So, turns out I've been spelling "Elhaym" (Elly's actual given name) wrong this whole time. Whatever. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and by no accounts is it likely to be the last.
Anyway, we've got to get Margie back to Nisan. Unfortunately, her stuffed animal is blocking the door to the bridge and we can't get around it in any way.
When Bart says this, something says "It's not strange!" Those of you who've played this game before have probably been dreading this moment.
So, to get the stuffed animal out of our way, we need to go talk to Margie, who is in the formerly-empty room next to the Gear hangar. Naturally, it takes no time at all for Bart to get her talking about the stuffed animal's name, which I have to enter. Since I got four things to choose from, I proceed to wield the mighty power of the d4 to decide!
So, by the power of Random Number God, the name of this pink...whatever it is shall be...order. Capitalized exactly as written there.
For the record, the default was Chu-Chu.
It is at this moment that order walks into the room and introduces herself
.
Do note that what order just said was directed at Fei. Bart, of course, finds this hilarious.
Also, yes, that was a speech pattern based on her default name you saw there. There's a reason a lot of players hate this thing.
Back to serious for a moment as Margie thanks Fei for helping out, then angsts about how she can't help Bart. She then proceeds to explain how Bart has scars all over his back from protecting her in the past.
She explains this while order is still bouncing around the room.
Anyway, after that I talk to the little pink whatever, and she eats my spider. After commenting that "presents are a way chu a woman's heart", she gives me an Ether Veiler. This thing raises the effects of any and all elemental resistances the bearer has.
Anyway, with that done, I head up to the bridge. Sigurd warns us about Kahran Ramsus, the commander of Gebler. He suggests that his presence means that Gebler must be after something besides the ruins in Ignas. He also tells us not to worry about Citan.
Anyway, a bit of Deathblow grinding leads to these abilities:
- Fei:
- Hoten: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, X. Fei elbows his target a bunch of times, then launches a kick, followed by a punch and an uppercut.
- Bart:
- Dynamic: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, X. Bart launches four whip attacks, each coloured after one of the four elements. The last one (wind) throws the target.
I also buy a couple of MagneticCoats and equip them on Weltall. I'll change to a less cheesy setup later, but for now I want all the Response I can get.
While we dock at Nisan, I get a scene with Sigurd and Citan discussing how Ramsus is in the area. Their conversation reveals that the three of them, along with Miang, used to be known as the Elements. It also has elements of 'Should we do something?' 'We should do something.'
Anyway, it turns out that Fei and Bart were listening in on the conversation. Naturally.
We then cut right to the actual docking. We learn that Aveh forces are supposedly advancing on Nisan, and people have started to evacuate.
At any rate, we return to Nisan itself, where Im told to escort Margie to the cathedral in the middle of town. It's built in the center of a lake, carved into some sort of hill.
We get some fitting music for the cathedral. Naturally, it's full of nuns who are overjoyed to see Margie safe. After getting them off her back, Margie decides to show us around the cathedral.
On the second floor (where Bart and Margie used to hide when they were kids), we can see a statue depicting two one-winged angels (no, not like that. Margie explains that this is supposed to symbolize God creating humans with flaws so they'd help each other. Citan also notes that one of the angels looks masculine and the other looks feminine, which is unusual to him.
Bart, of course, says that it would be less of a problem if both angels could fly on their own.
Margie then takes us to the Room of Sophia, which you're normally supposed to get special permission to enter. Margie, however, thinks it'll be fine if we enter anyway. Sophia is supposedly the founder of Nisan and the religion they practice there.
As an aside, none of the staircases here have handrails. I know it wouldn't be easy to model them, but it's just somewhat disturbing to me.
More to the point, we arrive in the Room of Sophia. There's a hole in one wall in the shape of a stylized cross. There's also a portrait of Sophia, who looks stunningly similar to Elly. Fei points this out, but Citan is more interested in something else: the style is the same as Fei's.
Citan also notes that Sophia appears to be sad in the picture, and that there's a bit in the corner that isn't finished. Naturally, this will be important later.
As we leave, Fei has a vision of the painting being painted, and the artists looks exactly the same as him. Sophia says his name: Lacan. That's all we're going to get out of that for now.
On our way out, we talk with Agnes, the head nun. She explains that the painting we were shown was painted 500 years ago, but all other records from that time have been lost. The legends claim that Sophia sacrificed herself for the sake of the people, but no actual documents from her era remain.
All right, back to town, where Maison has a house rented for us. Sigurd is inside of it, and wishes to discuss our plans. Bart, however, is more interested in learning why Sigurd knows about Ramsus.
Sigurd and Citan proceed to explain things. They used to live in Solaris, the nation that Gebler is based in. Solaris enslaves people from the rest of the world, calling them "Lambs". The nation's use of foreigners like this caused Sigurd and Citan to leave in disgust.
Bart wishes to know more about Solaris, so he asks a few questions. First, there's the matter of where Solaris is located. As it turns out, it's in another dimension, with gates that allow people to enter the normal world. Next is the whole "Lamb" thing. Lambs are used for manual labour, and people are occasionally brainwashed when they refuse to cooperate. Citan also reveals that he's originally from Solaris here.
Next is Kahran Ramsus. Sigurd and Citan know him from a military academy called Jugend. After graduation, he quickly rose up through the ranks, intending to create a society where everyone was equal. However, something happened, and he's not like that anymore.
Lastly, there's the question of why Sigurd and Citan left. They learned of what Solaris does with surface dwellers thanks to their positions. As it turns out, Lambs are used not just as slave labour, but also as test subjects for advanced drug research. One specific one comes up: Drive. This stuff is commonly used within Gebler, and it increases the user's abilities. However, it also makes the user more aggressive in the normally prescribed dosage.
Fei, naturally, starts worrying about Elly once he realizes she's probably taking these drugs.
After that, I head outside, where I find Bart on a bridge. He talks for a bit about Sigurd's past and how he expected something different. He also discusses Ramsus, asking why Citan doesn't follow him anymore. Citan's explanation is that he realized that Ramsus didn't actually think all that differently from the actual leaders of Solaris, being basically a social Darwinist.
We also talk about the issue of having to fight against Solaris. Obviously, we're not going to be able to do it with just the three of us, so Citan suggests looking for allies. This, of course, would involve liberating Aveh.
Whatever the case, we head to the town hall to plan our strategy. We'll need to think if we want to defeat Ramsus. First, Bart suggests that we take out Shakhan.
There are three problems to deal with, though. Namely, the Gebler units: one near the western border, one defending Bledavik, and one out at the front fighting Kislev. The big ones are the latter two. Citan suggests using Kislev Gears to make an attack on the western guards, which would draw the other forces toward them. To further ensure that this will work, Citan suggests having Nisan create a fake alliance with Kislev.
Of course, we still have to deal with the main Aveh forces. They're led by a powerful battleship that is said to be invincible. Fortunately, though, Vanderkaum is in charge of that area. He still thinks that old-fashioned naval combat will work.
To deal with Vanderkaum's forces, we'll be sending a small strike team led by Fei into the area. They'll keep him distracted while the rest of the operation goes as previously stated.
Next time, we'll begin the operation.
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