Quest: Storm on the Horizon (Wings of the Goddess)
-I return to Bastok. The Galka are enraged that Werei and Gumbah were falsely accused of murder, and that now Chairman Pale Eagle is under suspicion, and Five Moons, the Mythril Musketeer, is leading the rally.
-The military police arrive to break it up.
-Zeid steps in and BODYSLAMS Five Moons. Arrests him.
FIVE MOONS: “Zeid! Is there not a speck of Galkan pride left in you?”
-Senator Derek Karst approaches. Five Moons speaks out, and one of the military police punches Five Moons.
KARST, to the police: “Violence will not be tolerated, not even towards detainees and prisoners.” So this Karst isn’t awful. He promises Five Moons – or Galagg, as he now asks to be called – to find the truth about Chairman Pale Eagle.
-Zeid and Nicolaus (another Mythril Musketeer) discuss Galagg’s new fervor. A book has recently spread through Bastok about an infamous Galka assassin, Darksteel Hurricane, now idolized as a hero.
-Zeid is disgusted. Thinks Darksteel Hurricane is no more than a murderer.
-I go speak with Captain Klara and Senator Karst. Karst insists on meeting Chairman Pale Eagle to learn more.
-Volker wants to help Galagg/Five Moons, but Zeid is unsympathetic. “Leave him be, Volker. He clearly has his sights set on martyrdom.” Volker and I will attend Karst’s meeting.
-I arrive at the meeting place outside the city. Karst speaks diplomatically, but Pale Eagle draws an axe and charges the senator! OH SHIT IS HE A KINDRED IN DISGUISE??
-!! I WAS WRONG!! HE WASN’T CHARGING THE SENATOR – HE WAS CHARGING A TONBERRY THAT WAS ABOUT TO ASSASSINATE THE SENATOR
-PALE EAGLE TOOK THE STAB INTENDED FOR THE SENATOR! He collapses.
-Uh oh. If he dies, then it’ll be civil war for sure. Nobody will believe us that a random Tonberry killed Chairman Pale Eagle.
-Captain Klara arrives on scene, with Pale Eagle is in stable but serious condition. He needs an antidote to the Tonberry’s poison.
-And Galagg escaped detainment. Volker thinks he’s heading to Grauberg, so Volker and I will pursue.
-Elder Werei is in the ancestral cave meeting with Galagg. Galagg argues against violence.
“The blood of the Humes will not wash away the past, nor will it cleanse our path for the future.”
-Galagg disagrees. The legend of Darksteel Hurricane has inspired him, and he’s persuaded other Galka to take up arms.
-Volker arrives. He tells Galagg that he persuaded Senator Karst to release Chairman Pale Eagle. Will this be enough to convince Galagg that peaceful options can still work?
Galagg takes a long moment to ponder this.
“Volker, you’re still not seeing the big picture. This incident is merely a drop in the ocean. The oppression and inequality my people have suffered for centuries – all of this still remains. But now, a new storm of change has arisen… and there’s no stopping it.”
-Senator Karst is a good guy, but this is about structural inequality. He lacks any faith that Bastok can change. Galagg and his three companions/followers leave.
-Elder Werei tells us that Galagg plans to attack Bastok. He’s a Galka too, but doesn’t believe violent revolution is the answer to the city’s injustice.
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Mission: Fire in the Hole (Wings of the Goddess)
-I arrive back in Bastok, but I’m too late. Galagg and his Galka have taken Hume guards prisoner. They’ve even arrested uncooperative Galka – and arrest Volker too when he tries appealing to Galagg.
-At this moment, a massive Quadav army marches on Bastok. GOOD TIMING GALAGG.
-Galagg takes his Galka forces outside the city.
They fight well… until Quadav siege turrets arrive and blast the fuck out of them.
-The Musketeers will call in a Special Operations Squadron (SOS) to destroy the store of cannons and ammo.
-Outside the city, the unconscious Galagg wakes up. Looks around. Sees his Galka bretheren dying and burning. Jesus, this is brutal.
-I arrive at the mines. The SOS arrives too… led by Adelheid Sturm, Scholar! Yay! I’ll escort her through the mines to blow up siege turrets. I just pray I don’t have to keep her alive like I did last expansion with Naja Salaheem.
-FUCK, THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE THE MISSION WITH NAJA SALAHEEM. She dies to swarms of Quadav that I can’t control as a dragoon. (I’m a very single-target DPS role.)
-This is awful. She just keeps running around like a chicken with her head cut off so I can’t pull the enemies off her. I’m so salty.
-Thankfully, I have a linkshell/guild! My friend Xendor kindly came to my rescue.
Together, we finished the quest (barely), fighting off wave after wave of Quadav before they could take out poor Adelheid. YESSSS *fist pump*
-We reach the siege turret and Adelheid wires the turret up with blast charges.
ADELHEID: “Go with the Goddess, mister siege turret.” YOU ARE ADORABLE
-One siege turret to go, but some massive explosion is building. We run.
-Martina, one of the Hume engineers, trips on the way out, but GALAGG SWOOPS IN AND SAVES HER! He’s clearly remorseful for his actions.
-The reason for the unusually large explosion is that the Quadav were preparing some kind of special siege chemicals to obliterate Bastok that were stored in that siege tower we destroyed.
-Zeid doesn’t give a shit. “Well, isn’t this ironic. The Hume-hating Galka comes to the rescue of a Hume… have you so easily forgotten that you’re no longer a musketeer, but a worthless traitor?”
And do I blame him? No. Galagg didn’t insult Zeid’s swordsmanship or overcook his steaks. He led an ARMED FREAKING REBELLION AGAINST THE CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.
-Galagg apologizes for all the young lives lost as a consequence of his actions. For becoming what he hated in the Humes.
-Captain Klara breaks this up. Invites Galagg back – says this is too dangerous a time for Hume and Galka to split. I mean… I agree, but maybe armed insurrection is a bridge too far? No? Okay. Forgive and forget I guess.
-I return to Bastok. Elder Werei managed to get the Hume guards released from Galka captivity, and he addresses the assembled Galka.
“Be assured that I have not forgotten the ill feeling you hold towards the Humes. But no matter how little love there may be between our two races, Bastok is our homeland, built brick-by-brick with the blood and sweat of our displaced Galkan ancestors who crossed the seas in search of a safe haven.”
-A call for unity. Elder Werei shakes hands with the Hume military police officer, and the gathered crowd of Hume and Galka raise their swords and cheer.
-No time to celebrate. The invading Quadav have arrived. They bust down the gates and the battle for Bastok is on.
-A montage of incredible battle sequences, of Captain Klara and Zeid working wonders with their weapons, of Nicolaus blasting the Quadav with lightning, of Quadav cutting down Galka and Hume alike. It’s fucking brutal.
-The city burns. Dead Galka, Humes, and Quadav lay about the street. But the united forces of Bastok emerge victorious, and the Quadav retreat.
-Later. President Prien thanks the soldiers for standing strong against the Quadav. And a moment of silence for the fallen.
-Senator Karst speaks to wrap up the assassination of Senator Werner. He publicly absolves Chairman Pale Eagle, and apologizes for the city implicating the Galka.
-The only remaining mystery: who is hiring Tonberries to kill Bastok’s leaders? The Beastman Confederate? Lilith’s group?
-But that’s for another day. President Prien proclaims the Chairman’s innocence. (I’m pretty sure Chairman Pale Eagle survived, but not 100% sure. They call his work a “heroic sacrifice” which makes him sound dead, but then say they’ll restore him to his position as Chairman, which makes him sound not dead.)
-Scene change. President Prien and others are deciding what to do with Five Moons/Galagg. I really like this – it’s not just “forgive and forget.” That was only temporary, while the Quadav armies were knocking down the gates of Bastok.
-Prien chastises Galagg for not thinking through the consequences of his actinos. Those grieving family members who would be left behind by Galagg’s death. The remaining Mythril Musketeers who would lose a comrade and bear the burden of his tarnished legacy.
The Mythril Musketeers of the past.
-Galagg will be court martialed. But not yet.
PRIEN: “Now, Five Moons… or should I say, Galagg. You are to resume Mythril Musketeer duty as before. Understood?”
GALAGG: “If the captain will still have me.”
KLARA: “The answer to that question is obvious, soldier.”
-The Humes are not happy, feeling Galagg is getting off easy, but they can eat a bag of hell. This seems a good compromise to me.
-Captain Klara starts to talk about our next operation, but becomes dizzy. Do NOT fucking kill Klara.
-It passes. Klara thinks she just needs rest. I can’t imagine it’s that simple. Maybe it’s dark magic, maybe it’s poison, something. Approximately a 0.0003% chance that she just needs rest.
-WOOHOO AND NOW I’M AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE MYTHRIL MUSKETEERS!!! Even in the present time, I was always just “the adventurer who helped them a lot.” FDHSFLDHSFKLDS
I’ve spent so much time in Bastok looking up to the Mythril Musketeers as a skilled, ambitious, effective, honorable, elite unit that I’m legit psyched to officially join.
-At the same time, I have no idea how this won’t affect the space-time continuum or whatever. Like, when I first started the Bastok storyline, nobody knew who I was… but shouldn’t they have recognized me as the Mythril Musketeer from the Crystal War?
Whatever. I’d MUCH rather play a fantastic story like this than worry about whether all the timey-wimey crap will line up perfectly. And I’ll bet they deal with it eventually.
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Next time: “Wings of the Goddess” seems split into two separate but converging storylines. The Bastok storyline I dealt with here, and the wider Lilith/Cait Sith/Lilisette storyline. Not sure which I’ll deal with next time.
One more thing: I love the Dragoon, but it feels pretty one-dimensional as a single-target damage dealer. I want to build some flexibility going forward, so I’m going to start working on building up a blue mage
