Part 44: Commander Gore
Horologium... is a sector I am very torn on. On the one hand, it's probably my 2nd favourite sector. On the other hand, it's pretty darn terrible.
A Scorched Nation
There's some kind of magma-like substance flowing, too... Is this a preview of how Mem Aleph plans to rebuild the Earth?
Can we get there in the first place...?
I wonder what happened to the guys who left with Jimenez and Zelenin...
Maybe at times like this, I should be looking at your will of steel as a role model.
Alright, so let's check out Horologium, shall we?
There's a very big, wide-open area at the start with two doors in it. One leads to this that we can't do anything with at the moment. Disappointing, really.
The other leads through a linear path that ends with an elevator, huh...
Which takes us... to B9F.
Jesus christ, 10 floors?? Horologium, please.
Silence
My journey through the Schwarzwelt... ends here. Morale
Can you sense it? She is beyond this door... We are upon the root of the Scwarzwelt...
You must burn the figure of the final enemy attempting to destroy mankind into your eyes. Now, let us go...
> A huge, unknown entity is sitting here...
So you cannot see her true form... Mem Aleph's fluctuating energies prevent those without power from seeing her.
...It's dangerous to loiter here. She will notice.
...Y'know, for once I really cannot disagree.
We should leave.
Mem Aleph's rage can only be calmed with the sacrifice of the billions of humans on Earth... You have grown much during your trials in the Schwarzwelt, Hitonari.
But... your power has bent too far in the direction of those who would bind the souls of humans. Just like Zelenin, your crewmate who shed her humanity to become an angel...
It does not come from one person alone. Those who came before, those who have yet to be born... We gained that potential when history became a spiral of chained spirits.Infinite energy... and a spiral, huh... I sure hope Horologium is going to get as awesome as this implies.
We have the infinite potential... to learn from the past and pass our knowledge to the future. Take me to Arthur, Hitonari. I'll go into the details of my plan there.
Malevolence and Benevolence
The Commander's back on the Red Sprite...!
It's me, Gore... Commander Gore of the investigative team.> Gore held his hand over the console...
Beginning normal system restart...> It seems Arthur has regained functionality.
...Arthur restarted? Is Gore doing this!? I'm sorry for that, Arthur. I was a bit rough on you.
I'll share everything I know... ...Welcome back, Gore. As ordered, I will establish a data link through the specified channel. Thank you...
Arthur's... receiving data...! What the... are these from the Commander's brainwaves!?
Is this right...!? The Commander, he's... well, he's dead! He's a freakin' zombie!
Tyler... you showed me a photo once. I remember your daughter's face.
Maebe! I haven't forgotten your love for your father. That love will be rewarded.
......! The Commander's back... He's reclaimed his humanity...!
And apparently... he knows our future... Men, I must ask that you trust me. I am... still Commander Gore of the investigative team. Silence
With all you've seen and learned about the Schwarzwelt... I have to know whether you're up to the job of risking your life to save mankind. The End
So, at this point? This is the alignment split. Except, whoops, you don't get a choice (except when you're Neutral then you kind of do).
That one decision midway through Grus? That's it. That's the one actual alignment route decision you get. Your actual route is determined less by consistent play, actual decision making and a denouement but rather how much time you have to bother a single Goblin. This is so dumb.
Added bonus: you can bug the Goblin to shift alignment after this as well.
Your heart already belongs to the god of law, who'll brook no human independence. In The Master's Name
Because you have become the true threat to mankind... I have returned to the world of the living... to put a stop to you!> Gore attacked!
Meta UberGorestalt Vehement Rage
...I really do not like the Gore fight. It's not a difficult fight, or anything. It's actually really boring and simple. It's just absurdly stupidly long.
Resistance wise, Gore is weak to Wind, reflects Phys and Gun and is also weak to... Poison and Paralysis. Odd choice that.
The wiki also says he drains Almighty which is hilariously wrong.
He has an absurd number of skills, starting with Jack's Rain Strike.
I feel the need to point out at this point that a lot of things call Rain Strike, Pure Blue and Sunset Melody skills that are unique to Jack. I have no clue.
Heaven Strike is, uh, it is Rain Strike. But it does Phys damage instead of Gun.
E.N.D. is a powerful Phys skill and also it has a chance to inflict Fear.
E.N.D. does not stand for anything. It's just like the skill F.A.I.R.Y. in IMAGINE in which its just going for the acronym more than actually BEING an acronym.
If buffs or debuffs are at +/-4, he'll sometimes cast Silent Prayer. Not very often, but it's added to his rotation at least.
This is a bad sign in isolation, since he usually follows it up with one of two things:
This fuckin' thing which exists solely to oneshot Hitonari, because it's powerful Phys, single target and only ever used on him. And this damage is through a Guard AND at +4 Def. Granted he only ever does this after a Charge and never any other time, but still.
Or if he doesn't do this, he does Silent Prayer. I've had him primarily use Silent Prayer at this point more than any other, helpfully.
Gore's penultimate skill is a bit of a letdown here, all things considered. It's Diarama+Tarukaja wrapped into one mildly inconvenient package.
Now, I haven't mentioned this before but he has 7500HP. With the world's biggest asterisk because:
Gore's last skill is Power Overflow which is just Enduring Soul but way, way worse. It's Enduring Soul + Amrita + Dekunda. Fucking christ. So, yeah, major boss HP, for a brief comparison:
Morax: 700
Mitra: 1200
Horkus: 1800
Asura: 2000
Ouroboros: 2300; 3200
Jack: 2016
Tiamat: 4500
Maya: 6000
Gore: 15000
what the everloving fuck
And he doesn't even change after that full heal or anything. He just goes back to full HP so the fight takes twice as long. No new moves, no resistance changes, no new gimmick, nothing. It's just DO EVERYTHING AGAIN.
At least he's one of the fights that I do know the exact EXP amount he gives - it's 507,000. This is the total split across everyone, for reference.
Oh, and you may have noticed that all of his attacks are Phys and Gun. All of them. Even Adaptation. Funny thing about that...
End
...I do like this, though. In theory that fight was so awesome that we trashed the Red Sprite. In practice, uhh....
Sorrow
Either way... mankind's time... is finished... ......
At this rate, all functions of the Red Sprite will be unrecoverable.
All hands. Good... bye. I wish you all. Good luuuuuck... ...... ...
It's her... Zelenin's attacking the Red Sprite!
...... ...Hitonari!? What's with that cold look on your face!? Law Theme
...will... wi... ......
Dammit! Stop her! Stop Zelenin from sing... ing... Ugh... ......
Zelenin, Messenger of God... Lead us... To the side... of the light... Come... Let us greet her... let us greet Zelenin...
I come to share with you the will of the Lord...
They have been made perfect. Now they will attend to the way of the Light. Hitonari... Gore came to you with a method of saving mankind, did he not?
The two of us, working together, can make this world a perfect one which glorifies Him. Listen to me, Hitonari. I must tell you about our benefactors. Those three gentle spirits...
Thankfully, they never DO get named beyond this. Namely because Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar (which you may remember more from Chrono Trigger anyway) are NOT the names of the biblical Three Wise Men. In fact, they don't even have known names. Or an exact known number. Three gifts is a known quantity; number of Magi is not.
Ah...! They're... they're here...
> The light envelops you...!
We are the Three Wise Men, who have watched over the growth of the Earth's spirit.
We are the Three Wise Men, who have watched over the growth of the Earth's spirit.
We are the Three Wise Men, who have watched over the growth of the Earth's spirit. The foolish Mem Aleph wishes to release the Schwarzwelt's power on Earth and overrun it with demons... We must do our utmost to stop the world's destruction.
To deliver Earth into their hands would result in destruction as surely as it would in Mem Aleph's. It is fortunate for us that the Schwarzwelt contains an infinite amount of energy.
Hitonari. Collect the artifacts we tell you of now. Once this is done, the Earth may finally be illuminated with the purifying light...
The Cosmic Eggs contain power enough to create and swallow an entire space-time continuum. This power that Mem Aleph hopes to use to create a world of demons... We will harness it to create a world of order and light.
With our guidance, that power shall become the power of light, and reshape a better Earth.
Now go, and begin your journey to create a world of light. We will also need the final Exotic Matter to open the Vanishing Point.
If you feel you have the strength, then go and defeat the crazed mother goddess Mem Aleph. ...We shall give you this to aid your journey. Clear the path to the new world.
All rests with you, Zelenin and Hitonari. All rests with you, Zelenin and Hitonari. All rests with you, Zelenin and Hitonari. We shall show ourselves again when everything is in hand... We shall show ourselves again when everything is in hand... We shall show ourselves again when everything is in hand...
The final battle to bring about a world of order and light is beginning now. We have been given two orders.
We must act immediately, but let us start with the simpler of the two tasks. And even before that... we must research the forma the Three Wise Men have endowed to us. Please take the forma to the lab.
You will help me, and I will help you... Together, we will succeed. We must.