Part 10: BF10 – Verlaine Hills – Part A

The battle from the other day had escalated, eventually erupting into a full-scale war with massive armies on each side.

The coming confrontation threatened not only the soldiers, but all civilians in the area as well.

The tremendous power of the Ankhs both sides held made it clear that if war broke out, the entire land would be burned to the ground.

As the countdown to Verlaine Hills' destruction ticked away, matters became even worse as opportunistic bandits began sacking the cities.

To put a halt to the chaos, the Royal Army deployed to the bandit-infested neutral city of Marvel.







They're getting ready for the big one, huh?

Even the town guards are being drafted. Without them, I hear the city is flooding with thieves.





Yee-haw!



Those rats think they're on top of the world now.

Then we'll rid the city of those brigands first. After that, we'll send envoys to both houses.

Envoys?

When armies of that size clash, the casualties will be steep. There may still be a chance to stop them in time...






Yggdra's morale is getting a little uncomfortable, so we'll begin by giving her Imperial Warfare 2. Durant would get a little more effect from it, at 3000, but medallions aren't even giving Yggdra back 1000 morale yet. I'd rather save them until they at least restore 1000, and these books don't have much else for a use.



Milanor doesn't have any other items worth giving for morale restoration, so he takes 2 medallions.





Check out the worst mercenary ever and his merry men.

There's quite a few of them...

True, but they're disorganized. We need not fear them.

They didn't even bother with a formation... Let's go after 'em!





Inzaghi is pretty balanced, but overall weaker than everyone we have. We'll need to either steal his Headgear, or use Nietzsche to deal the finishing blow – the safer solution.

Ortega's a buster, but he does match our attack scores. His Berserk Axe starts him off in at least Rage mode every fight.

Ortega's bandits are weak at 1,2,1,3, and his Assassin companion is 1,1,3,3 – so nothing to worry about.



I don't think I can quite defeat the bandits in one round with Revolution – the strongest card we have with the movement needed to get into position. All of the bandits are standing on Town tiles, and gain a 30% defense bonus. I'll use this as a chance to power up Bloody Claw. It has enough movement to get into position, and enough power to defeat the bandits on their turn.

Nietzsche overpowers every enemy on the map, so if she has a full skill bar she should have enough to defeat the axe users.





Yggdra and Milanor both have easy victories, and save their skill each time. Each bandit survives with a few hundred morale. Nietzsche will fight with a full bar.



The Bandit's terrible Gen and Tec scores mean Nietzsche gets an early lead.



It's a tough fight in the end, but Nietzsche had enough to take them down. One bandit is removed from the map.



Ortega has the Mirage card, which would allow him to switch my GEO with his. Since most of his troops are on the Town tiles, vs our Grass tiles, it would be stupid to do so. In the GBA game they would use this card regardless. In the PSP remake, they refrain.



The bandits rearrange themselves, but all three battles end with the same outcome. By the start of my turn, it's down to Inzaghi, the Assassin, and Ortega.

With Shield Barrier, Yggdra will move up beside the Assassin, saying hello to Ortega on the way. Nietzsche will move beside Ortega.

Come near me, and I shall strike you down!

*whistle* You're that chick!

Y-You're scary, too...

What's an Undine doing out here!?

Ortega pretty much rules, but he's not as cool as Inzaghi.



I don't make an attack this turn. I want Inzaghi to move down near the Assassin, so that she will bring both him and Ortega into a union. I don't expect the Assassin to attack this round, so Ortega will attack Nietzsche. She'll probably lose, but Yggdra and Milanor should take a bite out of Ortega's 4.5K morale.

Hey! New guy! Quit slacking off, and get to work!

Tch... This is so humiliating. No amount of money is worth this... I'm just not feeling it today...

Hey! C'mon! Stop dozing off!

Yeah, yeah... *sigh*



Yeah, what I figured. Even if she does lose, Nietzsche is on the town so will have some defense. She has Shield Barrier at her disposal, so she does stand a decent chance.







Eh, not bad. It's probably better that she loses anyways, because I don't want to kill Ortega right now. If he flees, he'll take all of his goons, including Inzaghi, with him – and I want his loot. Nietzsche's at 3404 morale now.





Yggdra and Milanor both win, as expected. Ortega is at a good amount of morale now – roughly the same as Inzaghi.



I'd get a good price for a healthy Undine child!



How's it going?

You're that kid...!

Got it in one!

We'll pull out the strongest card in our inventory now, Mind Change. If we can win with a big enough margin now, we can knock out all three foes. Both Yggdra and Milanor are able to use Mind Change as well, increasing our leads.



It works quite well against the Assassin, so she's out of here.



Nietzsche does well against Inzaghi, but her low Tec holds her back a little. He survives with less than 300 morale.



Ortega also survives. Thankfully, in this case, since I don't want Inzaghi to retreat.



Prepare to be skewered!

Yeah, you're scary.

I also move Milanor out of the way of Ortega, so Inzaghi is forced to attack Nietzsche.



It's about as difficult as you'd expect.

Dammit... This is way too much work for the pay...!

As much of a toolbox as he is, Inzaghi doesn't like working for Ortega. If Yggdra talks to him, she asks if he's working for Ortega. Inzaghi sighs, and mumbles that he really doesn't want to talk about it.





O-Okay, Boss!

We swiftly finish Ortega, and head to liberate the town. Under ideal circumstances, I should have been able to finish this section of the map during our last night attack with a high power, high movement card. Revolution and Steal would be common contenders for this, but neither of them even matched Mind Change's insufficient power right now. There's an item Nietzsche can get if she visits the southwest village at night, and it would have given me another full round in order to qualify for the quick-clear bonus. As it stands, it will be a close race, since Roswell and Rosary have been watching the entire turn, eating turns.








Alright, let's set up camp here.



How'd it go? What did they say?

Messenger: Erm, well... Neither ruler is willing to withdraw... And they say if we intervene, they'll attack us too.

Princess...

Did they say how long their preparations would take?

Messenger: I believe the answer was one day for both houses.

Thank you. You've done well.

…......... There's only one thing to do now. And I don't think you're going to like it.

….........

Esq. Milanor...?

We've gotta completely destroy one side's army.

…...!

It's the only way to prevent a bloodbath.

Well... Even so... Which side should we sabotage?

That's not for me to say. But you now I'm right, don't you? It's just a matter of picking a side, then. Your call.



You're calling the shots here. Decide to attack.


Yep, you're calling the shots. Who do we attack?





Rosary rules over the south of the Verlaine hills. She commands an army of Witches and Golems, all with stupid names.





Roswell rules the northern territories. At his command are a legion of Skeletons, controlled by him and his fellow Necromancers. His robe gives him a stupid ability.

So if you're interested, just leave a note saying who you think we should attack. This decision does have some consequences through the game, but they're nothing we won't be prepared for.