Huey, Sara & Claris Claes’s Meeting
In the lobby, Huey will ask if you just got back. Claris will tell you that we just happened to finish our meeting now too. And Sara will complain that it dragged on and on, and they weren't kidding when it said to bring a pillow. Claris says that it's Sara's fault because if she didn't object to her proposal, it would've gone smoothly? Sara thinks it was 'screwed up' so she'd get scolded by Maria if we did actually pass it. Claris says that the termination of weapon restrictions and the immediate supply of powerful weapons would be a good idea. Sara thinks we wouldn't be able to keep up (with what?) and where did she expect to get the resources needed to do that? She says to stop deciding things on impulse.

So what Claris probably wanted to do, but that the dialogue wastes itself away on arguing instead, was to remove the equip restrictions from all rares so that anyone could use them no matter what level. It's the Equip Restrictions that you can sometimes lower with crafting, or maybe even the class restrictions on weapons.

Huey finally chimes in with 'what's done is done'. He explains we just finished a meeting with the unit representatives. And he's commander of the combat unit! Claris is his second! Sara believes it is dangerous selection of personnel, but...it doesn't matter because the tasks are simple. (she jabs) The General Affairs unit she's part of is nothing but chores, and resource management.

Regius wanted the Instructors Unit, so Maria got Commander of General Affairs but you should've seen the look on her face when that was decided. Sara says 'thanks to him' (who?) most of the work from that was pushed onto her so it is a bother.  Huey says break-time ends here, so lets get back to our tasks. Claris cheers and invites you to battle next time. The two walk off, but Sara is the last to leave. The Scene ends.

Who assigned Maria to the area without her consent/input? Who has that authority?

Io & Katori in: Summoner is An Affront
Katori is shouting in the lobby about the Bouncer class. She encourages Io to shout too, which...she tries, but isn't much one for shouting. She believes yelling the virtues of the class near the lobby fountain/shops will promote it & also Braver. (This is very like the internet meme of My Little Pony Fluttershy who is shy & won't cheer well whispering out 'yay' to encourage her friends)

Io says that even if Katori tells her to take promotion seriously, why use the exact strategy of Azanami? It's because Katori fears Summoners use the appearl of their pets, so the BO & BU should use their own looks and charms to win over hearts. The pets are cheap tactics that even lured your char! It's unforgivable. Io thinks that bit is just in her head. From the shadows...Saga is watching all of it occur. You are walking by/near him though, so he apologizes for Katori's antics. Out of nowhere, there was a request from Katori herself to promote Bouncer, but when he decided to see it for himself...well...here we are.

You're Sure Its OK?
What Are They Doing?

If you ask What Are They Doing? (Because of course Saga would say that whatever it is, isn't ok, because that's how he always is) He says they're attempting to promote Bouncer, and Azanami did it the same way. He feels their thinking of "Summoners Are Unfair" doesn't make much sense. Though...Katori trying her best to spread the word of bouncer deserves praise. He thinks rather than jumping into action, it's better to have ambition regardless of the idea behind it, so the training had its merit. However, he does feel sorry for Io, who was dragged into the scheme. All she could do is to say she was caught up in the moment.

Katori flails about Bouncer, gesturing and spinning near the fountain. She repeatedly claims its better than Summoner, and for all to join the class. Io just wants a break...but she says that shouting near the transport area gate is next, so let's run there. Sadly, Io says to support bravers too.

The scene ends

Pretty typical Katori. And, interestingly, also of the opinion of players when Summoner was released. It was called the N00b class, the cheat class, and the do-nothings. Because...it almost can be. Stand as far away as you can from everything, then repeatedly send out pets to deal damage and cast spells for you. Pet KOs don't even matter because you can equip so many wands assigned to so many pets and just cycle them as they die/revive.
Notice also how everyone talks and whines about the class but nobody ever EXPLAINS PETS. Game dialogue is A CHOICE. They can choose to have it prattle on over nothing, or actually give out plot-relevent things that encourage interest in the plot, the world, the characters...whatever! But, the game repeatedly just wastes dialoge on repetitive nonsense, and makes the concious choice to never explain the mechanics of pets, what they really are, who created them, or anything at all about them.

Lisa & Kohri
You walk with Htisugi, Kohri & Enga out of the transport from the bridge to the main lobby. This is by where Lisa can normally be found. Of course she sees this. She comes over and says what's this? how odd how odd. If Lisa's memory sphere is correct, there's someone here who is registered as an enemy.
Kohri of course will go to explain with a well uh you see...
Lisa asks if she's an intruder, did she come back for more? Well, Lisa will give you a warm welcome, it's thanks to you that we can fire weps inside the ship now, and she draws down on her with the rifle. It won't fire, so she is dismayed, wondering if it has jammed. Kohri flails and yells that she's not an enemy any longer, and to just wait and listen.
Lisa argues that all enemies will say anything when they are begging for their lives. Kohri agrees her point, and plays out a whole scene. That if Lisa did believe her, she'd try to get the drop from behind if she really was an enemy, but then Lisa would see through that and be able to attack again. As she talks she flails and jumps around. This is enough to confuse Lisa into re-holstering her rifle and watching the dramatic Kohri play scene unfold.

Kohri demands the others back her up. Hitsugi says its nostalgic, like how they first met. Enga says it feels like yesterday when she did jump at him. She says brother and sister are just reminiscing, you've got to help her instead!

This Is How It Must Be Done
But You Were My Enemy Too

What do either of these mean? Was something mistranslated here? NEITHER phrase is appropriate. WHAT must be done? What does this refer to? It's a completely irrelevant phrase. Next, the 'my enemy too', that makes no sense here either, because yes, of course, during mind control, but that's gone. The whole interaction is pointless because Lisa knows Enga, Hitsugi AND you, AND that the 3 people would never just stroll the ship with a hostile person/thing just casually wandering with them. But Lisa isn't logical, so...she genuinely tries right there, to murder Kohri. (One must wonder what would happen if she actually did rip up her whole torso and splatter Kohri right there, as was her intent. Would Xiera be able to fix Kohri?) It's actually pretty interesting that she's illogical enough to actually go through with murdering a person on the ship in front of others, without any backup reason as to why/justify it.

Because neither option makes sense if you say This Is How It Must Be Done Kohri will demand what kind of an organization is ARKS even. Lisa disrupts her ranting with a question of how different would shooting an Earthling be, than to shoot an ARKS? How different would it feel? Kohri asks if it means she's shot an ARKS person before. 3 of the shootings were accidental, thus forgivable, after all.

Kohri says they were obviously intentional! (Really? How would she know what happened years ago) Lisa disregards the affront, and says how about this? If you're not really an enemy, you can battle vs Lisa and demonstrate her abilities? This makes Kohri mad, so she yells she won't battle her just so she can shoot her, and this conversation was heading in a way so that she'd be tricked into getting  shot at! They continue to argue, but the scene ends.

This is meant to be some dumb, casual encounter.
However, it's interesting because what would Hitsugi have done, if, after all this nearly killing herself to save Kohri all this time, that Lisa just up and cold-bloods her for funsies?
How good is Xiera at raising the dead?
No one mentions Moon Atomizers because they are a game mechanic only...they can't really exist in the plot, or even be acknowledged or the plot breaks down. There are opinions that this is an effect of ineffective writing, but fanfic authors do prove at least a limited way to logically handle them and a real plot at the same time. It's no surprise this particular chapter couldn't do the same though, because it is the most ill-done of all them thus far.
The whole "Lisa isn't thinking" thing---is this just bad writing to shoe-horn this scene, or is it a real trait?

The Impression Ardem Gives
In EG hq, Kohri is impressed as she looks all around Ardem's office. Hitsugi says don't go around poking things and pointing because that's rude since we were invited here. Enga tells her to look who's talking because it's just like a certain someone. She tells him to be quiet. He is actually in the wrong here AGAIN, if you go back and replay when she first got into the office, sure...she looked around and said it seemed fancy/expensive however she's not nearly as wavey and over the top as Kohri is here.
Ardem and his guards walk in.
He introduces himself as Ardem Sacred. Along with Enga and Hitsugi he's glad to meet her, and shakes her hand. She says ty for hospitality but she's not this amazing person. He says no need to be humble, because for Earth, for which has hit the limit of its evolution, those who can use ether  like herself, are the key to another evolution. He hopes all here can take pride in their abilities because that power will usher in a new evolution to Earth and a light of hope, that you will carry on to the next era of Earth. Kohri says even with all that, she's content if she can stay alongside Hitsugi.

Hitsugi just wants to save Aru, so Big bro, she counts on his support. Enga claims to be sick of hearing her say that. But Ardem says that's a fact. This isn't something we can just rely on your char and the ARKS for. It's an Earth issue.  He thinks evolution on Earth has stagnated, and if we don't push people who have reached their limits into a new stage, all that awaits is Earth's demise. While defeating Mother is important, planning for the future is just equally so.

Enga says he sounds like a sales pitch, so be careful or he'll get caught up in his own words. Ardem tells him its ok because he is confident in Enga's abilities. He stares at Enga till he shrugs about it.

But, Ardem then remembers his meeting, and has to leave, so make yourselves at home in the meantime. He walks into the elevator with his guards, and Hitsugi says he looks so busy. Enga explains he's so influential so he is dragged into many conflicts as a mediator/negotiator. He's well rewarded for his help, so there's no need for sympathy for him. He means he's paid well, so she shouldn't feel bad about him dealing with a busy schedule. It's also a little crass of Enga to say that, because it is possible to have a well paid but very difficult and stressful job like a surgeon or something where there is genuine wear/tear on the person despite the compensation.

Kohri disregards any recording devices that HE IS SURE TO HAVE IN THE SECURE ROOM, and confesses she kinda doesn't like him, he rubs her as sort of insane. Enga also disregards recording devices and nods along, saying that he's always suffering due to the world, but recently he does seem different. Yes! Intelligent characters let's DO talk bad about people in their own home, That is always a bright idea that never leads to trouble /s. The elevator reaches the 6th level, and the scene ends.

Ok yeah Kohri is written as stupid so of course she'll talk bad about someone in the observation room full of cameras and recording devices that Ardem probably watches any time he wants. But then, for Enga to agree with her is doubling down on the stupid. There is zero chance Ardem didn't just hear what everyone had to say both before he entered, and after. Telling a nutter you're onto them is the last thing you want to do.

He is perpetually mis-using the word 'evolution'.
And he uses it so much it's hard to tell what he really means by anything.
Prediction:
Ardem thinks that only Ether users should be worthy of living on Earth. That's the way he seems to be leaning.
Planning ahead for 'after we beat mean Mother' is a sound logic
What 'doom' does he think will happen if Earth doesn't keep relying on Ether?

The Two Claris Claes
You run across Claris & Matoi in the lower lobby. Claris says you look well, & Matoi waves hello. Claris claims she'll go on a date now with Predecessor, so isn't that nice! Aren't you Jealous? Matoi exclaims that's not really so! They're just doing some regular training. Claris claims that when your char became her training partner, average opponents don't cut it any more, she sometimes asks Predecessor to be her sparring opponent. Matoi turns to her and encourages her to not hold back, no one can help it if they get frightened. She says the purpose of training is to figure out your true strength.

Matoi says her argument is valid, but it can be meaningful for them to gain confidence too, she feels its sometimes good to play the role of the defeatist? Claris questions this, if Matoi is just acting...then..wait, even during OUR training sessions? She flails and says no, she always gives her best, isn't that right? She mis-uses the word 'defeatist' here, the word she needs is 'to take a fall', to make another person think they have succeeded.

You're A Terrible Liar.
You'll Die If She Uses Her Full Power.

Well, neither of these are very nice. It's pretty clear she lied here, because of her flailing and stuttering. If you say You'll Die If She Uses Her Full Power Claris will say it's like the old days so don't be unreasonable with her request. Her abilities were inferior to the predecessor to begin with it can't be helped if she was holding back. But regardless, it's a fact that she's on par with Predecessor (notice how she won't use her name--but uses the word Predecessor as absolutely often as possible....what is the signifigance of doing this? Is it to imply Claris forgot Matoi's name, to attempt to dump on Matoi by using a title, or something else?) that means we're equals! She doesn't care about the convenience of others, as Huey says "win and you're strong, lose and you're weak, and that's all  that matters" so she thinks so too. Matoi agrees. But......if she was going easy on her, that annoys her! So today! No holding back! Got it? Matoi but-buts. Claris says 'must!'. Ok, she finally agrees to do her best like never before. Claris says to bring it on, and the scene ends.

This does not do a whole lot for anything.
Everyone knew Matoi was tops and she still is.
Huey still spouts over-simplified (slightly dangerous) platitudes for her to agree with.
Neither character branches nor grows any here, they just hem and haw.

Believe! Your Lover
You meet Matoi by the fountain who says we're both taking a break. She says her body is now completely purified, but if she pushes herself too hard Philia will get mad so she takes breaks every now and then. But the ship has changed so much since our rest, it's fun to wander around. Peitro walks past gloomily, and slowly. Matoi recognizes him, and says isn't that SU's rep? He says oh its my friend and the partner...sigh. Matoi gets flustered a bit at this and wavers around, sometimes she thinks it'd be nice but to put it that way...!

This cheers him maybe a little, he says partners are a wonderful thing, be it friend or children, you should always have them close. He then seems to ponder something.

Is Something Wrong?
Take Care Then.

If you prompt him with Is Something Wrong? He'll say he knew you'd hear him out because friends are really what you need in life. He gestures wildly toward you and practically runs over to you. He is clearly desparate for someone who will listen. He cries out that "You see, just right now, he thought the children who he loves don't actually love him." He then flails at you before you can actually answer or do anything, "no need to say more, he understands...he can't be forgiven for the fact that he doubted their love ever so slightly." That's why loniless is a punhsment, they understood and haven't looked at him or even looked back.

Aren't You Just Being Ignored?
Don't Beat Yourself Up Because Of It.

Again, neither response works. How would you know if he was being ignored? No one explains EVER proper pet behavior or how pets 'usually are'. There are literally no examples. Also, you haven't seen him the whole time since this incident so you just have to guess some random response here. If You say Aren't You Just Being Ignored? Matoi will tell you 'shh dont say that'. Matoi tells him that if he's feeling sad she's sure his pets feel the same. You look around with hand on hip, seemingly trying to be thoughtful. Matoi gestures aggrivatedly at you, telling you that you were supposed to nod and agree with her. But then  she spots something. It is Elizabeth, his Cery-pet. He tells it to keep away, he's a terrible person with no right to face them. The love they've given with all their strikes. He doubted their love. It floats over toward him anyway.

"Even though you can't speak, you used your body to display the love and he doubted it, so he's a failure of a summoner, do keep away Elizabeth." He staggers. Matoi realizes he's trying to get close to it instead of actually going away from the pet. He keeps his hands out, until, it hits him with its wand, he wonders if that means he can be forgiven. He'll not let it down again! He holds the pet above himself. It hits him with the stick as he hugs it, telling it must have been lonely, so let's go home and prepare a feast made with love. It then dutifully follows him away.

Matoi isn't sure how to say it but, if they have never left him, then it means his pets don't think badly of him...right? It then bites him repeatedly on purpose, making him wail and promise food at home.

Hopefully…says Matoi.

Wow ok, the worlds' most repetitive plot point is back for more.
But, the minor insight here is that he is accidentally training the pets to harm him. He is rewarding bad behavior, and all the pets are too stupid to see their way around it. It's like encouraging a dog to howl when it hears music because that is funny for a few times. Then, being very upset about that later, when no one can ever hear music again because the dog is constantly screaming the house down every time it hears music. It was encouraged to do so enough, that now, when you don't want it to...it still will. This usually leads to the animal being punished & confused because animals don't understand "what was once ok, is now not".

This repetitiveness is probably also supposed to be meant as comedy.
He was introspective enough for 30 seconds to MAYBE change his behavior & repair his pet relationship, and advance the plot, but then, it has to go "NAH" and pull out the rug for comedic effect and reset everything back to zero so we can beat around this bush for a further 5000 words instead of explaining pets or advancing any culture/characterization/plot or anything resembling interest.

The Two Best Friends
Time Static / Boxes 241 4/22 at 1800

In the lower area of the bridge (stairs down from Xiera) Kohri asks if Hitsugi will really fight Mother. Hitsugi asks if she's scared about the plan now, but she says that's not it, but is it that the whole situation has gotten too big for us to handle? Hitsugi says everything's more than she expected, everything would've been unthinkable before. But, nomatter how out of control everything seems, her goal won't change. It's Rescue Aru From Mother. That's it. Kohri looks sad, so Hitsugi asks if she's hesitant? She says no no...but looks nervous. Hitsugi asks is Mother is right or wrong?

Are we right or wrong? That's something we won't know as we're involved. That's why it's not important, what's important is what you want to do. Think for yourself, decide for yourself, that's all--But if you're still lost, you don't have to come with her, being lost can lead to painful experiences.

Kohri hugs her.
She says Hitsugi want to save Aru, so she want to help her, and now that's her only goal. She's not lost. Besides, if Mother is wrong, we have to help her stop, as members of the MC. Hitsugi cheers up and says as usual, she'll be moving fast and without mercy, so best be prepared. Kohri agrees, nods, but says 'you've changed'. Hitsugi asks if it's just a 'tough act'. Kohri disagrees, saying that before, her answers were based on logic and you pushed on because of that, but now you're different. Saying what you want, doing as you feel, and gathering momentum with every step.
Hitsugi claims to interperate that as 'acting without thinking', but guesses its right. But, Kohri says she likes this Hitsugi more. "Oh this is where you'll get mad and say stop pretending, or you're a fake." accuses Hitsugi at Kohri. This makes Kohri yell "no", saying you were ambiguous at that time. It did almost seem fake. Hitsugi is mad now, saying she's quick to spit poison, she WAS pretty unsure at the time but... that one time she cut her down good so she came to her senses. Now, Kohri is upset and asks her to stab, with her arms open, opining to live on in Hitsugi's heart only, forever. She waxes along saying how poetic it is.
Hitsugi wants to learn how she's never shaken, nomatter her circumstances.

This was another 'you couldn't possibly see it' scene.
However, Xiera surely would've heard this because she is always in her room, and they are mere feet behind her chair. It is understandable to be super nervous of going up against Mother and any possible goons. They know nothing of Aratron's hesitation or the Opheil vs Phaleg fight/animosity. (Take each other out??)

The whole 'we don't know who's right or wrong because we're in the middle of it' is bunk. Harming innocents is objectivly wrong. Mother is wrong. (harm Aru, kill ARKS, etc)

Kohri starts off being really sweet here, with a hug and real moral support, as she has pledged to do. Hitsugi just takes some things wrong on purpose...Kohri over-reacts and gets dramatic, Hitsugi mirrors the over-reaction and they bicker because that's what they do.

Preparing for the Final Battle

241 4/22 at 1830
On the bridge, Enga watches while Xiera is using her screens. You walk in, and Enga says good timing, because he's asking the EGs for assistance. Xiera is confused because there is no video feed for her screen. Enga thinks it's weird, and asks Ardem if he can hear us. Ardem says he's loud n' clear, but the issue is the video feed (which, a square where he'd usually appear shows static/blank) maybe it's because there are too many phantoms on the moon. Enga accuses him of not letting us know about changes on the moon, so he apologizes, citing they're doing prep too. Judging by the timing of this call, he knows what you're planning to do, so prep on his side is complete. EG will back you up with all their strength, and he'll be there personally too of course. We fight for the people of Earth, that they may keep moving forward, this is a fight we must win, no matter what. But, the strength of us on Earth still isn't enough, he fears. Therefor, Arks, please assist us. Enga, take care of them, be careful, let's meet again someday. Enga says 'to you as well'. Xiera is glad EG will help, we worried for nothing. Enga contemplates to himself that he named your character, but he didn't call out for Hitsugi...does that mean he could see us? He thinks it over, but then thinks he's over-thinking things, maybe not...

Xiera asks if he's ok.
He says it's nothing, so when is our prep here complete? She fufufu's and claims to be waiting for him to ask, she's calculated where we'll enter, as well as estimates on enemy forces while drafting a plan and proposal for the mission. Adding in the backup plans, we've got authorization. This is all she can do, the rest will be up to you. She's sorry for always-always-always relying on you all of the time. But, she's counting on you. You nod at her. The scene ends.

WELL if a character didn't grow a SINGLE brain cell here!
What a nice turn of events. Enga makes an interesting assumption. However, WHY nobody talks about Ardem not having video is never addressed. Neither is his sort of 'final farewells' type of sign off, either. Why NOT bring it up with Xiera? It's not like she wouldn't talk about it. Why not even bring it up to 'your char'? This is a clear red flag that something is up, but at least kudos to the plot in this single tiny area that it doesn't tell you what. Usually speeches like that are for characters who will die or think they will. Is Ardem planning to kill himself on the moon OR is it NOT Ardem at all, and it's Ophiel or some other rubbish ESCA person who can sound like him and not be seen, setting Ardem up to take a fall while giving the ARKS a ruse?

Mother’s Wish
A camp ship sets off for the moon.
There is an active Autosave on this quest, meaning it expects you to have issues.

2028 4/23 at 1300
You, Hitsugi, Enga and Korhi all marvel at an underground giant structure room. It has a green ceiling awash in moving light. It resembles the ‘mothership’ area from the actual mother ship, complete with that greenish water and metal pathways over it / the blue glow lines in the floors and rails, etc. Hitsugi says there’s no issues with oxygen or gravity, but she was looking forward to trying out 1/6 gravity.

Xiera answers her with that "it’s got to be similar to what the ARKS use in space. If Photons and Ether are so similar, it’s not surprising what they can do with it." (Yes, it’s the much needed Macguffin that does whatever the plot needs it to do) But, all that aside, does this seem familiar to you? You nod. She agrees that it looks like where Xion was. Hitsugi bets that since Mother was a clone of Xion, maybe she’s trying to make the Mothership inside of the moon?

*She was never a ‘clone’ of Xion, she was just meant to be another person-planet. But, since her technical skills are lacking, maybe she’s trying to embody it instead? They speculate. (To embody refers to generating stuff out of Ether, in this instance) Aratron walks up and agrees that she may be onto something. Kohri looks sad as she sees him. He accuses her of changing sides. She’s sorry she can’t walk beside mother any more. For some reason, this sets Kohri off enough (somehow) that she gains a new power--that of embodying clothing. She twirls and gets a new outfit, and now, she has Gram back. He tells her it’s ok, her eyes are more lively than when she was with them. (This would be extremely true for Aratron to notice, because the only time he really knew her was when she was half mad under Ophiel's mind control) Her new outfit is not-mother-inspired at all. But can you guess what? Can you? Can you really guess what this time????
THIGH HIGHS! Of course. Hitsugi here in her school uniform again, is also wearing thigh high black socks. Because of course the school uniform is short skirts and thigh highs. Kohri’s outfit is still kind of strange. She gets thigh high boots with quite tall heels in blue, white and navy. She has a ‘dress’ but it’s kind of made of some stiff cloth flaps & strips over a short skirt-like thing. She has a bustier for a top, of course it’s low cut/cleavage fun because we are in high school and that’s what high schoolers do. Oddly, the jacket has long sleeves with attached fingerless gloves. Her color scheme is now middling gold/tan, middle-blue, and dull white. No one questions the outfit, and she never explains it.

Hitsugi suits up in her red floral theme magical girl outfit. She asks if he’ll withdraw, he says not by the hair on his head, even though it has gone. His old bones are stubborn, and he won’t bend, SO. He summons his hammer, and lifts his eyebrows. Apostle of Earth, Aratron Tolstoy is your opponent. Then…

In a flourish, he gets giant golden armor!
The armor is big, and he must be at its core, (As in, he is physically inside the chest area alone) as it isn’t the most human of shapes. It has a giant torso and arms, but smaller legs, more gorilla themed/shaped. There’s a large glowing stone in the chest. It, of course, uses his giant (stone like) square battle hammer. He swings this around to knock everyone back. His attacks include everything with lightening that he can think of.

On the first round of the battle, the armor is invincible. The only thing you can strike at is his hammer. (However, all characters will continually try to target other parts of the armor, so be sure to aim your guy really well no-matter which class you are), He can smash the floor to create radiating lightening, leave a pool of electrical energy when he jumps away, and shoot out homing bolts at you. When he twirls, he has knock-back. The prime opportunity to  hit the hammer is when he puts the head on the floor to blast out his homing bolts all over the room. If you strafe/run hit the bolts don’t get you & you can shoot the hammer more. Fortunately for everyone, his lightening does NOT have a high chance to status affect afflict.

At 1330 if you can beat him…
the armor dissolves, he laughs and says magnificent job at defeating him, as he lays on the floor. Now, his face has lots of lines. They’re not really natural, more reddish and radiating out from the center of his face, kind of out from his eyes. The fight has also frizzled his brows into two layers. He explains that  his will serves Mother and yours is to stop her, it was a full on battle, he has no regrets. He closes his eyes, so Kohri rushes over to him, helps him up a bit, and asks why he’d go to such lengths for Mother.

He says it’s nothing to do with right or wrong, it’s just what his heart tells him to do. He met Mother and saw the world change, walking beside her, he simply wanted to see the world she’d create, that’s all. "My old heart, withered and worn, was warmed by meeting Mother, if he doesn’t follow his heart, what should he follow?"

Note that the whole time Kohri is kind of behind him, but leaning a bit forward to (I guess) hold him up with a hand on his back while he sits and glooms. This causes the scene to be messed up because it forces you to look right down her stupid girdle/lace up corset topper cleavage fest. Aratron can't see the angle because she is to the side/behind him, but it on-purpose forces the viewer to which isn't appropriate because the poor guy is basically dying of whatever the armor has done to him. He asks, Hitsugi, was it? She’s found it as well? How her heart has its own desires. She nods. He says her eyes are very determined. If her heart wants to confront Mother, then follow it and destroy her, fulfill your desires. Isn’t that right? A warrior on the battlefield like you surely understands.
So, in this, he's actually ok with someone going against the one he's protecting, he's loyal only to the "Ideal Heart" which is determined, no-matter what it is determined to do. This isn't amorality, but it isn't morality either. It fits the character's characterization but it isn't particularly logical.

But suddenly, ESCA darkers appear. He says "Mother can’t hold them all back, because it is full of ether they keep appearing, good greif! He lost, you won, therefor you must keep going, he’ll stay here, and that’s that.  There’s no need for questions Kohri, move forward and don’t look back. Only once you’ve finished and the end of the road, only then are you allowed to look back." Kohri frets and Enga says don’t let old man’s sacrifice be in vain. Hitsugi urges her to move forward or be left behind. Everyone runs away. He says it’s where his path ends, and another begins, it was like a very nice but fleeting dream, he has no regrets.
Aratron believes he will die here, maybe he thinks the ESCA darkers will endlessly spawn and kill him.

Now that he is alone, as you & all the rest have run ahead, he says "And the path that shall be born from the ashes of mine is so dazzling, vivid and rough. Therein is the beauty. That’s what the future should be. Was it enough did he give his all? Has he convinced everything?" He faces down the mob with his hammer in hand, but no golden armor.

This is an autosave point.

The next area has a split path.
Enga will tell you the right side path seems to have more enemies. It does, with Lanzune, Gachas, Paras Picos and a Malluze at the end. This is basically a 'clone' area of when you were in the Xion mother ship. There are metal paths with railed sides sitting on top of what looks like water. It's more of the gray metal with aqua lights/highlights & pillars.
If you take the left path, you’ll get some Paras Picos and beating those, an un remove able white wall. Hitsugi will declare this way a decoy. In the next area is a single box, and a healing ring. The box will have mates in it, so you know that what’s ahead is no good.

And it isn’t, it’s platidorus galore.
They’ll appear in spades, but in fairly square areas of the path with a large tower or hole in the center. You & they can’t shoot through this. Ring around the rosy them.  You can bunch ‘em up and lead them on a merry chase around the center point if you have to, to make them easier to deal with. Enemy-fence style barriers will appear QUITE close to wall off any backtracking. But these are invisible until you basically hit your character into them, so beware and don’t let it corner the team.
There are 2 sets of this, with Platidorus and a few other ESCA backup monsters sometimes including Bonta Bearatus, which is always bad news because it has so many attacks and distance things now. Make sure to have resta, mates, and a good mag on hand because you don’t want them to waste all your heals…which is basically what they are here to do.

If you can pass all that, you get to the big portal room, which is still as empty as ever. Hitsugi says just you wait, Aru, we’ll save you no matter what.

An Esca ragnus is in the next area.
This giant spider is different from the Dark Ragne because if you break a leg armor, it won’t fall or dizzy itself. It will spray out web walls, but due to the shape of the room, it may spray so you can get around to the side of the web wall and not have to damage it away/fight through it. (Very high hp, hitting it does no damage to the boss) If you break all 4 leg armors it will fall. It uses jumping more but spinning disks less than a Ragne.

If you can beat it, you can approach the large, round portal. Everyone seems amazed as they approach it, but you walk right in. Everyone else follows suit, and the big room is now empty. This is very similar to what you needed Claris’ wand to enter into, but because it’s invented by Mother, she doesn’t have it locked and just anybody can wander in. She does not know what she’s doing, unlike how Xion did. This is a plot point & it’s meant to be noticed that everyone just strolls in.

At 1400
Mother is floating in the Loser Battle Arena. It’s the flat, ambiguous clear ‘floor’ with a few patterns in it, and the complex turning gyroscope like ‘rings’ on the outside of the cleared ‘bubble’ circle area that is the 'room'. The thing is round, the floor is at the hemisphere, and there is blue water all around the exterior. However, this Mother-Water is empty of the odd floating/swimming amoeba shapes that infested Xion’s water. Hers has ripples and columns of bubbles.  She turns, and says she’s been waiting for you and also Hitsugi. Mother is hanging in the air still, just levitating on her own.

It looks like extra people tagged along…she’ll tolerate it and forgive you for stepping foot into this place. Enga shines her on, calling her arrogant in claiming we trespass her territory. She says it’s strange but that phrase works perfectly. Technically Mother IS right, she DID create the water room all by herself, so it must be, there for, her territory. It is as he said, the place is a part of her. She asks you if you remember it, you should know a place very similar to this.

The Center of the Mother Ship
The Inside of Xion

Are both of these right? If you claim It’s the Center Of The Mother Ship She says right, it’s a place she created, her place that’s fixated to this world. She watches impassively, after she was born through photoners and abandoned by selfishness for such a long time in subspace, then wandering through outer space and making her way to ancient earth. You now see her imagination of what happened. How long ago was it that she collided with Earth and that shockwave forever changed the course of earth?
She, who broke into pieces upon impact with earth, began to reassemble in one place and take shape. The shape, her body is what they call the moon. No way, a giant impact? He knows, that’s what the earthlings called the creation of the moon. It was an abandoned clone of the Akashic record but how could they know? Nobody knew.

Of course they wouldn't. The 'great impact' she refers to here means the Mars-sized object that struck the earth while it was still forming / while it was still basically all lava and molten rock everywhere/no land. This impact was thought to have knocked off enough "earth stuff" to be able to condense into becoming a moon. (And not rings like Saturn) The whole "The moon has a bunch of granite that is like pretty identical to Earth granite...maybe they're made of the same stuff?" line of thinking is what brings this about. So, she is claiming to be the Mars-size-object AND also the debris that condensed to form the moon.

Esca darkers appear!
Kohri yells at them, but Mother absorbs them. She tells them don’t interfere, lowly darkers, she’s still here and her goal is achievable. To regain her functions as a clone and to exact revenge on photoners who threw her away.  She seems a little distracted by this though, staggering her speech a bit. And now blue energy crackles over her because absorbing them/getting rid of them is becoming difficult.

She’ll prove she’s not a failure. She doesn’t wish for the destruction of the world, she couldn’t care less about what the photoners did, she has to become greater than they were. She must become one with the earth, moon and stars to triumph over her creators.
Hitsugi accuses her of absorbing Aru for that reason, to gain power for revenge? *She’s right and she’s also wrong. You can’t get revenge on something that’s extinct, but she DID absorb him for herself. She says it’s right, through her control of photons, her plans will succeed, he’s the fusion of Falz ether and photons, the suitable body for her goals. However the connections remain in him, you & Hitsugi continue to justify his existence, and that must be severed so to do that both of you will have to die.

The Photoners Are Already Extinct
What Do You See Beyond Your Revenge?

She has already sort of told you what is beyond her revenge, which is  ‘becoming one with things, to out-do the photoners’, so if you say The Photoners Are Already Extinct She’ll say it proves her point! If they met their demise and she’s still here, that’s proof her existence isn’t a mistake. There’s no point in answering more questions, isn’t that right Hitsugi? She says that’s right, her goal is to take back Aru, and to do that she’ll defeat her. Mother reminds everyone that her goal is for revenge, so she’ll kill Hitsugi & you for your ties to Aru. She manifests two full size/full length swords one blue, the other red, and Hitsugi and her agree this is an impasse. She wields one in each hand, and the blade/hilt all seem to be made of the same crystal type/textured somewhat glowy material. She calls out:

Come now, child of purification, if you are righteous defeat me and save him from inside of me!