Last Scenario - Part 40
- Last time on Last Scenario, we took control of the airship and defeated Tiamat... but only because Alison sacrificed herself.
- Back at Stonewall...
Hilbert: Thank you, Colonel. It was very close, but we still pulled through in the end. But we couldn't have done it on our own. We got some help this time.
Randolph: That's right. It's all thanks to you, Bergheim. That's what you wanted to hear, right?
Bergheim: Y-Yes. It was my plan.
Drakovic: Ah, I see. Then we're in your debt as well. On behalf of the Republic, let me offer you our gratitude for bringing this mission to a good end.
Bergheim: Uhm... yes, thank you.
Hilbert: So, captain, how are you enjoying your new ship?
Moritz: Great, great. It'll take some getting used to, but when you're out on the deck in the open air, it's amazing. But anyway, that's not why I'm here.
Hilbert: Found something?
Moritz: It's from Castor. He left a message for you behind on this ship. It contains a set of coordinates, and a very short note. You know what it says? "I found it. I'm waiting for you." Just that.
Zawu: Just like we thought...
Moritz: The place he marked is an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. I don't know about anything of interest there, but I guess he found something there nonetheless.
Moritz: Oh, sorry. We'll leave this for later. You have another guest.
Drakovic: General Grauss?
Drakovic: I heard the success of the new Emperor during the civil war was largely due to your support.
Grauss: Indeed. And our close brush with defeat was largely due to your interference, Colonel Drakovic.
Drakovic: Hahaha... that's true.
- >[o]< (awkward turtle)
Grauss: I cannot forgive you so easily for what you've done to my country. But... if we hold grudges forever, there'll never be peace again. It's in our best interest to work together for now. I personally want this war to end as well.
Drakovic: Well, I'd like to issue a formal apology for the Republic's actions. Since the attack on Farin base, a lot of mistakes have been made. On both sides.
Thorve: But soon, we'll be able to put it all behind us.
Hilbert: All that's left is to find Castor... After all the time we spent searching for him, now he's actually inviting us in.
Grauss: Sounds like an obvious trap.
Zawu: Castor wouldn't set up a trap that simple. Moreover, he's not interested in tricking us. He wants to prove his true superiority. His power by now should rival -no, surpass Tiamat's. He doesn't think he'll need tricks.
Grauss: This ship must have weapons, right? We can use those to attack his hideout, and bury him without having to risk our lives out there.
Ethan: And so will I.
Grauss: Huh? I don't understand your reaction.
Hilbert: Sorry, General. We can't do that. I made a promise to these two... that I'd save him. I know he's not an evil person, and these people, who've known him for much longer, know that too. There's still hope for him.
Drakovic: This sounds very dangerous. Is it really worth the risk to go down there?
Hilbert: No matter how dangerous it looks, we can't give up before we've tried. We'll keep fighting for as long as we can.
- ...
Grauss: I think it's very irresponsible.
Matilda: It's no use trying to change our minds, General. It's already been decided. You should know by now that we've always been like this.
Hilbert: All right! We know where he's hiding. Let's go there and finish it once and for all!
Drakovic: I strongly disagree with this.
Drakovic: Castor said he's waiting for you. That leaves the initiative to us. Why should we leave in a hurry when there are other things that require our attention?
Grauss: You have something else in mind, Drakovic?
Drakovic: Oh, come on, General. You must be having the same idea. Even if Castor acted on his own behalf most of the time, it's the Kingdom who gave him that power. They should be punished for their crimes against our countries, don't you think?
Grauss: You want to invade the royal capital? Indeed, with this airship and our combined strength, it can easily be achieved...
Drakovic: The Kingdom is in chaos. The King put great trust in Castor, and was then suddenly abandoned by him. Now half their country's in our hands, and the entire world has united against them. We've even captured their most powerful weapon: this ship.
Drakovic: They've suffered so many defeats lately... If the King is captured, the Kingdom will quickly fall apart.
Hilbert: We can take care of that. We'll be able to infiltrate the castle more easily than a large army.
Drakovic: You just can't leave anything to us, can you? Well, I won't say no if you're offering. So, what do you think, General?
Grauss: I have no objections. We can break past the Rosehart Bridge and press forward towards the capital from there.
Drakovic: Good, good. It's decided, then.
Hilbert: Got it. We'll leave as soon as we're ready.
Moritz: Remember, I'll be here whenever you need me.
- With that, we're given control once more.
Hilbert: Oh, that's right. Where did Ethan go? ...You don't think he went off alone, do you?
Moritz: Well, he was just with you, and we're in mid-air now, so that sounds unlikely. He's probably somewhere on the ship.
Hilbert: We'll go look for him first.
- If I was an Ethan, where would I be...?
- Not talking to soldiers, apparently, but whatever.
- Ooh! Shops!
- There are some fantastic new spellcards here; the final healing ones we'll need.
- We can also get all of these accessories. Each greatly increases one stat and prevents a couple related status effects.
- Finally: a Hex shop of our very own!
- The character Hex tiles all trade in for some very nice items or equipment; for now, though, we'll keep them.
- We have Republic soldiers, Empire soldiers, and Havali on our airship now. It's pretty neat.
- And more Hex tiles. Naturally.
- Ah, here we go.
Hilbert: Ethan.
Ethan: Oh, Hilbert.
Soldiers: Yes, Sir.
Ethan: Yeah. Most of them have agreed to stay on this ship and help us.
Hilbert: Stay here? You know we're going to attack Condor, right? Are you sure they'll be all right with that?
Ethan: These are all Castor's men. Some of them have even served under me in the past. Their loyalty lies with him. Just like Zawu and I, they want to help him. The old Castor would not have left his most loyal men with someone like Tiamat.
Ethan: She... She had faith in us, that's why she was able to...
- I always feel like Ethan is close to tears at this point. Poor guy needs a hug.
Ethan: I don't want to lose any more people in this war.
- He rejoins, and we're off.
Ulrich: This is the only place in the whole world where people from all countries are working together. I think Castor would be happy to know that, in a way, he brought us all closer together.
- Let me think... no.
- See, we have an airship now.
- Not only can we go anywhere, but...
- ...we can finish our map! :D
- There are some places we couldn't reach before.
- Also some we... still can't reach? Oh, well. Let's get adventuring!
- The first place we'll stop is the Tower of Sacrifice - the third of the towers.
- Pillar puzzles. Joy.
- The pillars decided to magically disappear when I had them in position, but here's what had to be done: push each of the pillars a number of spaces down from the top in its column, the number being determined by boxes stacked at the top. Very exciting.
- This is the tower where we have to pick up pillars and... do something with them, I dunno.
- Just move them out of our way, I guess.
- ...yeah, "just" move them out of our way. Why do I open my mouth?
- c:
- The enemies here are honestly not that tough, as we're a little late in the game to be here.
- I wonder what this switch did.
- More pillars...
- And here's the other switch. Now let's see if anything opened.
- Heck yes.
- Heck no.
- Okay, partway done...
- *whistle*
- ...
- I don't even.
- Gee, I wonder...
- Who woulda thunk.
- Oh, look, a key, I wonder what will happen if I touch i-
- AAAAUUUGH WHY DON'T I LEARN
- The Key of Sacrifice is another of those puzzle bosses that status-effects you. I... forget what this one does, to be honest!
- $*&#@!
- Take two. This time with the proper accessories.
- Though it also has an annoying habit of Silencing your whole party, its low HP allow me to get through the fight. Amusingly enough, Lorenza deals the final blow with her staff.
- Now if only we knew what the heck these things were for...
- Lots of nice treasure around here.
- Including this... oh, heck yes.
Anyway, I think that's enough dungeoneering for now. Next time on Last Scenario, the invasion of Condor and a ton of exploring! We're really getting close to the end, so stay tuned!