The ship touches down in Bootes, and Zelenin and I start to make the trek to the palace... but we dont get far before were greeted by a familiar face.
The angel seems to hint at being able to help us in some way, or at least to give us some guidance... but not before we get lectured for our reliance on technology. And demons. Mmm, technology and demons. Two great tastes that taste great together. I like Mastema and all, but Im not a fan of being preached at.
He seems a little miffed at my reply, but he does tell us that theres definitely a link between Mitras experiments in Bootes and the crew in Delphinus going feral. The palace is the key, so lets get searching... Sure enough, with a little poking around the palace (and some help from a loose-lipped demon I find along the way), we discover a hidden area on the 8th floor. Zelenin and I get in touch with our inner raccoons and start oohing and aahing over the shiny things inside.
OK, Mastema. #1, stop sneaking up on me like that. #2, I cant help but remember that when Norris got changed into a zombie, it was because of something called madmans blood. Gee, I wonder if the two things are connected?
Luckily Mastema is here to beat me over the head with the point... although I havent heard of this Asura before. Alright, lets take the stone back to the ship and see whether we can effect a cure.
I obtain the MK Gun (which Irving fashions from the stone) and test it on one of the poor bastards in sickbay... and it works!
High five, Monitor Woman! OK, now Ive gotta get back to Delphinus and stop the crew there from tearing each others throats out.
Well, stop
some of them, anyway. =/
I manage to sneak up on Jimenez, who apparently hasnt moved an inch the entire time Ive been gone, and fire the MK Gun. But just as I do--
Bugaboo shows up, trying to protect his master! Zelenin demonstrates zero concern for his safety and urges me to shoot them both, which I do (this isnt a player decision, it just happens).
Jimenez returns to his senses and quickly puts Bugaboo back in his Demonica... hope the little guys OK, because he really howled when he got shot. =/
Now that we have a cure--and, apparently, the location of the quantum tunnel, which must have been discovered while I was away--were free to continue our primary mission. Before I set out again, though, one of the formerly infected crew mentions that when he was sick, it felt like someone was watching him... someone like Commander Gore. Hmm. Ill just file that little tidbit away for now.
OK, so Im back out on the field, and Im getting not one but
multiple Rosetta readings on my map. Whats going on here? Lets track down the nearest one and see whats up.
Turns out this red thing is a manifestation of the parasite that infected the crew. Its pretty easy to take down, but it doesnt cough up a Rosetta. Same deal with the other sites on the map--they all trigger a fight, but no reward save a decent chunk of XP. But just when Im about to give up and get on with exploring the sector some more...
C...Commander Gore?
Damn, you sure can fill out a tux! I, uh, I thought you were dead!
He goes on about humans ruining the world, just like everyone else in the game has already done. I decide to humor him and agree with his diatribe.
Zelenin apparently pretends not to hear me. Arthur does, though... but he says hell let it slide because I must be stressed. Heh.
Theres a neat-looking statue in here. Its lifeless right now, but after several more encounters with the red sphere-looking demons, as well as several floors of exploration...
It comes back to life! (I had actually forgotten the statue existed by the time I finished exploring the sector--yeah, it took me that long--so I was left sitting on the top floor wondering why there didnt seem to be anywhere left for me to go.)
More humans-as-destroyers rhetoric. Asuras method of dealing with us, it seems, is to polish our spirits until theyre beautiful flawless gems. Sounds nice enough in theory, but Im not quite ready to have my essence ground away on some kind of karmic lathe. (No, I dont have any idea about how gems are actually made.) Guess that means we have to fight!
Asura is weak to ice. Conversely, he loves to throw
Maragidyne at me, and with two of my regular party members weak to fire, my first battle attempt was short and pathetic. So I equipped some fire-resistant armor and called in a couple special fusions: Frost Ace and Black Frost, both ice users who reflect fire damage. Theyre Neutral, so I lose the whole-party Chaos synergy that Ive been rocking the entire game, but that turns out not to matter.
With Maragidyne rendered almost completely useless, Asuras other attacks are manageable, but still pretty fierce.
Asura Roga inflicts a berserk status ailment on potentially the whole party, which can really suck--plus, if a party member is berserk, they wont participate in a co-op attack if someone else hits Asuras weakness.
Black Flame is a concentrated fire attack on a single party member: not a problem for the two Frosts, or for me, but of course he used it on the single party member with no fire resistance in particular. Finally,
Ashura is a lightning-quick physical attack that hits the whole party for significant damage. All that said, if you can keep throwing synergized ice attacks at him he actually goes down pretty quick.
I gain two levels from this fight! Black Frost gets
three levels, and finally I get a useful skill mutation.
Yes he did. Yes I did.
Back on the ship, Arthur announces that we are very close to finding the Vanishing Point, and says it is in a sector unlike those we have investigated thus far. Does that mean it will be a small, straightforward, non-twisty-corridor dungeon? No, because this is Shin Megami Tensei. (And this thread has let me know what to expect.
)
Break time. Zelenin shares some of her misgivings with me. Im not much help.
Then my buddy Jimenez shows up, looking like hes doing better.
Ooh! What is it? Scarring? Rash? Lycanthropy?
Aw, thats it?
He also makes a joke about how everyone should try being possessed, and Z loses her shit because she has
no sense of humor whatsoever. But Jimenez is actually being fairly serious himself, reflecting on human nature.
Back on the bridge, Arthur explains our dilemma. We have access to the quantum tunnel, just like we did in previous sectors. However, if we go through Delphinus tunnel, we will actually end up back in Antlia! Were in an infinite loop, in other words. But, if we instead chart our own course to where weve determined the Vanishing Point to be, we
should end up somewhere new--and hopefully somewhat closer to getting back to Earth.
Only one way to find out. Lets boogie!
