Part 10: Surrender quietly...or we have a little hunting party.

The next morning...

_{*BLAM BLAM*} *BLAM* *BOOM*

(Mm...?)
(Did I...hear something?)



W-Wait a minute! Is that GUNFIRE?!

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

Estelle! Estelle, are you awake?



Estelle, you're awake! Thank Aidios...C'mon, grab your gear!
R-Right! Hey, is that really gunfire, or...?
Yeah! We're under attack by...somebody! I dunno who! Kurt's trying to fight them off, but we need to go help him!

-Pinch!!-



Robert: Are you all right?!
Phyllis: H-He's not! Kurt, your arm...!
It's...nothing. Just a scratch. It's far more important that we put an end to this...intrusion.



KURT! Are you okay?! You're injured!
Phyllis: Estelle! Anelace!



As you can see, the lodge is under attack by a group of armed men. I need your help in driving them away.
R-Roger!
But, but...they...HURT you, Kurt...
Who the heck ARE these guys?!
I'm not yet entirely certain, but I got a fairly good look at their gear when fighting a moment ago. Judging from its design, I would guess they're jaegers.
Jaegers...Hang on, you mean those elite, crazy mercenaries I heard about in Grancel?!
You hear a little about jaegers in FC, but Lorence is the only one you ever see. Looks like that's about to change.
B-B-But...why would they be HERE?!
Outside of Liberl, the guild and the jaegers are dire enemies. It is not out of the question that they would dare to attack us here. Though it would be oddly brazen, even for them.
Given that, though. This could very well be at the behest of the 'society.'
WHAT?! You mean--

*CRASH*



Son of a...!

-Fight With Assailant-



This big bastard has a big bastard sword, and some smoke bombs that inflict Blind.



Let's see how he likes the taste of some new arts!





Whoops! Dark Matter kinda sucks right now.

That is better damage than Flare Arrow and the like, but it costs twice as much EP and nothing will ever be weak against it. Most of the time, a cheaper art will be best.













How about...THIS?!





-Pinch!!-



Personally, I'd put it down to the sandwich.
O-Okay, whoever you are! DROP the weapon and surrender!
Jaeger: Heh heh...You brats are better than I thought. Still not good enough, though.
Wha...?





Gnah!
A smoke bomb?! *cough*
Jaeger Woman: Hm-hm...Nighty night, little kittens.

-Silence-

Hnnmmnn...
Mornin' already...? Feels too...ear...
WHA?!



Where in the Goddess' name...? I remember...an attack, and then...
Anelace! Wake up, Anelace! Oh, no...
Hrmrlrml...Ehehehehe...A stuffed bunny, aaand...a stuffed teddy bear...Oooooh, which one to piiiick...Can I take 'em aaaaall, Grandpa...
What the heck kind of dream...
Anelace! Come on, wake UP! This is NOT the time!
Haaaauuuh?
Oh, mooornin', Estelle...Oh, riiight...thime f'r mornin' phractice...
Geh...No, it is not time for morning practice.
Just WAKE UP already! Get it together!
Hauh...?
Wait...Umm, Estelle? What's going on? This isn't my bedroom. That attack thing WAS just a bad nightmare...right?
Boy, don't I wish...If we both remember it, though, I kinda doubt it was a dream.
Ooooh...yyyyyeah, that's a good point. Wowwee...Man, looks like we lost the match. No points for meeeee...
Anelace, why do I get the sense you're still half-asleep?

-Secret Green Passage-







So last night, a group of men who looked just a BIT like jaegers attacked the lodge...I remember Kurt...was wounded, and right after we arrived an enemy jumped in through the window...And right after that, it was lights out for me.
Yeah, that matches what I remember. The question is, how the heck did we wind up here?
Gooood question. That is kind of weird. It looks like they left most of our stuff on us, but...Yeah, all my new combat gear is missing. Man...
Oh, yeah, mine too.
So that means we were probably brought here by...



I...guess?
Yeah, that's the obvious answer. One thing's bugging me, though. It's just, why didn't they tie us up or, I dunno, stab us or something? They just left us in the open...
Well, let's see...After knocking us out and disarming us...Something happened and they had to quickly retreat somewhere else, leaving us behind?
Yeah, that's pretty believable. In that case, sticking around here is like asking to get our heads cut off. Estelle, you still have that map?
Oh, yeah! We still have some of our stuff, so...
Yeah, here it is.



There's Saint-Croix Forest, where we were training last night. I'm guessing that's where we are now.
So in that case...Our first goal should be getting out of the forest and checking on the lodge, right?
Yeah. I wanna see if we can find Kurt and make sure he's okay...Like you said, we gotta get out of this stupid forest.



We're basically sitting ducks without our gear, remember, so we need to be careful.
Got it! It'd be nice if we could reclaim our gear somehow...

Those jaeger jerkwads took EVERYTHING.



Well, they didn't touch the accessories...or the supplies...or the brand-new tactical orbments. And they left a pair of boffer sticks for some reason.

It's no use for decent people to try and comprehend the workings of the criminal mind.



That'd be my guess. Let's take a peek inside. We might find something useful.

Well, looks like that's everything.
Darn it, I was hoping we'd find our gear in there...
Man, I wish it was that easy.
Still, the tent's in good shape. We could probably nap here if we needed to take a quick rest. We don't have time to just lounge around, but if we really need a rest, we should keep it in mind.
Good idea.

Take a second to look over your quartz before you head into the forest.



Heaven's Eye, Attack 1, and Evade 1 will give you your first area-effect art.



Hey! Do you think this could be our equipment?
Sure looks like it! ♪
The rest of our stuff might be hidden around like this.
Cool. I'd kinda like to avoid fighting the monsters, but we do need to find our stuff.



These Bush Lancers are all wearing bell collars. They aren't even aggressive. I'm pretty sure we're slaying somebody's pets here.

Maybe they're the jaegers' pets. That'd be okay.



Estelle and Anelace's regular weapons aren't far apart.









Some area-effect abilities target a creature, and some target a space on the field. There are benefits and drawbacks to each. It's easier to catch lots of enemies in a ground-target AoE, but also easier for them to move out of the blast radius. Enemy-targeted arts will stay on them as they move and switch to a new target if they drop, so you're guaranteed to hit somebody.





A lot of monsters explode on death, and sometimes they spawn close enough to threaten the party. There are ways to fix this if it gives you grief.



The Tactics screen lets you adjust the team's starting formation in combat. Starting up front is helpful for melee fighters, but risky against monsters with Self-Destruct. The second rank is usually safe, although this time it wasn't.

Some party members get multiple S-Crafts. Here, you can set which one will be used when you hit their S-Break button.

You can also set the marching order, which is completely pointless.







Sometimes, the Bush Lancer that spawns by this chest will have a special surprise for you.





Shining Poms give you a ton of XP and sepith, but attacks and crafts will almost always miss and they're completely immune to Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. They're also crazy fast, always getting the first turn if you can't manage a preemptive attack, and they'll usually flee the battle as soon as possible.



Time, Space, and Mirage are still effective. This is what Dark Matter is good for. Some of the higher-tier Time arts also come with a chance to instakill, which is the only ailment that can affect Shining Poms.



They do still have pretty high ADF, though.

If you can't bring the proper arts to bear, try tossing your cookies. Attack foods never miss, and they stay stronger than your regular attacks for a decent while after you get them. Unfortunately I'm still missing one ingredient for Surprise Cookies, and it isn't found in the sewers or the forest.

When all else fails, start popping the S-Breaks.



You have been saving up for S-Breaks, right?



This one single Pom was worth 250 XP, at a point when it takes about 1,000 to level up and everything else in the forest is 3 or 4 apiece.

Shining Poms are no longer visible while traveling like they used to be. They have a small chance to spawn in combat alongside specific individual monsters. If you know a certain monster is Pom-capable, you can ambush it and flee repeatedly until they decide to show up. Then once you've finished the fight, you can leave the zone and come back so that the monster in question respawns. Farming Poms in the prologue is more trouble than it's worth, though. You really don't have a good way to kill them without S-Crafts, and you don't have any ways to build CP faster yet either.

So I'll only do it a couple times--enough for one more level.



And only because at this particular level, Hurricane gets huge.



HUGE





Hey, this sign...
Looks like a guidepost to me!
We passed by this way yesterday, so I'm sure this is the way out!
Awesome! Now we can get out of the forest!





Whew! Finally. I thought we'd never get out!

-Silence-

Woman's Voice: Oh, dear-rie me...I take my eyes off you for one second, and you run away! Such naughty, naughty children.



-Creeping Crisis-





A-A woman?!
Estelle, watch out! Whoever she is...she's good!
Female Jaeger: Oooh, sharp enough to pick up on that, are we? Not only that, but you're already back on your feet after getting a face full of gas. That's slightly impressive. That's a bracer for you, I suppose! Pointlessly tough, if nothing else.
H-Hey, whoever you are! What's going on here?! Why are you attacking the training grounds? What did we ever do to you?!
Female Jaeger: Oh, kitten, you're assuming I need to answer questions. Now, you have two choices: Surrender quietly...or we have a little hunting party.
Dammit...(Can we hope to fight her off as we are?)



I don't recommend attempting this fight without all your weapons, Enhanced Leather, and Reinforced Boots. As it is though, GLORY FOR THE FIRST MAN TO DIE

Anelace!
Right behind you!
Female Jaeger: Oh, yes, kittens...That's right. Come closer, now. Let's put an end to our little hunt!

-Fight With Assailant-

This jaeger is a gunner who prefers to keep her distance.



She'll always toss out an Impede attack if you're preparing any arts on her turn.



It's a lot weaker than her other attacks, so just keep on casting.









-Secret Green Passage-



That'll teach you to look down on bracers!
Your first mistake was assuming we're just a pair of clueless little girls!
Female Jaeger: Hm hm...So spirited and fiery now! We'll have to do something about that...





Female Jaeger: Oh, kittens. You realize we've captured the Tactician already, yes? You're all alone here now. Just give up and surrender. It'll be easier...

-Silence-



We probably shouldn't chase her, right, Anelace?
Yeah, bad idea. Way too obvious a trap.
...H-Hey, Estelle. She said, "We've captured the Tactician," didn't she...
Oh...
Yeah, she was...probably talking about Kurt.
Yeah...she had to be...Please, no...
Hey, don't worry! Even if he was caught, this is Kurt we're talking about--he'll be fine!
Besides...this is the sort of thing we've been training for.
You really think so? Hmm...Emergency decision making, survival techniques, counter-terrorism skills...
Yeah...You're right! We'll put what we've learned to use and save Kurt!
That's the Anelace I know!
Hey, how about we return to the lodge real quick? We should check to see if the enemy's occupied it, for starters.
Yeah, good point. Off we go, then!

-Engaged People in Secret Maneuvers-





Yeah...Should be safe to nose around inside. There might be traps or something, though, so let's be careful!
Got it.



That spear looks a lot like...um, Kurt's...
...
Uh, well, let's have a look around. Yeah. There might be, uh, clues. Or something...
Right.

Speaking of or something...



This upstairs door has been locked the whole time we've been here. Now it's finally open. And sitting on the bed inside...



In FC, acquiring one of the ultimate weapons required a hidden quest that spanned most of the game. It was all about going ridiculously far out of your way to collect a book series called Carnelia. Gambler Jack is the SC version. It is slightly more merciful, at least. Slightly.



Is this...Kurt's?
I, I, uh...I think so...But, I mean, there isn't a lot, so his injuries probably aren't...f-fatal...Yeah...



Dang it. No surprise from pro mercenaries, I guess. No way they wouldn't cut all the obvious means of communication.
Yeah, they don't want us calling for any reinforcements. Damn, that's going to make this even harder...



The enemy took our food, too?
Yeah, they're the only ones who would have, I think. And I don't see Phyllis anywhere--no blood, thank Aidios. I wonder what happened...



This is the window that jaeger leapt through last night, right?
Yeah. He was really skilled--you could tell from the way he handled himself.



Hey, wasn't there a map pinned up here?
Yeah, just like the one we have.
If they have that, then that means...



It looks like the second floor is completely untouched. They only roughed up the first floor.
Yeah...I get the feeling there might be a reason for that...
And now that we know that, I think I have an idea about what the enemy is doing.
You do?
Some of it still doesn't make sense, but a few of the pieces are coming together, I think. Think about it. We've seen what's in the lodge, and there was that tent in the forest. If we put together the clues we've found in those two places...
Ahh, I think I get it!



Exactamundo! Glad we're on the same page, Estelle! The tent was probably a staging point for attacking the lodge. Which means it was abandoned...because they've moved somewhere else!
Oh, I get it!
But they're obviously not using the lodge as a base either. Hm...
Well, they probably realized that it's hard to defend the lodge. If the guild ends up sending reinforcements, they're going to need a defensible position where they can keep the hostages. So they must've taken a position somewhere in Le Locle that they think they can defend easily.
Yeah, okay, that makes a lot of sense. So the only place like that around here would be...
Man's Voice: You two!



Robert!
Hey, you're safe! Are you okay?
Robert: Y-Yeah, I'm fine...Last night, Kurt gave me a chance to get away...I've been hiding ever since then.
Oh, okay...
We're still really glad you're safe.
Robert: Forgive me...I ran away and abandoned everyone. I'm a pathetic excuse for a man, I know.
Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. These are jaegers, after all.
Yeah, she's right! If anything, we're lucky they have one less hostage!
Robert: I see...Thank you, girls. So do you two have any idea where Kurt and Phyllis are? You mentioned...hostages.
Well...


Robert: I get it. A base that'd be easy to defend...Grimsel Fortress, then. Has to be.
Grimsel WHAT?
Th-There's a FORTRESS in the canyon?!
Robert: Well, we call it a 'fortress,' but it isn't really one. It's a new training ground we built recently, based on modern military facilities. The idea is to train bracers in counter-terror operations in hijacked military bases, that sort of thing.
I never realized there was a place like that in the canyon...It IS on the map, though...
...Anelace.
Yeah...Let's do it!
Robert: H-Hey...You two aren't thinking of taking the fight to them all by yourselves, are you?! You need to at least call the guild for backup, or...
They smashed the phone to bits, Robert.
Robert: They...SMASHED MY PHONE?! THOSE--
Um, Robert, calm down, please! Can you try and fix the phone? If you can get it working, contact the guild as soon as you can! Let them know what's happened!
Robert: ...Okay. If you need me to tune your orbments, just stop by the workshop. Good luck, girls. I'll be praying for you!
Okay. Let's go, Estelle. Time to make a two-girl assault on Grimsel Fortress!
Let's do it!

I've got enough sepith for two more slot upgrades on Estelle, and one on Anelace. I'll get an EP Cut 1 quartz for Estelle too, because...I don't know. It was cheap.

I also take the chance for a nap in Estelle's room upstairs, because the jaeger gunner threw me a bit of a beating.



-Leiston Fortress-





Whoa, this is one weirdo training facility. Anyway, I don't see or hear anyone from out here, buuut...
Yeah, no doubt about it. You can see the footprints of several people who've come through here recently.
Haha, looks like that tracking training actually paid off!
Anyway, given the number of footprint sets, there can't be that many enemies. Three people? Maybe four?
Our enemies are good, and they outnumber us, but...we're senior bracers. There's nothing we can't beat!
Heck, yeah! Let's give it everything we got!