Let's Play Septerra Core: Part 5 - The Art of War
This is a dialogue heavy update for all you storyfags. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.
While our heroes are enjoying themselves in the first class luxury of the helgak transportation...
: The two countries of Shell 5?
: Now what are we gonna do?
: Where are the parachutes when you need them?
: We will be taking a detour to Shell 4 and the World Bazaar, where you can attempt to find passage to your final destination...
*A THUNDEROUS THUD*
: Attention, this is your captain. Ankaran and Jinam forces are fighting in the vicinity. We have suffered a major hit. All hands prepare for crash landing!
: Oh shit.
Our ship is hit badly and plunges into the shell below as a result.
Let's all hope our heroine, Maya, doesn't die here. Actually, let's hope none of us gets hurt.
A fleet of 4 Ankaran battlecruisers approach the vicinity.
God knows what they're up to.
Inside the commanding ship, General Campbell receives an order from his commander.
: Commander, several Jinam battleships have just appeared on radar.
: You must protect the flagship at all costs!
By "protect," he means...
ATTACK! Call of Duty: Aerial Warfare has began.
However, the Jinam battleships have much greater maneuvering capability.
Dodging the Ankaran blasters with relative ease.
Then they retaliate with blasters of their own.
The Jinam variant has improved rate of fire, this could spell disaster for the Ankaran general.
Taking hits!
For the Ankarans, it is either now or never. They proceed to fire all of their arsenal toward the Jinams.
The Jinams respond with a swarm of missiles.
These rockets have homing ability.
In addition, the Ankaran cruisers are very large and cumbersome...
With that, the Jinam fleet has more or less secured the victory of this battle.
The Ankaran commander realizes his troops are fighting a lost battle, so he orders a tactical retreat to prevent further losses.
: The flagship is doomed! All ships retreat! Colonel, take the rest of the fleet. Get back to Ankara. The capital will need every ship. For freedom!
What an exciting battle that was. Anyway, back to our heroes, we are taken to a household in Gregor, an Ankaran town currently captured by the Jinam.
: You better have some supplies for us soon! (Leave.)
: We can't hide her forever, Sonya. They'll find out eventually.
: But she needs our help! Shhh. She's waking up.
Dizzy and shaky, hangover strikes again.
: Ankara. We found you outside of town. We saw your ship crash and followed the escape pod to its landing site.
: We must have been shot down...
: What?
: Nothing, nothing. T-thank you for your kindness, but I have to go.
: It's dangerous out there! There are enemy soldiers all over the place!
: Soldiers? The Chosen?
: Jinam soldiers. They've invaded... Blamed us for the death of their president.
: I have to find my friends...
We then "acquire" this from the bed drawers...
Not bad, not bad.
Outside in the war torn streets of Gregor, we find our second bird of the game.
The pile of stuff next to the bird that looks like a diarrhea pyramid is actually bird seed.
Our chance of survival is slim if we don't find assistance soon. We need this guy back.
: Maya, get me outta here...
: How?
: I don't know, the guards never leave and I have nothing to fight them with.
: Just hop over the damn fence, you imbecile.
: There is no honor in that, we'll have to take care of the guards.
: Why does everything has to be so bloody complicated!?
Surprisingly, his sword is right around the corner. This is probably the only time in the game where the quest item doesn't require you to walk a trail of tears to reach. Let's see if this Malcolm, a bystander, knows anything about it.
CLICK!
: Have you seen a swordsman around?
: He caused quite a stir, killed plenty of tin boys before they captured him. Is he a friend of yours?
: Yes...
: Well, I picked up his weapon, after he was taken... Here, you give it back to him.
: Truth be told, we are, in fact, his sworn enemy. Thank you for turning in his weapon. I'll personally make sure it reaches its owner in the form of seppuku.
: You monster! What have I done!
: Ha, I was just kidding. You are still a jerk for being so hard to kill. It was an Unreal Torment.
: ...
Corgan will be pleased to have his sword back.
: Thanks, maybe now I can fight my way out of here.
Let's break him out of here.
: An enemy spy.
: What are you going to do with him?
: Execution.
: Well, why not do it now? The scum killed my family!
: Well, there's nothing stopping us...
: Yeah, the brass already interrogated him anyway...
: Let's do it...
And they fall right into our trap.
These guys do low damage, have moderate HP. Just more cannon fodder.
With Corgan back in the party, Maya suggests our next move...
: Oh wow, so Uncle's out-of-nowhere divination disease is contagious? What makes you think we should go there?
: There's a war going on... These people aren't going to help us now... We should return to Shell 3 and cut our losses...
: Agreed. This is an excellent plan. I can almost forgive you Corgan, for not jumping the fence.
: I'm not so sure... I think that the Chosen my have something to do with this...
Before we venture forth into parts unknown, we purchase some better equipment and supplies from a nearby store.
Click "Accept" to buy. Gee, why does the game has to be so damn hard? This should be automatic.
Put on the new gear.
Now we are more than capable of completely decimating our enemies. I bought a "Grenade" for Maya, which she can use to cause splash damage on multiple enemies. It uses 5 core and is a medium attack.
Out we go to the world map of Shell 5.
The plan is simple, go through the Mesa Canyon and explore the Jinam battle. Subsequently, we pay a visit to the Ankaran base.
Time for a bit of the rough and tumble.
In we go...
Immediately, we are greeted by an Ankaran soldier and his police dog.
More filler fights... 2 Medium attacks for both of these suckers.
The next area is more intriguing, because of the loot and helgaks. These helgaks can cast Berserk. You lose control of the character and he randomly attacks, you get the idea.
Fortunately we managed to avoid most of the helgaks, and kill the rest of them before they cast berserk.
Maya leveled up along the way.
We gained this from Chest #1.
A fire protection charm.
From Chest #2.
Kyra's Tear- Resurrects with full HP.
And we find our third bird.
Only seven more... This is going to take a while.
The only interesting battle so far in Shell 5, and possibly the only one, is this.
Because the Jinam cyborgs and Ankaran soldiers would actually target each other first. Besides that, more target practice for us.
Back to the world map, we find a crashed Jinam battleship in the north.
Perhaps it is a good idea to investigate.
The spider robot is another new enemy...
But sucks like the rest of them.
Here's a map of the outer sector of the Jinam battleship.
The two switches open up the way to Grubb. We'll come back for the locked terminal in the east later.
Grubb has been secretly practicing his ninja infiltration skills it seems.
: Oh, hey Maya...
: How the hell did you get past the guards? Better yet, answer this, how the hell did you get past the two locked doors? Did you reverse lock yourself in here?
: Bad writers.
: No, I need to get to the very essence of this issue. I have had enough with bullshit. Tell me the truth. How did you survive the killing field?
: You really want to know?
: No more nonsense. Tell me.
: The fact of the matter is, essential NPCs are immortal. And Grubb only used this feature to his advantage, now can you blame him? This is one of the most brilliant features to ever grace upon the realm of RPG gaming. If only this Septerra Core game implemented level scaling also... This could have been a MAJESTIC game.
: ...
: What are you doing here?
: Couldn't help myself, I mean this ship is awesome! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I found this in here, on a dead Jinam Guard...
: What is it?
: Not sure, I think it's a recorded message, but I can't figure out how to play it...
: Let's get out of here...
Grubb joins us and gives us this.
We need to find a DJ to play this disc.
Perhaps the Ankaran Base has what we need.
CLICK!
Inside the base, we find an old friend of ours. It is an atrocity! Affront to humanity! Runner is being held captive by this mechanic girl named Led!
: Hey, heel Punkin!
: Runner, here boy!
: Punkin! Get back here!
: [RoboGoBackToGrubb.script]
: Good boy. Where did you find Runner?
: His name is Punkin, and I found him so he's mine.
: Oh yeah, well I built him.
: Exactly. Grubb, you should get a medal for handling this situation like a true diplomat.
: Whatever. I wouldn't force him to stay anyway.
A guy named Dave approaches...
: No there isn't, they all deserted.
: What did Led do to Runner?
: Uh, fixed 'im?
: What the hell was wrong with him?!
: He needed better power levels and a new shock overhaul. Whoever built him must not know the first thing about robotics.
: I KNOW PLENTY!
: I'm feeling some tension here...
: You understand that Runner is not your property...
: I wouldn't say that too loudly if I were you...
: That's a strange necklace you have.
: Oh, there? Dogtags, from an enemy Sargent. You want 'em?
: Uh, sure, thanks.
: I'm gonna go look for supplies, see ya later...
And conveniently, Dave hands over this.
This is the key to the locked terminal back in the Jinam battleship.
And about Led and Grubb, you know what the deal is... Anyway, the message disc seems to work in the nearby hologram device. It reveals a terrible secret!
: Oh my god.
: The captain of that ship must have found this and was returning home to show it to Jinam's leaders... They must have realized that they had been deceived.
: Couldn't they have just transmitted it?
: This close to the Core, long range radio transmissions are pretty garbled. We have to show this to my father.
: My father's General Campbell, you know, commander of the 5th fleet?
: But the capitol is surrounded by Jinam's troops.
: We can fly in, with my ship!
: I don't know if I'd trust something this chick built...
: It's our only chance, Grubb... You'll just have to deal with it.
: Find me an AE-35 Power Converter to get the ship running, and we're in!
: Updated my journal!
New Quest: Retrieve Convertor from Jinam Battleship.
Where is the quest compass? Anyway, back to the ship.
This time with the dogtags, we can unlock the terminal.
Gaining access to the inner sector.
Pretty straight forward. Hit the switch and get the convertor.
With Grubb in our party, fights like this one are going to be ridiculously easy.
The red spider robots are stronger than regular ones.
However, Grubb can use Repair on them.
One hit KO.
As Maya and Corgan take care of the humanoid robot...
Grubb sends the remaining spider bot to nirvana with Repair.
From the Loot location in the map.
This is a robot exclusive charm. It boosts multiple stats. We're going to put this on Runner when we use him.
This happens again.
Self explanatory.
And we finally reach the convertor.
Let's go back to Led.
Here you go, princess.
: It's all done! We can leave at any time...
: Are we ready?
: Yeah, you, me and Runner will fly in, and then we'll find my dad.
: What about us?
: We can't carry anymore.
: We'll be back as soon as possible.
: Be careful...
: Wait for me, okay Grubb?
: Hey Corgan, let's get a look at that Holo-Projector?
: Did he ignore me?
: No, he's just... well preoccupied most of the time.
: Nonsense. Yes, he did ignore you. I, on the other hand, was listening to every word you said, sweetheart.
: He doesn't like me because of my cyborg legs... What man would?
: I would!
I love anime half-gundam chicks! You are the epitome of pixelated hotness! Not to mention your sweet attitude and elegant appearance remind me of Aerie from Baldur's Gate. Do you know what her fate was? Big stomach courtesy of yours truly. Not regular big stomach but REALLY big stomach. I can give you a big stomach too, missy.
: [SPEECH FAILED] That's disgusting! And I don't need your pity!
: Damn, should have picked the Sex Appeal trait instead of Gifted.
: No really, he doesn't realize you like him.
: Don't make excuses for him. He's not that great anyway.
: We've got work to do. Let's go...
Okay! This confirms it! You want it, you got it, Codexians! Romance #3- Grubb and Led. Keep the octopus tentacles in the pants, because THERE'S MOAR in the future! And we need to remain sane if we are to complete the game, so bear with me. And this is a good time to talk about Led as a character. She is the best spellcaster in the game, which makes her the most powerful character in late game. In terms of brute strength and melee damage, she's not too bad, maybe not on par with combat specialists like Corgan or Runner, but she's definitely not another wimp like Grubb. The one big disadvantage she has is the extra slow level progression. Anyway, back to our quest...
Another crash landing for us. I'm getting a concussion just by playing the game.
Luckily, our heroes survived.
: Look at all of this, the capitol must be on its last legs...
: Well, it's still better than Led, who has NO legs. Hahaha! I love to laugh at my own jokes!
:
: You deserve it for not letting me pop that anime cherry!
: Hey, we don't have time for this! We need to find General Campbell.
It is worth noting that, I FORGOT TO PICK UP A FATE CARD FROM THE ANKARAN BASE! Lack of
on my part. We'll come back and get it later. Now, let's take care of business.
: This is a government restricted area, state your business.
: Looking for Led's dad, middle aged guy, have you seen him?
: Get lost you lunatic before I put you under arrest.
: I'm the daughter of General Campbell! Let us in!
: Uh, sorry miss, uh, ma'am. Go right in!
: I still think my line was more effective...
With Led on our side, we are allowed entrance to the Ankaran military headquarters.
: I need to see my father!
: I'm sorry, Led, he's off on an important mission. Be proud, his name will go down in history...
: Why!?
: His fleet has been sent to retrieve the Doomsday Device from the Research Lab in the North. His orders are to use it against the Jinam, and bring this war to an end...
: What Doomsday Device?
:
?
: It fires a missile which embeds itself into the enemy's continent. From there, it will grow and create a gravitational field, raising the entire land mass to a higher orbit!
: But, that will kill every citizen of Jinam, they won't be able to withstand those kind of forces!
: We have no choice.
: But the Chosen are playing Jinam and Ankara against each other!
: Play the Message, Maya.
The hologram of Connor appears once again.
: By Dogo, how could we have known?
: I think this Chosen Warlord Doskias knew that your two nations were the only force that could have stopped him from reaching the Core...
: Led, you have to stop your father, he can't be allowed to continue with his orders!
: You can't recall him?
: Radio transmissions that far are impossible this close to the Core... Even this Chosen Enemy needed to use a Holo message. I will give you a personal Holo-Message to deliver to Campbell, you must reach him before he uses the super weapon...
: I have a better idea, General. Why don't you go and convince your buddy to stop this madness? We are not associated with any of your military unit in any shape or form. What makes you think Campbell would listen to us?
: Well, you see, ahhh, I'm busy here, you know. I have to remain in my post to maintain contact with the rest of the other units out there, defending this fortress.
: I thought radio transmissions are impossible to send to faraway places. What are you hiding "General?" How do you contact the others?
: We use pigeon post instead. Now, would you please find Campbell? We can't afford to waste anymore time here!
: Come on let's go, CL! We don't have much time!
: No. General, tell me the truth, or else.
: Bad writers.
: ...
: Go! There is a secret way out through the subways under the city... Follow the old mountain highway to the research lab... Hurry!
In the meantime, in Doskias' ship...
: Soon Ankara will fall, and Jinam's forces will be reduced by the war. Then nothing will stop us from reaching the Core.
: General Kaleb, report.
: The Keys are secured, Lord Doskias. The Magi examine them even as we speak.
: The Emperor will be furious. To steal them right from under his nose.
: Are you afraid of the Emperor, Balcaam? Perhaps this is too much excitement for you...
: Enough. The Emperor will not dare to oppose me. With the keys in my possession, the secrets of the Core will be laid open before us.
: But the ancient prophesies say that the secrets of the Core can only be attained at the time of the conjunction... That's a lifetime away... What good will these Relics do us now?
: Fool! Our plan will bring the conjunction to us!
: And for that we must prepare!
The plot deepens. This is getting more and more serious. Still, we must focus on our current objective.
The little leeches are crawlers like zombies. Nothing interesting from them. They share the same fate like all the rest.
After going through a long corridor, we get to this rocky passage.
Our heroes carefully evade the Jinam guards.
And we have reached our destination.
CLICK!
Let's hope it's not too late.
: Daddy, you have to stop!
: I'm your father, girl, not your daddy!
: The Capitol has fallen... Your Leader sent us to find you, and stop the Doomsday Weapon!
: Stop!? This is war, not kindergarten! I didn't spend my life devising this weapon, to let it rot, based on the words of some child!
: YOU built this? How could you?
: What did you think I was doing all those years! While your mother was dying from the plague Jinam used during the FIRST war, I was preparing your future, so that you would be safe from the same fate! Instead I have a traitorous child who won't listen to a simple order to stay home!
: He's got a point. This is none of our business.
: We have a message-
: It's too late for talk, now is the time for action!... I will not let them win!
: Father!
: What are we gonna do now?!
: Go home?
Is it over? No it's not unfortunately, because here's Selina, and she seeks to offer her services to us.
: Who is this?
: Doskias' General, she invaded the cities of Shell 3!
: I no longer walk by his side...
: Why should we trust you?
: Yeah. And where is Corgan when you need him?
: I can't stand by and watch what Doskias is doing to achieve his ends. He wishes to reach the Core, and knows that the nations of Shell 5 will try to stop him to protect their mining operations. By having Ankara and Jinam obliterate each other, his path to the Core will be clear...
: Can he be stopped?
: Right now, we must stop General Campbell, before he unwittingly helps Doskias!
: Can you take us to him?
: Yes, my ship is standing by...
: This could very well be a trap...
Let's hope not. Regardless of what her agenda is, as long as she holds up her end of the bargain, no complaint from us. Plus, we are in a rather, desperate situation. Under such circumstances, we just can't refuse her offer.
: Why does Doskias seek the Core?
: It is said that every one hundred years, at the great conjunction, one can commune with the Core and receive the Gift of the Creator...
: Doskias knows how?
: He believes so... But his fellow Chosen disagree.
: Wait, the Chosen aren't a unified nation?
: No, Doskias' forces are but one tribe of a larger collective.
: We've arrived...
We are now on Campbell's battleship.
: We'll be back...
Looks like we'll have to deal with these guards.
: I need to see my dad! Get out of my way!
: I can't let you through.
: I got a feeling this is going to end in violence.
: Try and stop me!
: You just had to do that...
This is suppose to be a boss fight.
But due to some strange glitch, they just stand there. No attack at all. Rather anticlimatic, isn't it?
Oh well, the fight is actually mediocre regardless.
The reward, on the other hand, is very decent.
So here we are, steps away from General Campbell's command center.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Next Time: Can we reach General Campbell in time and prevent the Doomsday weapon from being launched? Or is the extermination of millions of innocent Jinam residents inevitable? Tune in next time for the conclusion to the Jinam/Ankaran War, and its repercussions. Oh the cliffhanger.