Part 80: Heracles, Part 2

So let's see what's up in the control room, shall we?



Watch the cutscene!





The Royal Guard have been taken out...





You were the one who wiped out all these people.
I don't want anybody else getting in my way.
We've got no time to play with you. Where's Alexei? Where's he taken Estelle?
Heh heh heh. He's not here! He was never even here to begin with.
What?!



Heh, gotta hand it to him... He drew the Knights and all of us to Heracles... Meanwhile, he slips out the back...
Man, just when I thought I couldn't hate that guy any more.



Shut up! Let's get this party started!
I hate having to repeat myself. We've got no time for you, so take a walk! If you wanna get in our way, you'd better be ready to hit the ground.
Hah hah hah... Good, Yuri... Hate me! Come on! Hate me! There is no finer spice in all the world! Hah hah hah!
... Is he just getting in our way to make us angry?
He's hopeless.
Now...let us finish this, Yuri Lowell!



And this guy again. This battle is fairly unremarkable.



Listen to the full conversation!

Hahaha! I'm so happy to see you again!
Dammit, how long are you gonna keep chasing us?
How unfortunate. This time, I will destroy that arm.
You still have that arm.



I guess you're just as happy we met as I am.
Like hell!
This really isn't funny.
I'm so happy I could cry.



Heh heh heh... Hahaha!
What is with that idiot?
Let's get this over with and find Alexei!
Stay out of our way!



Right now, I'm the most important thing you got.
Seriously, drop it already.
I'm tired of listening. Let's fight.
Rest in peace!

His attacks and patterns are pretty much the same as in the last fight with him.

After you get him down to half health he does this:



He puts on a poison parfume and gains some poisoning attacks.



The secret mission is to get rid of it. We can do that using Karol's Nice Recovery Smash.






After that, the battle proceds just as before.







Just hit him enough and he'll go down fairly quickly.







He drops a Dark Seal, and a Poison Charm as the secret mission reward. Meh.





Achievement/Trophy:

Secret Mission 14 (360) / Secret Mission 15 (PS3)


Watch the cutscene if you skipped the battle!



You've got dependency issues, you know that? Enough is enough!







I'm on it!



...It stopped.
That's our genius mage.
Flynn should be able to commandeer Heracles now.
...Estelle... Where have they taken you?
Rita...



If he keeps forcing Estelle to use her power... She could really unleash the Adephagos!
Not on our watch. That's what we're here for, right?



Heracles must be using a Hermes blastia too. That's the only thing that could power something this big.
We've gotta find Alexei, fast!
Ba'ul can help us follow the disturbance in the aer. If Estelle is being forced to use her power, we will find her.
All right...









...We're movin' again!
Hah hah hah hah! Yuri! Come fly with me!
Argh... My body...
It's no use... We can't treat everyone at once without Estelle's healing artes
We can't let it end here...!



Let's do it!

Suddenly!












Yeager! What's going on?!
It would be very bad, yes very bad for business indeed, if the empire got too big for its britches.
Alexei has gone to Zaphias.
The Sword Stair of Zaphias has a secret, you know.
I thought for sure that he'd need Dein Nomos to use as a key. Ja, but it looks like he's planning to use your little Princess instead.
What?!



Man, this isn't good. At this rate we're gonna flatten the lower quarter of Zaphias.
Rita!
It's no good! This thing is totalled!
We just have to cut its power!





Yeager. Just what is it he's after?
Let's think about that later. Right now we've got to stop Heracles.
I know. Let's go find the engine room.








Guess we have to get into the engine room. If you remember, that's that heavily guarded room we saw before. So let's get back there.



Skit: Zagi
It's not my place to comment on your friendships, but...
What is it, Judy?
I think it'd be a good idea if you cut your ties with this Zagi character.
I've been hacking away at them since we first met, believe me!
Where'd you run into such a...unique individual? He seems ta be a pretty stubborn fan.
In the castle, right before I left the capital behind.
Flynn was supposedly his original target, but before I knew it he got sort of fixated on me.
It can't be easy having such a crazy admirer.
Tell me about it. That's the kind of love I can do without.





Skit: Leviathan's Claw
What's Yeager thinking? It's almost like he's trying to help us.
Well, he said himself that he didn't want the empire becoming too powerful.
Then maybe it's safe ta take him at his word.
He lays that whole nut job act on pretty thick, but he is in the business of sellin' weapons.
And if the empire was on top, and the world was at peace, well, nobody would need any weapons.
That would make sense.
So, he's trying to drag the fighting out as long as he can. And that's no good for anybody.
I...I won't let him get away with it!
...Yeah.




On the way there Raven learns Falling Stars, where he fires a very slow arrow that gains speed over time and can hit multiple times. Kinda nice.





This also reminded me that I could show off Raven's Mystic Arte, although we've already seen it in the Schwann fight. But anyway.

Watch the Mystic Arte!







Using that triggers a skit.

Skit: Strain on the Heart
Spaaaaark!
Did ya see my amazin' performance out there?!
Yeah, you were great. But are you okay?
Huh?
I mean, doesn't it strain your heart when you do an arte like that?
Mmmm, aw, I'll be fine.
You sure?
Well, go easy on yourself.

I wonder if my heart really can take it...


Also, Yuri learns Lone Wolf Charge:





And I finally think of using that Bastion skill on Dein Nomos to get Guardian Field from Crushing Eagle:





The same as Flynn's, a small circle that hurts enemies and heals allies for a short while.



Eventually, we reach the engine room's entrance.

Watch the cutscene!
Watch the PS3 version of this cutscene! (Japanese voices)





Alexei has been using the Knights for his own personal gain...!
Knight A: What are you talking about! The Commandant is a honor to the knights, and someone we should all follow.
Knight B: Flynn is trying to overthrow His Excellency. He's the real traitor!







Don't they teach you knights how to say a simple thank you?
I will never give thanks to you as long as I live!



Jeez, how many times am I gonna have to say this? We don't have time to mess around with you.
If you really want to do this, then we won't hold back.
There's something else we've gotta be doing, so try and keep out of the way.
So you plan to rescue Lady Estellise?
Yeah. So come on, put down your sword.
He's right, ya know. Nobody'd come out a winner in this fight.
Captain Schwann...
The name's Raven. You'll remember that for me, wontcha?



Yuri Lowell. Don't think I've forgiven you. A criminal like you has no place beside my Captain.
And? What do you plan to do about it?
Once I finish cleaning up to this mess, I'll be back to deliver your punishment.





Understood. I will come at once.

Sodia leaves with the knight. In the PS3 version, Flynn leaves together with her.



If we don't bring this thing down right now, they're gonna have more than just a headache.
All right. Off ta the engine room we go.

We can't just catch a break from Sodia, can we? Anyway, with that out of the way and Flynn gone, we can get into the engine room.





You don't actually need to fight any of the enemies, just slip through and open the door.



Behind it is an elevator and two chests, one of which is another fake type:





I have to wonder why there are so many one-time-only variations of that enemy.



Anyway. Up the elevator, we find...

Watch the cutscene!



The blastia's out of control!
Looks like Zagi smashing up that control panel did more damage than we thought.
So, so what the hell are we gonna do about this thing?



Wait!
I don't think waiting is going to do us any good.





Aer is being transferred at a tremendous rate. There can only be one place something this big could be sending that much power.
A cannon?!
If we were to destroy this blastia now... It might stop Heracles, but the cannon could go off and blow Zaphias clean off the map!
No way! S-so what should we do?!
Well, whatever we do, we have to stop this aer.



Dein Nomos, huh?
Oh yeah! That's what Duke used to get the aer back under control.
Can you really do that?
I don't really have a choice. Here goes nothing.



This is a small and rather uninteresting room, we can just walk around either way to the top.





Watch the cutscene!



You can do it, Yuri.
Apatheia...
It's creating interference with the blastia and causing the aer to go out of control.
Are we gonna break it...? It's like one of the Entelexeia's souls, right?
Fraid that's what it's down to. If Heracles keeps goin', we can kiss Zaphias goodbye. Not ta mention that cannon might decide ta go off.
Yeah. We have to act now!





???: Thank you.



Huh...?
It's stopped?
What about the cannon?!
Not good! At this rate it's going to fire!
No way?! We shut the power off!
















Well, I suppose that's one way to alter a mobile fortress' firing path.















I never quite got why Heracles fires to the left of Zaphias here. It was apparently pointing straight at the capital before, and Flynn's ships clearly ram it from the left side, so shouldn't it fire to the right?

Also that laser/explosion is ridiculously huge.




Hah...there he goes again. Showing off, as usual.
Hey, am I the only one who heard a voice when you cut the apatheia?
No. That might've been the voice of whatever Entelexeia it used to be.
It was like the consciousness within the apatheia willed the aer back to normal.



I'll call Ba'ul. We should get somewhere out in the open.
We've lost too much time gettin' sucked into this Heracles decoy business.
Let's hurry!

Willed the aer back to normal... The apatheia and aer... The Rizomata Formula and Estelle...



Back in control, we just have to walk back to where we originally entered this place.

Skit: Zaphias Is Safe
Whew! That was a close call.
I did NOT want to watch the lower quarter get destroyed right in front of me.
We owe your friend a debt of thanks.
He's not too subtle, though. He went ahead, with his Knights and all of us still in here.
Flynn would do just about anything to defend the capital.
And he'd use his own body to shield everyone else. That's his thing.
Kid's got more nerve than I gave him credit for...
What'd you expect? He's Yuri's friend.



Thankfully, there's a shortcut in the lower right of this engine room.





Yeah...thanks. Everyone, get on.
You won't get away this time, Alexei!


And that's it for Heracles. That took way too long.

Next time, we're gonna attack Alexei! Or at least fly in his general direction.


Loot:


Item Pro 2: Increases duration and effect of items used during battle.