The Let's Play Archive

Xenogears

by The Dark Id

Part 14: Episode XIV: Fei Fong Wong and the Last of the Fatima Dynasty



Episode XIV: Fei Fong Wong and the Last of the Fatima Dynasty

Music: Leftover Dreams of the Strong


We pick up after Fei and Bart have linked back up with the Yggdrasil. I hope you kids like exposition. Well...you are following along in Xenogears, so you’d DAMN well better! But seriously, this place is a goddamn overload of it as they decide it's time to establish a plot frame for the next several chapters.


The dapper ass butler from earlier wanders over to Fei and Citan. I don’t believe he actually introduces himself and nobody bothers to say his name before the game provides it via text boxes. But, this is Lawrence Maison . We’ll be seeing a lot of him during this update.

Bart wanders over too...


“But allow me to introduce the sand pirates' leader, Master Bartholomew."
”¡Ay, caramba! That’s a long name."
“By the way, may I ask, young master, did you apologize to Master Fei?"
"What? Uhh... yeah... I told him I was 'wrong'... Right?"
”You blamed me for fighting back and then tried to pick another fight with me...”

Sigurd wanders over to the growing party. That’s a guy, in case you were wondering...


"I'm sorry I've delayed introducing myself... My name is 'Sigurd', the First Mate of this sand cruiser."
"Well then, please let me know if you need anything."
"...That's the situation... So now, forgive me, will ya!?"
”I dunno... I’m feeling... I think...another brooding angst fit coming on...”
"Young master! Stay out of mischief."
“Ouch ouch ouch!! Don’t pull my ear!”

Sigurd drags Bart away and Maison follow the quirky sitcom duo...


“It is well-made and comfortable."
"..."
"What is wrong? You look down."
"No... Well..."
"Something happened?"
*shakes head* "No, nothing."
”It’s just...meh... Don’t worry about it...”
<Which means I will get to hear ALL about it within the hour...>


Welcome to the Yggdrasil’s hanger. This place will sort of serve as our home base from now on. Those four tiny pixels that are colored somewhat like our heroes are us. Our ant sized protagonists can run around the hanger and check out the Gears stored here, as well as purchase upgrades and the like. Let’s take a look at Weltall.


The mechanics working on the Gears can allow us to inspect our mecha suits, as well as provide a brief summary of their findings regarding the machines. So let’s take a look...






“This is Weltall.
Height 16.3 sharls
Base Weight 17.8 kahnns
Full Weight 22.7 kahnns when fully equipped.”
“A well balanced Gear in offensive, defensive, and Ether abilities. But it has some parts that cannot be disassembled... I guess you can call them ‘blackboxes’...? They don’t cause problems in maintenance, but they just get on my mind every time that I see them. “
”I’m sure that’ll never come up again.”




“This is Brigandier, our boss, the young master’s Gear.
Height 17.0 sharls
Base Weight 13.9 kahnns
Full Weight 18.6 kahnns when fully equipped.”
“It is specifically tuned for desert battles. The power of the Hover-thrusters in the legs are especially worthy of attention... Oh, and the eyepatch and feather decorations were added later at the young master’s request. We didn’t know what to do when the young master said, ‘Destroy one sensor and put an eyepatch over it...without weakening the ability to reconnoiter...’!”
”I hope it was something along the lines of ‘that is EXTREMELY retarded, boss’...”


We can also rename our Gears while we're here, if you're into that kinda thing.


Ever notice "dongs" is an anagram for N Gods? Coincidence...or conspiracy...?


There is also a Gear Shop in the hangar bay. And it does have upgrades from Old Man Bal’s offerings.




Even though we just upgraded our junk, we’ve got more than enough to grab the new stuff thanks to all the money dropped back at the caves. These upgrades aren’t quite as essential as before fighting Calamity. But hey, everything helps. It’s worth noting that old equipment for Gears will automatically be sold upon enhancements. So that helps bring down the costs a bit.


Unlike Balthazar’s joint, this Gear Shop also sells Gear accessories as well. Gears can be equipped with up to three accessories to enhance their performance. A quick rundown of this crap is as follows:


Buying accessories isn’t all that essential as, unlike Gear upgrades, these can be found out in the field and dropped from enemies. That said, this shop sells Tank Guards for a limited time. We WANT to buy three Tank Guards. They won't be useful until a far, far off day. But you'll thank me later.


Anyhow, the rest of the Yggdrasil is fairly expansive. There’s a barracks where we can catch some Zs.


There is an infirmary where a nurse can measure our weight and...that’s about it. She has some amusing comments if we get a bit pudgy or bring some...unusual guests to get weighed.






There is also one fancy ass mess hall where Maison is available to sell goods and no doubt provide the classiest of wines to Master Bartholomew’s guests. But, enough of that. Let’s head up to the bridge...


We’ve seen this place back during Bart’s initial attack on the Aveh sand cruiser. But now we can fart around a bit and chat with the crew. Speaking with Sigurd will advance the plot. So let’s take this chance to socialize with our new friends.


There’s nothing interesting to be said here. I just chuckled at the use of banana boat because I am twelve years old.


The bald fellow standing over the map display will let us take a look at a chart of the Ignas continent. That yellow dot to the west is the Yggdrasil’s current position. Dazil is marked already. That little green dot to the east is Lahan Citan’s house. We’ve covered quite a bit of ground here for an adventure that has lasted for less than a week thus far.

It’s been only like a week right? Lahan got nuked. The next morning Fei got booted into the woods, met Elly, and then set up camp after she got her shit ruined by the goblin. Then there was a giant robot vs. T-Rex fight the following day. Then the Dazil visit and desert wandering after that. And today we escaped from the sinking sand cruiser, made it through the caves with Bart, and here we are now. So yeah... It’s been five days...


Really, not much of the crew has anything all that interesting to say other than general mechanics of how the ship gets ar—erm... What is... What am I looking at here...?








”Doc...what the fuck...WHAT THE FUCK?!?!”
“Calm down, Fei. He is just a demi-human.”


”Uhh... Uhh... What...what happens if I say no, doc...?”
“...”
“Umm...okay...?”


*gunshots*
*crashing metal*
*wind chimes*
*Kefka laughter*
“...”
“I like recording sounds. Come back any time if you want to listen to some more.”
*backs away slowly* <W-What the HELL...>


Alright... I think that’s enough socializing. I can’t believe Fei doesn’t like Franz. He’s a dolphin sand pirate radio operator. That’s like the best thing!




Anyhow, upon speaking with Sigurd the Yggdrasil sails back to the pirates’ home base at the northwestern part of the Aveh desert.






A full welcoming party greets the newly returned pirate leader. These guys sure are formal for pirates...


"Well... I've got a new model Gear and two people that we helped out."
“Ehh! A Gear... how boring! Don't you have anything more interesting?
"I thought you'd say that... Look! This is amber I found in a stalactite cavern under the desert. It's rare to find one with a bug in it!"
“Wow! Thanks Bart! Let's go! We gotta show it off to everyone!”
”Bart, where did you get that from...?”
“It must have just fallen into my pocket while we were sitting around waiting for that old geezer back in the caves to finish working on our Gears...”
“Uh...huh...”

The kids run off...

"Well then... I'm gonna tune up my Gear a little... Why don't you two go have some tea with old Maison. Thanks Old Maison."
"Please, walk this way."

Bart strolls off alone. Maison leads Citan and Fei up an elevator to the base proper...


“Walk this way.”

Still walking...


“This is the dining hall. I'm sorry it is so gauche."
”Psst... Doc... What’s a ‘gauche’.”
“Lacking in tact and refinement.”
“...?”
“...Ghetto.”
“Ah!”
"Please take a seat."

Maison leads the party to some tables upstairs...


*pouring tea* "Young visitors are rare indeed, the young master must be very happy. If things were normal we wouldn't be living in the desert, but rather back in the royal palace..."
"Royal palace...? You mean that young one is connected to the old Fatima dynasty?"
*trails off flustered* "Pardon? N, no... I'm just a senile old fool who talks too much... Pay no attention to what I just said... Hahaha..."
<Oh geez... I’m gonna have to bust out a notepad again to keep track of all this junk, aren’t I?>
"But...that one-eyed youth does have a certain bearing."
"Oh... oh... oh...! Well spoken Sir! Awfully good of you to notice! If I may... I would like to tell you. The young gent is the last forgotten reminder of the once proud Fatima dynasty. ...That is, before it was destroyed by Shakhan's minions... Prince Bartholomew Fatima.”
"Bartholomew? Edbart IV's successor... I am sure they announced Bartholomew died of an illness 12 years ago..."
”Hold up, geez! *jots down Bart...prince...Fatima...Shakhan evil...
"Officially, yes. However in reality, we rescued the young prince from Shakhan's evil grasp."
"Then why must the prince, the rightful heir, resort to piracy...?"
"..."


“...that the young master would grow up to be a great man..."
"Not to...reclaim the throne?"
”Not until he met a young man with hidden talents and a mysterious past... But...”
"That is correct. Of course, to say we have absolutely no desire to restore his rule...would be a lie. We have plans for that as well."
"And part of those plans would include piracy...?"
"Well, yes... But there is a reason for that..."


"Both Aveh and Kislev are devoted to excavating the ruins. Each country's strength is increasing daily. Even if we could get the help of all our comrades to start a revolution...the combined strength of all of us would still not be enough. We would certainly be suppressed by Shakhan's guards in no time at all.”


“We needed power. We tried excavating the ruins using the Yggdrasil but it didn't work as well as we expected.”


“Excavating requires tremendous amounts of time, labor and capital. The best we can do with our sand cruiser is find small items in the sand."
"And the piracy..."


“Both Kislev and Aveh will simply use that power to oppress the other. I agreed with the young master's idea of creating a new power to balance things out a little."
"I see... It is far more effective to plunder from the shadows, than to excavate the technology oneself."
”So you’re all really pirate rebel insurgents...? Isn’t anyone ever just a 'pirate' pirate with no ulterior motives or causes beyond looting and plundering?”
"Of course pillaging is an unpardonable act. However...for Aveh, for Ignas, to continue like this... I'm sorry if it sounds rather self-righteous."
"That is something which outsiders like ourselves cannot comment upon. From what you have told me, I feel that the result of what you are doing will be good. Seeing your children here tells me that."
"I am much relieved by your words."
”You’re not gonna one day convert those kids to child soldiers for your cause, are you...?”
“...”
"Another cup of tea?"


"With Miss Margie imprisoned, we dare not do anything."
"She would not happen to be Nisan's...?"
"You are well informed, my dear doctor. She is the Great Mother Marguerite of Nisan...and the young master's cousin, as well."
"Why would Shakhan take her captive?"
"For the 'Fatima Jasper'!"
"The Fatima Jasper that is said to show where great treasure is?"
"My, good Doctor! You do know an awful lot. I am most impressed."
”Doc, where’d you learn all this history and political stuff from?”
“Med school.”
“...Oh.”


“But it is said to be strong enough to save our kingdom if it is ever in plight!"
"And Marguerite has the Jasper that tells the location?"
"Only half of it, to be precise. The young master and Miss Marguerite each have half. Only by combining the two halves will anyone know where the treasure is."
"What exactly is the Fatima Jasper? When you say a half of the Jasper, I imagine some kind of necklace..."
"Only the heirs to Aveh and Nisan know what it really looks like."
"I see. So that is why they have her locked up. My guess is that when they do find out, her chances of living are not..."
”Damn, doc. Cold...”
"Ah, I apologize. I simply, I mean... I was only supposing the worst case. So please do not take it to heart..."


"..."
“...”
<Awkward...>
"Ahem. What exactly do you mean by great treasure...?"
"Well, I haven't the foggiest..."
“The Gear...! He means the Gear! It has to be it!”

Bart moseys into the room...


"Yeah... Even though they were sealed, sand's gotten into the joints. It's a pain in the neck to fix, so I'm having the crew take care of it now. My job is just to pilot them anyway. Besides, I'm bad with machines, so I'd just get in the way."
”Don’t have to tell anyone here. We all saw that fight earlier...”
“You wanna go a few rounds here, Fei?! Come on! I can take you.”
“Nah...”
*glares*
"Anyway... What were we talking about?"
"Whether the great treasure could be a...Gear?"
"Oh, yeah. You know, something like that is drawn in one of the Aveh picture scrolls."
"Picture scrolls?"
”Yeah. We folks from Aveh weren’t always that big on writing, so we used to just draw crazy shit that happened in our borders. It’s mostly just pictures of perky tits. But there’s some other neat stuff too...”
"Well, if you're interested then let's go to the planning room... I'll show you what I mean...since you're my special guests."
"That sounds interesting."

The party follows Bart to the planning room...


“They probably do not even have equipment like this in the capital."
"Heh heh. Surprised? All this technology is thanks to Sig."

Bart leads Citan and Fei down to the lower level of the room...


”Eh...? Why would you put a giant screen on the floor?”
“The better question is ‘why WOULDN’T I put a giant screen on the floor...?'”
“...Because that’s retarded...?”
“Man, just shut up and move... No...not up there! It’s gonna be upsidedo—oh...forget it!”
"Alright men! Display my special file on the main screen."




“...”
“...What is this?”
“I said SPECIAL file! Not, ‘special everyone out of the room but me’ file! Geez, what am I paying you for?!”
“Sorry boss.”
“...”
*cough* “Uhh...ah! Here’s the right file!”


"What is this...?"
"A picture scroll, nearly 500 years old. This is King Fatima I...'body cloaked in flames making a blood oath with giants'. They say he used the strength of the giants to found Aveh."
"It is amazing that such an ancient scroll exists... and in such good state too! I thought the 'Ethos' controlled all such things as these..."
"Normally, yes. But this was one of my father's prized possessions."
"Next!"


”!!”
“Gah! Next! NEXT!”


“W-What was...”
“It was nothing! Interference! Moving on!”
"After founding the country, Fatima forced the giants into slumber...to protect his kingdom's people if needed in the future. But we don't know where they are hidden. In another record, one of the giants is called the 'Great Fatima Treasure'."
"What about the 'Jasper'?"
"Hey...you sure know a lot. Perhaps you're one of Shakhan's spies?"
"Of course not. It is only an intellectual interest..."
”I am simply a well educated country doctor. Nothing strange about it...”
“They really teach a CRAZY amount of stuff in med school...”
"Just kidding. It appears the Jasper is the key to finding our treasure."
"A key... Could that be what Shakhan is looking for?"
"Not just him. Gebler is also looking for it."
"Really? Then we must rescue Marguerite as soon as possible."


"Since we helped you... I was wondering if I could, in turn, ask you a favor?"
"Would that be...for us to help you rescue her...?"
"Bright boy! That's exactly it. I heard from Sigurd...it seems that both Aveh and Kislev are after you! So we can help you and you can help us... How about it? It's not much to ask."
”Just gonna bust into a royal palace at the capital of one of the two super powers of the continent to rescue my cousin. No sweat...”
"Well, if it pays for my room and board then I will help in any way I can..."
<Doesn’t he have a house... And a wife and kid...?>


"Yeah. You were great back there in that stalactite cavern. Your strength alone is greater than ten or twenty of Shakhan's guards."
“...”
"I'd love to have your power on my side!"

Warning: Angst incoming!


"H, huh... What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
“Fei?”

Fei stomps up to the upper level of the room...


“What's wrong with you, doc, everyone... You're driving me to the brink. Then there's that Gear... Grahf and my father... I don't have the time to help you out with your problems when I've got enough of my own!!"
”You’re tearing me apart!!”

Fei storms out the door...


”Sheesh. Did he hit his period or something on the trip back from the caves...?”
"No, that is not it... I am sorry. Things have happened so fast that he has not had time to deal with it all yet. Try to understand."


Tune in next time for a whole lotta angst, introspective monologues, and other such soap opera-ish drama everyone needs to get out of their system. But at least it will be pretty much the last of it. Hurray...?










Lawrence Maison Portrait – Butlering the HELL out of this pirate lair.