ruining point for him, but come on, this is ridiculous, and all those stats that are one point away from capping are taunting me. We also put Corrosion on Rolf.



Nephenee's treatment continues.

...ok, one more...



Sweeeet.





Here's our newest heron. Reyson's a tricky one. Like Leanne (and unlike Rafiel) he can fly and has Canto. However, his Galdrar only affect one unit at a time - unless he's transformed, in which case they affect all four adjacent units, like Rafiel. Most players, quite reasonably, frame arguments for which heron is best in terms of the trade-off between Rafiel's constant chanting utility but low mobility and Reyson's temporary awesomeness (+2 move and 4-unit chanting when transformed). Regardless of preference, Reyson's here now, so he's who we're using.



We've got nothing better to do than put Miracle on Reyson. At the very least, it'll be facilitated by herons' characteristically absurd luck stat and growth. Of course, Reyson should never, ever, see combat, but this stuff is nice to have for peace of mind, y'know?



Today's Bargains. The primary draw is the Secret Book. Mia's Wo Dao is still in fine shape, and we don't need any cards or any more Arms Scrolls. We're building up a very nice stockpile of stat boosters.



Time to move.



What?!



What're you on about, I don't see any-







Oh.



It seems they couldn't care less. They are demanding the castle back. If we don't comply, they'll attack.

They were probably waiting for both the Gallians and the hawk tribe to leave the castle.

Oh, they think they can take us now that we're all alone, huh? They obviously don't know who they're up against. Let's make them remember the name of the Greil Mercenaries! Everyone, get in position! Let's take them out!



All the laguz besides Reyson are otherwise engaged right now, but we have a lot of spaces on our team.



There are a lot of units, and, consequently, lots of experience on offer here.



Mixed in with the regulars is this guy, who has a Meteor tome, which can be an unpleasant surprise.



Here's the boss. It breaks my heart to have to tell you that, for all my effort, I was unable to swipe that Energy Drop.



There's also this guy, who we should probably make sure gets nowhere near Oscar or Titania.



Here's the layout of our fort. Notice that there are gaps friggin' everywhere. The general plan is this; Oscar, Mia and Rolf are going right to hold off the swarm of swordmasters and generals that will shortly be arriving by that way. Haar, Gatrie and Nephenee are going to take the middle and hold off the legion of paladins who will be coming that way. Because paladins can hit and run, the bulk of the holding will be done by Haar and Gatrie, they being our most doggedly survivable units, and Nephenee will get the occasional kill. Ike, Soren and Titania will go left - the left, despite its mass of gaps, won't be all that populated and those who do attack there are generally fighters and mages (and some halberdiers). Shinon will man the ballistae and take the occasional potshots. We have to survive ten turns, we get two ballistae, and each has five shots. This is not a coincidence. Rhys, Mist and Reyson will hang around, the former seeking out healing opportunities, the latter performing hit-and-run Vigor chants.



Here goes.



Truly A-grade writing, here.



Shinon gets right to business. All this time sitting on the bench has only made him more irritable.



First turn's pretty uneventful, really. Everyone takes up their positions. Note Soren all on his lonesome on the left; he'll get one good shot on the nearest mage and then retreat, probably.



The first victim arrives. Already weakened by Shinon, he doesn't have a damn chance.



At the best of times.



Soren takes a minor hit, and dishes out half a health bar of damage in return.



Nephenee is attacked with an invisible lance, but holds her ground.



A small troop of very silly generals go after Haar. They are left dead or mostly dead.



Otherwise, there is a general advance towards the fort. Next turn is going to be the fun one.



Soren gets the hell out of the trouble zone and takes out a general on the way.



Mia gets on with her work.



Her work, being, of course, making herself into a goddess of death. That's HP, skill and speed capped now. And strength and defence going up.



Rolf isn't needed on the right just yet, so he busies himself with effortlessly felling generals.



Soren left the offending mage on just the right amount of health for Shinon to capitalise on.



Ike joins the fray.



Ike gets results. That's Ike's four most important stats capped, and the next most important (defence) one point away.



While Haar and Gatrie get to work, Soren is given another turn, which he uses to take up a position at the top of the ledge.



By the end of turn 2, we actually have something resembling a defensive line set up. Progress!



OK, I guess we can grant that if all of your guys attacked Gatrie at once they might be able to kill him. Maybe.

The senate will be happy to see the likes of you dead and buried!

This, at least, is a correct statement.



The assault on Oscar and Mia begins. Their support will be a big help during this engagement - it grants both of them +20% avoid.



A steady parade of paladins takes turns riding up to Gatrie, dealing one or no damage to him, and riding away.



Some attack Haar, too.





That's strength, skill and defence capped. I think we had better make with the BEXP.



Aside from a whole legion of dudes going after Haar and Gatrie, one also attacks Titania. Fortunately, she dodges. Then she counters. He doesn't dodge.



Some reinforcements arrive. This map has a lot of reinforcements. Also pictured; the aftermath of Haar and Gatrie's defence.



Oscar and Rolf take a chunk out of the wall of generals on the right, and Mia moves in to form a line to protect Rolf and Rhys.



Heather helps Ike and Titania clean up the left side a little.



Then, thanks to Reyson, she helps them a second time.



Nephenee gets an opportunity to poke someone. She's going to take a turn holding the line.



End of turn 3, and... wow, there were a lot more dudes around last turn!



Oscar and Mia hold their side quite adequately... then this guy comes along.



Against him, the line is held spectacularly.



Admittedly the Disarm was completely redundant since he'd already attacked, but c'mon, double Adept, man.



Pictured: the aftermath of the latest attempt to breach our lines. Lots of dead and dying - excellent.



Two mages reinforce the enemy. Good luck with that.



Haar pops over to the left to assist Ike, Titania and Soren in their cleanup. Haar will be much better suited for cleaning up the leftovers who don't actually walk right up to us.



I can't quite remember the last time Rolf actually took damage. He's certainly good at dishing it out. He, Oscar and Mia continue taking out generals.



This guy will be healed next turn if we don't murder him now, and Shinon is happy to oblige.



Soren gets a slightly underwhelming level from attacking a guy, but then again, he's now capped magic as well as skill and resistance. We're getting into serious BEXP potential here - if only we'd done something clever like hoard BEXP for the whole of part th- oh, wait, we have been hoarding it for the whole of part three! How fortuitous!



Heather pesters this mage with knives.



Soren gets another turn from Reyson and finishes his own target.



Gatrie and Nephenee murder a guy each, and this is how we end turn 4.



Gatrie responds to another pathetic enemy attack by levelling up. He's capped HP, strength and speed, and I'm wondering whether to just promote him early, because what else besides defence (which is, on average, the first stat he caps after promotion) does he even need?



Three fall to Gatrie in all, and one guy (who Nephenee only mostly killed is healed by this priest who is kind enough to wander right into our range. Well then.



More generals. Great.



Rolf cleans up the last of the first wave. The rest of his little gang move on out toward the enemy.



Shinon and Heather deal with this pesky mage here. There's now nothing but a priest in the northwest corner.



Gatrie and Nephenee deal with the last attacker, and Mist goes to poke the priest just because. Note that the priest is actually capable of dealing damage to Mist using a staff.



Everything about Mist's combat animations just looks wrong. Look at her right leg in this screenshot, for example. That looks like it should require surgery.



Ike, Soren, Haar and Reyson all move up. Reyson takes some Olivi Grass so he can transform next turn. This ends turn 5.



The priest is healed by his own staff, but does nothing. He doesn't even run away.



There's a general advancement on the eastern front...



There's a guy attacking Soren for not-much damage...



And then there's these assholes. If there's anything genuinely problematic about this map, it's these guys. The boss likes to surround himself with bow paladins. They're not a game-over threat or anything, but the fact that Gatrie can't counter-kill them mesns that they're difficult to dispose of, and thus it's somewhat difficult to get squishy characters (like thieves) safely near the boss.



Two more paladins appear near the boss, and three more generals too. Joy.



While Heather amuses herself with the priest in the northwest, Soren takes care of an actual threat.



Haar dispenses with another. This guy might have dealt a respectable quantity of damage to Haar, except...



Haar gets a super-rare non-redundant Cancel! It's a miracle!



Reyson transforms, and is therefore able to use Vigor on both Haar and Soren.



I had a tip-off that there will be reinforcements here next turn, so Haar and Soren take up positions nearby.



Meanwhile, Oscar, Rolf and Mia have reached the procession of generals. We're going to let them come to us, because there'll be trouble if more than one per turn manage to actually hit Mia.



Gatrie is going to occupy pretty much every single paladin on this map for the rest of the mission.



Shinon's ballista-ing has gotten him a pretty OK level.



End of turn 6. Hey, remember back when this screenshot would've been completely full of red dudes? Wasn't that very recently?



All of the generals in range go after Oscar. None of them hit. The rest just crowd in. Rolf is going to have a lot of fun in the next few turns.



A guy with a wyrmslayer has a go at Gatrie. He is murdered.



A Horseslayer, too. What a waste of specialised weaponry.



Also, three bow paladins.



Over west, two mages walk right up to Haar and Soren and just stand there.



No sooner does our turn begin than the too fools are wasted.



Shinon continues to pester foes from afar.



Meanwhile, Rolf finally has an excuse to switch to his big-boy weapons. The appearance of the terrain seems to be giving him a ledge advantage, but it's actually all flat.



Even when his levels suck, they still make him into more of a killing machine.



Mia is still going strong, too.



End of turn 7.



While Mia and Oscar hold off the generals, Gatrie is once again victim to a small procession of bow paladins.



The guy with the Meteor tome finally springs into action too. Rolf suddenly remembers what taking damage feels like.



This asshole, and also a second asshole, charge into our base, stopping briefly along the way to miss Titania.



And more paladins.



I only meant to weaken this guy, but he got critted instead. Well, that simplifies matters. Boyd eliminates the second.



Rolf is now dealing even more damage. With Oscar and Mia's help, all but two of the charging generals are dealt with.



End of turn 8. Ike is trying to lure the boss over.



Oscar takes a fair amount of damage holding off the generals, but it's nothing he can't deal with.



The usual mob of paladins comes after Gatrie.



Ike is able to land one fish, but not the one we wanted.



Know what this map doesn't have enough of? Paladins.



There's also these guys, but they don't really register because it's physically impossible for them to capture the objective before the map ends. This won't stop Shinon from pestering them with ballista bolts, because he's bored and no one else is in range.



Mia finishes off a general and begins lamenting how few stats she has left to level. She's one point off capping strength and has five potential Bonus EXP levels to gain. She could cap everything except magic and luck.



Rolf gets the last general.







One last chance at luring the boss out. Somehow, I doubt it'll work. If he doesn't bite, we'll just stroll in and murder everyone on the last turn.



A couple of people who aren't the boss attack us.



They aren't very effective.



Gatrie is Meteor'd. It's not really a problem given that that's the only attack save the boss that can deal more than one damage to Gatrie.



When you consider that he has three capped stats, this is pretty much a perfect level for Haar.



Finally, three more guys show up over here. What they hope to accomplish is beyond me.



We're going to spend our last turn slaughtering things.





And sometimes getting terrible levels.





End of the last turn. Gatrie has healed himself, and everyone else is going to try and bait as many foes to death as possible before the battle ends.



Now that Rolf is standing near him, enemies are now failing to deal no damage to Gatrie instead of failing to deal one damage.



Even Meteor Guy can't manage to hit home.

For the record, here's what Lombroso has to say to Ike:

Hmph, pathetic. Your tiny band of outlaws doesn't stand a chance before our might. We have more troops on the way. The onslaught will not stop until every last one of you lies dead!

Are you really the best Begnion could send?

What?! How dare you take that tone with me!

Or did they send you at all? Does General Zelgius know about this little excursion?

I don't take orders from that sanctimonious has-been. Enough questions. Prepare to die!



Yep.

And then...



Levail shows up and ruins the fun. C'mon, man, if these guys want to fight and disobey orders so badly, we'll happily "discipline" them for you.

You're Levail, correct? Zelgius's lapdog?

Commander Zelgius ordered all forces to cease fire for three days. How dare you ignore his order! Keep your tongue behind your teeth, and pull all of your troops back to base camp immediately!

I'll pull back for now, but you'd better be prepared for the consequences, you witless lackey.

Oh snap! Someone just got told!



No it wasn't. It was nowhere near close. Even one more turn might have made it a rout.



Sorry about that. You're back sooner than I expected. How far out did you scout?



As promised, the Begnion forces were waiting quietly in their castle. Apparently, some of their soldiers disobeyed orders, but we can trust Zelgius to keep the rest in line. I have other news, however. I ran into someone quite unexpected on the outskirts of enemy territory.

Who?



Oh?

General Sigrun?

Yeah. She was by herself. She seemed hesitant to get near Castle Gaddos. It was odd. I figured since she's a friend and loyal to the apostle, why not try to get some information from her? She wouldn't budge. Tough girl, that one. She wasn't at all surprised to see me. Then she said, in such a sad voice...



Oh, this just bodes fantastically.

I wonder what she meant by that? It can't be a good sign. This whole mess is getting worse by the minute.

---



General Sigrun? Let her through. At once!

Is something the matter, General? You do not look well. Should I send for something? Water, perhaps?



The cease-fire has been repealed. You are ordered to destroy the Laguz Alliance, and their allies as well.

What?! The enemy has already lost the will to fight! The apostle and Lord Sephiran would never agree to such a terrible plan!



Oh, no. Now what?

General Sigrun?

Lord Sephiran of Persis has been stripped of his titles as prime minister and head of the senate. He is currently under arrest and is charged with..."committing high treason and fomenting rebellion."

No! Impossible! This is madness!

It doesn't end there. The apostle has gone into seclusion, with illness as the stated reason.



I've ordered my subordinates to find out where the apostle is, but I have yet to hear any word. General Zelgius, I beg of you, follow the senate's orders. Our friends' lives are at risk.



He said it.

---



Hmm? Daein? What have they got to do with this?



It is nice to see you, Micaiah. You remain Daein's goddess of victory. But I never see your face around here anymore. Are you busy in town?

Your Majesty. My room in the castle is much too lavish for my taste. I'd rather be in town helping with the reconstruction. It's good work, and it makes me happy to help our people.



Wow. Look who's taken a level in asshole.

Mother, please stop. Micaiah is my dear friend. She is the only person I have to turn to for a kind word now that Izuka and the Black Knight have both left Daein. They mysteriously disappeared on the day of my coronation... Do you think they'll ever return?





Riiiiight. They "kidnapped" the Black Knight. What I wouldn't give to see them try.

But wait. Both the Black Knight and Izuka have left? We're past trying to guess what the Black Knight is up to, and he did say he might leave Daein once the war was won, but why Izuka? Well, screw him. Daein is probably better without him.

Those mongrels intend to throw the country into chaos by holding Daein's leaders hostage. But... Mother will always protect you, Pelleas. I will never leave you, not for one moment. When you seek kind words or good advice, you must come to me, and no one else.

I understand, Mother.

The royal blood of Daein runs through your veins. Do not be afraid of your heritage. Reign over your people as a king. Whatever popularity that girl might garner from the peasants is of little consequence. She is your obedient subject, after all. Now, give her your orders.

Micaiah, Daein's Maiden of Dawn. Your king requires your service once more. Mobilize the Daein Royal Army immediately.

Another war? Against who?

We are answering the request from the Begnion Empire to wipe out the barbaric Laguz Alliance.







Next time: What the hell is going on in Daein?