Part 36: Chapter #20: Light and Darkness, Part 1

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Chapter #20: Light and Darkness

Briefing



: Faulkner must die for his crimes against humanity. The Continent must be liberated! We will succeed, my friends! We will restore freedom to the world!!

Interview



Not pictured: Andrew, Nana and Milea all love Bastion, so I'm well above the good ending threshold.

: Bastion, I have a question. How do I phrase this delicately...have you and Milea bumped uglies yet?
: Do you think it's too early to start planning our victory party, Bastion? I'll be in charge of the beer!
: I'm glad we're almost done fighting, Bastion, because it makes me sweat too much! I'm wasting away!
: I've been nothing if not impressed with your fighting skill, Bastion. Show me one more time, Highness!
: This is it, Bastion. Focus your heart and your soul on Faulkner...then kill him and save the world! Easy, eh?
: Bastion, when the fighting is over, we have to go and play!
: Regardless of the outcome of this battle, Bastion, it has been my honor to have fought on your behalf.
: Bastion, when all of this is over, I'd like for the both of us to embark on a journey...just like before.
: According to legend, the ultimate mystery of the Ultragunner can be unlocked with balanced power.

Mission



If this is the first line Faulkner says in the battle, congratulations! You're going to get the good ending. Now all you have to do is kill Faulkner and his 650-hp monster of an ATAC.

: Faulkner!
: What have you done with Franco and Halak, you scum?!
: Princess Sadira. I am glad to see that you have finally revealed who holds your loyalty, even if it happens to be the boy.
: Loyalty?! I'm amazed you know the meaning of the word, you fiend! Now tell me what happened to my friends, and tell me NOW!
: It's so touching the see your concern, Sadira. If I had a heart, I'm sure it would be warmed. I have an idea. Why don't you ask your friends how they're feeling? Franco! Halak! We have company! Don't be shy! Say hello!
Franco, Halak, Claire and Shion (in Sharkings), Duyere and Logan come out.

: What?!
: I don't understand!
: Unfortunately, I do.
: The Crimson ATAC? Duke Logan?!
: Franco! Halak! You're alright!



Eh...not so much.
: ... ... ...
: Logan, you swore on your pride as a warrior that you would never fight for the Empire again!
: ... ... ...
: Listen to me, Franco! Faulkner has sacrificed the people of the Imperial Capital! The man is insane! He--
: Save your breath, Sadira. Something is very, very wrong here!
: Ha, ha, ha! From my vantage point, it is very, very right! All those dear people are under the control of the Zulwarn. They are my puppets to control. And how I shall make them dance!
: Unbelievable!
: Don't worry, Sadira! I'm confident that we will break the spell when we destroy the Zulwarn!
: Confidence is one of your most endearing traits, Bastion--and one of your greatest flaws. The Zulwarn cannot be destroyed, and I cannot be stopped!!



: Not again--!
: Damn it!

Just like before...but then!



: I will protect my friends...and this world...from your darkness! AAHHH!!!



: Hmmm? The boy was able to repel the Zulwarn's spell? Impressive. It seems that you have heeded my advice after all, Prince Bastion, and it's a wise man who listens to me. It pleases me greatly to know that you will not be easily defeated. But you WILL be defeated, Bastion, and I WILL rule the Continent. It is my destiny!
: Your destiny is to die, Faulkner!



First up, Franco and Halak, still in their hopelessly obsolete ATACs.  That, next branch, are going to become MY hopelessly obsolete ATACs.  I'd admire their courage, but they're puppets, so, you know...

: Halak, please answer me!
: ... ... ...
: This is horrible!
And then I kill them both.



Next up, Claire and Shion in Sharkings. There was a time when two Sharkings was cause for concern, but after last mission, this is nothing.



After a bit, Duyere will join in. His ATAC is actually weaker than a Sharking, so I can't say I'm especially concerned. What does bother me is that Logan refuses to move, and I really don't want to have to deal with him and Faulkner at the same time.



And I don't have an infinite amount of time to dick around, either. After a decent number of turns, four Sharkings will show up. That's not ideal. Even worse, from this point on, every few dozen turns, four more Sharkings will show up. In order to win, you are going to have to keep moving forward, towards Faulkner.



Milea goes down. It doesn't really matter, I have enough Turbulence-users without her, and she distracted the Sharkings for a while, in all honesty, even if she made it into Turbulence range of Faulkner, he'd just wipe her off the face of the Earth in one attack anyway. Such is life.



Logan finally goes down, and thus the path to Faulkner is clear. Logan needs to die before you take on Faulkner, if only because he don't really have enough troops to keep both of them, and a swarm of Sharkings, busy at the same time.



Four more Sharkings show up. I send Alden and Zeira to keep them busy.



For obvious reasons, you're going to want to keep Faulkner's FP up so that he doesn't wipe out your team, but since you'll probably have a half-dozen or so ATACs attacking him at once, that should be too hard. What is hard is that he drains FP fast, and is really fucking tough. Burning Soul is one of the strongest attacks I have, and, well, you can see that it's not doing a ton of damage.



But, given enough time, you'll beat him. In a bit of cosmic misfortune, Reyna gets killed one turn before Bastion kills Faulkner. Note that if anyone other than Bastion delivers the killing blow, Faulkner will get back up, restore some of his health, and the fight will continue. Why? Well, the developers didn't want you to miss the epic conclusion!

Faulkner v. Bastion
_{Thanks to the guy who originally uploaded this so I didn't have to.}



: You shall be the one to die this day, Faulkner, unless you wisely decide to surrender!
Uh...hasn't Bastion spent the last...17 missions talking about how he was going to kill Faulkner?
: You fight without honor, so you have none to lose by giving up!
: Go...to...HELL!!
: Faulkner, perhaps you could still redeem your lost soul! You could try to make amends for your crimes!
: I have nothing to apologize for, boy. I pursued my destiny, and was sadly unable to fulfill it. I have failed...And I deserve to die. Such is the price to be paid. Such is my ignoble fate.
: Faulkner...
: Congratulations on your victory. You will always be remembered, and I will soon be forgotten.



: ... ... ...You're wrong, Faulkner. I will never forget the unspeakable evil you tried to inflict upon this world. I will never forget the lives you stole in your maniacal quest for power.

Next Time: The Good Ending! Well, good in a relative sense, at any rate.

PARTICIPATE IN CHALLENGE #9!