---
In the Beginning, There Was Chaos
-Cid has been smuggling in old research notes from Garlemald about the Bozja Incident.
Emperor Midas built a tower to harness Dalamud’s power. The tower’s town wound up annihilated. This incident convinced Cid to leave the Empire.
JESSIE: “The chief has wanted nothing to do with the lunar transmitter, or the data used to create it. Until now.” Nero’s gotten to him. Hopefully for the better.
-We’re short-handed for Omega’s next test. Biggs, Wedge, and Nero are all injured. Midgardsormr’s out of commission. It’ll just be me, Alpha, and Cid.
-Omega’s landscape is far less crowded. There’s only one metal testing egg left, The tournament finals are coming up, with Omega at the end.
OMEGA: “Alpha. Your task is complete. Your presence amongst these test subjects is no longer required.” NOOOO DON’T LEAVE US BUDDY!
His role was to both to manage our access the different testing programs. Omega will guide us directly now. Oh, and Omega says Alpha’s unwitting role was to bait us to coming here.
That’s not his fault! No blame, little friend.
“I based his incarnation upon a most ordinary life-form, one which had somehow bested an enemy whose strength rivaled my own.” This could be an FFXIV lore teaser or perhaps a reference. I remember hearing about a ROGUE-like Chocobo Dungeon game. Maybe the final boss was Omega or something.
-A rain of yellow chocobo feathers starts to fall.
“I repeated the experiment once. Twice. A thousand times. Yet the results never deviated from estimated projections. And thus I resolved to adapt my methodology.”
This robot really fucked with poor Alpha. All because apparently one chocobo defeated some incarnation of Omega once, and he wanted to discover how.
CID: “…Tell me something, Omega. This ability of yours to generate matter was not originally intended for creating other life-forms, was it?”
I don’t understand why Cid says this, but Omega confirms. He was given matter-generation for self-improvement and weapon design, not for creating life forms. That’s just a side benefit.
CID: “As an engineer, I would advise against using such technology for purposes outside its design.”
WAIT IS ALPHA ACTUALLY A SUPERWEAPON OMEGA CRAFTED BY ACCIDENT?
Oh, no. He’s making a different point. That no life form Omega creates will overcome mortals in the long run since his programs lack the motivation and conviction of real people.
It’s not intended as such, but this doubles as a critique of the Omega raids in general. Creating bosses that are just dreams or fiction as one-offs without fitting them into the story makes them less powerful.
And I say this as someone who liked the Phantom Train and Kefka and Exdeath and all that! I thought they were cool, and still wish Kefka were fit into XIV as a Garlean mage or something.
-The final screen shows an image of a ruined castle with pillars. I’m not sure what game that’s from.
-It’s Chaos from FFI! The image on the screen must be the Chaos Shrine.
CID: “The first heroes defeated this evil in a conflict that took place so long ago I’m having trouble separating myth from history.”
So Chaos actually existed. In the First Astral Age maybe.
-I had trouble parsing where the Omega bosses fit in the context of XIV’s story, but I think I get it:
Deltascape (FFV): fictional
Sigmascape (FFVI): alternate dimension
Alphascape (FFI): historical/real
-It’s weird that they’re starting with Chaos. He’s the final FFI boss. In the past raids they built to it. Maybe this’ll be a series of final bosses, like Chaos, Mateus, Zeromus, and then Omega at the end.
-OH NO ALPHA FEELS GUILTY! Cheer up, buddy! It’s not your fault Omega used you.
I like that Cid treats him well. Even has him use his card powers to boil some water for coffee so he feels useful.
-Chaos looks SO GREAT! A muscular, four-armed beast.
-His fight centers on four elemental phases with different stuff to dodge, really throwing the kitchen sink at us.
-One mechanic has him throw out “Fiendish Orbs.” A nice callback to his four elemental fiends in FFI, and how defeating them relit the elemental orbs.
-So no boss rush. Chaos was the final in Omega’s tournament. I beat all its experiments.
-It’s a long, tough 8-player fight. We wipe a few times before everyone really grasps the mechanics.
-Our victories confuse Omega. Maybe Cid was right. After all, I watched a video to tell me how to deal with Chaos’ mechanics. Chaos didn’t have the determination or internet connection to watch a video on dealing with Ququshu’s mechanics.
OMEGA: “Error. Logic loop malfunction. Resolution requires additional data.”
-It wants to test me with something new, “subject the unknown to the imperfect.”
-The Chaos Shrine changes to a blasted landscape. Something from Omega’s memory.
“It originates from a time when war had erupted on a distant star.”
Omega was deployed here once. His contest ended in a draw. It’ll recreate the enemy for me.
-A soft choral piece plays, and a blazing golden dragon with two sets of wings appears.
“Prepare to face Midgardsormr – red-maned wyrm of the Dragonstar, and nemesis of my world.”
OH SHIIIIIIT IT’S RECREATING AN IN-HIS-PRIME MIDGARDSORMR! I fought the dragon once, in the Keeper of the Lake dungeon. He was a mostly-dead husk, and still brutal.
-I get a break before the next fight and head outside the Alphascape.
-Oh, and Cid is now invisible.
---
And Like Fire Was His Mane
-Cid drank Alpha’s tea and it turned him invisible. Just as suddenly, he poofs back into sight. WTF?
-It seems Alpha’s cards have varying unknown effects. He made a cup of tea for Nero and it turned the water salty. Now it turns the water into an invisible potion.
It’s weird. I’m curious where they’re going with this.
-Anyway. Midgardsormr and Omega came from different warring worlds. Midgardsormr eventually fled, sailing through space with his brood, and landing on this planet.
-Midgardsormr is similar to Rathalos (the MHW fight). You have to watch his body movements:
SPIN + SPIN = get out of melee range
SPIN + FLIP = get into melee range
FLIP + FLIP = get to the corners of the arena
-He also has a tendency to strafe across the battlefield breathing fire.
I like the music that plays during the fight. Gives it a mournful feel. Which makes sense, given that this was is Midgardsormr as he was at the start of his generations-long exile.
-Afterwards, Cid notes how similar Midgardsormr and Shinryu look in appearance. I hadn’t noticed that, but now that he mentions it… They both have a similar snaky feature.
-Shinryu’s form is unlike most primals. He doesn’t come from a specific system of belief.
CID: “I’m beginning to think… that the primal took its shape from the ancestor of all dragons on Hydaelyn.” Shinryu is drawn from the Platonic ideal of what a dragon is, and that starts at Midgardsormr.
---
In the End, There is Omega
OMEGA: “Discarding test worlds. System resources rerouting to primary operations.” Here we go.
-The rift’s color shifts from blue to red. The Alphascape egg falls away.
-He asks Alpha for any remaining tricks. Alpha pulls a card that shows someone changing size.
-Cid gives Alpha a flask of that invisibility water, just in case.
CID: “If you see a chance to make a difference, I want you to take it. All you need is faith in yourself… and a little courage to see it through.”
-Alpha and I spy on Cid in Rhalgr’s Reach. He’s nervous with a new device, probably the one he built using that forbidden research from the Incident. His hands shake.
???: “You’re looking a bit shaky there, old friend.” Hi, Nero!
-They both noticed Omega’s weakness: huge blasts of electricity. It’s what Cid’s device is designed for. It’s just that Cid is now using the research from the horrific Bozsja Incident.
CID: “I remember bodies, melted by searing heat. I remember the bereaved, and feel the weight of their silent accusations. I remember the Empire’s remorseless response. We turned outwards in search of answers, but the inventions we created to ensure our future were used instead to destroy lives. To wage war.”
He swore to act peaceably, and doesn’t even using that old research support it somehow? Not necessarily. He’s working to end an apocalyptic being. But I see his concern.
-Nero scoffs. Cid used to be all about the shiny new innovations he could produce, morality be damned.
CID: “’Tis a reflection, I think, of just how much there is in this world I care about now aside from myself.”
Omega and its unfettered testing methods represent the kind of scientist Cid used to be.
-Heh. Cid’s hand no longer is shaking. Thanks, Nero.
CID: “Although ‘tis hardly fair to compare my youth to Omega’s solitary existence. I always had the second-best student in class pushing me to excel.”
I SWEAR TO GOD THIS SHIP IS NOT JUST SUBTEXT
-We return to the now relatively empty aetherial space with Cid’s new “Omega Jammer,” and we’re set.
---
Next time: the end of the Omega raid.
