#hatred of that department aside i don’t get why my boss is shocked we all said no

[lilgynt]

“who wants to help customer service with their queue and yes im aware you don’t have training!” if we had any customer service agents in my physical building i would have crashed my car into their door does that answer ur question

[perfect-corroscience]

Chapter 33: The Departed

Finally, some free time inbetween my upcoming final and a break before summer courses/work... 

“But why take up arms against their own kind?”

In the last chapter, the Oxsecian king was forced to make the painful decision of authorizing Operation Neogenesis – where some will depart in hopes of another world while the rest stay behind to combat the Animata. There was a brief moment of levity in Princess 36AIS’ birth. That won’t last.

33-1 It’s a declaration of war. Revolution is here.

              The Oxsecian ship, 6 seconds before destruction…

              The king gazes around the evacuated ship.

              “Just live to fight another day… It’s true I believed that at the time. Until that moment, that is.”

It’d be too optimistic to expect everyone to be okay with this, even if everyone staying behind on the Oxsecian homeland was fine with their sacrifice. So, a rebellion sets up the field for this chapter.

Enemies will be a mix of Bow and Staff, but they’ll mostly be Lightning attribute and will absorb it as well. Sword, Darkness and Graviton units are the way to go. These Shock Lasers also have that suicide attack for when they get low on health and

Yeah, that Shock Laser nearly took out 2/3rds of my team! For reference, Puprope^ was level 81, Sheena 74, Korin and Bahl 90  - as you can see, Bahl had some lightning resistance too. 

You’ll definitely want to bring some units with Anti-Lightning Capsules; if you’re lacking in units like those, Lightning Visors and Helmets are otomo drops in 8-6 and 22-6 and can be upgraded to Lightning Shields (Anti-Lightning Shield, Self at 20% reduction for 2 turns) or Radiant Shields (30% Lightning damage reduction for 2 turns).

I swapped Rikken out after this stage for Seiryu^. It wasn’t there at the time, but as of this writing, Seiryu had got an Omicron otomo that lets him spawn anti-lightning capsules (obtainable from the trading post), making him/his lambda well worth bringing.

The stages will also mainly be compounded by these barriers being everywhere; they block chains and make movement a bit annoying.

33-2 “She’s missing, sire. Princess 36AIS is nowhere to be found.”

And you, if you aren’t careful.

There’ll be Oxsecian enemies, too, naturally.

33-3 The eyes of the rebels smolder with anger and hatred.

The eyes of the rebels smolder with anger and hatred.

The pain of abandoning their home must be tearing them apart.

But why take up arms against their own kind?

 Of course there’s a myriad of reasons, sensible or otherwise, that drive people to turn against each other. There was a rebel furious at the fact that their king was supposedly abandoning them – and yet, there’s more.

This machine has quite the range. Thankfully this stage, at least, doesn’t have any blockades.

There we go. All that Lightning won’t be quite as dangerous.

33-4 “…I wanted to prove them wrong.”

You know, little things like these can say a lot about a person. Evidently the king was a softer, gentler man before his homeworld was destroyed.

Some of the Oxsecian enemies are somewhat susceptible to Shadowbind (and other status ailments), so there’s that.

These guys drop Green Rings – 33-9 in particular is a good spot for farming them.

33-5 “Absolutely nothing. If he learns of this, it means our heads.”

A new face: these guys will spawn those vortexes (re: hazard) laterally, then vertically.

33-6 “Demolish it.”

A wall of barricades rises high overhead, cobbled together into a makeshift stronghold.

The king is curt:

"Demolish it."

More barriers – a sign we’re getting closer, it seems. The Shock Lasers in this stage are all the row-hitting ones.

33-7 Step by step, you press onward with the king, into the heart of the rebel stronghold.

              Countless traps. Ambushes. Delay tactics. Pincer attacks.

              “They sure fight dirty, don’t they…”

              While these guerrilla tactics slow you down, they fail to halt your advance. Step by step, you press onward with the king, into the heart of the rebel stronghold.

We’re met with a new foe, with an interesting adjacent skill. Observe:

They’ve become physical walls! Not a bad idea to focus on taking them out first if you can, but besides their skill they’re more a nuisance than anything else – and, luckily, they don’t also buff Magic Defense.

33-8 His flashing blade spares no one, striking without hesitation or mercy.

We’ll get a glimpse at his strength pretty soon.

Pictured: Defender helping a Generator. A bit annoying if you don’t have a lot of Darkness/Graviton mages, I guess.

Cute, they’re protecting the generator. I think the Shock Lasers are more of a threat, in all honesty…

Well, unless you’ve stacked enough capsules to just straight up go “nah” to Lightning attacks.

33-9 The memory of cradling a tiny bundle of warmth in his arms surfaces.

“Frail and fragile as a dream” is a really good metaphor for describing babies. Is it any surprise the king is so hellbent on getting her back?

Four battles with a boss at the end. The barricades are present for the first three. I got curious and tried to see if a Disarmer would get rid of them – no such luck.

Two pincers with everyone in the chain is a good way to make sure every enemy dies. As an aside, it’s weird to look at screencaps like this and know I’m using only a “mere” CT+2 mover when past chapter 34 I’ve got Bonna^ holding an Eternal Hourglass.

And here comes the boss.

True to its name, it’s got hefty defenses and health. But what is a bulwark?

According to the OED:

1a. A substantial defensive work of earth of earth, or other material; a rampart, a fortification.

2a. (Transferred and figurative) A powerful defense or safeguard. Sometimes applied to persons.

Oh, I see.

It’ll cycle through its skills in roughly this order: Lightning, 2 outer columns + Missiles, 2 outer columns + move > Lightning, 2 outer rows + Missiles, 2 outer rows > Electric, 4x6 Grid + summon an Oxsecian Medicbot > repeat the outer column/rows attacks > Missiles, 4x6 grid + summon a Medicbot > repeat

As always, I kill off the mobs first. By this point I’d stacked enough Electric-resistance to be able to tank any Electric attacks the boss uses.

At roughly 66% and 33% HP, it will summon reinforcements, not including the Medicbot that it already summons as part of its pattern.

The medicbot spawning is pretty notable since it has a roughly 10-12% chance of dropping Green Rings; you could position your team out of range of the bulwark’s attacks, let it cycle through and spawn a Medicbot, and kill the mook for Green Ring drops. Repeat until you get tired. Ideally of course this is on the 2x drop day and you have some Treasure Hunters with you.

33-10 The king curses his carelessness, but it’s too late.

Oh shit. They just fried Proto!

When the party faced off against King 54B2, I warned to make sure you’re not in his lateral range. The reason for this was because his Royal Blade, 1 row skill hurts like hell.

He’ll move of his own volition and quite literally cut down the rebels, leaving the floor with a “Stand aside!” We’re left to finish off the few rebels remaining.

On the second floor, he’ll do the same thing to the rebels here and give us a simple command: “Cut them down!” I’m pretty sure someone’s made a joke about how Sword units are great for this chapter.

On the third and final floor, you don’t even get to fight the enemies. He’ll use Royal Blade again, say “Harm her and I’ll have your heads!”. And as he leaves, he asks, “You still dare defy your king?”

This might as well be a glorified cutscene… but I like it. It does a good job at showing the king’s rage and strength: he’s enraged after seeing Proto – his trusted friend – throw himself in harm’s way to protect him, his daughter is quite likely in danger, and he is easily cleaving through the rebels with one attack.

The king cuts down the leaders of the uprising and roars a defiant challenge to the rest. The rebels surrender one by one.

36AIS is safely recovered as well. All seems to end in a decisive victory for the king.

However...

It is in that moment of triumph that the rebels achieve their objective.

"What... what is this?"

              The king is bewildered.

              "Do not make me repeat myself!"

                A retainer steps forward. His hands tremble for a moment but his gaze remains steady.

              "Forgive me, sire, but you are naive. Too naive. So we took it upon ourselves to establish these classifications."

                A note beside 36AIS's name reads: "Fit for enlistment."

              The names of several other members of the royal family are branded likewise.

              "Injustice! It was rigged from the start!"

              The people erupt into a storm of outrage.

 The truth is this:

              The Oxsecian people were divided into two groups: one that would depart their homeworld and one that would stay behind. This classification was based on their biological data with no regard for their wishes.

              Those deemed biologically inferior were relegated to the latter group and declared "fit for enlistment." It was a convenient euphemism.

              Members of the royal family aside, the "enlisted" had been left behind. Deserted.

                Understanding dawns on the king at last.

              "I told you to leave the choice to them, did I not!?"

              "Which is why I said you are naive, sire. Someone had to do the dirty work or none of us would have made it off the ground."

                The ship rumbles with angry voices, dark resentment sweeping through like a tidal wave.

              And then, a violent and blinding explosion blooms in the distance.

                "It's... gone. Our planet is gone!"

What a tragic end to the chapter. In the next chapter, we’ll conclude part 1.5.