Part 11: Building Snowmen

Perhaps we shall.



Before we leave, we're gonna make a Solar Pack to put on HK-47, our new go-to Robot. Solar Packs regenerate HP for the Bot.



Oh hey, it's Meta Crab.



I've come a long way to tell you something, but these kids have caught me!



In order to make the kids go away, we have to give the kids our Surprise Horn. It was fun while it lasted.



Meta Crab: He's being forced to work at the Hacker HQ. That's what I heard. Just like them, I don't know what will happen... you'd better go rescue him as soon as you can! Visit the house in the North. The fisherman there can get to the island. The Ship will soon sail, as I requested.



I made my life by crabbing. It wouldn't be fair to refuse a crab's request. That boat, right on the pier, will take you to Snow Mountain.

Let's follow this logic: Fisherman spends life crabbing, i.e., capturing and killing crabs and eating them, and now it “wouldn't be fair” to not listen to one that talks to you? Seems like said fisherman would rather kill it lest the crabs take over with their newfound speech capability!



And he means “right” on the pier as in the boat on the right, the left will take us back to the Volcano island.





A jRPG isn't complete without a snowy island.



A neat visual touch is the fact that Dexter leaves footprints in the snow.







New to our playthrough are Tacklers, or giant gorilla/yeti football players. They're weak, though.



There are also scary as fuck snowmen here.



Sword 4 runs train on this whole area.



Do you see those little mounds of snow? They slow down your movement, but ALSO slow down enemy movement, which is amusing to me considering they should be acclimated to a snowy climate/terrain.



Really now.



Inside this cave are capsules that, for some reason, do not open.



The signs were to keep people away from this scared-shitless Hacker, apparently.



This Hacker also tells us he was scared ”something awful”. How meta. At the end we get some Boots 3, but uh... well, we don't really need those. I guess they could go on Megaman or something. After talking to him, we can open the capsules. The one near the Hacker has a Bomb 3.



There's also a hidden NPC in here, only found with the Glasses. He tells us that Scrap 9 and Scrap 10 are “the strong parts, they make up the core.” Basically, they're the most important Scraps we can find.



Heading back to the entrance and heading up instead of left, we climb some ropes.



We're already at the Hacker Base. That was easy.



This Hacker seems oblivious as to who we are, and is content making a snowman.

Robotrek Tunes – High in the Sky



So here we are at the Air Base, the main Hacker HQ.



Our enemies are now French, with cute little berets. They're no bigger threat than regular Hackers. The sword-wielding Hackers are strong against Sword 4, but not against RUN commands.



That little guy in the top left will summon like seven Hacker enemies to our location, so it's best to dodge it and you can't take it on in battle.



The Air Base is full of consoles that flicker fifty different colors and honestly looks kinda cool.





I guess that's how they've been continuously using regular citizens for slave labor, they've been watching too many MIB movies.







Those security bots realllllly annoy me.



I will wait I turn, while you piss in the urinal.



But I'm hungry



Looks like they're about to roast poor Meta Crab.



Going back to human form shows how utterly stupid the Hackers are, since they didn't even notice us sneak past nor do they care that we are obviously not-a-Hacker.



So we'll boil him, and after it's over, we'll have a little taste.

Crab: Oh, please, forgive me! My kind doesn't taste very good (I beg to differ)! Ahh... you are my master, aren't you? Save me!!

Soldier: Hey, you! Aren't you the fugitive Inventor? Just like a moth to a flame! Everyone! Before we eat, we'll do our exercises! Get him!



All of you can just die.



Multiple hackers consolidated into two in one battle.



Meta Crab gives us the Leader's Badge, which will allow us to access more of the Base since the Hackers are still totally stupid.







Your father told me about you, but the Tower is only accessible from the air. I have a child too, Carl is his name. So I know how you feel. I will do what I can.



Talking to him again, we agree to deliver a letter to Carl for him, which means we have to go alllllllll the way back to Rococo.



I was kidnapped by evil people and forced to work. I can't help worrying about you and your mother. I don't know when I can come home. You're the man of the house now.

Your father



Aw, the Hacker's made more snowmen.



My father left me and my mother a long time ago. What are you talking about!



... Whew. Kidnapped or not, he just disappeared! You came back just to give me this letter? People like you are very kind. Thank you.

(shuffling back to the Air Base now)



Before we leave, Carl gives us that Litho he took a while back to give to his dad.



He made another one!





In a display of utter surprise, the Litho is the blueprint for the blimp.





It doesn't really look like a blimp, to be honest.



Now we have a mode of transportation. We could go to the Tower now, but there's a sidequest.



First, we head to the southeast island.



On this island is a very irate Dr. Einst. His ship wrecked here, and he has no materials to fix it.



We then head to an island to the southwest.



Where a married couple are; the wife is very ill. On some other island, a Fever Flower grows...



Back at Dr. Einst's island, he'll give us one if we bring him a Scrap 7. Lucky for us, I still have one to spare (although you'd need to go buy one back in the Sewers if you don't have it).





Dr. Einst flees afterward, and “if the user wants”, he'll be back to fuck with us some more.





As our reward, we get a cool 3,000G (or 1,500G if you had to buy a Scrap 7).



Next time: To the Tower!