Part 26: Rescue Mission (feat. Cake Attack)
Chapter 13: Rescue Mission (feat. Cake Attack)
Calling themselves the Revolutionaries, the coup d'etat forces sought to ally with Bern and divide rulership of Elibe.
Cecilia escaped from Aquleia with Guinevere. Forming an anti-coup d'etat militia called the Loyalists, she traveled around Etruria, fighting the Revolutionaries. However, the Revolutionaries had Bern on their side. With King Mordred taken hostage, Great General Douglas and Knight General Percival were also forced to join the Revolutionaries. With these powerful allies, the Revolutionaries slowly began to push the Loyalists out of Etruria. Eventually, the Loyalists were driven into an old castle on Missur Peninsula.
After locating Cecilia, Roy headed for Missur. Meanwhile, the Loyalists were under joint attack by the Revolutionaries and Bern's troops. It would only be a matter of time before the Loyalists were defeated...
Oh now this is just a great omen, given Fire Emblem’s precedents.
General Narshen, the Loyalists led by General Cecilia are fighting harder than we had anticipated...
Cecilia...! That bitch again! Always interfering with my plans...!
Oh. This is bad.
... Y-Your Majesty!? When...did you arrive?
Just now. The general from Etruria fights well, I see. Y-Yes... But fear not, I shall force her into submission... No, let me. I will fight her myself. Your Majesty, there is no reason for you to fight... No matter, I need the exercise. Narshen, show me to her.
The castle hasn't fallen yet, Master Roy.
Good! But we still have to hurry.
Well, fuck.
The kid gloves are officially off. FE6 is done playing around, and it's time to either step up your game or go home. As you can see, there are plenty of promoted units, and there are lots of ugly weapons floating around - It's probably a 60-40 split between Steel and Silver/Killer weapons here.
Bors and Geese are leading the charge north, with Tate, Ray, Lugh, Saul, Oujay, and Lalum in tow; Roy's group will be taking the east route and swing north.
Cecilia is holed up in the gate, but she has plenty of friends. Surely someone called the "Sorcerer General of Etruria" has something special up their sleeves, right?
Er...yeah...about that. I suppose to her credit, she does have an Aircalibur tome, which is nice for all those lovely wyverns right nearby. Speaking of:
Welp. So much for that Aircalibur tome. She can fend of Flaer, at least!
Yeah, she's fucked.
Figures that the one time you get to have a friendly character hold an objective it’d be a foregone conclusion in favour of the enemy. Fucking hell, IntSys.
Then there's this guy, who, rather than help his fellow Etrurian general, is just kinda chilling here.
I suppose he's earned it and all, but seriously. Dick move, dude.
Anyway, we spend our first turn just moving forward, and Zephiel decides that he is not a very patient man.
...King Zephiel...! For your prowess in battle, you have the honor to fight me one on one. ...!Even Cecilia knows she's fucked.
I never paid much attention to it before, but that's some damn fine sprite work Zephiel's got there. The spin is just the icing on the cake.
That’s a neat trick he does there.
Too...powerful...
That was a hell of a checked swing to not kill her outright.
He just forgot to unequip Mercy
Memories...
Your Majesty! Invincible as always. I suppose this is all one can expect from an Etrurian General. Your Majesty... If you would allow it, may I have her? Hm? I have some certain...bad memories with this woman. I want to punish her for them. Hmph, very well. Do with her as you wish. Thank you very much, Your Majesty. You there, make one of the prison cells ready.
Yes, General Narshen.Not even slightly creepy.
And now Zephiel is the boss. Should be fun!
Give Gonzales a hammer, I'm sure we can take him.
Yes, General Percival.
...This isn't what they promised. They said that they would leave Etrurian matters to us Etrurians. What should we do? Was it General Narshen who commanded the attack? No, sir. It was King Zephiel himself. ...! The king himself... So, Bern had no intention of entrusting anything to us in the first place... We aren't going to move right now. Tell everyone to remain at their posts. Yes, sir. ...Fellow general was presumably just killed by King Zephiel himself? Any presumed autonomy Etruria had thrown out the window? Yeah, Percival is just going to sit there and hang out for a bit. If you move like crazy, you can recruit him by getting Lalum/Elphin over to him before turn 8, but it's a long and dangerous haul to do it.
Percival is a chill dude. I can respect that.
Yes... We were too late. Is General Cecilia all right? There is no report that she was killed, but probably... Well, if there's still a possibility that she's alive, then I won't give up. We have to hurry!
Bors and his trusty Horseslayer are leading the charge, with Geese and Oujay slightly behind. They're set up this way because this puts Bors in range of a Killer Lance cavalier, and Geese/Oujay are just outside of it.
Rutger caps skill for the first kill of the mission.
Bring her to me.
Guinevere. So good to see you.
Zephiel, why? Why did you start this war... Why are you killing innocent people? Innocent, you say? Hmph, jealousy, vanity, greed... People have been fighting over such rubbish in any nation. And you call them innocent? Well... The world must liberated from such pointless things that men fight over. That is the purpose of this war. But...people are being brutally killed in the process. No radical change can come about without sacrifice. Zephiel...! Guinevere, you are my only sister. Therefore, I will forgive you this time. But not the next. Do you understand? ... Narshen! Wasn't the leader of Guinevere's guards here? Yes. Her name is Miledy. Very well. Tell her to escort Guinevere back to Bern. Also tell her to make sure that the Fire Emblem is returned to the Temple of Seals. Yes, Your Majesty. Zephiel...You know Zeph, if you're so concerned about the Fire Emblem, why don't you take it from her? Like, right now? I mean, it's not like she can really do anything to resist.
I have the suspicion that most RPG villains are just really lazy. Sure, he could take it from her, but she's all the way over there and liberating the world is hard work and
I see we’re doing the whole standard “War is bad but not as bad as the inherent evil in maaan~” routine again. Figures.
Bors gives no fucks about your Killer weapons.
Princess Guinevere, I am glad to see you safe. Now, let us return to Bern on my mount... ...Princess? Miledy! Wh-What are you doing!? Please put down that sword before you are hurt! Miledy, please! Let me go. ...! ...Should I oblige, what would you do next? ...I understand that Roy of the Lycia Alliance Army is near here... You would join the enemy!? If we don't do something, Elibe will be overrun by Bern's forces... No matter what kind of reasoning my brother gives, what he is doing is obvious. He is forcing others into submission through power. I cannot agree that that will lead to anything good... ... Miledy... Please. Let me go.
...? There is one thing that I cannot forgive you for, Princess. When you left Bern earlier, why did you not come to consult me...? Well... I thought that your reputation would be damaged, so... Did you think that I would prioritize my reputation above you? I am your loyal knight more than I am a knight of Bern. That has not changed ever since I was knighted. Miledy... If you told me to let you go, then I would follow your order with pleasure. Miledy... Thank you.
And with that, Miledy and Guinevere are ditching Bern for the winning team.
What? Everyone, lower your weapons! Master Roy, she may be lying... She may be a messenger. Killing a messenger goes against the knight's code. ... Are you General Roy? ...Yes. And you are? My name is Miledy.
Princess Guinevere!? You were safe. Yes... I escaped with her assistance. Roy, General Cecilia is alive. R-Really? Yes, she is alive, although she is severely wounded. She is being held captive in the castle. Thank you! We have to rescue her!
Miledy is our first wyvern rider, and she's pretty much exactly what you'd expect. Unfortunately, she only comes with a Steel Lance, which considerably slows her down on top of being rather inaccurate.
Anyway, the first challenge of the day involves this mess. Gonzales would be ideal for tanking the cavaliers, but he's too far back, and even if I did pull everyone back, the cavaliers are mostly close enough that they could still reach our sword users and squishier units. So our only real option is the “kill everything” approach.
The best approach.
Always.
First, Roy takes the sniper. This lets Rutger move up next to him to attack an archer and forms a wall. Lilina comes up behind Roy and nukes the third archer.
Shin finishes the archer Rutger attacked, and Clarine comes up from behind to heal Lilina.
That gives us this formation, where both Rutger and Roy are in range of their supports, and is basically the best we do for right now.
In the north, Bors has done his job admirably.
Ray starts by killing the southern cavalier. I didn't think it was possible to see a Ray worse than my practice run, but I have faith the RNG will deliver and cause me to have wasted my time with the Lugh/Ray support.
It's always possible, you're just tempting fate when you think like that.
He’s tempting fate by playing.
The north cavalier gets Horseslayer-ed.
Tate gets rather lucky against the paladin, and Lugh cleans up against the last cavalier.
Yes. The Dragons are prepared to fight at your command. Narshen, I will give you some Dragons to fortify your militia. I want you to send some of your forces to Nabata. Nabata? The desert lands located at the center of this peninsula? Right. I hear that there is a hidden village in which Dragons have been staying ever since the Scouring. I see... Then there is a high chance that a Divine Weapon is hidden there. Exactly. It must not fall into the hands of the enemy. I already sent some troops to start the attack, but they are outnumbered. Understood, Your Majesty. I shall send some mercenaries and Dragons there at once. Good. You can also take the girl we captured in Nabata. She's a Shaman from the hidden village. You can pry more information out of her if you need to. Yes, Your Majesty. I shall have the village taken in no time. ...I shall remember those words. Of course!
And now Narshen takes up the reigns as the boss.
Undoing all of Roy's hard work!
Did you treat my wounds?
...Yes... But I'm not...used to treating wounds... Perhaps...I didn't do a good job... Yes, you did. Thank you. We must find a way out of here... ...Ow...! You shouldn't move... The wound...will open again... But I must do something... It will be all right... I can see...a light...that will soon be here to help us... Light? Yes... That light...will aid us both... We must wait for it... Who are you...? I am Sophia... A priestess of Arcadia... Arcadia? I shall tell you more about it...later... For now...please trust me...Hello, mysterious benefactor! I remember you from Victory or Death.
No, no, goddammit Gonzales. I guess we have to go with the nuclear option.
Lilina is angry that you hurt her Roy so.
Okay, maybe not that angry, that's a pretty shit level. It does get her Anima-A though.
It builds up your muscles when you wear it. ...I wouldn't recommend it for the ladies, though. [Got Body Ring]Lying son of a bitch, female units generally have lower Con; they want the Body Ring more.
After crossing the center of the map, we trigger the last boss rotation.
The Lycia Alliance Army! What!? Flaer! I thought you had taken care of them at Djuto! I did! Well...I left a Dragon to deal with them, so... I never thought that they had survived! What!? You fool, then my reputation as your officer is also in jeopardy! If I let the Lycia Alliance Army live here, people will start to suspect my ability... I must do something... ...But, they defeated a Dragon. They seem to be tougher than I expected. General Narshen... What should we do...? I have no choice... Flaer, I will return to Aquleia and plan an attack on the Alliance Army. You stay here. M-Me... Stay here? You don't have to defeat them. I just want you to hit them as hard as you can and decrease their numbers. General Narshen! You would use me as a cannon-fodder!? Flaer... To tell you the truth, you would have been executed a long time ago when you failed to defend Djuto. I'm giving you a chance to prove your worth again. You should be grateful. Hehehe... But...! Or do you want me to carry out your execution right here? ...! ...Yes...sir... Understood. Good. Then I'll leave the rest to you.And finally, we have the actual boss of the chapter, Flaer.
That's a shame, I wanted to see how far they could take it. We've had what, 4 bosses total?
Roy's group continues to push forward and is almost across the second bridge. Gonzales crushes a cavalier in celebration.
A wyvern gets in a throwing match with Shin. He chooses poorly.
I don't actually do this, but look at those numbers. Look at them.They are high.
Roy doesn't take so kindly to the wyverns going after him.
These guys show up from behind on turn 8. I actually could have had the group further along, but I sat around here for a turn or two because I thought these guys showed up earlier.
God these reinforcements. They're just the worst. Nothing quite like being taken from behind by an entire regiment of Cavaliers and a Paladin.
We're leaving. What? Are you sure? Bern's behavior is clearly an act of insult to Etruria. I cannot aid Bern any further. We will return to Aquleia and inform Lord Douglas of this matter. Retreat at once! Yes, sir!With that, Percy gets up off his ass and heads out. If you miss him here, he shows up again in Chapter 15, where he's much easier to recruit.
Now this was a somewhat poor decision on my part. Geese and Bors can easily handle the group from behind on their own, but Oujay and Tate are far enough out that they start attracting the attention of another paladin/cavalier group, and these guys are much less suited to taking on large groups of lance users that hit rather hard.
For the guy who wanted Gonzales' crit animation, here you go. He just yells a bit and attacks like normal.
This is a problem. There's no way for Geese and Bors to effectively stop all of these assholes at once, so we'll have to get creative and hope we get lucky.
Geese starts with the paladin, and Bors attacks the cavalier behind him but misses. Tate comes back and plugs another gap, but that leaves the far one on Geese's side. Saul's a prime target, and all we can really do is cross our fingers.
Welp, this is bad start.
That...was cutting things a lot closer than I'd have liked.
It happens. Winning when you know you really shouldn't have is one of the greatest joys of Fire Emblem.
Oh, those wonderful days before cavaliers could retreat after attacking, allowing groups of them could bring spectacular hit-and-run conga lines against a single unit. They were better days. Although I suppose the player could do that too, so... eh.
Now, we simply retreat through the hole.
Lugh fries a dude on his way back.
Lalum refreshes Geese so he can get back to the frontlines.
That leaves us with this. Bors will attract most of the attention from the far cavaliers, the northernmost one is trapped in his corner by Ray and Oujay, and two closest to us have their choice of our tankier or dodgier units. It's far from ideal, but it'll do.
This is a poor start to things, but everyone is positioned so that no enemies from the far group can actually reach the back formation, so Lugh's pretty safe, and the lower cavalier that started by us retreated to heal.
Bors begins the slaughter.
This guy slips past, but Oujay pulls a crit out of his ass to even the odds.
And this guy breathes his last trying to kill Lugh. Lugh is not amused.
Lilina crits the hero and that's the last of the enemies on the south side.
I got it to defend myself because I heard an army was approaching, but I can't seem to use it very well. It's a nice sword, eh? It was used by a brave kid who was standing up against Bern like you guys. Here, I'll give it to you, so use it to end this war! [Got Al Sword]Al's Sword is another reference to the FE6 Manga, in this case it's a lighter/weaker Steel Sword.
Cleanup on the north side - Tate takes the cavalier who retreated to heal, and Bors mows down the one next to him.
Ray takes this cavalier, and Lugh polishes off the Paladin.
Oujay starts on the troubadour, but isn't fast enough to double her. Lalum fixes that.
Goddammit, really? These guys head north, so Geese and Bors hang out while everyone else presses forward.
So while they're doing that, let's do something more interesting. Flaer hasn't changed statistically from last chapter, but he did trade his Steel Lance for a Spear. Not that it'll really help him much.
I would really be better off with the Steel Bow (doing 22 damage once), but eh, whatever. It gets the job done either way.
But I am a knight of Bern! I shall never surrender!
Shin pops another level trading blows with Flaer.
Clarine heals up Shin after he takes a hit from Flaer, and Shin puts another arrow or two in Flaer to put an end to him.
...plenty of warriors greater than I... Bern's army shall annihilate you...for sure...
Bah. At least it's strength, I guess.
And a couple levels from killing those reinforcements. We're more or less done with the chapter itself, but it's arena time now. For the most part, it works the exact same way as it did in FE7. The main difference is that it allows you to make use of your support bonuses, but the tradeoff is that the arena hates you much more by default. We can make use of the Barrier staff trick, though there's nothing like Nini's Grace to abuse, sadly.
At any rate, we start with the Barrier staff like usual. Partly because Saul likes the experience, partly because holy shit are we going to need it on some units.
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Next we go to the arena itself and find out how much the game hates us at this exact moment. This is partly because Bors has a huge defense score (which means the enemies need stronger weapons to stay competitive), and partly just because fuck you, that's why.
After
Drop them off the next turn, heal them up and give them a dance, and send them back until they reach your level of choice. So let's see some results.
Bors didn't really get that many stats, but since the main game is not full of cheating motherfuckers, he'll be fine.
How can you say that right before Chapter 14. Even if the main game isn't full of cheating motherfuckers, it's sure as hell one itself.
Especially after that.
Holy promotion gains!
Gonzales did about as well as could be hoped for. I suppose I would have like to see a few more points of skill, but when you're dealing with a 15% growth rates, I'll take what I can get.
If you can murder anything you hit, even hitting half the time that's a whole lot of murder.
Which is fine, unless you’re trying to get a counterkill combo going, in which case a miss will kill the progress dead. Still, we can fix it with Secret Books, I guess.
Or... yes, this will serve.
5 Skill is a fucking ridiculous promotion bonus, but he needs every point of it he can get. And yes, even on normal mode without any bonuses at all, he's 8 points away from the HP cap at 20/1.
Lilina turned out a little slower than I might like, but she's still quite capable of wiping the floor with just about any other mage.
If there's one thing Lilina needed, it was more magic upon promotion.
I'm pretty sure Lilina is so highly rated because she's so satisfying to use. Most mages are fairly well-rounded. Lilina just nukes the shit out of everything.
Rutger is pretty much right where he should be, if a point behind in strength. Can't really complain too much about that.
Especially when he just got +30 Crit and a couple extra points of strength for good measure.
Swordmasters, fuck yeah, right? +30 is just crazy for a passive crit boost, and that’s just the beginning...
Shin is a little behind defensively, but in excellent shape otherwise.
He and Gonzales are probably neck and neck for being the best unit in the army right now.
Tate gave me fits in the arena, but she came out on all her averages, so I'll let it slide.
The Falcoknight promotion gains are underwhelming as usual, but she really appreciates that +6 HP since she's already -4. And every point of con is precious on a peg knight.
And our healers, Lalum, etc. Finally, we're done with this chapter.
Roy... I have made a fool out of myself in front of you. No, of course not! I am relieved that you are alive... But what of your wounds? Are you all right?
And you are? I am Sophia... A priestess of Arcadia... She prophesized that you would be coming. Now, you said you would tell us more once we were safe... Yes... Arcadia...our home...lies to the east...in the Nabata Desert... We tried to stay hidden...but Bern found us... And... They attacked you? Yes... I was too slow...so I was captured... I see... But why would Bern be interested in a little hidden village like yours? I...do not know... Perhaps...they found out...about the Dragons that live in Arcadia... Dragons!? Yes... Arcadia...was built a long time ago...by Dragons and people who wished to live together... Such a place existed...? Master Roy... Please, save our village...! But the story does seem a bit unbelievable... ... ...In any case, it's probably true that her village is under attack by Bern. We should help them. We owe Sophia anyway because she helped General Cecilia. ...Thank you... Then, can you tell us more about your village and the Dragons? Yes... I will gladly tell you what I know...Next time: Welcome to Chapter 14. Yes, that Chapter 14.
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Level 10 Wyvern Rider
Lances - C, Affinity - Dark
HP: 30 (75%)
Strength: 12 (50%)
Skill: 11 (50%)
Speed: 10 (45%)
Luck: 5 (25%)
Defense: 13 (20%)
Resistance: 3 (5%)
Con: 9
Miledy is our first wyvern knight, and like all wyverns, she's tougher and stronger than pegs while being slower with significantly less resistance to show for it. She's pretty similar to Heath, all things considered. Her bases are good (but not great), and her growths are good enough that she'll hold her own pretty well, though her defense growth is oddly low for a wyvern, but that might just be standard Fire Emblem Female Growth AppropriationTM at work.
There's not much to say about Miledy. She's a quality unit, although she's just slightly underpowered when she joins. In a game with growths like this, being similar to Heath can get you a long way.