Endless Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga Walkthrough by Mark Neidengard,
mneideng at ugcs dot caltech dot edu Version 1.0, 9/2/08


0. Prologue

..How long has it been since the Combination of the world began?

Some say thousands, tens of thousands of years.

Some say, it has ever been thus.

..Yet none know the truth.

Only one thing is certain:

It is the Portal, known as the "Crossgate", that binds the many worlds, so
close and yet unimaginably far, together.

It was a chance meeting between dwellers of these worlds that begat great
upheaval, and in time, war.

This too drew to a close, leaving in its wake a peace balanced on the edge of a
knife...

But some twenty-three years ago... what was believed to be the wreckage of a
flying battleship crashed to the Earth from parts unknown.

This event would alter the course of world history...

..The history of the Pathfinder Stone.

..How long has it been since that name fell upon this world?

So many Worlds, so many People, so many Times -- mingled so closely together.

..This is the Endless Frontier.


1. Red Automata

Haken and Aschen head into the ship, having finally received permission to see
what's inside the ship fully 23 years after it first crashed.  The main door is
protected by some serious encryption, so Aschen has to use one of her special
powers and deliberately overheat.  While this makes her stronger, it also
changes her near-monotone personality into a silly adolescent.  Complete with
wardrobe change!  Hey, at least it opened the door.

Inside, the team gets to throw down with what seem to be the ship's defenses,
still very much active and defending this huge steel grave.  The next major
door needs a key, and although it's unlikely to be lying around nearby, the
team might as well check anyway.

In one of the side rooms they find a "big" girl asleep in bed, mumbling about
how she can't eat any more.  Aschen, knowing her somewhat lecherous captain
well, says that that's "big" as in around a 40" bust.  This belongs to a
dweller of one of the neighboring worlds, Kagura-Amahara, who apparently
wandered right in before things were locked.  It was her fiddling with the door
that set off the security system, and Haken grandly offers to guard the lady.
He introduces himself as the stingy bounty hunter Haken Browning, with the OH
SO UTTERLY FAITHFUL [her sarcasm] Aschen Bladel at his side.  Their new
companion is Nanbu Kaguya, princess from a landed noble family Kagura-Amahara.
Haken smells a chance to rack up the dough, and they insist on being Kaguya's
bodyguards.

As everyone proceeds, hostile androids strike!  They go down without too much
of a fight, but Haken finds them strangely troubling.  Anyway, the party
returns to the ship.  Haken jokingly refers to Kaguya as a "souvenir", and his
first officer almost has to be restrained from eating her [joking, we hope].
The ship's science officer Sumii Marion recognizes Kaguya, being from the same
world.  She's actually half-Kaguran, half-Elfetiel, and is probably quite old,
though she doesn't like Aschen to point that out.  The first officer, Li Lee,
apologizes and says he'd never eat someone without a price on their head.
Comforting?

Anyway, Marion has actually deigned to leave her lab and take an interest in
their next bounty, code-named "Phantom".  This is a black metallic Personal
Trooper, similar to what the Kagurans call "battle automata".  These are a type
of medium-sized robot first spotted three years ago, at the end of the Ten Year
War that gripped Elfetiel.  It's not impossible that war might break out again,
especially since the Phantoms spotted were of the same type as the Nacht and
Arbent.  Kaguya says that these automata have been spotted in her country too,
and already tallied several casualties under their nickname "Specters".  For
her family's customary pilgrimage, she's come in search of clues about where
the Specters are from.

Haken is a bit reluctant to take the job, but when the crew needle him about
not measuring up to his boss Dirty John, he has little choice but to accept.
Marion for her part is itching to get her hands all over that sexy alien
technology...

2. Dirty John

Wander around a bit and encounter the Crossgate, ever unstable.  It's still a
mystery how the gates do what they do, but Haken doesn't much care.  The crew
are on the way to see John, a former bounty hunter who's now the mayor of the
only city in this world, Treidel Schteit.  John is interested in Haken's
investigation of the space ship, known as the Mighty Error, and tells him to
take the time to do it thoroughly.  That is, after he finds a certain missing
person-  Oh wait, she found him instead.

Actually, there are two parts to the job.  The second is investigating the
Miltkeil, which is involved somehow in the rash of "alien" high-energy
particles being detected throughout the many worlds.  One more mysterious
substance doesn't faze Haken much, given he's been raised in a whole world of
them, but John wants him to check it out.

The third thing has to do with this fugitive Phantom.  The war they were in
forced Kagura-Amahara to close its doors to outsiders for the past ten years,
and even destabilized the Crossgate as far as this backwater realm.  The order
is to see the Phantom destroyed, and Haken will do his best.  As he leaves,
John thinks that it's been fully 23 years since he first met Haken at the
Mighty Error.  Is it time for the young bird to leave the nest for good?

3. Schlaffen Celeste

As the team proceeds north, they see the wreckage of a "ship" once called the
Schlaffen Celeste, a millennia-old vessel whose powerplant is still alive and
still emitting alien particles.  Kaguya wants to take a look, and with Aschen
warning Haken not to cause an international incident the team goes inside.
There are plenty of ice-like Miltkeil crystals, known to the Kagurans as
"wedge-stones".  They weren't here the last time Haken visited this ship, and
what started out as a fun little side trip is showing signs of turning nasty...

Things deep inside the ship are a real mess, apparently in the wake of
"Esmeralda" passing through.  This is a group of pirates from Elfetiel, every
bit as curious about this ship as Kaguya is.  And led by someone almost as
busty as she is too.

As the team makes its way further inside, they run into a black-[scantily-]
clad android that immediately strikes Kaguya as dangerous.  It's as though it
was missing something spiritually, and that scared her greatly even though
Aschen and Haken didn't notice anything wrong.  The good guys lose sight of
her, but she seems to have repaired the ancient teleportation apparatus before
she left.

After the battle, the team manages to salvage enough data to know where the
black-clad robot went: Dulseus' Graveyard.  This is located in western
Elfetiel, near the city Dune Polis in the desert-reclaimed west.  This massive
structure houses the Crossgate used to invade Elfetiel from the world of the
demons, Formido Heim.


4. Taketori Castle

The castle is _huge_ but picturesque, and Haken knows it well from all the
business dealings he's had here.  Kaguya doesn't really want to go home yet,
but Aschen says that Haken's death-grip on money wouldn't let him even think of
leaving her on the loose - regardless of what charms she might try on him.
Haken grimaces and tells Aschen not to worsen his rep without cause, leading
the three of them inside.

Before returning to the castle, they make a side trip to see Haken's friend,
the shopkeeper Shirou.  Kaguya manages to make the mistake of referring to a
certain feline shopkeeper as Shirou's daughter, which would have gotten her
eviscerated on the spot if not for her royal blood.  Getting a hold of himself,
Shirou explains that this cat is a merchant named "Koma" operating in the heart
of Dragon Pavilion Island.  In Shirou's estimation, this kitty is the most
untrustworthy, inhospitable merchant known, and Haken promises to take care.

The team then goes to meet the lord of the land, Nanbu Sanuki.  He thanks Haken
for taking the trouble to return his daughter who is... conspicuously absent.
The king figures she's gone off to see the Immortal Sakura, which is the tree
encircling this entire city.  He sighs that what Kaguya really needs is a
mother, and Haken says that he'll fetch Kaguya right away.  But first... he
notes that Kaguya claimed she was in the middle of a journey, and wonders why
her father would go to the extent of putting up a financial guarantee just to
have her brought back.

Sanuki likes Haken's instincts, worthy of the successor to the legendary
"Wandering Bounty Hunter" John.  Besides the wedge-stones, this country is also
being plagued by the Shiki-Oni of Megi Castle to the East, and by the sudden
onslaught of the Specters.  Shuten hasn't taken care of that these past ten
years, and even Princess Suzuka hasn't been seen since heading there some time
back.  It sounds like too big a problem for a lone bounty hunter, and Haken
heads out to bring Kaguya to her father.

When the team catches up with Kaguya, she's deep in prayer.  She explains that
she forgot to ask her mother for protection.  Mother, as in the tree?  Might as
well be, and Haken apologizes for interrupting her.  Kaguya smiles and thanks
him for being so kind, musing that she ought to introduce him to Suzuka, her
friend and guardian since childhood.

Turns out Suzuka is a princess of the Shiki-Oni, though what she's doing
looking after another princess seems a bit hard to explain.  Kaguya's mirth
turns to shock when she hears that Suzuka hasn't been heard from since heading
East: she's been away from the castle longer than Kaguya herself has.  Kaguya
offers Haken some dough to leave her on the loose a bit longer while she goes
and sees what's wrong, and after some thought Haken figures that now's as good
a time as any to hunt down those Phantoms.  Kaguya is so natural in her
gratitude that Aschen thinks it must have been a deliberate ploy to get Haken's
help, which would make Kaguya a true force to be reckoned with.


5. Megi Castle

The castle of the demons has quite the ambiance.  Kaguya is shocked to see
wedge-stones everywhere, totally different from the last time Suzuka brought
her.  These stones aren't giving off energy like the previous ones were, but
that doesn't necessarily mean they're fake.  Maybe they're out of batteries?
It's almost as though their power is being used to do something elsewhere in
the castle...

The crew eventually find Suzuka imploring a silent Shuten to answer.  He
finally asks her to share his dreams once more, having some scheme in progress
to use the wedge stones to restore their tribe's lost power.  Suzuka is more
than a little surprised to see Kaguya, demanding to know where the heck she's
been wandering around.  Her bared midriff and minimal breasts seem to appeal to
both Kaguya and Haken, though Aschen doesn't seem to be as much of a fan.
Shuten isn't pleased to see intruders, especially ones who have gotten past his
newly installed guards, and tells Suzuka he'll be waiting for her.  She demands
he wait, but suddenly his voice changes, and he begins murmuring about
correcting the world into a purified, peaceful form.

Of course Suzuka will follow, but first introductions need to be made with the
Lost Herencian bounty hunters.  Suzuka is unimpressed with what she calls the
glib man and the vulgar automaton Kaguya has picked up, and wonders if Kaguya's
indefatigable optimism is simply the sign that nothing's going on upstairs.
Still, she figures there must be some sort of fate behind all this, especially
given how Lost Herencia  seems to be having the same problems with
wedge-stones.  She grandly directs everyone to follow her to the Great Gate in
the North, beyond which Shuten awaits...

As the party proceeds, they find the way to the Gate blocked, and the
aforementioned Koma on the scene.  She's apparently been paid by Shuten not to
let anyone through, and is enough of a pro to give it at least as good a shot
as the money she received.

Koma won't risk her life for this job, deciding instead to leave and let the
wedge-stones block the team's path.  Haken is more worried about the bony
critters by her side, and Aschen's analysis isn't reassuring.  The team has
never fought anything like them before, and their alienness is akin to the
wedge-stones.

If the team is going to get any more information, they'll need the head of the
Nanbu clan's "Ura-Genbu" personal ninja squad: Otone.  He's at the Dragon
Pavilion Island in the northwest.

6. Dragon Pavilion Island

Things seem almost too quiet here, the result, as Suzuka sniffs, of the
Ura-Genbu keeping the riffraff out.  Aschen scoffs at this, but Haken stops her
before she badmouths Suzuka's appearance too much.  The island's odd shape is
the result of its hasty construction by the sea, made to guard the Dragon Gate
during the Ten Year War.  Though the war has been over some three years, it's
still well-guarded against incursions by mutants from Elfe Tale.  Tensions
between the humans and shiki-oni aren't entirely dispelled, which reminds Haken
to ask why Suzuka somehow got stuck looking out for Kaguya.  She stays quiet
for a long moment, then blushes and chides Haken for prying into a girl's
secrets.

The crew go to meet Otone, who for a kunoichi looks surprisingly normal
relative to Kaguya.  She explains that all contact has been lost with Elfe
Tale, and that anyone who's gone there to investigate has not come back.  This
may or may not have something to do with the Phantoms that forced their way
into the Gate two days ago, exacting heavy losses on the Ura-Genbu in the
process.  This is where Haken and crew come in, and they leave Kaguya with
Otone to return to her castle.  Suzuka thinks better of that, and Otone has no
objections to her continuing as Kaguya's chaperone.  Which would include
keeping certain deadbeats' hands off the goods, though Suzuka doesn't actually
need to worry about that from Haken.  After the team people head off, Otone
tells one of her men not to intervene, and to maintain surveillance.


7. Elfe Tale

The first thing everyone sees through the gate is the enormous, millennia-old
Kiyuanoa Tree.  This is a part of Elfe Tale that Haken has never been to, for
fear of having to tangle with the "Dorothy" pirate clan and their Elfen
fairy-clan leader.  The destination is to the south: the castle of Duke Hausen.

When everyone arrives, the place is overrun with wedge-stones and seemingly
deserted.  The surrounding town seems to be without life as well, and after
some snide remarks about her companions Aschen says the place seems to have
been this way for possibly two years.  The sad fact is that there's so little
commerce with this part of Elfe Tale, especially after the Kaguran war, that
nobody noticed until now.  If this is what Megi Castle is going to turn out
like, the team has to head back fast.  Suzuka wishes she knew what the heck
Shuten was up to...

Just then, everyone gets treated to a display of some new wedge-stones coming
into being.  It's now clear beyond all doubt that they come from here in Elfe
Tale, and that the team is totally cut off.  Help(?) comes from an unexpected
source: Koma, who somehow managed to follow them here on Shuten's orders.  He
may be buying time until he finishes whatever he has in mind for the wedge
stones, and Suzuka really REALLY wishes he'd regain his senses.

The only chance is to head for Mirabilis Castle and try to use its rear gate to
get back towards Megi Castle, all the while fighting off the forces of the
Schlaffen Celeste.

The team reaches Mirabilis Castle with little difficulty, and on first glance
Kaguya thinks it looks far more merry than its fearsome past war records
indicate.  Not so fast.  The castle is run by Harm Darm, someone believed to be
half fairy, half-Formido.  Behind his broad smile is believed to lie
considerable malice, and in fact he was a spy during the previous war.  But his
spying came to an end just before the war itself when the Formido "Orchestra
Army" surrounded him.  There's no record of why they would turn on their own
spy, especially one instrumental in helping them enter Elfe Tale, but that
certainly wasn't the only oddity about that war.  The conflict both started and
ended with unilateral declarations from the Formido side, after which they
closed all Gates to their world from their side.  Could this point to some sort
of coup d'etat?  Anyway, the castle is said to still hold active booby traps -
and, everyone hopes, an active teleporter.

Break enough statues and there will come a little girl clad in red, who is very
grateful to be set free.  Once Aschen is prevented from squishing her, the girl
lets slip that her name is "Kyuon Feulion", and that she's on a secret mission.
Even though Aschen isn't really psychic, the team figure out quickly that she's
a Formidoan and that she's been stuck here since the Gates closed.  When she
fesses up, she says that she's a cannoneer from the Orchestral Army... and now
that she's told the team, she won't let them escape alive...

Kyuon is lucky to be alive after tangling with the team, but instead of
gratitude she leaves more badmouthing before fleeing.  Her presence here can't
be a coincidence after everything else that's happened, and it puts everyone in
mind of the Phantoms, including the mysterious PT's.  This castle seems pivotal
to the whole mess, and at this rate the team might even run into the Phantom
boss himself.  Anyway, the only way to proceed is through a crack in the floor
where the team's small assailant came from.


8. Underground

Go into the depths and encounter a snappily-attired were-fox named Saya, who
says the Quakes have somehow sent her here.  These "Quakes" are entrances to
other worlds, what everyone likely knows as Crossgates, and she mumbles
something about they're involved with their work before trying to change the
subject and claim she was simply writing a poem when she was sent here.  Suzuka
isn't buying that from the fox spirit, and the spirit creatures quickly
recognize each other from their obvious features.  All except Kaguya, who Saya
mistakes for a cow demon O_o

After the team explain what the deal is with Endless Frontier, Saya explains
that she's not from Kagura-Amahara, but rather somewhere called the Material
World.  This is nowhere anyone has heard of before, but at least the odds are
good that she can get sent home again.  If not, she says, for a group of people
in color-coordinated red and black outfits who seem to be after her.  The team
assume she means the Orchestra Army, and she quickly decides to exploit the
confusion.  The people after her are Arisu Reiji and Xiaomu, and Saya promises
to be very "grateful" to the cool, nihilistic Haken.  For now, the team send
her off to see Koma and on their say-so get access to the Crossgate.

Both Suzuka and Kaguya are more than a little suspicious of the sexy foxlady,
though Haken says that it's far better to get info from her than to just start
shooting blindly.  He reminds Kaguya about his admonition to her to improve her
judgement of others, and Suzuka sniffs, not unkindly, that any male capacity to
judge goes out the window as soon as a little sex appeal is involved.  Haken
doesn't dispute this, merely allowing that whether the fox is friend or foe, at
least the team avoided unnecessary combat.

It doesn't take long to run into Reiji and Xiaomu, "another" were-fox.  Xiaomu
recognizes Suzuka as a high-ranking Shiki-Oni and proudly proclaims that she's
over seven hundred years old.  Talks quickly break down, and as Saya planned
the two sides set to fighting.  Suzuka can't shake the feeling that these two
sure don't *look* like the Orchestral Army, and while Aschen agrees, she
figures it'll be safer to deal with these two after shooting them some.

After a smacking, Reiji is amazed by how strong the team is, and Xiaomu says
that they are far more righteous than their sexy getups would indicate.  She
and he have no way to prove that they're not the bad guys, but then again Haken
has no way to prove that they're _not_ not the bad guys either.  Xiaomu figures
they needn't tarry with this team when the surest way to Saya is to look for
some tengu and scythe-weasels.  These are none other than the mysterious forces
that have been plaguing Kagura-Amahara of late, and as Reiji says they all
report to Saya, leader of the so-called "Ouma".

The Shinra agents got delayed, the team got duped, and it's clear that a
thorough meeting of the minds is needed.  After some deliberation, it comes out
that Saya was supposedly defeated once already by Shinra.  Reiji agrees to lead
Haken and the crew to their destination: the Crossgate at the deepest level of
the castle, in the interest of assuring the way home is still open.  Call it
"felicity".  As for Xiaomu and Reiji, they fear they're in this for the long
haul.

Head to the Gate and something unexpected is waiting: something, or someone.
It's Kardia Basilia, aka W06.  This somehow stirs something in Aschen's memory,
and W06 growls that that Corruption had better not have damaged her memory.
Does the "Corruption" refer to the Mighty Error, the battleship near whose
crash site both Aschen and Haken were found some twenty years ago?  There seem
to be no salacious details about how Kaguya came to be sleeping there, but
there must be *something* connecting Kaldia to Aschen - Aschen distantly
remembers something about being given the production code W07.  W06 has a
mission to carry out, and while she isn't permitted to tell the team what it
is, it seems to involve kicking their asses...

Kaldia simply isn't willing to disclose the mission she's waited 23 years to
carry out, and runs off.  Aschen has been acting even stranger than usual,
which is saying quite a bit given her occasional bursts of odd speech.  A
bigger problem is the teleporter, which seems to be totally nonfunctional.  If
Reiji and Xiaomu are to get home, it won't be through this route.

Suzuka says that there's worse things than being stuck in this world, and
Xiaomu wouldn't mind settling down and having up to two kids, but Haken assures
the agents that there's plenty of other ways out of this world.  Saya in fact
has probably gone in search of one, and Reiji and Xiaomu agree to tag along
with the team until they can find a way home.  If Reiji is "Alice" in
Wonderland, that makes Haken one heck of a weird rabbit.

As everyone is about to leave, Aschen finds the Level 2 card for the Mighty
Error, probably dropped on purpose by Kaldia...

Head back to Koma, who is quick with snide comments about the new party
additions.  She's much more complimentary towards her new "big sister" Saya,
who bought a whole load of stuff before departing.  Looks like Koma has
unwittingly(?) powered up the enemy, who has headed off towards Siegel.  This
may be the best chance to catch her.  There's a suspension bridge to southern
Elfe Tale south of this castle, which has been out of service since the war.
The team is relishing the opportunity to repay Saya for her misdeeds, so much
so that Reiji and Xiaomu resign themselves to temporarily joining the "Dark
Side" -- something which Haken has constantly been trying not to come across
as.

Koma tells Aschen that she hasn't seen any other androids like her come this
way, but Haken is sure that she'll meet her sister again at some point.

9. South Oratoria

A tower blocks the road to the south, apparently fallen during the previous
war.  There's a problem though: the door to the tower has been thoroughly
wrecked by what looks like an energy weapon -- wielded by Saya?  Unless someone
sold her a beam sword, the first possibility seems to be Kaldia...

As the team makes its way inside, Kaguya looks forward to doing a bit of spring
cleaning in this filthy place.  There are more pressing concerns though, in the
form of multiple heat sources heading inbounds.  Reiji's wound doesn't ache, so
he doubts it's the Ouma.  By the way: should avoid the poisonous red stuff on
the floor.  This strange building was assumed to be of Formido Heim origin, but
at this rate it may be more related to the Miltkeil Stones.

Proceed for a while and the team will run into a provocatively-dressed resident
of Varna Kanai.  Even Kaguya can't believe someone would dress like that, and
Suzuka struggles to figure out how to compete with such formidable breasts.
The mermaid cautions that she's not even at "full power" yet, but her servant
says that Kaguya's "full power" version might prove dangerous at this rate.

Haken recognizes the leader and second-in-command of the Sirena pirates, two
people with major prices on their heads.  The pirates in turn figure out that
this team don't seem to be in league with "them".  Does "Them" refer to a
certain pink android, or perhaps... someone else?  Is it they who wrecked the
door?  Anyway, the "merry" captain considers just blowing everyone all away,
something she tends to do when irritated.

However, once defeated, she readily tells the team that the pink android has
gone in pursuit of the Phantoms.  If worse comes to worse, that might mean that
Kaldia was mixed up with the previous war -- and in fact, that Haken and Aschen
were too.  Apparently there's yet more players at work here, but the captain
would prefer not to recount them... unless the team would like another round of
smackage.  Kaguya declines, and everyone go their separate ways in peace.

The crew don't have to go far before running into Phantom itself.  After a
brief skirmish which ends in a draw, it flees.  Everyone heads off in pursuit,
but not before Haken warns that the residents of southern Elfe Tale -- the next
port of call -- are pretty rough.  In fact, they're a bunch of pirates, and the
"bomber girl" appellation applied in jest to people like Kaguya may be more
literally true there.  In any case, it's the only place that has a Cross Gate
to Lost Herencia.  Most worrisome to Aschen are the androids Phantom had with
him - the team has seen them before, and they bode no good.

10. Abrieita Castle

The entire premises are decorated with a wolf motif, legacy of the lord's
achievements during the war.  Said lord is Ruball Kukurus, and he's who the
team would have to talk to about using the Gate.  However, as anyone can see
the Gate is out of commission for now, not so uncommon given that they seem to
have a mind of their own.  But by the looks of things, this Gate is going to be
down for quite some time, almost as though something very powerful had just
passed through.

The crew needs to talk to the king, which might not be so hard with two
princesses in tow, and given that Haken's first officer Lee is an old friend of
his.  But more immediate help arrives in the form of a passerby named Catsy.
Catsy is queer in more ways than one, and intimates that (s)he is quite
"intimate" with the king indeed.  Kaguya gasps, and asks Suzuka if things like
that actually "work" between two men.  Suzuka, somewhat flustered herself,
tells Kaguya not to ask her that stuff.  Xiaomu adds that it's been known to
occur every so often, and Reiji has to tell them all to shut up.

Haken hopes Catsy is a local and would therefore know when the Gate's likely to
open again, but unfortunately Catsy actually hails from Dune Polis and hence
isn't an expert.  He headed here to ask Ruball about the rumors of upheaval in
the area, and to find out about some fishy research Dorothy's been up to.  Word
is, it's something that can break Miltkeil crystals.  This is only a rumor, but
given that the Orchestral Army seems interested in the Dorothy stronghold, it's
a pretty trustworthy one.  There's even some indications that the Crossgate
instability has something to do with some kind of super "treasure" that the
pirates brought back from Lost Herencia.

Catsy has been most helpful, though when Koma shows up it seems they both have
their own agenda, be it money or angling to sleep with the team's male
contingent.  Suzuka wonders if all the Dunepolians are like Catsy, but no one
is going to find out for now.  Instead, the Dorothy clan's Esmeralda Castle
beckons.

11. Esmeralda Castle

The Dorothy have very strange sense in decorating, which Haken knows well after
over ten years of tangling with them on treasure digs.  Known for
indiscriminately tossing bombs around, the Dorothy may seem childish... but if
the rumors are true, their pyrotechnic ways may be useful in getting rid of
those pesky crystals after all.  What's more, an aching in Reiji's old head
wound indicates that Saya is somewhere nearby.  Reiji (unconvincingly) assures
the rest of the team that the pain will recede shortly, and grumbles to himself
that after ten years, he'd really like to put this accursed scar behind him.

Wander around some and encounter a woman dressed in red.  Perhaps less "woman"
and more "angel of death" given the black wings and all.  She's received a very
thorough report about the appearance and personalities of the party from a
fellow Formido soldier (guess who), though at that time Reiji and Xiaomu
weren't included.  Before the fragdown, the woman names herself as Henne
Valkyuria.

She won't answer the slew of questions about her interest in the Dorthy clan's
research into breaking the Miltkeil crystals, or the Personal Troopers' part in
the last war.  All she'll offer is a stern warning to the team go back home and
educate themselves on what's really going on.  She then warps away, leaving
everyone scratching their heads.

Awaiting up ahead is Saya.  Which is interesting, since the last time she and
Reiji saw each other Reiji finished by shooting her in the head.  Saya seems
somehow sad that everyone hates her, and Reiji shouts that it's her misuse of
the Quakes which threatens to upend Shinra Banshou, the Firmament.  The Shinra
agents are doing their damndest to keep that from happening, but Xiaomu would
prefer not to mix other worlds up in the crossfire.  To the suggestion that
they take this throwdown back to their own world, Saya says that she's got a
bit of business to transact here first - and lucrative business at that.  Haken
correctly guesses that she's made a deal with Dorothy, though they haven't
given her what she really wants yet, which is the gadget that breaks blue
crystals.

Things quickly turn into a fight, and Saya seems fairly impressed that the team
isn't just a bunch of cosplayers trying to distract the enemy (Kaguya protests
that these are the team's normal outfits anyway).  She's already told
everything she knows: which is that the Dorothy have the apparatus in question.
She does leave the team with one more piece of info: activate the big-ass
elevator if they want to see the boss.  Reiji lets Saya run off, mainly on the
theory that the more people looking for a way home to the Material World, the
better.

The party quickly runs into Dokumezu, another one of the Ouma goons, who is
almost as worried about the "payload" as he is about what the crew has done to
Saya.  After a brief fracas, he scurries off to wherever Saya went.

The storerooms of this castle are expansive, and brimming with items stolen
during the Ten Year War.  Among them is an elegant white coffin, from which a
high-energy signature emanates.  As the party make to force it open, it opens
by itself, and out steps... KOS-MOS!  The superbly-crafted android is as glad
to the Shinra agents as they are her, though her appearance has changed quite a
bit since their last meeting.  KOS-MOS explains that her previous chassis was
destroyed and that Shion and the others made her a new one.  Things must be
*really* rough in KOS-MOS's world if someone as strong as she could get
destroyed.  Suzuka greatly admires KOS-MOS' fealty to her creator.  KOS-MOS has
no idea how she got here, knowing only that some sort of abnormality triggered
her capsule's auto-maintenance mode and revived her.  For Haken's benefit,
Reiji explains that KOS-MOS too is from the Material World... just a different
time in it.  This sounds far-fetched, but that's what makes these Quakes so
dangerous.  In any event, KOS-MOS will come with the party and help find the
way back home.  And back to Shion.

Where there's one of the Ouma goons, there's the other: Dokukozu.  He's got
orders to keep the party away from the armory, and once he's killed them he'll
go rejoin Saya.  He thinks.  Actually, when Kaguya tells him that the crew will
meet his challenge head-on, Dokukozu (lit. Poison Cow-Head) asks her to marry
him.  Despite the obvious species gap and the fact he's out to kill everyone,
Kaguya can't help but be a bit flattered, which Suzuka drily says is something
they need to work on.

Before the team can see the boss of the Dorothy, they have a couple riddles to
solve These involve properly positioning the statues next to the viewscreens.
Get them correct and onward ho.  Answer two more and meet Dorothy Mistral
herself.  Haken wants to know what she's been up to all shut away in her room
like this, though he quickly quashes the thought that he's asking about
something sexual - at least for now.  It's the Miltkeil breaker he's after,
having heard about it from Saya.  Dorothy is actually very grateful to Saya,
whose otherworldly technology let her finish the gadget, which she's christened
Algulos.  The prototype isn't really finished yet, and mass-production is still
a ways off, but she's about to rent it to Haken when she spies KOS-MOS.  She's
furious that Haken would steal what she's already stolen at great effort from
the Schlaffen Celeste.

A little fighting cools tempers just enough that Dorothy is willing to consider
the rental, especially when Haken offers to overlook how much of a mess she
made of the Schlaffen Celeste.  Dorothy attaches two conditions to the rental.
First, she wants the most blood-red Miltkeil crystal the team can find: that
color indicates the highest purity, which she needs for her research.  For now,
the weapon she'll give will only cleave blue crystals.  She also wants the team
to buy some stuff from her, and won't take no for an answer.

Even she doesn't know how to hasten the Gate's opening. so the team decides to
head to the so-called Great Gate after consulting Catsy the "Catguy".  Dorothy
is troubled that a resident of Dune Polis would be here, since the great Gate
was never able to reliably link to that world.

12. The Great Gate

The Great Gate is, well, huge.  Huger than a certain member of the party, even.
The massive gate was supposedly built in only a few months, right after the war
ended.  Through the gate is western Elfe Tale, better known as Dune Polis.  The
whole area has become desertified thanks to that war, and part of the function
of the gate is to keep the desert from expanding any further.  Its architect is
the leader of Dune Polis' one real city, Giant Marcus.  The Gate is so solid
that not even a kitten could squeeze through, raising the question of how Catsy
got here, but as everyone ponders this, the Crossgate suddenly stabilizes,
clearing the way to go use the Level 2 card at the Mighty Error.
Kagura-Amahara also needs help.  As the squabbling between the team resumes,
they head back towards where they started.


13. Back Home

Swing by the ship where a very worried Lee is glad to see everyone safe.  The
ship is actually still pretty new, only a decade or two old, and seems to be
having a little engine trouble.  Marion doesn't like being reminded of that,
but loves the look of KOS-MOS.  She wants to take her apart right away, ever
the mad scientist, but first she delivers some bad news to Haken.  The royal
expeditionary forces have sighted Phantom at the Mighty Error.  The party
already know the Phantom forces are a tough nut to crack, but no one has even
been able to confront them directly.  The reason: a new enemy blocking the
path: the PT Arbent.  It, along with the other Formido PT Nacht, had been
missing since the war, and the fact it's here now begins to lend clarity to the
whole picture.  Saya must be mixed up in this somehow too, as must be Kaldia
given how she left the key card.  Kaguya has a really bad feeling about this,
and urges everyone to hurry to the Mighty Error as fast as possible.  Suzuka
had been hoping to get back and start breaking crystals, but she well
understands where priorities should lie.

14. Mighty Error

Indeed, Arbent is waiting at the Level 2 door.  The Mighty Error's onboard
systems are far more active than last time, impressive given the degree to
which the ship is damaged.  There's no choice but to fight, and Marion isn't
going to be happy when the Arbent escapes.  If this is what guards the door,
what horrors lie inside?  Despite all misgivings, it's time to find out,
keeping a few of the Arbent's shards for Marion to check out.

Inside is control room, lit by loads of pretty glowing screens.  It appears
everything is in good working order -- and that someone turned on the power.
KOS-MOS says that while there are some blocks without available data, most of
what's visible is data on all the combat androids deployed throughout the ship.
Those androids are referred to as the "W Series", which seems to prove beyond
doubt that Aschen did not originally come from this world.  Perhaps that's what
Kaldia was trying to force Aschen to face?  In any case, she's been part of
Haken's family for twenty years, and no one is going to ostracize her now.

KOS-MOS can also read the combat specs of the Arbent, Nacht and Phantom.  Does
that mean that they're from another world too?  But there's one problem: the
data in the computer indicates that these PTs are 30m-class manned
monstrosities.  What the crew just faced were 4m tall at the outside, which
Xiaomu attributes to the global trend in downsizing.  More likely is that
someone who saw their data used Kagura-Amahara's battle robot techniques to
replicate them.

..Or if not Kaguran technique, Formido technique, which in terms of technology
is at least at parity.  That also explains the cannons and beam sabers the
Formido adversaries have used.  The problem is, how the heck could they have
gotten the requisite data back, especially if they were in the middle of
battle?  Nobody knows, but somebody'd better do something quick unless the
human-sized folk want to get mixed up in full scale war between super robots.

15. Level 2

At length, the crew find the storage area for the W Numbers, including a pod
labeled W07.  This must have been where Aschen once slept, but she doesn't
remember how she came to have left this place, or how she found Haken.  Also
present is the W06 pod, empty.  Kaldia seems to be the one who switched all the
systems on, but she herself is nowhere to be found.

The team is about to return to the ship and file a report when a dimensional
abnormality ensues in the central hangar area.  Xiaomu says that everyone had
better gather up some spare change fast to pay the ferryman, cause at this rate
the fare looks to be a real bitch.

Confront Kaldia, who explains that the Phantom was constructed here in Endless
Frontier.  The odd part is where that data came from: despite appearances, it
wasn't from this ship.  Phantom has been wandering around in search of its
"true" memory... as has Kaldia herself.  All this is due to the damage the
ship's main computer, Tink Erbell, sustained in the crash.  A crucial part of
the Zero Numbers' mission has been lost: eliminating W00 if it hasn't fulfilled
a certain condition.  What that condition is, is what's gone missing.

Suzuka hopes Kaldia isn't talking about Aschen, and Kaldia reminds her that
Aschen is W07, the only Zero Number capable of using Code DTD.  Aschen doesn't
even remember who or what W00 is, and an irate Kaldia reminds her that it's
their leader.  While the original Phantom isn't W00 itself, it was constructed
for W00's use.  This Phantom is a replica of that original, which has been
given an AI and made independent.

What Kaldia wants is to hunt down whoever made that replica, and kill them off
to maintain the W Numbers' secrets.  "Made in Formido Heim" is how Haken sees
it, but that still doesn't help figure out where W00 is.  Kaldia has been
*hoping* to jog Aschen's memory all along, but that seems to have been a rather
colossal waste of time so far.  The crew thought the Arbent was part of
Kaldia's plan, but given she's never heard of it there seems to be yet another
player at work here.

After some serious throwdown, Kaldia and Phantom are too damaged to continue.
They try to retreat for now, with Kaldia warning Aschen that she's been marked
for death.  However, Phantom is having a little problem: its AI circuitry has
overheated, apparently under Phantom's own volition.  It's as though it doesn't
want to run away, and Kaldia is forced to flee on her own.  Phantom seems to be
well and truly down for the count, and no amount of "antics" from Kaguya or
Xiaomu or scanning by Aschen makes any difference.  Since Phantom was made for
a leader, and the party's leader is Haken, it falls to him to lug the thing
home.

At least Marion is thrilled, and Haken wryly tells her not to fall too deeply
in love with him.  With a smirk, she replies that she's not interested in
little boys, and elbows him out of the way to get to work.  Her plan is to have
the mech reborn as a servant in short order.  The rest of the crew have to
think about cleaning up Kagura-Amahara, as well as tracking down how the
Phantom's data got out in the first place.  There's also the question of what
Kaldia and Saya are up to, and what Aschen's mission really is.

The team will have one more ally (of sorts) along.  The Phantom's proper name
turns out to be the Gespenst, and Marion has rewritten its control programming
so that it'll obey the team's commands.  It must have been made in Formido
Heim, but interestingly it's different in structure from the pieces of the
Arbent brought back previously.  The latter almost seems organic in nature,
though no one's sure precisely what that forebodes.  In any case, Haken is off
to Megi Castle to clean up the Miltkeil mess, every bit as industrious as Dirty
John in his heyday.


16. Through the Doorway

Waiting for the team through the ice-bound Megi Castle's inner gates is the
Nacht.  It utters not a word, but seems to be somehow resonating with the
Gespenst despite not having a soul as such.  Haken would love to take some or
all of this thing home to Marion, but the "Iron Lone Wolf" of Ten Year War fame
doesn't retreat without a fight.

Upon seeing these mecha rampaging through the tranquil castle, Xiaomu says that
strange things seem afoot in Cyber City Oedo 808.  While no one can say that
the Nacht and the Gespenst are unconnected, at the very least the organizations
deploying them seem to differ.  For instance, the Nacht was supported by
androids of the same lineage as Aschen, which would be odd if the Orchestral
Army were its primary backers.  Unless they started using androids after all.
Everyone might just have to go to Formido Heim and find out in person, but for
now there's more work to do cleaning up this world.  As everyone is about to
move out, Reiji's wound starts aching...

Waiting ahead is Shuten, whose muscular frame isn't Xiaomu's idea of an
attractive guy.  Attractive or not, there's something wrong with him - he's
babbling about errors and about correcting the comingled worlds.  KOS-MOS
thinks he may be undergoing mind control from some third party.  Whoever that
party is, it's not Saya, who's merely here to find the purest red stone that
the team has also been dispatched for.  She's happy to hear about the crystal
breaker, figuring she can simply take it away.

Shuten unsteadily tells Suzuka that he's got to restore the Shiki-Oni to their
former glory.  All relations with the humans and other species are to be cut
off, as an unnecessary pain in the ass for those with might.  Saya says that it
seems to be the Miltkeil itself that's controlling him: it's as though it's
somehow "alive".  Is it mere coincidence that the Arbent's structure also
appeared organic?  The purer the Miltkeil, the stronger the effect, and even
Saya has begun to feel it after spending enough time here.

The restoring Shuten to sanity part isn't working out so well after all.  Saya
says that her main objective isn't the power controlling the poor guy, it's
simply a way to get back home and back to work.  She's actually more than a
little irritated that these aliens are being such busybodies and obstructing
her attempts to get a little "souvenir" before returning home.  She reminds
everyone that no one on the team should exist in this world, but Haken has the
answer to that: this is Endless Frontier, where mingled worlds and people is a
matter of everyday life.  Saya can do nothing but sigh and defer to the locals,
pointing out in passing that Nacht has just made off with that crystal
everyone's after.  Saya sets off in hot pursuit just as Shuten wakes up.

Turns out he's been busy over the last decade trying to perfect the crystals,
and doesn't like the fact that the crew let the master crystal escape.  Suzuka
tells him to get his head straight and quit relying on some weird-ass powers to
restore the glory of the Shiki-Oni, and without making a satisfactory answer he
runs off too.

It's hard to say that Shuten is entirely in the wrong here, though Xiaomu's
attempt to sympathize by reminiscing about her "strike" against Shinra is
positively trivial by contrast.  Haken asks why Suzuka isn't following Shuten
to pound some more sense into him, and Suzuka says that he's at least two
centuries too young to give her romantic advice.  She's sure Shuten is strong
enough to pull through.  In any case, it's clear that what the team needs lies
in Formido Heim, since the Orchestral Army must have been the ones who sent
Nacht to get the Miltkeil crystal.  Though all the Gates are closed, Haken says
that there are other ways, once the team returns to the ship...

However, on the way out the team runs into Otone, who demands that Kaguya
return to her father.  Things are bad enough that the king is considering
sealing the whole realm off again, and she's been ordered to bring Kaguya back
by force in case Kaguya has other ideas.

After mounting decent resistance, Otone can see that Kaguya has become strong,
including in her choice of comrades.  After Xiaomu makes a tasteless joke,
Otone says that she'll withdraw and simply report to the king that she didn't
find Kaguya.  She leaves Kaguya to Haken, double-checking that Suzuka is still
on the job as Kaguya's chaperone.  As she leaves, Otone thinks to herself that
if the king is really serious, Kaguya might end up using "that".  And "that"
must not be allowed to happen, lest the same thing befall Kaguya as befell
"him"...  Suzuka is impressed with Kaguya's level-headedness, and advises
Xiaomu (who's been spanked for her tasteless joke by Reiji) to take notes.

17. The Desert Gate

Lee wonders if Haken is joking about going to Formido Heim, given that he's
about 6/7th implausible under the best of circumstances.  Marion gives the
engine a mostly clean bill of health, and with some misgivings Lee gets the
ship ready to travel.  The Tseit Crocodile shudders but complies as they fly
through the fickle Gate and reach southern Elfe Tale.  This is Lee's home,
where he first became a bounty hunter - at least in name.  It was Haken's
"father" who elevated him from a mountain bandit, only after which his comrade
Ruball became a king too.

Lee hasn't heard of Catsy, whose aid Haken is hoping to enlist to get into
Dulseus' Graveyard.  This is a reckless plan, but Marion is used to captains of
this ship taking chances.  She isn't sure why John made Haken his successor,
but is sure it wasn't mere happenstance.  John is aware of this mission, and
didn't pass judgement one way or the other.

Haken actually warns whoever is tending the Great Gate that he means to pass by
hook or by crook, and when there's no answer he simply rams through.  The
Graveyard is still some ways off, but it looks like the team has now reached
the spot that the black KOS-MOS-like robot teleported to.  KOS-MOS is shocked
to hear mention of T-elos, the android who once destroyed her.  T-elos is
actually more powerful than she is: at once the most human and most *inhuman*
of her kin.  This formidable foe is yet another being that doesn't belong in
this world, and since the Crocodile is a bit worse for wear the team is going
to have to walk to reach her.  Kaguya at least is enthused about seeing new
worlds - at least someone is...

It's slow going through the arid country, and everyone starts getting hot,
tired, and thirsty.  Even Aschen, who has her heat-dissipation mode, is still
overheated.  It suddenly occurs to the team to wonder why it's so hot next to
the coast.  Anne Dorothy shows up to explain that it's thanks to the war and
all the magical weapons employed during it.  Turns out this is her hideout,
conveniently located near the Crossgate to Varna Kanai.  She invites everyone
inside to chat.

There's only one way to cross the desert: the Giant Marcus.  As the pirates
explain, this thing is actually a *tank* in the form of a colossal cat, atop
which a city has been built.  This thing sounds a bit difficult to hitch a ride
on, but the best lookout point to find it is a spot due north.  Anne would
actually like to guide everyone, but there's no way the mermaid could make the
trip.  The monstrous Marcus can be spotted fairly easily, but it seems to be
moving too fast to board.  That is, until Haken unveils his plan: chase it down</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
with the Tseit and jump aboard.

Haken's credibility is dwindling, but Marion insists that the plan can be made
to work (at the cost of shortening the engine's lifespan).  Haken wouldn't be
doing such reckless stuff if not for a very bad feeling he's got.  After any
resupply, the team chases down the Marcus and manage to get aboard.  Marion and
Lee have orders to wait for two hours, and if they don't hear back they're to
return to Lost Herencia and report the whole thing to John.

Who should be waiting down the hall but black marketeer Koma and... Ruball!
This wolf-man is in extremely ill humor, and is preparing to extract vengeance
in full for all that Formido Heim has wrought upon his kingdom.  Rather than
"investigate" like Haken's people want to do, he plans on invading the
Graveyard by force.  If that touches off another war, so be it.  Koma isn't a
warmonger, but she's more than happy to take Ruball's money to play guide.
Where money is concerned, she's more than happy to tell the team to kiss her
ass.  In any case, the team's own mission would suffer greatly if war breaks
out, so there's no choice but to rebuff the unlikely wolf-cat duo.

Ruball's rage over the havoc in his territory is understandable, but it's far
from proven that Formido is behind it (though the team has their suspicions).
Kaguya is adamant that war must be avoided at all costs, but it's a historical
fact that some things can be obtained no other way.  The warlike Elfe Tale
beast man doesn't want to hear the pacifist line from the pansy-esque Kagurans,
and departs after saying that his fight is far from over.  Kaguya gets a
peptalk from, of all people, Reiji: just the fact that opinions differ
shouldn't keep her from voicing hers.  At any rate, it's all the more urgent to
figure out Formido Heim's real role in this, and the best starting point seems
to be in the direction Koma went...


18. Propulsion

The Engine Room, vast though it is, seems insufficient to move the giant Marcus
by itself.  That is, until Aschen notes that it seems to be made with Formido
Heim's quasi-magical tech.  Who's driving, Haken wonders.  He finds out soon
enough: an imposing Orchestral Army dude in black.  This time, the report he's
read has perfectly reasonable descriptions of the party, except for Aschen's
which appears to have been written by someone different (and less mature).  The
man orders everyone to leave, adding with surprising reasonableness that he has
no love for unnecessary fighting.

Haken frowns, asking if it wasn't the Formido forces which started the Ten Year
War.  The skull-headed man pauses, then admits that that is indeed how things
ended up.  The team try actually asking the guy to let everyone through on the
way to Dulseus' Graveyard, and just then an unexpected figure shows up: it's
Catsy, the *leader* of this city.  This explains how he knew about the
Orchestral Army's movements: he's got friends among them.

The Orchestral soldier's name is Ezel, and he's come to enlist Catsy's help to
fix what's going on in Formido.  Catsy says that his role ended during the last
war - if not even earlier when he failed to perceive what was really going on.
The crew can't help but overhear this, and Haken formally introduces himself to
the Formidoan.  Ezel Granada gives his full name, and confirms that he's in
fact the leader of the Orchestral Army, a special battalion in Formido's
forces.  He isn't likely to just let the team through, and like Henne before
isn't inclined to actually provide details on what's really going on.  Catsy is
of a similar mind, especially after giving shelter to the duplicitous little
Koma.  He doesn't especially want to fight, but he does have his city to
defend.

Ezel reminds the team what he's said before, and then warps out.  As for Catsy,
he tells the team to do with him "as you will".  Rather than any hanky panky,
Haken & co. want him to take them to Dulseus' Graveyard, explain his relation
to the skullface guy they just tangled with, and see to it that that catgirl
hiding somewhere around gets punished.

Haken explains why the team are chasing the Nacht, whose backing seems to
extend all the way back to the roots of the Ten Year War.  Though spared in the
last war, Lost Herencia is sure to be as badly off as northern Elfe Tale as
things currently stand, and even Kagura-Amahara can't stay isolated forever.
Things have only gotten worse now that dwellers from yet other worlds have
somehow found their way here - some of whom are quite evil.  Catsy, a
reasonable feline, agrees to help out after Haken briefly tells Lee that
everything is okay.

The Tseit is a bit worse for wear, but still kicking.  Haken has Marion and Lee
return to Lost Herencia, saying that in the very unlikely event something bad
happens, he'll contact them there.  As the team heads towards the Graveyard and
Formido beyond, Haken suspects that the Arbent and Nacht are close by: things
are sure to come to a head.  He also asks the crew to dump a certain cat off at
Abrieita Castle.  Koma has gotten spanked to the point of tears, and is ready
to do her penance as a reformed merchant.  Maybe.

After seeing off the crew, Haken asks Catsy what his connection to the
Orchestral Army is.  Furrowing his brow, Catsy says that he sold them weapons
and armor during the war: one of those "death merchants" people talk about.
Did Ezel come in search of arms, maybe for another war?  Catsy likes Haken's
sharp instincts, but swears that that's not what Ezel was about...


19. Dulseus' Graveyard

The desert is littered with the wreckage of flying machines used by both sides
of the Ten Year War.  Not that the Giant Marcus cares: it forges over them with
scarcely a bump.  Ahead awaits the Graveyard, and possibly a showdown with
T-elos.  Of more immediate concern are the traps sure to litter a place once
used as a tomb.  Catsy offhandedly says that the only way to know if the traps
are still active is to go inside... which is the only possibility the
off-worlders have to return home.  KOS-MOS in particular thinks to herself that
this isn't the place she and T-elos should settle their score.  Inward and
upward!

Break a few sarcophagi and run into Kyuon, who got stuck while investigating
rumors that the Crossgate is back in action after being sealed during the war.
She puts up quite a fight, but the new "weirdos" in the party help face her
down.  Fuming, she vows revenge next time, which Xiaomu takes as a declaration
of war.  This pulls Kyuon up short, who stammers that Formido would never go to
war again.  Did she just let slip yet _another_ secret?  Suzuka's golden eyes
gleam as she advises the little sorceress to bare it all - it's only
embarrassing the first time.  Kyuon was told not to tell, and even without a
full war she can still take her personal revenge.

Even without full disclosure, the party has still gained quite a bit of info.
Such as, what are the Formidoans up to if not inciting war?  And if the Gate is
still sealed, how'd they get here in the first place?  And why no mention of T-
elos?  Maybe she simply hasn't gotten to the Gate itself yet?  Proceeding is
seeming more and more foreboding, but there's really no turning around now...

Venture inside further to find a debris-clogged passage, at the other end of
which is an unpleasantly-surprised Henne.  She's not pleased with being ordered
to rummage around in this filthy tomb, much less battle invaders.  But that's
the skillz that pay the billz.

She can't believe she's lost to the party again, and without even figuring out
how the gate's doing.  Hearing that Kyuon spilled the beans, she vows to give
out a thorough spanking when she gets home.  She's even more surprised the crew
has met her boss, and have heard that Formido isn't actually trying to restart
the war.  The team asks about how Nacht, which served Formido Heim during the
war, has carried off the red Miltkeil needed to construct the ultimate Miltkeil
breaker; a bit too coincidental given how Henne herself was in Dorothy's
castle.

Grimacing, Henne tells everyone it's up to them whether to believe what she's
about to say, but on her honor as an Orchestral soldier swears it's true.  She
says that Nacht and Arbent, which went missing after the war, certainly weren't
acting on Formido orders - not that she or Kyuon ever knew how they were
controlled in the first place.  After all, that was in the "Reconstructers'"
purview.  The Orchestral Army was all but obliterated at the end of the war,
and only commander Ezel and his top lieutenant, Catsy, were left.  That's all
Henne is willing to dish, and she takes off, leaving behind the baffled crew to
ponder the dark shadows behind all this mess.

At the deepest levels is the gate, and in front of it T-elos.  She really
doesn't like KOS-MOS much, and had wanted to rip out and shred KOS-MOS's
"consciousness" before her reconstruction finished.  Lucky for everyone
involved Dorothy stole KOS-MOS, pod and all, first.  KOS-MOS recommends to
T-elos that they take their fight back to the world they "belong" in, but
T-elos spits that KOS-MOS isn't qualified to speak of "belonging" when her
doll-like consciousness isn't even truly self-aware.  At last, a villain who
_sounds_ like a villain!  Suzuka, not to outdone, hisses that she'll reduce
this impudent automaton into spare parts for her PT.  The way T-elos sees it,
cooperating offers no benefit over just killing everyone and making her own way
back home -- she's glad that at least Haken understands that much.  His reward
will be to be killed first @_@

T-elos isn't able to make good on her threat, and KOS-MOS reiterates that
neither of them belong in this world - and that "her" soul doesn't want them
fighting here.  T-elos won't accept that, especially coming from a defective
being touched by human hands, and takes off.  KOS-MOS thinks to herself that
the two of them are not the ones to decide whether man-made objects are
inherently defective.

Like Mirabilis Castle's gate, this gate seems to be overheated, as though
something huge came through.  It's possible that the thing might still be
capable of receiving stuff even if it can't send just now.  Basically, the crew
has just hit a dead end in the quest to get to get to Formido Heim, and Xiaomu
wonders if offering Haken or Reiji to the gay catguy might accomplish anything.


20. Preparations

Before any shopping or bathing, Haken and Reiji grill Catsy on his past in the
Orchestral Army.  He recounts the near destruction of his unit, which mirrored
the damage in Elfe Tale.  One advantage the Formidoans had is their king, who
had obtained a certain Power -- but this is part of Catsy's past that he really
doesn't want to recount.  He recommends quizzing Anne the Varnan pirate for
more info, since from what he's heard she's somehow involved with the Miltkeil
stones that ruined Espina Castle.

Anne confides that the ocean floor is totally clogged with Miltkeil, leaving it
to her first officer to give out details.  He explains that Varna Kanai is a
cluster of metropoli spread across the sea floor, centered around the ancient
ruins of Vilkuakint.  No one is sure if the Miltkeil is coming from there,
because of a certain difficulty facing anyone who makes the journey.  Someone,
or some thing, is lurking in the ruins, and tries to chase anyone who draws
near - and Anne was actually fleeing that entity when the team first met her.

To Anne's surprise, the crew are actually willing to help in the hunt by
entering the ruins.  She says that it won't come for free, and at Aschen's
urging Haken offers himself to Anne as payment.  Anne sniffs that she has no
interest in some slippery youngster whose "scales" haven't grown yet.  OH so
shot down.  So much for any aspirations of playboy glory, though KOS-MOS
suspects it's just a problem of species differences.  In any case, what Anne
wants is help with some buying and selling of the numerous treasures that one
can dredge up from the sea.

The team finally head to Varna Kanai, incredibly beautiful and surely a great
tourist spot under other circumstances.  Unfortunately, non-amphibians can't
very well swim around under their own power to better enjoy the effect.  Ahead
of you are the ruins, a somewhat sinister sight among such tranquil
surroundings.  Its unusual and even monstrous structure is said to have
preceded Varna Kanai's founding, but unlike KOS-MOS Anne isn't really
interested in where it came from.  She *is* interested in what's going on there
now.

Luckily, these ruins are mostly not flooded, though the air inside is a bit
stale.  Almost no one who's gone inside has returned, but the treasures within
are hard to ignore, especially a pure red crystal in the lower levels.  Guess
what that's good for.  Lay hands on that, and at the very least the team will
be able to move more freely than currently possible - which is the most anyone
could hope for given the way to Formido Heim is cut off...

Forge ahead and Anne and her first mate will find the crew, but not to bring
some bombs to help blast a path ahead.  Instead, they're suffering from the
strange delirium that Shuten had been.  And, like Shuten, they must be brought
to their senses by force.

Anne *had* in fact come to deliver the bombs, but fell prey to those darn
Miltkeil crystals.  She remembers saying something about blowing away anything
standing in her path, which was her own will and not the crystals talking -
which would suggest that part of Shuten's personality must remain too.  Is your
team in danger from this hypnosis?  Well, the androids shouldn't be, and Aschen
assures the rest of the team that she and KOS-MOS will deliver a sound enough
spanking to wake anyone hypnotized up.

Unluckily, waiting ahead are the Nacht and Arbent, likely drawn to whatever the
precious item is this castle contains.  Once again, it seems the Gespenst is
resonating with the other PTs...

They put up a valiant fight, but eventually overheat.  Sadly, they can't
readily be hauled to the surface over all the uneven terrain, the way the
Gespenst was.  Ahead surely awaits the Giant Miltkeil, and with little choice
the crew try to press on...  That is, until the Gespenst accesses and takes
over the Nacht and Arbent with Marion's override program.  Xiaomu adds that the
Gespenst has been outfitted for "cyber-warfare" like this, knowledge that she
claims comes from her being Shinra's "Electronic Fairy" [that would be someone
from Nadesico, actually].  Reiji sniffs that it takes more than getting onto
the Internet to make one a fairy.  Gespenst relays a message through Aschen:
the mecha's proper names are the Alteisen Nacht and Weisritter Arbent.

Unfortunately, the red Miltkeil the Arbent had is nowhere to be seen, so the
only option is to head towards the strong energy readings ahead --readings that
match the last big Miltkeil deposit.  Anne's bombs will help you this time, but
there's no telling what other enemies might await...

What awaits is a HUGE crystal, and a robot whose construction looks all too
similar to the PTs and Aschen.  During the fight to drive it off, confirmation
arrives that its techniques look very similar to everything else from the
Mighty Error, which must mean the W-series are after the Miltkeil too.  Now the
real question is, is this single stone the cause of all the misery of the past
thirteen years (including the War)?  Hard to imagine given that Varna Kanai was
a non-combatant then, that the Arbent and Nacht hadn't yet gone rogue on
Formido Heim, and that Shuten hadn't communicated with Varna Kanai even once.

Talk won't solve anything, so switch to dynamite and snag the Miltkeil
crystal... which turns out to be the energy source that was supporting this
place.  This might not take out the entire ruins, but a good part are about to
collapse, so the team hightails it back to Anne first.  She's glad to see
everyone back, saying that if they failed after all her help, she'd just have
to throw herself into the sea in shame (not that that would dampen her spirits
at all...)   Anyway, the next stop is Dorothy.


21. To Formido Heim

Dorothy, short-tempered as ever, gives Haken exactly zero tolerance for his
usual smooth talk.  She does however get excited at the sight of the
high-purity red crystal, though her way of showing it isn't what most folks
would call friendly.  She's already made preparations to build the red crystal-
breaker, which seems great until Reiji thinks he senses Saya's presence
somewhere nearby.  After a brief pause, she grandly presents the "Anthrax"
munition.  Suzuka sees nothing better to do with it than simply wander around
blasting red crystals until some clue about how to get to Formido Heim shows
up.

This further perks up Dorothy's long ears, and she recommends trying Elfe
Tale's famous giant tree -- it's actually got a Crossgate.  Turns out it's
rather unstable and has barely been used since the Ten Year War, and Dorothy
isn't about to say where she got this rare info from.  She reminds the crew
rather short-temperedly to buy something before they leave.  When they do
leave, it seems "Ruborubo" and Saya wanted the team to make it to Formido Heim.
It seems that a certain seal is likely to get broken, and when it does even
Dorothy (somewhat reluctantly) agrees to pitch in.  Saya will do what she can
and put in a good word with another of the cat people around...

To get to the Gate, climb a giant beanstalk: one of the weirder things yet on
this quest.  One issue: the Gate becomes unstable once one reaches the other
side, officially making this the longest royal training trip in Kaguran
history.  It comes as some surprise that the entire Formido Heim kingdom
floats, though KOS-MOS says that it appears to be safe so long as no one falls
off.  The only choice is to head for a giant tower in the center of the area,
but before doing that androids detect a familiar energy signature akin to the
Mighty Error's generator.  This signature comes from due north, and given how
impractical it would be to actually drag the real Mighty Error's engine here,
it's probably something else: something the team should check out.

Waiting ahead are Dorothy and Ruball, who got here with a little help from
Catsy (whose Orchestral Army ties apparently haven't been discovered yet by
Ruball).  Since Catsy was headed here anyway, it was convenient to bring the
two along.  As for "why" they're here, it's simple: to put their own country
back to rights by their own hands - without depending on a bunch of people
who're dragging along some of the most accursed symbols of the war that ravaged
said country.  They won't just let everyone go on their way peacefully, though
Dorothy seems to have some reservations...

Ruball is furious at being defeated twice, and orders Dorothy to join him in
regrouping.  She ignores him, so he races off by himself in a huff.  Haken asks
Dorothy what she's really thinking, and with a frown that seems more directed
inward than outward she answers.  A lot happened during the Ten Year War: a lot
of hardship and pain that this merry little band never remotely experienced.
She sighs and says that perhaps the only reason she let Ruball talk her into
coming was out of some foolish, prideful idea that only those subjected to all
that suffering could deserve to save the world now.

It dawned on her while she was inventing the anti-Miltkeil munitions that those
crystals were native to *none* of the worlds.  Their structure, so very like a
metal, is nevertheless "alive" -- as evidenced by how they subjugated Shuten
and Anne's wills.  Dorothy is convinced that the same thing could befall the
whole world unless someone without baggage can actually track down what the
Miltkeil really is.  Boy, is it her lucky day or what.  Anyway, this is all the
introspection she'll give up, and she plans to wait on this very spot until the
Crossgate stabilizes and she can return home.  Ruball has probably headed off
to whichever Crossgate Catsy and Saya came out of; the gate in Dulseus'
Graveyard apparently can link to more than one destination.  Wait, Saya?  It'd
be smart to track her down too, since she seems to think there's some way to
get back home around here somewhere.

The party forges ahead, and runs into... Koma of all people.  She simply walked
through a Gate in Dulseus' Graveyard, and here she was.  It's her first time in
Formido Heim, and no one is surprised that she came at Saya's request.  Rather
than go to the trouble of explaining Saya's plans in full, she recommends going
and asking her directly, since she's right up ahead.  In the meantime, she'll
be more than happy to sell all kinds of trinkets.

Saya has her stooges with her, one of whom still thinks of Kaguya as his
"bride-to-be".  Even the normally good-natured Kaguya is getting tired of this,
but Saya tells her that true love knows no (species) boundaries.  Romantic,
almost.  Anyway, Saya's efforts for her own sake and for her organization's
sake no longer include the Miltkeil per se, except in one sense.  Given that
those crystals came from another world, it should theoretically be possible to
travel in the opposite direction.  Whatever she's up to, it has something to do
with her coming here with Dorothy, and KOS-MOS won't let Saya get away with
claiming otherwise.  With the fox out of the bag, Saya decides instead to use
the direct approach, and stall for time.

After beating her back, she says that part of the time she's trying to buy is
for the Gate to restabilize -- it was destabilized by her crew's arrival.  She
also has some "friends" with work she's trying to protect.  Those "friends"
aren't apparently very trustworthy, and aren't from Saya's own world, but
strange times apparently make strange (and same-sex, if KOS-MOS' misgivings are
any indication) bedfellows.  If T-elos really is around, everyone could be in
for a really rough ride.  Suzuka sighs in exasperation and demands to know if
Formido Heim has become some kind of tourist spot or something, what with all
the outsiders showing up lately.


22. Around Formido Heim

Wander around a bit and discover the wreckage of a ship that looks all too
familiar.  This turns out to be the prow of the Mighty Error, the rear of which
is back in Lost Herencia.  This neatly explains why Formido Heim had access to
the PTs.  There's an escape hatch to enter through, and waiting inside is
Kaldia, still hard at work protecting the secrets of her ship.  Haken would
dearly like to know precisely why so many people from other worlds are hanging
around here, when it was so hard to get this far.  Kaldia, deciding that
there's no harm in telling, explains that *all* the Crossgates in Endless
Frontier are being destabilized.  She's been experimenting on this using the
Gate at Mirabilis, and that's how she was able to get here so fast.  The team
should be able to use that Gate to go back, except that Kaldia doesn't want to
permit that now that the team knows the truth about the all-purpose, Trilobyte-
class battleship "Neverland".  The fact she knows its proper name is thanks to
being able to link to the main computer, Tink Erbell.  Too bad that its data
was fragmentary at best, and that the system crashed entirely partway through
recovery.

Aschen implores Kaldia to fill in the holes in her memory, and Kaldia
reluctantly obliges.  The Neverland came to Endless Frontier twenty-three years
ago, splitting in mid-air for unknown reasons and ending up in two different
worlds.  Haken asks if there was anyone besides the W-series, such as a baby
aboard, but Kaldia found no records of such a thing.  Sadly, no clues as to
Haken's origins yet, or why he was found with Aschen.

Just then, T-elos shows up and tells Kaldia she's talking too much.  T-elos
scoffs at the idea of her being "friends" with Saya, sniffing that she's only
even talking to her because she seems to know something about how T-elos might
return home.  When T-elos adds that she plans to kill Saya as soon as the info
is hers, Suzuka recommends that Kaldia start her cleansing project with this
black marionette.  Kaldia still thinks T-elos has her uses, and the feeling
appears to be mutual.  Kaldia's real intent is to wipe out the entire world of
Formido Heim in the interest of defending her secrets, by restarting the
previous war.  T-elos smirks, and says that if Kaldia's insane plan actually
works, it would just prove how weak this world's will is.

T-elos is much aggrieved that KOS-MOS has now defeated her twice, but contents
herself with the fact that she's got the info she needs.  Her plan is to use
this ship's teleporter to return, as she says, "to the beginning".  She'll be
waiting for KOS-MOS there, but immediate pursuit won't happen.  A more
immediate problem is Kaldia, whose damage has exceeded the Henflick Limitation.
Aschen asks Kaldia to tell her, before her functions cease entirely, what the
mission originally entrusted her is.  Kaldia replies that W-07 was intended by
"Her" to protect W-00, which might well refer to that mustachioed robot from in
Varna Kanai.  Any more of Tink Erbell's info will now have to be beaten out of
T-elos.  As the team leaves, Aschen bids farewell to her sister.  Something
catches her eye though, an ancient key lying near the fallen android.

With Kaldia's termination, the electromagnetic lock that's been blocking the
path is released.  At least the path ahead, daunting though it is, is clear at
least through the central Formido Heim tower.


23. Valerianair Tower

Forging right ahead, the next old acquaintance along the way is Catsy.  He's
being his usual oblique self about what's going on in the world, but he does
let on that it's something dire.  Something to do with Formido Heim's formerly
sealed Gates reopening.  He finally laments how foolish Ezel is being in
forcibly destabilizing the Crossgate.  This isn't an act of war in the sense
that it's not directly meant to do anything to the other Worlds.  What it is
meant to do is to deny power to the Einsts, the mystery foes the team's tangled
with several times already.  It is they who have led Shuten astray, they who
keep appearing around the crystals...  And it is they who were directly
responsible for the Ten Year War, by beguiling king Schtall Diev with their
otherworldly might.

It was thirteen years ago that Schtall first managed to open a Crossgate to the
Einsts' world.  But Catsy won't say just what happened next.  Those who want to
resolve such a cliffhanger must be "qualified", and that means proving to him
that the team is strong enough in battle to proceed.  He says to think of it as
him taking responsibility, and with a menace in his voice no one's ever heard
from him before, the former sub-leader of the Orchestral Army tells the crew to
bring it.

Catsy regards everyone.  Aschen, last of the androids from the Neverland.
Kaguya and Suzuka, princesses of the people whose severance of the Crossgates
saved the world.  KOS-MOS and the Shinra agents, strangers from beyond.  And
lastly, the man who bears the Browning name.  There is much portent in all of
this, but Catsy isn't the one to tell that tale.  After he realized his
"mistake" in the Ten Year War, he fled Formido Heim immediately - his guilt and
pride kept him from standing on its ground a moment longer.  As such, he isn't
fit to complete the story -- and the man who is, is waiting at the top floor of
this tower.  Yes, the man who killed the King, Ezel.  He doubts he'll be bored
waiting for the Gates to stabilize with Dorothy and Koma on the scene, and
tells everyone at the end that this tower is locked, but that there's a simple
way to open it.

At the top of the tower await the remaining Orchestral Army heavies.  Henne for
one has doubts about Ezel's approach, fearing that deliberately destabilizing
the Gate will result in it connecting to places it ought not.  She and Kyuon
are ready to throw down right off the bat, but Haken tells Ezel to wait at
least long enough to tell everyone the truth - as any king-killer should.
Oops, that was news to Henne and Kyuon.  Ezel certainly doesn't deny it, and
Reiji says that while it's easy to fight until one side falls, it's harder to
actually figure out if the fighting is necessary in the first place.

After a long pause, Ezel says that everything began twenty years ago, when the
remains of an "Ark" crash-landed here (the same time that the rest of the ship
fell in Lost Herencia).  Then-king Schtall was interested in the technology it
held, and fetched information on teleporters and "mobile weapons" from its
remains.  It seems the king realized that the ship possessed an incomplete
version of "dimensional teleportation" that should in principle make travel to
other worlds outside Endless Frontier possible: sort of an artificial Quake
generator in Shinra parlance.  It took ten years to apply that technology to
the Crossgates, and to open a portal to a certain other world.

The king craved the power of the Einsts, and actually led an army into their
world, along with the Nacht and Arbent... and the Arkgain, a peerless combat
android from the Ark.  And when the king returned... Ezel cut him down.  He
won't say any more until this battle is over, and promises his subordinates
that they'll get the whole truth then.  He'll even let the team, whom Catsy
tested, in on the secret.  The problem is that knowledgeable-but-powerless
folks can bring nothing but trouble, and he's got to make damn sure the crew
isn't like that.  All three of them are going full power, especially Kyuon who
has her own (misplaced) grudge to vent.

Henne isn't the type who likes losing, and Kyuon can be counted on to spout
long strings of insults at the drop of a hat.  It doesn't hurt that the Nacht
and Arbent are helping, but the crew didn't come to restart the war or
anything.  Basically, everyone just wants to go home, and that is finally good
enough for Ezel (and Kyuon, with the amazing about-face in her attitude).

Ezel explains that when the king returned, he only brought three of his guards
back with him: the "Lone Wolf", the "Fallen Angel" and the "Dark Knight".  Ezel
himself had been left to guard the kingdom in the king's absence, though he now
wishes dearly he'd been along and maybe stopped the tragedy.  Tragedy, you say?
Well, the king wasn't really himself when he returned, and not just in the way
Shuten has been brainwashed.  "Something" that looked like the king came back
in his stead, and that thing is what started the war, in the name of a "Pure"
world.  Ezel only figured it out right before the war's end: a bit late to
inform an army that's been busily shedding its own blood all this time.

Not surprisingly, neither Kyuon nor Henne, nor any of their fellow front-line
soldiers, had either the time or a sane reason to question the identity of
their commander-in-chief.  In a realm where the king's will was absolute, only
Ezel guessed the truth, though he had Catsy actually acquire the proof.  When
the "thing" was revealed, the Orchestral Army indeed fought it, and won --after
a fashion.  It was Ezel who landed the final blow, but the battle in North
Oratorio laid waste to the army.  After that the peace treaty and official
announcement of the king's "death in battle" came quickly.

Catsy's main reason for leaving the army, and his homeland, was humanitarian
aid to the refugees the war generated.  Ezel's reconstitution of the Orchestral
Army was a form of penance, and the surest way he knew how to ensure that all
Gates leading to the Einsts were sealed.  As for the PTs, Ezel figures they
must have been modded by the Einsts, given their abnormal increase in combat
power and self-healing.  It was Kyuon's job to figure out why, after such a
long absence, the PTs appeared and were hunting for Miltkeil, which is where
the team came in.

It's now clear that the Einsts must be coming in through another Gate, one
outside of Formido Heim's sphere of influence: Vilkuakint, in Varna Kanai.  And
not just there, if all the Miltkeil infestations throughout the Worlds are any
indication.  Ezel's decision to destabilize his own Gate is an attempt to
influence the other Gates throughout Endless Frontier, a power that only this
tower and possibly the Immortal Sakura possess.  This trades on the fact,
discovered by Formido Heim's scientists, that the Miltkeil can't draw power
from the Gates unless they're stable.  It's quite risky, but Ezel knows of no
other way to buy time until a way can be found to halt the Einsts.

Kaguya, however, knows such a way.  Suzuka knows what she's thinking, and
doesn't like it one bit, but Kaguya recommends everyone return to Taketori
Castle to think things through.  Ezel agrees to lower the EM barriers and let
everyone through, and Kyuon notes that there's one relic from the war they
haven't yet captured: the Arkgain.  Haken thinks he knows where that might be,
and recommends heading back to Lost Herencia before Kagura-Amahara.  If the
Arkgain, presumably W-00 is anywhere, it must be back at the Neverland.  As
Xiaomu smugly notes, all criminals always return to the scene of the crime.
And guess what, Ezel happened to find the missing keycard while investigating
the bit of the Neverland that fell into his lap.  While the crew do their
thing, the Orchestral Army will sortie to Varna Kanai and try to hold the
Einsts there.  Kaguya cheerfully gives Kyuon some parting advice: drink lots of
milk.  Pretty much all the other organic women in the party start taking
notes...


24. Level 3

Welcome to the next level.  The first thing the team finds is a broken capsule,
with a difficult-to-read nameplate beneath.  It states: "W00 - Haken Browning".
SHOCK and awe.  Aschen manages to salvage some of the data from the computer,
finding out that W00, prototype for the W-series, isn't an android, but human.
The aim of the W-series is to produce gifted people using artificial emotion,
people whose bodies, minds and in fact piloting abilities far exceed those of
normal humans.  As for the mech Haken was meant to pilot, the proper name of
the Phantom is actually the Gespenst Haken.  This explains much about why the
mecha seemed so inclined to heed Haken's orders instead of their nominal
masters.

Interestingly, the data Aschen has says that this project was halted after
producing only one prototype (Haken).  The given reason is the resulting
beings, being nearly human, were useless as warriors until they grew up.  In
the interest of getting warriors a bit faster, W-01 through W-10 were made as
combat androids by the project leader, Lemon Browning.  If this big reveal
ought to have shaken Haken's confidence, it fails entirely.  Just as Suzuka,
Xiaomu and the rest are comfortable with what they are, he too doesn't mind the
fact that he was manufactured.  He does, however, order Aschen to delete all
footage of his past, and not to watch it herself.

Light has now been shed on where Haken and Aschen are from, but now the thread
of what the Arkgain might have to do with all this has been lost.  Speaking of
the Arkgain, it shows up right in front of the team's eyes - along with two
seeming copies of Haken.  The Japanese do have a saying that there are three of
everyone in the world, but they're not supposed to run into each other all at
once.  The only explanation is that they're Einsts, that which is like and yet
unlike the genuine article.  These Einsts start mumbling about purifying the
world to enable their return.

The false Hakens all crumble to dust when defeated, just like all the other
Einsts.  It's not clear what they were sent for, but perhaps recon was part of
it.  The Arkgain also blows up, probably to keep any of its secrets from being
known.  It seems clear from what T-elos was saying that Level 3 is linked to
Tink Erbell, and one guess is that the Einsts are trying to see what effect
teleportation would have on these test cases.  This makes it all the clearer
why the Orchestral Army was trying to destabilize the gates.  With the Einsts
in impatience mode, Kaguya urges the group to hurry to her castle.  She think
she knows something that might help...  She's uncharacteristically cagey about
that way, but assures Suzuka that she'll consult her father first.  As everyone
walks out, Haken can't but feel his cool shaken a bit by the sight of his long-
lost home.

Swing back by the Tseit, which Marion has more or less fixed.  As long as Haken
don't plan on breaking down any other massive structures, it should be fine.
Haken assures her he's had enough of that too, and gives her a little present
to analyze: a piece of the Arkgain.  While she gets busy on that, Haken has an
unexpected guest: John.  He's gotten a message directly from the king of
Kagura-Amahara, all but ordering the immediate return of Kaguya, under guard,
to the palace.  Something very bad must have happened, and Kagura isn't the
sort of place that normally has secrets to keep.  Since the team was headed
that way anyhow, John tells his son to take good care of Kaguya -- being her
knight if occasion demands.


25. Kagura-Amahara

Haken takes the long way to the castle, closely observing the town along the
way.  Something is definitely wrong.  When the team reaches Shirou, he mentions
a rumor that the Ura-Genbu, the ninja squad, have taken control of the Undying
Sakura.  He hasn't confirmed it with his own eyes, but there's also talk that
Shuten has led armed people against the Ura-Genbu.  To the extent that the city
hasn't sustained any damage yet, it's unlikely there'll be any official
announcement.  It's quite clear why the king wants Kaguya back.

The king is quite relieved to see Kaguya back, assured by her somewhat
inimitable appearance that it's really her.  As it turns out, her evil clone
has been spotted trying to break the seal on the Undying Sakura.  This timing
can't be coincidental, and the king admits that the seal was indeed breached.
Otone was ordered to go after the intruder, but nothing has been heard from her
since.  The Ura-Genbu have indeed sealed off the Undying Sakura, and given it's
unlikely they'd revolt for no good reason, it seems it must be something to do
with Otone.

Turns out that at the base of the tree is a grotto used for certain ceremonies
and other important events.  The only explanation is that an Einst has taken
over Otone and put the otherwise-loyal Ura-Genbu up to this.  This Einst
probably came from Megi Castle, given that Shuten's men have been sighted.
It's clear everyone has gotten pretty deeply involved, so they take the time to
tell the complete story of their adventures.  With how bad things are, Kaguya
wants to borrow the Sakura's power, which shocks the king greatly.

Nobody explains what's going on, but it's fairly clear the Sakura has some
power over the Crossgates.  Kaguya can't bear to leave the Sakura in its
current state, and she's got a whole party of people to accompany her.  Suzuka
tells the king not to worry, since the crew is packing some serious hardware.
Not, Aschen sniffs, that Suzuka herself has anything worth writing home about.


26. Undying Sakura

There's a huge space within the tree, used for festivals that honor the gods.
Though made of wood, the space is the work of human hands.  It also holds quite
a bit of treasure, though Aschen points out that the team isn't here on a
thievery mission.  The "Emissary's Chamber" is some distance inside, so Kaguya
advises everyone not to waste time.

Ahead waits Koma... who's been hypnotized by the Miltkeil.  The androids wonder
why Haken, Reiji and the other humans aren't similarly affected.  Koma mumbles
that she'll kill everyone and run off with their treasure, which might not be
so different from her usual tactics.  But whatever the case, the team hopes to
restore her sanity and find out what happened.  It turns out that all she was
originally after was pilfering a little treasure, but given that a war's going
on Kaguya won't punish her for that.

The last thing she remembers is talking to Kaguya somewhere near here.  The
whereabouts of this fake princess are unknown, but it seems she's likely headed
"upward".  Koma herself is going to hightail it back to Elfe Tale, since she
came here in a big rush anyway.  The big question now is why the Einsts have
taken this place over, and Kaguya is sure it's because this tree has the power
to close Crossgates.  This was how Kagura-Amahara Isolated itself around the
time of the last war.  Haken has been taking note of all the ominous mood
changes when the subject of the tree, and Kaguya's mother, comes up, but
assures Kaguya that he won't pressure her if she doesn't feel like talking
about it.

Wander around a bit and emerge outside the tree onto a branch high above the
capitol.  Xiaomu thinks it's a great time for a bit of sake, but Reiji says
that a drunken fall at this point would be lethal.  The black vine leads to the
Emissary's Chamber, but it'd be wise to check out the green vine too.

In the Emissary's Chamber waits Otone, who seems quite hypnotized just like all
those before her.  The Magatama needed for the sealing ceremony is still
intact, but no one can relax with Shuten and the Ouma lackeys present.  The
Ouma lackeys almost seem to be hypnotized too, but Shuten claims to be entirely
sane.  He's used this chaos to penetrate all the way into the heart of his
enemies' domain, and the once-fearsome Ura-Genbu aren't currently a threat.
This is his final gamble, and it's a bad one - though certain people have been
known to say that they don't mind such things every once in a while.

The two Ouma stooges were totally bewitched by the fake Kaguya.  They start
arguing about who got controlled first, but before anyone can exploit the
argument to finish them off they deliver a message from Saya: "Come to the
biggest ship in this world", adding that both they and the Shinra agents are
aliens here.

Whereas Shuten seems to have come to his senses, surprisingly merry considering
his "final bet" has failed.  Otone is far more sober, chastened that she
couldn't see through a simple appearance-altering technique.  One thing that
still has Shuten pissed though is how this new, unknown enemy (the Einsts) have
manipulated him.  He now understands why Suzuka sided with the humans, and
Suzuka grimly tells him that it would be absurd for violence alone to carry
someone to the Kaguran throne.  He promises her that he'll demolish all the
Miltkeil crystals in his castle and toss them into the sea, and asks her to
return too once her quest is over.  With a look that is both demure and
wistful, she tells him she's willing to consider it.

Otone, Kaguya and Suzuka then huddle, Otone furiously whispering that she won't
permit Kaguya to go through with "it" if it's only Kaguya's decision.  Aschen,
recalling the old saw about "three women together make a fuss", wants to know
what they're talking about.  Kaguya wants to confer with Otone alone, and with
some reluctance the rest of the party leave them alone, Haken being the last to
exit.

For now, the plan seems to be to return to the Schlaffen Celeste.  Given that
that's how KOS-MOS and T-elos got here, it seems conceivable that it's the way
home.  Kaguya reappears, asking after the team's plans and telling them that
they probably won't have to worry about the Einsts anymore.  She apologizes
that she can't reveal any more details, and Haken bids a fond farewell to the
"top-secret Princess".  Haken says he might be back as soon as tomorrow, and
after blanching slightly Kaguya tells him she's looking forward to it.  As
Haken prepares to leave, Kaguya stops him, telling him she had a lot of fun
adventuring by his side.  Haken, no dummy, realizes that something very serious
is up...

Before going to the Celeste, he wants to return to the Tseit and check on a
little something.  Lee realizes that his captain is out of sorts, and Haken
explains this as sorrow over the upcoming parting with his friends.  That,
Reiji mutters, is assuming everything goes according to plan.  Lee asks Haken
to swing by John's place first, since word has come that a certain decision has
been reached in Kagura-Amahara.

That decision is to close *ALL* the Crossgates, cutting off the power source of
all the Einsts in one fell swoop.  The final straw was the appearance of the
fake Kaguya, a copy which apparently was *incredibly* similar to the genuine
article.  Haken jokes the appearance of one or two more people with a body like
Kaguya's is a *good* thing, and John laughingly agrees.  However, it's not
replicating Kaguya's body that tore it: it was replicating the spiritual powers
of the Nanbu royalty -- powers needed to manipulate the Undying Sakura.  Haken,
aghast, realizes that the Einsts had free reign over the thing for quite some
time.  The king is cutting them off at the pass in the most painful way
imaginable, by having his daughter follow in his wife's footsteps.  Isolating
only one of the worlds cost the queen her life, and Kaguya will be part of the
unimaginable ceremony needed to isolate *all* of the Worlds.

The ceremony is taking place tonight, when the necessary full moon is
available.  Now it's clear what Kaguya was being reticent about, and Haken asks
his father if there's any other way.  John hesitates, and mentions the Celeste,
said to be thousands or even tens of thousands of years old.  Recent research
has concluded that the Celeste is capable of independently Gating.  Its "main
cannon" isn't intended for attack, but rather for dimensional travel.  John
knows this, because he was the one who locked the main door in the teleporter
area, some thirty years past.  All one has to do is go through the door,
activate the main generator, and take the elevator to the bridge.

There's no guarantee that the team can go to the Einsts' world using it, but
it's better than nothing just now.  John will send the password Haken needs to
the Tseit, prepared to take personal responsibility for meddling in inter-World
affairs if things go sour.

With time until the sealing running short, the team discusses disbanding and
trying to return to their respective worlds.  Reiji goes to commiserate, in
oblique and manly fashion, with Haken over the impending loss of Kaguya.
Neither of them can take Kaguya's place, but Haken has another idea: what if
the Einsts could be struck down directly.  Reiji reminds Haken that Kaguya is
prepared to stake her life on saving the world, but Haken pauses, and recalls
Kaguya's last words to him: that she had "fun".  This is a girl of only
eighteen, with her whole life ahead of her.  Why should a nice girl like her
have to bear the brunt of all this alone?  Even closing the Gates is only a
temporary measure; risky though it is, the only certain way seems to be to
strike the source down directly.

Reiji has one question for Haken: is he risking his life to save the world? Of
course not, Haken snaps: he's doing it for a woman.  Reiji says that he can't
very well return to his own world in that case, adding that he hates bad bets.
The more people helping out, the better.  Haken smirks and says that Reiji's
turned out to be quite the romantic, and Reiji shrugs and says he's always been
told that this is how men are supposed to act.  Haken's smile broadens, and
says that that must have come from a woman.  And a very good one at that too.

The rest of the team are pretty surprised at this decision, and Xiaomu in
particular is sure that Reiji must have swayed Haken with some speech about
risking one's life for women.  In response to being called a little kid, Reiji
vows to spank Xiaomu a thousand times, and when Xiaomu hears Aschen calculate
how long that will take she tells everyone to shut up.

Kaguya is meditating, wondering what her mother felt when she Isolated her
country.  Kaguya herself feels at peace, having seen so much in her journeys
through the various Worlds.  She thinks she has no regrets, and wants to do
anything she can to protect them all.  She hopes she'll be able to meet her
mother where she's going, and hear her tell the tale of the princess invited to
the moon once more.

Haken then enters the Chamber, telling Kaguya that he's heard that he can't see
her tomorrow after all and that he's had to move up his schedule some.
Kaguya's tone turns cold, and tells him that only the priestesses of the Nanbu
clan are allowed in this room: her, and her departed mother Ui.  She won't ask
how he got in, and asks him to leave.  He tells her that she's really starting
to sound like a princess now, and says that it's a shame she's not interested
in his plan to directly wipe out the Einsts.

This has Kaguya's attention, but there's a grave risk: if he fails, the world
will be potentially defenseless until the next full moon.  Does she think, he
asks, that he'll actually fail?  He's going all-in on his bet, and Kaguya
slowly asks if he'll let her join in.  He's heard his own version of a fairy
tale about the moon when he was a little kid.  There's no way to stop the
emissaries of the moon from reclaiming their princess... except for the
princess herself to decide not to go.  It's Kaguya's decision to go with him,
and she decides to do so with a smile.

Otone reports Kaguya's departure to the king, having let Haken in in the first
place because she suspected that's what the king would want.  In fact, he had
been contacted by John, with the simple message to "trust his son".  Sanuki
himself wants to trust his daughter, and tells Otone to leave them be.  Otone
can only hope that Kaguya is okay.  Sanuki thinks to his departed wife that
this is how it ought to be.

John praises Haken for getting everything ready, and cautions that the security</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
forces have detected increasing energy inside the Celeste.  Before Haken goes,
he reveals his true identity as W-00.  This does nothing to change John's
resolve that Haken is his son.


27. Celeste, Again

The door in question seemingly hasn't been opened in 30 years, and nothing
short of doctored computer records could explain otherwise.  Nevertheless, the
aching in Reiji's scar shows that Saya is somewhere nearby.  Not that that will
stop anyone: the goals are a) to save the world, and b) get Reiji and the
others home, and Saya won't stand in the way now.

The team finds what Haken thought was the elevator power room, but inside is a
number of Kaguyas instead - enough to turn just about anyone (or anything) on.
The presence of these Einsts, as well as the red Miltkeil along the way, proves
that the Einsts have invaded this part of the ship after all.  With four of
these infamous princess copies so close at hand, the team must be getting
pretty close to the really big fish.  Even Kaguya, now that she's gotten a good
look at "herself", is kind of startled by her daring outfit.  The four fake
Kaguyas are "impressive" foes in many ways, but they can't be allowed to slow
you down on the quest for long.

Energize the core units and return to the control room to see Saya and T-elos
waiting.  They've joined forces because a way has been found to return home,
apparently thanks to Einst copies of Xiaomu and Reiji.  KOS-MOS has figured out
what's going on: the Einsts copied them in order to control the Quakes, just as
W-00 was copied in order to control the Arkgain and Kaguya copied to control
the Undying Sakura.  Of course, that's not the complete explanation, and
neither female villain is forthcoming with the details.  Saya figures that the
team's role was over as soon as they engaged the main generator, but they're
not planning to use the main cannon, lest they end up in the Einsts' world.  In
any case, the fragdown between KOS-MOS and T-elos, Shinra and Ouma, is about to
unfold again.

Reiji has a surprisingly diplomatic order for Saya: go home.  The plan is to
use the same teleporter that originally brought KOS-MOS and T-elos, though
there's no proof yet that this method will work in practice.  With a rare
frown, Saya says that it's a bit much for a passel of outsiders to try to save
this world.  Xiaomu protests that she and Reiji are just doing their job, and
if it happens to save the world, that's just gravy.  Saya shakes her head and
says that Reiji takes after his father way too much.  T-elos says she can still
fight, but KOS-MOS repeats her prior admonition that neither of them are from
this world.  She tells T-elos to go back home, as KOS-MOS herself plans to do.
Shion and the others await.

Saya then shrugs and says that no good could come of she or T-elos perishing
here, and urges the black-clad android to come.  T-elos' frown deepens, and
after a moment she tells KOS-MOS that she won't permit her to perish in a world
as stupid as this.  She vows to destroy KOS-MOS after she returns home, and
while KOS-MOS can't guarantee she'll let herself be destroyed, she will promise
to at least get home in one piece.  Saya bids Reiji farewell, saying she'll see
him at the "Hundred Nights Project".

The firing console has a boatload of buttons, and although Xiaomu is sure one
just has to push the most gaudy of them, Haken has Aschen take a look.  The
cannon makes an accurate shot, if the energy signature on screen is to be
believed: it matches the red Miltkeil.  The problem now is, how to traverse the
beam of light to the other side?  Haken has an idea, and has everyone head back
to the Tseit.

[At this point, the team can return to Formido Heim and take on the optional
boss.  If they dare.]


28. To Another World

The party returns to the Tseit for the incredibly risky operation.  When Marion
looks like she'll veto the plan, Haken says that he won't ask his crew to try
it if it's physically impossible for the ship.  That gets Marion's goat, as she
insists that there's nothing impossible for the ship.  This was kind of a mean
trick, but as John always says, save the trump card for last.  Now that Kaguya
got dragged into this mess, there's really no turning back.  Once the team
heads across, they probably won't be able to come back soon, so making sure
equipment is up to snuff would be wise...

As the team prepare to leave, Koma approaches the ship.  She's gotten stranded
on her way back home, thanks to the unstable Gates throughout Endless Frontier.
She hears everyone's on the way to strike down those responsible.  This must
mean all kinds of treasure awaits, and she's willing to go through fire and
water for the sake of her business.  Haken will take her, but warns her not to
expect any cream for dinner...

It's a bumpy ride, but everyone makes it.  Awaiting is a pretty grim landscape,
dominated by a giant corpse of some kind of creature.  Miltkeil signature come
from all around, and the air seems breathable.  It's not immediately clear how
to go back home, but given the Einsts made it to Lost Herencia from here, there
must be something.  It turns out the corpse has been here long enough to
basically fossilize, becoming Miltkeil itself, and it seems likely that the
Einsts have transferred part of the island it forms to Endless Frontier.

There's an energy signature coming from the corpse's head, and it seems to be a
Crossgate.  Surprisingly simple setup, actually.  The Tseit can only reach the
"neck", so everyone (Koma included) will have to walk the rest of the way.
Marion will keep the engine running in case a hasty getaway is called for, and
asks Haken to bring back souvenirs.

The team quickly run into a couple of new Einsts, clearly much more powerful
than any seen before.  One of them speaks, naming itself the Valcion Riheit and
saying it was constructed in order to return to the Original Land.  By its side
is a copy of the Arkgain, and the Valcion says that it's going to "correct" the
incorrect dwellers and their incorrect worlds.  This thing seems to be
boss-class, but its highly unstable spiritual(?) powers leave room for doubt.
Perhaps it was made as some sort of defensive measure?

Misgivings seem justified, as the crew run into more of these critters in short
order.  This time it's the three PTs which have been replicated.  The battles
are getting harder, but it's not over yet.  The power the team's been marching
toward is so strong that it's starting to give everyone goosebumps, in rather
ostentatious spots at that.  The energy is that of a Crossgate, but also
resembles a Quake.  This has got to be Teh Endo, as it were.

And at teh endo, Valcion awaits.  It's got the story all lined up about how
mistaken a world Endless Frontier is, and in fact has wanted to go home too.
But no matter how many Crossgates it opened, it couldn't make it.  Yes indeed:
this is the entity that joined all the worlds together in the first place.

Guess who's in for a big surprise?  Or maybe not so surprising, since the head
Einst seemed a bit despondent to begin with.  Poor guy can't go back to
pureland now, thanks to underestimating the team.  It may take a sacrifice to
get those who are headed home, home; and as for Aschen and Haken, they're
inclined to stay and defend Endless Frontier.  The Valcion, practically the
Creator, still can't figure out how it could lose, so the team lecture it at
length that the living beings in the world it shaped aren't mere pawns.

Cue the Crossgate overloading and mass chaos ensuing.  In the aftermath, the
Endless Frontier folks, and the Tseit, seem to have been thrown back to their
world.  As for the rest of the party, they're nowhere to be found.  Are they
still back in the Einstverse?  Or...?  Marion suspects they've gone back to
their own lands, based on the way the Crossgates have vanished and put all that
was mixed up to rights.  To rights?

Take a look around.  All the worlds making up Endless Frontier seem to have
been fused together, and everyone would love to know just what the heck the
crew did.  Since it was the Einsts who brought the Crossgates to this place to
begin with, the destruction of their boss and the release of all the pent-up
energy seems to be what's responsible.  Instead of saving the world, the motley
crew has actually remade it entirely.

The other residents of the land are going to have to adjust to life together
now too.  The merchants, being of naturally different species, aren't exactly
making the best of friends, and Anne is more than tempted to just blow them all
away.

The country leaders are a bit more levelheaded, all except for Ruball who the
others can quell.  John even nominates Ezel to be the new king of Formido Heim,
saying it can't be that hard given that he, a former bounty hunter, managed it.
Ezel agrees to do what he can, and the leaders seemingly part on decent terms.

Otone is fretting over her island having no further purpose now that the Gate
is gone.  Aschen finds her brooding while on a journey in search of the missing
party members.  A strange unidentified flying object was seen heading here, and
it turns out to be clothed in red, short-tempered and extremely cross looking.
Otone forestalls a fight, and Henne explains that her leader has discovered new
drive, and wants to make reparations to everyone Formido Heim hurt in the
previous war.  As a result, Henne is stuck running errands, and Otone is more
than generous in offering some of the Ura-Genbu to help out.  Henne accepts,
and with a smirk adds that Ezel is trying to rebuild the Orchestral Army: do
either of them want to join?

Dorothy and Marion start quarreling about who gets the right to investigate the
half of the Neverland that used to be in Formido Heim.  Kyuon gets mixed up in
it too on behalf of her former homeland, and things nearly come to blows before
Marion's superior firepower forces peaceable talks.

Shuten vows never to attack Taketori Castle again, though it doesn't hurt that
he's no longer close by.  At least Shuten is learning what his "buttons" are,
so that he can make them harder to push.  Suzuka will be returning with Shuten,
but she'll be happy to return to dance any time she's invited to a banquet.
Apparently whatever dance she has in mind is something Shuten doesn't want her
to perform for anyone but him alone.  She tells Shuten not to be stingy, and
Sanuki adds that his daughter has been hoping to learn some of Suzuka's dances.

For a change, Haken is minding the fort, with only Kaguya for company.  Kaguya
is fretting over whether the others are safe, but Haken says that Marion
detected a teleportation just before the Crossgates vanished.  There's no way
to be sure, but evidence suggests that they're probably okay.  Haken is
planning to tour the new world, and asks Kaguya if she wants to come along.
She feels duty calling her back to the castle, but promises to call him to
"kidnap" her again if things get rough.  She tells him once again that it's
been really fun, and the two deliberately don't say farewell: surely they'll
get to see each other again.  They step closer, and shyly, Kaguya asks Haken to
turn down the lights...

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