Part 4: Rescue Jimenez

Prayer



Before we step on out to go rescue Jimenez, we should talk to everyone. Because we can, you see.



I still think it's too dangerous for him to be on the front line. It's against regulations.
Should I stop him?
There are exceptions.
You're right... extraordinary situations demand extraordinary action.
If this is his decision, I'll go along with it.



It's set up like a communication module, but there's a custom protocol to connect to demons...
Sorry, in layman's terms I guess that would be "summoning" them.
You can summon demons as allies and carry them around. And of course, they can fight with you.
It's looking like the best way to expand our forces will be to ally ourselves with more demons.
This program, though... It's full of black boxes. It's so hard to get a handle on...
When I remember we're going to be using this, entrusting it with our very lives...
Sends a chill down my spine.



I was seriously on those demons' menu back there...
Hm...? What's with the face? You don't believe me?
Here, you pretend you're a demon, and take a good look at me.
Don't I look plump and delicious?
Uh... not really...
hahahahaha! It is a joke, only a joke!
But in truth, you shouldn't underestimate hunger on the battlefield. Remember that.
Of course, I'll protect our food supply with my life, so there's no need to worry about that!



Oh right, I didn't mention it before but Maebe is going to be chilling in the Sickbay for the most part from now on. She's only here about half the time or so, though.



I had imagined them to be more violent and animalistic, so this is very interesting.
I'd like to talk to them sometime myself.
If you need healing, come anytime. I'll give you proper care.

Oh right, much like how returning Irving to the Lab stops freebies there, Maebe being back to the Sickbay stops freebies here. It's not too big of a cost right now ever, at least.



This sure is turning out different than what we heard. We're supposed to be investigating...
How much use can a recruit like me be in conditions where we're struggling just to survive?
I... I don't really have that much confidence in myself...

Requisite reminder that everyone here was selected or accepted as volunteers from amongst the best of the best in their respective fields.



I think in the future, I'll skip this part in the Lab since it's always going to be Irving and Chen. Never more, less nor different in any way.



You can count on good ol' Irving for everythin' from weapons to items to apps!
Or, that's how it used to be... but the dang material fusion equipment don't work without Arthur.
Real shame, ain't it?



I was asked along for this mission to support Irving and everyone else in Supplies.



That just leaves the Deck which has someone new in it! Blair is a pretty tall dude, jeez.



If you can save them, I know it'll do a lot for our morale.
Whether or not we succeed this time could turn the tide of the whole mission. I think so, anyway.



Based on how he was acting then, I'm not surprised he's still alive.
Though he won't last long against the demons...
...Let's go. I don't want to lose a valuable fighting man.

Alright, let's head back into Antlia and see if we can't rescue Jimenez!

A Scorched Nation





Usefully, where Jimenez sent his distress signal from is now placed on our map. At first glance, it's somewhere we can't get to right now though...

(A) Those demons took us by surprise once, but it won't happen again!
(B) Now that Irving is back, we can deploy some C4.
(B) We only have enough for one blast, but if we need to, we can blow a path open!
All right. It's up to you, team. Move out!
Let's find that man Jimenez!
Yes, Sir!

We could blunder around pointlessly for a while.

Silence



Or we could just skip right to the "boulder" where we found Maebe before.

All right, men, we have to get through here.
The only way to the Blue Jet is through this blocked path...
We have to get past this boulder!



Let's give those demons a little taste of human technology...
We'll show 'em there's nothing man can't do!
Alright, the charge is set... Everyone get clear!

The C4 exploded! The boulder blocking the path has been destroyed.

I'm sure you'll be surprised to learn that there is no animation for this. It's just a fade to white and suddenly the different texture is removed.



(B) Screw the Schwarzwelt, and screw the demons!
(B) Human power all the way, baby!
......! Who's there!?
Watch yourselves! Fall back!

In The Master's Name



The demon attacked the crew!



Pshrrrrrrrr!

The demon roared and ran deeper into the field.



That thing... it knocked everyone back like they were stuffed toys...
What are we supposed to do against that thing...?
Stay calm!
Call sickbay and get a med team on it!



But to do that, it may be necessary to clear the area of demons. Keep that in mind!
I'm going in.
The fate of the Earth is on our shoulders...
Strike team, on me!

Commander Gore traveled deeper into the field...

A Scorched Nation



So, uh, Gore is kind of a badass. He just ran off ahead solo after a thing that appeared in a cutscene to chump dudes. That was savvy enough to know to not trigger an actual fight!

Well, might as well follow to see what cool shit Gore does.



Oh, it's you, Tadano... Sorry for pointing my gun at you.
I... *sigh* Look, I've seen my shares of bodies during my own tours of duty.
There's no reason why tis mission should be any different than all the rest...
...No reason, but still, I can't stop shaking.
What if... what if the demons come after me next? I keep thinking...
......



We're gonna have to fight it if we want to save the Blue Jet's crew.
Let's stay focused.
...I see...
When I die, tell my wife I loved her...

Don't worry, that guy is never going to move from that spot so he's safe. Whether we go left or straight forward here doesn't matter because...



They lead to the exact same spot anyway. The only difference is that heading south lets us know that this is where the first locked door leads. I'm sure you can guess now the entire reason why that door exists.

Speaking of doors, that one ahead has a weird green symbol on it. Let's see where it leads!





Analyzing... Information on its use found in the Demon Summong Program libraries.

Accessing data... Translating data to known language...



Pretty sure most people reading this at least know what a Terminal in general is. These ones aren't much different.



They're save points that can also warp you places. In this case, all Terminals we find can only warp us to the start of the sector. This is good for leaving quickly, but not much else.



Anyway, we'll worry about that if/when we need it. We'll just head north from the Terminal and then hang a right at the next intersection.



This leads us to another fork. One side is blocked off by yet another locked door.



The other side leads to a downed ship.

It seems to be the Blue Jet.

You can hear the sound of battle from the other side...

So we found the Blue Jet. But the wrong side of the Blue Jet. No, we can't just climb over it or go through its ruined hull or something. Stop being silly. We gotta go around.



Which means returning to the terminal and going south instead. There's two obvious places we can go from here. The door round that pool of green liquid or an open corridor slightly to its left (from this perspective).

The Fear of God



Dybbuks are, like Slimes, Dark-Chaos so our only options here are to fight or flee. As per expectations, they're weak to Fire (125% damage; this is the average result so I'll only point it out when that's not the case from now on). But they also have a couple interesting quirks that makes 3 of them Dangerous right now.



For starters, this is their basic physical attack. It can inflict Sleep.



Sleep is dangerous for a couple reasons. It prevents dodging (most of the time!), taking actions, etc. etc. but at least they're woken up if they ever get hit. You don't want that to happen though unless you're the one using Sleep.

Not just because it grants a percentile HP/MP recovery.



Oh and they can cast Dormina as well. So they have two ways of inflicting Sleep on a single target. At least this one doesn't damage on top of inflicting its ailment.

Nah, all Dormina does is inflict Sleep on one target. It has a 80% chance to do that before factoring in resistance. It costs a whole 4MP as well. Remember these numbers. They will be important later.



Sleep is good and powerful because it straightup doubles all damage received. You can do some insanely wacky things by having your own dudes be put to sleep if you're set up for it. The hardest part of that, though, is being asleep in the first place.

You'll see. Eventually!

A Scorched Nation



Past that door, we come to a giant open area with nothing in it but this random bird. This demon does not belong in Antlia! What the hell?!



You'll be gobbled up for sure if you wander around a place like this.

Yes, that was definitely worth its own side area.



So we'll leave totally unknown old-man faced bird demon to hang out all on its own and take the other real path from the area. This lets us find something else new and another turn in the path. We'll ignore that for just one moment.



Verifying age... Carbon dating indicates that it is over 100,000 years old.

Analyzing... Information on its use found in the Demon Summong Program libraries.



Accessing data... Translating data to known language...

...Translation complete. This structure is known as a heal spot.



Heal spots basically work like Zoe but with marginally less convenience, because there's no Irving for other stuff. 99% of the time they're just as good though. Healing costs are super simple and very cheap; 1 Macca per point of HP and 3 Macca per point of MP.

We'll heal up here and head around the corner.

The Fear of God



It seems to be the Blue Jet.



Hey, I know you... You're Tadano, from the Red Sprite!



...Whoa, careful there!
There was a nasty sonofabitch here just a minute ago...
We're sitting ducks. Let's get moving and--



Shit! It's him!
Run, or he'll kill us all!
You won't escape! Wrrrraahhh!
I'll kill all the humans!



Commander Gore took on the demon!

An Honor Befitting That Name



So, Gore is going to solo Orias here. This is going to be awesome.



It's not super-obvious since this is almost certainly going to be the first time you've seen it, but that icon means Gore is using a Gun elemental attack. In this case, he's just casually shooting Orias. It deals way more damage than our gun can deal. Go Gore!

Fwoohhhhhhhhh! Die, humans!



It's a good thing Gore is clearly a higher level than we are, because he takes 45 damage which is just shy of 1/3rd his max HP!

How dare you do this to my men! You won't live to regret it!
Grrr... gaaahhhh! You...
See what a human can do to you!
Gah... grrrr...! Why, you...! I'll leave here... for now...



So with Orias having fled, we're probably gonna have to hunt him down later. But that's fine; we're not here for him right now anyway.

Silence



Why... Why was that monster here!?
They're demons! Get that into your head!



Yo, Commander! Behind you!
...Dammit!



Crisis



Commander Gore was caught off guard!

Grrr... Wrrrrrrrrrraaaaaahhh!
Human pests... You will dieeeeee!

The demon attacked!

Fallen Orias

An Honor Befitting That Name



So, because Strange Journey (and, really, more modern MegaTen games in general) finds it hard to have unique ideas our first "boss" is Orias. Though he's really more of a miniboss. You might think of it as a cute reference to Shin Megami Tensei 1 on the SNES/Super Famicom but I'm going to disagree for reasons that will make sense later.

...And, honestly, despite my griping he has better build-up here and a better fight too. He's not a complete walk-over this time.



Even if his redesign IS fucking terrible. Seriously, the original Orias design is way better! It's even more fitting of his actual description from the Ars Goetia:

quote:

The Fifty-ninth Spirit is Oriax, or Orias. He is a Great Marquis, and appeareth in the Form of a Lion, riding upon a Horse Mighty and Strong, with a Serpent's Tail; and he holdeth in his Right Hand two Great Serpents hissing. His Office is to teach the Virtues of the Stars, and to know the Mansions of the Planets, and how to understand their Virtues. He also transformeth Men, and he giveth Dignities, Prelacies, and Confirmation thereof; also Favour with Friends and with Foes.

Regardless, he's weak to Fire so we can take advantage of that with both Hitonari AND Pixie... but only in the first turn.



Thankfully, Orias does not resist Ice so Knocker can still contribute actual damage outside of Co-Ops.



The reason why we only hit him twice with Fire attacks in the first turn is because Orias is powerful. He's, in my opinion, one of the hardest fights in the game. Purely because if he hits someone twice, they will die. He can only do basic attacks but with that kind of damage that's all he needs to do.

Thankfully, even if he crits Pixie she should survive.



You might be thinking that Pixie has Dia so she can be our healer since her Agi was outdamaged by Fire Shot right? Wrong. There's an important reason why we use Medicine here and not Dia. Several important reasons, even.

First is that Agi costs less MP than Fire Shot. Half the cost, in fact. Second is that Agi+Co-Op with Hitonari in it outdamages the Fire Shot+Co-Op without him in it.



Third is that actions have hidden priorities. Items functionally always go first. They're actually (tied) second on the priority list with Guarding being the only thing to ever go before an item. This means that... the MC's best role here is to be our healer. Regardless of his Demonica and stat distribution.

Pixie's Dia can go before Orias' attacks, but she's slow. Very slow. More often than not she will go afterwards instead.

The End



So, just heal whoever gets hit and Orias cannot win. Unless you someone how run out of Medicine or Pixie runs out of MP before wearing down his 250HP. Neither of these should happen at this point, unless you're doing something fundamentally wrong.

Being a mini-boss, Orias gives a decent chunk of EXP and some adequate scratch money. We can earn more than twice that from any given random encounter though...



At random, on level up, demons can do a couple things. Their stat distributions are based on a percent change of that stat going up as well... though their stat percents usually add up to 74-76% for no reason whatsoever. For fun reference, Knocker's stats chances are

St: 12%
Ma: 17%
Vi: 17%
Ag: 06%
Lu: 23%

So taking that at face value, there is a 25% chance of a stat not going up. Which is impossible. I'unno, I don't get this one.

But hey, they also have a chance of giving you an item, and what item that is... depends on the moon phase. Knocker has a 17% chance of giving us an item at every level, and a Mabufu Stone (low ice damage to every enemy; damage dependant on MC's Magic stat) is the one thing he can give us regardless of moon phase. On a Full Moon like this one, or a New Moon, he could've given us a Bead instead.

End

Silence





...Okay now I'll concede that this is pretty clever. Well done, game. That Ars Goetia I quoted before? It's the first book of a grimoire called The Lesser Key of King Solomon. It's more commonly/casually referred to as the Lemegeton.

Though because he left a big ol' Citation Needed on his work, it can be argued that Johann Weyer first wrote the Ars Goetia as part of his Pseudomonica Daemonum before it got added to the Lemegeton (but he had Orias as the fourty-ninth demon and not fifty-ninth, and he had less demons in general too). His book WAS written and published about a century earlier than the first collected version of the Lemegeton...



Oh right, uh, we have more pressing things to worry about though!

It's no use... he's not gonna...!
Hitonari... Hitonari...



Our investigation of the Schwarzwelt... is vital to the fate of mankind... of the Earth...
We must complete our mission... at any cost...
I'm entrusting you... with that duty...



Their fate... is on our... no... your... shoulders...
......



Congratulations on completing the quest!



Though he met his end, the brave and noble Gore has returned in high honor!

Sorrow





I can't... do what you asked...



He was too brave... too kind... for a Commander...



Without a leader, what's going to happen to us...?



The Red Sprite was still in danger itself!
We were in no condition to provide aid to the Blue Jet!
......
Hey... Hey.



Oh... you're Jimenez from the Blue Jet, right?
What're you gonna do with the Commander's body?
Do with it...?



...Good to hear it.
Be a shame if the man who saved me got buried outside for the demons to dig him up for a snack.
H-How could you...!?







Commander Gore, return to the command room.
Hey... Arthur's back...



Accessing strategy matrix for contingency plans in the event of the Commander's loss.



Your feelings are noted. However, I cannot respons to assumptions.
It is vital in hazardous situatons such as this to discard decisions stemming from heightened emotion.
Let us rationally discuss methods of raising our chances of returning to Earth.



It's scary how composed you can keep yourself.
If that was a compliment, I am grateful.
I will devise the optimum strategy for the successful completion of your mission.



...The entire reason we're in the Schwarzwelt?

What's this thing talking about!?
I dunno what the hell it thinks we're gonna accomplish!
I mean, we got demons hunting us down and killing us!



You listen to me, you hunk of junk--find us an escape route!



I know you heard him, Hitonari. We all did.
It'll be a long time before I can forget what he said...
......
Look, Jimenez, everyone on the Red Sprite probably feels the way you do, deep down.
But as long as I wear a Demonica, I'll follow Commander Gore's final orders.



How 'bout it? The rest of you happy charging into a swarm of demons, if that's the mission!?

Hell yeah!



So you wanna run, then? Or you want us to give you a nice funeral with whatever's left of you?
I mean, that's if the demons don't make a tasty meal of you, suckin' on them bones of yours and all!



What do you think, Tadano?
You think we should just go on with the mission? You gonna waste that second chance you were given?
We can always load up on stuff, come back prepared, man.
Tell me, what's it gonna be?
I'm sticking with it.



Maybe it was because of Gore's sacrifice and helping weaken him beforehand, but I got the kill on Orias. No matter how tough the demon is, we can take it down and move on. Or we could just negotiate. Not everything has to come down to violence.

I saw 'em smash the Blue Jet to pieces, and y'know what that taught me?



C'mon, man, let's all talk this out like reasonable people. We can come up with a plan...

Silence



What!?
"Where are we?"
Our coordinates are unknown.
"How did we get here?"
There is no navigational log of the course we took to reach here.
"How can we get out?"



You are strangers here in this Schwarzwelt...
There is no way out.



No! No way...!
I've had it with this place! I'm getting my ass outta here!

Malevolence and Benevolence



There may come a time when you must make such a decision...
But now is not that time.
At present, you have no choice but to continue the investigation.



If you want to survive, you'll have to follow orders.



This here's the lab. I hear right that Tadano got his hands on some rare stuff?
Y'think he got it from that demon he just smoked?
That's it. That, er... Lemegetonite.
Just thought I'd mention it to Arthur...
Understoof, Crewman Irving. Receipt of the item acknowledged.



Crewman Irving, I look forward to the breakthroughs that will undoubtedly come out of your lab.
Thanks, Arthur. Heh... no pressure, right?
I'll need a li'l time to myself to run some tests on it. I'll call y'all when I'm done.



But if you find anything else, it'll be up to you to bring it to the lab yourself.



Chen left for the lab.

Let us review the data.



We must get the engine working in order to regain mobility.



Once it starts up, it'll stay active indefinitely... but it takes a lot of power to get going.



A Tokamak Motor is one of the more impossible things we've seen in this game so far which is impressive. A tokamak reactor produces energy via nuclear fusion (and there are dozens of them in use right this very moment). It primarily uses deuterium and tritium - a couple isotopes of Hydrogen basically - and needs to keep a plasma confined via either a magnetic torus or inertial confinement using laser or ion beams.

Anything past that and I get confused because I am a dummy but the short version is that a Tokamak engine of any kind would need to be a perpetual energy device (which I think would make restarting it at this point kind of impossible on its own) and thus is relegated exclusively to thought experiments and things like this.

The engineer's report is accurate. We cannot move the ship without a Tokamak Motor.
Since ours is nonfunctional at present...
The best solution would be to obtain a Tokamak Motor with the help of another ship.
...Of course! If we use the Blue Jet's booster, then...!



...Scavening corpses. Boy, you can just feel the excitement.
Crewman Jimenez, you are not technically a part of this ship's crew.
However, you have an important role to play in leading the Red Sprite to safety.
Was that a compliment? Well, thaaaaaanks.



If you consent, you will receive the same treatment as the other crew members...



I'll... get to use demons to fight...?



If you are to join this crew, certain obligations and duties will be expected of you.
One of these duties is to cooperate with the other crew members.
...Ah, what the hell.
If I'm gonna survive long enough to get the hell outta here, I'll need power like that.



Thank you, Crewman Jimenez. We welcome you to the Red Sprite.
...It'll be good workin' with you, Tadano.



Let's you and me make it outta here alive. Even if it'll take using demons...
Crewman Hitonari, allow me to report.



This program has proven very useful to us, but please exercise caution when using it.
I look forward to the successful completion of your mission.

Ah good, so no pressure. Back to the Blue Jet we go, then.