Part 49: Garlyle Base 1

All right. Update is slightly longer than last time, but nowhere near as long as the ones prior to that.

It is also, incidentally, almost entirely dialog and cutscene.

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Welcome back! Before we begin, let's wind back the clock and take care of some stuff I forgot to do last time.

Since there were no votes for the Mana Egg, I've allowed Random.org to choose.

rand() % 3 = 3, so Feena gets it.
rand() % 2 = 1, so the first element on the list she doesn't have. Water it is!



Justin also eats the various stat boosters.

Right! Back to Feena's house.







Whether he had that hounding, bastard dream again is unknown.

: Huh?!



: I wonder where he went?! That wound hasn't healed yet. ...? I hear a flute. Where's the sound coming from...?

: It's coming from outside. Let's go see, Justin!





Because clearly the best way to thank the people who saved your life is to sneak out early in the morning, stand on a rock, and play the flute.



He still spouts incomprehensible gibberish. At least he looks happy to see us.



: You know, I don't think it's human, is it? It's got such a strange voice.

: But it seems to be saying something. Maybe... it's just speaking in a different language?



I'm tempting to make a snarky comment here, but if there's really only one language spoken by humans...

: Hey, little guy.... What's your name? Where are you from?

: Hmm... we're not getting anywhere. I don't think I can understand it.





: Maybe it's a thank-you gift? I think he wants you to eat it.

: I've never seen a nut like that before. I don't know. Here, Justin, try a bite.



Before we get a chance to eat the nut, though, some tanks rudely interrupt our conversation.

And who do we know that's rude enough to interrupt a nice snack with military equipment?





Suppose we should be glad they didn't show up while we were farting around the mountains.



The kid seems to be pissed at the Garlyle sergeants. Understandably.

: Wha... who are you?!

: Take a good look and you'll see! We're soldiers in the Garlyle Forces. Now hand over that humanoid!



Tumblr would have a field day with Justin, here.

: Say, didn't I meet you and that little girl once in the Sult Ruins? What an odd place to meet again. You guys don't have a choice here. Now hand over that humanoid or accept the consequences.

: Boy, you sure are bossy! So why are you so interested in a little humanoid like this?!

: We rescued this kid. Why should we hand him over to you without even knowing why?!

: Yeah, that's right! Don't be so tyrannical!



I choose to read her last line there as literally calling out Sue on not knowing the definitions of some of the words she uses.

: These humanoids are classified as top secret under the Garlyle Forces Plan. Hand him over or we'll kill you all!



Justin, facing down a tank on foot, decides to channel Solid Snake.

: Hey! Saki! You just blabbed about a top secret matter! Try thinking before you talk!

: Well, I had no choice! Either way, we have to take these guys back to the base!

: Enough of this nonsense! You think we're just going to give up quietly?!



Saki is a hardass, and Nana is a crazy sadist, but Mio is probably the scariest of the three.

: All right, soldiers! Take them to our front-line base!



In a neat touch, the map cursor automatically moves and selects the base. Speaking of....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJUcCb6Mlc (Polsy link)







These guys aren't fucking around.





They even keep the giant cannons pointed at us while we're being escorted into the base.



I've always liked this bit, where the officer is leading the soldiers around.



The humanoid kid is separated from the rest of the group. I suppose letting the people who are being locked up for knowing too much about military secrets be locked up with said military secret would defeat the purpose a bit.





Nice of them to let Sue be with Justin, though.

: Oh ho! Prepare to die! Because you won't get out again alive!

: Isn't this lovely. ♥ Now we can have a real execution. What would be the best method?

Well, let's go! Saki! Mio!

: Listen! Be relentless. Put your hearts into it. Be on the lookout!

And, with that, all but one of the soldiers leaves the room.



: What do we do now? Justin?

: Can't use our weapons, either.... Anyway, I have to escape from here somehow.

And now we get to do the obligatory jailbreak.

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed the polygon-model pipe.

Oh, who am I kidding? We're all goons, the first thing we noticed was the toilet.



SUCKS TO BE ANYONE WHO DIDN'T VOTE "PIPE" FOR JUSTIN'S WE- huh? It's not actually an equippable item? Isn't placed into the inventory at all? Bah. Damn game ruins all my fun.

: Great! This is really hefty. This'll do the trick!



Sue seems awfully cavalier for what she's implying.

: Great! We got hold of a weapon! Now... how do we escape from here?





When the hell did Justin and Sue get a chance to make prison-escape plans? Let alone be familiar enough with them to refer to one in particular as "THAT plan".





Thankfully, they cut out the scene where Justin cut open Sue's abdomen and planted a cellphone-triggered IED in there.



: Shut up! What is it?

: Sue. Sue is in bad shape!

: Yeoow! My stomach huuurts!

: Hey! Hurry, hurry! Take her to the doctor's!

: Oh, you little brat. Wait a second!





: Come, now we rescue Feena and the boy and escape from here!



As mentioned in the OP, this game really likes to make "new" tracks by changing the start and loop points on longer pieces.

Anyway, we're finally given control to walk to the next room.



: Feena, wait! I'm opening it right now!

: Stop that, Justin! You can't bust it open. You have to use the key.

: That's right, Justin. There's a room in back! There might be a key there!

Our reward for walking into the next room is to be told to walk to the next room. And then back to the previous room after that. Riveting.



: They're only two children. Our lookout will be just fine. Don't worry.



I'm sure that nothing bad will come of loudly attacking the guard while he was on the radio to another soldier.

: All right! Here's the jail key!



That other item is a resurrection potion. Anyway, upon leaving the room...







Well, that whole escapade was almost entirely pointless. See you next time!