Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Ursa)

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Ursa) (not to be confused with Xenoblade Chronicles 3) is an Action RPG that exists in the Xeno series. It seems to follow Xenoblade Chronicles 1's gameplay style, giving the characters one weapon type and having the Arts menu arranged similar to how they were in Xenoblade Chronicles 1.
==Story==
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Ursa)/Story
The game opens on a calm shot of the wide sea, a soft breeze can be heard while the waves lightly stir, a small landmass. Then, beside the camera, a small boat comes into view, a pair of women paddling with makeshift oars. One of the women appears bulky, a small buckler hanging off her back. The other seems more lithe, a spear on her back and a net of speared fish beside her. They keep paddling, and soon the boat is upon the sand and comes to a stop. The duo steps off, shaking their legs as if trying to get used to the land after their time at sea.
The lithe woman stretches and says that if they're right about that boat's travel path, then it may be a while before it shows up. She suggests that they set up a fire, and get to cooking the fish. The muscular woman nods, and the pair head further inland, towards a patch of trees. The game starts, and the UI reveals the names of the duo. The woman with the buckler appears to be named Cassie, while the woman with the spear appears to be named Isa. Here, players are simply told to seek out an extraction point, from which they can get some material, including wood, depending on where the extraction point is located.
After doing so, the duo returns to the beach, Cassie setting up the campfire while Isa grabs the net. Cassie manages to start it, and Isa takes a few sticks with which to suspend the fish over the fire. It cuts to a little while later, quite a few of the fish having been cooked. However, suddenly, a stirring is heard in the sand. Cassie reaches for her buckler and begins to stand. Isa sees Cassie's reaction and takes out her spear. They turn, and they can see a Krabble unveil itself, skittering towards their fire. Isa says that the fish must've attracted it, and the two enter a fighting pose as the beast approaches.
Here, players are taught the basics of battle, while also informed about how Cassie's built to draw attention and take less damage while Isa's designed for damaging enemies. As Cassie is the default party leader, players will likely be using her to keep the enemy busy while Isa repositions herself to attack the Krabble where it's vulnerable. After it's slain, there's another cut to show its body now roasted while the pair are cooking more fish.
===Chapter 1: The Blue Beacon===
The pair have a nice meal before the game shows a brief flashback to how Cassie and Isa got here. Cassie lived in a glorious city called Bassetet, it being a paragon of peace, until one day, she woke up in a cast iron room, before realizing she was on a boat. She was trapped, until the whole room was dropped from the ship and tossed into the sea, accompanied by Isa, who was also locked up. While they were out at sea, they distinctly remembered the sight of the blue light at the boat's front.
The two hunted down the boat, and tonight, on this random island, they found the light. They chased down the boat, before invading, where they found numerous soldiers around the insides. They snuck through and would notice her king's adviser on the boat for some reason. However, there were other issues to deal with. They headed deeper in, where they'd find what they'd think to be the captain's quarters. They opened it but found a blue shield within, aiming out the front of the ship and out into the sea. Upon taking it, the ship begins diving into the water like a submarine.
The duo immediately begins running out, intent on finding a way out. They realize that their old dingy was out of reach, and would have to find another way out. On their way out, they're stopped by a masked soldier, Luan, who orders his Armu to attack. Cassie is forced to utilize the shield, which the soldiers refer to as the Hemie, and thus battle it, Cassie learning how to absorb attacks before sending forth a shockwave via the shield. With this, they're able to beat the Armu, and make their way out and into what they figure must be the prison section, where several cells similar to the ones they were holed up in are. Cassie notices a lever beside one of the cells, the duo presses up against the door adjacent to it and flips the lever. 
The cell is then hurled from the side of the ship, Cassie and Isa following it as it falls. They're out of the ship and watch as it sinks into the water. They realize that someone else must be in the cell they're in, and attempt to open it, only to find a starved body within. They recoil and pull away, before realizing another bit of horror: they don't have a goal now. The ship is gone, their old boat is gone, and there's no land in sight.
===Chapter 2: Good Luck Charms===
The two are left out at sea, still resting in the cell. As they're resting, they notice a boat approaching. They immediately stand up, and the boat stops before them. From it, a Nopon steps out and greets the two women. The Nopon was apparently following the trail of scrap when he found them, stating that he could help them, seeing as they were marooned. He'll be heading off to the island Negoteele, when he spies Cassie's shield. He's alarmed by the metal and asks them where it came from, They say they got it off a ship, which the Nopon seems to have an inkling of an idea the identity of. 
Realizing what it was, he was sure this was some string of fate. He's been hunting down ancient artifacts, and remarks that they must be good luck for that. Good luck charms, even! He introduces himself as Sharuk, excavator of the 2000 leagues. The two seem to merely wish to reach that island, when Sharuk pulls out a weapon he's been holding onto, a sort of Ether Turret from a civilization far past. Cassie doesn't seem interested, but Isa tells Cassie to look at the weapon closer. She realizes it's Bassetet technology and asks him where he got it, to which he explains that it came from the ocean. 
Realizing this, Cassie agrees that maybe they should look into him a little more. Sharuk then quickly decides to take their measurements, before putting them into scuba gear, where he says they shall perform some quick excavation. While underwater, normal attack options are harder to perform, leading to a new set of fighting options being required for sea combat. The group has to collect items from collection points before Sharuk says that one more sample should be required. He goes down to a rock with flecks of metal on it, before scraping it. He says that it's time to go back when the rock begins stirring to life. The two women are alarmed and try to warn Sharuk, who spies the creature.
It appears to be an Abyss Aligo, a shark-like creature, stirred to anger by the Nopon. It's about to attack when Cassie intercepts. Like that, the trio is forced to battle the sea creature. With it beaten, Sharuk says that Cassie and Isa were amazing and that without them, he'd be chum! He's more convinced that they are good luck charms, Cassie and Isa not seeming to mind despite the kind of embarrassment involved in it. They soon make it back to the boat, and Sharuk directs the boat while the two are out on deck. The two don't seem totally comfortable with the situation, but they don't have much of a choice. Besides, it does seem like there's some bit of faith linking them together, what with Sharuk having some Bassetet technology.
===Chapter 3: Products of an Old World===
The scene cuts to underwater, spying on the ship Cassie took the Hemie from. The adviser seen before is seen in the fish's head, glaring at the pedestal the Hemie was upon, several guards in the room with him. He asks who let this happen. The man with the whip earlier, apparently known as Luan, stepped forward and bowed. He says he was there to keep the invaders from the prison, though they overpowered him when they learned about one of the shield's strengths. He suggests someone in the prison area must've let them out. However, the adviser says that he already spoke with the prisoners, and he says that they reported the pair were able to escape by deploying one of the Ark cells. He then says that that reminds him, the deployment system was supposed to be offline, which is why he brought them here, especially Luan. He wanted to know who made it so someone could open the cells.
He points at Luan and asks if he has anything to do with that. Luan stares the adviser down and insists he had nothing to do with the cell deployment system this time, the adviser glaring at him. However, his interrogation is interrupted by the sound of a metallic tap against the floor, coupled with footsteps. The adviser turns towards the source, seeing a lady in long black robes, long wisps of white hair on her, and a long staff at her side. The guards and adviser bow as the lady walks forward, looking over the empty stand. She asks the adviser why the Ark is just lying at the bottom of the ocean when the Hemie is out there. The adviser tells her that they're weeding out the guard for any insubordinates, out of fear of them messing up any more of the gear. However, the lady says that she'll delegate the staff herself, and says that they need to surface. She says their current priority is finding the Hemie.
With that, the many guards bowed and ran off to their own stations, the adviser bowing to her and following her as she went to the Captain's Quarter, in which a lady in a black coat with gold-colored highlights is seen manning the controls. A monitor is seen displaying an outline of the ship, a noticeable blip in the head, where the Hemie was formerly. The lady in black robes tells the lady at the controls to surface, and that they need to get ready to track down the shield once they surface. The lady at the controls nods, and flips a switch, shutting off that blip. And then, she grabs a nob that was previously yanked downwards and yanks up on it. The camera cuts to an outside view, showing that the ship beginning to rise up from the sea.
----
Soon, the party arrives in Negoteele, which appears to be a quaint island with small wooden houses and dirt trails, though a respectable dock. Sharuk pulls in, and the party steps out onto them, the Nopon seen struggling to pull a bag full of old scrap. He pulls it off the ship, and the group steps out, seeing a bunch of Humans and Nopons walking around, some at various merchant stands. Isa leans in close to Cassie to say she can keep Sharuk busy while she goes out and asks about Bassetet. Cassie wishes her luck, and Isa goes off to stand with the Nopon as he keeps dragging his stuff.
With that, players are given the quest to ask around town. Unfortunately, this asking produces no results as nobody seems able to tell her anything about Bassetet. Some she asks even seem to act like they've never heard the name before. Cassie's weirded out at the general reaction and heads out to find Isa and Sharuk. The pair have made it into a building with metal trimmings on it, a couple of Nopon wearing metal plating and holding spears standing by the doorway. Sharuk says that the two are guests. The two Nopon stand aside, and the group is allowed entry.
Inside, the house is lavish, carpeting all over the floors and gold décor around the place. Within are more of those armored Nopon, leading the group to the living room, where a sea green Nopon is seated upon a throne with red velvet padding. Next to him is a Human in a dark cloak, a sheathed knife strapped to his side. Sharuk manages to push the bag of scraps in front of the Nopon, and addresses him as lord Bana, saying he brings many interesting finds from the sea. The Nopon named Bana tells the guy next to him to present him with the contents of Sharuk's expedition. As the guy in the cloak goes forward and opens up the bag, Bana asks Sharuk who the two ladies are. Sharuk introduces them as good luck charms, saying they helped him get this stuff. Bana looks up at the two as if pleading with them to continue.
Cassie says that she's a guard from Bassetet, and that she's looking for a place. She's not sure where in the world she is relative to it, suggesting she must be in some rogue tribe if it's this rustic. Bana raises a brow curiously at that and says he's not sure how she could be from Bassetet. Isa looks confused, and Cassie asks what he means. Bana says that he knows a few men who found carvings and old letters from Bassetet, and was able to determine that it was a great kingdom. Isa questions "was", and Bana answers that, for a long time now, Bassetet was gone, reduced to ruins and cast to the sea. Cassie and Isa freeze up at that, shock and confusion rocking them at the news. Cassie asks what he means, and Sharuk assures her that he speaks the truth, that many of the group's findings were from the old kingdom of Bassetet.
Cassie says she's done here, and Isa follows, Sharuk looking on as they leave, the cloaked guy pulling out the last of the scrap. Bana says that this should come out to around 2000g. Sharuk frantically accepts the gold and then runs after the two saddened friends. As they do, one of the Nopon asks Bana what if those two were from Bassetet. Bana says that there's no way those two could be... The Nopon suggests even if it's possible, those two could hold insight into the old world no one else could. At that, Bana's eyes lit up, and he stood up in the chair, declaring that he could be the sole provider of exclusive information on the old kingdom if he were to take in those two. He turns to the guy in the robe and tells him to follow alongside a few of his guards and drag those two to him.
After that, Sharuk finds the duo on the boat, saddened. Sharuk asks them if they're really from Bassetet, to which Cassie says it doesn't matter. If it's gone, they have nowhere to really go. Sharuk sits next to them and says that he doesn't really have anywhere to go himself, and that he's kind of just out here kind of on his own. And he asks them if maybe they could go out on their own together. Isa sighs and says it's not like they have much else to do now, and maybe he can tell them a bit about this "new world". So, Sharuk begins sailing out...
They're out, though unfortunately, a raft is following them. On it is the guy in the cloak and four armored Nopon, the majority holding spears while one holds a launcher. He points out towards the motor of the ship and fires. The entire ship is rocked, causing the people onboard to fall over. Sharuk opened the door, and a few pieces of equipment fell onto the door falling out. Isa says they took a hit from behind and looks back, Cassie and Sharuk following, seeing the raft in question. Cassie declares that it's Bana's men, and Sharuk wonders what the heck they're doing.
The Nopon manage to attach anchors to Sharuk's ship, their raft effectively attached to it. The Nopon and the cloaked man leap onto Sharuk's ship, aiming their weapons threateningly at the group. The guy in the cloak is seen on the front lines as he holds his dagger defensively, already anticipating the party's attack. He says that they're here for Cassie and Isa, and suggests that they surrender peacefully. Cassie and Isa instead pull out their respective weapons, Sharuk asking why Bana's men or doing this. Nobody answers Sharuk, and instead, the group gets roped into a battle with Cersi and 4 guards Nopon. It's in this fight players become introduced to Chain Attacks, which allow all party members to perform their own attack while action freezes, enabling players to pile the damage onto the targets and set up for combos.
After dealing enough damage to the invaders, a cutscene plays showing Cersi, the man in the black cloak, clashing against Cassie's shield, her holding him back. While tossing him back, she notes that it takes a certain kind of man to drag Nopon in to fight his fights. But when Cersi touches down again, he charges her again, while saying that she has it backwards. He tries to dive to Cassie's side, though she's able to block the next swing. Meanwhile, he says he has a debt with Bana and that these guys are here to make sure he can own up to enough labor to pay him off. While Isa and Sharuk are tending to the Nopon guards, Cassie keeps blocking Cersi, and asks if that's all that's got him fighting them, some threatening Nopon. Cersi seems to perk up at the proposition of the new opportunity and tells her outright that if he had the chance to leave Bana's leash, he'd leap in a heartbeat. So, while clashing Cersi, Cassie suggests that they could launch these Nopon overboard, and drag him far away from Bana.
Then, as if the two signed an invisible contract, they give each other a knowing nod and then break off. While Isa and Sharuk have the guards pinned down, Cersi runs out in front of them. He takes up what appears to be a small sphere, before flicking his wrist down, the sphere exploding into a bright, disorienting flash which even gives the Nopon pause. Sharuk and Isa are also stunned, but not Cassie. She charges past the group and towards the Nopon, ramming shield first into them and charging with enough force to launch them a good several feet off of the boat and into the ocean. Cersi tells Sharuk now's the time to get the crew out of here.
Sharuk and Isa seem confused about Cersi's change of heart, but he tells them that those Nopon are good floaters and that they'll eventually get back. He also says that those jerks stuck all of their anchors on the boat itself, so... With that, Sharuk quickly gets to work on the engine, the Nopon guards swimming over. However, before they can get closer, the motor starts up again, and the ship sets out, dragging the raft off with it. The Nopon frantically swims after it, but it becomes quickly apparent that they can't catch up to it.
Once the boat's a fair distance from Bana's Nopon, Sharuk's still steering while Isa is seen confronting Cersi, clearly not convinced they can trust him. Cersi assures her that they have nothing he's interested in taking and that all he wants right now is to find some cave to hide in until Bana gets so angry he gets a heart attack. Isa seems to let that be a good enough answer for now but is still clearly miffed with the rogue. She turns to Cassie and asks her what they're going to do now. Cassie says she's not really sure. She's not sure if she's quite ready to step into this strange world yet, she has no idea whether or not the nations are peacefully united like back in her day, she's just not sure what to do.
Meanwhile, she's been fiddling with the Hemie, until one particular tilt of it produces a blue beacon from the face of the shield. Isa noticed that and asked Cassie what that was. Cassie's not sure and tilts the shield some more. The light doesn't shine unless she points it in a specific direction. Cassie thinks back to when that ship had this shield locked up, and wonders if this wasn't just a light. Cassie suggests this thing is pointing towards something, and if that big ship was heading towards it, it must be something big. Isa suggests that a boat like that must be pulling towards some kind of docking bay or otherwise pulling into something. Cassie says whatever it is, it's their only direction in this new world.
Isa goes into the cabin and tells Sharuk about the strange beacon, and he seems to light up at that. He says that they should follow that beacon! Cassie places the shield at the very front of the ship, Sharuk turns the ship until the beacon shines, and the boat begins to sail.
===Chapter 4: The Sea Titan===
At the beginning of this chapter, players are introduced to boat controls, such as turning, sending the party down into the sea, and encountering enemies at sea, from sea beasts, to Bana's Nopon, to even pirates. Players are taught that this boat can stop at various islands, and that the story ultimately lies in the path of the blue beacon, so until they touch down on land, players are stuck moving the vessel itself through the water. After traveling a fair distance forward, players will see big, white, bird-like creatures overhead, seeming to track the vessel down as it continues forward.
After advancing a little, the bird-like creatures fly down in front of the boat, and Cassie notices people on top of the bird things. They seem mostly human-like, though bear distinct bird-like qualities. They wear thin robes and seem to host big wings that extend from their shoulders, draped over their arms like sleeves. They say that the crew's approaching their borders and that they need to present official documentation permitting travel. Cassie, Isa, and Cersi turn to Sharuk, who looks around nervously. He says that there's a reason he hung around familiar seas. Cassie turns towards the bird-like people and says that they have business this way, and unfortunately, they don't have this documentation.
The bird-creatures say that in that case, she needs to get her documents in order. The group again turns towards Sharuk, who shrugs and says he's been meaning to get around to it. Cassie says they don't really have time, and that they're going to go forwards. Sharuk seems nervous, but keeps pressing forwards. The bird people demand they turn around, but the boat keeps moving. After repeatedly refusing their orders, one of the bird people lifts her staff. Ether runs through her veins and a gold beacon shines to the sky. At that, the water begins to stir, Sharuk shuddering while the other riders hold onto the edge. 
Eventually, something rises from the water. Sharuk tries to speed up the boat, hoping to get out of whatever the bird-creatures are planning. Despite the speed though, what appear to be mountainous structures rise from the water, and the crew feel their own boat rise up sharply out of the water, the crew screaming as they ascend. The camera shows a rising from the water is a titan, appearing to resemble a tortoise, except it appears more muscular, with mountainous structures from its shoulders and thighs. The boat is lost onto the titan's back, and the bird people fly in close. The one with the staff says that now that the boat's out of the water, it's time for them to come in and detain the trespassers.
----
Meanwhile, the boat that held the Hemie finally rises from the sea, a significant distance away from the party. Once risen, the camera shows a radar before the lady with the black coat. The radar seems to show an azure blip far off. She says that the Hemie's location is discovered. The lady with the black cloak orders her to send an extraction mech. She fiddles with the controls, and the mouth at the head of the ship opens up. And from it, a machine is launched out and begins flying in the direction of the party...
----
Cassie groans and rubs her head before standing up. Looking back, she can see Cersi, but no one else. Not even the boat is anywhere to be seen. She wakes up Cersi, who also groans awake. He seems confused at first, but Cassie tells him they should get moving. They need to move out and find the rest of the crew. Cersi struggles to recall what happened but then realizes that they're on the back of the Titan. Cassie wants him to explain. She knows those bird creatures, High Entia. She says her king had them united under one kingdom, one that didn't need borders. She asks what their deal is and how they got control of a creature of legend like this.
Cersi says that the High Entia has been around for as long as he can remember. While the rest of the world's been left to toil away with whatever the islands or the sea provided, they were able to build a civilization upon a patch of technology and spearhead the evolution of their society. Some people tried to investigate the machinery, but the High Entia refused to let the rest of the world get the benefits they did, so they made sure to halt passage to what they considered their waters. He explains that he's not sure how they were able to control a Titan, suggesting that must be part of a ritual that they kept hush-hush all this time. He actually says the Titan was a more recent development.
Players control Cassie and Cersi for a while, a rather tricky combination without Sharuk's healing arts. But if players level up Cersi enough, he'll have access to art that'll knock a healing potion off of a foe, allowing players to bump into it and restore their health. After they progress a little, the perspective switches to Isa and Sharuk as they progress, Isa apparently being told something similar about the High Entia's ascent to power. However, Sharuk seems interested in something Isa said. He says that she mentioned that the High Entia were united under her king's kingdom, so he asks what the old kingdom was like. Isa describes it as a peaceful land. She says mankind longed for the day peace would come to all nations, and Bassetet was that. Everyone was united under the king and queen, brought under a prosperous reign that unified all cultures into one. Isa remarks that once upon a time, such a world was a fairy tale, some wild dream no one could imagine. And now, it seemed once again it was going to be a fairy tale.
Sharuk pats Isa on the back and says if it happened once, then maybe it can happen again. Isa sighs and says right now, she's not bothered with that kind of future. She's not even bothered with the future she's in right now. Right now, she's only worried about where the Hemie leads. So, she begins heading forward, Sharuk following. After a short period of following, Isa comes across some girl with a hammer, her tucked into a cave and absolutely soaked. Isa asks her what she's doing here, and the lady with the hammer says she was with a transportation vessel out in a storm, and they didn't know they were approaching the border. They were all taken by surprise when the Titan rose and split their boat, knocking her crew away. She was left on the creature's back and had to improvise to keep herself alive. She's lost track of how long she's been out here, and she's been trying to make sure she's avoiding the High Entia.
Isa says that they're going to get off of this thing and get away from the High Entia and that she should stick with them. The lady asks who they are, and Isa says they're apparently people who don't belong to this world right now. They ask who the lady is, and she introduces herself as Mikki. With the hammer-toting lady in their party, the group proceeds onward. As they progress, the camera shows the group converging on a space on the Titan's back, the High Entia getting close and trying to close in on them. However, they look off in the distance and suddenly fly away. The party is confused about their sudden departure and looks in the direction they looked. There, they see a giant, metal object flying in, seemingly on a crash course with the Titan's back. Before it slams down though, it hovers in place, letting them see the cylindrical device before them.
It unfolds, a set of big legs unfolding, as well as a set of large arms with shield-like gauntlets, and a head popping up from the top of the device. The party is surprised by the appearance of the device and holds their weapons up defensively. Sharuk declares he's never seen anything like this. However, Isa tells Cassie to look at the machine's armor. Then, she notices that it's made of the same metal as the ship that kidnapped them. Cassie points it out, and Isa growls, aiming her spear at the machine. Said machine glares down at the group, and brings up its dukes. With that, players are brought into a battle with the Extraction Device.
The fight proves exceptionally tough for the group, their weapons barely making a dent in the beast. Eventually, the Extraction Device is about to stamp out Isa. Cassie runs and blocks it, keeping the Extraction Device's attack stopped. Cersi and Mikki are beating on the machine's other leg while Sharuk is firing at the abdomen of the machine. Isa says that they can't leave a dent in this thing! Cassie keeps blocking blow after blow, and feels the shield light up, burning up. It shines again, like a furnace, before she slams down her shield, emitting a purple fire that covers the party. At that, Sharuk's ether shots and Mikki and Cersi's attacks seem to actually leave marks.
Isa seems surprised, asking if the Hemie made the machine weaker. Cassie says that this thing is good for their defenses. Then maybe it can do something about their foes' defenses. And like that, Cassie learns the Hemie art Armor Corrosion. With the new art, the group's able to beat into the Extraction Device, now able to actually do significant damage. After enough damage, the machine is busted, falling onto a knee. With it weak, Cassie declares that now's their chance to finish this thing. Sharuk keeps firing at the Extraction Device's upper half, though it brings up its arms to try and block the bullets. Isa and Cersi rush under an arm each and stab at them, covered in the flames of Armor Corrosion. They're able to pierce the armor of the machine and begin to lower the arms. Mikki jumps up onto Cassie's shield, which propels her up. She raises her hammer and smashes it down on the face of the head of the machine, literally caving it in.
The Extraction Device emits sparks from its wounds, struggling to stand up while the party steps away. It struggles to hold up its arms and to walk straight. After a few steps, it falls over, stumbling down the back of the Titan and off into the sea below. The party is allowed a moment to breathe, sit down and relax. Cersi notices that those High Entia are still away. Cassie thinks that they must've still been scared off by the machine. Isa says that they still need time to get that boat off of here or find it for that matter. Thankfully, there isn't much more to worry about.
After enough traveling, the group is able to find their boat at the head of the Titan. Cassie suggests that they push this thing, which Sharuk is horrified by. But everyone else agrees this is their best bet. So, the group is able to push down the boat, before then jumping down onto it mid-fall. The boat slams against the water, Sharuk is horrified by the impact. However, it seems to mellow out, and soon the group realizes they're settled down. Sharuk cheers for the survival of their ship, while Mikki looks over the vessel. Mikki asks where the group's heading with this boat.
Cassie says they're not quite sure where they're heading. Just that they have something leading them somewhere. She shows her the shield that shines a beacon in a particular direction. Mikki isn't sure how useful this beacon serves, plus she does kind of have her own business, someone to report to now that her crew's dead. Isa looks around, noting the lack of the High Entia. She says that if they retreat, then those High Entia will regroup. She says that now may be their only chance to make headway into this territory. So, they proceed forward.
===Chapter 5: Lament of the Bard===
The player is tasked with proceeding forward, following the source of the light. As they progress, a cutscene plays. A boat appears to be tailing them, Bana on board. And beside him is a High Entia holding an ether rifle, a sack of gold next to his foot. The boat seems slightly bigger than Sharuk's, though still fairly primitive. Bana sees the party through a telescope, and tells the High Entia they're the guys. He demands that the High Entia, who appears to be named Lugar, round up the crew and take them down. He's also seen pulling out another sack of gold. But Lugar points out that they already called the Titan, and that ship's still running. He thinks something happened to scare off the border patrol, and assumes that it'll take them forever to mobilize a squad around them.
Bana stamps angrily. He says he can't do anything, not even get within smelling distance of them until he can meet with some confidants around here. He glances at the guards on his ship and angrily declares that he can't count on these guys to take care of them apparently. Lugar says that they needn't worry. He notes that the boat's heading near an island up ahead, and says that if he can make it there, he can mobilize a few of the guards to detain the ship. Bana tells Lugar he better be fast, that he doesn't want to be the guy that has to take the group's lumps if they turn around.
Lugar nods and spreads his wings. He flaps and begins to fly off the ship, making sure to fly around the boat as he goes forward. The boat continues forwards and is soon going beside an island. The island has thick walls around it and also seems to have a dock intended for more mechanically powerful ships. As the ship tries to drive by, some turrets on the ship's walls light on and aim at Sharuk's ship. A High Entia flies out near the ship and commands them all to stop, or else be destroyed. Sharuk is panicking and asks the group what they should do. Isa is ready to raise her spear, though Cassie lowers her hand. She recognizes that they can't fight this, so they surrender.
Next, Sharuk's ship is latched onto the dock, and the High Entia are currently marching them deeper into the town. As they do, the town's revealed to the players to be called Ahehearan They find themselves behind Lugar, who Mikki recognizes as the High Entia's captain of the guard. She asks the group if they did anything especially bad, cause it's rare that Lugar gets called out for a common border violation. Cassie asks how bad they have to be to get his attention, but Mikki groans.
Eventually, the party is brought down to the cells, a group of rooms that have ether over them like some kind of shield. The party is split up into separate cells, and are without their weapons. Mikki seems confused. Border violation and resisting arrest were the only charges brought against them. That still didn't explain Lugar's appearance. Then again, Cersi had this uncomfortable air about him. While they're waiting, there's a soft pitter-patter along the halls. The party looks and sees a few armored Nopon walking down the halls. They can see them looking around curiously. No guards are nearby.
One stands before Cassie's cell, one stands before Isa's, and one stands before Cersi's. The two before Cassie and Isa begin tapping away at the pads beside the cells when suddenly, the ether shields go down. Cassie asks what they're doing when suddenly the two in front of Cassie and Isa pull out their pistols. Then, a soporific blast puffs into their cells. The two of them suddenly get sleepy, and fall, much to the party's confusion. However, before they could ask, the Nopon before Cersi suddenly pulled out a knife, and then swung at him. He avoids the strike, while the other two Nopon are beginning to drag out Cassie and Isa. Eventually, Cersi's able to catch the knife and pull it out, before subduing the Nopon in front of him.
He charges out of his cell and sees the two Nopon going deeper into the prison. He immediately tries to run to Mikki's cell and reaches for the number pad, but she tells him he doesn't have time to try and figure out the lock. Those two Nopon clearly came in with instructions. She tells Cersi to get out there and stop those two Nopon. At this point, Cersi's forced to wield a knife (that is properly scaled for this area), and is also forced to go out on his own. He begins to search through the halls of the prison, forced to either evade High Entia or strike them down.
Eventually, he's able to get out of the prison, but as he gets out, he sees the armor those two were wearing is discarded behind the prison. At this point, Cersi's forced to wear a disguise and walk around the main town, asking questions. He learns that the town was originally built as an island prison for criminals the High Entia especially don't like, but with the improved security, they began to see the upper portion of the island as more livable. He scours around for any sign of those Nopon, which eventually leads him to find a woman strumming a lyre consisting of ether strings.
Upon approaching her, Cersi asks her if she saw a couple of Nopon traveling together, maybe if they were carrying a pair of body-shaped containers. The lyre-player motions towards a cup by her side. Cersi says he can't exactly pay her right now due to recent circumstances, and the lyre player shrugs and begins to walk away. Cersi goes to cut her off, but she holds her lyre defensively. She says she'll scream if he doesn't get out of her way. Cersi scans over her and notes that she's got some fancy jewelry for a beggar. The lyre player glances towards the jewelry he's looking at, and steps back a little. Cersi says that those could get her a few years definitely.
The lyre player groans and says she has no time to deal with him. Cersi again steps in front of her and says that those Nopon are making off with some people important to him, but before he can finish his sentence, the lyre-player strums her instrument, and the ether strings are replaced with a single ether string that connects one end of the arc to the other. She appears to be boasting some kind of ether bow now, and pulls on it, generating an ether arrow, causing Cersi to stumble back a little. Cersi realizes he has to fight now, so draws his knife and fights Laura.
During the fight, Laura's many ether arrows cause a ruckus, and soon a bunch of High Entia comes in, spying on the lyre player. Realizing her situation, Laura begins running, Cersi following behind her. Soon, they're hidden away, the High Entia missing them. Cersi then turns towards Laura, and says he doubts there are many ether-lyre players around here, and suspects that she can't disguise herself easily. Laura growls and tells Cersi that this is all his fault. Cersi doesn't deny it but argues he could be her only way out of this mess. He knows a few allies that'll be able to get her off of this island ASAP, but if he's going to do that, he needs to know where those two Nopon went.
Laura sighs and realizes she has no choice, so he tells him where the two went. She's able to point him toward a corner of the island, which seems to be under construction. Traversing it, Cersi and Laura are able to enter, and soon find a pair of Nopon pushing a crate. One of the Nopon has the string-thin mustache of a Wild West villain, and the other has a tuft of hair on their forehead like a horn. The duo seems to be pushing towards a flying device, one of those owned by High Entia. However, before the duo can go too far, Cersi and Laura cut the Nopon off.
The two Nopon yelp out at the sudden appearance of the two. Cersi's holding his knife threateningly and commands the two to empty the crate their carting along. The two Nopon are scared at first, but then they look upon the rogue in recognition. They realize that this is the guy Bana wanted dead. They talk among themselves and discuss. They tell each other that as much as he wants the two encyclopedias in his clutches, he just as badly wants that Cersi fellow dead. The two decide that they need to postpone delivery to clean up some loose ends.
They dash out into the middle of the construction field, Cersi and Laura following him. Eventually, they find the duo upon one of the turrets the construction site's about to put up. However, the Nopon quickly loads into it and is now beginning to aim it at the duo. Cue a boss fight in which the players have to carefully maneuver around the environment so that the various structures will block rapid-fire bullets from the Nopon duo. The duo travel through, approaching the side and delivering several blows to it. After dealing enough damage, a cutscene plays that shows the turret emitting several rapid-fire blasts at the group. They're forced to retreat so as not to get torn up by the ether blasts.
Cersi says he can't find an opening now. Seeing their opportunity, the two Nopon decide to up their damage. They switched to missile mode and sent forth a single large ether blast. Laura uses her lyre to protest Cersi, though he's blown back. He slams into the crate the two Nopon were moving earlier. Cersi realizes what this is, and then begins fiddling with the lock. Laura, meanwhile, began to strum her lyre to defend Cersi from subsequent ether blasts. After enough fiddling, the crate opens up. And out comes Cassie, rubbing her head. She notices the ether bullets, and she leaps out.
It keeps trying to fire on her, but she runs, and spies some scrap. So she dashes towards it and picks it up, wielding it like a shield and blocking the ether strikes. Isa's soon out. She looks around, and sees a long poll, though it's not sharp. She picked it up and joined the rest of the group against the Nopon pair. With Cassie and Isa rejoined, the group's able to overpower the fire of the turret the Nopon procured, and are able to disable it, causing the two Nopon to flop out. The two groan, rubbing their foreheads with their ear-wings. 
Then, they looked up and saw the group threateningly holding their weapons towards the duo. They each thrust their arms up, trembling with terror. It then cuts to a scene with the group at the docks, Cassie and Isa holding the Nopon duo by their ear-wings. They then hold them low and punt them out into the sea. With the two of them far off, the group reconvenes. They say that they still need to rescue the rest of their crew now, though they'll need to find a way to break into prison without attracting all of the High Entia.
So, the group makes their way to the prison, forming a plan on their way.
===Chapter 6: The Prison Break===
And so, the group are soon close to the main prison, where the rest of their allies are held prisoner. Cassie and Isa are of course curious about who the new lady is, and Cersi quickly tells them Laura plays fancy songs on her lyre, and can summon up ether arrows. Cassie and Isa shrug, seeming to go with it. They continue to go along with the planning. They first say that they need to take one of those High Entia in order to open up the cells. And that they'll need to get their equipment from the prison.
So, here the player's prompted to split the party. One half will be going down into the prison area to break the prisoners, and the other will be acquiring the equipment. One half's able to capture some of the High Entia guards, while the other half's able to break into the prison's vault. Soon the two halves meet up, and exit in order to regroup. And just like that, the gang's all together, each under disguise, and Hemie back in hand.
Once grouped up, Sharuk says that they need to get his ship back, that all his cool stuff is on it. Cersi points out that the High Entia's turrets will probably have eyes on that ship and will likely tear it apart if someone unauthorized gets on it. Mikki suggests they smash the turrets that'll be over the docking bay, and then leave in their blind spot. Laura suggests that they disguise as the High Entia and try to take the ship. Cassie supposes a quieter escape would be preferable here, though they'll need to find out what kind of guards have clearance to claiming this thing.
So begins the next mission, approaching the docking area to investigate the state of their ship's imprisonment. So they approach, and wait for some of the High Entia to approach to get some read on who's going to take it. While waiting, they eventually see Lugar come by, looking over the ship, him flanked by other High Entia. He steps into the boat, and looks around it. He steps out and back onto the dock, and tells the High Entia that he'll be claiming this thing as of tonight. He orders the High Entia flanking him to guard this thing while he gets ready for extraction.
With that news in mind, the group realizes they're in trouble. Mikki says that Lugar's too recognizable, he doesn't even need to be in uniform to be spotted in a crowd. There's no way they'll be able to sneak the ship out of their grasp! The group groans in recognition, and agrees. Sharuk says that they need to get the ship yesterday! All of his livelihood is in that thing! Mikki groans and says that their only way out is the tough way. She says that they need to get up on the wall, and get ready.
After that, a brief cutscene shows a far off shot of the island, it at a low angle to show off the floor of the sea in the shot. And then, the ship with the fish-head at the front rises from the surface, gazing threateningly upon the island...
The player's then able to move about on the island and move towards the secure area guarding entry to the wall. There, players will have to fight through a few High Entia and machines in order to get to the lift up the wall. While riding the lift, Laura's got a map out and is running a finger around it, drawing out the path out. She points out where the turrets are directly positioned over the docks. Cassie points out that their ship is heading north, so they'll need to clear the northwestern edge of turrets. Laura asks why they need to go northwards, and Isa then explains about the Hemie, how it's been guiding them this way this whole time, how it seems to be their only direction in this world they have no place in. Laura then asks why they're seriously considering following this thing, and even if they know what it is.
Cassie says that nobody knows where the Hemie leads, but that they really don't know a lot about this world in general. She says that they don't really have a place in any of this, and hope they can truly start wherever this Hemie can bring them. Cersi says that he's had faith with them so far, and that despite where it's taken him, he has to admit he's enjoyed this life more than his life with Bana. He says that he's going to be hiding out for a while, and recommends Laura hide too. Laura sighs, and figures that she may as well see where these knuckleheads plan on ending up. So, she agrees that they should take out these other turrets too.
Soon, the group makes it to the upper wall, and the player's tasked with destroying a few of the turrets, fighting past many more machines and High Entia. After enough of the turrets are destroyed, a cutscene shows Lugar, on a big ship piloted by High Entia, it sailing through the sea. Once the ship gets close enough, Lugar looks up and sees many of the turrets blasted apart. He's confused, and then flies up off of the ship towards the wall. The group are approaching the lift they came up on, but then see Lugar in the middle of the platform, him holding an ether rifle.
There, Lugar is seen loading his rifle, and aims it threateningly at the party. He tells them that they've spent too much time out of their cells, and that it's time to come along quietly. However, the party each pulls out their weapons, preparing for a fight. Cassie says that they're not going to stay out in the open for too long. They just want to get to wherever they're being led, and hide away from the world. However, Lugar tells her that that's not how the world works, they broke the law, so now they have to pay for their actions. Mikki, meanwhile, seems cautious about Lugar, not convinced that his reasons are quite that cut and dry.
The group begins their fight, and he proves remarkably tough for a guy holding just a rifle. After a brief amount of fighting, another cutscene plays, showing him using the length of his rifle to block several melee blows, and using his wings to block some of the ether shots. He's also seen firing cannon-like blows from his ether rifle, forcing the party to keep their distance and avoid at the right moment. Cersi tells Cassie that they don't stand a chance: all of their hard hitters are too slow for this guy, and that he hits too hard himself to stay close. While they're fighting, a few High Entia fly up, attracted by the commotion.
With the group starting to get surrounded, Lugar again takes aim, wordlessly telling the group to stand still. He tells the High Entia that arrived that these guys are staging a prison break, and orders the High Entia to come in and round up the party. However, Mikki steps forwards, getting between Lugar and the rest. She asks Lugar why he himself is here. Lugar raises a brow at the question, asking her what the point of her question is. Mikki points out that Lugar's rarely ever at the prison, that he's usually among the border patrol. He usually hands violators off to the prison lords and goes back to the border while the summoner's on the other side of the border.
Lugar glances at the other High Entia, them still seeming to have sights on the party. He says that he merely wished to make sure this party was taken care of, seeing as they passed by the Titan. Mikki asks why, in that case, he wanted to whisk away the vessel they rode in on, at which Lugar pauses for a moment, before saying that he wished to investigate the ship for its origin so he may inquire with the proper country about their trespassers. Sharuk jumps up and shouts that his ship is one of a kind, that he made it by hand! Mikki then moves onto her next point: about the prison itself.
Today, a trio of Nopon were able to just waltz up to their cell. They didn't hack into their prisons or pick any locks, they seemed to know just how to open up their prisons easily. On top of that, they attempted to kidnap Cassie and Isa, and came to kill Cersi. Cersi points out that he knows a very specific person that wants him dead and those two taken away. Though even in that case, Bana doesn't have ties in the High Entia's realm. Lugar's finger begins twitching over his trigger, and he asks just what the group's possibly getting at now.
Mikki shrugs and suggests that there are a few too many coincidences. What if there's a reason some of Bana's Nopon showed up at the same time as Lugar? What if there's a reason those same Nopon, who would've likely had no time to research the mechanics of the prison cells just in time to snatch them up, that happens to coincide with Lugar's arrival? Lugar shouts that they're just speculating on circumstantial evidence and that they're clearly just trying to stall their imprisonment. The other High Entia, meanwhile, seem interested in this connection. It was true that Cassie, Isa, and Cersi were sprung simultaneously, very shortly after their capture. Lugar, meanwhile, glances around at the High Entia as they talk among themselves. Lugar shakes his head, and steps forwards, demanding they put down their weapons.
Cassie asks if they could identify the Nopon that were on this island. They would've had to pass by some border men and exchange identity or something. Lugar seeks to call their bluff, and tells them to describe the Nopon. Cassie explains that one of them had their fur done up like devil horns, and one of them had the moustache of a thief. Lugar's eye twitches, and he narrows his eyes. He tells them that surely they jest, and that he's sick of entertaining their little shtick. So, he aims the rifle, and fires a massive shot. However, Cassie charges in front of Mikki, her shield beginning to glow. She holds the shield out, and blocks the ether shot. And now, the ether shot zooms back at Lugar, knocking him off of the platform, though he uses his wings to keep himself airborne.
Following that, players are thrust into a proper battle with Lugar, now able to repel his fire power with the use of the Hemie. They fight and fight, and soon they're able to take out his health. After that, he's left slumped over, panting, using his rifle to keep himself supported. He turns to the other High Entia, and asks them what they're doing standing around for! He tells them to shoot the party. However, they seem hesitant. And then, they hear cannon-like fire. Looking to the sky, they can see torpedo-shaped projectiles flying over the wall, and into the city. The torpedoes open up, and out come those guards from the submarine.
They rush out onto the city, and immediately the High Entia come down to fight them. Realizing who was attacking, Cassie orders the group to run, that now is their only chance to get out. They flee to the docks and take their ship. There, they release their ship, and begin sailing. Though looking back, they can see that submarine starting to come on their tail. Laura demands Sharuk moves this thing faster and faster, but Sharuk says that he's giving it all he's got!
The group's trying their hardest to flee, though the ship's gaining on them. However, as it gains, some of the High Entia flying machines fly out on top of the ship, and the High Entia on those machines begin attacking the hull of the kidnapping ship, trying to pry it open. Some High Entia, meanwhile, attach chains to the ship that are attached to the island itself, intent on stopping the ship with enough chains upon it. The ship's able to snap a few of the chains, though more and more chains are being attached. 
The camera cuts to inside, showing that lady that was commanding the extraction mech that was fought on top of the titan. The guards within her room remark that mere movement won't be able to break the High Entia's hold of this thing. The lady in the black coat seems to growl, glaring at the monitors displaying the High Entia. She says they'll have to divert some attention to these High Entia. In the meantime, she orders some men load up on the torpedoes. If they let themselves get preoccupied now, they may not get the Hemie in time.
The camera cuts back to Sharuk's ship, and the group seems to notice how the kidnapping ship seems to be slowing down. Cassie says that if they keep going in a straight line, that ship's going to find them fast. They'll need to create some obstacles between it and them. Laura asks out loud "Like what?" They look about, and see a little north of the Prison Island is a bunch of rocks protruding from the sea, forming a hazardous bed for big ships. Cersi suggests there, their ship seems small enough. So, the ship begins to sail over there...
===Chapter 7: A Peak to the Past===
The ship makes their way into the bed of ocean, it dotted by sharp stones. At that, they stop for a moment, Sharuk steering the boat more carefully than before so as not to crash. They soon go deep into the rock field, which is soon labeled Well of the Fallen. As they progress, they can see the wrecked pieces of ships from the past, each dashed by the rocks. Once they get deep inside, they pause. Sharuk says that these bad boys have withstood the battering of many ships. Hopefully they'll stop the bad guys.
While there, the shipmates try to relax, sitting around the ship. While sitting there, they feel that maybe a bit of a heart to heart is in order. They haven't had much of a chance to speak with each other, so Cassie feels that they should. Pass the time while that kidnapping ship passes them. Laura starts by asking what the heck that thing was, which Cassie and Isa reply. They say that they used to be in this grand kingdom, a kingdom that'd managed to unite all the world under a single flag and usher in an age of peace men of old could only dream of. However, one day the two of them slept, only to wake up in these steel rooms up on the ship.
They were released from the ship and left in a land they knew nothing about: this land. So, they decided to track down that ship, where they managed to get their hands on this Hemie. And ever since they got it, apparently it's been hunting them down. So, with that explained, they decide to ask Laura what her deal is, why she's out here begging for change. Laura explains that she used to belong to a traveling band, them employed under the High Entia. They each were tasked with entertaining their clients. She was an ordinary lady among them, fully invested in the music. However, one day she found out that the High Entia had been investigating her group all along.
Apparently her group was responsible for smuggling people across the High Entia border and for smuggling small pieces of High Entia tech out of High Entia territory. When they were tracked down, her group began fighting back, though Laura herself insisted she wasn't involved. In the end, her group was subdued and everyone was put in Ahehearan. Every member of her group would forever carry the label of a criminal, and would be unable to leave the borders. So because of that, she's been unable to get any other work, and could only play for gold.
Cassie remarks that that's unfortunate, that she can only hope there'll be something for each of them wherever they go. As they talk, meanwhile, the torpedo containing the kidnapper's ships' guards is approaching. Eventually, it begins to tread the surface, when it suddenly slams into the hull. Everyone on the ship is tossed around. A few are tossed into the sea, Sharuk is tossed against the roof of the ship, and only Isa and Mikki appear to be on the ship right now. Sharuk steps out and draws his ether gun, while Mikki tries to use him to bring herself up while Isa uses her lance to prop herself up. They look out to the torpedo.
A slit opens up on either side of the torpedo, and out come a few of the guards, who begin to climb the ship. Isa, Mikki, and Sharuk fight off the group, and as they fight the torpedo lowers itself into the sea. Isa says that they'll undoubtedly be after the Hemie, and Cassie by extension. Sharuk says that the rest of the crew must be underwater, and tells them to put on their diving gear. With that, the party'll be forced to go down into the sea and explore.
As they go deeper into the water, Isa looks out at the rocks stretching into the ocean's surface. As she looks, she can see through cracks of the rock, and spies manufactured stone beneath. While the group's descending, she approaches it. She confirms that there are actual walls here, complete with pearl-y stone. Realizing she's stopped, Mikki comes up curious. Isa says that this looks like the castle she's served under. Mikki seems confused. Is she suggesting that the earth might've swallowed this place up? Isa's not sure, but this is definitely a building here.
The group proceeds lower, and can eventually see the torpedo. It appears to go into a crack in the stone, so the party follows. Inside, they can see the interior of the rocks have the fancy walls of a full on castle. Sharuk remarks that these ruins might hold a great cultural significance to the world before. He can already imagine Bana trying to monopolize this place. Isa tells Sharuk to focus. Odds are their allies are in here somewhere, and those guards'll probably be in here too. Traversing the water a little will reveal pockets of air in the structure, where players can commence land combat.
The way the castle is structured, the party's able to make a linear trail through it to go deeper into it. After going deeper inside, the group can find Laura, having apparently used this opening to get some air. She says that the others went deeper in, and they must've also found places to hide. So, Laura joins back up with the party, and they then progress deeper in. As they progress, Isa says she recognizes this architecture. She used to be stationed here before she was kidnapped. She says that the last time she saw this place, there was an intense unease among everybody.
Sharuk seems confused, and asks her why everyone was scared. Isa explains that at the time a terrible event was taking the world by storm. People seemed to be suddenly dropping dead from unknown causes. The king's investigators couldn't report anything about the cases of death, just that people were losing their life suddenly. No wounds, no rhyme or reason among the victims, it seemed the general populous was being targeted at random. All anyone could do was speculate, from a new disease forming to a curse or even ghosts. The guards could only stand guard, nobody sure how they could stop. Isa remarks that she was terrified for her own family as she stood guard, and she supposes now she won't even know if they were terrified or not.
Sharuk still seems confused. All evidence of the past just cuts off after the king uniting the world under one ruler. Nothing about a plague or curse or ghosts. He wonders if there's any depictions of those events still under the sea. Isa shakes her head and says that they need to keep searching. So the group continues, fighting through various Krabble and other vermin that've made nest in these ruins. They can also find a few guards left behind. Eventually they find Cersi, who's in the middle of a fight with other guards. They're able to beat those guys away, and are soon able to get him back before they make it down to the deepest depths of the castle.
There, they see it's partially flooded, Cassie positioned on top of a staircase that isn't submerged. The torpedo thing appears to be equipped with some turrets that fire at her, her using the Hemie to block. Guards appear to be climbing up to overwhelm her, though the rest of the group's able to meet up in time. There, they surround the shield-wielder. Cassie says that this thing keeps pumping reinforcements out through the water, and then they try to come up to take her down. She says that if they keep dividing their attention between the two, they'll spend all day dealing with this thing. Sharuk says that should be no problem. He has the diving gear with them.
So with that, players engage in Divided Combat against Armored Dingy. Players must choose 3 party members to stay up on the staircase in order to battle the torpedo, while 3 others stay underwater and draw the attention of released guards. If certain guards aren't beaten fast enough, they'll escape that battle and join up with the Armored Dingy to battle the other group. After a tough enough fight, the Armored Dingy's systems begin failing. It seems unable to float in the water, and then sinks down, colliding with the floor of the castle's front room. Cersi says that now's as good a chance as any. Maybe it won't be able to chase them once they go up.
So, they begin to leave. But before they do, Cassie looks towards the torpedo. She takes up the Hemie, and then starts banging it, it beginning to glow with stored energy. She orders Isa to toss her up. Isa seems confused, but she complies. She grabs under Cassie's arms, and then leaps up a great height, before tossing Cassie up with her. Cassie raises her shield towards the ceiling, and kinetic energy bangs into it, forming a bunch of cracks in the ceiling just above the torpedo. And then, the weight of tons of water gushes downwards, no longer held up by the ceiling. Debris falls upon the torpedo, burying it, while tons upon tons of water begins to fill the chamber, the group now running fast.
The group's able to get out of the castle, where they're finally able to break the surface of the water. The group climbs up onto their ship. As they stand up, Isa notices the submarine approaching. She says that that thing's been distracting them for too long! The submarine gets closer, though is unable to pass the peaks protruding from the mountain. However, it begins to open its mouth, clearly aiming another torpedo at the group's ship. However, Cassie can see that lady, that High Entia with the staff at the border. She seems confused, but sees the High Entia raise it. And then, faster than the submarine can launch, the Titan from before suddenly raises from the sea, positioning its shell underneath it. It raises with enough force to launch the submarine into the air, sending it soaring far away.
The group seems to sigh in relief, until the High Entia descend upon them. The lady approaches them personally, and is clearly upset. She remarks to the group that ever since they've come into their waters, chaos has been on the rise. Cassie then asks what she's going to do, raising her shield cautiously. The High Entia looks at the lot of them, and sighs. She says that they can't contain the group clearly after that diving machine showed up. She then asks what they're doing out here. Cassie says that they're following a beacon somewhere in this direction.
The High Entia looks at them with the same expression. She says that if they get there, then will they stay out of their lives? The group seems to look around unsure, then shrug. Cassie says that it really depends on what's at their destination. The High Entia pauses again, and then remarks to herself "as long as their's a chance..." She then declares that her group shall be escorted. Her personal men will be on either side of her at all times until she reaches her destination. And if this destination turns out not to be in the High Entia's favor, then they will provide repercussion.
===Chapter 8: Sanctuary===
The submarine's left floating out in the middle of the sea, beaten onto its side. The camera shows the inside of the ship, many of the crew tossed about, a few slammed into the walls. The camera shows the submarine's control room, where the lady in the black coat is recovering from being tossed. She notices that the control room, maybe even the whole submarine, is oriented strangely. She crawls over towards the console and engages the radio systems. She announces to the crew to find a proper space, that she'll flip the submarine around in T-15 seconds.
She soon gets to the ship's controls, and begins fiddling with them. The whole submarine is then rotated such that it's upright. She then announces on the radio that she wants reports all damages caused by that launch. Eventually, the lady in the black robes enters the room. She asks the driver if she's ok. She announces she'll shake it off, but also says that those High Entia will have their hands on the Hemie by now, that they'll have to get moving soon if they're going to make up for lost time. She looks at the radar, and can see the Hemie appears to be moving fast in a single direction.
The robed woman suggests that they keep their distance this time as long as that moving landmass is in play. The submarine's controller says she understands, and that they won't get so lucky next time. The ship begins moving, and it begins to go underwater.
----
Meanwhile, Sharuk's ship is sailing forwards, the Hemie positioned at the front of the ship while a set of High Entia machines are on either side of the ship. The lady with the staff also appears to be on the deck. Cassie's also out on deck, her looking around at the many machines. She swears she can feel several ether rifles trained on her head right now.
Cassie turns towards the High Entia, and says that it could be a while until this ship reaches their destination. So, she suggests they get to know each other. Cassie introduces herself as Cassie, and she asks "And you are...?" The staff wielder doesn't answer for a little bit. However, she eventually says she is Ioyba, the High Entia Driver. Cassie asks what a Driver is, and Ioyba says that they are well versed in spiritual communication, able to summon forth spirits for battle. After she's proven her power with spirits, she was then trained in the art of communicating with the Titan, Genbu.
Cassie says that the art of the Driver was very rare back when she was from. The dead were apparently able to mingle with the ether in the atmosphere, so only highly skilled ether manipulators could perform those acts. Ioyba says that she's had a deep attunement to the ether, so that story seems to check out. Cassie then says that she remembers the day that ether was introduced to the world. Ioyba seems to perk up at that and turns towards her curiously.
Cassie says that they used to use normal weapons and normal means of construction. However, one day a meteor flew through the cosmos and slammed into the ocean. Her king ordered this thing be investigated and mined. But after burrowing deep enough into the core, pure energy shot out from the crack, jettisoning into the atmosphere. The beam'd vaporized the miners too close, and it seemed to never run out. The king had the material rearranged to cover up the crack. Eventually, they began investigating the energy within the meteor, and were able to find out that the energy could be used as a sort of power source and that it could be manipulated by people deemed at the time to be spiritual. The meteor was regarded as a gift from the Gods, a sample of their ethereal plane. So, the king controlled the meteor and used the energy produced to lead a technological revolution.
As she speaks, Sharuk is seen writing notes with his normal arms while his ear-things steer the boat. Eventually, the shield stops shining, which prompts Sharuk to stop it. At that, the crew begins heading towards the front of the boat, looking down at the now dim Hemie. Cassie gives it a few bangs, and Mikki asks if it's out of energy or something. Cassie rips the Hemie off of the front of the ship and scans it across the horizon, hoping to see the beacon again. At that, Ioyba sighs and stands, marching up to the group. She congratulates them on finding their destination: sheer, empty water.
Ioyba then asks if they intend to spend the rest of their days here, or if they're going to have a problem. Isa turns around and says there must be a mistake. They're very new to this Hemie stuff, maybe there's stuff that they don't know yet. Cassie holds it down to bang on the back of the shield, and for a moment the beacon flashes on. Mikki noticed that and personally holds the shield. She holds it out into the water, and the beacon comes on. Sharuk's eyes widen as he realizes that the shield's pointing them underwater. Before they suit up, Ioyba says that they'll have to bring her along too. She needs to make sure they're not going to claim anything dangerous.
So, come a quick cut, the crew's now heading down into the sea, Cassie holding the shield in front of her to direct them. They get deeper and deeper, fighting a few creatures in the sea. After progressing deep enough, they eventually notice the beacon hitting something. Cassie says that they're getting close to it, and tells everyone to stay close behind her. They get deeper and deeper, and they're soon able to make out the shape of the object. It looks to be the size of a city, appearing as clean as a seashell with thin lines of ether running through the device.
They get closer and closer, and find the Hemie pointing them towards what appears to be a door. Cassie holds her shield up to it, and it opens up, showing an airlock-like system. Everyone steps in, and sees another door inside. Cassie holds the shield up to it, and the door behind them shuts. The water drains out of the chamber, and then the inner door opens up. The group gets out of their scuba gear, and step inside to investigate. The floor looks to be made of a glass-like substance, lines of ether running through the borders. The inside appears to be giant and spacious, light starting to fill the area up in response to their entry.
The walls are a chromatic white, and chromatic crates are positioned about seemingly haphazardly around the passages in the place. This place is marked as Capsule to the Future. Cassie approaches one of the crates and opens it up, revealing cylindrical containers of perfectly preserved food. Cassie looks at them and remarks that they could've been untouched for years, but they look brand new. Cersi says she should try some of that. Cassie shrugs and begins opening one of the containers of food. Cersi's eyes widen and he says he was just kidding, but Cassie eats the food easily. She remarks that it even tastes brand new.
At that, Sharuk exclaims that this place must be full of all sorts of goodies! They could probably live like tubby cats in this place! The rest of the party seems happy at that news. Ioyba, meanwhile, seems to sigh in satisfaction. She remarks that if this shield's been directing them towards some underwater home to hide away in for the rest of their days, then she'll be happy. She asks if she can expect to never see these guys again. Cassie supposes that for a long time, they've been searching for a place to hide away in, and her time with the High Entia have only enforced her beliefs that they want as little to do with this new world as possible.
With that, Ioyba smiles. She waves them off and starts to leave. Though before she does, she notices the Hemie. Its face is pointed towards the ground, and the beacon seems to be shining into the glass and forming a sort of guide. Cassie's confused at first, but then she notices what the High Entia notices. She tells the rest of the group to look at this. Cersi asks what the point is, they've already found a place to spend their days. Cassie then remarks that the Hemie's led them this far, may as well see what's at the end of this trail. Ioyba then groans to herself, muttering that she can't leave this case alone now.
The group explores the area, which is remarkably absent of enemies. It's as if nothing's come into this area for years, maybe even centuries. They keep moving and moving, traversing glass elevators and glass walkways while following this blue guideline. Deeper and deeper they go, the light leading them towards the edge of the Capsule south-most of the vessel. However, before they can get too far, a cutscene plays. Outside, the submarine comes up to the surface. The camera snaps into the navigation room, showing the lady driving the ship. She pulls up the radio, and announces that she's deploying the anchor.
After that announcement, the camera shows the bottom of the submarine, a few panels moving out of place from the submarine, before hooks attached to thick chains shoot out to the seafloor, hooking into it. The submarine then lines itself up with the Capsule, where it deploys a torpedo at it. The torpedo strikes, and inside the party feels the whole thing rock. Cassie wonders what that was and the party scans around. Then, from the roof, out comes a bunch of robots, them accompanied by one of those Extraction Mechs they fought before. Mikki groans, remarking "These guys again?!" before the group battles them.
The fight soon leads to them finishing off those machines. Cassie says that they have to move fast now. They need to get to the bottom of this. Laura asks what makes this more important. At that, Cassie points out that this whole time the shield's just been a lead, a map to something in here. She declares that they're not after the shield, they're after whatever it's pointing to! With that, another cutscene plays, showing more torpedoes being loaded, more of those robots and now guards loading on. Among them, players will see the King's Adviser loading on, accompanied by Luan and his Armu.
A trio of torpedoes are fired, each directed at the Capsule. The camera then cuts to inside the Capsule, which shows Ioyba waving her staff, summoning up Genbu again. She notes that it'll take a while for the Titan to get here, so they have to pick up the slack. And so, they run. Eventually, they're able to get to the bottommost part of the ship, towards the very southern end. They get in, and are greeted with a darkly lit area. The only light appears to be the Hemie's light shining down the middle of the passageway, and forming a ring around a platform seemingly out in the middle of the darkness. This platform boasts a glass dome housing a sword, seemingly of the same material of the Hemie, also bearing its insignia on its hilt.
Sharuk is awestruck, amazed by another ancient weapon. So, he immediately charges towards it, and leaps up at it. However, he faceplants against the glass, it not budging in the slightest, as he slides down to the ground. The rest of the group approaches, Cersi cautiously knocking on the glass. He looks up and down, and notes that this stuff feels tougher than the toughest door he's cracked. Laura then asks if that means they can leave it alone. Sharuk points out that those guys in the submarine are carrying weapons that the world's never seen, they probably have something to shatter this glass.
At that, Cassie concurs. She says that they need to split up. Someone has to drive off the enemies, and someone has to get to work on this glass container. So, the party is then forced to divide, Cassie forced to be with the "Glass" group, and Ioyba forced to be with the "Repel" group. And so, the group splits up. The "Repel" group will be under control for now, them going out into the middle of the Capsule to fight off the enemies. The enemies that aren't beaten here will eventually use a skill that will get them inside the Glass area, where the Glass group will have to defeat them. After doing that, Ioyba says she has to get up high and direct Genbu. It's getting close.
The camera then shows outside, revealing the mighty Titan swimming to the submarine. It comes close, and then immediately strikes from below. However, though the submarine budges, it stays fastened in place. The navigator shakes from the vibrations, and then adjusts her gloves. She announces into the radio, saying that they're engaging anti-titan mode. The guards within are seen rushing to parts of the ship, where they seem to strap themselves into devices that restrain their whole bodies to the wall. The Titan, meanwhile, keeps trying to push the submarine, when the fish-head at the front lifts a little.
The panels underneath the head begins to split open, before extending out to the submarine's sides, the panels now seeming to resemble giant arms. More metal panels slide down the length of the chains before attaching to the seafloor, them acting sort of like legs, which the submarine uses to adjust itself to face the Titan. Then, with a swift left hook, the submarine slams a fist into the side of Genbu, actually managing to lift it out of the water a little, it slamming onto its side. Ioyba is visibly shocked by this. She cannot believe a weapon like this actually exists.
She waves her staff frantically, as if begging the Titan to do well against the submarine. The titan manages to get back up to its feet, but the submarine's hands hook under its shell and lifts it up, the Titan snapping at it. And then, it repeatedly punches the Titan's underbelly. While Ioyba's trying to man the Titan, the Torpedo containing Luan and the Adviser shows up. The Adviser steps out onto the Capsule floor, before glancing up and seeing the light from Ioyba's staff. He orders her guards to take her out. The guards nod and begin moving, Luan following after them. The Adviser, meanwhile, turns towards the room with the sword in it, and begins marching, a few guards at his side.
Before they go too far, The Adviser turns to Luan, and points towards Ioyba. He says that she's commanding that overgrown turtle, and orders him to take her out. Luan nods, and begins ascending the staircase. Meanwhile, anyone who can fire ether fires at The Adviser, though his clothing seems to stop any ether coming towards him. Eventually, amid Ioyba's waving, Luan and his Armu get up to her side. Before they get too close, Ioyba waves her staff, conjuring up a spirit looking just like Vale, who lunges towards Luan. He uses his whip to block the spirit's lance while his Armu charges forwards, attempting to trample the Telethia. She jumps towards the side, evading the beast, when Luan's finally able to get past the spirit, and begins advancing.
It then cuts to the chamber with the sword, Cassie's party still trying to find some way to open this chamber up. Unfortunately, The Adviser enters, several guards at his side. Cassie brings up the Hemie and declares that he and his underlings aren't getting away with this, to which The Adviser proclaims that he is merely a co-captain. He hangs back, waving his guards forwards, before he starts skirting the edge of the room, the party working to stop the guards. After a tough fight, the group turns towards the sword itself, just in time to see The Adviser stand before it. He brings up a sleeve, saying that this glass is ether, tampered into a physical form. Only his beautiful clothing can pass it. So, he reaches through the barrier, the glass seeming to warp around his arm as he grabs the handle. He then pulls out the sword, fancily twirling it before facing Cassie's party.
Cassie orders her allies to stand tall. If they get the sword out of here, who knows what'll happen! So then, a fight begins with the armed Adviser, who is fairly dangerous with that sword. After the fight, a cutscene plays, showing the party being overwhelmed by the sword. All but Cassie, whose Hemie is managing to sustain the blows. The Adviser tells her that, for a guard, it's very unbecoming of her to get where she is by stealing. Cassie parries a shot of the sword, and punches him in the face, before trying to grab at his hand, managing to catch the handle. She says she serves no king anymore, before backhanding him with the Hemie, giving her enough force to pull the sword free and into her hand.
Standing there with the blade, she looks over it and the Hemie, noting how strange it is. It almost felt like completing a puzzle, now that she held this sword. So, she holds its hilt before the emblem on the shield. And then it glows. She feels the handles on the back of the Hemie spin around. Instead of her arm being perpendicular with the shield, the face now runs along the length of her arm like a gauntlet. The shield then changes the slopes of its edges, going from tough edges to sharp. The Adviser, meanwhile, visibly seethes looking at her holding the two weapons. He reaches into his cloak, and pulls forth a fancy looking dagger, with which he rushes Cassie.
The shield-bearer, out of reflex, attempts to back-hand him, causing him to stumble back. However, he now has a bloody cut on his cheek. Cassie seems confused at first, before looking down at the now sharp shield. She seems to get a knowing grin, before squaring off against The Adviser. Now, Cassie is able to switch stances, able to go from a defensive stance to an attack stance, and uses that to overwhelm him. After a decidedly easier fight, Cassie is seen swinging her arms with great ease, striking the Adviser repeatedly. The cutscene specifically shows her taking more blows than she usually takes, though she seems to shrug them off, too pumped with adrenaline to register the blows.
The Adviser keeps trying to stab at her, though with a backhand from the Hemie, he's driven backwards and dazed. And while he's dizzy, Cassie grabs the Hemie with both hands, and hoists her sword up, intent on striking the Adviser down. However, before she can strike, the whole Capsule shakes. Outside, the submarine is seen ramming Genbu into the Capsule while striking at its underbelly. Luan and Ioyba are also seen being knocked off their feet, rocking towards the railing. Ioyba's summons are seen grabbing her to stop her from falling, while Luan is seen only holding onto the railing with one hand.
Cassie and her party are also dazed from the thrashing, an opportunity the Adviser uses to get away, him holding his bleeding cheek. Once Cassie reorients herself, she gets up on her feet and immediately chases after him. The two are running, the Adviser approaching the pod he rode in on. However, he sees that the impact from Genbu dislodged it, causing his ride back to fall down. Him and several other soldiers are left unable to leave as Cassie approaches. The Adviser turns and tries to keep his blade aimed at Cassie, though the soldier is non-pulsed. 
She's about to approach, but another tree flies in. It slams into the structure, again piercing it. The soldiers are all turned towards it, it appearing larger than the rest. It opens up, revealing the lady with the staff and black cloak. Cassie's eyes widen, and she addresses her, confused, as "Princess Geve". She looks at Cassie as she walks past the crowd of guards, her staff clacking against the surface with each alternate step. She seems to recognize the soldier, which Cassie didn't expect, being a lowly guard. The Princess answers that she should know her, she saw her get locked away personally. The two seem to circle each other as Geve says that she should be dead.
She says that she only lives now because of one disobedient soldier. Cassie asks what her guards want the sword for. Geve says that the sword Cassie wields, Dehas, is here to usher in the end of days. Cassie answers that there's no way she's handing Sera over now, at which the Princess says she isn't here to ask for it. She flips her staff and holds it behind her shoulder, before a scythe-like projection of ether extends perpendicularly from the tip of it. She holds the ether scythe like a lance, and engages Cassie. And thus, Cassie is forced into a 1v1 against Princess Geve, where the game introduces the concept of changing between Attack and Defense stance, either stance utilizing the Sword/Gauntlet and Shield respectively.
Her's is a tough fight, her alternating between sheathing the sword to use the Hemie to block, to drawing it to slash at Geve, though she's able to evade and block the blows. While they fight, the party members, sans Ioyba, come together and see her fighting. Isa asks what the deal with the princess is, and Cassie shouts out "She wants sword, destroys world!" The group quickly realizes she needs to be separated from Cassie. Isa rushes forwards and Sharuk takes up his gun, firing at her. However, Geve disengages from Cassie for a moment to spin her scythe in a circle, fast enough to block the many shots.
While she does that, Cersi and Mikki rushes around to try and hit her from behind. She cartwheels away from them before the two can hit her. Isa rushes in in front of her, and tries to jab at her, though she dives under the lance, pulling her scythe down in order to pin the lance against her shoulder. She rushes forwards, ether blade pointed at her, before trying to slice at her, Isa having to back away from her. While she does that, Mikki rushes in, holding her hammer over her shoulder, before attempting to slamming it on her back. However, before she can, Geve spins around and slashes it at her, the ether blade embedding into her stomach, before she swipes upwards and leaves behind a decrepit looking scar. 
Mikki doubles backwards, clutching her stomach in pain while everyone begins surround Geve. The princess looks around at the group, realizing that she might be outnumbered. However, the submarine grasps the titan, before slamming them against the capsule, causing it to wriggle about again, tossing up everyone. Luan is knocked down, and Ioyba uses Vale to keep herself upright. Seeing him knocked down, she quickly grabs his whip, and hogties the soldier. Meanwhile, Geve uses the distraction to rush towards the pod she rode in on, it housing a lot of other soldiers. It retracts, before firing towards the submarine.
Genbu, meanwhile, seems to be bleeding, it groaning. The submarine's about to strike it again, but it stabs into the earth below, burrowing down into the sea. The submarine receives the pod, and it seems to glance overhead, seeing a few High Entia ships approaching. It retreats into the water, taking its original form, before escaping from the scene. With that, Ioyba meets up with the group, Luan over her shoulder. She sees Mikki, who's still got the wound. Ioyba's eyes widen and she realizes that Mikki's been struck with dark ether. She says that it's caustic to organic beings, and it'll eat away at her until she's nothing. Mikki lets out an "eep" of shock, and Cassie asks what they can do.
Ioyba waves her staff a little, and realizes that Genbu's gone off to lick its wounds. Fortunately, she realizes that her legion have notice the commotion and are now coming to this capsule. She says that they'll have to keep Mikki safe until they arrive.
===Chapter 9: In a Bird Cage===
A quick cutscene shows Genbu burrowing through the ground, and deep into the ground, before finding magma under the seas. As it travels, structures similar to the castle the group explored can be seen partially buried. The titan plants itself into the magma, and curls up into a ball, seeming to rest in the magma.
----
Meanwhile, the party's seen in various flying machines. Cassie, Ioyba, Isa, Sharuk, and Mikki are in one machine, a pair of High Entia pumping water ether into Mikki to keep her wound at bay. In another machine, Luan, Cersi, and Laura are in another ship, this one appearing a lot more confrontational. High Entia wielding spears and ether rifles are keeping a careful eye on them, handcuffs on them. Luan's Armu is also seen in a cage in the back of the ship. As they sit on the ship, Luan leans over towards the other two, and begins to speak.
He says that they're all in trouble. Cersi looks at him curiously, at which Luan says that the three of them are as good as prisoners. He says that Cersi looks just like a thief, Cersi shrugging in affirmation, and he says he doesn't know what Laura's deal is, but if she's in the ship with them, then she's probably guilty of something. Cersi answers that he doesn't trust any of these guys. He also figures that, despite the other ladies being up in the buddy section with Ioyba, she probably considers them just as guilty for bringing "Princess Geve's" trail of destruction through High Entia waters.
He just says that they can't do much right now. Even if they beat through those High Entia, they'll just splatter into goo if they jump for the water at this height. He leans back, and figures now's as good a time to ask. He looks over at Luan and asks him what's the deal with him, Cassie and Isa. Luan looks over curiously, at which Laura clarifies that Cassie told them what Geve told her. Luan and everyone else on that submarine's from the old world, Cassie and Isa were locked up there, and they said that everyone else that got locked up was locked up until they rotted away. So what's up?
Luan seems to pause, before answering. Luan says that the submarine was meant to carry those that it held into the new world before they were stolen away by whatever was killing the rest of civilization. They were meant to deposit members of the old world onto the disease or curse-less world so that they could restart civilization. The contained people were held in suspended animation via ether, but at some point Geve gave different orders. She shut off the ether, meaning that those in the pods would experience time like normal. Apparently she intended to let those held in the pods rot away. In the meantime, she had her navigator, Myvle, redirect the ship towards the King's sword. Luan didn't agree at the time, so he flipped the switch to a few random pods, and they both were deposited into the sea. And they happened to contain Cassie and Isa. He then says that he was subsequently dragged off and punished for releasing a couple of the old world, so he was left to walk around and obey like a good soldier. 
After a few clips showing off what he describes, he explains that after enough beatings, he's given up on fighting them, and has had to maintain workings on the ship in the meantime. And he suspects either they've convinced the rest of the soldiers, or they were taken in with her campaign somehow. Cersi and Laura sigh at that. Cersi asks what he's going to do now, which Luan says that he expects they're going to die now. Cersi clarifies that he means when they're out of prison. Luan asks them what they've been doing, at which Cersi answers he's been running away, and Laura answers that she has been too. The Capsule was apparently their end goal once they got the Hemie, but it turns out that was only part of a bigger picture.
Meanwhile, Cassie, Isa, and Sharuk look on wearily as Mikki's being healed up. Cassie asks her how she's holding up, which Mikki says she's been better, looking down at her abdomen. She remarks that it'll leave a hell of a scar. Cassie grins and gently pats her shoulder, before standing up and leaning next to Isa. At which point, the spearwoman asks what they'll do now. Cassie turns to her and lets out a confused grunt. Isa clarifies that they've kinda followed the Hemie to its end. That's been their only guideline in the new world. Cassie looks away in contemplation, looking over at Mikki again.
Cassie answers that she doesn't know. Right now, all she knows is that they should keep the sword out of Geve's hands. Isa then responds "So our lives now are running away from an army supplied by grand pools of ether?" Cassie sighs. Part of her would love to smack some sense back into Geve, but she's not sure how comfortable she is with fighting royalty, especially when she's apparently equipped with a whole score of the old world. That princess probably has a better knowledge of what's happened while they were out than anyone else. But right now, the best they can hope for is to run away from her.
Ioyba speaks up and says that they won't have to worry about going anywhere they're not supposed to once this ship touches down. Cassie, Isa, and Sharuk skews a brow, Cassie asking the High Entia what she means. Sharuk then asks if she intends to imprison them. Ioyba says that, in case they forgot, they're still outlaws out here. Cassie clenches her fists and asks her what she's thinking, they followed the shield to its end. Ioyba clarifies that she did that with the hope that that'd get them out of her hair. But now, some kind of apocalypse cult is still dogging them and has downed their Titan. Everyone in her machine has a lot of charges to face, and that's not even regarding those in the outlaw flier. Ioyba says that when they touch down, she'll organize their sentence.
Mikki then asks if they can take her off the healing magic, which Ioyba answers with a sharp "No".
----
It then cuts to inside what looks like a dining room, windows looking out across the sea, a large table in the middle of the room, and beige flooring with white walls. Everyone except Mikki and Ioyba are seen in the room. Cassie, Ioyba, and Sharuk glare at Luan while Laura and Cersi pace around. Laura looks down from the window, and sees that the room they're in is suspended from a main structure, shaped like a tree. The room they're in is hovering miles over the water below. Cersi, meanwhile, glares at the door out of the room: locked.
Laura asks how long until Mikki's out, which Sharuk responds that the High Entia suspects she'll be in this room within the hour. Laura asks what they intend to do with Luan, at which Cersi says the High Entia aren't above execution. Though he points out that the same probably stands for a lot of people in this room. There's an uncomfortable chill throughout everyone in the room. Sharuk asks if they're really going to die. At this, Cassie says that they're not submitting that easily. They need to find a way out. Cassie asks Cersi if he has experience picking locks.
Cersi, however, says that this door's like those prisoner doors back on the prison island. Unless they had a massive crowbar, they won't be able to pry this thing open. Isa also points out that they took their weapons, while the High Entia have all sorts of weapons on their side. She doesn't like those odds. Cassie suspects they might try something once they fix up Mikki's damage, so they better think of something fast. At this point, Cassie's able to go around and talk to the party.
*Talking with Isa reveals that she's very anxious about this situation, not just with the imprisonment, but also with moving forwards. Geve's likely going to raze the High Entia just to get the arms. She ends asking what Cassie'll do now.
*Talking with Sharuk reveals him to be in some higher spirits. He says that as long as he's near Cassie and Isa, he'll always feel lucky!
*Talking with Cersi has him say that this is the exact opposite of what he followed Cassie for. He also doesn't suspect those Nopon will reach them here. He comments that he's still looking for his perfect little hideaway, and promises that Cassie better be ready to put up with him a little longer.
*Talking with Laura has her comment that she has no idea what she has gotten into. She glares at Cassie and asks if she would've been better off hiding in the High Entia and performing. She sighs, and says that she'll wait for Cassie to impress her.
*Talking with Luan, meanwhile, starts with him staring coldly at Cassie. He says that she and Isa were given the chance to live like everyone else lucky enough to escape. And he asks why they decided to get involved. None of this would be happening if they just integrated with the new world like everyone else.
Players are able to skip these conversations by interacting with the exit door.
Interacting with it leads to a cut towards the medical bay, where Mikki's dark ether wound is still being treated. The High Entia appear to be cycling among themselves to restore her with water ether. They say that her wound is refusing to fetter. They say they keep emptying out just trying to restore her. Mikki, unfortunately, can hear this and feels fear welling up in her. She decides to go limp, trying to look as weak as possible. The new High Entia comes in, and sees her down. He seems shocked, and rushes to her side to check up on her.
However, upon touching her, she suddenly gets up and swings a fist at him, knocking him out with a single blow. She searches him, and finds a staff, which she can wield like a hammer. She declares that she's coming. Players then control Mikki as she goes around the inside of the base. She's able to fight off some of the High Entia and machines going around the halls. Eventually, she finds a pair of High Entia guards, one of them seeming to be a rifle-wielding lady with straight red hair, and the other appearing to be Lugar. Lugar appears to be upset with his positioning, at which the red haired lady says that he should consider himself lucky he was only demoted to below the royal chambers.
She says Lugar's supposed to be watching the lower half, and says that he could be written up. Lugar insists that the charges are never going to land, it's only the word of some criminals. The red haired lady again tells him to get down, she does have the permission to shoot him if he continues resisting. Lugar sighs, and begins to leave. Seeing that the red haired lady appears to be important in this facility, she decides she might lead her to the prisoners, maybe even their gear! So, she keeps on following the red haired lady.
As she does, Ioyba is in a royal-looking chamber. The High Entia in the room are explaining that they're currently making efforts to retrieve the old world pod. Ioyba then asks them what about the rogue ship. They say they lost track of it after it fled after taking down Genbu. Ioyba pinches the bridge of her nose and also asks what they'll do about that. If that machine's able to go around unabated, there's no telling what havoc it could cause. The High Entia suggest that their best option would be to directly feed ether into Genbu. The titan draws in ether to restore itself so that it may fight again, though given its recent attack, it may take either a long time for it to return, or a lot of ether to restore it.
Ioyba asks how much ether they suspect it'll take. The High Entia suspects that there may be some left over somewhere in the old world's ruins. And they're trying to gather more ether, though their delivery routes have apparently been taken over by some Nopon pirates. Ioyba raises a brow at that. The High Entia press a button on the table they're meeting at, which reveals a holographic of a pair of Nopon, the duo that'd tried to kidnap Cassie and Isa a while ago. Ioyba asks if these identities were confirmed, which the High Entia assure. Ioyba taps her corner of the table as she contemplates. 
Eventually, after going through a few halls and traversing locked doors, Mikki arrives deeper in the facility, where the Hemie and the sword accompanying it are being kept. Mikki comes in, and says that she's been looking for that stuff for a while now. At that, the red haired lady turns around and faces Mikki. She asks her what she's doing out here, her body's dying! Mikki says that she already knows she's going nowhere fast, but she also knows that her allies are being held captive. So, she demands that they release them. The red haired lady scoffs at that.
She asks if she really expects her to be intimidated by a dying woman, before she draws an ether rifle and aims it at Mikki. And so, a battle engages, one on one, of the melee-focused Mikki vs the ether-focused High Entia. The battle soon raps up, Mikki using the stolen staff to try and beat on her, though she blocks the attacks with the shaft of her ether rifle. Then, with one particular swing, she knocks the gun out of her hands. With it out, she holds the staff threateningly towards her, and orders her assistance.
----
Later, Mikki's seen going down a hallway, following the High Entia while holding her weapon threateningly, the High Entia seeming to hold onto the confiscated items. However, as they approach, Ioyba appears in the hallways before them, Mikki's eyes widening. Ioyba looks upon the two of them, before asking the lady if Mikki hurt her, addressing her as Biura. Biura assures her she's fine, Mikki's been very fair for someone holding a hostage. Mikki tells Ioyba to let them go, or she'll act on her threats.
However, Ioyba waves her concerns away, and says she actually wishes to discuss a compromise with the prisoners. But first, she needs to consult Mikki herself.
----
Later, the prisoners are still stuck in their little cell, seeming to take turns tending to the door. Except for Luan, he's just hanging back with his arms crossed. Cersi's trying to tend to the lock, when suddenly the doors begin to part. All near it backed away as the door spread open the rest of the way. And beyond those doors is Ioyba, followed by Biura, Mikki, and a few more High Entia. They enter.
Cassie asks what exactly she's going to do with them now, though Ioyba assures them that nothing bad will happen to them. So long as they comply. The High Entia Driver tells them that she needs the Old World to accompany her, and that the rest of their subordinates will follow their lead. Cassie and Isa look back, Luan sighing. The members of the current world glance around at each other. Sharuk says that he trusts good luck charms. Cersi supposes they don't have any alternatives. And Laura realizes that she too doesn't have much of a chance at defying them. So, the group follows Ioyba.
They soon arrive at another room, this one revealing a map of the whole world. Ioyba approaches the map, and turns towards the old world party members. She says that in their recent excursion, their dear titan has been felled, and forced to retreat to the bottom of the world. The titan's been able to draw in ether to restore itself, and the flow of ether's been able to command it even. However, at this rate it'll have to rest for ages to restore the damage done to it. But, they suspect that the old world has some ether that's yet to be used.
The old world party members are then asked to point out any significant old world city that can be investigated. Cassie, Isa, and Luan look over the map presented to them. As they do, Cassie and Isa glance over at each other as if to silently ask each other what they should do. Keep serving Ioyba? Luan looks over the map, before glancing towards the High Entia, them having his Armu leashed and having their weapons trained on it just in case. He sighs and glances towards the map again. Cassie asks what'll happen if they do comply, which Ioyba answers that they'll gladly drag the lot of them far from High Entia territory and make sure none of them ever have to cross paths again. 
Isa seems into that, the sooner they've rid their hands of these people, the better. The trio look over the map again, when Cassie focuses on a particular, towards the center and north. She brings up a hand and points down on it, saying that that is where she served the main castle, capital of the world. Ioyba looks over at it, and says that Nopon pirates have been spotted around this general area, saying that they'll make traveling there tough. Though, she supposes their work should help out. Cassie and Isa snap up and look at her confused.
Cassie says that they were supposed to be rid of each other by now. Though, Ioyba points out that she needs to make sure that they're correct about this. If they're just trying to send her out to get axed off by some ancient super weapon or whatever, she needs to make sure that these guys are her shield first. Ioyba begins heading towards the backdoor, and assures them that they'll have their bit of freedom, though she'll be watching them closely until they get her enough ether to bring back Genbu asap. 
Before the conversation ends, she says "And just so you don't get any ideas about fleeing while on the job..." while pointing at Mikki. Mikki then grabs the hem of her shirt, before lifting it a little, revealing the dark ether scar, it looking sickly. However, over that wound is a metallic device pinned into place. Ioyba explains that that contraption pumps restorative ether into the subject. However, its supply is limited, meaning she'll have to join up with her guards in order to get a refill. Else, the dark ether will destroy the rest of her.
Cassie and Isa glares at her. They sigh, and suppose they have no choice. Cassie says she'll help them as far as getting ether, but once that's dealt with, they're never seeing each other again. Ioyba gladly agrees. She says that her personal marksman, Biura, will accompany them and assist. 
With the negotiations dealt with, the group's herded onto Sharuk's ship, with clearly nobody happy, save for Sharuk, who's happy to have his ship and workshop back. He says that he must develop another scuba suit for the new girl, though the party members are clearly glaring at the High Entia. Cassie asks what they do if the princess and her soldiers show up. Ioyba answers that the rest of them will have to deal with them. They dragged those demons up from the depths, they'll be buried with them if they have to.
And so, the ship drives off to the new destination of the Old World Kingdom's ruins.
===Chapter 10: Bumbly Wumbly Thieves===
==Gameplay==
===Battle===
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, in terms of the battle system, seems to take some cues from Xenoblade Chronicles 1. Action takes place in real time, characters auto attack based on their proximity to enemies, and their auto attack builds up Arts, special skills unique to each character, as well as a Talent Gauge (a very special skill for each character). 
===Underwater===
After a certain point in the story, players will gain the ability to dive into the water for extended periods of time. Not only will this lead to uncovering resources, but it also comes with the risk of finding dangerous life. Quests may force players down underwater, and the water has different effects on different characters. It also forces units to use Dive Arts as opposed to the Arts they'd use up on land.
===Boat===
A lot of the game takes place on the open sea. As such, the party seems to primarily travel on a boat/raft when they're not traversing the land. The sea can be very dangerous, as sometimes horrific monsters or pirates can intercept the travelers to engage in battle. Some quests require players to travel to specific parts of the ocean.
===Split Up===
A few encounters, optional or not, will require party members to be in separate positions. For example, one unit may have to stay below the raft to stave off a monster's attack from below while the ones onboard attack the monster from above. Before these encounters occur, players will be given the chance to prepare their parties accordingly. During these segments, players will be able to switch between the different parties, thereby encouraging them stay on their toes and appropriately divert attention between the different fights.
==Characters==
===Playable===
Character 	Weapon Type 	Land Arts	Sea Arts
Cassie - The main character and wielder of Hemie. She's a guardswoman from Bassetet who was mysteriously kidnapped in the middle of the night and thrust onto a big ship that's going to parts unknown. When she later investigated that ship and found the mysterious, azure shield, she wound up getting involved in a much bigger quest as she and her party follows the light it shines. Due to obtaining the shield in the first place, she ends up being the de-facto leader of the group, in charge of the shield that directs the party towards their destination. 	Shields - Cassie's become very knowledgeable in the ways of the shield. She is seen to bash enemies with either the face of her shield, or the edges. By the time the game starts, she's left with a buckler to weaken foes, though it isn't long until she gets her hands on the Hemie. She favors drawing in enemy attention to absorb the damage and to potentially disorient foes. 	
*Normal Arts
**Bury Slam - Cassie raises her arms and thrusts downwards in an attempt to hit foes with an overhead smash attack. Deals hefty damage.
**Ankle Sweep - Cassie swings her shield along the ground with the attempt to trip foes. Topples enemies suffering break.
**Parry Blow - Cassie holds her shield defensively. If she sustains enough damage while defending, she'll swing her shield to disorient the foes. Knockbacks opponents dealing physical damage.	
*Normal Arts
Isa - A soldier from Bassetet, who appears to've been locked away on the same carrier Cassie was. Seeing that the two have a similar goal, finding the boat that captured them and dumped them off, Cassie and Isa teamed up in their search. Before Cassie got the Hemie, she was a bit of a navigator herself, having been taught about naval navigation. She used this power to calculate the path of the ship that took them so that they could chase it down. En route, Isa was in charge of capturing fish to cook up. 	Spears - Isa is well trained with polearms, taught to be quick and efficient with her strikes. She's been taught to deal damage, not necessarily to take it, so players need to be careful about aggro management. Additionally, her arts help compliment her fighting style with Cassie, in that she's capable of inflicting break on foes. 	
*Pommel Pummel - Isa jabs the butt-end of her spear against the foe to deliver a disorient strike. Inflicts break on enemies.
*Jab Flurry - Isa repeatedly stabs her spear in front of her, hitting a foe multiple times before finishing with a painful final lunge	
Sharuk - A Nopon out on the sea that fancies himself an excavator. He scours the sea for remnants of an old civilization that he can discuss with fellow researchers. He's also an apparently respectable scientist, able to construct some remarkable gear and repair complicated equipment. An example of which is the ether gun he wields, him apparently having never seen weapons like that before. Cassie and Isa aren't 100% sure about following him, but because he seems to be one of the few people that know about the land they're now in, and because he knows about how to maintain their newly acquired diving gear, they're kind of stuck with him.	Miniguns - Ever since he found the Bassetet Riddler, Sharuk's drawn towards ether weaponry, specifically the kind that lets him fire ether at his targets. He's regarded as a magic attacker, though he's also treated as the game's first healer, as he becomes the first character players get that has a healing art. Due to the rapid fire of the gun, he's said to build up his Arts fairly quickly. 	
*Rain Rain Riddle - Sharuk takes his minigun and fires water ether at a party member, the bullets flying out in a cone shape in front of him and healing the party for each hit.
*Slidey Icy - Sharuk rushes forwards before going into a slide, firing ice ether forwards as he dashes. Does more damage from the side, can inflict freeze.
*Burny Circly - Sharuk holds the barrel of his minigun to the ground, and fires fire ether into the ground while spinning in a circle, producing fire in an AOE around himself.	
Cersi 	Knife - The knife is the tool of many scoundrels. It is easy to conceal and dangerous when the wielder's close to their target. Unfortunately, that also seems to be a detriment. Cersi values being undetected in a fight so he can orient himself around foes for well angled blows. He garners little aggro, unless he's using his damaging arts. Be sure to monitor how much aggro to make sure he lives long through a fight.	
*Backslash - Cersi takes his dagger and slashes before him, aiming for a painful spine-strike. Deals bonus damage when dealt to the back of an enemy.
*Slit Edge - Cersi rears back, before stabbing his dagger forwards. It lowers the enemy's physical defense.
*Shadow Eye - Cersi takes cover, reducing aggro on him.	
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Mikki 	Hammer - Mikki holds a powerful hammer for painful blows. She's also fairly slow with her attacks. With the hammer, she's suited for getting close to the enemy. The width of her swing tends to be wide, so it's fairly likely she'll end up hitting more foes with her hammer. With the weapon, she tends to garner quite a bit of aggro. 	
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Laura 	Ether Harp - The tool of a performer. Laura's also fashioned it for self defense, able to refigure it into a bow that launches ether arrows at enemies. With this, Laura excels in support, capable of boosting the performance of her party members as well as restoring them. 	
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Ioyba 	Driver Staff - The catalyst of a Driver. With this, Ioyba's able to summon up ether constructs with which to aid in battle. One provides more offense ability, one provides more defense ability, and one provides healing. This is also able to provide these constructs to allies and replicate them. 	
*Darkest Vale - Dark Ether manifests into the shape of a lance-wielding lady in a gothic style. This construct is able to follow up its wielder's attack with another attack.
*Pinch a Finch - Wind Ether manifests into the shape of a small, chick-like creature wielding a hammer. The construct boosts block rate, able to reduce damage dealt to its wielder often.
*Vess-ing Enchantment - Electric Ether manifests into the shape of a mature woman with white robes and long yellow hair. The construct restores health to the wielder at a constant rate.	
Luan 	Whip - The tool of training. The whip is rarely seen as a terribly useful weapon in battle against people on account of it tending to falter against armor. However, Luan comes with his dear Armu, who typically responds to certain cracks of the whip via Arts. The whip is a fast weapon, and is typically scene building up Luan's arts so that he may use them more often. 	 	
Joya 	Ether Rifle - The weapon of a guard. With this, Joya focuses on a target and delivers painful shots. She herself is focused on wearing down a single target utilizing high damaging arts, as well as ailment and debuffing arts. 	 	
==Trivia==
*The logo is the product of Pyrostar
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