Hilda Garde The Hilda Garde is a series of airships in " Final Fantasy IX " . They are steam - powered ships created by the Regent of Lindblum , Cid Fabool IX , named after his wife , Queen Hilda . List of airships . " Hilda Garde I " . The " Hilda Garde I " was seen as an amazing piece of technical engineering , as it was the first steam - powered airship in Gaia . Running without a Mist - engine , it can fly outside of the Mist Continent . Cid and his assistant Engineer Zebolt used ground - breaking technology to construct it . After a fight with Hilda , due to her discovering the Regent ' s womanizing , she turned him into an oglop and stole the " Hilda Garde I " . It was later taken from her by Kuja . Along with his Silver Dragon , Kuja uses the " Hilda Garde I " as his primary transportation across Gaia . When the party is captured at Kuja ' s Desert Palace , Kuja sends Zidane Tribal and three of his friends to Oeilvert to retrieve the Gulug Stone . They travel to the Forgotten Continent on the " Hilda Garde I " piloted by Kuja ' s lackeys Zorn and Thorn . When they return with the stone Kuja snatches it , kidnaps Eiko Carol and flees on the " Hilda Garde I " to the Lost Continent , inside the fiery reaches of Mount Gulug . Zorn and Thorn are destroyed by the party at the bottom of the volcano , and Kuja flees , though it is not known whether by teleportation or by airship . However , the " Hilda Garde I " is never seen again . " Hilda Garde II " . After the " Hilda Garde I " was stolen , the regent began working on " Hilda Garde II " . His skills remain hampered as an oglop ( and later on as a frog ) , and thus the " Hilda Garde II " is poorly constructed and deemed a failure . The player first gets a glimpse of it in an ATE with Steiner when the party first visits Lindblum and Steiner is lost in the vastness of the Lindblum Castle and the town . Though not as successful as the " Hilda Garde I " , it is still used by the Regent to travel to Treno to partake in the card tournament . The pressing attack by Bahamut on Alexandria forces Cid and the party to board the airship and fly from Treno to Alexandria to assist in the city ' s defense . During the flight comments are made on the craft ' s ill design with Vivi getting motion sickness due to the unstable flight . Eiko recognizes the signs of the Holy Judgement summoning and jumps off the airship ' s prow to join Garnet , who has been lead by the same signs atop Alexandria Castle . The " Hilda Garde II " drops Zidane and party at the castle entrance where he rescues Garnet and Eiko who have summoned Alexander . As the " Invincible " prepares to obliterate Alexander and the majority of the city , Zidane , Garnet and Eiko grab hold of the " Hilda Garde II ' s " flylines and lift off into the sky , escaping the destruction . This is the last time the " Hilda Garde II " is seen , so its fate is left unknown . " Hilda Garde III " . After reconciling with Hilda and being turned back into a human , Regent Cid begins working on the " Hilda Garde III " . Many of the materials used to build the " Hilda Garde III " came from the " Blue Narciss " , a ship Zidane and his party used to ferry across the the oceans of Gaia ( the " Blue Narciss " in turn had been remodeled from the Alexandrian cargo ship the party had stolen and flown to Lindblum ) . Cid presents the craft to the party after they return from Mount Gulug . The " Hilda Garde III " is commandeered by Erin and ferries the group to Ipsen ' s Castle and the four elemental shrines . When the party emerges from the Shimmering Island in control of the Terran - wrought " Invincible " , the " Hilda Garde III " is returned to Regent Cid . The " Hilda Garde III " leads the Lindblum airship fleet in the battle against the Silver Dragons at the Second Battle of the Iifa Tree , with Regent Cid and Tantalus Theater Troupe at the helm . It collects the party at the Iifa Tree after Necron is defeated . Cid may have constructed a " Hilda Garde IV " , as he claims his new " Hilda Garde " is the fastest ship yet when leaving to attend Tantalus ' s performance of " I Want To Be Your Canary " in Alexandria in honor of Queen Garnet . It ' s unclear whether he means he ' s built an entirely new ship , or if he ' s talking about the " Hilda Garde III " . Gameplay . As a vehicle . " Hilda Garde III " is the first airship freely usable by the player on the world map . It can land on grass y areas , but not on forest or snow . Shop . When the party is taken to the Forgotten Continent by Zorn and Thorn on " Hilda Garde I " , approaching the ship on the world map opens a shop . Other appearances . " Knights of the Crystals " . The design of " Hilda Garde I " was used to depict the " SS Highwind " , one of the treasures rewarded in this Facebook game . Musical themes . When the player pilots the " Hilda Garde III " around the world map or explores its interior " Aboard the Hilda Garde " plays , which can be found as track 1 of the fourth disc of the " Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack " . Etymology . The airship series is named after Regent Cid ' s wife . From Old High German , Lady Hilda ' s name breaks down into the words " hild " and " gard " or " gerd " and translate as " war " and " protection " respectively , and in full can mean protective battle - maid .