Part 38: Sector Grus
Welp, time for Grus. Are you excited?
Palace of Pleasureno, thats not a mistake this is really what plays here
This is confusing. They're toying with us.(B) This place gives me the creeps... I hate this color scheme. And once we're past here, it'll be completely different, right?
(C) Hey, despair is the enemy just as much as the demons. Stay focused on the mission.
He's a pain to have around, but it feels strange without him.
We'll have to pick up his slack, but just hang in there. And don't you get lost either, First Lieutenant Zelenin!
We have no choice but to press on. Whether it's to find a way home or to find another route... The Land Where The Seed's Memories Lie Buriedonce again yes really this is what plays here
Right away, there's a phase shifter but we can't access it because this Dominion is in the way. Sure.
Oh... A human... Hmm. You are among those who ride the iron ship Master Mastema has spoken of.
I cannot allow anyone to pass without Master Mastema's permission. Please leave.
Is he here? Master Mastema is investigating this land. We must uncover the scheme of those accursed demons. So Mastema is here in Grus!?
But I have questions for him, too, so it works out perfectly. Let's find Mastema, Hitonari!Alright, so onwards we go. It's a nice straight line right now...
Fear
Oh goddammit. This is just a palette swap of the palace in Bootes!
You will not be forgiven, you race of traitors, who infected the Earth with your black dreams... You will pay the price for twisting the future to no purpose in this land...!
I am really not impressed by your power of "boring asset reuse."
I shall slowly inflict pain on those bodies of yours. Be mystified, cry in sorrow, grow weak, and die...Right, so, anyway we have a branch in the path here and we'll take the right-hand one (from our perspective) first.
no joke this is the first fight of the sector what the fuck
Fiend Pale Rider An Honor Befitting that Name
So, Pale Rider. Pale motherfucking Rider just jumped us RIGHT OUT THE GATE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
This is his basic attack with no buffs or debuffs. Since he has 53 Strength, this hurts a bunch AND he has 54 Agility so we're never outspeeding him beyond priority skills.
He's "weak" to Electricity. Except he isn't. He is, but that's just so you can get co-ops to cut through his 1800HP.
The Electricity part does little though and that's with the Golden Gun and buffs/debuffs stacked a bunch (this number isn't though). Why? He resists Electricity. Yeah, just like with Mayahuel's Phys "weakness" this one is just the game outright lying wholesale. He resists Ice and that deals equivalent damage but without the Co-Op to compensate.
Also he reflects Wind.
His skills are weirdly less threatening than Black Rider's, but he can do them more often and he has 52 Luck so Blight's Poison effect will proc more often than it feels like it should.
Pale Rider being mostly Phys skills is part of why Taotie is here to no-sell everything, yes.
This is the other part. His Mamudoon is lethal as all hell (base 55% chance) because of that 52 Luck.
Pale Rider only has 3 skills, but his last is Killing Wind. It's just a More Powerful Garudyne; base 250 power, 1 hit, single target. Costs 20MP so it's debatable how useful it is...
Except that damage is after 4 Debilitates and Taotie is functionally Neutral as far as we care. And Magic is Pale Rider's worse stat here at 49. Yikes!
But since he only has 3 skills, it's very possible to keep up with his damage output if Hitonari's on healing duty. Mamudoon getting as lucky as it did in the video is unlikely, but Sacrifices stop it being a game over anyway.
Also he drops Megido Stones and, far more importantly, Great Chakra. Very nice if he turns up a lot and you can get through his ridiculous defences reasonably quickly.
Cold Scythes are used for Magic Incense and a couple other things.
End Palace of Pleasure
So, down the other path we have this weird purple thing that's just a wall. You may have noticed it behind Pale Rider earlier along that side as well, but don't worry.
That one's a fake wall. This is probably the closest Grus comes to having its own gimmick and is the biggest thing that can be counted as an "illusion".
Shame then that they disappear just from being a few squares away if they're fake and your map even tells you which ones are real walls and which ones aren't. Can I give negative points for Not Even Trying? Because I want to.
Anyway, there's an Archangel just around the corner that's impossible to miss. You could just not talk to him if you want, though.
Her illusion blocks the path, preventing us from invading. I must hurry to the place where my cohorts are gathering. �...... I-I assure you, I am not lost!I don't know how you could get lost on what is essentially a straight line!
Moving along this line, there is a branch here that has a fixed 2 AT Grusite forma. How... nice?
This one is just pure chance, though. I'm sure not gonna complain since we want to go up this corridor anyway.
It lets us put that Gate Search E to use, yet again. This one is the most worth it out of the 3 uses we've found so far.
Because it gives a Bead of Life. Beads of Life here are what Somas usually are: a 100% HP/MP recover to everyone. Given enough time and resources, I'm sure we can find a way to get these in bulk too but I dunno. This is actually very good.
Back inside, we carry along the path and get the X Gold forma for this sector. I'm sure Grus will give us some really good armor when we can actually use this. It'd be silly for it not to, huh?
And just because we didn't get everything new yet, here's the Accessory forma for good measure. This one was also pure chance.
Down from there, we have this door we can't open yet for many reasons. That Gold forma you see there is a Very Special fixed forma. You'll see.
And up in the top left we have a Black Box. That makes 3 for the second quest...
In some places, we can see traces of civilizations other than the ones we know on Earth...
> The data is corrupted, preventing you from reading further.
Okay, uh, I know what this is referring to and we can't even get there yet. Stop sequencing breaking and then ending up in a place where you had to backtrack to, Black Box Guy.
But, hey, one space below his corpse we have another Gate Search E door. Its use has already gone up by 100% how about that!
This one is guarding this Rare Forma and nothing else. We'll be taking this to Irving later; it's very important.
Very. Important.
Silence
Anyway, back on the One Path we didn't take...
If it isn't Tadano.
Law Theme
Oh, hey Mastema. How's it goin'? We haven't seen you since, what, Delphinus?
This is a world of interwoven hallucinations. They seem to originate from the power of illusion employed by the demon controlling this land. Be careful not to succumb to its illusions.
I caught up just in time, I see. Were you already talking to him about something? My, my. You too, Zelenin...?
Still, you must use caution around the demons of this land. But there was something I wished to ask of you two...
By using the illusions as camouflage, we have erected our sacred fortress.
It is all in preparation for the upcoming decisive battle with the demons. To prevent the demons' invasion of the Earth, we must cooperate with each other.
If there is anything you require, I will do my best. Let us vanquish the demon horde together.
Thank you, Mastema. That will be a great help to us. But... may I ask you something? ...I sensed this was coming, Zelenin. It is clear that something trouble you... Was it? Well... yes. I wanted to ask your opinion... Well, it's not really a question. Just hear me out... I would be delighted.> Mastema smiled.
We've come this far, but... Since our failed attempt to escape to Earth, we've been in danger. Crew morale is falling sharply. There's constant bickering and some of the crew have been looking out only for themselves.
So, you humans in your iron ship are coming apart...? In a word, yes. But there's more. I... I've become doubtful... of the team...
I thought that might be why instead of helping each other, we've begun to fight so much...
"Atttacked"? Y'know, I don't think I've noticed overly many typos until now...
However... You may be encountering the problem man has always faced. And that is...? You see, daughter of man, humans are creatures I cannot understand. Why do you rely so on "trust"?
Why are you not more hesitant to rely on such an uncertain thing? Trust comes from the freedom of the heart...
In times of hardship, human trust is easily broken, leading to betrayal. So... you think human trust cannot be the basis for a firm bond. Then you're saying the discord causing such a problem can't be avoided?
Do not allow my words to cause you despair. They are but signposts for the path you must take. Of course...
A way to guide their hearts...? Is there such a thing?
So that's a "yes."
Right now, you should let your heart dictate your actions toward your colleagues. Should you become lost again... That will be the time you must come see me.
Goodbye, Tadano, Zelenin. May we one day defeat the evil hordes, side by side.> Mastema left.
I do feel better now, though. It's not easy to talk about with the others on the Red Sprite... Silence
Oh, for fuck sake!
Return to the Red Sprite and wait for new orders. I say again... Calling all crew stationed in sector Grus. Return to the Red Sprite and wait for new orders. This is rather sudden. I wonder what happened? We utterly disarmed them... Let's do as he says and return to the Red Sprite. Malevolence and Benevolence
We have received a communique from the crewmen monitoring Jack's squad. It appears they put the Lightning's functions to use in continuing their experiments on demons.
This isn't good...
This can't go ignored. The demon analysis technology aboard the Lightning far outstrips our own.
Well, he did somehow manage to get Enemy Only Skills so that's pretty impressive. Not sure about "threat" though.
The crewmen assigned to monitor them are in serious danger.
Eh? Is this...? We're getting a transmission! It's from the Lightning!
Has something happened to the crew!? Patch it through to the main viewscreen. In The Master's Name
I really got no reason to contact you goons, but I decided to tell you how pissed off I am! Geez, am I a nice guy or what? They must have my harp and robe all picked out in Heaven.
I know you... you're Ryan! Does this mean you've taken back the Lightning!? Hey, check out this smart asshole!
Y'know, just in case you still had some degree of sympathy for Jack's Squad somehow. Jack himself was obviously the nicest guy in the crew because he just didn't care about this kind of petty bollocks. Everyone else is completely unlikable, unmitigated shite.
That'll cut down on your payroll costs, huh? You oughtta thank me. Jack left us some good tech. Pretty well hidden, too. If he wasn't such an honest guy, maybe he coulda lived a little longer. Sucks to be him. But I ain't like that. I know human nature. I got big plans.
Just wait and see!
Those bastards... They killed our men! That's it! I'm gonna kill 'em!
They'll come for us next!
Jimenez... Chaos Theme
It's kill or be killed. There ain't a third way. Now let's get our counterattack going. Hell, I'd be down for doing it myself.
Yo, Arthur! Issue the revenge mission already! That's why you called everyone back, isn't it? ...Hey, Tadano. You're ready to rock, right?
Let's lock and load.Fuck it, let's just get rid of 'em before they can interfere and ruin everything. Before they get to four needless interruptions.
The casualties will only continue to mount!
Ha! How far are you gonna take this goody two-shoes act? What's the point in holding back from a guy who just said in plain English that he's gonna kill us!? They broke the agreement, they developed demons as weapons...
There's no one here who can say otherwise. Ryan said he'll attack us as soon as he's ready! We can't afford to lose the initiative. We should attack now!
This is self-defense. I don't see any alternative. But...! But WHAT!? Look, just answer me this: do you have an actual plan to settle this non-violently?
Could you... Crewmen of the Red Sprite, I request more time.
A way without bloodshed... You're gonna rely on that angel again? Geez... ...I'm sorry, Hitonari, but I have a favor to ask.
Please, Hitonari... All right. Thank you. I suspected you'd be open to the idea. Arthur, will you authorize an excursion to see Mastema? It does have a bearing on our problem, I assure you.
Any method of resolving the situation will be accepted.
First Lieutenant Zelenin's proposed plan cannot be ignored, given past events. You will have authorization for your journey and time to carry out your plan.
You are advised to produce a result as soon as possible. Thank you, Arthur. There is little time, Hitonari. Let's hurry to Mastema. I look forward to the successful completion of your mission.