Part 39: (Part Three, Chapter 9) Crimea River, Begnion
However, Ike's former companions Nasir and Ena appeal to Deghinsea to allow the passage of the Laguz Alliance.
The Central Army's momentum breaks upon these obstacles like an ocean wave against solid rock.
Senator Valtome arrives to take command of the Central Army. He orders Zelgius to march on to Gallia by way of Crimea.
Queen Elincia, however, goes against the wishes of the Crimean nobles and resolutely denies each of Valtome's requests. Her reply enrages Valtome, who sees Crimea as little more than a vassal of the empire. Ignoring Zelgius's counsel, Valtome orders his army to enter Crimea and take whatever they need from the villages along the way.
There are no casualties yet, but they are acting like bandits!
I see... So, they simply ignored me.
...Order the Royal Knights to mobilize. Ride out and advise Begnion to withdraw. If they do not comply... I approve the use of force to remove them from our lands.
I had hoped to avoid this situation... But the empire's attempts to strong-arm our people shall not go unanswered. Deploying the Royal Knights is the only way to protect our borders from incursion. However, I remain open to suggestions. Do you have an alternate plan of action, Lord Saron?
I am glad we are in agreement, Lord Saron.
This whole situation disturbs me greatly. I wonder... What is happening to the empire? I doubt that the apostle would allow this sort of thing to happen. We should prepare for the worst. I fear something horrible must be happening within Begnion.Do I have to say it again?
Begnion Senators. Assholes.
Well, here we are in the castle side-room again. At least we get shops this time.
The peasants are gathering again. As long as it's not another goddamn rebellion it's fine.
Hey, did you hear? The Imperial Army is requesting Crimea's assistance.
Yeah, I heard! I also heard that the messenger treated our queen with no respect at all! Who do they think they are!?
Shhh! Not so loud! Begnion is ruled by the apostle. They helped us when Daein invaded. It's only right that we pay back the favor by coming to their aid. But Begnion is fighting the beast tribes of Gallia. Why would we fight Gallia? The beast tribes helped us rebuild Crimea.
That's true, but come on! Think about it. Who would you rather side with? A land of beorc, or the land of sub... laguz? The answer's as plain as day. We side with the beorc. Hmm... You have a point. I'd choose Gallia over Begnion. Really? But why? The people of Gallia helped us rebuild the village, even though we're beorc. They even repaired the road to the farm that's up on the mountain. That wasn't an easy job, either. Yes, I remember. What was his name... Mordecai? He was strong, yet very kind. He looked frightening at first, but the children in the village loved to play with him. He was a wonderful man. If the queen decides to answer Begnion's request for troops, we'd have to fight Gallia. How terrible would that be? That's war, isn't it? Yes. I suppose it is, at that. Hmm. I wish we didn't have to fight anyone at all.Slowly but surely. Slowly but surely.
You and me both. I figured I'd be able to get in some me time now that Crimea's peaceful again. Get a card game started or something...
You're a Royal Knight. If the queen decides you should go sweep away ten or a hundred imperial soldiers, you should probably go do it. Yeah... We've been ordered to mobilize, and I can't think of any excuse to get out of it. Maybe I could pretend to be dead. Any ideas, Amy?
Amy! You're supposed to HELP me! She's obviously been spending way too much time with you, Calill.
Well of course, you twit! All right, Makalov. It's time for you to pay up and go. What!? But... I think my stomach's acting funny...
That's enough, you layabout!
Oh, this is gonna be good.
Makalov! I knew I'd find you here, slacker! You're making the whole squad wait for you! Hurry up and head back! I don't know about all this. Fighting the Imperial Army means fighting my old comrades. I don't wanna fight my old friends. You know what I mean? ...I think I see. You owe them money, don't you? Isn't that the real reason why you don't want to see them, cheese breath? W-when did you learn to read minds like the herons!? I can't, you spineless sea cucumber! It's just so typical of you that I guessed!
But, Astrid! It's despicable!
Look at how calm Sir Makalov is. He never gets irritated or upset. It's the mark of a true knight. A good knight must know how to keep his cool on the battlefield.
Oh, I hope to be as good a knight as Sir Makalov someday! How I dream of that day! Heh. I don't believe this. ...You don't wanna end up like me, baby. Oh, I completely agree! Who'd want to end up a clown-haired chowderhead? The love you two have for each other is so wonderful. I wish I had a sibling! Uh, sure... I'll sell him to you.
Who doesn't love Makalov?
...apparently, you guys.
Why... this is a master crown! I am honored, Your Majesty. I will cherish it. I have been asking you to fight difficult battles against terrible odds. Your Majesty, allow me to reiterate: that is exactly what I wish. No matter the task, and no matter the odds, I can only succeed at it so long as you depend on me. I am yours entirely, Your Majesty. I shall take those words to heart. Geoffrey of Delbray, you are truly my finest and most faithful knight. Thank you, Your Majesty.[Received a Master Crown!]
Sweet, free Master Crown.
This is one of those "straight to the point" conversations that occur when the writers couldn't think of anything interesting to talk about or find any excuse to dump the item on you while one of the other conversations was going ahead.
Remember, Geoffrey. You will face the Imperial Army. Should there be a conflict, you must not be caught unprepared. I shall be prepared, Lucia.Christ. If not for Geoffrey responding to Lucia by name, this might as well be a support conversation.
[Received 10,000 Gold!]
Can't argue with the payout though.
Speaking of supports, Geoffrey and Astrid is the only one available right now. It's not really ideal, but Astrid will like that +1 Atk.
We're finally allowed to manipulate skills.
This one is going to a good cause. Yessir.
Today's barga-
-IS THAT AN ADEPT SCROLL SOLD SOLD SOLD TAKE MY MONEY TAKE IT
(we also pick up the Shine Barrier as a curiosity. As in, I'm curious if we'll ever actually use it)
Silver weapons are now on sale. They're way too expensive for the small increase in power over steel heavy weapons (and they wear out faster too!), but since there's no such thing as a Steel Greatbow in this game, we grudgingly buy a Silver Bow for Astrid so she can continue keeping up with the murder.
Astrid also gets the Adept skill we bought. Sadly, she's got one of those long biorhythm waveforms and starts the battle on neutral and falling, so this probably won't be much good to us.
A glance at our records. There certainly are a couple of standout names on here. Note that in the last chapter, we earned the most BEXP we've ever earned in a single chapter. We could have earned more from Geoffrey's Charge, but Kieran sure fucked that up, didn't he?
Funfact:™ We are going to make those hauls seem like pocket change.
Let's roll.
No, sir. Progress is slow. These people just don't have much. Something about an uprising earlier...
Fools! I don't want excuses! Take anything you see, and if these bumpkins complain at all, cut them down! Because you can bet your armor that Senator Valtome will do the same to us if we're not done by the time he arrives!
It never ceases to amuse me that while Crimea and Daein soldiers get increasingly elaborate helms to differentiate between their mugshots, Begnion soldiers just get crudely added facial hair.
Wh-what?! Crimea is moving against us?! Those backwater fools! All right. Keep working. I'll take several men out to slow their approach! Colonial fools... I'll teach them what it means to defy the empire!---
General Geoffrey! We've confirmed the presence of the Begnion army in the village ahead of us!
---
Here's what we're up against. Doesn't look too intimidating, does it? But this mission has a gimmick. Oh, yes.
We'll get to the gimmick in due time, but our stated objective is simply to kill the boss.
Pictured: the boss. While the Greil Mercenaries could cut through this guy like very fragile butter, the Royal Knights will need to be careful around him. He's quite able to fuck shit up, and he's quite resilient. Also, he has the highest tier of throwing spear, the um, Spear. It's quite a pain.
Also, this guy right here has a Speedwing that he drops. So that's something.
Though we still aren't levelling Danved or Makalov, we're bringing them along anyway because this is kinda one of those "all hands on deck" missions in which we just don't have the option of screwing around.
Calill's first action is to hurt a guy and gain a pretty great level. Perhaps there is hope for this one.
Astrid follows suit.
(Odds of Astrid getting no defence in 9 levels: 4%)
Marcia's mobility is going to be invaluable in this mission. Of all the guys we have helping us, only Calill and Danved can actually climb ledges normally. Danved isn't that great and Calill is squishy as all hell (funfact™: Calill has more defence than Astrid). Marcia, however, just invalidates them completely, and there are only two archers on this map so she can operate with relative impunity.
Oh, wow, a generic soldier. Haven't seen one of those in a while. Wonder what they're doing here?
That's... good, I guess.
Anyway, end of our first turn.
The generics charge bravely forward, too. Believe it or not, they're going to be making themselves very useful, when they're not busy getting in our way, that is.
Yes, how dare we defend our towns.
Men, burn these shanties to the ground! Show these fools what we do to traitors!
Uh oh.
Already, enemies are beginning to ever so slightly catch up to Geoffrey.
One kinda neat thing about this map is that the presence of burning houses is reflected in the battle screens. A not so neat thing is the amount of beating Marcia is taking.
So, yeah, this is this mission's gimmick. The Begnion soldiers will occasionally stop to set fire to houses, and you can put them out if you so choose (i.e.
So, you have to make the occasional hard choice between killing soldiers and putting out houses, because, of course, you can't fight and extinguish in the same action.
BUT! Here is the thing that, once you know it, will make saving the houses a cakewalk: only the generic soldiers can burn houses. That's soldiers as in "those guys who promote into halberdiers", not soldiers as in "the Begnion army". So kill them first!
Two more of said soldiers show up as reinforcements. Wonderful.
Marcia quickly disposes of an enemy swordmaster...
And flies down here. Why here? Because, duh, you can't melee down a ledge, so this is actually a great way of blocking chokepoints that are also gaps. Flyers, however, can't be blocked, so she'll easily be able to get back up. Further, since the AI is set to Roam (and will be all mission), the friendly priest there will actually come over and heal her.
Astrid means to further weaken the guy already weakened by Calill, but...
She Adepts and kills him anyway.
Geoffrey and Astrid (yes, Astrid) will protect the back lines from the enemies here.
Makalov and Danved take care of the halberdier stuck behind our lines.
And that's how we end turn 2.
The generics immediately get stuck in to the soldiers near us. Against the soldiers, at least, they're quite effective, because the soldiers, being as they are inherently lower level, are quite weak.
One of them is nice enough to extinguish the burning house for us. The generics are very handy in this mission because there's no shortage of grunt work.
It's not apparent from the screenshot, but this stupid moron is using a Physic staff at close range when he's carrying a Mend staff. You. Stupid. Fool. Well, at least we get heals, and it's not like there's any point to preserving his stuff since it'll be gone at the end of the mission anyway...
The generics completely fail at dealing damage to the enemy, but are at least preventing them from moving towards the second house.
Marcia, evidently struck by some kind of divine foresight, rescues the priest that was healing her and flies him over here.
Makalov, Danved, Calill and Astrid painstakingly deal with the two forward enemies, while Kieran demolishes one of the rear (and lower level) soldiers.
Geoffrey takes the Priest off of Marcia and deposits him somewhere useful...
...then moves to make sure he won't get surprise-axed by this general over here.
That's turn three.
The generics put some hurt on the enemy soldier here, and the wounded ones run away to heal. The priest decides to heal Makalov for us.
The enemy soldier decides to attack Astrid. Why can't she have more defence?
While a few more bad guys circle around to us, and some make a feeble attempt to hurt Geoffrey, the guy who Marcia crippled earlier is running away.
Then these three assholes show up. Good thing we got that priest out of there, otherwise he'd be proper fucked!
Here's another one of the guys Marcia crippled. He's run away to a healhedge. He's not getting off that easy. He turns out to have been the guy holding the Speedwing, so we pinch that off him too.
Then Marcia takes up a spot in that same healhedge. If you're worrying about the enemy archer up there, don't; that healhedge also happens to be right in his blindspot. This, combined with the defence, the avoid boost, and the free healing, make this a great base for Marcia to attack from.
(chance of Astrid getting no defence in 10 levels: 2.8%)
Kieran helps us form another defensive front.
And that's the end of turn 4.
The generics mostly just dick around and charge blindly past Kieran, but at least Astrid gets some heals from them.
Some fool with a Javelin hits Marcia and makes her get stronger. Though this is a tad disappointing, I've gotta say.
The generics bravely take lots of hits from the enemy. Fine by me. At the very least, they're quite survivable due having ready access to heals and a priest in tow.
Geoffrey weakens an enemy general and Astrid finishes him off.
The generics have really fucked us over here. Their positions mean that I can't attack the enemies near them with more than one of my guys, and Kieran isn't strong/fast enough to kill the forward-most guy himself. I could let the generics do it, but we really need to get someone on that ledge otherwise we're going to have more guys crowding up here. I'd really like that person to be Calill, but the only way to even get past those two guys is to use her to attack one of them. So... yeah.
What we actually do is move Danved away, have Calill soften a guy up, and Kieran takes the kill...
...then uses Canto to run to the ledge, that it might be blocked.
Marcia antagonises the archer up top with a Short Spear. This way, anyone who wants to attack her from range once she goes back below is going to get a Short Spear shaped surprise.
Turn 5 done.
The generics are certainly being helpful today! They also heal Danved.
The first guy Marcia injured this mission makes it over to the boss and steals his Concoction, using it to heal.
Two halberdiers show up from the southeast. Nothing we can't hold off.
Danved, Makalov and Kieran all take turns killing this guy until he is dead.
Kieran gets some meagre profit out of it.
Calill goes back to her old job - flinging spells over ledges.
Marcia and Astrid between them murder this guy - and that's the whole lower area clear.
That's all for turn 6.
The generics do their regular thing of charging at the nearest enemies. Assuming they don't somehow spectacularly screw up, they should be ideal for holding off the invading reinforcements while the A-Team clears up the top.
Danved takes a nasty hit but almost kills the guy in return.
Geoffrey goes back to his old job of dodging entire armouries of weapons.
And reinforcements.
Calill is still doing her thing.
While Kieran and Makalov hold off the reinforcements, Marcia gets to helping the charge forward.
Geoffrey and Astrid are present, too.
(chance of Astrid getting no defence in 11 levels: 2.0%)
End of turn 7.
A generic completely fails at a) choosing a target and b) hitting a target.
The second generic at least hits his target, and runs away to be healed by the priest.
One of the reinforcements up there was a soldier, and now we have another house on fire. Brilliant.
Danved's still doing a fine job of holding them off.
A generic takes a hit, but gives his attacker what for.
That swordmaster up there has a Wind Edge and we just got attacked from a ledge. Crap.
Her luck fares better when the melee attackers arrive, however.
I worry that this generic might steal Calill's kill here, but fortunately he fucks it up and misses.
Aw, man. More?
While Marcia goes after the Wind Edge guy, Geoffrey and Astrid double team a nearby halberdier.
Calill finishes the last of the guys. Can you believe these guys have been there since, like, turn 4?
Aw, fuck. See this, right here? The generics have fucked up. Big time. It's now impossible to position Danved such that our defensive line is complete, and now I worry that if the generic still here goes after the wrong guy (or misses), we risk losing the priest.
Well, there goes turn 8. Hope we don't fuck it up!
Phew. Safe for another turn, I guess.
Astrid gets some significant heals out of the bargain, too!
Of course, keeping this up next turn might also be a problem. Though at least the second generic has returned to us now.
Oh come on. That's just unreasonable.
Even more reinforcements. Worried now.
With some help from Kieran, Astrid keeps the death toll up. She also collects a dropped Hand Axe.
Geoffrey sees if he can't bait some enemies towards him.
Marcia gets a little ahead of this plan and just murders the soldier straight up. Probably for the best - if we'd left him alive, he would have just gone and burned the next house while we extinguished these two. At least next turn we might have some breathing room.
Danved takes an unlikely hit while holding off the southeastern soldiers.
Alright. End of turn 9. I swear to god, you generics had better not fuck this up...
So, right. They killed one low level guy who had like 6 health, then they left both Danved and the priest wide open to attack. Glorious.
The enemy proceeds directly to the priest. Fortunately, he's fast enough to not be doubled, and his Physic staff will heal him next turn.
Danved takes another two 35% hits (what the hell, game?) and is bought down to 1 HP. Not. Comfortable.
More reinforcements in the northeast. We need those houses extinguished this turn.
Oh, this ain't good. Kieran and Makalov are too far away to help, Calill can't kill any single target, and Danved's trapped in the middle on 1 HP so he can't batter his way out. We have Calill do as much damage as she can, and Danved uses a vulnerary.
I can't believe it's come to this - our collective fate is entirely in the hands of the generics.
Up north, Marcia gets extinguishing.
As does Geoffrey. The good news is, all the generic soldiers (save the one in the south, who is stuck between Danved and the generics) are dead, so we've officially saved all the houses now.
Geoffrey's going to bait the last few opponents and then we're rushing the boss. We're a little behind schedule; the "time limit" is 10 turns, good for 3000 BEXP. We'll be losing 750 of that per turn. Clock's ticking!
Astrid takes the chance to hit and run a guy. She's using the Iron Longbow here because it's the weakest weapon she can kill the guy with.
Goddamnit, Astrid. I did not spend three chapters babying you so you could get a load of levels like this.
(chance of Astrid getting no defence in 12 levels: 1.4%)
Alright, this is it. End of turn 10. Godspeed, generics.
The priest is immediately healed back up to full by his Physic staff, so that's good.
This is what I get for having faith.
At the very least, the priest retreats behind one of the other generics and heals Danved. At least now he can take hits from all three of the soldiers who might be dead if the generics weren't failures.
And, to give them further credit, they have at least managed to arrange themselves such that the two soldiers to the right are actually stuck behind a defensive line, so that's something too.
While Geoffrey is tanking dudes, Marcia flies behind the boss, and... waits?
Intelligent Systems, you crafty motherfuckers.
That's evil.
This item is on the square right behind the boss and is only accessible by a flier or a unit with Pass (which you don't have, because the only unit with Pass left at the end of part 2 and we weren't allowed to edit anyone's skills). Since we've already shown that this guy is unwilling to move off his square, you've basically got no other options for getting behind him. You could kill him with a mounted unit and then use Canto to move behind where he was... but then if you didn't get the item you're fucked. And if you've not been training Marcia, then... yeah.
Makalov comes down to help with the enemies here.
And now we're mopping up.
A passable level.
An alright level. Danved's whole thing is being "alright" where Aran and Nephenee are both excellent. It doesn't usually go well for him.
Astrid, Geoffrey and Kieran clear up the northern units and make their way towards the boss.
End of turn 11.
Generics finish their work. You did... passably, generics.
Talkative, this one.
Not very accurate, though.
That's more like it. More levels like this.
Our turn.
Knight of Crimea. You are clearly guilty of treason against the Begnion Empire! Do you understand what it means to send an army against us? You've just killed your people. You have been warned. Queen Elincia will not accept any further acts of violence or banditry within our borders! Withdraw your troops immediately, or I cannot guarantee your safe return! Decide quickly. How dare you take that tone with me! I'll put you in your place!Typical Begnion.
Embarrassingly, he does more damage to Geoffrey than Geoffrey does to him.
Kieran comes in to have a go...
Marcia comes out of her spot to quickly kill the boss's friend, who drops a Steel Lance for us.
Finally, Astrid comes in to take the honours.
In traditional unnecessary style.
Asshole.
(chance of Astrid getting no defence in 13 levels: 0.96%)
Yes, yes.
Good, the enemy's retreating. Knights! Stay here and help to fix the damage done to this village.---
And just were the hell were you during all this?
Lucia! What are you doing here? I'm here to protect Her Majesty.
Your Majesty... Forgive me. I could not avoid a confrontation with the Imperial Army. It wasn't your fault, Geoffrey. However...I'm afraid our situation continues to deteriorate. Lucia, I appoint you as envoy to negotiate a treaty with the commander of the Imperial Army. They might be willing to listen now. I shall leave immediately, Your Majesty.---
Oh, I completely agree, Your Majesty. I never dreamed we'd suffer so much mistreatment from our allies. So, you've decided that Crimea will side with Gallia, and honor the alliance with those filthy sub-humans over ours? As I've said before, Crimea remains neutral. Crimea will side neither with Begnion nor the Laguz Alliance. That is my final answer. Ah, then please enlighten me... Why prevent us from getting what we needed? Begnion is your suzerain. You should be...delighted...to comply with our request for supplies. But instead, you launch an ambush and inflict horrible pain on us, your loving guardians. Now, Begnion is a patient parent, but I do hope you realize that your actions thus far have amounted to treason and sedition... You have violated our borders, stolen from my people, and inflicted harm upon them. I will not allow such actions within my lands, no matter who the aggressor may be!
Uwee hee hee... Your Majesty, do you know what the penalties are for the crimes you've committed? I can only assume you do not, or you would not so rashly endanger your life. But don't worry, Queen Elincia. Once Begnion has your crown--along with your head--removed for treason, I'm sure we will take VERY good care of your people.
I think, after the dust has settled, I'll place my portrait right over your throne-- ...Mmm-hmm. It was a pleasure chatting with Your Majesty. I am leaving now. She's all yours, General.
Wait, I recognize you... You came to our aid some time ago, during the Mad King's War. General Zelgius, wasn't it?
Yes, Your Majesty. This is the second time I've had the honor of seeing you. I sincerely apologize for my army's actions during the resupply operation. Please, forgive us. The Begnion Empire and the apostle gave us much support in our reconstruction effort. Crimea will always appreciate Begnion's generosity. However... Crimea and Gallia are allies. As such, we cannot take a side in this quarrel. Please understand. ...I understand, Your Majesty. Our forces will refrain from levying supplies while in Crimea. Oh... Thank you for your understanding. However, I must ask you to agree on these two points. First, the Imperial Army shall be given leave to pass through Crimea toward Gallia. Second, we shall be allowed to engage the Gallian army in towns near the Crimea-Gallia border.
I'm afraid this is the best I can offer. It's sometimes necessary to cut your losses for the greater good. Please think on it. Tomorrow, my army will begin marching toward Gallia. If the Crimean army does not interfere, I will take it as a sign of agreement. Farewell, Your Majesty.
... It's just very hard for me to believe... Is this war truly the will of the apostle? ...That is not for me to answer, Your Majesty. Then at least tell me this: is the apostle safe? ...Excuse me, I must go.
...what the fuck is going on in Begnion?
Next Time: Elincia will get herself killed or die trying.