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These missions are split up into chapters that sometimes have parts. Each new chapter will appear here, as it is released. What You Do/The official "Party Line" appears in RED TEXT Important things are in BOLD TEXT Speculation is in GREEN TEXT |
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Chapter 1: The Masked Girl Chapter 2: Beyond the Sands Chapter 3: Hive Mop-Up |
Chapter 4: Shadow Conspiracy Chapter 5: Valley of Suspicion Chapter 6: Rescuting Hyuga |
Chapter 7: Protect the Festa Chapter 8: Flash of Destruction SideBar: Operation FireBreak |
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Chapter 9: Price of Genocide Chapter 10: Ambition of the Illuminus On To Ambition of the Illuminus | ||||||||||
Price of Genocide / Cost of Anniahlation 9
Not a cheerful chapter, this one features tons and tons of enemies, all dark. If you’re going for the best, do this one on a 3 luck day to make the most of it. It’s pretty much a hack-fest for the first half, racing through Moatoob trying to get the kill count to 300 in time to make the grade. This mission is another emergency. Seed forms are attacking various towns and cities on Moatoob. The outskirts of Dagora are infested, and they’re infecting people as they go along. It’s confirmed that GRM is secretly working with Illuminus to research Seed and A-Photons. Upon arriving at Mina’s desk, Laia wonders how this emergency is any different than all the other ‘emergencies’ that the Guardians have been solving before. Mina explains this one’s a bit more justified (understatement) in that it’s the 12th request the Guardians have gotten lately against this crisis. Laia suspects the Seed attacks are some sort of terrorist move. (it’s never too early for her to start suspecting things) Well, what about the AMF? They’re already there, and still short handed. It turns out that you’ll be the 107th team called in for this. Tonnio shows up, and is his usual defensive self, but takes the same stance as Laia about emergencies until he too realizes what’s really going on. You head out to Dagora, but no one is there. (it has scared off all the npcs who usually roam the area) Tonnio wonders if everyone was killed, but no, they’ve just been evacuated. As your team approaches the Flyer Base, Mikaris Geid shows up. She is the communications officer of the 117th unit of the AMF anti-SEED force. Curtz is in command of it. She wants you to go to the canyon and kill the seed forms before they get into more populated areas. She tells about her experiences at the front lines, and that the outskirts of the city are already over-run. She assumes there will be at least 300 Seed-Forms in your area. (and she is correct) No one knows where they’re coming from, though. Even though everyone’s trying their best, there’s still lots of casualties. She asks about the Anti-Seed Vaccine, and everyone has had theirs, because it is mandatory for all guardians. AMF encourages everyone to get the vaccine, but it’s not widely known. AMF is comprised of mostly CASTS (she reminds) and they can’t get the virus. However, if you are a CAST, Laia makes a vague reference to some CAST-specific protection measure that’s still experimental, that Maya has something to do with. Dagora Canyon Dagora Canyon is similar to Galenigare Canyon in looks, but not layout. (It’s more straight foreword) Tonnio hears something, which reminds him that he had a tough time vs.150 SEED-Forms before on a previous mission. Laia is worried. As you advance through the area, it’s apparent that it is under a plague of pannons, as they’re the most common enemy. There are also sendillans and a few scattered higher-form Delsabans with shovel-like hands. Naturally, the mission is timed though there’s no plot reason for it. Gaozoran are there to eat up time with their teleporting tactics and high HP. Fortunatly, Tonnio builds his blast meter quickly and will tear into them frequently enough to move things along. At the end, there are carrigune, (of course) who are there to megid you and the NPCs to force a mission-do-over. If you can defeat them, the mission is a success…or is it? Kurtz radios in, and informs everyone there’s still heavy casualties, and an unusual number of SEED forms. He has a suspicion, but not enough evidence. Tonnio insists on hearing it anyway, and doesn’t like it one bit. Kurtz thinks that all the SEED-forms suddenly attacking are actually transformed people from the cities and towns. Tonnio knows it’s messed up, but can’t explain it any other way. If, as SEED-forms over-ran one town, they turned everyone into a SEED, they’d keep doubling their numbers. The same as if somehow someone released a virus in the center of town and as everyone was infected, they just moved along as an army one town to the next, adding each town to their numbers. They know that Illuminus has successfully infected people with the virus before, but all 300 enemies being people…? GRM is also researching the effects of infecting people. Originally the military was trying to use the SEED as weapons for the AMF, but Illuminus has stolen the secrets and is now using it. This is the first that Kurtz has heard of it. Laia gives way right away upon hearing that news and possibly seeing the logic. Tonnio wonders at this, but there’s not really anything he can do either. As you move on, you learn her heart’s not really in the battle any more. Kurtz messages again, and says to go to a Coal Mine near the outskirts of the city. This is the opposite direction from the battle of the front lines. He wants your team to go there and look for survivors. But why? It’s nice of him to know what she is going through. Part2 You go through the mine, defeating monsters here and there, until you see a beast kid. He runs away, but soon becomes trapped between your team and some AMF grunt type CAST soldiers. He’s afraid of them for some reason, and hides behind Laia. AMF tells you to back down, but no one will do it---what’s going on here? AMF explains that he hasn’t been immunized so they want to shoot him to death on the spot. Laia, being reasonable, explains that this is an actual person (duh) not some animal or SEED form that they can just mow down. They have their orders though, and will follow them blindly, no matter if anyone is innocent or guilty. Tonnio steps in, and says he’ll take responsibility for the situation. As the soldiers wonder how that would work, Kurtz shows up. He issues orders to “Terminate him on the spot if he turns into a SEED-Form”. He then takes his troops and leaves it all up to the guardians, who agree to his terms. The kid is no dummy though, all the talk about killing him and even debate over it (!) has caused him to (reasonably enough) run away. When Laia turns around to tell him he’s safe now with the Guardians, he’s missing, and a puzzle ensues. You have to figure out how to trap him in the mine where there isn’t a door or a warp that he can escape through, as he’ll just run in circles infinitely escaping your team. The frustrating nature of the puzzle, buttons, doors and warps leads both Laia and Tonnio to put the “figuring it out part” all upon you because they hate mazes. This tends to cause ill will toward the Beast Kid, as you’re trying to save him but he’s making it so difficult. When the team finally catches him, he’s in pain. He starts staggering around and acting woosy. As it turns out, he was infected the whole time. He is still scared, confused and hurt. He then changes into a dilnazen. Somehow, he can still speak and calls for help, and his sister. It’s too late though, and he loses his mind and tries to attack everything that isn’t another SEED-Form. The team is forced to fight him (and some Pannons) to the death in order to save themselves. There’s nothing to do for it. Later, Tonnio laments that if they had let the AMF kill him, he wouldn’t of had to suffer as he did, and Laia says she feels selfish over it. Tonnio confirms that no one was hearing things, he really was still finding a way to talk, even as a monster. The problem with their whole lament is that no one on the team is HARDCORE enough to hold down some 12 year old kid as he’s screaming and crying and let the military blow his head off all over the sand. Plus, no one has any TEST KIT to see if he’s even infected. He could be just fine, and no one would ever know. Killing everyone indiscriminately wouldn’t help the cause of ‘saving the people of Moatoob’.That would be the very definition of "Throwing the baby out with the bath water". It’s never acknowledged that it’s better to try and save people if there’s a chance. Laia calls for Hyuga, but he’s not available. (This is a bit odd) Lou cuts into the call with urgent orders to mobilize. Everyone can’t go fast enough to Holtes city. Naturally after the kill-a-thon and maze irritation action, Tonnio is all worn out. He wonders if someone else can go, but no, this is a Level 4 Emergency. All the machines are out of control in the city, and are attacking everyone. Why all these disasters at once? Laia suspects Illuminus. It’s time to head out to Parum, as the SEED have been put into their place for now…though Dagora has been forever changed by the virus. Over all, a depressing piece with undiscovered moral lesson. Mostly an action chapter, this one does little but establish that beasts are easy enough to effect with the virus, and that it’s actually a terrorist group’s attempt at chemical warfare, racial purification, or both. The mystery remains who’s in league with who, how deep, and what exactly they’re up to aside from causing general chaos and destruction. It seems odd that “Parum’s Machines” going haywire is such a problem, because unlike the COG run temples, the place wasn’t packed with equivalents of the Bysha guarding every street. This is another one that picks up RIGHT where the last left off, skipping any sort of intros. You start this one off in Holtes Central, which is empty. Laia reminds Tonnio not to panic, and he suspects that Illuminus is behind the out of control machines, which are what has undoubtedly driven everyone away. Laia knows that GRM is involved, and that they would have had to plan far in advance to orchestrate something like this. This casts a far more sinister light on GRM, than even in previous situations. They conclude that this is 100% terrorist attack, and Laia thinks its Illuminus spreading the GRM-made SEED virus around. Lou explains that most Guardians are fighting the robots and the CASTS, and that the Colony needs help. Hearing this, Laia agrees to go up there. On the way back to the PPT port, you encounter Hips Yellow Cast and the Crabby Blue Girl. As it turns out, they're Guardians too, though Ethan never found that out in his offline escapades. They pretty much stand around and ignore everyone, which tips off Laia that something's wrong. They all turn as one...and you have to fight them. After knocking them out, they vanish like normal enemies. Lou explains that some of the Guardians who were down on missions are now out of control. Is Lou ok? Yes, that one is. The control Lou that you're talking to is isolated. But a Lou on Moatoob lost control due to an unknown contaminant. The contaminant dissolves onto behavior control chips, and then any machine can't control it's actions. So it sounds like the problem is air-borne--simply because there are no incidents of sprays, clumps, touching, rays, particles or any other physical thing you might see going around touching the stuff onto androids and machines. It is Clyez City's underground control area, directly under the Central Table. The Colony is on the verge of destruction by the AMF Fleet and SEED efforts. Can Dallgun be saved in time? Nav gestures and the president falls down, as you enter. Once again ICS stops Nav at a critical moment. The Prez is shaky, but he has a mission for everyone. He needs the Guardians to get a Lou to the central control room, in order to detach the residential block of the colony. A Lou arrives. She says that she has constructed “backups” and will transfer them to bases. They are losing control of the colony. This Lou and the backups must be preserved so that someday, the system can come back online. This Lou needs to directly access the central control system manually. It is also the first time she’s ever left the command room. For some reason, this Lou seems a bit more personable than the others, and apparently always was. (It can be assumed that every time a Lou called during previous missions from a ‘base’ that it was this Lou) A dire pair of facts are then revealed, first being that this is the last Lou there is. All other Lous are either infected, or down. The other is, that 1 million people on the Colony will die if this Lou becomes infected. He also knows that the comms are erratic due to the backup and damage. Laia agrees to escort the Lou, and Dallgun is proud. He’ll wait there for you to return. The Lou tends to behave well while you fight off Gaozorans and Pannons while getting keys. An unpleasant surprise awaits in block 2, in the form of a Renvolt! -What is really wrong with Hyuga? -Will the androids be ok? -Why does Howzer want to kill absolutely everyone in Gurhal? Is he bonkers? -Why is SEED-Venas invincible? -Did Nav really kill Dallgun, or was it something else? -Where will over 1 million refugees from the colony go? -Will anyone ever use a Sochee on something not underground? -What about Karen? -Is COG up to no good with the girls in jars? -Is Lumia ok? -What will the Colony shell hit on Parum when it falls? -What about the Vol Brothers? (Not seen since Ch.1) -Is the whole AMF army now SEED infected, and if so, how can it be brought under control? These and many more questions remain, hopefully to be answered in “Ambition of the Illuminus” the next game of the series. The only question actually answered well is: “What is Illuminus’ actual goal?” To which the answer is “kill everything in existence” The only problem with that being, it doesn’t really make sense. So stay tuned for the story chapters from Ambition of the Illuminus, coming as soon as they're released! |
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