Part 131: As for my other goal...That, Dean Collins, would be the princess.

-Conspiracy-









If Mickey was telling the truth at all, the situation sounds beyond dire.
Mr. Jean contacted the Royal Army, but...He said it could be a long time before reinforcements arrive!
Damn it...
And even then, with orbal weaponry not working, most modern army men won't be reliable.
We have little choice but to settle things ourselves, since we have actual experience with hand-to-hand combat.
And those bastards have taken the whole school captive. We just charge in and people could get hurt.
That's the problem, isn't it?...
It'd be nice if we had a picture of what was happening inside, but...how?
...
Everyone, wait here a bit. I'm going to go scout inside the academy.
Joshua?!
What do you mean?
My mind and body were molded to be the perfect spy and assassin, remember? I should be able to sneak in and get an idea of what's inside the school and the condition of the hostages, easily.
Joshua's...got a point.
Hmmm. If you can do it, it would certainly help.
B-B-But! Won't it be really dangerous?!
I'll be all right, trust me. I've infiltrated places FAR more heavily guarded than this. You don't need to worry, Tita.
Butbutbut...!
...Joshua. You're going alone, no matter what?
The odds of success are much, MUCH higher if I do this myself.
Trust me on this, Estelle. Let me go on my own for this one.
Okay...
I just want to ask one thing. You remember the promise we made, right?
To walk together to the end, right?
Don't worry--I'm just wandering off to pick daisies for a moment.
You go pick those flowers, then, mister!
Joshua...be careful.
I will be. I promise.
All right, I'll be back as soon as I can.





...Yeah. If I insisted on going, I'd just drag him down here.
Besides...I believe in Joshua.
Estelle...!
Hmmhmm...You've grown quite a lot, Estelle.





I like that Joshua keeps finding practical uses for that Enforcer Drama Hop^TM.







Now welcome to Orbal Gear Solid: Mushroom Snake Eater.



(I need to find where they're keeping the hostages and try to get some kind of headcount of the enemy...)







(I need to check every building like this.)





(His injury doesn't seem life-threatening, though. Thank Aidios for little mercies, I guess.)











(Looks like they're being kept in reserve in case something happens.)
(They may be keeping the hostages on the second floor.)



(Beyond here is the old schoolhouse...)
(Mmm, just in case...)




What would drive you to such violence?
Heh. Two reasons, really.
The first is that my orders are to simply cause chaos in this pissant little kingdom at my discretion. My beloved alma mater seemed a perfect candidate for a little shake-up.
...What happened to you, Gilbert?
You were so dedicated to peace and your political aspirations as a student...When did you lose that passion?
Ideals are just that--ideals. A little thing called reality has a way of trampling them in the mud. Money and privilege are everything...It became so obvious, serving as Dalmore's steward.
I'd intended to eventually depose that doddering old fool and take over as his successor...Thanks to everyone's beloved 'Bracer Guild,' however, that goal was smashed to dust.
So I decided to take a different route to wealth and power.
How foolish...
Heheh. Say whatever you wish.
As for my other goal...That, Dean Collins, would be the princess.
...
According to 'rumors'...which I know to be fact, old man...she's studying at this academy. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me who she's pretending to be?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
All I can say for certain is that no such girl is present at this academy. You're looking in the wrong place, Gilbert.
Heh. Trying to play the fool until the bitter end?
So be it, then. With the phones dead, I have all the time in the world. I'll just have to look over the students myself until I find her.
Gh...



(It makes sense, in hindsight. He's an alumnus of the school and is familiar with the layout...)





(They're most likely being held elsewhere.)





(Most likely a guard on watch.)





*knock, knock*

Wha...?
Did I...hear something?

*knock, knock*

Over here...?





(Don't be too loud or the guard will notice.)
(R-R-Right...)
(But, c'mon...How am I not supposed to lose it when you come out of the blue like that?)
(Haha, sorry.)



(Oof, Jill, stop pushing.)
(Okay, just...don't yell or anything, got it?)
(Oh, come on! You think the great Jill, head of the student council, would scream over litt..le...th--)

(JMMH-MMH-AMH!)



(Excuse me for being thrilled!)
(Joshua, you impossible dummy! What the heck are YOU doing here?!)
(It's good to see you, Jill.)
(I don't have much time, so let me explain very quickly...)




(So basically, you guys are looking for a way to get us out of this?)
(Exactly. I thought I'd let you know so you can keep the others calm.)
(Yeah, good call. We'll do what we can! Can we do anything else to help?)
(Let me think...)
(I could use a list of all students and faculty present on the grounds. It would help a lot when we move in.)
(Right, of course.)
(Yeah, okay. We'll write a list up right now.)

(Thank you.)
(We'll be moving in within the hour. Just hold on until then.)
(Yeah, we will.)
(You guys be careful, okay?)
(And...once this is over, let's get something to eat at the cafeteria.)
(I've got to hear about what you've been up to.)
(Haha...All right, then. Go easy on me, okay?)





(I think it's safe to say it's empty.)









(The others must be in the main schoolhouse.)





(I don't hear anything from the other club rooms. All right, I've scouted the entire campus.)
(With so few men, I could probably...)
(No...It's still not time for that. I should get back to the others.)



Pretty thorough. You did a good job scouting.
Yeah, now we should be able to put some kind of plan together.
So that Gilbert idiot is the one who led the attack on the academy...
And he was seriously trying to kidnap Kloe? He had the balls for that?
I should've thrown him off the damn deck of that airship when I had the chance!
The man who was once a peaceful secretary for a mayor is now one of Ouroboros' jackals.
A member of the elite who falls to villainy when they encounter hardship...It's an old, old story.
That describes him, all right.
...Still, though, what do we do? It sounds like he brought along a fair number of jaegers, and he's got archaisms and armored monsters, too, right?
And if the archaisms are working and the jaegers have guns, then...Then that means the society can use orbments even through the shutdown phenomenon, right?
Oh, crap...
It looks as though they're using something similar to our Zero Field Generators.
And they definitely have enough for each man and machine.
So they're free to hose us down with as much gunfire as they want...
Not the best situation I've ever been in.
The obvious answer is to split into two groups.
One group raises hell on their front and distracts them while another group infiltrates from the rear.
We're too short on manpower to try that safely, though.
From what Joshua describes, I'd want no less than six people to attack their front. Any less is suicide.
I agree.
If we have six people, we should be able to draw their troops on standby out without getting killed ourselves.
But six people...That's everyone here now!
Are we just going to have to wait for the Royal Army to get here?
Man's Voice: I believe we may be able to fill in the gap.



WHOA! Anelace! Everyone!
Haha! Perfect timing!
Heh. We actually just stopped in at the Ruan branch a bit ago.
Once we heard the story from Jean, we came running as fast as we could.
Hmmhmm! I think this is another one for the 'divine providence' column.
Estelle...thanks for saving me back at that lab. You really saved me from...a lot. I owe you.
I was so, so angry with myself when I heard they captured you...
Haha, don't worry! It ended up fine, they didn't rough me up much.
Besides! I got Joshua back in that whole mess.
Yeah...
Ahaha...It's been forever, Joshua! Didja forget about your sterling role model Anelace?
Haha...No, of course not.
It sounds like you helped Estelle a great deal while I was away. Thank you for everything, Anelace.
Wellll, if anything, she was helping me out, I think.
What I REALLY wanna do is tell you alllll about just how lonely Estelle was without you...
Er, wait, she is FULL of lies and you shouldn't believe a word she says!
Heehee! Just kidding, just kidding.
Besides, I don't think we can really afford to shoot the breeze much here.
Yeah, seriously.
Joshua, mind filling everyone in on the situation inside?
Of course.

------

I see. A grim situation.
I agree with your plan. A two-pronged assault will resolve this quickly.
Well, now we got ten people, so...
Six to assault the front and four from the rear. That work?
Seems like a good split to me.
The only real question is who goes chargin' at what.
Oh, in that case, can I lead the infiltrate-from-the-rear team?
No offense, but I think I know the academy better than anyone here at this point.
Except perhaps for me, Estelle.
Remember, I did just scout the entire grounds.
Mind if I go with Estelle, then?
We did promise to go into gloooorious battle together once!
Anelace...
Given how quick you are, it's a good idea regardless.
You three are all scrappers, though...
The best choice for a fourth would be someone who can support you.
Allow me to serve that role, then.
I need no orbment to use MY arts. I can aid Estelle's group with them.
Kurt...
Thank you, Kurt.
Heh, looks like that's our teams, then.
Oh, on that note, though...Carna, you gonna be all right? Your weapon...
Oh, you mean my orbal gun.
Yeah, losing that was rough. I've had to fall back on this noisy old thing.



What in the world is that huge gun?!
That's a...!
Heheh. It's an old Reinford-model GUNPOWDER assault rifle! Eva, an old friend of mine who runs a weapon shop, lent it to me. She collects things like this and let me run off with it for a bit.
A gunpowder rifle. Now that's old school, hell yeah.
Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any firearms that use gunpowder lately.
Wait, Tita, that gatling gun of yours is a gunpowder weapon, isn't it?
Heehee! Yep!
It's part of Grandpa's treasured collection!
Honestly, it's far heavier than an orbal gun, it runs out of ammo in seconds, and it's just harder to use in every way.
It's got plenty of stopping power, though, so it'll be fine for a quick strike like this.
Mmm, yes, it sounds like you'll be all right in the assault group.
Let's start the plan, then!
Okay!
We'll do our best!

You get another chance to swap out everybody's equipment here...



...because your actual party for this mission is locked to Estelle, Joshua, Anelace, and Kurt.



Anelace now sits somewhere between Estelle and Zane on the character spectrum. She hasn't picked up any new tricks, but it looks like her S-Craft has gotten an upgrade.



Kurt gets a neat mix of beatstick stats and support crafts, although his S-Craft seems kind of weak to me. His fancy Fangshu can mimic arts like La Crest, La Teara, and Shadow Spear with no need for a ZFG. Kurt's crafts:

Fangshu - Steel: +15% DEF for Kurt and nearby allies.
Fangshu - Whitecaps: AoE heal for 4000 HP.
Fangshu - Renewal: AoE revive and heal for 1000 HP.
Fangshu - Illusion: Ranged attack with 20% chance of deathblow.
Sunset Arts: Melee AoE.







Anelace's base STR is close to the 'shit damage' threshold for the enemies to come, so she should get every boost you can give her.





Always!