Part 89: 8/6/09

8/6/09

Today was yet another full moon.



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

Fuuka’s training paid off, and she quickly detected the target. The tricky part, though, was in the details…

Video- “New Problems”

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> Everyone, including Ikutsuki, is here.
> Aigis is sitting on the end of the sofa, ready for her first full moon battle…
Well, it’s a full moon once again.
Any luck, Yamagishi?
Yes, I’ve located it… and this time, it’s not just an ordinary one.
Now, that’s more like it.
It’s by the deserted houses in the northern part of Iwatodai.
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.
However, in the past there was an underground facility that was used by the military.
The military?
…Is that true?
Well, the architectural and geographic data for the area were uploaded into her memory.
Then again, the information hasn’t been updated in a decade.
That is correct.
Uh, wouldn’t that be a good idea?

There was nothing to do but check things out ourselves.



There’s no way of knowing without actually going there…
It seems war’s scars may be deeper than we think…
The situation is still unclear at this time.
Therefore, we will wait until we arrive to determine who should be deployed.
Agreed.
Understood.
Let’s go for it guys!
* chuckle * Dependable as ever.
Then, let’s go.

It turned out finding the place was the easy part.



> Fuuka’s guidance led you here…
The target should be around here…
Well done…
> ……!?
Who are these guys!? Lucia didn’t sense a thing ‘til now!

A pair of weirdos came out of nowhere once we were inside the old base.



This is the first time we’ve met in person.
My name is Takaya. This is Jin.
We are known to some as Strega.
We’ve been keeping an eye on you…
From what we hear, you’ve undertaken a “righteous” battle to save the world.
But, we’ve come here tonight to put an end to that dream.
What!?
You’ve gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin.
Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always…
Why are you doing this?
Simple…
If the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappear, then so will our power.
…And we can’t let that happen, now can we?

So damn selfish, willing to let the world burn as long as they get to play around in the ashes…



Don’t tell me you’re Persona-users as well!
Why don’t you use that pretty little head of yours for a change?
Only a select few wield the power of a Persona…
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…?
There will always be disasters, whether they are caused by Shadows or arise from human folly.
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.
Not at all!
Is it not so?
How about the rest of you…? Do you also wish to return to your pathetic, ordinary lives?
…Huh?
You think I like this!?
……
I don’t enjoy this one single bit.

And so stupid, too. Thinking this plan of theirs would make a difference.



“Justice” is only an excuse…
And that makes you all hypocrites!
So I say, to hell with you!
Wha…!?
> The partition is closing…!
Have fun in there.
> The two left right before the partition closed…

I mean they locked us in with the thing we came here to kill. How dumb can you get?



We will be alright.
Rather than waste our energy, I suggest we deal with the Shadow first.
You’re right. If we lose our cool, then they win.
The Shadow’s moving! I think it’s noticed us!
Alright, let’s concentrate on our original goal. We can look for a way out after we’ve won.
Everyone, prepare for battle.

We were the only people that’d stepped foot in this place in a long time.



It’s creepy here…
At the moment, we can’t do anything about being trapped. Let’s defeat the Shadow first.
Even if we defeat the Shadow, are we gonna be able to get out of here?
I’m more worried about that, actually…
So, we’re trapped in a cage with the Shadow…
…This should be interesting!
I’ll stay on standby here with the rest of the members.
I sense a powerful Shadow below you…
It’s not far from here, but…
There’s something different about this Shadow compared to the others we’ve fought. Please be careful.

We left Akihiko and Junpei behind to keep Fuuka safe while the rest of us pushed ahead to find the target.



It’s moving slowly downward.
Chase after it!

The rusted out hulks of long-unused weapons were still hanging around here.



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…

It seemed like it wasn’t totally unused, though…



We followed the tracks down into the earth.



Chase after it!

It seemed it was just as trapped as we were, though.



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

After evading a few Shadows it left in its wake, we had it cornered.



Are you ready?
Ready!

Once we saw it, the tracks we’d been following made sense.

Video- “Tank vs Tank”

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This explains the tread marks…
It’s using the tank as armor!
Get ready, everyone! Here it comes!

Right away Fuuka could tell something was strange about this one.



Why am I sensing two entities…? It doesn’t make sense!

And it soon became obvious why…





I see now. The vehicle and turret are different types: one’s Chariot and the other’s Justice.
They seem to be coordinating their attacks, too. Please be careful!

Boss Battle: Chariot and Justice
This is a pretty fun battle. We start out fighting just one Shadow, a combined form of Chariot and Justice. It has Poison Mist, which has a chance of poisoning the whole party, and has a pretty powerful Pierce attack. After a couple of turns, though, we’ll see the real gimmick of this. It’ll us Separate, and Chariot and Justice will start attacking us separately. They have the same health percent as the combined form when they split. Both use a lot of physical attacks, some of which are multi-target like Myriad Arrows. The Shadows an only be defeated while they are Separated, but if one is dead and not the other they’ll cast Samarecarm to fully revive it. After a few turns separate they’ll unite again, and will split after a few turns or if the combined form is taken to near death. Split your firepower to ensure they are both being taken down roughly evenly, and you’ll be fine.

Still, it doesn’t matter how much trickery they use. We’ll still win every time.

Video- “Victory”

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Yes?
This is Mitsuru. We’ve neutralized the target.
Good work. You may return.
Wait. There’s more…
Our mission was interrupted by an uninvited guest. …He’s most likely a Persona-user.
A Persona-user!?
…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…
They said they’re called “Strega.”
Strega…?
……
I’ll see what I can find out.
Thank you.

Of course, um, that didn’t stop us from being stuck in that stupid place.



I regret to inform you that we fell right into Strega’s trap, and now we’re locked inside here.
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.
Other Persona-users, huh…?
……
> ……
> An unexpected enemy has emerged…
> 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 victims for a while.
> You are exhausted, so you’re eager to get some rest…

Strega’s going to pay for that.