Right away you learn that this mission is classified, and that you’ll be guarding a civilian down on Moatoob. Naturally, Laia gripes about the person possibly being a burden. Once you’ve arrived on Moatoob, someone pinches Laia’s butt! Who would dare such a risky and rude move?

None other then Lucaim Nav, the well respected old android teacher. Why they programmed him with perverted instincts is anyone’s guess. Fortunately, she doesn’t (or can’t) kill him in the middle of Dagora, so they argue instead. His excuse is that he’s checking the fat to muscle ratio and also proving he can still sneak up on people. Laia won’t have any of it (because she is smart here) and threatens to dump him no matter what is going on, if he gets that close again.

Once they finally wind down, it’s time for a visit to Gawik’s Pub. Not for a Bluefeeter, but to meet…Ethan! What a shock! Ethan is still wanted, thanks to old Rutsu’s spin on Ohtoku from last mission, so the meeting had to be a secret one. Laia wonders if he’ll turn himself in quietly (No!) As it turns out, he’s got some information that could help bring peace to Gurhal. He has found out that another Sochee Bomb is being made in an unregistered relics site on Moatoob. The kidnapped Dr. Tomrain may also be there, so he needs Guardians to go stop the bomb and rescue the good Dr, if he’s still there. Ethan got the info from a 3rd party, but the Guardians confirmed it, and set up Laia with the mission. Laia is still pesty about Ethan’s wanted status, and Nav remains at Gawik’s for now.

The mission starts off at Illuminus Experimental Facility A-1 Relic

You’re using the outdoor back entrance to sneak in to the core of the site. No one’s been that far into this Illuminus stronghold yet. Presented with an opportunity to finally talk to Ethan, Laia asks him why he chose her for the mission over someone like Leo or Tonnio, who he knew he could trust. Ethan proves he’s really thinking along and explains how THEY already understand what’s going on with him. This is quite true, Leo and Tonnio are already firmly on his side. It is way smart to bring Laia in this way, as she is already beginning to understand what Ethan really stands for. He wanted the opportunity also to talk in person (not hearsay and rumors in Guardians) about the assassination attempt. He only made the ‘attempt’ because his OWN father’s life is at stake.

This is a major departure/revelation. This is the first confirmed evidence that Olson Waber IS still Alive. (or was at the time of the attempt) Ethan wouldn’t of done anything/been scared into it without 100% PROOF that his dad didn’t really die all those years back. It remains unclear exactly how hard he tried at the assassination attempt, or how he escaped after. He and Dallgun could’ve planned the whole thing… As it turns out, Illuminus just captured his father (when exactly?) and tried to use him as a ransom so Ethan would whack the president/keep doing what they say.

Because he failed to actually kill (or even harm) Dallgun, he doesn’t know the fate of his dad. He’s still playing along with Illuminus for now. Laia finally believes what he’s doing and realizes he’s not the bad guy here. (Finally!)

You fight through the Moatoob relics with Svaltus and Galvapas, to get back to the desert. Laia has more questions for Ethan, such as why did he try to kidnap the maiden? Why try to break out the girls/sisters of the holy light? Why sneak into COG HQ? He can’t/won’t answer any of them, but Laia pretty much hits spot on by saying that the Maiden actually ASKED him to do it because she doesn’t agree with how Rutsu is running COG.

This was fairly obvious since mission ONE! But it’s good to have it wheedled into Laia’s somewhat dense brain at last. Upon re-entering the relics, an ambush occurs! You’re surrounded by more of Kanohne, at the command of…Renvolt! Who says ‘welcome back’ to Ethan, but Laia is not falling for any of his lies. This mystery Magashi begins a bit of villainous boasting once Ethan coaxes it out of him between death threats. He confirms that Illuminus is done with the Sochee bomb, and thus has no need for the professor. He even conveniently says that the first bomb is counting down right now to erase evidence of the facility, and also the Doctor. He figures it’ll work to finally rid of Ethan and the Guardians too.

Ethan commands you and Laia to go find the Doc while he works on Renvolt. Surprisingly, all the Kanohne run off simply allowing you easy access to the relics to seek out the Doctor. Earlier versions of him have proved to be both suicidal and expendable, so it is strange none of them would put up a fight to waste your time at least, or buy Renvolt more of it. (regardless of if the bomb went off on them or not) Trying to still take the superior ground, he says that “The little game means nothing in the grand scheme of things, win, lose, or die!”

Fortunately, Tomrain is not far away, and while yelling for him, Laia finds him behind a fence. Why didn’t Renvolt simply punch him in the head and kill him? He’s proven he’s ok with simply walking up and murdering people he doesn’t need. Renvolt has the power to do it, and no one would ever know how he was killed/whodunit once the bomb went off, obliterating everything. Perhaps he needed the Doctor alive as bait to draw the Guardians into his trap. Tomrain confirms that the countdown can’t be stopped, due to the way it was designed. The only hope is to escape before it goes off.

Ethan returns and says he “Dealt with Magashi” which likely means he shouted at him while Magashi ran away under cover-fire from his squad. The Doc has more bad news: no one in the facility now can possibly escape the blast radius on foot—so Ethan calls for the Landeel! Can the rogues make it in time?

Suddenly, Hyuga calls, but it’s only static on the line. What’s going on?

When trying to reach him again, all Laia gets is “Um ugh errr”

You have to protect the Doc from monsters while trying to escape the facility before a countdown. To complicate matters, there is a SEED # to contend with. Even more unfortunately, it is invincible and can re-spawn in different rooms at will. If you can avoid it kicking you to death, the Landeel is in the canyon outside. Everyone escapes just as the bomb goes off, obliterating the relics site and Illuminus’ evidence.

The unsolved Hyuga mystery only deepens when he’s reached. He claims the communicator turned on and he didn’t know. So why the odd noises then? What exactly was he doing? Where is he? He says GRM is developing the SEED vaccine, they’re also doing research as well, but he’s busy now…

Of course, Laia is suspicious because his communications didn’t make sense, and he’s obviously trying to hide it. Tomrain begins to lament his condition, because he should of died in Mellvore with all of his friends and colleagues. It is survivor’s guilt though, and Ethan swears to protect him. It turns out the Doc was blackmailed into completing the Sochee Bomb under threat of Illuminus releasing a whole bunch of SEED onto Parum where it’s really populated.

A-Photon shouldn’t be the energy of the future, but the major players don’t really care. GRM and Illuminus have found too many advantages, despite the risk from the SEED. Tomrain explains that he didn’t go to the Guardians earlier, to avoid mistakes he made with Dallgun. He could also be a criminal (and tried/jailed) due to his involvement with Mellvore. Now he is just suffering.

Ethan explains that he must now go to protect someone else, and that there are places Guardians Can’t Go (like into Rouge organizations). He asks Laia to join him, but she declines, saying she has to beat them in her own way. They part as allies at last!

Nav calls and yells at everyone for not calling in sooner that they were safe. He was worried the whole time. The Rouge ship lets everyone off outside Dagora.

Finally the Laia vs. Ethan conflict has been shut up, likely much to everyone’s advantage.

A new mystery (we didn’t need) opens up with Hyuga’s botched communication. This sort of thing was seen before when people turned into SEED forms up on a Hive. What is going on with him?

We now know that Illuminus loves to use blackmail to get people to do what they need, as well as that they have working plans for Sochee that are now autonomous and don’t require ‘the big brains’ any more.

This mission, while not introducing zillions of new mysteries, does little to clear up previous ones. The Doc being back in good hands, and Ethan & Laia’s reconcilement are both major accomplishments.

Operation FireBreak takes place online, and supposedly involves all the Guardians. It is a player-participation event for the most part, not really interacting with story mode that much. However, the NPCs such as Laia and Leo and the rest are presumed to have participated. (you recieve messages from them over the website) so it should be included in the online write-up, so you can find it in the time line.

The premise is that suddenly, an abundance of Fire Seed have attacked the whole Gurhal system, infesting all the planets, but not the space station. Wherever the seed Blewmes land, they turn the landscape firey and rain down the specific 'seeds' through the air. They also change all ordinary monsters into fire-element types, which usually gives them the power to spit out or throw a fire ball as well.

The goal is to purify this new assult on the system by gathering enough points (enemy kills) on each of the special fire break missions. The operation also closed some of the ordinary mentions. To inspire Guardians to work harder, Bruce has offered to provide special rewards in exchange for Ban-Photons which drop frequently thanks to all the fire energy.

It is unknown if something specific with the plot was supposed to happen if all 3 planets were 100% purified. The USA never found out because of the raised point goals. Even though the USA has less players than Japan, Sega chose to make our totals higher, and they remained unmet.