Let's Play Gensou Suikoden!; GS1 PART 17

[surskitty]

Aggggh, fuck! I accidentally deleted most of my dw versions but I was able to get stuff back from re-copying. Still, these might be a little messed up, hm. And whatever alt text I had written is now gone, and given that I'm currently waiting for people to name either the Flame Champion or Lazlo (I just finished II and I don't know if my computer will agree with emulating III), I want to do something relating to my LP, so ... reposting spree it is. If anyone reading this has name suggestions, go for it!

LAST TIME: ROCKS FALL GREMIO DIES and I am filled with the sads

[no music]

There is no one directly outside ☆☆☆☆☆☆'s door.

Cleo and Pahn are in the hallway, though. As are a bunch of other people.
: "I can't believe what happened to Gremio. Death and war are inseparable, but still..."
: "Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, I... I... damn!"
: "☆☆☆☆☆☆. You managed to fall asleep? Better to think about other things now. This is our chance to attack Milich's castle. If you don't want to command the troops, I will. No, you should. For a leader of the Liberation Army, weakness is unforgivable." Also I don't think I'd put you in charge of ANYTHING.
: "I heard. Gremio died trying to save you, right? Listen, do your utmost to protect the life that Gremio gave you. Don't you dare let his death be in vain. Otherwise I'll never forgive you." She's got goodwill for him, remember.
: "☆☆☆☆☆☆. I'm beginning to understand why Odessa chose you. You'd better live up to Odessa's, and Gremio's, expectations."

I walk into the war room where Mathiu and Liukan are waiting, and...
[BGM: Theme of the Advancing Army]
: "Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆, as military strategist, I must advise you to attack Scarleticia Castle right now."
: [steps forward] "This here is an antitoxin. I became sick of this world, and retired to the mountains as a recluse, planning to lead a quiet life. But I changed my mind. I would like to fight alongside you. Please let me join you, Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆."
Liukan joins! Asshole should've joined back in Soniere: that way I could've given Gremio a sacrificial buddha.

: "I just don't feel like it right now."
: "What are you saying, Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆. You are the leader of the Liberation Army. Don't you think there are matters more important than your emotions?" Gee, and Lepant wonders later why ☆☆☆☆☆☆ refuses to hang around.
Quick break to raise up a few characters I'll need in a bit a little and to recruit two stars. Cleo's Air Moon Sword turned into Air Moonstar Sword.

In Antei:
: "Yes, it appears to be the real 'Opal Ring.' All right. Now I know that you're acting in good faith. I'll come along."
currently what the outside of Scarleticia looks like, bgm is Gorgeous Scarleticia
the entrance to the Dragon's Den, bgm is An Old Irish Song
Ladida, walking around hoping something drops a Nameless Urn...
Supposedly the Northern Checkpoint leads to Jowston? That seems kind of odd. That direction's got, like, Moravia and shit, and I'd've assumed the main overland route's through Rokkaku given that that's the way Riou takes in II. ... Maybe Moravia's south of Tinto and/or Southwind, and Rokkaku's north of Gregminster? Ack, SuikoI is a bit fuzzy about geography.

Beating up a bunch of holly fairies doesn't seem to be getting me a nameless urn right now, so I guess it's just Esmeralda for now.

Camille moved back to her usual spot. She now says, "Under the circumstances, I'll have to stick with you until the end."
Aaaaand saving! Which was my original intent.
[BGM: Theme of the Advancing Army]
: "Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆, as military strategist, I must advise you to attack Scarleticia Castle right now."
: "All right. Let's begin assembling the troops."
: "Right away, sir."

Battle at Scarleticia Castle!
: "You're wasting our time."
: "Not this time!"
Lepant Family is now a stronger unit than Commander's Team.
Thieves (and later, ninjas) are great for determining what the opponent will use, but sometimes what they'll use are things like Milich's Attack, which turns out to be a magic attack. Thanks a lot, guys 8( I mean, I'm currently just quicksaving before each action, but STILL. I've been fucked over by that before.
: "Congratulations! We won!"
: "I'm still pretty good at this age."

[BGM: Gorgeous Scarleticia]
LET'S BREAK INTO THE CASTLE AND SET FIRE TO THE ROSES
<clover> and they just got finished painting them, too
: [steps forward] "☆☆☆☆☆☆, I will avenge Gremio's death!" IF ANYONE'S KILLING MILICH IT'S GOING TO BE ME 8(
: [does too] "I'm coming too, ☆☆☆☆☆☆!"
Picking Pahn, Cleo, and Camille. Cleo for obvious reasons, Pahn for reasons that will be clear by the end of this update, and Camille because she ♥s Gremio and pops up in a cutscene later regardless.
: "All right. Let's go!"

: "We'll follow you later."

This castle is very pink.
Not sure I noticed that before...
OH GODS ☆☆☆☆☆☆ BAHAHA
: "Milich, too, is a victim..." (Nothing happens if you go 'What a creep.')
Whoa, what?
Found a window set and a magic rune piece. Never been there before! Aaand back upstairs.
On the other side of the floor is a man who is very, very Russian.
: "I want to paint as I please. But that man, Milich, took my freedom. Will you give me my freedom?"
On the next floor is a person in green with a harp!
: "My name is Kasios. My job is to sing. And my loyalty goes only to he who truly understands my songs. And that is my Master Milich." ... okay.

Regardless of what side you enter from, Mathiu, Flik, Viktor, Camille, Pahn, and Cleo walk in from the left. One wonders how they teleported from the right side to the left.
: "Whoever has their hands free, burn these flowers."
Milich walks in from the right!
: "Stop it! What are you doing to my beloved flowers! Eek!"
: "Milich! I'll get you!"
: "Ouch! It hurts, it hurts! My arm is burning! Lady Windy's rune is melting. Stop it."
[BGM: Touching Theme. 'Distant Stars' or 'The White Sorceress' are much better titles. :|b]
: [turns around a bit, confused] "What's all this about?"
: [steps forward] "Better count your remaining seconds, Milich."
: [steps forward] "I'll strike you down to avenge Gremio."
: [steps forward] "Likewise. Prepare to die."
: "Gremio? Avenge?"
: [walks between Tir and friends and Milich, turns to them for a second, then back to Milich] "Wait everybody! General Milich, were you wearing a Black Rune..."
: "Black Rune... Oh, you mean that rune Windy gave me?"
: "Get out of the way, Mathiu! Black Rune, Pink Balloon, what's the difference? This scoundrel killed Gremio!" Somehow I think he used a stronger word than 'scoundrel'. Also, ilu Viktor.
: "That's right. We can't forgive him." Hey, at least Milich is mind-controlled. You fucked over Ted all by yourself.
: "What do you think, ☆☆☆☆☆☆?"
I think that if you don't forgive Milich, Gremio is a lot more fucked than if you do. ... Also, dude's got decent stat growth, though his Luck is atrocious.
: "This man is not at fault!"
: "Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, aren't you going to avenge Gremio's death?" I could shove Windy off the roof of a very tall building!
: [steps forward] "That's right. I can't understand you."
: "Stop it, Viktor."
: "Flik! Don't stop me." Dude's your babysitter; get used to it.
: "That's enough, Viktor. It's the leader's decision. Follow his orders." Aw, Flik likes me ♥
: "Flik. Who do you mean by 'leader'?"
Mathiu moves out of the way as Milich walks over to ☆☆☆☆☆☆.
: "You are... Teo's son. ....... Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆ of the Liberation Army. I have a request. I, Milich Oppenheimer, would like to join your army. The Emperor has been enraptured by Windy's resemblance to his late Empress Claudia. But unlike Empress Claudia, Windy is a sorceress with evil intent. I must stop the Emperor from being misled. So I beg of you. Please let me join the Liberation Army."

: "I understand." Just don't expect anyone to like you very much :V Except for Kwanda and Esmeralda, I guess.
: "Thank you very much."
Milich joins!
: "Why? I can't accept this!" Because tenkai, that's why. 8) Hey, at least Milich didn't, like, burn down my village and kill my best friend in front of my eyes without actually paying attention to any of this. Not that anyone did that to any Suikoden protagonists, Chris.
: "Stop it, Pahn."
Suddenly, Stallion appears!
[BGM: Theme of Tension ~ Impact Version]
: "Help! Help!"
: "What's going on, Stallion?"
: "The Imperial Army is coming! Sanchez says you must return right away." Oh, well, if Sanchez says it...
: "What! Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆, we must mobilize our forces immediately." But I wanted to exchange fashion tips with Milich!

And suddenly we're at the castle. Wait, what. This is clearly Island Fortress, not Glorious Island Fortress. I'm confused.
Got two stars to pick up before getting on with plot ... Put Milich in my party, and also Meg because she's lucky and I still need a fucking nameless urn. Milich is incredibly unlucky, but I do need him right now.
: "I see that you've won. You can see freedom. Despite my age, I have never seen true freedom. Say, do you mind if I tag along with you? I'd like you to show me the freedom that you see." [recruit] "Thank you." Ivanov would probably be bffs with Hetalia America.
... huh, Milich doesn't come with a rune. That's odd: his magic is quite high.
: "Oh, Master Milich. Let me join you by your side."

Is. Is Kasumi not wearing pants. Kasumi, put on pants.
: "Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆, this fellow here says she's Kasumi the Ninja from the hideout at Rokkaku." HIDDEN NINJA VILLAAAAAAGE

[BGM: This is Just a Rumour]
: "Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, I am Kasumi. The ninja from the village of Rokkaku." Who does not believe in verbs.
: "Rokkaku held off Imperial rule for a long time, but it finally fell to Teo McDohl's forces. Our boss, Hanzo, helped me to escape, with instructions to report the carnage to the Liberation Army. Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, I would like to join you in battle." And I bet you thought I was joking about Teo burning off steam by beating the shit out of ninjas.
Kasumi joins!
: "Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, please hurry. Teo's army is near."
: "So this day has finally arrived."
: "I am to fight General Teo." 8| And this is why I've been using Pahn. He's level 31, which should be good enough but this is still going to be a pain in the ass.
: "Let us prepare to meet them."
Fade out. No music.
Gen starts out near the chairs, then runs over to that spot, jumps, and runs off.
Gen's then shown running into the war room.
: "They're here. They're finally here, on the far shore. Quite a number of troops." That's kind of interesting, actually, given that Teo seems to mostly deal with infantry and the only known people in Scarlet Moon's navy are Sonya and her mum, who's dead by now. Though I guess since Scarlet Moon's landlocked, or nearly so, and one can assume Scarlet Moon and Jowston don't usually fight on the Dunan river given that Solon Jhee is completely baffled by Dunan actually, like, taking advantage of the fact that Northwind is on a lake (and Highland isn't landlocked, so they'd probably be somewhat used to tactics actually involving water), Scarlet Moon probably doesn't really expect to do naval battles, which might explain why this is the only time in I that there's a defensive battle. ... I realise I'm overthinking this. Also that I didn't have anywhere I was going with that.
: "Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆, I suggest we first engage in a brief skirmish to test their power." Yeah I'm sure that'll go smashingly. MATHIU THE DUDE JUST BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF NINJAS.
Tir is having a bad week.
: "But I'd rather not fight my father."
: "What are you talking about? You knew this day would arrive." Yeah, but that guy has terrible timing.
: "Fine."
Fade out.


: "Traitors! I'll show no mercy, not even for my son! I swear by my name, Teo McDohl!" Weren't you, like, fighting people up north? I totally recall hearing something about you going to beat up Jowston, or you beating up Rokkaku, or something that would imply it might take you a while to go fight me by Kouan.
: "M-Master Teo..."
Teo's army is all riding little kangaroo thingies. This is what one should call a 'bad sign'. Particularly since they outnumber us.
Teo's army only ever does Armoured Cavalry or occasionally Teo's Charge, which takes no damage from anything I can do.
: "We're all over. We should retreat."

[BGM: Theme of Tension ~ Ensemble]

They walk off.

A few more soldiers on kangacorns -- or at least I'd assume those are kangacorns, since they look more like kangacorns than anything else, and Scarlet Moon's next to what was formerly Kooluk -- show up.
: "Alen, Grenseal, go after them. Crush the Liberation Army."
Fade out to Pahn, ☆☆☆☆☆☆, Mathiu, and Cleo.
: "Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆, I'll hold them off. Please escape. Hurry."
: "Pahn! You can't fight them alone. Do you want to die?" Given how many times I have to reload at this bit each playthrough, yes. Yes, I do believe he does.
: "I don't plan to. But unless we are willing to risk our lives, we'll never stop Master Teo." We could light shit on fire. That always works for Viktor and Caesar.

: "Pahn, I'll see you later."
: "Please don't stop me, Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆. You must not die here. Don't waste the life that Gremio gave you."
: "Pahn, I'll see you later." I'm confused.
: "In the ten years since I first met Master Teo, there's always been something on my mind. That I'd like to fight him someday. Please forgive my waywardness." You know the only reason you'll survive this is probably because I'll restart a billion times, right.
: "Pahn, I'll see you later."
: "Let's go, Commander ☆☆☆☆☆☆. You have your duties, and Pahn has his. We cannot lose you now. No matter what the sacrifices."
: "Good luck."
: "No problem. I'll be back for dinner."
: "It's a promise, Pahn!"
: "Sure."
Mathiu, Cleo, and ☆☆☆☆☆☆ walk off.
Teo, Alen, and Grenseal walk on.
: "Pahn. Get out of my way."
: "I'm sorry, but I can't."
: "Dare you defy me, Pahn?" Hey, he doomed Ted to a fate worse than death in your name.
: "I was once an Imperial subject, and even betrayed Master ☆☆☆☆☆☆." I think it's Ted you betrayed, actually. I mean, ☆☆☆☆☆☆'s probably way pissed (except not because he's tenkai like that), but Ted's the one who'd, like, hold a grudge.
: "But now... Now I know exactly what I want, and how I want to live. Now that I know those things, I cannot let them go."
: "I see. I never thought I would ever have to fight you. Alen, Grenseal, stand back. It's one-on-one, Pahn!" BUT WHY
: "On guard, Master Teo."

[BGM: Tense March, and the sound of me expecting to swear profusely]
: "I'll show no mercy, Pahn. Here I come!"
"Strike me, Pahn!" ... kay. Wow, I did 29 damage!
"My killer blade..." '... is named Cheesecake, in honour of my dear friend Georg.'
"Impossible! Take that!"
"Did you see me coming?" Yeaaaaah, while Defending against an Attack and with the best armour currently buyable, Pahn took 69 damage. This is the one fight where you do not want to follow the rock/paper/scissors: if you special against his attack twice, Pahn is probably dead. And the game continues on with Pahn dead! You're just then fucked.
"The next one will be more painful." YAY, ANOTHER DESPERATE ATTACK omg I didn't need to restart (because he only attacked once)
: "........."

: "You've improved, Pahn. Alen, Grenseal, let us retreat." Teo so noble whenever he's not being an ass
: "If you let me, General, I'll take his head."
: "I said retreat. Are your deaf?" Are Alen's deaf what?
: "Yes, General."
Teo, Alen, and Grenseal walk off.
Pahn stares after them for a moment, then collapses.

: "Ha ha ha. I won? Or did he show mercy, and let me go?" The latter, Pahn. The latter.

Fade out.

STATS:

- STARS RECRUITED: 53.5 + Milich + Esmeralda + Ivanov + Kasios + Kasumi = 58.5 / 108
- Game Overs: 1 total
- BOCCHAAA~~~N: Gremio: 75.5, Pahn: 8, Cleo: 14, other: 4, total: 101.5
- TALENTED MILITARY SURGEON: Mathiu: 2, everyone else: 2, 4 total
- Bathrooms: 0

NEXT TIME: Flik has a plan. It's even a pretty good plan, despite everything.