Part 7: The Tartarus (Part I)
: “And converged inside Malkuth territory near Tataroo Valley. Now if you two were the source of that hyperresonance, that would make you guilty of illegally crossing the border, wouldn't it?”
: “Jeez you're obnoxious.”
: “Heh heh, he called you obnixous~.”
: “I'm terribly hurt.”: “But moving on. Tear, we already know you're with the Oracle Knights. But what about you, Luke? What's your full name?”
: “Luke Fon Fabre. I'm the Luke you idiots tried to kidnap.”: “The son of Duke fabre, who married into the Kimlascan royal family?”: “A Duke? Ohhh....”: “Why are you in Malkuth? And what's this about a kidnapping? That doesn't sound very pleasant.”
: “We're here only because our Seventh Fonons caused a hyperresonance. It wasn't an act of aggression against Malkuth by Hose Fabre.”
: “Colonel, I believe Tear is telling the truth. I don't feel any hostility from him.”: “Yes. It does seem he's lived a sheltered life, completely ignorant of the world outside.”
: “Humph. Fine, make fun of me.”: “Actually, why don't we ask for their help?”: “We're headed for Kimlasca under orders from His Majesty, Peony the Ninth, Emperor of Malkuth.”
: “Wait, what? Are you saying a war's gonna start?!”
: “You've got it backwards, Luke! We're trying to prevent a war from breaking out.”
: “Anise, that's not public information.”
: “Trying to prevent a war...? Are relations between Kimlasca and Malkuth really that bad?”
: “I think you're the only one who doesn't know.”: “...You know, you're obnoxious, too.”: “We're going to release you now. I'll grant you permission to enter any area you wish, apart from those containing military secrets.”
: “First, learn a little about us. Then, if you feel you feel you can trust us, we'd like to ask you for your help. So that we might prevent this war.”: “If you want us to help you, why don't you just tell us what's going on?”: “If we were to explain and then you decided not to cooperate with us, we would be forced to hold you captive.”: “What...?!”: “This matter is a state secret. That's why I'm urging you to make up your mind first. I hope we have your understanding.”
: “I'm sure they'll tell you the details after you agree to help, I'll be waiting.”
Yeah, at your age the only place Luke would end up going with you is to jail.
Also she keeps dropping those hearts into her text all over the place, and I have no idea how to transcribe them. I've been trying to use ~'s to capture some of the effect.
Thanks Marco.
: “Why don't we take a walk around the ship? I think even you'll start to get an idea of what's going on in the world.”
: “Let's go exploring, Master!”
: *sigh*Skit: Unfair Treatment
: “Dammit, Jade... that bastard! I wouldn't have bothered with the Cheagle Woods if I knew about this!”: “From what he was saying, it sounds like they've had their eyes on us the whole time.”: “We would have been captured one way or another.”: “But I didn't do anything! They don't have the right to treat me like this!”: “Still, there are advantages to siding with them while we're in Malkuth. You won't have to hide your identity, for one thing.”: “Whatever! It's all your fault anyway. Ever since you came, It's been nothing but trouble!”: “I want to go home already...”
: “Um... Maybe I would just get in the way...”
: “Not at all. We'd appreciate it.”: “Wow, so you actually do smile on occasion.”
: “...Excuse me?”
Lover's quarrel indeed...
Well, not really. She's not actually going to take part in a battle for quite awhile since... well, you'll see.
Anise is another Mage Knight to balance out Jade, but while Jade is better at maging and worse at knighting, Anise is the opposite in that she's more focused on getting up close and personal, but has a respectable number of fonic artes under her belt, as well.
Skit: The Tartarus
For the duration of this skit, imagine Anise's portrait next to Luke's, constantly moving closer until he pushes her away. Rinse repeat.
: “So, Luke~ Where do you want to go?”: “Where? Well, uh, I don't know anything about this ship, so... what's on it?”
: “Let's see... There's the bridge, there's the lounge where all the soldiers relax, and there's a cafeteria, too... well, a small one, anyway. Then there's the big room they use for meetings, and a bunch of rooms for everyone to sleep in!”: “That's it? Doesn't sound very interesting.”: “Well, the Tartarus is a battleship, so it can't really compare to a cruise liner...”: “Oh! How about the engine room? It's great if you're in to fontech!”: “Uh, no, that's okay. I don't know any of that stuff anyway.”: “Oh, and the Colonel might not want you going to the bridge or the engine room, so...”: “So basically, all I can do is wander around the hallways. Yeah, great place...”Well... let's go wander around some hallways, then!
...A lightbulb?
: “It's a fonstone. They're making it glow by heating it. They must use it for lighting here.”: “Fonstones are those glass rocks floating up in the sky, right?”: “Fonstones are sacred stones created when the Score is read. Don't call them 'glass.'”: “All right, all right...”
It's hard to see, but there's a small puff of smoke in front of this soldier.
: “Gah! Recruit Tony! Did you do it again?!”
: “I'm sorry.”: “What are you doing?”: “I want to become a fonist, so I was practicing fonic artes. Fonic artes are big in our country, so a soldier who can't use them is an embarrassment...”: “How do you use fonic artes, anyway? Can I use it, too?”: “You take fonons from the fon belt into your body and then collide your fonon frequency with their own, generating special power.”And you thought Magic was fucking complicated.
: “The fon belt is a layer of fonons that surrounds the planet. There are six fonon elements in all. By opening your body's fon slots, you draw in fonons and then join them together using a fon verse...”: “Huh? I have no idea what the hell you're talking about!”You and me both buddy.
: “Okay, basically a fonic arte uses a spell – a fon verse – to control elemental powers called fonons. “So it's just magic with technobabble words. Lovely.
: “It's very difficult. Colonel Jade can do it as if it were nothing. He's a genius.”Funny thing is that: he's not lying. There are very few opponents you'll meet in the game who can use fonic artes. Among those, very few know more than a handful of basic, first level artes. Beyond that, when you finally do find the occasional opponent who can cast high level artes, they will almost always only be specialized in a specific element. Compare Jade, who's slinging around four elements worth of high level spells.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, Jade really isn't somebody to be fucked with, both in combat and in the game's story.
Speaking of Jade....
: “Oh, Colonel~!”
: “I...I'm not... We're not...”
: “He's not talking about you. He must mean Anise and Mieu.”
: “But Master, I'm a boy!”: “You sure as hell don't sound like one!”: “Now, now, settle down.”: “By the way, what's this about a 'kidnapping' you mentioned earlier?”: “How should I know? You people from Malkuth are the ones who kidnapped me!”: “...Well, I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. Did it happen during the previous Emperor's reign?”: “Humph. Beats me. Thanks to that, I lost all my childhood memories.”
: “I'm sure you have your grievances, but I do hope that we can obtain your cooperation.”...Anybody else get the feeling we're not being let in on something?
Ion is hanging out here too.
: “No kidding. If you'd at least tell me what's going on...”
: “I'm afraid I'm influencing the situation as well. That's why Jade is being so cautious.”: “Because the Order of Lorelei is acting as a go-between?”: “Yes, that's part of it, but... I'm afraid I can't tell you yet.”: “Ugh. This is such a pain.”
You can start, I think, to really get an appreciation for how massive The Tartarus is supposed to be. This is one section of one half of the ship. Though the map is fairly sparse, it does a good job of giving you a sensation of being on a huge military vessle.
At any rate, we've seen all we can see at the moment, so let's get to the next plot dump already.
: “Are you sure?”: “We won't get anywhere if we don't at least hear what he has to say. I've been locked up till now anyway. As long as they take me to Baticul, I don't care.”: “...You don't take anything seriously...”: “Shut up already!”
: “It's likely those will soon escalate into full-scale war. After all, the truce for the Hod War is only 15 years old.”: “Emperor Peony has written a letter proposing a formal peace treaty. They requested my aid as a neutral ambassador.”: “If that's the case, then why do people think you've gone missing? Master Van went looking for you, you know!”: “That's due to matters within the Order of Lorelei.”: “A conflict is unfolding between the reformist Fon Master faction, centered around Ion, and the conservative Grand Maestro faction, centered around Grand Maestro Mohs.”
: “Mohs is looking for war. I manage to escape from Mohs' custody with the help of the Malkuth military.”
: “Mohs prays only for the fulfillment of the Score.”: “Tear, you're with the Grand Maestro Faction? No way...”: “I'm neutral. Yulia's Score is important, but so are the Fon Master's wishes.”: “Hey, guys! Hello! You want to slow down so I can follow?”: “My apologies. I'd forgotten the young master here hasn't a clue about the world around him.”: “...What did you say?”: “Regardless of the state of affairs within the Order, I must deliver this letter to Kimlasca.”: “But we're soldiers of an enemy nation. Even as emissaries of peace, it wouldn't be easy for us to cross the border. If we delay, the Grand Maestro faction will catch up to us and interfere.”: “That is why we need your help... well, really we just need your social status.”: “Oh, I'm hurt, gramps. Is that all I'm good for?”: “And didn't anyone ever teach you to bow your head in respect when asking a favor?”: “Don't act like that, Luke. You don't want a war, either, do you?”: “Would you shut up already? ...Well?”: *sigh*
: “Master Luke, please grant us your aid.”: “Man, do you have any pride?”
: “None so cheap as to be shaken by something as petty as this, sir.”
: “...Tch. Fine, whatever. You just need me to talk to my uncle, right?”
: “You have my deepest gratitude. Now by your leave, Master Luke, I must attend to other matters.”: “Stop calling me 'Master'. Coming from you, it just sounds... wrong.”: “As you wish, 'Master' Luke.” 
: “Cheagles are considered sacred to the Order. And the letter I was supposed to receive in Engeve was late anyway, so...”: “You sure like sticking your neck out for people.”
: “He's the total opposite of you.”: “Do you have to be a jerk about everything?!”: “I could ask you the same thing.”: “Please, don't fight...”
Well, might as well follow.
An alarm is heard.
: “Bridge! What's going on?”
: “A large flock of griffins 20 kilometers ahead! Total number unknown! Contact in approximately 10 minutes! Commander, requesting permission to open fire with all cannons.”: “You're the captain. The ship is yours.”: “Understood! Large swarm of monsters 20 kilometers ahead. All hands, battle stations!”: “You three, return to your cabins.”: “Huh? It's just some monsters.”: “Griffins don't normally work in groups. It's dangerous when monsters act unusually.”
: “What's wrong?”: “Ligers are dropping from the griffins! They're clinging to the hull and attacking! Engineering is- agh!”...Man, those ten minutes sure passed fast.
: “Bridge! Resond, Bridge!”: “Ligers are those monsters we killed at the cheagles' place, right?”
: “Yes...”
: “Colonel Jade Curtiss, Commander of the Third Division of the Malkuth Imperial Forces... Or maybe just, “Jade the Necromancer.' ”
: “Well, well. It seems I'm famous.”: “Rumors have spread far and wide– how you scavenge corpses after every battle.”: “Oh, but my stories have nothing on yours, sir. 'Largo the Black Lion.' One of the Six God-Generals of the Oracle Knights.”: “Heh... I've been waiting for a chance to cross blades with you, but, unfortunately, right now I must retrieve Fon master Ion.”: “I'm afraid I can't allow that.”: “Hey! Don't move unless you want this boy's head to roll.”: …: “Jade the Necromancer... letting you go now will only mean trouble later.”: “Do you think you can kill me by yourself?”
: “A fon slot seal?!”: “I brought that here to seal the Fon Master's fonic artes. I didn't expect to wind up using it like this.”: “Argh...”
: “Mieu, Fifth Fonon at the ceiling! Hurry!”: “Y-Yes, sir!”
: “Now! Anise, get Ion!”: “I got it!”
: “Oh no you don't!”
: “Anise will take care of Ion. We'll take back the bridge.”: “But your artes are sealed...”: “Indeed. It's likely to take several months to fully undo this fon slot seal. But as long as we have your hymns and Luke's sword, we can still take back the Tartarus.”: “All right. Luke, let's go.”
: “Right...”
So... yeah. Hope you enjoyed Level 45 jade while he lasted, because now that he's been sealed he's not only been de-leveled, he's now four levels behind the rest of the party. So great.
...But you know what? I don't even care: at least the came up with some kind of justification, you know? Here we have this guy who's supposed to be incredibly well known and powerful: He's a commander of an entire division, captain of his nation's newest and most advanced battleship and one of these “God-General” guys considered him a big enough threat that he needed to seal his artes. Yet we got to see that. He was five levels away from being endgame material, and he could wreck anything he was faced with at this point. He really did seem like an unstoppable badass. Compare to Kratos, who's badassery and experience were exemplified by him being a whole one level ahead of the rest of the party. Yeah yeah, he was “holding back”, but why did he hold back to the point that the party would die, including him? It made no sense. Here at least it's justified why Jade is now at our level.
At any rate, we need to slog our way through the griffins and Ligers, and take back that bridge. To battle!
Skit: Fighting for Our Lives
: “That Largo or whoever... is he dead?”: “Well, that was certainly my intent. He could prove rather problematic if he's still around.”: “But you didin't have to kill him...”: “So our enemies are free to kill us, but we should spare their lives? I'm afraid I don't quite follow that logic.”: “Luke, this isn't a simple training exercise. We can't afford to worry about the lives our our enemies.”
: “But...!”: “I'm sure they're prepared to give their lives for their mission. That's the duty of a soldier, after all... to give your life for a greater cause. Though it seems those of a certain House of Kimlasca do not share the same dedication.”: “That's not what I'm saying, dammit!”
Jade now only has one arte left: Energy Blast, which is a single target spell that does decent damage. Definitely not as impressive as when he was throwing earthquakes and torrents of water around.
: “Colonel... are you okay?”: “You mean the fon slot seal? Well, I expect I can still manage better than someone who's never been on the battlefield. There's no need to worry.”: “What?! Why you...!”: “I will, however, need both of your assistance to recover control of the Tartarus.”: “Understood. Luke, let's go.”: “All right, all right...”
Griffins are, like all flying enemies, only annoying due to being up in the air.
Luke also learns Raging Blast along the way. This arte has luke thrust out his hand and create a big ball of energy that he then explodes, doing decent damage to everything in the area with a good chance to stun. It's a nice crowd control move to have around.
We can't approach the bridge from the front gates, so instead we're taking the roof.
I have no idea why the group decided to put this sole guard to sleep rather than just plow through him, but whatever.
: “He's out like a light.”: “Tear, you're amazing!”: “Let's take back the Tartarus. Tear, if you'd assist me.”: “Right.”: “Hey, what do I do?”: “You stand watch here.”: “Humph... more like, 'stay out of the way.' “
: “Tear's fonic hymns use the Seventh Fonon!”: “Here we go again. What the heck is the “Seventh Fonon?”: “You mean you don't know? It's the seventh known fonon. It's the fonon of sound. It was just discovered.”This is complete bullshit, by the way. If the seventh fonon was just discovered, than a lot of future plot points don't make sense at all. Unless by 'just discovered' Mieu means 'discovered centuries ago.'
: “The Score is made up of the Seventh Fonon, too. It's really special.”: “Gah! Your voice drives me up a wall!”
: “Damn, that scared the hell out of me. Go back to sleep!”
: “Wh-whoa... he got up...”
: “Aah! S-stay back!”
: “This is bad. The commotion has caused the fonic hymn to weaken.”
: “If you're so scared of killing, then throw away your sword, you worthless reject!”
: “And you're as hard to kill as they say, Necromancer.”
: “Captain, what should we do with them?”: “Kill them.”
: “Asch, have you forgotten your orders? Or have you just decided to ignore them?”
: “Fine. Restrain them and lock them in a cabin somewhere.”I feel like a broken record but... fuck.
Synopsis
It looks like Jade took us into custody because he was investigating the
Seventh Fonon reaction when me and Tear ended up in that valley.
Jade said he's taking Ion to Kimlasca to try and stop a war from breaking
out between Kimlasca and Malkuth. As soon as he found out I'm the son of Duke
Fabre, he asked me to help him. He told me to go talk to people around the
Tartarus, and if I decide I can trust them, to help him out.
What a bore...but I guess I might as well take a look around.
The Malkuth people don't seem so bad (aside from four-eyes). There's no
point in trying to cause trouble, and I guess it would be pretty bad if a war
did break out, so in the end, I decided to help.
It looks like what's going on is, Malkuth and Kimlasca could go to war at
any moment, and somebody called Grand Maestro Mohs from the Order of Lorelei
is making things worse. Ion managed to escape from Mohs, and now he's trying
to bring back peace.
But Tear says that Mohs is only working for peace and fulfillment of the
Score, and the one REALLY trying to start a war is Van.
What is she, nuts? There's no way Master Van would do anything like that!
That really annoyed me, but it's not like she listens to me anyway, so I
guess I'll just wander around the ship some more.
I didn't really have anything else to do, so I was just wandering around
the ship, when all of a sudden monsters attacked. They said there were ligers
among them. Ligers are those things we had to fight in the Cheagle Woods,
right? And there's a whole pack of them? They'll kill us in an instant! We
tried to escape from the Tartarus, but this guy called Largo the Black Lion,
one of the Oracle Knights' "Six God-Generals," came and got in our way. He
said he came to take Ion away...but isn't Ion like his boss or something?
And if he's with the Oracle Knights, that puts him under Master Van,
too...so what's he doing here?
Largo used a fon slot seal on Jade, which made Jade unable to use any of
his fonic artes. Things were looking bad, but Jade's pretty strong even
without fonic artes. He stabbed and killed Largo with his spear, and now he
wants us to help him take back the Tartarus. Anise has gone to help Ion,
while Tear and I head for the bridge with Jade.
When we got to the bridge, Tear used her fonic hymn to put all the Oracle
soldiers to sleep. Tear and Jade went into the bridge to do something, but
they made me stay outside, like I was just getting in the way. I was annoyed
and bored, so I was messing with Mieu when all of a sudden the sleeping
soldier woke up and charged at me.
I reflexively swung my sword at him...and killed him. The commotion woke
up the rest of the Oracle soldiers, and we ended up getting captured.