paranoodle | Let's play Star Ocean 3! Part 12

Once done with Kirlsa we run out through the south gate to Granah Hills, which is a pretty standard field area. Similar enemies as before, just more Black Brigade soldiers than in other places, which makes sense since we're heading towards their stronghold. We cross the field easily enough and enter the Facility proper.

Oh no, soldiers! They're the same as the soldiers we fought on the way here, so they're really no trouble, they're just there to set the tone. We dispatch them quickly and easily.

Cliff: What a bunch of pushovers. It'll be smooth sailing if they're all that easy.

Fayt: Still, keep alert.

Cliff: I know!

Cliff: Who do you think I am, anyway?

Fayt shrugs. The scene fades to black.

Knight: We're sorry, My Lord. We had her cornered, but she put up quite a fight...
Shelby: I ordered you to apprehend her, not admire her!
Knight: Yes, m'Lord!

The scene fades out and back into another scene.

Shelby: What is it? You've got the Crimson Blade spy?
Knight: No, Sir... a report - and a missive from Duke Vox.
Shelby: From the Captain of the Dragon Brigade? Hmph. Give me your report, first.
Knight: Our sentries have spotted two suspicious men within the compound. Based on our intelligence, they might be the two escapees...
Shelby: Hmm... so they've come to the rescue, too? This is unexpected.
Shelby: I thought sending only one Crimson Blade was a bit light. The compassion of these followers of Apris is really playing into our hands.
Shelby: Find and capture them all. Do not fail me.

Knight: What is it, Sir Shelby?
Shelby: Aha ha ha ha! This is rich! It seems Albel will not be back for some time.
Knight: Our Captain? But why?
Shelby: Seems the Captain of the Dragon Brigade has little love for our captain... Albel is being detained a while. We're supposed to take care of things in the meantime.
Knight: I see. By capturing the two escapees before Sir Albel returns, m'Lord will get all the credit. With such accolades, you might even be promoted to captain yourself!
Shelby: Exactly. Our prey is now within our grasp. We must act quickly - before he returns!
Shelby: Don't kill the escapees. They must be taken alive!
Knight: Sir!

And with that friendly intro, we're off to the dungeon proper! The Kirlsa Training Facility is by far the largest dungeon we've seen. It features three full floors (and a very simple fourth floor) that we'll have to wander around before we can find Nel. While there's a handful of wolves, lizardmen, skeletons, and other monstrous foes in here, most of the enemies we'll run into are black brigade soldiers like at the entrance.

I won't go into a ton of detail on the dungeon itself since it's a lot of corridors to get lost in, but they make it clear that this place is a training facility turned barracks turned executing ground, and we fight (and it's confirmed later, kill) a lot of soldiers in here. Once we're done running up and down the stairs to find an elevator key, we finally unlock a door to see:

Cliff: This is bad. They've got her cornered!

Fayt: We've gotta help!

Cliff: Let's do it!

This fight is similar to the one at the entrance, except Nel's back with us for this one.

Fayt: We know - Clair told us.

Nel: So, why then!?

Fayt: Nel, weren't YOU charged with bringing us to Aquios? How could you neglect your duty?

Nel: I...

Cliff: Yeah, what he said. Besides, I didn't appreciate the fact you left without saying goodbye.

Nel: Cliff...

Fayt: We'll give you a piece of our minds later. Let's rescue Tynave and Farleen first.

Cliff: With the three of us, we won't even break a sweat!

Nel: Thanks guys.

Now that Nel's back in our party, we're good to head to the fourth floor to fight the dungeon boss. That said... I know I've mentioned this like 50 times now, but the specific point in the game of "save nel but don't fight the boss yet" actually has unique party dialogue if we leave the dungeon right now. The trigger of "save Nel" and the trigger of "beat the dungeon boss" are separate and I'll go over the new dialogue we get from it in one of the extras, I'm just absolutely floored, not only that this is a thing but that through some twisted impulse I found it. You can run back to Airyglyph and get unique dialogue. I love this.

Anyway let's take the <5 minutes it takes to take the elevator up to the fourth floor and get this boss.

Fayt: Tynave, Farleen! We're here to help!

Farleen: Uh... Uuh...

Tynave: What- What are you doing here!?

Fayt: We'll get you out of here!

Tynave: No, run! It's a trap!

Farleen: She's right... They're hiding... behind those pillars!

I haven't talked about it prior to this, but there are two ways you can be disadvantaged at the start of battle. The first is "Ambushed", which happens if an enemy initiates combat by touching Fayt's back, and it makes you start the battle staggered and at 0% fury, with your back turned to the enemy. The second is "Surrounded", which happens if an enemy initiates combat by touching Fayt's sides, and it makes you start the battle at 0% and with enemies on both sides of your party.

All this to give context that when they say "it's a trap", they mean that the next fight against Black Brigade soldiers is going to start with us in the "surrounded" state, making this next fight a bit harder than the previous ones so far.

Tynave: Thank you so much.

Farleen: I'm okay. The pain's... not too bad.

Tynave: You faced incredible danger to rescue us... You should not have come!

Farleen: Thank you so much.

Nel: Don't worry about it. If you're going to thank anyone, thank them.

Cliff: Forget about it. It was nothing.

Fayt: Our pleasure - but we'd better get moving!

Cliff: Right. Our work is done here. Good riddance to this hellhole.

Cliff: So what if we are?
Shelby: Surrender peacefully, and I shall spare your lives.

Fayt: Who the heck are you?
Shelby: I am Shelby... Lieutenant of the Black Brigade, soon to be Captain by the looks of things. You should curse your luck for falling into my hands.

Nel: After all that, now we have to fight Shelby!?

Fayt: Is he dangerous?

Nel: Yeah... He's the Black Brigade's second in command. They didn't leave him here for nothing!

Cliff: I can see that. He looks way too powerful to be some watchdog. Not like the last bunch.
Shelby: Of course, we'll only spare the two men. The women may die.

Shelby: If it comes to that, yes. Now, come quietly...

Cliff: I'll give you quiet! And you, kill me? Hah!
Shelby: You will regret those words.

Cliff: Not before you do!

Nel: Tynave, Farleen! You two stand back.

Fayt: Here he comes!!!

Shelby's a step up in difficulty from the previous fight, but he's fairly slow so it's still pretty manageable. The main difficulty comes from the fact that he's flanked by two other soldiers, so we want to take this from a 3v3 to a 3v1 as soon as possible. Once we've done that though we're home free.

Nel: That gauntlet... You're Albel Nox!

Albel: So, you've heard of me.

Fayt: Who the heck is he?

Nel: He's the best swordsman in all of Airyglyph and the Captain of the Black Brigade. Better known as 'Albel the Wicked'...

Albel: Ha...

Cliff: Hey, I'm gonna smack that cocky look off your face!

Albel: I'm not interested in fighting a bunch of tired fools. Easy wins have never been my style. And unlike Vox, I take no joy in trouncing weaklings.

Cliff: Who ya callin' a weakling?

Albel: Go back to your own lands. This is your only warning, fools.

Cliff: Come down here and say that!

Cliff walks towards Albel, and Nel puts her arm in the way to stop him.

Nel: You're gonna let us slip away? That's pretty nice for a guy like you.

Albel: Don't get me wrong - I just can't be bothered. And taking hostages isn't the way I do business.

Fayt: What do you call this, then?

Albel: Those maggots did this without my consent. I knew nothing about it. Besides, your escape is his blunder. I've no obligation to clean up his mess.

Fayt: But he was your subordinate! You have to take responsibility for his actions.

Albel walks off.

Fayt: Let's hurry up and get back, I'm sure everyone's worried about us.

Nel: Yes, let's go.

Thankfully getting out of the facility is easy enough, and there's no major obstacles in the way to Arias (other than my dogged insistence on stopping by Airyglyph anyway because good news: Tynave and Farleen tag along with us if we do!)

We're just going to stop by the Kirlsa inn on our way back though, to get a PA with Nel we'd otherwise miss. Star Ocean 3 presents: philosophy, more specifically, the trolley problem.

Nel: You guys were supposed to be indebted to me. Funny how things go sometimes, eh?

Cliff: I suppose. Of course, I was thinking we shoulda made a run for it. But this guy wouldn't hear of it.

Nel: I see. You may think it strange for me to say this after you helped me, but... I think Cliff is right. Whether you wanted to cooperate or not, there isn't a whole lot you had to gain from helping Aquaria. No... the truth is you have absolutely nothing to gain if you consider the time you'll lose and the danger you'll face. But agree you did... Why?

Fayt: Why? Well, you know...

[If we choose I just felt like it.]

Fayt: No reason really. I just felt like it. If anything, I just felt that you might get into some trouble out there on your own.

Cliff: Well, I suppose there really was nothing in it for us.

Nel: I see... Then let me say this... If such a situation arises again, just make your way to Aquios. Don't think twice about it. I'd rather you abandon me than be captured again yourselves.

Fayt: You can't expect us to do that. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I abandoned someone in need - especially you.

Cliff: Yeah, he's right.

Nel: That's not what I'm talking about here. The fate of all who live in the Kingdom of Aquaria rests in your hands. You cause me a lot of trouble when you risk your lives for me. I don't need you to save me. I've prepared myself for the worst ever since I was given this mission.

Fayt: It's hard for me to relate to that. Ultimately, it boils down to two choices. Do I protect the person who stands before me right now, or do I protect the many people of Aquaria whom I've never met? One thing I do know is the death of someone I know personally would affect me far more than the death of a number of people I never even met.

Nel: I don't intend to sacrifice the lives of others just so that I can survive!

Fayt: I understand how you feel, but... Just as you have your own reasons, I have mine. Let me ask you this, Nel: do you think you have the right to keep me from a good night's sleep? That's what'll happen if I let you have your way.

Nel: What!?

Cliff: Haa ha ha ha. That was good! Match point! The kid's determined to help you even though he knows the risks involved. And now after hearing what he said, I've decided that I'm in with him, too. We've both decided on our own. Nobody else has the right to say anything about it. Right?

Fayt: Something like that. Now that I've heard what you have to say, Nel, I've decided to respect your views from now on. However, when it comes to making a final decision, I will not be swayed by others. I will do what I think is best.

Nel: Hmph... Then do as you please!

[If we choose I thought I should make it up to you.]

Fayt: I thought I should make it up to you. After all, you saved our lives. That's true, no matter what ulterior motives you might've had. That's why I wanted to help you. It's really as simple as that.

Nel: I see... Then let me say this: if this situation arises again, just make your way to Aquios. Don't think twice about it. I'd rather you abandon me than be recaptured on my account.

Nel: I risked my life because I thought you two could save Aquaria. If you were both captured, all my efforts would be in vain. If you really do feel that I saved your lives, then do not risk them for me next time.

Cliff: Okay, okay. Message received, loud and clear. We'll remember that next time. Happy now?

Nel: Fair enough. Anyway, I don't think arguing the matter further will do any good. Let's just leave it at that. So then, do we have an agreement?

[If we choose You can't expect us to abandon you!?]

Fayt: You can't expect us to abandon you!? Do you really think we could do that, knowing you'd be killed?

Nel: Listen to me, Fayt. I only saved you two because I thought you could help save the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. That is why I risked my life and infiltrated Airyglyph Castle to save you. Putting your lives in danger just to save one person is absolutely pointless. On one hand you have the life of one person, and on the other, the fate of an entire kingdom and all its people. It's a very simple choice. Even a child would know which was more important.

Fayt: You cannot place a value on human life. Abandoning a life that could be saved is wrong, no matter how you look at it! Life is too precious to reduce it down to your two simple choices.

Nel: Ideally, that would be so... But we are at war! It's just not possible to save everyone who needs saving. My only choice is to do my best to help as many people as possible by ending the war.

Fayt: Then let me ask you this, Nel: do you plan on teaching that to your children, too? Will you tell them to abandon somebody they could help in order to save even more people?

Nel: That's...

Cliff: Alright already. I understand what you're saying. Both of you, that is. Logically speaking, you should try to save as many people as possible. I agree with that, but I also agree that each life should be treated equally. The fact is, it all depends on the circumstances at the time and the person who has to make the decision. I guess you could say it is the most difficult choice you could make.

Nel: You don't have to agree with me. There really is no other way.

If we chose either of the first two replies, Cliff and Nel's idle dialogue if we talk to them will be as follows:

Nel: I must thank you for helping me. But remember. We're at war. There will be times where saving many outweighs saving a single person.

Cliff: Anyway, we'll be stuck on this planet for a bit longer. That means we gotta choose sides if we want to move around with any degree of freedom.

But if we chose the third reply, it'll change to this:

Nel: Helping someone always means sacrificing someone else. Such is the way of war. I have chosen to protect the people of my own kingdom, even if that means sacrificing my own life.

Cliff: Yeah, really. It gives me the willies just thinking about those guys standing around tallying up people's lives like some bean counters. But there's something to what Nel said. Don't forget it.

But once we're done with that little break we can finish running over to Arias.

Nel: Yes, I'm fine... I'm sorry to have worried you... Where is Clair?
Female Soldier: She's at headquarters. She was worried - she'll want to see that you're back.

Everyone in town is happy to see us back! They're all relieved that the girls are okay, and it's finally some good news in a period that's been really wanting for those. We run straight for the mansion though because we don't want to keep Clair worried longer than we have to.