Let's Go Shopping
Upon their arrival in Planeptune, Nep and Compa decide to check out the online shopping mall at Amazoo.nep. There's a small selection of weapons, accessories, and processor units available for sale. The processor units are far out of their budget range, priced at 10,000 credits per part. Compa notices that there's a syringe full of Expired Liquid on the list, so she takes 800 creds from the team's account to purchase that and a Leather Bracelet. The items are shipped to their inventory almost as quickly as Compa can hit the "Checkout button". There were no swords available for sale for Neptune, so she puts on the Leather Bracelet and hopes that something good will happen later. Amazoo has a strict "No returns" policy, so the girls are unable to unload their old weapons for cash, much to their disappointment.New Friends and the Mission
A vicious Sand Worm has made its nest in a cave nearby a town. The two head there to help the troubled townspeople. Neptune wants to get a move on, but Compa insists that they help save the townspeople from the Sand Worm. They see a lot of quest requests on the local bulletin board, but many of them are far and above the party's current level, so they head off to the last place where they heard the Sand Worm was resting.IF, the Thie—er, Treasure Hunter
Their travels lead them to a cave full of crystals waiting to be mined. Neptune, in her carelessness, bumps into a girl named IF* , who is also on a quest directly from Planeptune's Basilicom to fight the monster. Neptune gets all starry-eyed at the prospect of a new party member, so she asks IF to help them out. IF shows off her Bandit Bangle, which she says can be used to seek out hidden treasures* . A yellow light emits from the bangle, pointing toward a room just to the northeast of their current position. They follow the light to a chest containing a Leather Bracelet. IF take the bracelet and puts it on, claiming "finders keepers".Neptune and the girls learn how to use combo links and switch attacks, which can extend the length of combos and grant extra AP per attack turn. Since they only have three party members at the moment, they choose to stick with combo links for the time being. Nep also learns Jumping Arts, a quick somersault kick that can easily be chained to other attacks.
- Enemies: Dogoo* , Jaki*
- Treasures: two chests with a total of 15 Reflex bottles
The girls work together to reach the end of the dungeon and find their target. Exploiting its weakness to elemental bullets, they are able to defeat the sandworm without Neptune having to use her CPU powers, earning them a Fantasy Zone disc. It can only be used by Neptune (her being a personification of a dead Sega console and all), so she adds it to her repertoire of combos. (IF has her own wind-elemental R/W disc, but I'm not sure who I'm going to use as an image...I'm thinking Air Man.)
After their battle, Neptune brings IF up to speed on their quest to collect the Key Fragment and save Histoire. IF thinks that their real target is whoever ordered the fragments to be guarded in the first place, and isn't convinced that Histoire's intentions are pure, or that Neptune and Compa are the right people for the job. She offers her experience and insight to Neptune and Compa, and suggests that they visit some of the Basilicoms. In order to get to the other landmasses, they'll need a travel permit, since the Basilicoms manage the Sky Harbors between them.
Before they go off to the Planeptune Basilicom, Neptune checks out the Amazoo shop to see what sorts of weapons are for sale for IF. All she finds is a Claw, but can't buy it because they don't have enough credits yet. In order to raise the money to buy the claw, she checks the quest board again, and finds a couple of items that are more her speed.
Speedy Blue Shadow
Client: Director YuzawaHi, I'm Yuzawa, the Director of the company ZECA. Recently, mysterious blue shadows have been attacking our cargo trucks. Could you please find the sources and defeat them?
Recommended Level: 3 [Party's level: 2]
Soaring Development Fees
Client: Director YuzawaHi, I'm Yuzawa, the Director of the company ZECA. We're developing a new product, but its material is very expensive. A Dogoo's Gelatin Cell can be used a s a substitute. Could you please obtain five of them?
Recommended Level: 4
Terraportation Registration
The Basilicom — An Organization which directly serves the goddesses and governs each land. IF takes the party to the Basilicom on Planeptune.Nobody is outside to greet them at the Basilicom, since they're all in hiding. Planeptune seems to have it worse off than the other three landmasses. IF suggests that Neptune go in alone and submit their request with one of the staff members. She does so, and he translates her "long-term travel to fight bad guys" as the less dangerous-sounding "volunteer work". He gives Neptune a history lesson on the functions of Basilicoms. She was expecting the place to be more cult-like, but the staff seem friendly enough.
Anti-Humanitarian
A bounty quest prior to Terraportation. Another Sand Worm has appeared in a dungeon, but something feels a bit odd this time...IF can't believe they're off hunting another Sand Worm when there are Key Fragments to be collected, but Compa insists that they try to help out before going off to continue their mission. A suspicious individual had been witnessed roaming the area, so Neptune and her friends go back into the cave to investigate.
Neptune levels up and learns two new skills: Dual Edge (a quick slash attack that can be followed up with a transformation) and EX Nep Bull (a more effective version of Nep Bull that restores 50% of her HP when defending with less than 30% HP). Compa learns I'll Do My Best (a piercing slap attack) and Revive Kit (revives and restores 30% of fallen allies' HP). The new item skills require the use of Gelatin and Tuffmil, two chemicals that they haven't collected yet, so they stick with their basic item skills until they can find some.
Neptune notices a strange crystal growth that wasn't present the last time they entered the cave, so she smashes it with her hammer. IF finds a hidden treasure chest in the room behind it, but it only has more bottles of Reflex.
- Enemies: Pixelvader, Jaki, Imp
- Treasure Chests: one with 5 bottles of Reflex
The girls easily defeat the second sandworm and acquire a Tin-Can Badge from it. IF learns how to use a Force Combo after winning the battle. They press ahead to the back room to find a pale-skinned witch waiting for them. The witch appears to recognize Neptune, and pulls out a large spear, poised to attack. She focuses most of her offense on Compa, knocking her out and forcing Neptune to transform into Purple Heart in order to deal any significant damage. Team Neptune's victory earns them a Grand Bullet (earth-elemental) and a Lucky Bangle for their trouble. Nep learns how to make Antidotes after the battle, and IF learns the Cure Potion F skill. After her defeat, the witch complains about Neptune having the home-field advantage, and vows to return to even the score.
Comments
