Part 45: 08/06/09: In the Shadow of a Warring Moon

So, today we have a Full Moon to deal with. Alright, let's get right to it!



> You decide to stay home today and conserve your strength.

In The Shadow of A Warring Moon

The Voice Someone Calls



Any luck, Yamagishi?
Yes, I've located it... and this time, it's not just an ordinary one.
Now, that's more like it.



But, there is one thing that's strange... It seems like it's underground... almost 10 meters.
It must be in some kind of basement...
According to my records, there is no structure in the area that matches those criteria.



The military?
...Is that true?
Well, the architectural and geographic data for the area were uploaded into her memory bank.
Then again, the information hasn't been updated in a decade.
That is correct.
Uh, wouldn't that be a good idea?
So, how should we interpret this?
There's no way of knowing without actually going there...



The situation is still unclear at this time.
Therefore, we will wait until we arrive to determine who should be deployed.
Agreed.
Understood.
Then, let's go.







Crisis



It is, and it took long enough! But... someone's missing.

Who are these guys!? Lucia didn't sense a thing 'til now!





We've been keeping an eye on you...
From what we hear, you've undertaken a "righteous" battle to save the world.



You've gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin.
Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always...
But, why the hell would you wanna stop us!?
Simple...



...And we can't let that happen, now can we?
Power...?
Don't tell me you're Persona-users as well!
Why don't you use that pretty little head of yours for a change?



And the Dark Hour is a frontier that is ours alone to explore... just like the Tower of Demise...
THAT's your reason!? ...Are you crazy!?
There's no telling what will happen if we don't do something about the Shadows!
What difference does it make...?



No one can predict the future, anyway.
But, that is all beside the point...
Surely you will acknowledge the sense of significance the Dark Hour has given you.
You think I like this!?
Is it not so?





...Huh?
......
I don't enjoy this one single bit.
You've each got your own reason for fighting.



And that makes you all hypocrites!
So I say, to hell with you!



On his way out, Jin kicks... a winch that's just slightly offscreen.

Have fun in there.





We will be all right.
Rather then wasting our energy, I suggest we deal with the Shadow first.
You're right. If we lose our cool, then they win.



Alright, let's concentrate on our original goal. We can look for a way out after we've won.
Everyone, prepare for battle.

End

Basement



So, the military base-ish area is pretty simple. We've got our pseudo-hub here to gather our party...



And so this is who it's gonna be this time around. The only thing we're missing is someone (other than Makoto) who can debuff.



Also Fuuka can tell us something that's kinda obvious, since every Full Moon fight has been pretty different already.



It's moving slowly downward.
Chase after it!



The underground area is a very linear path, sure, which is sensible but we can see just enough to not make it a boring straight line.



Oh and there's this, I guess.



I have worked until my fingers bled for the sake of our country, as well as my family's future...
But still, our task has not been completed. It's such a bitter pill to swallow.
Yet, even if the sky burns red, we shall not surrender...

It's really the only thing of note in this room, so we'll head further downwards.



This place seems to have been some kind of weapons depot.
I've never seen so many weapons before...
All designed to kill...
But, I guess that's the reality of war...
It's hard to believe that a time like that actually existed...

This area doesn't even have the small side-areas, but it still has a bunch of, like, old weapons and literal junk.



Oh and a second note.



I hope that it will be of some use to our allies in the future. I shall lock it tightly.
I hope our comrades who aren't here to celebrate this day are looking down and smiling at our achievement...
To my mother, my wife, and my children...
Forgive me for leaving this world so early, but this is for all of your futures...



The path leading further downward has few obvious quirks to it. The treadmarks are very obviou and clear, sure, but there's also that the entrance is not a door but like something just smashed through the wall.



Chase after it!

The apparent first thought would be "oh the Shadow did that," but the support beams make it clear that, nah, it's a pretty old hole.

This path is even simpler, though, and has nothing else at all of note to it.



It's waiting in the next area!
Be careful!



Now, THIS area also is clearly not really part of the military base, but it still has some man-made structures in it. Between those and the dead guy who's been here for a very long time makes it pretty clear that this is something that was dug out about 10 years ago as well, and was just... unfinished because, well, everyone died somehow.

oh and there are regular shadows hanging out here



The Wild Drive here is the only one we've seen before, since they're from the next part of Tartarus.



So, uh, if you need to level up for the boss fight they actually made it doable for once. Rather than being the stuff we've already fought, or outright easier, for the first time.



There's only 2 on the screen at a time, so you'd need to run back and forth a bunch and it could get resource intensive so I didn't bother.

A United Front

That Which Comes From The Darkness



It happens a bit less than you'd think, but it's always nice when there's some build-up to the Shadow.



It's using the tank as armor!

I dunno. Tanks don't generally have four legs...



But, hey, at least it's clever how the turret it is head and all. Fighting a Shadow that is a sentient tank in a military base is probably the most cohesive design of the Full Moon operations so far.

???. ??? ??? (Portable)
hey if you've been ignoring the portable videos watch it this time because its very different and ONLY doable in portable outside of grinding a fucking ton
Master of Shadow



Why am I sensing two entities...? It doesn't make sense!

So, uh, that is definitely pretty weird. I'm sure it'll be clarified in like a second phase of the fight or something.



Rather notable is that even Fuuka can't tell us this thing's level, name or even Arcana. That's very, very new!



It doesn't have too many tricks, unfortunately. It can Poison everyone, which at this point is more of a nuisance than a real threat.



Or it can, y'know, fire a giant fuckoff shell out of its turret.



It does a decent amount of damage, because Hard mode and all, but it's way less than we're used to seeing bosses do with basic attacks at this point. It can't even one-shot Yukari and she's made of paper.



Or it can use Kill Rush.



Which is either less damage than a normal attack or about 60 points of damage more. Not a lot, but enough to get a kill.



From our perspective, Getsu-ei is still a really good attack that's marginally the highest damage we have right now. Y'know, outside of our own multi-hit attacks like Kill Rush or better. And, honestly, maybe even then. Boosted mid-tier magic comes fairly close to Getsu-ei, all things being equal, but it still slightly loses out. Not by enough to matter but the number is smaller...



It's also worth noting that while the Shadow can be critted, you cannot get a One More since it's immune to Knock Down.



Anyway, on its third turn the Mystery Shadow always uses the skill Separate.



It's pretty clear what it does; the Meta Knight looking dude sticking out of the tank flies out, still holding the giant tank rifle.



And the tank itelf gets up on its hind legs and is ready to kick ass!

VII. Arcana Chariot; VIII. Arcana Justice



They seem to be coordinating their attacks, too. Please be careful!

Really, that this was Chariot and Justice was pretty clear from Fuuka's initial summation. That she said Justice first made it obvious (since the next numerically IS Chariot...) and then, there was two Shadows in one thing...



As the Fool matures into an adult, he begins to understand himself and forms a truly strong sense of identity. His mastery over the self is his first "victory": his inner control grants him a strong willpower and an assertive nature.



The Arcana Chariot shadow continues the trend of being symbolic of the Reversed Chariot. As a form of strength and victory, it's overly literal as it is a Type 3 Chi-Nu tank that was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War 2. It was, uh, actually never used in combat because it was designed to be used as a defensive measure if Japan was invaded by any of the Allied Nations. Combine this with how tanks are, by their very nature, inflexible and can only approach a situation one way and the Arcana Chariot is a pretty simple step on the journey, all things considered.



Oh and it continues this further in combat by, well, not really being all that strong and mostly throwing ailments at you.



It's only the annoying ones as well, since it likes to use Poison, Panic and Fear but doesn't really do anything with that.



It CAN use Torrent Shot to hit someone with Pierce damage but that's its best play.



Having achieved a victory, and thus mastery, of the self, the Fool continues onwards to a new world. As he crosses from the old to the new, the Fool must replace the laws he used to know and live by with those that he will now be living with. From the internal, to the external...



The Arcana Justice is, unlike the Justice Arcana, not going to be meaningful towards a large change with the pattern of the Shadows. It's a pretty simple reversal of the Justice arcana as per usual; rather than representing reason and logic in the face of conflict it has a rather simple approach. One that involves using a tank's cannon to murder people. On top of that, the unified form of the two involves Justice driving around the Chariot; at first that's just "oh, the Chariot is a chariot haha," but it's pretty simply not a just action. Instead, it's a show of force and control.



Also, uh, Justice is by far the most dangerous one here. Makes a good reason to blitz the fuck outta it ASAP. Torrent Shot hits 2-3 times on a single target...



Or it can use Myriad Arrows. Which is, well, very simple.



It is Swift Strike, but Pierce elemental. And stronger.



Or he can decide to just go "pfft nah fuck you" and hit someone with Hama.

And if you stupidly let one have a turn when it's alone, they cast Samarecarm. Which, y'know, brings back the other one back with full 1500 HP. That's so fucking mean and spiteful, it's kinda great. Briefly.



Anyway, on the 3rd turn of them being split apart, they use both their turns simultaneously to Unite back into one being.



Not much of a big deal, since rather nicely... you cannot end the fight with them merged. Removing the combined form's 1500HP auto-splits them back in two.



At which point they have 1HP each. Both Chariot and Justice have 1500HP, and their remaining HP gets averaged for the united form whereas when it splits its remaining HP is given to both Chariot and Justice. Since it usually first splits around the 750HP mark, both Chariot and Justice will have ~750HP.



5001 EXP is such a specific number. I'm pretty sure letting one get rezzed a bunch does not increase it, otherwise I would.... still not bother because chain killing it would be tedious as fuck. So, I could be wrong on account of having never done that for sensible reasons.



Well, we have our last stock upgrade at last from this. Can't really complain about that one.

The Voice Someone Calls



Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Ikutsuki's just kinda been sat around waiting for us to get back I guess. See, he's way better at sitting here than Natsuki was.





Good work. You may return.
Wait. There's more...





It's pretty obvious that Mitsuru's referring to Takaya here. He sure does seem like the leader of that friendly little trio.

...And he wasn't alone.
They appeared quietly during the Dark Hour and seemed to be aware of our activities.
Hmm...
Did they say anything that might give us a clue?
Come to think of it...



Strega...?
......



Thank you.
I have one final thing to report...



Ah, I see.
Since the threat has been eliminated, I'll send someone over as soon as I can.
I'm sorry... We'll be waiting.



......

Silence



> It seems like the trust between you all has grown...
> You learned a new tactic!



I have, uh, genuinely never used this before. It seems really pointless and redundant when you can focus folks on a one target if you really want, or just use Full Assault for convenience. It might have some niche use somewhere but it really seems like a downgrade to me. I'unno.



> They seem to be Persona-users, as well.
> ......
> In any case, you succeeded in defeating the Shadow this month, too.
> You expect that there will be fewer vicitms for a while.
> You are exhausted, so you're eager to get some rest...

End

Well, hey, summer vacation! Let's see, what are we gonna do now that the Shadow of the month has already been dealt with...