Part 11: Satellite of Love

Update 11: Satellite of Love



We return to the cave on Aridia and receive a hero's welcome.



"Ayn, words can't express my gratitude. Take the Twins' Ruby; it opens the Landen path."



Next destination: Landen! We already went through the Landen-Aridia cave on Nial's route, but this time we're doing it in reverse order! This time, make sure to pick up the Force Knife and don't sell it: you'll see why.



The cave is, of course, infested with cyborgs. Commsats can poison you and usually appear in large groups, making them pretty annoying. Good thing we've got Thea around to slice them all into pieces at once.



We emerge in Landen, which is also full of new (and ridiculous-looking) cyborgs. Polebots can hit you with physical attacks or Foi for a decent amount of damage. They have low defense but lots of HP, so it might take two hits to kill them.



The bridge to Satera doesn't exist in this version of generation 2, and there's nothing interesting in Ilan or Yaata, so we head straight back to Landen.



That's odd. Landen's castle is all locked up. How are we supposed to meet Lena's daughter now?



"Good thing Dad told me the story of how he broke out of Landen's dungeons through the Technique Distribution shop! I can use the same route to break in."



Even Landen Castle's dungeon is full of cyborgs. Minimechs have a weak Zan technique and aren't really a threat at all.



But who's this woman blocking our path to the castle?



"... the country of Landen. I have the Power Topaz, but you won't get it without a fight!"
"Wait, seriously? You're going to attack me just like that?"



"Well, uh, I guess this is one way of getting what I came here for..."



The Zarachnes are upgraded Arachnes and they're pretty tough, blasting your whole party with Gra techniques for a fair amount of damage. Meanwhile, the Commsats are trying to poison you and you really don't want to deal with that during a boss fight, so kill them first. Sari will just thump you with physical attacks for 30 damage or so. Ayn should probably be kept on healing duty for most of this fight, but Sari only has a little over 200 HP so it'll be over before you know it.



"... you have to let me come along to guard it!"
"Suit yourself."



Okay, so, uh, look at those HP. Her other stats are way above the rest of the party's too. She can't use any techniques, but who cares? She's an absolute monster in melee combat, doing as much damage with a knife as Ayn does with a sword, so give her the Force Knife right away. If you happened to get a Laser Knife from Endora, give her one of those too.

Speaking of Endora, here comes another fun backtracking session!



You have to head all the way across Landen and back through the cave to Aridia, then across Aridia and back through the cave to Draconia, then across Draconia to Endora.



At least the guy who failed to rescue Thea thinks we're awesome now. Hooray!



By the way, in reference to the discussion that's been going on in the thread, I confirmed that Thea can wear the Royal Band, although it's not really worth the price: it's an 18-point boost to defense, which is significant but not spectacular.



Anyway, if we head a little southeast from Endora, we reach Cape Dragon's Spine. We can tell that it's Cape Dragon's Spine because of the oddly familiar-looking dragon.



Luckily for us, it's friendly.



After we land, the dragon turns into a human!



"I have the power to change into a dragon."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"That's not the secret! Stop interrupting and let me give my dramatic speech!"
"Wait, do you mean..."
"Yes, it was I who stole Maia so very long ago! Please don't tell Rhys. Guard Thea well, Ayn!"




"Oh, this is just great. How am I supposed to get back home now that my ride's dead?"



There are new cyborgs in the area around Techna. Feralbots are tougher to kill than Dogbots, but they don't really hit much harder. Unless we want to wander around and fight them forever, though, there isn't anything left to do but head southeast into town.



"Hi there. I don't suppose you could give me directions to Satellite?"



"Azura? The blue moon?"

So yeah, when the translation of Nial's chapter refers to Dahlia (the purple moon) as Satellite, it's wrong, but it's pretty close. (Well, they're both satellites sensu lato, but...)



"Beware -- only in tales is it a place of peace!"

As it turns out, the cyborgs have been coming from Satellite all along, and they've already taken over Techna's castle. We're not going to be able to evacuate anyone there in its current state, so I guess we'd better go in there and clear it out!



First, though, there's always time to do some shopping! You probably won't be able to afford everything unless you've been grinding, but at least get a pair of Laconian Claws for Mieu.



The most worthwhile items here are the Force Vest for Mieu and the Force Shield for unlimited healing (remember, give it to a cyborg so it carries over to the next generation). You can also get some body armour for Ayn, Sari and Thea if you really feel like splashing some more money around.



Techna Castle is dead easy to get through once you know where to go. Just enter the castle from the northeast entrance and head south to the dungeons.



Along the way, you'll run into Glazstix enemies, which are like Stix but harder to kill.



Once you're actually in the dungeons, things get a little more complicated. Head west at the start for a Trimate, then back to the east. After that, you have to kind of do a big clockwise loop for about three quarters of a circle, then head west and south.



Floppers have a Zan technique and an annoyingly slow attack animation (the three cards at the front flip over, and this somehow hurts you), but apart from that they're nothing special.



Hunters are a tougher version of Seekers, and it may actually take more than one hit to kill them even with upgraded weapons.



"The Power Topaz proves your courage and worth. You have earned the right to know the truth! It is time for you to see your true world!"



Hey, I actually managed to get a decent screenshot of the spaceship taking off this time!



"It is a giant spaceship built by our ancestors!"



I know I'm just nitpicking here, but it's pretty weird how the moons look so big in comparison to the Alisa III.



There's not much point giving directions to Azura's dungeon because there are a couple of different paths up there and they're both about equally long. Just try to head for the northeast corner when you can and it'll all work out okay.



Along the way, we run into the strongest cyborgs we've seen so far. Stickbots have high defense and dangerously powerful attacks, while Mechs have a whole bunch of HP and a fairly strong Zan technique. Stay healed up at all times: Ayn, Mieu and Thea all have fairly low defense and HP, and it's possible for them to get killed if you're careless.



All the new enemies here give loads of experience and money, so if you particularly wanted to level up your party before the end of the generation, this would be a good place to do it.



One way or another, you'll eventually reach Azura's dungeon.



This place is genuinely difficult. Not quite Phantasy Star II levels of difficult, but not far off. It's a huge maze, and the only treasure in it is Force Boots (for anyone except Wren) and a Force Band (for Thea). The boots require a long detour around the southern side of the area and you can just buy them for 400 meseta anyway, so I wouldn't bother. The Force Band is right near the end of the dungeon, though, so it's easy enough to pick up.

The correct path through this area is to go south at the start, take the second path from the bottom, and follow it east, north and east across the dungeon. Go all the way to the east for the Force Band, then head west, south, and back east.



Along the way, you'll run into Fatales. They hit reasonably hard and can occasionally cast Zan. They're no big deal, but like the Mechs and Stickbots they give out great experience and meseta.



"Hey, Wren, look at that cyborg over there! It looks just like you!"



"Seems that a few rats escaped my cyborg army. I once served Orakio, but Laya forced me here. Then she somehow moved this satellite far away. I've waited 1,000 years for my revenge!"

So basically they didn't even bother thinking up a backstory for Siren. He's just Orakian Robot Lune out of nowhere. I mean, I guess you could argue that it's supposed to show how the two sides of the war aren't really so different from each other and all of that, but considering how lazy the designers were with every other aspect of this game...



Correction: he's Orakian Robot Lune with Orakian robot boobs and a suspiciously-placed gun.

We want to kill the Flashes first so they don't heal everyone else with Gires. Fortunately, one round of slicer attacks from Thea should do the trick, so everyone else can focus on the Mechs.



Siren has a more powerful physical attack than Lune, and the same Tsu technique. He's got less HP than Lune, but more defense, so the fight will take about the same length of time. It shouldn't be too difficult, especially with three healers in the party.



"The war is not over yet. I will return one day!"



"Huh? Where the hell did he go? We're in the middle of a satellite, it's not like he can just run away."



Rejoicing, his people moved to the satellite. King Rhys decreed that Ayn should marry soon. Two women made known their interest in him.



"Those are my only choices? Really? Sari was trying to kill me not too long ago. And Lyle was King Cille's nephew, which makes Thea my second cousin. But then again, if it's good enough for Rudy Giuliani..."

Well, that wraps up Ayn's generation! It's now time for you to vote on what marriage you want to see for generation 3. Will it be:

+
Ayn and Thea?

+
Ayn and Sari?

+
Nial and Laya?

+
Or Nial and Alair?

The decision you make will determine the party composition in the next generation. The four third-generation protagonists all end up doing pretty much the same things, so I'll probably just do a short bonus update at some point summarising the differences between the four paths. Choose wisely!