Hráč 1998 July & August/Hrac_23_1998-07-08_cd1.bin/Info/GamesFAQs/Xeno.txt

Text File | 1998-04-08 | 134KB | 2,323 lines

Disclaimer :

I've decided, instead of spreading my numerous comments throughout this
document, to write most of them here instead. So bear with me ^_^.

Firstly, I've only had one year of Japanese study, without a teacher or
formal classes of any kind. My reference materials at present include one
Nelson's dictionary. Therefore, some errors are going to be found,
especially those in the important scenes (by those I mean ones with lots of
dialogue) Please take those with a pinch of salt; the exact amount of salt
being in direct proportion to the complexity of the scene. ^_^

Okay, enough excuses. Sanity dictates that I, a lowly student, should not
have attempted a task of this magnitude, but hey, since when did I consider
myself sane? However, ANY information, corrections and help will be
much appreciated, especially from people more proficient in the language.
Thanks!

And lastly, writing this thing is a lot of work. Please notify me before
using it for any purposes.

Whoops, very, very last note : this is a slowly evolving document; please
check back every update for new info. I will be providing an Update section
to assist readers.

******

Xenogears Translations - Version 1.34

The latest version of this will be posted every week (Monday, if possible)
to all people helping me with the game, as well as to Gamefaqs and Ignacio
DeLucas's Xenogears FAQ.

Version 1.3 - Lots of info added, Disclaimer added, contributors credited
many corrections made and formatting redone. Basically a major overhaul.
Start of Versions list. If you got an earlier version than this it probably
sucked. ^_^

Version 1.32 - Added Unsure Scenes section, and translations till
up to the return to the Yggdrasil with Mal.

Version 1.33 - More corrections to some of the earlier scenes thanks to
Ben Chu, as well as some miscellaneous spelling errors. Did more corrections
after input from Joe Chan and Ignacio Delucas; corrected some mistyped names
too. Quite a big update; I'm getting much better with practise, so this thing
will hopefully be done faster. Covers up to after the fight with Dora and
the appearance of the red Gear.

Version 1.34 - Miscellaneous corrections made, as well as some plot and name
ones, thanks to input from Joe Chan of Playstation Gamer. Big additions in
the form of redone Unsure Scenes, very kindly supplied by Ben Chu as well as
some corrections to the previous scenes. Notes section added. Translations
till up to after Shebat.

******

Credits (at the top for once)

Thanks to Chris Cruz who corrected my mistranslation of "kyokai" or "Church"
(my previous being "Labs") and Joe Chan for allowing me to use some
information from his own Xenogears translations.

Also, many thanks (again) to Ben Chu for correcting a whole lot more of the
scenes, especially the confusing Ellie ones, and being a general all-around
checker and assitance. Arigatou gozaimasu!

More thanks to Joe Chan (what, a second one? ^_^) from Playstation Gamer
(an excellent mag, BTW) for some more corrections, and general help, and to
Ignacio DeLucas for being the one thing this guide needs; a near Japanese
illiterate person to proofread it. ^_^

******

Scenes which I am still unsure of :

I think this will help in the general comprehension of the document and game
a bit more; I hope it will also assist contributors in deciding which parts
to double-check. I'll use this rating system :

* = May have slight errors; I didn't get all the dialogue. Not likely to
be far off. You can consider this safe; it's just me trying to be as
complete as possible.

** = A important word or two I didn't catch, uncertain terms, the text scrolled
too fast, a paragraph or so missed. Not so safe; might have missed some
important info. This will be noted in the actual translation itself.

*** = Big chunks of dialogue missing, a whole bunch of difficult kanji,
totally confusing (seeming to contradict) information and the like. Not to
be taken as correct at any time. ^_^ Will be flagged in the text, don't
worry; hopefully, not many scenes will be of this nature.

The Scenes : (in chronological order)

1. Shitan's first conversation with the Heavenly Emperor (**) - I actually
missed this scene (sorry!) but it would get a ** if I had done it.

2. Conversation with Bart in cave (**) - Doesn't seem to be too important,
but I didn't get much of the dialogue at all.

3. Attack of the "Ahura" on Bart's base (*) - Didn't get everything again.

4. Bits of the Shakan\Ramsas dialogues (*) - They sometimes use difficult
language...so I'd appreciate it if someone checked it again. Not likely
to have serious error, though.

5. Mal's return to the Yggdrasil (**) - Unsure; I had a cold at that time.

6. Shitan and Sigurd's conversation abroad the Yggdrasil, about Solaris.
(*) Difficult grammar and allusions; however, I think it's meant to be
obscure.

7. Last bit of Mal's conversation during her return to the church (*) -
Minor details.

8. Sigurd's very long conversation with Bart (*) - Once again, I don't
THINK I've missed out anything, but it's a very long scene, so I'd appreciate
a check.

9. The plans of attack on Ave (*) - I only missed out the last part.
Actually, this is not really all that important; i'd give it a miss.

10. Miscellanous dialogue during the attack on Ave (*) This is me
trying to be complete once again. ^_^ I only missed out the ship
commands and such, and I summarized those anyway.

11. Jeekman's conversation with the masked woman and his aides - (*)
Amazingly, there are some words here which my very comprehensive dictionary
doesn't even have. No matter; I don't think I've missed out anything again.

12. The whole long Solaris scene - (**) I'm actually pretty sure of this
one, but because it's so important to the game's storyline a check is almost
a necessity.

13. Scenes from Zeboim to Shebat - (*) I was simply playing too hard to
get everything. ^_^

14. Another flying heads scene somewhere in that area (**) - Forgot it
entirely besides some details.

BTW, I also missed one anime cut-scene; the one where Fei's dad is seen
talking to two others. However, expect a *** rating for that one; not only
does Fei's dad have a really deep voice and penchant for difficult words, my
vocal Japanese comprehension isn't all that hot either. ^_^

******

Notes, otherwise known as the ubiquitous Miscellaneous section.

1. I'm not doing every single bit of dialogue. You want that, you pay me. ^_^
What I am doing, though, is as complete a translation as I can possibly manage,
and leave out all the little unimportant bits. So if there's stuff in the
game, or a scene or two, that I didn't do, it's probably because it's not
important. However, the unlikely possibility exists that I may have missed
something - in that case, mail me and I'll fix it.

2. NO townspeople. I simply can't do that and have a life. ^_^

3. You will notice a lot of quotation marks in the document. There are two
instances in which I will use them; when they appear in the game and when
I'm quoting game text. Just a clarification.

4. Finally, when I write "something", or "some sort of" in the text, it
*usually* means that it's not so clear in the game, but it could also mean
that I'm slightly unsure of the scene.

All these disclaimers are because Xenogears is a very wordy game, with a lot
more talking then many other RPGs. ^_^

******


On with the show!


******

In the opening, several things about the world are revealed. Firstly, there
seems to be a war of some sort between two countries, Kisreb and Ave. The
Gears are a product of that war; found in ancient ruins, they changed the
way wars were fought entirely. Also, previously, Kisreb forces were winning
the war because of the greater amount of resources they had access to, but
after Ave initiated a war program of some sort, assisted by a man named
Graf, the terms were equalized.

BTW, an important term is introduced in the opening. The word is "kyokai",
rendered approximately as "learning place." or "Church". I'll use Church
here, but will also use quotation marks around it when the word appears.
Apparently the "Churches" were created after the discovery of ruins.
Presently, they are a religious group that controls all Gear manufacture in
the world.

Basically the same as Ignacio's FAQ; you see Timothy, and Fei thanks him for
being his friend these years, especially as he can't remember anything about
his past. Dan, Alur's younger brother, then comes in the door and asks Fei
to talk to him in private. Fei wants to know why; it turns out that Dan
wants Fei to run off with his sister instead of marry Timothy. ^_^ Finally,
you go to see Alur.

BTW, Fei is not from the village; he was brought to the village by a
strange man three years ago and has been taken care of by Lee, the village
elder, for that time. However, Dan addresses him as "onii-chan" (older brother) a
common term of respect used for any older male.)

Alur talks about a strange wind that has been about lately. She and Fei seem
to have\had some kind of a relationship, romantic or otherwise, (they both
speak in a very stitled fashion, as if they want to say something more but
don't) but their speech gives no clue to as what kind it may be. When Fei is
about to leave, Alur tells him to wait and asks him to ask Shitan, the village
doctor, to lend her his camera. Fei agrees and then leaves; Alur looks at her
wedding dress and says that she was a fool...

(Note : Shitan is addressed as "sensei" by most people during the game. This
appellation is a sign of respect used to refer to any senior person, especially
one well-learned. Shitan is called this as he is very proficient in both
medicine and mechanics.)

Most of the villagers talk about the upcoming wedding of Alur and Timothy,
although there is one who gives you the Mermaid's Tears when you speak to him
(in the bar).

So off you go to see your sensei (Shitan) to fix Alur's camera. Upon getting
there you get to the Land Crab and natter for a bit with him until the music
box scene; Fei says he finds it sad and it brings back some memories, while
Shitan says that music is strange; it can make people sad or happy, help
them to remember or forget...Fei leaves to eat Yui's cooking, which
apparently is really good ^_^ (Shitan and Yui are married; it's revealed
later.) when the box breaks. Shitan is left wondering whether it was an omen
and whether or not "it has begun..."

BTW, the little girl, Midori, is very silent; even when Fei asks her to go
out and play she responds with "..."

After the meal, Fei goes back to the village when the village gets
attacked! They meet Alur and Timothy at the village gate; after a bit
of conversation, Fei and Shitan run off to find the missing Dan, while
the two fiancees escape. The Gear that Fei gets into suddenly appears and
kneels to him; Fei stutters a bit (he's surprised and confused) before
jumping in, followed by Shitan who exhorts his student to stop fighting, at
the same time wondering whether Fei has "awakened." yet. Shitan sure seems
to know a lot more than he lets on...

The first battle ensues. A bunch of Gears then surround Fei, whacking him,
when Timothy reappears; Dan having been saved from a burning house by
Shitan. The Gears blast Timothy after their leader commands them to with a
single hand motion; seeing this, Fei goes nuts and annihilates the whole
village (and enemies) with his Gear. VERY nice anime cut scene here.

Just a note; there seem to be many EVA things here still, just like in
FF7...Yui's name, Fei's "berserk" (Even Shitan says : "Fei no Gia shistemu
bosou da..." (Fei's Gear's systems went berserk), and some other stuff...

Fei then awakes in a clearing. Dan calls him a murderer and accuses him of
having killed everyone, "especially Alur-niichan and Timothy" and the
villagers run off, some screaming in pain and for their mothers, saying that
he's frightening and a monster (In fact, everyone except Shitan, including
Fei, refer to his Gear as "bakemono" or monster). After Dan demands that Fei
return his older sister, Shitan intercedes and says that is was because the
Gear went berserk (see above) to which Dan simply laughs and runs away.
Shitan advises Fei to head to Ave;  seeing as the attakcing Gears were from
Kisreb, that would be the safest place to go to. Fei then runs off after
Shitan tells him about the "Forest of the Black Moon.", which leads to Ave
and where he's now going.

Meeting with Ellie in the woods, who backs Fei off with a gun. (BTW, in the
cut scene, she speaks in another language before switching to Japanese.) She
tells Fei not to move, but he does, saying that he deserves to die anyway.
After she misses her first shot, he tells her to fire again, and at his
heart this time. Ellie then says that he's "strange" (probably because he
seems like he WANTS to die) just before a monster attacks her from behind
and Fei has to rescue her. (An important note : as Fei rushes the monster
that attacked Ellie, he says "don't touch Ellie!" But Ellie hasn't even told
Fei her name at this point...) This is not a script error; the name "Ellie
appears in quotation marks.

After that, Fei asks Ellie for her name, and why she isn't talking to him
even though he helped her. Ellie finally replies and says that she is
surprised that a "Lams" is helping her, an "Ahura." According to her, "Lams"
is the term she gives for those people living on the surface of the planet;
Ahura are those who live above and are ultimately superior.

(BTW, literally, the "Ahura" are the "Shepherds of the Flock" and the
"Lams" are the Cattle. This is yet another Bible reference.)

Fei then suggests that they both search for the exit from the forest, and
then asks her for her name again after giving his own; if they're going to
be cooperating they should know each other better. Ellie gives her name
(her real name is Elehayym) and they go to sleep.

The next morning, both search for the exit to the forest. Once they're across
the stone bridge, Ellie asks Fei about yesterday; Fei wants to know WHAT
about yesterday. Ellie replies by saying that he looked like he wanted to
commit suicide at that time. Fei begins to recount the tragedy at the
village; surprisingly, Ellie interjects halfway by telling him he's a
"coward".

Again, this time, not surprisingly at all, Fei demands angrily to know
why he's a coward. Ellie states her reasons as such; the attack wasn't his
fault, he tried his best and if he's now going to take the responsibility of
the attack on himself instead of doing better he's a coward. Fei retorts
with "The stench of blood, the sound of bones breaking, the cries of
anguish; did you hear those?" and some other phrases, finally sitting on the
ground in anguish. Ellie then runs off.

The anime cut scene here is quite strange; apparently, the person scolding
Ellie is doing so in the exact same way Ellie has scolded Fei (right down to
the choice of words). Ellie is then attacked by the Lankar. Of course, Fei
rushes to the rescue; after a few rounds of combat, Shitan arrives in the
Land Crab with your Gear. Fei tells his master to shoot him down if he goes
berserk once again; Shitan says that they'll be no need for things like that.
Once you beat the beast, (with the Gear) all of your party retire for the
night. Shitan also reveals, during the fight, that Fei's Gear is called the
"Weltall."

Shitan discovers the Gear has broken parts; he decides to accompany you to
obtain them. Meanwhile, as Fei sleeps, Shitan and Ellie have a discussion.
Shitan has deduced, from an empty Gear at the village and lost ID tags, that
Ellie is a member of the team from Kisreb sent to recover Fei's Gear (which
is a prototype Kisreb one), who was shot down in mid-air.

Okay, here are Ben Chu's invaluable corrections regarding the two previous
scenes. All words are original; I just changed them a bit so they'd sound
better. ^_^

1) During the scene where Fei and Ellie talk about the Lahan incident, Fei
was agonising over the memory of the tragic scenes; therefore, he wanted
Ellie to shoot him when they first met. Then Fei begins to trace back the
blame. He said "If they (the gears attacked the village) had not come in the
first place, then he would not been forced to get on the gear and fight by
the circumstances which led to the tragedy of the village when Fei's gear
went berserk. Later, Fei jumped to the conclusion that "they" (the gears
that attacked the village again) and their actions were to blamed on him.
Then suddenly, Ellie burts out with her response that Fei was wrong. If Fei
had not got into the gear than nothing would have happened; Fei's early
blaming the others was just an excuse for him to run away from reality. Then
we see the Anime cut as Ellie ran away from Fei, showing that Ellie once
went through a similar incident (right down to the choice of words) Maybe
because she once did the same thing as Fei is doing now, blaming others and running
away from responsibility, she is angry to see that happening again.

2)The conversation between Shitan and Ellie while Fei is asleep.
Ellie was surprised to hear her native language spoken by Shitan. Shitan did
not tell her much; only that he once lived in the same place where Ellie
came from, a place called "Solaris".  Shitan also guessed that Ellie was the
pilot who crashed into the Lahan village and thus was the initiator of
the whole incident. But Shitan understood that it was not Eliie's
intention or her fault. He sort of comforted her that both her and Fei
did their best to avoid the tragic result that became inevitable. Shitan
also suggested that Ellie not tell Fei about this conversation and assured
her that Fei would eventually understand; but now, he just needs time to be
alone and to regain himself right now. So Shitan suggests that Ellie goes
her own way for now.

The next morning, Fei asks Shitan if Ellie's left, then reveals that he
wasn't really asleep and heard the entire conversation. After Shitan attempts
to explain, Fei dismisses it as nothing and instead inquires as to the
welfare of the villagers. Shitan says they're with his wife in town. The two
then embark on their journey, but are stopped by the appearance of a flying
ship in the air, which Shitan says is part of Ave's war program, led by Graf.
Fei doesn't know who he is; Shitan tells him.

Once in the Desert Town of Dajir, head one of the building in front of town.
(There's an inn and shop here; good place to gain levels as well) There,
Shitan will learn that since they town supplies Ave troops with only basic
parts, not military-issue material, parts for your Gear can not be found. Fei
and Shitan then discuss the situation; Fei expresses no desire to pilot the
Gear (because it destroyed the village) while Shitan puts it to him in this
way; evidently, since both Ave and Kisreb troops are looking for it (one to
recover it and one to obtain it) he had better use it or get killed.

Another note : In the inn here, you will meet an Elvis-esque character called
Big Joe. He will appear several times during the game, speaking in English
(^_^) and helping you sometimes.

After that, go to the house next to the Sandbuggy; Shitan will borrow
it to search for the parts (an X-29 Injection System) and leave your
party. The owner will then tell Fei that the desert is dangerous; Fei
begins to worry about his friend (now, why didn't the owner say that
BEFORE? I don't think normal people like losing their Sandbuggies...)

Character note : as it's not very obvious from my summaries, I'll tell you a
bit more about the characters. Basically, Fei talks in a very "heroic" tone
(the way most main characters in games speak), and Ellie and Shitan in very
polite ones, Ellie, however, sounds hesitant and unsure of herself. Just a
mention.

Head north. You will see two Ave Gears; follow them as they move off over the
dunes. Make sure you're at least reasonably strong as well, as you'll be
fighting enemies along the way. Once you're progressed far enough, Fei will
worry about his teacher, and "borrow" one of the Ave troops bikes. ^_^
(Exact words : "Sorry about that; can I borrow this?") I don't know about the
strange flying object that passes overhead...but Fei says that the troops
seem to be pursuing it.

With the bike, Fei rides on until dusk, at which time he is ambushed. Shitan
arrives with Gear in tow once again and you beat the butt of the sorry tin
cans that attack you (BTW, Fei does his usual "I don't want to pilot this"
bit again). Someone known only as "the man in black robes" appears, and
we get a cut-scene of Small Fei saying "No, not me! (BTW, this is very
ambiguous...the original "boku ja nai!" could mean "I didn't do it".
However, this is definitely the Small Fei talking because he uses the
term "boku" instead of "ore", Fei's normal term of address.)

The whole converstion with the guy is iffy at best; they talk about the
meaning of power and strength; Fei has his own views, which, not
surprisingly, are different than the other fellow's. The man's name is
Graf (yes, the same Graf responsible for Ave's war program) and he also seems
to have known Fei's father. As expected, once he drops that tidbit of info,
Fei demands to know more. After hinting that he came here to meet Fei or that
Fei is needed somehow (he also knows of Fei's mishap with the village), he
summons a worm and flies off.

Clarification by Ben Chu; once again, I tidied it up a bit, but the original
language is the same.

This is the scene of Fei's first conversation with Graf after Fei
defeated 2 Ave gears in desert near Dajir:

(Graf, standing besides his gear) "You just can't resist the calling of war
in your blood."

Anime scenes:

Fei : "I knew this guy well before..."
Then, a shot of Little Fei stained with blood and crying, "I'm not the one
who killed mom! Not me!"
Another boy that looks like Fei but with long hair covering his face comes
forward and says, "Yes, it's you."

Anime ends, now return to the regular scene.

Fei : "You were the one at Lahan!"
Graf : "I am Graf, the seeker of power, Fei. Your power...I saw enough of
it at Lahan."
Fei :"My power? What are you talking about?"
Graf : "In order to reach my goal, I need much greater power, so I sent the
Weltall to Lahan, in order to awake that power of yours as you made contact
with your gear."
Fei : "So you are the one who started all this?"
Graf : "Yes. The death of your friends; you could do nothing but watch and
realize your powerlessness - all this sorrow and desperation will become the
source and the cost in exchange for awakening of your power."
Fei :  "For that...... just for making me get into the gear, you attacked
the village!? Why! Explain why did you have to sacrifice the lives of
villagers!"
Graf : "I don't know, I don't feel anything to see these worthless ones
dying. They are the one who forgot their own birth duties (Graf means the
purpose they were created for), rather than choose to enjoy daily happiness.
By the way, did you forget?  YOU are the one who destroyed the village. All
I can remember about my wrong doing was simply lowering one hand.
Fei : "No! My actions were because I wanted to save the people; it didn't
have anything to do with destroying!"
Graf : "What's the point ? You should have heard for yourself the voice of
desire and destruction from within you."
Fei : "Shut up!   Even if I actually heard it, weren't you the one who
intentionally triggered the whole incident?  If you hadn't come to the
village, then the tragedy wouldn't have happened!"
Graf : "Hm! Now you are passing the blame. Oh yes, you and your quotes (?) have
always been like this too. It doesn't matter - your self instinct toward the
destruction won't change."
Fei : ".............You said you wanted my power. For what?"
Graf : "You should know it now - to destroy the god, the mother of
us all."
Fei : "Destroy the god?"
Graf : "That's right, that's our goal, and our birth duty."

(Birth duty is the English rendition of another term. Best I could come up
with.)

Fei : "Cut the crap!  I won't lend my hand to do that kind of thing! I don't
care whatever the god is, if you want to kill it, then go ahead do it by yourself."
Graf : "Hee hee hee, you resemble your father."
Fei : "Father?  You knew him?"
Graf : "That was a delightful cry from him; nothing is more beautiful than
the desperate cry of a human when put into a life and death situation."
Fei : "What happened? What did you do to him?"

Then Graf summons a giant worm, Fei beats the monster, then Graf wants Fei
to find out by himself by challenging him later when Fei become strong
enough to face him and force him out the truth. Then Graf disappears as he
warns Fei that, "You will get what you want in exchange for your deepest
fear and desperation. Ha ha ha.....!"

(End correction)

Fei and Shitan are then taken into an enemy sandcrawler. Shitan asks him if
he's okay after the fight; after Fei doesn't respond, Shitan then asks him
if it's because Graf mentioned his father. Fei says yes and you both go to
sleep.

Meanwhile, Bart, Sigurd and Meison aboard the Yggdrasil begin firing upon
the sancrawler; rather, Bart begins the attack and the others tell him to
wait. ^_^ Needless to say, Bart disregards the advice and as it are being
hit, Shitan and Fei decide to escape from the now-sinking vessel.

Once outside, Shitan tells Fei to run to the Weltall, now attached to the
end of the crane. Fei does so, only stopping just before he jumps in to
remark that he and his Gear's relationship isn't the best of ones. After
the escape from the ship, Bart promtply attacks Fei, thinking he's an Ave
soldier despite the latter's protests. They become too involved in the
fighting and sink down into the desert amdist the fray.

The prisoners on the sandcrawler are much gratified at their rescue; not so
the pirates (Bart's men are referred to as such), who instead say that
rescuing people was not one of their intentions. Shitan asks Sigurd
about Bart, his superior; the eye-patched man replies that Bart will be
recovered soon enough, and directs his men to continue searching. Shitan
also mentions that their meeting was probably not chance; isn't that scary?
Sigurd asks whether or not something has started from this...

Note : The Yggdrasil, Bart's ship, is named after the Tree of Life in Celtic
mythology. It's branches reach up to Asgard, heaven, and roots down to
Niffleim, hell. Incidentally, it's the name of the giant computer system
that controls reality in AMG as well. ^_^

This is not a minor detail; it enhances the theme of gods already quite
present in the game.  (And which I might do an eventual FAQ about one day.)
BTW, Shitan and Sigurd have met before, as evinced by their conversation.

Bart and Fei meanwhile are introduced, the former surprised at the fact that
no, his erstwhile opponent was not an Ave soldier after all. (Fei : "That's
what I told you before!" ^_^) They decide to search for an exit from the
cave, which, according to Bart, was made several hundred years before by
volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Once they have gotten beyond the boulder in the cave, Bart and Fei have
another discussion; unfortunately, this one is also beyond my translation
abilities (mostly due to Bart's difficult and heavily colloquial language).
All I can make out is that Bart has issued a challenge of sorts to Fei, who
responds angrily; there is also a bit about Bart being of a "higher rank."
It ends, anyway, with both resolving to take the issue up later.

Upon entering Balthazar's house, Bart remarks that there actually is a person
living here; the old man introduces himself and says something about the
sound of their Gears' footsteps (it's either that he doesn't like them or
that they're "bad" in some way) After that, Bart happens to glance at the
fossils on the walls and inquires as to them. Balthasar replies that he
lived here to "collect things" and that those are some of those things that
he's been able to collect.

When you take a look at them, Bal tells you some are quite quite old; over
5000 years, to be exact. Fei then notices that some are not human; Bal
instead replies by saying that he believes in the old legends. Bart asks if
that's evolution (if Bal believes in it); Bal asks you whether you have heard
about the theory of evolution from the "Church". Bal also says that he thinks
mankind did not exist until 10,000 years ago; the skeletal fossils seem to
support this theory.

Bal then proceeds to tell you of the old legends once Fei asks about them :

Long ago, humans and gods lived together in the Garden of Eternal Summer.
However, the humans feared death, and, seeking to escape it, ate the Fruit
of Wisdom of the gods hoping that they knowledge would enable them to escape
their eventual fate. The gods, angered by this act, cast them down to the
earth for their temerity and barred them from the Garden. In retaliation,
the humans created giants using their newfound knowledge and began to battle
the gods.

Finally, the gods not being immune to harm, they decided to take their
wounded, along with their Garden, and sink to the bottom of the ocean,
flooding the land. But before they did so, they ensured that some humans
would still remain on the Earth.

(Yes, you're reading the Bible symbolisms correctly; there really are in
there. ^_^ Also, this is NOT a direct translation from the game, rather,
it's a summation in my own terms.)

After saying that that was simply conjecture and folktale, Bal asks them
whether or not they're searching for an exit. As Bart and Fei reply in the
affirmative, Bal tells them that the gate next to his house can be used
after the twin sensors in the gate have been deactivated; apparently the
gate was designed to keep out sand (rockfall) when Ave was using the cave
as an excavation site. Now that they're not, you still have to do the bit
with the sensors or the gate will not open.

Once you've opened the gate, Bal will leave to take a look at your Gears;
however, before that, Bart asks Bal if he knows where the most powerful Gears
in the world are. Bal responds with a quotation from somewhere talking about
a matchless warrior who path is now extinguished; he then asks Bart whether
or not, by "the powerful Gears" he means the Gear Bara?

Bart is excited that Bal knows about it; however, the latter dismisses it as
yet another legend and advises the two not to think about it. He then goes
off to inspect your Gears while the two chat.

Fei thinks the old man is harmless, while Bart is of the view that he's
not what he seems; "probably here to dig up Gears." They are interrupted
in their conversation (now about the validity of the old legends) by Bal's
cry of shock. Upon seeing the Weltall, he exclaims that it is "the one
destroyed by the gods."

Fei questions him as to what he means; Bal instead shoos them out. Go through
the gate and forward; you will eventually encounter the Calamity robot.

After destroying it, Bart will enjoy his victory. Fei, however, is more
silent; it turns out that he has good reason to when the Calamity arises
again. Fei then proceeds to rip the Gear to pieces with a new technique,
which, after Bart asks about, admits he can't remember. (This is, in fact,
Fei's most powerful attack in the game.)

Bart and Fei emerge into the open air, when Bart says to head towards the
twin peaks in the distance. After some travelling, the two will board the
Yggdrasil; Meison and Sigurd will both introduce themselves. (Meison is
sorta like a butler, and Sigurd the sub-commander of the ship) Bart will
also get pulled off by his ear. ^_^ Shitan will inquire as to Fei's health;
the latter instead stares, preoccupied, at the Weltall, before saying that
it's nothing...

The Yggdrasil leaves for Bart's hideout. Bart is mobbed by kids the moment
he gets back; they demand a souvenir, which Bart produces. ^_^ Bart, busy
with Gear refittiing, tells Meison to take care of the guests and to give
them some tea. Meison leads you to the dining room.

There, some of the history of Bart is revealed; Shitan deduces through some
guesswork and rumor that Bart is actually Bartholomew Fatima, the son of the
late King of Fatima thought to be dead at 12 with an illness. Meison says
that is true; or rather, that is what the public knows. In actuality, Ave
was seized by a person named Shakan, who deposed the King and drove Bart and
his family out of the castle. They escaped through the use of the Yggdrasil,
a vehicle orginally intended for excavation purposes.

Meison then goes on to elaborate the political position of that period. Both
Ave and Kisreb are intensifying their efforts at unearthing the old relics,
and if this continues, rebellion will break out. Another factor complicates
this; the younger cousin of Bart, Marguerite (also known as Mal) is still
held hostage in Ave by Shakan. Finally, the search for the "treasure" of
Nisan (Mal's original country) is still on as well. Shitan provides a running
series of quite intelligent and perceptive questions during the conversation.
(I guess wearing those spectacles does wonders for him...^_^)

Bart then comes in, complaning about the Gear work. Shitan asks him whether
the "treasure" is a powerful Gear. Bart concurs and says that it is recorded
in the scroll of Ave that one exists. Shitan is about to ask about the
scroll when Bart leaves, telling Shitan that he'll explain once inside the
command room.

Once there, Shitan asks about the amount of electronics and material here;
Bart replies that Sigurd supplied it. He then activates a screen on the
floor and begins his tale.

According to Bart, the Gear he's searching for is the lost "treasure" of Ave,
(also referred to as the "Holy King") found by immigrants to the country and
eventually sealed during the coming of the last days. (Either that or "lent"
to the people of Ave's; slight fuzziness here) After finishing his story,
Shitan sums it up nicely; their first priority is to rescue Mal from Shakan,
then search for the Gear? (The "Holy King" that Bart and his enemies are
looking for seems to have been passed down from the head of the Fatima
dynasty, Fatima I.)

Bart expresses suspicion that Shitan, knowing so much about the state of
affairs, is actually a spy from Shakan! Shitan stammers out that he's simply
a curious person...to which Bart replies that his earlier comment was only a
joke. ^_^ Bart then asks both Fei and Shitan to assist him; especially Fei,
as Bart, seeing his battle skills in the cave, thinks that he will be a great
assistance in the fight against Shakan.

Shitan demurs, saying that he's only here for a night, then asks Fei what he
thinks. Fei explodes in fury, (tortured mech pilot cliche! ^_^) asking Bart
what the use of power and fighting is. Bart is extremely surprised and is
about to reply when Fei storms out of the room angrily, saying that he has no
interest in Shakan, his dad and Graf, or anything regarding those matters.

If you go to Bart's room (disregarding the notice on the door) you can pick
up a whip for Bart and hear him denounce Fei. ^_^ Actually he simply wonders
about Fei's behaviour and heads down to the lower levels.

Before you go down for the long scene with Bart, you can talk to Sigurd in
the command room and have him explain what's going on more clearly.
Basically :

1. Mal is the "godmother" of Nisan, a small theocracy in the western part of
the world.
2. Mal's full name is Marguerite; she's Bart's younger cousin.
3. Shakan has now taken full control of Ave after deposing Bart's father and
driving the latter out of his homeland.
4. Both Bart and Shakan are searching for the "Holy King" or "treasure"
mentioned in the scrolls; apparently, Mal has half the key to it.

Upon heading down, Fei will encounter Bart again. Long, long scene. Firstly,
Bart will apologize to Fei for asking for his help like that. Fei will then
refuse to aid Bart further (quite rudely). as he says that the prince "enjoys
battle" Bart will now embark on a long discourse (^_^) about the reasons for
battle; the gist of his argument is that battle never has a reason and no one
ever enjoys it. But it must be done, whatever the cost. Bart, having heard
about the Lahan tragedy from Shitan, then asks Fei whether he's simply
running away from the truth; if he truly wishes redemption from his part in
the massacre, shouldn't he fight to make it up for the children's losses?
He also adds that he doesn't wish Fei to join him if he doesn't have his
whole heart in battle; that would be next to useless. Fei is left pondering
Bart's words...

Bart then goes down to the Yggdrasil. Head to your Gear; the attendant will
remark on how well-rounded your Gear is, and also about the conspicious lack
of a black box (flight recorder for all you technical people). Sigurd and
Shitan will appear; the former will ask you to talk to him for a while.

You will see Bart on top of the Yggdrasil; despite what he has said to Fei,
he himself has many doubts. He asks himself whether he is up to the duties
his father left him, and expresses a desire to run away, as well as having no
faith in himself (although he doesn't intend to do so).

Sigurd then says that the prince is much harsher on himself than on others,
that he takes responsibilites that he shouldn't upon himself, but still
carries on without complaint despite that fact. He says that the prince has
always wanted a friend, and that Sigurd and the others cannot be the friend
that he wants; Bart knows that and does not mind. For those reasons and more
does Sigurd follow him.

Shiglude then asks Fei for a favor; to help the prince in his own way, as Fei
himself carries a burden. Fei replies with a "sorry" - that he cannot even
after he has thought of it. Sigurd says that of course, he is free to chose
whichever path he wants. He then says that you may use any of the rooms
upstairs to sleep in, and that your supplies and Gear are ready for you to
use whenever you wish. Shitan wants to talk to Sigurd a bit more; you can
head up to sleep now.

During the night, an attack is made upon Bart's base by a group of "Ahura"
soldiers. Ascertaining that this is indeed a base occupied by "Lams", they
proceed to trash as much of the area as possible, alerting Bart and Shitan,
who mass the base defenses to meet their attackers (Note : Shitan,
apparently, has not fought for five years.) When Fei is called to help, he
stands motionless despite Shitan's pleas; the latter surmises correctly
that he still has doubts regarding himself. Fei, standing on the bridge of
the Yggdrasil, wonders what kind of a person he is. He exclaims angrily that he
doesn't care about any of the events, least of all "the one destroyed by the
gods" Graf, or Shakan, as well as saying that he doesn't need any kind of
power for himself.

After the Brigandier and Heimdall finish off the first wave of attackers,
Shitan will comment on why the Gears don't seem to break down, just run
away; it's supposed to be because of a "Drive" of some sort which prevents
serious damage. The Cup Knight is then seen attacking two children. It is
just about to kill them when Fei appears in the Weltall, screaming "what do
you hope to gain by fighting?" Once he is defeated, all three characters
will face off against a boss. Turn on your Boosters and you should win
without much difficulty.

After the battle, Bart and Sigurd both thank Fei for his efforts. Fei asks
Sigurd and himself what he should do, what paths he should take, and finally
concludes that he will help Bart. Sigurd thanks him; once through that
scene, head to the deck of the Yggdrasil and you should be able to go to
Ave.

Upon reaching Ave, there is a scene introducing some of the major players in
the game; namely, Shakan, the Prince Ramsas and his helper Mian. (Note :
Ramsas's actuall title is "Your Excellency." but I'll refer to him as Prince
from now on.) Ramsas, after issuing orders to his crew, is reminded by Mian
that he is to meet with Shakan soon. Ramsas expresses extreme contempt for
Shakan and General Vandakam, both of which he will have to meet, while Mian
says that it is simply something, though vastly inferior to them, that they
must endure. (BTW, this shows the attitude of the "Ahura" to the "Lams" very
well; they consider the "ones on earth" nothing more than cattle.) Ramsas
leaves the ship with Mian in tow.

Shakan is quite effusive when he meets with the Prince, who ignores him and
instead begins to interrogate the General Vandakam, who has apparently failed
in a mission of some sort. (an attack from Kisreb, by the looks of it) Ramsas
calls him an idiot; in defense, Vandakam says that although he fired the cannon
(I can't remember what he calls it) at the enemy, their new units proved to
move too well. Shakan takes the Prince aside and asks him whether he can help
with the 50 anniversary celebrations that Ave will soon be having; he wants
Ramsas to assist in the naval display.

The conversation about that continues in the lift, with Shakan making a
request to have Ramsas grace the Arena competition planned with his presence.
(the exact term is "daibukai" or "great martial arts competition"; after much
thought, I decided to use "Arena" ^_^) Ramsas interrupts bruquesly with a
request for further clarification on the information supplied to him. Shakan
replies that the excavations have yielded another weapon; Ramsas dismisses
this as a "toy" for Vandakam. He asks whether any progress has been made in
the matter of the "Holy King" of Fatima.

Shakan tells him of Mal, held in the upper towers of Ave; Ramsas asks to see
her. Before they leave the lift, however, Ramsas asks Mian what the possibility
of activating the "weapon" is. Mian replies that the only problem with it is
whether it's condition will still be good after so many years. (The exact
difference between the "Holy King", the cannon that Vandakam used, and this
"weapon" is not clear. I think they're all different things, though.)

Ramsas and Mian finally meet Mal. Asking for information about the "Holy King"
gets them nothing except frequent requests for Mal's favourite food; Chiffon
Cake. ^_^ Ramsas then says that if Mal has any information, to relay to him;
meanwhile, he will see about the cake. ^_^ He denies Mal's request to return
to Nisan and the scene shifts to...

(Note : Ramsas talks to Mal pretty nicely; however, he is rude to both Shakan
and Vandakam. Shakan, in particular, seems to be nothing but a fop.

Oh, and BTW, Bart doesn't talk like a prince. ^_^ Rather, he uses colloquial
terms with great frequency.)

...Shakan listening in on the conversation. He remarks that Mal is not
as stupid as she seems (BTW, she is 10) and that she has control over her
situation as well. He then mutters something about his plans being fulfilled;
he apparently will not need Mal for long because of recent developments.
Somehow, Graf and Ramsas also are factored into consideration of his "plan".
Shakan, as well, doesn't seem so dumb now...

Fei and Co. head into town. You will approached by a man who will recommend
a hotel; the one with the blue sign, "hotel" over it, actually. ^_^ Check into
the hotel (if you enter the third option you'll get to stay for only 40 GP)
and a nun will meet you. She was sent to Ave by the Mother (as in the Church
one) to search for Mal and collect information. Bart tells her that they'll
formulate a plan of rescue and they leave.

From there, go and register at the Arena at the top of town. Then, find some
kids and talk to them (the exact location of this is in Dave's Xenogears Guide)
as well as purchasing their food. Then, go to the grille and talk to the man
there, who will give you the key to the waterway once you say that you're going
to use it to save Mal.

Return back to the hotel. Fei and Shitan will go to the Arena tomorrow, with
Fei participating, as the soldiers will be watching it intently; Bart will be
able to go through the waterway to get to Mal's room. The nun will wish you
luck. Go to sleep by choosing the second option when talking to Shitan and
dawn will break again.

When Fei goes into the competitors' tent, he will meet Dan; yes, the same
Dan that was in Lahan. He will accuse you of murdering his older sister again,
not heeding Fei's question as to why he is here. As Dan leaves, the man in
the blue cloak will ask Fei whether he's from Lahan; Fei says that it's none
of his business. The man will laugh and say that he hopes Fei will enjoy
the fight with Dan...and Fei is left wondering how the guy knows his name as he
didn't enter his real one in the entry list...

Just before the Arena battles start, Shakan makes a speech which I think is
nothing more than a ritualistic gesture; that is, he calls on the spirits
of his ancestors to bless the tournament etc. Ramsas then makes an appearance,
telling Shakan not to get carried away even though he's insane (he's being
rude again), and reminds him that this is not originally his kingdom. Shakan
replies politely that Ramsas is being rather harsh on him; Mian attempts to
mollify her superior by saying that she, unlike Ramsas, would like to see
the tournament. Ramsas then leaves with instructions to "watch the scene".
Shakan and Mian engage in light conversation until Fei's appearance; Mian
appears to take notice of him.

Bart, meanwhile, makes his way through the waterway to the castle. Once there,
an apparently senile old man will meet him. Senile because he doesn't know
who Bart is; calling him alternately his son, a "young boy", and the King's son.
^_^. (This whole scene is just comic relief). Bart then heads up to the main
floor of the castle.

Fei should be fighting the last opponent just when Bart gets to Mal's room.
Any attacks made upon Wiseman will result in him avoiding them and calling you
"pathetic." Finally, Wiseman will ask Fei where he has learnt his attacks;
Fei will reply, once again, that he doesn't see how it's any of his business.
Wiseman will then continue with more cryptic statements, asking Fei what
his reasons for fighting are, and then saying that Fei must face himself to
understand this; finally ending with a bit about how the way of the fist is
a combination of these matters.

Fei is understanderbly confused by this, continually shouting at Wiseman to
either shut up or elaborate, when the latter suddenly looks up into the
sky, exclaming that the "appointed time" has come, and suddenly running away
despite Fei's cries that "he wants to listen to him". The default winner is
now Fei as Wiseman has ran off.

Bart arrives at Mal's room and they both run off, only to meet with Ramsas
on the way out. After some verbal fencing (no pun intended) the two begin
to fight, with Mal ignoring Bart's order to get out of the way. Fei joins
in a while later; Ramsas is struck by the similarity of his attacks to
the strange guy with long hair he sees in the flashback.

Just as Ramsas is defeated for a second time, the screen goes white and
the words "Fei...that is the name of my son" are seen. Mal then says that
it's her turn to do something and summons a bunch of mice to distract the
two. (This is a bit of a pun on the fact that Ramsas has called Bart a
"mouse sneaking into his domain" before.)

Bart, Fei and Mal escape down the elevator as Ramsas orders the area cordoned
off. Bart asks Fei where the lift is headed; Fei has no idea. ^_^ Bart goes
on to ask how the Arena was; as expected, Fei won, though he doesn't seem too
happy about it. Finally the trio will get off, only to be chased by a horde
of guards into a corridor, where they will meet, or rather bump into, Ellie.
(the little bit in Ellie's room is Standard Chase Dialogue : "restrain the
two escapees; kill them if necessary but ensure the girl is unharmed etc.")

Fei asks Ellie why she's here; Ellie does likewise. Bart interrupts, saying
Ellie's "in their way", when Fei exclaims that she's not their enemy, leading
to Bart questioning him as to why he has a soldier of Graf as his friend.
Further dialogue is rendered impossible by the sudden appearance of the
aforeseen bunch of guards; Ellie ushers them inside her room.

Once inside, Ellie will being to explain who she is, incidentally clarifying
a small matter; Graf's elite group of soldiers is a subdivision of the main
Solaris forces (which appear to be led by Ramsas). She will then tell Fei
why she suddenly left. At the end of her explanation, Fei will reveal that
he has actually heard it all before. Bart will still remain suspicious
of Ellie despite Mal's and Fei's trust in her, asking continually if she can
be relied upon. Mal thinks she's "not a bad person". Ellie will also ask
if the three escapees she heard over the intercom are Fei and Co; when Fei
replies in the affirmative, she offers to lead them out.

Bart says again that they can't trust her; Mal disagrees whereas Fei says
that he made his decision long ago. Finally, Bart acceeds and Ellie leads
them to the Gear dock, as well as providing the codes that will allow
them access. As they board the Gear, Fei suddenly asks Ellie to come with
them. Ignoring Bart's yells to "come on!" Fei and Ellie proceed to have a
discussion; Ellie says that her place is with Solaris and that she cannot
come with them. Fei relents; before she leaves, however, Ellie tells him
that "the next time we meet, we will be enemies."

Once aboard the Yggdrasil again, Sigurd will talk to Mal about something.
I think it's about Mal mentioning that she hopes that everyone who protected
her is still safe; Sigurd says that she should have been more careful(?)
Mal then makes a comment that she was able to escape because of "one person"
(Ellie, I think) to which Bart replies angrily "WE did it!" Mal also gets
a bit irritated and reiterates her "one person" comment, as well as calling
Bart "bad" childishly. Meison attempts to calm the situation by saying that
Mal's room is ready; Mal heads off followed by a last parting shot from
Bart.

Yes, I know there were errors in the above scene; I had a cold. :(

Aboard the Yggdrasil, you will encounter a cute, fluffy critter blocking the
entrance to the Bridge (that's what Bart says when you talk to it). Go to
see Mal down the corridor; Bart will complain about the "strange thing" near
the Bridge. Mal will say that it's not a "strange thing" it turns out that
his\her\it's name is Chu Chu (default name; it's actually a main character.)

Chu Chu will then make an appearance, saying something about how it has seen
Fei at Ave at that it really likes him, leading Bart to suggest that Fei
cuddle it, to the latter's irritation. ^_^ Bart will then go out of the
room, leaving Mal to explain Bart's previous angry reaction; it turns out
that Bart has been always responsible for Mal's welfare, foiling capture
attempts and the like; that accounts for a severe scar wound on Bart's back.
After Mal tells you this, she grows pensive, then thanks you again for
saving her.

Go to see Sigurd at the Bridge now that Chu Chu is away. Sigurd will tell
you about Kaaren Ramsas, apparently Graf's superior and head officer of
Solaris (that is, Ramsas is the superior one.) Bart and Sigurd discuss
his intentions; both are of the suspicion that he is not out to simply
excavate Ave's territories. Bart thinks that he is actually after the "Holy
King", to which Sigurd replies that he would probably need more people to
go after that. Fei asks about Shitan; after a pause, Sigurd tells him that
Shitan will be meeting them somewhere - don't worry about it. The Yggdrasil
then sets off to Nisan via a secret underground passage.

On the way, you will see Sigurd and Shitan have a rather lengthy
conversation about various matters, including :

1. Ramsas. Both people make allusions to knowing more about him than the
other party members.
2. Someone with Ramsas, apparently a female (Mian?). Sigurd in particular
seems very concerned about her.
3. Shitan finally asks whether Sigurd has relayed this information to Bart.
Sigurd replies in the negative as he wishes to ascertain Solaris's intentions
before reporting anything.

Fei will be watching from above; he will be surprised by Bart shortly. Bart
thinks that he really doesn't know much about Sigurd, and Fei wonders
when Shitan actually returned.

Back on the Yggdrasil, Mal and Bart are returned safely to Nisan. Bart asks
about the situation; preventive countermeasures have been made to tackle any
approach of Shakan's forces, but people in the town are still uneasy, especially
after enemy movements that have been sighted in the mountains further north.
Bart commends them on their preparations, then heads into the city with
everyone.

Once inside, Mal will take off to see the sights, saying she's not been back
for a long time. Meison will say that Mal really cares about the city; then
heads embarressedly back to the Yggdrasil. Go to the road leading outside;
there, you will find Mal again, who will direct you to the church.

(The little scene with the shopkeeper in town is nothing more than Bart
meeting some old friends who knew him since young.)

Inside the church, Mal will be greeted with much joy from the nuns, who have
been praying for her safe arrival. Once the greetings are exchanged, Sister
Agnes (the head of the church) will suggest that they finish their prayer
now that it has brought Mal back. Agnes also tells Mal that her mother has
gone to the captial city and isn't here. Mal then expresses a desire to go
up onto the second floor, somewhere she hasn't been for quite some time.

As the sisters go off, Mal says that although she's happy, she won't cry.
(Not very sure what Bart and Mal are saying here) Bart says that's fine;
Mal then offers to show you all the way to the second floor. Bart comments
on how he, as well, has not been here for some time; he also says that Mal
has always been like this since young (that is, very-strong willed) and that
he has not been able to do that.

Up on the balcony, Mal says that looking down from here is one of her
favourite things to do, and adds that she remembers Bart climbing down and
getting scolded by someone. Bart, not surprisingly, gets a bit ruffled at
that statement. ^_^

Shitan also remarks that the light is certainly very beautiful. Mal says
that the two angels have a legend associated with them, told in Nisan for
some time. God wanted to create perfect humans as well as ones which would
help one another; therefore, he made these two angels with one wing each, so
that they whenever they flew, they would do so together.

Shitan says that; so, that's the reason. He goes on to wonder why, though,
the angel on the left seems masculine and the one of the right, feminine,
when he has seen quite a lot of reproductions in which both are rendered
neuter. Another remark is made about how the angels seem to be descending
from heaven. He walks around for a bit and finally exclaims that this is in
keeping with Nisan's policy of mutual harmony.

Mal thinks that Shitan is an interesting person. ^_^ Fei replies that he's
just intelligent and has lots of things to say. Mal say something about
"wanting to be able to help someone" at some point in her life and then
suggests that they go to see the potrait of Lady Sofia that is above this
floor. When asked by Fei who she is, Mal replies that she was the one, who
when Nisan was founded, made the church and formulated the orthodox
philosophy it now preaches. Shitan agrees and off you go.

(Another clarification : The "Church" in the game and the one with Mal is
affliated with are not the same. The "Church" supplies Gear parts, is
located all over the world and has a different philosophy from Mal's one,
which is only in Nisan. Think of them as Christianity and Catholisim or
something. ^_^)

When you reach the portrait of Lady Sofia, Shitan remarks that it is truly
a nice picture, and then asks Fei what he thinks of it. Fei, after thinking,
agrees, then says something about having met the person in the forest and that
the hair colour is interesting. After being questioned by Shitan, Fei asks
him if he thinks the portrait looks like Ellie. Shitan agrees as well. Further
inspection by Shitan leads him to say that :

1. The portrait really does look like it was done by Fei! Fei demurs, saying
that he isn't as good at the person who did it.

2. And that the portrait looks to be very sad, or rather, that the portrait's
attention to detail and rendition of the cheek appear to reflect the artist's
own emotions.

Finally, Mal says that Sister Agnes might know more about the picture. Shitan
asks her to find out more if she can, and then agrees with Bart to return to
town. Just before you leave, Fei has a flashback; the word "Lakan" appears at
the top of the screen...

Fei and Co. head back to town to be greeted by Meison, who reports that the
citizens of Nisan have lent you a house to stay in. When you enter, Sigurd
says that he would like to talk to Bart about their plans; Bart agrees, but
not before he has a word with Sigurd himself.

Bart begins by asking Sigurd what relation he has to Graf and his training
academy (mentioned in Sigurd and Shitan's previous conversation, probably
the one overhead by Bart and Fei). Shitan nods to his friend; Sigurd then
begins explaining.

Apparently, Sigurd was part of Solaris before, Graf's original country.
He confirms the fact that the people of Solaris refer to all outsiders as
"Lams" and consider them slaves. Sigurd was originally a member of the
government of Solaris; however, he objected to their policies and took the
first opportunity presented to escape.

Here, Bart interrupts his narrative. He remembers that Sigurd has been his
friend for a long time, despite him having once worked for Solaris. But, he
asks, why didn't he tell him (Bart) this before, instead waiting till the
situation with Shakan to reveal the information? (Obviously, Bart suspects
that Sigurd is a spy although he doesn't say it.) He then tells Sigurd
that he'd like to know the reason.

(This might be a good moment to mention that Bart and Sigurd are really quite
close; Bart calls him "Sig" often. Also, Sigurd, is also an alternate spelling
of a Celtic hero of legend, related to the Yggdrasil, tree of life. I've
forgotten the exact legend at the moment though. ^_^)

Sigurd replies that he has no explanation other than the fact that it was
his own intention to desert from Solaris; he hopes the prince will believe
him. He then continues that he would either have become a sacrifice if he
had stayed on, or he sacrificed something in leaving (can't understand the
fellow here; the exact object of the sentence isn't even clear!)

Bart, after pacing, suddenly says that he understands. He then asks Sigurd
to explain things a bit more clearly. I'll do the options one by one :

1) Where is Solaris?

Solaris, not being on earth, is obviously in the sky. Their is no transport
between the surface dwellers and the city in the sky other than sneaking
on to the war vessels that depart from Solaris through the "Gate." Shitan
also says that he has assisted Sigurd in doing that once.

2) What are "Lams"?

Solaris, apparently, uses the people of the earth for it's own aims, alternating
controlling them as it does Shakan or outright brainwashing them as they come
to Solaris; or rather, are captured. Solaris sorts them into the categories that
it wishes, whether they be soldiers or others, and then brainwashes them. Sigurd
then says that he was afraid they would find some other use for him, so he
ran away before they could do anything further. Fei interjects with a
question; did this happen to Shitan? Shitan replies that no, he was not a
even a high-ranking Solaris official, but confirms the fact that Solaris
does need resources from the world below, such as scientists. Apparently,
not many people in Solaris are actually pure-bred.

3) Who was that man?

The man in question is Kaaren Ramsas, who enrolled in the Yugento Academy
with Sigurd. According to both Shitan and Sigurd, Ramsas was a man of
ideals, who managed to graduate fast with honours simply because he was
extremely directed. He envisioned a new Solaris; made by appointing suitable
people from the surface in appropriate positions. Shitan and Sigurd happened
to ride the crest of the wave and were elevated together. Bart says that so,
Ramsas was their benefactor.

4) Why did Sigurd run away?

Solaris has recently begun experimenting with various drugs and chemicals,
in the hope of perfecting their plans of human experimentation. (Note :
this was one of the things Sigurd was afraid would happen to him.) One of
the products of their work is the "Drive" (same Drive mentioned before) Fei
then asks who is allowed to use the Drive; Shitan replies that only select
members of Graf's troops can use it. Bart then thinks the person Fei met
before (i.e, Ellie) might be a candidate for Drive usage as well.

Finally, Bart ends the discussion and says he needs a breath of fresh air.
You can find him on a bridge overlooking the town. As you begin talking to
him, Bart will express some doubts he has regarding Sigurd; he is still
rather upset that Sigurd took all this time to explain things to him,
especially as they were really good friends before this.

Shitan will instead ask Bart to look at the situation; with Solaris intending
to expand it's territories, it would be better for them to stand united rather
to fall prey to such bickering. Bart laughs and says that it seems Shitan
and Sigurd have planned this before. Shitan dismisses it and tells Bart to
think about the matter.

Bart then asks Shitan why Sigurd actually left (if you haven't noticed,
Sigurd has been rather close-mouthed about this); didn't he see a "star
of hope" in Solaris? Shitan replies that yes, that was previously the case,
but it was not that Sigurd himself changed; rather, it was that Solaris did
not meet his expectations of it. Bart then asks Shitan about whether he can
defeat Graf; seeing as he seems to be assisting Ave, they will need to beat
him too. Shitan considers and says that with enough fortitute, men, and
willpower, it is a distinct possibility.

After they chat for a while longer, Bart will question Shitan about a earlier
phrase "first, one must capture the throne before defeating Graf." They talk
about what Shitan means; Shitan himself is evasive. You will then head back
to the house to engage in a war meeting.

As the meeting starts, Bart will start to walk around the room, looking at
the paintings and reminiscing about old events; suddenly, he stops and says
that he's talking about the past - now is the present. The assembled party
then begin the discussion in earnest (actually Shitan kinda monopolises it.
^_^) Firstly, Bart decides to take back Ave; once that has been
accomplished, he will have some basis with which to negotiatate with Graf.

The plan goes something like this; they will use Kisreb forces to attack Ave
(somehow making an alliance, I guess), thereby decreasing the enemy forces.
Sigurd then points out that they will need to further divert both Graf's
team and the defense squad surrounding Ave. Shitan then says a decoy would
be useful. Bart exclaims that, yes don't they have one? The plan then
changes to using the Weltall to decoy both Kisreb and Ave forces towards Nisan,
shifting the center of attention away from the capital and leaving it open
to attack.

Bart questions whether this is a wise idea. Sigurd concurs, saying it would
not be wise to place Nisan at the center of the conflict. After more discussions,
Shitan reaffirms that it will be okay; their forces are sufficient. More
talking (I'm not giving you a blow-by-blow account; they talk a LOT. ^_^)
leads to Shitan mentioning the Kifainsel (someone check my spelling),
Kisreb's "invincible" ship. But then, it's supposed to be not on active
duty, so no worries.

Shitan then talks about Vandakam, who has been transferred from a base to Ave
(I think) Sigurd asks if it's the same Vandakam who attended Yugento Academy;
Shitan confirms his guess.

Then, the conversation suddenly becomes extremely confusing. :( (Blame Shitan;
guy keeps on using strings of kanji) The gist of it it that Fei, in the Weltall,
has volunteered to lead a small-scale attack group to distract enemy forces.
Don't ask me what happened to the decoy idea. Anyway, everyone then retires
for the night.

The next day, Mal and Bart have a short conversation at the dock about what's
going to happen. Mal says that Bart will be called "Prince" after this.
(Bart is referred to as "wakai", or "youth", in the game. Sorta like a lower
rank.) Bart replies that if he's the "Prince", then Mal will be the "Godmother."
Mal says she hates that name. ^_^ As they leave, there is a short bit about
the nun saying how Mal might marry Bart in the future; Mal is none too pleased
about the idea. (A bit of comic relief before the major battles...^_^)

At the Gear docks, Bart tells his men that the future of Ave will be changed
depending on what they do, and to fight with their hearts in it. Fei then
walks away; Bart and him wish each other well.

Aboard the Yggdrasil, Meison expresses doubts about whether or not Bart
will be able to rule well or be bowed down by the burdens of kingship. Shitan
reassures him that he will not. Meanwhile, above deck, Bart asks Sigurd
whether kingship is nothing more than a symbol. Sigurd replies that he was
brainwashed partially in Solaris, so remembers nothing of the those days
other than the fact that Mal and Bart were together. (it has been 12 years,
BTW.) But it doesn't matter; whatever happens is fine. (Difficult to translate.)
Suddenly, he mentions that a soak in a hot tub would be fine; Bart is taken
aback, and asks him what the hell he is talking about. ^_^ Sigurd then says
"this is this and that is that."...which I think is pretty strange behaviour.
^_^.

(Note, I am NOT mistranslating the above! Sigurd really does say that!)

Shitan then remarks how Sigurd wants to recapture the memories taken away
from him; truly a great person. We then see Ramsas have another flashback.
It ends with him walking away and Mian saying that "it's not good." She
then addresses Graf (no idea how) by asking him whether he saw Fei at the
Arena; she knew him at a glance - he resembles Graf. Graf replies with
something about a "plot" of some sort. (guy loves to talk in a really hard
way to understand - I swear; he's worse than Shitan. ^_^)

Mian says not to worry as they will continue to work together; his "important
thing" will be recovered because he is to do something for her...

(Note about above line : I have no idea how to translate "Datte, anata wa
watashi wo..." besides that. If anyone has a better idea i'm more than
open to suggestions.)

(Second note : Mian seems to adopt a different demeanour when talking to
Graf; one would suspect she, like Shitan, is a lot more knowlegeable than
she seems. Sigurd, in particular, seems scared of her. Just a mention, as,
once again, it's not so clear from reading that this is the case.)

Back to the Yggdrasil; Bart receives some information from his officers and
decides to move out. Meison then says that he has a bad premonition of the
future - Bart says he'll be fine. Scene switch to Solaris, where the five
soldiers we've seen before are talking to Ellie. She is now to be the next
commander of the unit (to the surprise of the previous one. ^_^) as she
has been through the elite Yugento Academy. They bicker about why she is the
head for a while, and then Ellie asks them whether this is how they behave
to a higher-ranking officer. One of the soldiers says he doesn't need to take
this - and is promptly shut up by another. (there's a small joke about how
he's a "pretty boy." ^_^) The previous commanding officer rounds them up and
they head to a new Gear, the Vierge.

According to previous head (yes, I know they have names, I'm lazy ^_^.), the
Gear, Ellie's, is a new type which supposedly has a different kind of energy
powering it. They then move out.

When Fei reaches the top of the cliff, he will encounter the team of
soldiers and tell his troops to go on to help Bart; he will handle them.
Ellie can't believe it's Fei; meanwhile, her officers attack without her
orders. After Fei beats them silly, one (yes, it's the pretty boy again. ^_^)
will wonder how come he has been beaten by a Lams. The red-haired guy will
tell him to drop down; he wonders why the "Drive" hasn't been used yet.

Ellie will say that she can't fight Fei, and that she can't use the Drive as
well. She will then be subjected to one of those cool EVA type flashback
scenes. ^_^ The words on top are Ellie's, the bottom ones someone else's.
Basically, Ellie is screaming how she doesn't want to use the Drive, whereas
the other person says that it's not so bad, it's only the Drive, after all,
and besides; wasn't her father a member of the military before?

The next screen details two people talking about the feasibility of using
the Drive; will it go berserk? The gist of it is that they decide to go ahead
and use it. The third and last screen, with Ellie in a spotlight, is the
committee telling Ellie that she has been selected for Drive usage; the last
two words to appear are Ellie's frenzied "please, stop!"...

Back in reality, the Drive has been engaged succesfully, and Ellie begins
attacking Fei. Fei keeps yelling at Ellie to stop, however, Ellie obviously
has no intentions of doing so. (in fact, it's interesting to point out that
her whole speech has changed. She now sounds very cold.) At some point,
Ellie will also attack with the Endatto (the diamond-like thingy blast) and
the soldiers will talk about it; according to the head (again), it's a
weapon that uses spirit energy to fire, and it only given to elite units of
a certain group, called Elmens.

Fei will continue to try to reason with Ellie, asking her about her duty;
Ellie will laugh all of it off and attack again. Finally, Ellie seems to
fight against the Drive; she will collapse to the ground, screaming in pain
with cries of "no, it's not me!". Fei will attempt to restrain her, wondering
whether the experiments she was subjected to have hurt her beyond her ability
to recover. As the situation seems going from bad to worse, the Vierge will
suddenly rise from the ground and emit beams of yellow light, then fall back
down once again; Fei rushes to it, calling Ellie's name...

Fei and Ellie will then have a long conversation; this is one scene you
unfortunately won't get the full quality of if it's not script-translated
:(. The summary is that Ellie says she has only one place left to her; Solaris.
(They talk about, among other things, how Ellie's previous prediction was
true, how and why to fight, Fei and her being alike etc. BTW, Ellie says she
used the Drive to protect her friends. As I said, no script. ^_^) Fei leaves
eventually, telling Ellie to remain friends with him.

Back at the Yggdrasil, Meison will break Bart's cup. Something must have
happened to the Prince, he says...

Bart will meanwhile be dividing his men and telling them to focus on Shakan,
not Graf or the Ave troops; he, like Sigurd, wants to end this quickly and
without bloodshed. As they come up to the top of the palace, they are ambushed;
by Mian and Shakan. Mian tells them that Ramsas is already headed to stop
their other troops as well. Bart asks her why she's siding with Shakan; Mian
replies that it's natural as she wants the "Holy King", which can be found
near Ave.

She then says that although Shakan is an idiot, he's useful. Shakan asks
her what she means; she sidestepps his question gracefully and tells him
to take care of the rebels. Shakan says that he will; after all, they're from
his country. Mian bids everyone farewell and the situation looks bleak...

...just as Meison appears, threatening gatling gun fire if Shakan moves so
much as one step. They attempt to escape in the machine; attempt is right. ^_^
After a series of mishaps, Bart and Co. finally get out of Ave.

In the Yggdrasil, Bart thanks Meison for getting him out of the scrape when
Sigurd appears with news that enemy forces are pursuing them. Scene shift
to Fei, who's going to attack Vandarm's Kifainsel with his troops. Milrock,
the sub-commander, thinks how Fei is like the prince.

During the Weltall's attack run, Vandakam will argue with the other fellow on
board about how to best deal with the attacking Gear; the guy in robes wants
to run away, Vandakam wants to fight. He orders all fire to be directed at Fei,
to no avail as the latter pilots the Weltall even closer. Finally, Fei will
land his Gear right on the Kifainsel and take out it's main cannon. As his
troops desert the now-sinking ship, Vandakam will mutter about how "it's
there..."

Fei and Milrock will have a discussion about how the latter helped; both
thank each other. Just then, Dora will make it's appearance and a boss battle
will ensue, with Vandakam screaming about how he will kill you.

A bit of help here as this is a difficult battle;

During the first stages of the fight, your two assistants won't do any damage
at all. Let Fei hit him until he picks up the red Gear. Once he does, don't
attack him or he will hit you with one (or both) of them, screaming again
about how he will kill you.

After a while, your repeated attacks will blow one of his generators, bringing
his defense down. Now, everyone can whack him, but as before, don't attack
when he has a Gear in his grip. Boosters are a neccessity here; he has about
3000-4000 life.

Vandakam will curse you for a fool; suddenly, a flash of white light will
brighten the screen and someone will ask whether ot not he wishes power.
Graf will then make his very stylish entry into the scene, again asking
Vandakam whether or not he wants power. As the general moans yes, Graf will
stretch out both hands, saying that each holds the "breath of the gods" as
well as the "beautiful power which has destroyed the mother." (BTW, this
sounds VERY like what Old Man Bal told Fei before; only a few more words are
added.)

Bart, meanwhile, has been ambushed and the Yggdrasil damaged severely by
Ramsas's troops. Ramsas debates killing him, but then remembers "a promise
made to an old friend." The flashback here is self-explanatory enough;
Sigurd leaves because of the previously revealed reasons despite Ramsas's
pleadings - the latter then calls him a traitor.

Fei, meanwhile, is having a hard time with the revived Dora. Milrock will
tell Fei to run off while they take care of him; Bart will need him more
than them. As the two sacrifice themselves, Fei is once more thrust into
a strange experience.

Yggdrasil again; Bart has decided to give it one last shot and fight till
the end rather than surrender. Meison says he will follow the prince into
hell, and Sigurd offers his own encouragement. Just then, a red Gear will
appear and wreck havoc among Ramsas' forces; Ramsas himself will stare at it
in shock, saying something about "the devil of Erule".

(Note about the red Gear : A six-winged angel in Christian myth is a Sephiroth,
the highest ranking angel next to God and Lucifer. Also, look closely at the
chest area of the Gear; it looks suspiciously like the Weltall's...)

The Gear will then speak to Bart, asking him if he is strong. After Bart
dodges it's blast, he will ask it what the hell's it's doing; it's dangerous
here. The Gear will then say that yes, he is strong, as Ramsas and Mian
appear.

The Gear takes apart Ramsas...literally. ^_^ Just before he's flung away
though, he will call it a "monster", the same thing villagers called the
Weltall. Mian will pick him up and return to base despite his protests to
stay. Bart will engage in a brief battle with the Gear, (after the former's
repeated question as to whether he is strong) and be sorely beaten.

Sigurd will then command the Yggdrasil to push both engines to maximum power
and to go ahead at full steam. The ship lands on the Gear, but amazingly,
is held aloft by the latter's power and thrown through the air. Sigurd will
then tell Shitan to go into an escape pod despite his protests; he's an
outsider and doesn't need to die for a cause that isn't his.

As the dust from the battle clears, the Heimdall is seen walking towards
the burned and charred remains of Dora. "It's the same..." Shitan remarks...

After an opportunity to save, we get to see the kingdom of Kisreb for the
first time. A soldier will enter the room and report information to the head
of government, Jeekman. A summary follows :

1. The cause for the large explosion north of Ave has been confirmed; a
clash between Graf and Ave forces.

2. A pilot left near that area has been recovered and is being housed in
the D division of the city. The Gear which the pilot was found has been
identified as the one involved in the Lahan incident.

3. The black box of the machine in which the pilot was found is of "his"
production. (That is, Graf.)

The soldier then inquires as to whether or not this might be a good
opportunity to attack Ave. Jeekman replies that this although Ave is
currently weakened, it is best not to take action so soon as Nisan is
involved in the situation as well.

Another soilder will then come in, telling Jeekman that "he" has come. A
strange-looking ship is then seen to move into the dock, and a masked female
will disembark. Jeekman will ask whether or not she is Graf; she will reply
that he is busy and that she is substitute. Jeekman will also ask whether
"that" is going to be lent to him and why; what kind of people are they?

The woman will reply that they "simply want to see the future of the world."
She will also tell him that the things he must know are too many. (she's
being mysterious here.) Finally, she appears to hand him something and leaves.
Jeekman will then comment about the prisoner in the D division, in connection
with what he was lent, but I'm not sure what it is.

I missed the whole next scene when I went to get some food! Wail! :(

Fei will then awaken in a bed somewhere. After asking where he is, where's
this, etc, the doctor will tell him that he's been asleep for 4 days already
and that he's in the criminal "D" division of Kisreb's capital city. A bunch
of people will then come in and demand that Fei follow them. They disregard
the doctor's pleas that he's just woken up; he's a criminal and they don't
deserve any kindness - besides, they'll bring him back soon. Finally, Fei is
herded somewhere and told the "King" is waiting for him.

The "King" will then speak to Fei, asking him whether he's the new guy and
welcoming him to the D division, which he's the boss of. Fei will then ask
for the King's name; Suzanne (one of the King's men) will say he's rude.
The King will dismiss it and tell Fei his name; Rico. He will then call
out all his cronies' names, telling Fei that the test will now begin.

The test is simple; to determine your "rank" in the town, Fei will have to
fight all 4 men one at a time. After beating all of them, Rico will challenge
him to fight; Fei will decline angrily, asking what the meaning of this -
wasn't the agreement to only fight 4 people? Rico will override his argument
and attack anyway.

(Note : Rico speaks sorta like Barett from FF7.)

Rico perform an energy-sucking type attack on Fei, then curses, saying that
Fei's level of fighting ability is strong. He continues his assault, telling
Fei it's useless to continue to resist; Fei manages to get out a muffled
"no..." and blows Rico back suddenly. (the word on the screen is "doke yo."
doesn't mean anything. No, no cool hidden significance here. ^_^) Rico will
then beat Fei's head in. (as far as I know, this fight is unwinnable.)

Rico then tells his men that this guy's rank is A; after that, they are to
bring him back to rest and forget what happened here. Back at the doctor's,
she will tell Fei's he strong; one of the few people to fight the King and
get rank A. The conversation then turns to the city; apparently, only
prisoners are housed in D division, and there's no way out...Fei will have
to get used to life here pretty soon.

Go to the bar and you will meet the camel-guy, Hamar. He tells Fei that he
is pretty famous here in D division already as a strong fellow, and that
he doesn't have the air of a prisoner. Fei will ask him what he means; Hamar
will reply that he doesn't mean anything rude - he was just making a
statement.

(Note : The thing around Fei's neck is a collar. Hamar talks in a, well...
weird way; I can't find an equivalent. Suffice to say that he's a comedic
character for the most part. ^_^)

Meet the guard outside town, who will inform you that the supervising
committe's standing orders are to let no one out. Go back to the bar and you
will encounter Rua Coon, a committe member. She will ask to to participate
in the Battling Arena in order to fight against the King (for what reason
I'm not sure); Fei declines, saying that he doesn't like Gear or fighting.
Besides, he doesn't even have a Gear now. Rua makes a counteroffer, saying
that the committe will supply him with one if he chooses to participate; Fei
refuses once again, more angrily this time. Rua will then leave, telling Fei
to think about it and tell her if he changes his mind.

(The little bits with the guards in the scene are Rua scolding them for
getting in her way and speaking when not told to. Also, Fei is rather curt
with Hamar most of the time, because the latter seems to want to ingratitate
himself with Fei.)

As you exit the bar, Hamar will come up to you, encouraging Fei to go after
Rau before it's too late; in D division, strength will get you anything. Fei
then makes his now famous statement (^_^) that he doesn't like fighting or
Gears and pushes past Hamar to the street.

Go back to where you first woke up and Hamar will run in, telling Fei about
some news; a new doctor is here! Fei will ask Hamar whether he's been drinking.
^_^ Hamar asks you to go see the doctor; it turns out to be Shitan. Shitan
will tell you he is here to retrive the Weltall from the Kisreb forces, and
ask Fei about his plans to get out. Fei is rather confused about the whole
thing - finally, Shitan will ask him whether or not he wants to spend his
whole life here; he can't after making the promise, right?

Fei will ask what promise; Shitan will remind him of his obligation to Bart.
At that, Fei inquires excitedly about the prince. Shitan will tell Fei that,
following the appearance of new forces, the Yggdrasil was damaged and sunk
into the desert; fortunately, he knows where it was and the damage was not
severe. (Note : I'm sure you've notice that Shitan has not mentioned the red
Gear!)

Fei will then tell Shitan that he can't remember anything that happened;
first, Vandakam showed up with a new Gear, and then he was in the D division.
After a bit more chatting, Fei will resolve to escape; he has his promise,
and besides, he feels that Bart and the rest are alive somewhere. Just then,
Hamar tells him that that's not a possibility; Shitan asks why. It's because
of the explosive collar around Fei's neck, which will blow up if he strays too
far from the city. Shitan will then offer to remove it, which has Hamar ask
if Shitan's a engineer or something; Fei will tell him that Shitan knows a
lot of things.

Just as Shitan is going to remove it, Fei will have a premonition of sorts,
with the collar blowing up, then hurriedly tell Shitan not to do it. Shitan
will remark on a loud noise somewhere, and then cautions Fei to be careful
with the collar as he doesn't want it removed. Hamar will ask whether or not
they wish to enter the Battling Arena instead; the winner of the tournament
will get to go free. However, they will then need to fight Rico, the King
from the last three years, who has won over 40 fights with KO etc, etc...

Shitan will ask if this Rico is a prisoner; when his guess is confirmed, he
wonders why Rico has not escaped yet. Hamar says it might be because he's
used to the lifestyle here, or likes fighting. Finally, Hamar goes to enter
Fei for the tournament. Shitan then asks Fei why he's participating; (he knows
of Fei's dislike for Gears and fighting) surely they are other ways to get
out of the city? Fei says that they are, however, they will be dangerous and
he can't just think of himself now; like Ellie, even if he has to do things
which he hates, he will do them for his friends.

The next scene with the floating orbs is meant to be very cryptic, so I'll
only summarize it :

1. They talk about the "animus" of the Lams and the "anima weapon" they have
found.
2. One of the orb being repeats words often : first, it says "sorrow,
sorrow" and then "dissipate, dissipate".
3. Frequent comments are made to events of 500 years or more back; the orb
being seem to be talking about a plan of some sort. They also mention the
day if destruction 500 years before, and presently, "the one who
understands" who has awakened, a "Memory Cube" in Kisreb, and a Gate Keeper.
4. They also seem to have a interest in the world below; referring to it
as the "unclean earth" that must be "purged". They seem to have control over
some forces below as well, as they talk about military divisions and such.

Don't blame me if you don't understand the above; I didn't. It's not meant
to be understood, IMHO. ^_^

(A note about animus and anima : Traditionally, the yin and yang type forces
in nature.)

Fei will then head off the to the battling Arena. Rua will meet him and tell
him how glad she is that he is participating. Fei will then get into the
Weltall again; Shitan suspects that the committee has procured the Gear for
him in order to test the data they have no doubt collected on it. (Remember,
it's a Kisreb Gear) Hamar will ask to be the "mechaman" for Fei, obviously
a mechanic type.

(BTW, after playing a bit more, it is evident from key sections of speech
that Hamar is hanging around Fei purely for his own benefit. He's still a
fop, though, ^_^)

The very first battle will result in the Weltall overheating and losing the
fight. When Fei awakened, he tells Shitan that he has had a dream; Shitan is
strangely quiet.

After a few battles at the Battling Arena, Rico will come and talk to Fei,
but not to fight him this time. Apparently, the overheat the Weltall
experienced was because of one of Rico's men, Leonardo, who didn't take his
loss to Fei very well. However, Rico is not here to apologize, and neither
is Leonardo; he's dead. A murderer of some sort has been spotted in the sewers,
and all his targets have been Rico's men; 5 so far.

Fei asks what this has to do with him. Rico says that Fei should come with
him to prove his innocence. Fei and Shitan agree and off you go to the
sewers. Rico has also stopped calling Fei "kid", which he previously has
been doing. ^_^

All the conversation in the sewer is about how the "murderer" attacks; it
seems to come out of the pipes and leave a stain on the ground when
finished. Shitan will attempt to deduce a pattern or motive to the attacks
and finally conclude that the attacks seem confined to areas with pipes.
More searching and Fei will discover that the heaviest concentration of
pipes is the upper area; unfortunately locked. One of Rico's men had the
key; it can be found on a mouse droid in the area.

Once the key is obtained, head back to the locked door. Fei and Co. will
talk about why it's not head, and Shitan will suggest that it escaped
through the pipes again. Talk to the green lizard thing, who will tell you
where the pipe leads; head to the pipe to fight Red Ram. Shitan will remark
on how the monster seemed quite human. Before you climb up the ladder to
return to town, Rico wil gasp in pain; Fei will ask him how he intends to
participate in the Battling Arena with an arm wound. Rico shrugs it off and
you continue.

Another sequence with the Heavenly Emperor. Shitan will tell him that "he"
has awakened two, no, three, times. They will discuss the whereabouts and
movement of something else (it's just alluded to in the text), then the
Emperor will tell Shitan to wait and not do anything else for the moment.
He also makes a remark about how the world below will be cut off and...
as the screen fades to black, the word "cleansed" appears.

Scene shift to Ellie and Co. They are receiving a briefing from an officer
about escort duty; he details the specifications of the enemy units, mission
objectives etc. Ellie then wishes a clarification; if they are going on
escort duty, why are bombers accompanying them? (Not too sure of the dialogue
here; lots of military terms. BTW, the vessel they are to protect is called
the Hebit.) The officer tells her not to question higher authority and
dismisses them. Ellie's own troops begin to reprimand her; one tells her
it's not wise to ask such questions, another (the "pretty boy") wonders why
they have such a commander, which leads to Ellie scolding him. ^_^

Ellie and the head converse; Ellie is of the suspicion that they are actually
being sent on a mission of destruction, to "cleanse" the Lams. She then expresses
her opinion that the Lams are about the same as them; why are they killing
them? The head and the rest of her troop tell her that she is "first-grade"
citizenry; third-graders like them simply do as they're told. Besides, she
can do things like that because her father was influential in the military.
Ellie cuts off this statement by telling them that she has no relation to her
father.

Back at Kisreb, Rico will meet Fei again and tell him to fight well against
him in the upcoming Arena battle. Fei will again ask about his arm; Rico
will tell him angrily it's none of his business and walk away. Shitan asks
you to rest for a while; it'll be a tough fight.

After you win the next few battles, Hamar will congratulate you excitedly
as you're going to fight the King next. Fei will demur, saying that despite
what Hamar thinks of his skills, it will be a tough fight. They talk about
the fight and mechanic stuff for a while, then Hamar reminds him that
before he leaves to rest, he must enter his data in the Memory Cube. (If you
don't remember, this is the bit about the data Kisreb wants to collect.)

As Fei and Co. set up the Weltall, Shitan remarks that they will win because
the committe has installed several special parts that Rico's Gear doesn't
have. Wiseman then appears and after a fight (in which Fei asks him why he
uses the same skills) subjects you to an awfully long dialogue. ^_^ He does
actually reveal a lot of important info :

1. After the fight, he will talk about how one must master the body first;
when one has understood this, he wil move as fast as the wind no matter how
heavy he is. This principle applies to Gears as well.

2. Wiseman was the one who, after Fei sustained severe injuries in a pitched
battle, brought to Lahan. It is also highly probable that the reason Fei
cannot remember his past is because of the injuries.

3. He also talks about Fei's father, Kaan. He trained with Wiseman in the
floating country Shebat (not related to Solaris in the conversation) and
that's why their techniques are similar. (Kaan trained Fei in the same
style) Kaan then married a woman, Karen, while Wiseman went off on a
journey.

4. However, Kaan asked Wiseman to take care of Fei when it was apparent that
Graf wanted his son; Fei seemed to have special powers. In the same fight
that Fei lost his memory in, Kaan and Wiseman were hurt by Graf, who then
disappeared. After tending to Fei and leaving him in Lahan, Wiseman went
after his friend, who had departed to find Graf. Wiseman thinks that Graf
killed him.

Fei also mentions that Graf seemed to have "unfinished business" with him
druing their three meetings. Wiseman bids Fei farewell after their chat,
and disappears; Fei and Co. retire for the night.

The next day, Fei beats Rico and becomes the new King. Rico's men accuse
him of cheating by having special parts installed, but Rico tells them to
shut up. Hamar then goes on about how powerful Fei is, and is also told to
keep quiet. ^_^ Fei then says it was luck and Rico's arm injury that let him
win; Rico disagrees and leaves.

At the King's room, Rua will congratulate Fei and tell him that the data
collected will prove quite useful to them; she will also tell them that
the head of the Kisreb government, Jeekman, wants to see them. Fei and
Shitan depart after asking Hamar to find out where the Weltall is stored, as
they do not intend to stay in Kisreb longer than necessary. As they leave,
they are told by the bartender that they will find Hamar at the Wild Cart
inn later.

Jeekman, not unexpectedly, wants Fei to assist him because of the power he
has. Just then, Rico makes an appearance. ^_^ He heads to the door and fools
the guards away. Inside, he is struck by a smell that he remembers from his
past.

The flashback scenes all have a small Rico asking his mother questions :
first, why he doesn't have father, second, why he has a tail (or something)
and finally, whether he's a human or not. (The other children have been
teasing him, you see.) Finally, men break into the house, telling the
"monster" to come out, and Rico's mother prays for God to help this child.
(BTW, Rico's mom is seen coughing a lot as well.)

Rico then rejoins Fei. Jeekman arrests him on the grounds that he has broken
committee restrictions (what I'm not sure); one of the guards also says that
he has interrupted a DNA experiment by entering the room. Jeekman then tells
Fei that he has to question Rico immediately, who he suspects of trying to
murder him, and asks him to consider his question carefully.

Once out again, Shitan will mention that they have to meet Hamar at the
Wild Cart inn. You will then see another comedic scene that has Hamar
blabbing their plans of escape right in front of the guards, and Fei shutting
him up. ^_^ After they move to a more convinient locale, Hamar will tell you
that the Weltall has been moved to a different dock, and the only way there
is by train. Fei asks Hamar to find out the train schedule.

Back in town, Fei and Shitan will meet Rico's men. Then tell you about more
Rico; he has hated Jeekman, and this town, for a long time ever since the
order to evict "monsters" was passed, and has always been on the lookout
for an opportunity to do Jeekman in. Finally, they ask you to help the King.
Hamar then bursts in with information about the train schedule. After more
conversation, Fei dismisses the men, telling them he will help the King,
and changes his plans to moving out tonight instead; a train's supposed to
arrive.

Scene shift to Solaris. The team of soldiers will see the new engine in the
base; it's supposed to run totally on Ether energy. A new character will
be introduced; Dominia, Ramsas's right hand person. Ellie will ask her what
the actual purpose of the mission is; Dominia will tell her even though it's
supposed to be secret. The mission's objective is to cleanse more Lams from
the earth. Ellie disagrees and says that Lams and Ahura are alike. Dominia
relataliates by saying that the only things Lams think about are strife and
warfare; they are doing the world a favour by destroying them. By attacking
and blowing up Kisreb's nuclear reactor, they can eradicate the whole city
easily. Ellie protests again but is overruled; Dominia remarks that she
(Ellie) has always been like this, ever since they attended Yugento together
and despite the fact that she is an Elmens.

(To clear up the Solaris military a bit, here's a guide :

Ramsas : General head
Mian : Guide, aide-de-camp
Dominia : Elmens member, Ramsas's picked soldier
Ellie : Commander of five soldiers, Elmens member, under Graf
Graf : Commander of special division of main Solaris forces)

On the train, Shitan will exclaim that the back cars are wobbly, and to
move forward. You will then enter a base of some sort; go and get the Master
Key ASAP, left behind by careless soldiers. Fei will soon recover the Weltall
and escape from the base.

In the desert, Rico will feel some shaking but dismiss it as his imagination.
That is, until he is attacked by the R Lankar. ^_^ Fei then asks him why he
is leaving; Rico angrily tells him not to concern himself with other people's
matters. Just then, Solaris vessels are seen attacking the capital. Shitan
will then Fei that they are aiming at the nuclear reacter; Fei can't believe
it - if they do that, they will blow up the whole city. He takes off, telling
Shitan to alert the people along with Hamar.

Rico will do a bit of soul-searching as the attack is in progress, wondering
if this city is his...and then run off to assist Fei. Meanwhile, as Ellie's
men begin their attack on the Weltall, the head tells Ellie to not confuse
personal matters will fighting so as not to shame Graf's name. Fei is
busy battling all of them, muttering that it's these guys again. As he heads
even further to the Hebit (which has the big gun), Rico will join in, telling
him that he'll need help "taking care of this nuisance." Suddenly, the
Vierge will appear.

Fei tells Rico to go ahead and ignores the latter's questions. Fei and Ellie
will have another very long conversation about several things :

(A short note here : I really love the Fei-Ellie scenes; the dialogue is
just so nice to read! Sorry, no script scenes unless people deluge my
assistants and I with fan mail. ^_^)

Firstly, Fei will ask Ellie why she is still serving Graf; she replies that
this is her place and that she belongs there. However, she doesn't like having
to kill. Fei will ask her angrily why she still continues to do it; Ellie
replies that it's her duty, attacking Fei once. The argument about duty escalates
until Ellie screams that she understand and knows what she's doing; she doesn't
need to like it...the pleads with Fei to understand. She tells Fei that he is
lucky; after all, he is free, not chained by a place he belongs to. Fei replies
that he's not free; he didn't ask to be dragged into this, and although one
might think that he's helping Bart, he's not really - he doesn't have true
place either. Ellie then confusedly asks him why he fights; he doesn't have
a reason? That proves to be the last straw. Fei will drag Ellie off to the
ground, telling her that this is what she has caused. Ellie begs him to see
it from her perspective; Fei almost slaps her then stops.

There is no true reason for battle, he says. It happens, and he got caught
up in it; all he knows is that now he must stop the destruction of the
nuclear reactor. Ellie says that he can't; he will be up against Dominia -
the elite of the elite. Fei goes off anyway; Rico will help him beat
Dominia, who vows her revenge as she escapes. (BTW, Dominia, being an Elmens
member, can also use the Entaddo.)

The ship begins to fall towards the city; Fei and Rico attempt to stop it,
assisted by Ellie later. Unfortunately, their Gears overheat and they are
forced to stop - that is, except Ellie, who says that her Gear is of Solaris
make and can withstand the pressure. Fei tells her not to be stupid; Ellie
continues to push...until finally, her engines give out as well, and she
falls...

Fei picks her up, softly calling her an idiot - Ellie realizes he's crying,
and says "sorry"...Fei murmurs that it's not her fault. (Once again, I have
to point out that the dialogue was simply magnificent! ^_^)

Ellie then joins your party. Discussing how to get out of Kisreb when
posters of you are around the city, Hamar offers a situation; appropriate
the Goriat, a large plane being built in the base to the north, intended
as a counterpart to Ave's own ships. Ellie tells them that she knows of the
the place through intelligence relayed to her previously. Then go off, but
not before Hamar has a private word with Ellie.

At the exit of town, Rico will come to assist you in beating up the guards.
He has decided that he doesn't like this town after all, but he's still not
your friend; Shitan asks him whether it would be better to be friends. Rico
interrupts and says guards will be here soon; he'll come with you to get
the Goderia. Long way through the base, etc, which I won't cover here, this
being translations and not a guide. ^_^

Once aboard the Goriat, Hamar will ask Fei whether he's going to Ave. He's
about to reply when who should turn up but Graf, who says that the Goderia
is not for you to use as you will. Although you might not think so, you CAN
win the battle. Graf has about 5000 HP; use Boosters and light attacks to
defeat him. (BTW, the meaings of the kanji in by his blast attack are :
Destruction, King, All, and the last one is Kill.)

Shitan will manuever the ship to dislodge Graf; he will then begin an attack
run on the ship itself; stopped only by Hamar's firing of the onboard
weapon, after which he promptly runs around saying he's a genius. ^_^ Fei
will tell Shitan that he has felt uneasy around Graf; Shitan will say that
he does too - Graf reminds him of something.

And then we see Bart - what a surprise! He does EXACTLY the same thing he
did the first time (same words) when he saw the sandcrawler, except this
time he's firing a weapon called the "Bart Missile." When it hits, Shitan
tells everyone to get off, and muses where the blast came from - could it
have been from Sigurd?

Bart enthuses about his victory; the newest model from Kisreb can't stand
up to him! His joy is short-lived, however; the flaming Goriat is headed
right at the Yggdrasil. ^_^

Back to Ramsas, who is searching for the Gate Keeper, to no avail. He asks
for a status report on Shebat's Aura Emperia (?), and the reply is that
only small traces are detected. Graf then appears and tells him that the
"boy" will slip through his grasp soon. Ramsas changes his orders abruptly
and tells the crew he will search for a Kisreb plane; ignoring Mian's question
as to whether it is wise to disobey orders from the capital.

Mian will go to see Graf; she asks him whether he knows the destiny of the
"weapon" as well as other related matters. (being cryptic again) Graf will
then disappear and there will be another scene with the flying heads. Once
again, they will to do their best to drive this poor translator crazy. ^_^

Anyway, another summary :

1. More about the "anima" and "animus" weapons are mentioned.
2. The Heavenly Emperor previously seen talking to Shitan makes his
appearance, and is introduced as Kain. (Yet another Bible reference)
3. Kain is heard speaking about Zeiboim a city of ruins in the sea; the
heads think is still exists.
4. Lots of allusions to events of 500 years past, as well as the standard
hints thrown to garner player interest.

Meanwhile, Shitan and Rico, on the Yggdrasil, go to meet Bart. Rico is
none too pleased to meet the person who shot them down, and jumps on him. ^_^

Fei and Ellie are then seen floating adrift in the sea, Fei searching for
food by fishing, and Ellie saying that that's not necessary. Just then, the
fying saucer by paass by overhead, and Ellie will tell Fei that's it's
Shebat, another flying country, but one out of Solaris's jurisdiction.
However, it, like Solaris, possesses a barrier to entry, and for some
reason, happens to fly over the Akuuei (please help with name) region often.
Fei will say that it's the same Shebat that Wiseman told him about...

Bart, back on the Yggdrasil, goes to apologize to Shitan and Rico. Shitan
shrugs off the apology (just as Meison said he would) with nary a thought,
but pays more attention to what Bart asks him; whether he knows anything
about the coat of arms on the Second Type Yggdrasil. Shitan thinks they're
from Shebat, and expresses some interest as to whether Bart's father was
involved with them. Rico doesn't even bother to listen to the apology, but
instead asks Bart about some things he has found on the Weltall. (?) (No idea;
I was really tired out from translation at this point. :(

Ellie and Fei will then have another long conversation. This is mainly
character development and philosophy; they talk about about living, oneself
and freedom, basically. Ellie has decided to go back to Solaris; despite
the charges she will no doubt face, she thinks that it's the best way; after
all, her place is there. BTW, Ellie had given Fei some army rations after
his failure to catch fish; that's what the small scene was about.

(Another note : Fei and Ellie have a long-running term in their many
conversations. This is word is literally "living place", or "place" used
whenever Fei and Ellie are talking about what their place is; where they
belong etc. Just thought you'd like to know.)

They will then be picked up by Damuz, a floating town. Go to see the
captain, who has kindly rescued you and refitted your Gears; Ellie will ask
him why. He replies with :

"Because I am!..."

"...a man..."

"...of the sea!"

^_^ (Spinning sequence translated by request of Ignacio DeLucas)

After following him down to the cafe (of sorts) the captain will tell you
about the salvage operations that Damuz carries out for the Church...

after Ellie asks him about the cafe - to which he replies with :

"The stomach..."

"...is a place..."

"...for food!"

^_^ (this one sounds much better in Japanese.)

they are searching for "treasure sleeping under the sea." Ellie and Fei then
feel some shaking; wondering if it's a battle, they run off to check. In the
ocean, Kelbina and Dominia are having a conversation. Kelbina, (the Rei
Ayanami clone) has verified the object above them as the Yggdrasil, apparently
not sunk (despite Dominia's suspicions) by the red Gear of the desert. (BTW,
we are not told how the Yggdrasil was rebuilt.) Dominia wants to attack
the ship; Kelbina demurs, saying that Ramsas's orders were to simply find or
recover the Kisreb vessel - besides, they don't have enough fuel. Dominia
apologizes and they head back.

(Oh, and the boy at Damuz, if you're wondering, says that he wants to be
a ship captain when he grows up, because the captain is so coooolll...then
breaks out into :

"I am..."

"...a man..."

"...of the...hey, what's that? Oh, they've not finishing working yet."

^_^)

Now follows a big boo-boo on my part; I accidentally erased my save! Wail!
:(

Fortunately for you, that was my second game. However, from here to Fei's
injury, (not that long is it?) the translations will be from memory.

(Begin memory part)

As far as I can remember, Ellie gets kidnapped by Dominia when she attacks
the Yggdrasil. When she returns to Solaris, Dominia almost slaps her when
Mian intercedes, bringing Ellie to a room, where I think she is brainwashed.
She almost pauses to remark that Ellie has beautiful eyes.

Ellie returns aboard the Yggdrasil and promptly sabotages the control valves
of the ship. The doctor says that something is wrong with her (like duh! ^_^)
and Bart tells everyone that she's a spy - they shouldn't trust her. However,
when Ellie wakes, Shitan overrides Bart's suggestions and tells Ellie that
they DO trust her; she must uphold that trust as best she can.

Dominia then launches another attack on the Yggdrasil with Ramsas and Mian
as well. Take care of Dominia; she's easy. However, you don't prove so lucky
with Ramsas, whose barrage of attacks seriously injures Fei - Ellie, filled
with rage, unleashes the Eadd on him, and he runs off.

The ship's doctor recommends seeking help from the "Church", a representativew
of which is aboard Damuz right now. There will be a seen with Billy, Jessie
and Primera; Jessie is quite protective of his daughter. Finally, Billy will
agree to assist you and transport Fei to the "Church" headquarters.

(End memory section)

As you enter the "Church" HQ, Enton, a man will speak to Billy, saying his father
has news about s shipwreck and needs to talk to him. Billy has no objections
to helping out with whatever needs to be done at the wreck, but resents the
fact that his father doesn't understand his viewpoint.

Downstairs, the doctor reports that Fei is not seriously hurt; however, he
will need to rest and they need to observe him for a longer period of time.
Ellie will say that she's sorry - Shitan tells her not to reprimand herself
overmuch. Then, speak to all the people at the upper floor up the Church,
where you came in; they will tell you more about the Church's objectives (to
save the souls of people on earth) and about Brother Billy, who, although
young, has served the Church very well.

Ellie will soon rejoin you; after a discussion, the part agrees the seek out
Billy to thank him for his assistance. You will find him at the orphanage
south of the Church. Once there, Billy will say that it is simply his duty to
help people, no matter whether they believe in the gods or not. Just then,
Shitan walks in, telling Bart that the shadow of a large ship has been
spotted. There will be a scene where Jessie is revealed to have been Sigurd's
senior at Yugento Academy, which explains why Billy calls him "elder brother."
Finally, Jessie will suggest continuing the discussion at the ship's bar.

There, you will return Fei to the sick bay of the ship. Go to the bar and
Jessie, Sigurd and Shitan will be drinking; or rather, Jessie will be pushing
drinks on the reluctant Sigurd. ^_^ Shitan will attempt to get Jessie's attention,
about various matters (such as a traitor or something) but he walks off, saying
that if he's still alive later they'll talk.

Jessie will come back home much later. Billy and he will talk, or rather, argue;
it's obvious from their guarded words that they have a long-running feud of
some kind. Billy will reprimand Jessie for coming back so late and forcing
drinks on Sigurd; Jessie will write it off and instead ask his son about
his trip to the shipwreck. Billy will rebuff him coldy and he leaves. It's
not so apparent, but Jessie does show affection, albeit a rough sort, for
Billy, even though the former has told him that he's not fit to speak his
mother's name.

(Speech note : Billy speaks very politely (actually, he speaks almost
exactly like Shinji Ikari from EVA, except that he's more forceful) but his
dad is another case entirely; rude, crude and one mean dude. ^_^)

Go back to the orphange and talk to Billy. He will tell you his reasons for
building it; to give kids a home and assist the Church. Outside, a man named
Stan (the church head) will arrive and ask Billy to go to the shipwreck as
soon as it's convinient for him. Upon learning of the danger in making
a solitary voyage, Ellie and Bart will offer to assist him. He will demur
until Stan insists; then he agrees and accompanies you back to the Yggdrasil.

The next day, Bart will talk to Bart about why he's going. But first, a bit
about Billy's weapon system, which he explains in detail.

Billy has three weapons; his Handgun, Ether Gun and Big Gun. Ammunition
has to be equipped for all three; this is done by pressing right on the
control pad when at Billy's equip screen. Then, select the ammo wanted;
however, be careful as one clip will totally replace the previous one, no
matter how much ammo was inside. So, don't reload when you've only used,
let's say, 53 shots.

Billy will then reveal his past. He had stayed happily with his sister in
a cottage that became the orphange. But Jessie was always going on journeys,
leaving the kids with their mother. One day, a bunch of thugs came in and
killed her; it was only because of Stan that they were saved. Billy decided
to become a Church member almost immediately; but from that day on, Primera
did not speak a single word. Jessie came back eventually...what was strange
is that Primera still likes him, whereas Billy cannot consider him his father
anymore.

Billy will apologize for rambling; eventually, you will reach the shipwreck.
Billy will remark on the lack of light and strange sounds; those are caused
by the Verus, the spirits of the dead. Shitan will ask him if he's scared;
he will admit yes, a little. BTW, you have to run straight at the upopenable
door here; after a few tries it will break off it's hinges.

After fighting Bloody in the cabin (who, surprisingly, says "brother" before
it\he dies), you will encounter a huge Verus. Back at the orphange, the
lookout will notice Billy's in trouble, leading the kids to prepare the
Renmazuo's launch. ^_^ After defeating it, you will be back on the Yggdrasil;
head to Enton.

You will discover lots of dead people. Billy will wonder what happened; head
down to meet an assasin. Once you've killed him, go past the previously locked
doors to witness the death of another church member; however, before this one
dies, he asks the assasins whether they've found out what was going on.

(More notes : I now present some Xenogears revelations. ^_^

Firstly, the language from now on becomes more intense than ever. There's
simply no way to translate some of the more subtle nuances of the dialogue;
another reason why the game will probably not hit US shores. As it is, you
will just not be able to get the full depth of the dialogue here. Sorry. One
thing I can tell you is that Shitan makes several slip-ups in his dialogue,
as if not saying everything he knows.

Secondly, the volatile religious material becomes more evident as well. There
are some scenes which would...to put it delicately, offend some people of
some religions. Nothing too inflammatory, but it will definitely be something
to consider in the case of a looking-less-likely-by-the-minute US release.)

Big, big scene in the basement of the Church. To cut a long story short,
among Shitan's observations, Ellie's findings from the computer base, Bart
and Rico's questions, and Billy's frequent exclamations of disbelief, the
following is revealed :

1. The equipment in the bottom of the base is of Solaris manufacture, and
the room itself was only accessible by high-ranking Church officials. The data
stored within pertains to every fact about the Church dating back from
ancient times.

2. Ellie and Shitan discover that Solaris has apparent connections to the
Church. It's more than that, much more; in fact, all countries and domains
of the Church have Solaris connections. Further information reveals that the
entire Church is merely a subsidiary of Solaris.

3. Furthermore, the Church was originally formed to regulate the remmants of
humanity left by the great war 500 years ago, the cause of which is unknown.
In order to do so more efectively, it formulated the concept of gods and
faith, spreading them to the people.

Ellie and Shitan resolve to get to the bottom of this; more information is
supposedly kept deeper within the Church. Upon leaving the room to continue
the investigation, though, Billy's friend will show up and begin a long speech
about how they, the "unclean ones" have been ordered to destroy all the rebels
in Enton to save themselves. Just then, Jessie will appear and shoot one with
a stun gun. He is about to shoot the other when Billy asks him to stop; he
does and the speech is concluded, having being stopped halfway by Jessie's
firing.

Who should appear then but Stan, who finishes off the job by shooting the
poor babbler. ^_^ Billy then demands to know the full story; in a very long
conversation, Stan will reveal the following things :

1. He is a Solaris representative, the one in charge of the Lams on earth.

2. Enton has rebelled against the Church by creating false gods; there are
no gods. Solaris does not permit such actions, and has taken revenge; the
whole team of assasins was sent by Stan himself.

3. There is more, but Billy is not ready for the truth. Stan also says
something about using human souls, the Verus, for some other plans...

Jessie will then break in, calling Stan Stein and saying that he's not
escaping this time. Stan will also refer to Jessie by a different name and
then escape anyway. Stan also seems to have known Billy's mother.

(Some of the follwing scenes will not be complete or accurate; at this point,
I was so engrossed in the game I was playing faster than I could translate. ^_^)

Rushing into the control room, you will find that Stein has activated the
Algansel, a powerful Church Gear, and ran off. The scene will shift to a
strange craft (the same one seen meeting Jeekman) firing on Damuz and it's
surrounding ships. The captain orders his men to repulse the intruders, which
happen to be more Verus; meanwhile, Sigurd hurries to to assist.

When you finally get to the captain, Shitan asks him if he's okay. Of course
he is, after all :

"He..."

"...is a man..."

"...of the sea!"

^_^

The captain will then tell you about his previous Church salvage operations.
It seems that they have yielded another ruin north of here; this was what
the Church was after. Head to the ruin. As you progress further down, there
will be some scenes; Ellie, on the bridge of the city, has a flashback of
sorts, and Shitan will wonder if she has "awakened" as well. Mian is also
seen telling Graf that he has "awakened" for the third time; since his friends
are nearing their treasure, he should take action...surprisingly, she actually
ends her request with a "please."

If you're having problems with the door, check the door once, then head up to
the rooms above and check the computers. Then go back down. As you're travelling
through the corridors, Billy will ask Shitan what the doors are for; Shitan
tells him that they're airlocks used to preserve the city, or else, they were
intended to keep something inside the city in...interestingly enough, most
doors tell you that you have to undergo decotamination as you pass through
them - as you go deeper into the complex, the messages change to warnings...

When you reach the room with a glass screen, Ellie will have another flashback,
saying that the walls have been dyed red with blood, and to not take the child
away. She then heads to a computer room and raises a glass tube up. Another
flashback; the same words are repeated. Finally, Billy and Shitan inspect
the container. Shitan says that the machine is intended for biological
experimentation.

(More notes : From here to about Shebat, there will be some errors and
chronological discrepancies in the record; I was too busy playing. ^_^ Also,
only the dialogue of the party I used will be recorded.)

Stein appears once again and begins another long dialogue about how this
machine, created by a Solaris scientist (you see her later, forgot the name)
is being used to make a better human to replace the inferior ones on earth.
Billy then engages him in a semi-theological debate about the gods and
humanity. Finally, Stein grabs the girl and sics Tronu and Seraphita on you.
There will be a comic scene in which Seraphita clings on to Tronu, asking
her "nee-chan" (familiar term for elder sister) to be with her. ^_^ Ellie
will caution you about the abilities of the two (they're also Elemens members)
and the battle will begin.

As they party chase after Stein, Id, the pilot of the crimson Gear in the
desert, will make a surprise appearance, telling Stein to "return it" to him.
He will then fight the party; once defeated, Wiseman will restrain him and
tell you all to leave. Id is none too pleased with Wiseman, and begins to
talk to him about other things (just allusions) before breaking free of his
grip. Back on the ship, Shitan will worry about the machine; it has the
capability of genetic reconstruction - in fact, Rico and Hamar's races were
probably created similarly.

The Algansel is then seen attacking the Yggdrasil; Graf will show up and
pull the same scene he did with Vandakam - that is, asking Stein whether he
wants power. Stein denies it until Graf holds out both hands (this time,
though, in addition to talking about the "breath of the gods." etc, he
mentions the "power of the corrupted seed.") and pours a stream of energy
into the Gear.

You will find that your attacks do nothing to the barrier surrounding
Algansel - that is, until Jessie shows up. He will give a long, long speech
to Billy about how humans will kill each other and not the guns that they make,
that though Billy didn't want to learn gunplay it was necessary, and finally
that it doesn't matter what Billy did or the Church stands for - the true
gods and the true faith are in Billy's heart. His Gear will then turn into
an Ether Gun and fire, destroying the barrier. (Note : Stein seems to have
been jealous of Jessie for marrying Billy's mom...not sure though.)

Afterwards, Billy will mourn for his dad, only to have Jessie appear unharmed.
Primera then talks for the first time in years, calling Jessie "Papa" Billy
asks her to talk to him and the scene fades out.

I think there is another flying head scene around here. Can't remember anything
beyond them talking about the anima and animus weapons again. Sorry. :(

Jessie then spills his guts about the whole situation. He had been under the
command of the same Solaris scientist who made the bio-reconstruction
machine (forgot name, but she appears in the next scene), and was the senior
commander of Sigurd. However, he heard a rumour about the possible uses of
the machine, and resolved to get to the root of the matter; leading to his
long absence from home. He then advises everyone to head to Shebat, which
supposedly is also fighting against Solaris, and drops a bit of information
about Maria, the daughter of a Shebat scientist named Nicora. (forgot what
he says.)

Fei asks Ellie if that's okay with her, Solaris being her country and all.
Ellie replies that she had broken off her connection with them and a Shebat
factory worker comes in, telling the party that Shebat is now above the
Tower of Babel. Fei resolves to go there.

The scientist then appears in the next scene; not much, expect that she
directs her ship to Solaris.

Halfway up the tower, Ramsas will attack you and be defeated; he wants to
continue fighting, but Mian restrains him, instead ordering the ship to fire.
Just then, Shebat assists you by blasting a hole in the Solaris vessel; Mian
is forced to beat a hasty retreat.

Once at the top of the tower, Maria will attack you with Siebzhen, saying
that no intruders are allowed here. Zehar, the queen of Shebat, will stop
her after the battle and let you enter. Maria then introduces herself as
Maria Belthazar.

Fei will remember that Old Man Bal had the same name, and tell Maria that
Siebzhen resembles Calamity. Maria replies that Calamity was a prototype,
then asks Fei excitedly where he has seen her grandad; he was captured by
Solaris forces 3 years ago. Fei tells her he's in the desert; Maria is a
little sad that they won't be able to go back, but is reassured that he's
fine.

You'll then have to find Maria in Shebat; walk around the town and you should
come to a children's room. Fei and Shitan will look at the hobby-horse and
and the destroyed room, saying how old it is; Billy will wonder why such
destruction was neccesary. Maria then enters and concurs with Billy's statement;
that war is horrible and causes suffering. She then escorts you to Zehar's
throne room.

Zehar will, in a long conversation, reveal Shebat's purpose; to stop Solaris
from destroying the people of the earth. Shebat has a more benign aim - to
give them a peaceful world so that their future will be untroubled. She asks
Fei to consider it and ends the audience.

Talk to Maria. She will tell you that she is more than ready to battle Solaris
forces anytime; however, she is uncertain about her father, who left for
Solaris years ago and has not returned. Go back to Zehar and choose the
first option - Fei will agree to assist her, but just then, the base is
attacked.

Maria immediately requests permission to repulse the enemy forces. Zehar
replies that it is far too dangerous for a single person; Fei volunteers to
help out. One person is left behind to protect the Queen and off you go.
Halfway down the access hatch, Maria will tell Fei that going down straight
is too risky as the enemies will be anticipating that; she opens an access
panel instead.

Finally, you will reach the room where Siebzhen is kept; Dominia will appear.
She will look at Maria - isn't she Nicora's daughter? And by the way,
Siebzhen is actually theirs. Maria asks why. Dominia then goes into a long
scene in which she explains about the "cursed secret" of Siebzhen, and why
Nicora left; he was trying to link the Gear and the human body together
totally, and, being unable to do so in Shebat, came over to Solaris. The
Verus are actually their first experiments, not human souls. Even the
Battling Arena in Kisreb has the same idea; by collecting data, they will create the
ultimate fusion of Gear and human Maria says that this can't be true;
Dominia reiterates that it is, and what's more, that the Siebzhen is the
pinnacle of that achievement.

Jessie appears and scares Dominia off, who returns to manage the follow-up
attack on Shebat. A long scene then ensues; basically, all four of Shebat's
shield generators must be protected. Chu Chu comes along, to Fei's dismay,
with Maria promising him a meeting with his other friends here later. ^_^

Just then, though Ahatsen will appear and threaten the imminent destruction
of Shebat. Maria will stare in shock; it's her father's voice! Zehar sternly
reminds her that it is *not* Doctor Nicola in there - Maria is not reassured
as the Ahatsen is the brother Gear to Siebzhen - only Nicola knew enough of
it's construction to duplicate it. Shitan then delegates the defense of the
4 shield generators to your characters. BTW, you can go out to buy new Gear
stuff from a Chu Chu outside - in fact, this is a necessity, because if you
don't, you are almost certainly going to be eaten for breakfast by the
attack groups. ^_^

Finally, Ahatsen will activate it's Psycho Jammer, stopping all Gear movement.
It turns out that the only thing that can save them now is the Siebzhen - as
the brother Gear to the Ahatsen, it's the only thing the Jammer won't affect.
Maria, though, cannot bring herself to fight her father. Seeing this, Chu Chu
makes a decision - since no one can fight, and the treasure of the gods
(which the Chu Chu are protecting) is in danger, he will have to battle
Ahatsen himself. Maria runs after him as he bounces off.

Once Ahatsen has taken a set amount of damage, it will fire Dominia's cannon
at the Chu Chu, defeating it. Midori then appears, telling Maria that it's
not Nicola in there - it's a bad man. (I have NO idea how Midori appeared
here. Also, she calls Maria "neechan", which careful readers will now know
as "elder sister.") Maria summons Siebzhen and readies herself for battle.

Ahatsen will continue to speak to her in her father's voice, telling her that
he will make her a promise for a bright future and stay with her instead of
leaving this time. Maria replies that this is not her father - what has
happened to her father's kindness, his smile? Siebzhen then goes auto and
attacks Ahatsen of it's own volition, to the doctor's surprise.

Suddenly, Nicola himself will appear and speak to Maria, telling her that
the real Nicola was gone long ago - the only part of him left is in
Siebzhen, which, for all intents and purposes, IS Nicola. He urges her to
destroy Ahatsen before his cannon is fired at Shebat - Maria cannot. Nicola
finishes his last conversation by saying that he will be with her forever,
then takes control of his Gear and destroys Ahatsen.

Maria and Chu Chu will then join your party. Bad news, though; Zehar reports
that Ave troops have occupied Nisan in their search for the treasure of
Nisan's royal family, sealed by the first king of Ave, Ronnie Fatima - the
Gear Bara. Bart will immediately hurry their, but Zehar wants them to study
under Gaspar first, an old master who, like Wiseman and Kaan, was at Shebat.
(This explains all the new skills you suddenly receive.)

You will then see a scene with Zehar and Wiseman. Zehar commands him to
continue to look into the affairs of the world below - he agrees. Gaspar
comes in and Zehar asks him about Melchior and Balthasar as well. The three
agree that events are coming to a close with the attack on Nisan; Gaspar
also reports that a "she" is making Gear below move (?) (Not sure.)
Zehar will ask Wiseman whether or not Ellie was actually Sofia - he will
not respond and she will apologize, leading to him dismissing the situation
and saying that they will have to wait.