Dreadnought Leviathan The Dreadnought " Leviathan " is an airship that serves as an unrevisitable dungeon in the land of Ivalice in " Final Fantasy XII " . It is the flagship of the 8th Imperial Fleet of the Archadian Empire . The ship also appears in the manga adaptation , and because the manga was cancelled , the events there serve as its ending . Story . " Final Fantasy XII " . The " Leviathan " is the flagship of the 8th Imperial Fleet of Archadia , led by Judge Ghis . After the Resistance is caught trespassing the Royal Palace of Rabanastre , Princess Ashe is captured and taken aboard " Leviathan " . Vaan ' s party is sent onboard the ship by Marquis Ondore to save her . Vaan , Basch , Balthier and Fran meet with Ghis and Ashe , Ghis revealing Ashe ' s true identity as the princess of Dalmasca , although she has no proof of her lineage . Basch tells about the Dusk Shard of the Dynast King Raithwall , and how he was instructed to deliver Ashe to it by the late king Raminas B ' nargin Dalmasca if needed . In return of divulging its location he wants their safety guaranteed , but Ashe objects , as she still thinks Basch was the one who murdered Raminas . The Goddess ' s Magicite — really the Dusk Shard and a powerful piece of deifacted nethicite — in Vaan ' s pocket reacts to Ashe presence . Ghis is delighted the party has delivered it to the Empire and seizes it . The captives are sent to be detained with Ashe quartered separately . Vaan ' s party sets her free and set out to escape the ship with the help of the Resistance member Vossler York Azelas , who has infiltrated the imperial forces in a disguise . During their escape Vaan is reunited with his friend Penelo , the true reason he had wanted to come aboard the flagship . Penelo had been taken to the ship as Larsa Ferrinas Solidor ' s guest , a boy who had traveled with Vaan ' s party earlier under a pseudonym . Larsa gifts Penelo — whom he had befriended during the time they had spent together — with a piece of manufacted nethicite , a top secret Archadian invention , calling it a " good - luck - charm " . When the party battles Ghis to escape the ship , the piece of manufacted nethicite disables Ghis ' s magick . The Empire recaptures the party when they acquire the Dawn Shard and it is revealed Vossler is a turn - coat . It is revealed the " Leviathan " can fly on the jagd thanks to Archadia ' s manufacted nethicite technology . As the party is brought before him again , Ghis steals the Dawn Shard from the party to test its power by putting the piece of nethicite in the ship ' s engine . At first the tests prove promising , but soon the shard reacts violently , compressing the " Leviathan " and incinerating the entire 8th Fleet in an explosion of Mist . Fran goes berserk from the Mist spewed by the Dawn Shard , and the group incapacitates their guards and escapes on a carrier ship before the " Leviathan " is destroyed , but they are forced to leave Vossler behind . Basch promises his old friend that he will protect Ashe in his stead . The Dawn Shard devastates the entire fleet and is left glinting mid - air at the center of the explosion . Balthier turns the carrier ship around to return and collect it , but the Dawn Shard has expelled its Mist and become lusterless . " Leviathan ' s " destruction is a blow to Vayne Carudas Solidor , the Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor ' s son , as well , as he was the one on the hunt for the nethicite , and he is recalled to Archades from his post as Consul of Rabanastre . Balthier ' s private airship , the " Strahl " , was also damaged in the explosion despite being docked further away from the impact site , and the party is left without means of private air travel until Nono , Balthier ' s mechanic moogle , will fix it . " Final Fantasy XII " manga . Vaan , Basch , Balthier and Fran are sent aboard the " Leviathan " by Ondore . The four meet with Ghis and Ashe , Ghis revealing Ashe ' s true identity as the princess of Dalmasca . Ghis tells the party the cooperation of a royal family member would be valuable to Vayne , the son of the Emperor , but Ashe has no proof of her lineage . Basch tells about the Dusk Shard of the Dynast King Raithwall , and how he was instructed to deliver Ashe to it by the late king if needed . The Goddess ' s Magicite — really the Dusk Shard — in the group ' s belongings reacts to Ashe ' s anger over Basch ' s willingness to cooperate , and reveals itself . Ghis seizes it and orders the group imprisoned , Ashe quartered separately . As the Imperial soldiers escort the group away , Basch reminisces of a war in Landis against the Urutan - Yensa , when he fought full of youthful pride and was nearly killed for it due to his inexperience and ignorance . Vossler saves the group disguised as an Archadian soldier , and he and Basch ally to protect Ashe . The group flees to the airship deck and Penelo and Larsa arrive , Larsa surprised to learn both Ashe and Basch are alive . Larsa wishes to protect the Empire from a " distortion " within that the news of their survival has aggravated , and gives Penelo a piece of manufacted nethicite to protect her . Ghis arrives , and Vossler takes Larsa prisoner to stay the Judge ' s hand . Ghis attacks with a spell , declaring Larsa is prepared to die as an Imperial , but the spell is absorbed by the nethicite Larsa gave Penelo . Basch wounds Ghis and Balthier starts the airship . The group escapes the " Leviathan " , Larsa ordering Ghis to report the incident since the escapees have no proof of their identities , commenting there need not be a report of Larsa ' s capture and Ghis ' s reaction to it . After Ashe ' s party is re - captured , they are brought on the Dreadnought " Leviathan " and Vossler hands the Dawn Shard to Ghis , revealing Vayne has agreed that Dalmasca shall be restored with Ashe as ruler in exchange for the shard . Ghis orders the shard tested to verify its authenticity while Vossler takes the party to their quarters . He tries to explain himself to Ashe , but she refuses to listen . Fran goes berserk from the Mist spewed by the Dawn Shard during testing , and the group incapacitates their guards . Basch and Vossler duel as the party flees to the airship bay . When a group of Imperial gunners halts them , Ashe summons the Esper Belias , entering a trance - like rage . Vossler gains the upper hand against Basch using Balance magick and shatters his sword , but through willpower and the Mist around them , Basch creates a blade of Mist from the hilt of his sword and continues to fight . The two clash and Basch impales Vossler , Balance not activating since Vossler did not make physical contact with Basch ' s incorporeal weapon . Vossler entrusts Ashe ' s protection to Basch , telling him she ' s currently too weak to hold the throne , and Basch must aid her in her mission . The Dawn Shard causes a chain of system failures and explosions through the airship . Ashe awakens from her trance and sees her arm where Belias glyph appeared has grown bulbous and deformed . She dismisses Belias , causing her arm to be cut to a stump below the elbow . A wounded Ghis begins to climb and tries to deactivate the Dawn Shard ' s reactor , but Vossler stabs his sword into Ghis ' hand to stop him , telling him they will die together . The airship explodes and obliterates the rest of the fleet as Ashe and her friends flee in an airship back to Dalmasca . An ending narration says that Dalmasca has taken the first step on its road to revival . Because the manga was cancelled , Chapter 19 serves as the ending to the adaptation . A second " Leviathan " was built and is used by Ashe and Basch to join up with their friends . This " Leviathan " , though built by the Empire , was made as a Dalmascan flagship for its queen , Ashe . It serves as a connection between Lemurés and Ivalice . Quests . Grinding spot . After rescuing Ashe , the alarm will go off and endless soldiers will emerge . This is a decent spot to grind levels . If one is near death , they can simply return to the cell block and use the Save Crystal and repeat the process . Seeing that the only enemies that come are soldiers , this spot makes good use of gambits and chaining . Treasures . During the player ' s visit on the " Leviathan " the player can discover numerous treasures that have a chance of containing new weapons . Since the player visits this location before they can obtain the Diamond Armlet there are only normal treasures . The treasure in the southwest corner of the Port Section has a 90 % chance of spawning , 60 % to contain gil , but when it has items , it can be either a Reflectga Mote or Handaxe . A treasure in the northeast part of the Starboard Section can contain a Killer Bow . The other treasures have common items and a few gambits , unless they contain gil . In the Sub - control room there are two treasures that always spawn and once claimed , will never respawn . The other can contain an Assassin ' s Dagger , and the other an Ancient Sword . In the " International Zodiac Job System " version , the Diamond Armlet can be obtained much earlier , so it can be used onboard " Leviathan " to obtain Meteorites and Knots of Rust . Most items are the usual mixture of healing items , magick motes , and attack Fangs . However , there are several weapons and armor . In the Port Section there is a Partisan and a Crossbow . In the Large Freight Stores there is a Ringmail and a Shepard ' s Bolero . Several pieces of iron equipment , such as sword , helm , and armor , can be found in the Starboard section . In the Sub - control Room there is a Vega and a Zwill Blade . The chests that do not respawn in the " International Zodiac Job System " are a pair of chests in the Large Freight Stores that contain Reflectga Motes . Chest # 11 and Chest # 19 , which contain Sleep and Infuse , respectfully , also do not respawn . Opening those two causes two chests in the Ogir - Yensa Sandsea to disappear forever . However , those lost chests also contain Sleep and Infuse , so the player loses nothing . Non - player character s . After the plot events on the Dreadnought " Leviathan " , the moogle Tetran will show up in Eruyt Village . He will appear regardless if the player let him out of the cage or not . Musical themes . The background theme for " Leviathan " is " Defying the Empire " . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . The " Leviathan " appears as a regular Record , located in the Realm of " Final Fantasy XII " . The ship and the battles within have been featured in several Challenge Event s centered on " FF XII " , first appearing in The Dreadnought " Leviathan " Etymology . The airships in " Final Fantasy XII " are allusions to previous " Final Fantasy " games , the Archadian Imperial Fleets being named after summons . The Dreadnought was a battleship in " Final Fantasy II " , and Leviathan is a recurring aquatic summoned monster .