I train everyone up to level 11.
Orcus is a berzerker, Bruno is a berzerker, Delta is a beast tamer, and Belgger is a beast tamer.
It takes us to... the placement screen?
◊ Why would we need that? We're just talking to Lans, right?
...Right?
Our position.
◊ Presance is at 1, Delta is at 2, Area is at 3, Canopus is at 4, Leon is at 5, Orcus is at 6, Julia is at 7, Bruno is at 8, Freesia is at 9, and Belgger is at 10.
Let's go.
We walk out into the silent night, Aloser accompanying us for once.
◊ Orcus echoes my thoughts.
We move forward, and Orcus shout "You are...!"
"Long time no see, Orcus. Glad to see you again... I was worried that you got killed by one of those bounty hunters. I'm glad you are still alive."
"What are you doing here?" Kachua asks angrily. "Where's Lans?"
Aloser pipes up, "Vice? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the Swanzi Forest."
"Aloser?" mutters Vice. "I thought you were dead. You bitch! You turned your back on us! Can't you tell who's going to win the war?"
"Why are you here, Vice?" mutters Orcus. "Where's Sir Lans?"
"What an idiot! Can't you see you've been suckered again!?" laughs Vice. "I didn't think you would believe the information I leaked. But thanks to your stupidity, it worked well. Your beloved Zenobian is not here. I guess he's getting drunk at the old town of Rime with some woman."
Enemies emerge.
"I will not let you go," says Vice. "I'm going to kill you both. You're nothing but a nuisance. Besides, the Duke ordered us to kill all the witnesses of Baramus."
Wait... Aloser is...
"That goes for you too, Aloser. I can't let you tell anybody what really happened."
"You, Vice!? Then you were there in Baramus!?"
"Yeah, with your lover Leonard... you didn't know anything about this? You weren't told anything?
"No... what a disaster!" shouts Aloser. "Is it really worth it? Do you really want to win that badly?!"
"You shouldn't have known this, but it's too late now. You can't live with a guy whose hand is stained with blood. It would be better for you to die here."
Orcus whistles for his troops.
"Kill them all! Spare no one!" screams Vice.
Victory Condition: Kill The Leader
Our position in this battle is... not good. As can be seen here, Orcus (along with Kachua and Aloser) is far away from his troops.
◊ We're surrounded on all flanks.
◊ They have a witch. Vice is a ninja, by the way, which means great AGI and movement range. Also, he has a bow.
This battle is actually easier than it looks. Just level your units to level 11 beforehand (Vice's level) and you should be fine, as long as you use good tactics. It is Tactics Ogre, after all.
This is what I like to call an "ethics battle," the kind where the boss, Orcus, and maybe an NPC shout about their morals, ethics, and beliefs from across the field, since apparently everyone has super hearing. It's one of the things that made FFT famous.
"I shall avenge my brother's death, even if it means I have to kill you, Leonard!" Aloser shouts on her turn.
"Pulls your troops back, Vice! Why do we have to fight like this!?" Orcus shouts on his.
"You disobeyed an order. You're a traitor!"
"Who in the world would allow himself to butcher innocent people!?"
"I would... I would sacrifice a thousand more lives to create a better future for our people."
"Vice... you're hopeless..."
My battle strategy; I'm going to take a risk and attacks the people on the side, even though I'd be constantly pelted with arrows by Vice and stunned by the witch. Only do this if you're confident in your units' abilities; if not, you should focus your attacks on Vice and make up lost EXP in Training.
Vice attacks Kachua, which she blocks. If it hit, it would have been a one hit kill. Kachua will serve as useful bait until she gets killed, which should be in a round or so.
Never mind, a beast tamer kills Kachua.
Our position.
◊ As you see, I've started attacking the beasts on both sides. The beast tamers are far to the side, attacking us with arrows. Most units to the north are preoccupied trying to kill Aloser, who's a guest. I believe it's permanent if she dies here; not sure, though.
I send Orcus to deal with one of the beast tamers.
Whoah, seems like Vice has spells. I was not aware of this. He casts Incubus on Presance, which only does 9 damage but puts him to sleep.
There's an enemy named Buzzkirk.
...
Okay, I'm going to start making a list of ridiculous names. "Aloser," "Potete," "Buzzkirk," and "Boner" make four.
Stupid NPC Name Count: 4
As you can see, I've killed just about everyone in three turns.
◊ There's a beast tamer off screen attacking us with arrows. This battle is a lot easier than I remembered it being.
Leon picks up a mind card.
Now all we have to do is kill Vice. And it's... really easy. I mean, seriously, three shots from my archers and he's down.
That was... really easy! And I thought it was going to be heard. What a pleasant surprise.
"This is looking bad." Oh really? "We have to retreat. Orcus! You can't go back to Ashton! I've already blocked the road! Surrendering will not help you, because I'm going to kill you!"
I just slaughtered your entire squad in around four turns flat, and you want to kill me?
He pulls an Escape crystal out of his asshole and teleports away.
"Vice, you bastard!" shouts Aloser. "Are you going to run away from us!? Go ahead, try it! I'll follow you to Hell and back! You will pay for what you did in Baramus!"
The wind starts up, battle music stops.
"Orcus, I must apologize... from now on, my life is yours..."
Everyone turns to face Orcus.
◊
"We will retreat before the enemy reinforcements arrive. Let's head to Krizar."
...Why?
We are awarded 1875 Goth, 1350 extra Goth, a robe and a chain mail. The robe is useless, but that chain mail might come in handy. I gave my first to Orcus, who gets protected next?
Aloser joins our party, and contrary to what her name would have us believe, she's actually quite an awesome archer. She's only level 9 right now, but I'll change that.
Since Canopus is usually in the thick of battle before anyone else, I give him the chain mail.
Next time: we go to Krizar!
