MARREND PLAYS XENOSAGA EPISODE 1!

Hey, gang! It's LP time! I figured, since I covered Xenogears here (and you should totally read it), I thought I should also cover it's spiritual successor on the PS2, the Xenosaga series. I do plan to LP all three games at some point, though, I will definitely want some kind of break between games. However, unlike my LPs of the Suikoden series (which you should also read!), I will start with the first game...


...Xenosaga Episode 1 - Der Wille zur Macht! More simply known as Xenosaga Episode 1, because absolutely nobody I am aware of refers to these games by their full titles, outside of possibly reviewers. Though, the subtitle/phrase approximately means "the will to power", if my memory, or humble knowledge of German, is correct.

So, there's probably a different story behind this, but, here's what I can figure. If you played Xenogears, or read my LP, it's pretty obvious that content was cut from the game. A number of people that worked on Xenogears wanted another try at making another game like it, or maybe a sequel? I imagine that the suits at Squaresoft said no, and those people shrugged and left the company, eventually forming their own studio, Monolith. They got Namco as a publisher, and, after about 5 years after the release of Xenogears, they came out with Xenosaga Episode 1.

Xenosaga was always designed with the idea that it would be as a series. The initial projection was six games, if memory recalls. It is with some amount of irony that the series got cut from six games to three. Episode 3 sometimes shows that it's storytelling might have been rushed/compressed due to where the company's expectations were in how many games they had to tell the story. It's certainly not as bad as Disk 2 in Xenogears, but, there's times in Episiode 3 that I get the impression that whatever is being talked about could have been a separate game. Or, you know, at least more expanded that what is being discussed. That's more a topic for Episode 2 or 3, though.

As with other LPs, I have a playlist that I will refer to if/when I want to call out music cues. When the need/desire arises, I will be using this playlist for various cut-scenes that occur in-game. The content in cut-scenes, regardless of whither or not I post a video, will be summarized as much as I can manage to.

I don't have a specific goal in mind, so, this LP will be about relaying what's in the game, and any shout-outs to Xenogears I can observe. Please keep in mind that I have zero compunctions in using CodeBreaker cheat codes, and in so doing, how I relay the game's difficulty might be a bit skewed. I will welcome any questions, or comments, of course.


Table of Contents:
-Session 1 - Just Another Day on the Woglinde
-Session 2 - Craptastrophe, Naming Land
-Session 3 - We're Space Recyclers, Goddamn it!
-Session 4 - The Largest Debt
-Session 5 - Introducing the Kukai Foundation
-Session 6 - Ghosts of the Past and Future
-Session 7 - The Cursed Song
-Session 8 - Mission Complete

Last time, the start-up tests for KOS-MOS went a little crazy/weird, but, the Vector team on the Woglinde managed to put together the A-7 report that was due today. Not that the executive officer on board was particularly pleased that there was no actual field data represented in the report, and chewed Shion out for that. However, he's not the one in charge of this operation either. The captain was certainly more understanding, and gave Shion the rest of the day off.

After getting off the comms with her estranged brother, Shion decides to take a catnap. Well, technically speaking, the player has an opportunity to free-roam on board the Woglinde, but, outside of going back to the VR dungeon to fight more things, there really isn't a heck of a lot to actually do. So! Rest it is, engaging the cut-scene machine!

Shion has another dream of the Elly-lookalike in monochrome. I'm pretty sure she's in the same area as before, and, again, no words are spoken. There's still some kind of understanding between the two. At some point, the game moves out of Shion's dream as we see her tossing and turning as the ghost of Elly-wannabe looks on. A few camera pans across the ship, it's lighting dimmed, largely suggesting nighttime. Or, you know, as close as one can get in deep space. Allan enters the Vector lab with a cup of coffee, a skeleton crew burning the midnight oil, as it were.

Apparently, the executive officer also gave Allan a piece of his mind earlier today. Of course, that guy has inside information about their situation, and has all the more reason to be nervous, if he wasn't relaying that emotion before. Meanwhile, the Vector staff are completely in the dark, and are going about things at their own pace.

Cut back to the bridge. Now out of the asteroid field, the captain orders a gate-jump. Things move normally until an alarm sounds. They take some time trying to figure out what the hell is causing it. The alarm gets louder as screens pop up in front of the captain's chair. Loading screens. Oh no. It can't be! Is it an error of type: yea shall be as gods!?


Close! It's KOS-MOS. Cut back to the Vector labs, where it's on full red alert. Red lighting, horns blaring drums beating, and everything. The system is starting up on it's own, the countdown has already been activated. Cut back to Shion, who's wakes up as her portable console flickers in activation to the situation. She takes a gander, and finds the countdown has started. Which should be impossible. KOS-MOS should only be able to activate by keying in her authorization code entry. Any possibility of self-activation was disabled during an earlier incident, which involved the death of Kevin.

After failing to contact Allen (comms are limited due to the emergency situation), Shion leaves her room in a hurry. Now, there's set of bulkheads that, if open, would provide a faster way to get to the deck where Vector's lab is located. Of course, they close just as Shion leaves her room. So, she's gotta take the long way around. Of course she does. Then, an alarm blares. Oh, great! What else can go wrong today?

The answer to that is "just about everything". Which means we cut back to the bridge, as the crew make report upon report. Sorry if I'm jumping around quickly here, as this is quite the cut-scene...


...but, the main point to get across here, that "they" are here. The Gnosis. Being the space opera that Xenosaga is, these are the Adversarial AliensTM of the setting, and are virtually impervious to small arms. Hell, most weapons, in general. They also have the ability to convert people into salt piles, when it strikes their fancy to do so. Mostly, though, they just kill anybody that gets in their way.


Player gains control of Shion for a small bit until she inevitably gets engaged in combat. The things don't take any damage from her attacks, and the battle aborts before the Gnosis get any turns. After moving past the bridge elevator, dodging Gnosis as she does, there's a cut back to the Vector labs. KOS-MOS starting up in Auto Mode is definitely not a thing that should be happening, and is a brief point of discussion before an attempt is made to contact Shion. The regular channels are full as discussed earlier, so they try the emergency line. Which turns out to be her personal cell phone, or approximate equivalent thereof, which she left in the lab. It was on the seat of her console in the lab, whereas the data disk Allen had to return to her was on the console, itself. Out of sight, out of mind, indeed.

Then, the power goes out. Complete darkness and silence. Then, a glow from KOS-MOS' pod. It opens, with KOS-MOS rising from it. The researchers recoil in fear. Maybe because they think she'll strike at them, or maybe because this entire situation is entirely unexpected, and what she's about to do next is completely unknown. The game switches POV to KOS-MOS as she scans the immediate area before her, then directs her scans to Shion, then the Zohar in the storage bay. Her visor lifts, and takes steps forwards, with the researchers still coiling in fear as she does.


Cut back to Shion, and back to regular gameplay. After another screen of Gnosis evading, we have Shion arrive at the AGWS hangar, though there is a solder to speak to before hand. What all for? The Vaporizer plug-in. This doohickey allows players to press Square on the field map to destroy various map objects. This function generally translates to a puzzle-solving mechanic, but, it can be used to find items every so often. After some more running away bravely from the Gnosis, comes yet another cut-scene. This time, the POV is Virgil and his squad, who has set up a barricade in a corridor. Virgil's scanner is picking up some nearby movement. Probably Gnosis. He motions to the other AGWS units in the detail to get into position, and they wait until the object rounds the corner before the detail fires off a clip or two. The object in question is Shion, and by some crazy miracle, none of the bullets hit her. Which is, like...


...how? How is that even remotely possible? After a no-so-pleasant exchange between the chief engineer and the lieutenant, another blip pops up, and this time, it actually is Gnosis. Except they've set up a pincer maneuver attacking from the walls, since, well, physical objects basically mean nothing to them. But wait! There's more! For the low, low, price of $39.95 (how can it be any less than this?) you can get them to infect an AGWS unit!


Well. This certainly make things more complicated than they already were. The player is given brief control to Shion before going back to cut-scene mode, this time, on the bridge. Weapons systems are down to 20%, and AGWS losses exceed 70%. Which certainly doesn't sound like a winning battle. If only this fleet launched with the specs it was supposed to launch with, maybe they would have a small prayer. With what they have, it just seems like whatever they are doing is just to delay the inevitable.

Next up is the executive officer, having a meeting with Vanderkam at the storage hanger. The priority for the executive officer is to get the Zohar to the man he was talking to over comms, Margulis, no matter what the cost. Even if it means his own life. Margulis' name was dropped earlier, but, I kinda skipped over it at the time. However, it's one we'll be hearing a non-zero number of times going forward. However, this is the last we'll see of Vanderkam. So it goes.

Next up, we're back to Virgil's unit, who's somehow still holding their line after all this time. What's more surprising is that Shion's still there because... reasons? I'm not sure. Whatever happened to wanting to find KOS-MOS and Allen? Like, I get that a part of her is worried about the Realian solders, and is empathetic to them. Yet, how does that help them fight in a situation like this?

Either way, one of the Gnosis fires off quite a blast, which sends Shion to the ground, her mini-console landing maybe a foot further off. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of smoke that's rising from the blast. The only people left is Shion and Virgil. Another group of Gnosis approaches slowly, as Virgil tries to figure out what he can do to stop them. He notices a Realian soldier twitching, and this gives him an idea. Though, I'm not exactly sure why he needs Shion's mini-console to perform this plan. The cut-scene takes it's time, with Virgil on his own soapbox about it, which is ironic for a guy that distastes people on soapboxes. However, to summarize it succulency, his plan is to use Shion's mini-console to order the Realian soldiers by remote, and to use their self-destruct code to defeat the wave on oncoming Gnosis. I'll throw a bit of commentary about the cut-scene into a hide-tag.



Anyway, the cut-scene isn't just Virgil mouthing off. Though, what makes it all the more worse is that he doesn't even get them all. There's still a few stragglers left, and one of them gets to Shion. Her life flashes before her eyes as her consciousness fades, entirely expecting to die, with a vision of Elly-wannabe standing before her.

Yet, something gets the attention of the Gnosis, and the girl. A blue laser fires from behind a wall, the hand that was once strangling/choking Shion lets go. The wall cracks, then crumbles, to reveal...


...KOS-MOS!? She first gives the thing a kick, then spawns a pistol to fire off a few shots. The enemy staggers, but, is mostly unfazed. At least until KOS-MOS actually pulls off the very thing that's been throwing issues and errors all over the place.


The Hilbert Effect. I'm sure the game has some mumbo-jumbo in regards to this device/system, but, the end result is that, once affected by the Hilbert Effect, the Gnosis can't phase through walls, and can be effected by small arms, or other conventional means. KOS-MOS proceeds to trash some enemies before spawning a pair of machine guns, and rips a clip in the general direction of the Gnosis retreating position. Yes, you read that right! Retreating!

Except the infected AGWS from before decides to drop on by, and the game actually lets me enter combat with this one. It goes down pretty quick, then another cut-scene before the game puts me in control with Shion again. The basic path that the game would have us travel hasn't actually changed, even if the goal (escaping the ship from the hangar) has.

This route has us pass by on the other side of the bulkhead that closed off on Shion. It can be opened manually on this side, and in so doing, Shion makes a quip about how things would have been easier on her if they were open previously. I get her frustration, but, please, Shion, realize exactly how lucky you are to simply be alive right now? Darigaaz.

Though, by opening the bulkheads, one gains access to Shion's quarters, and the save point therein. Which, yeah, let's use it, and take a break. KOS-MOS will certainly help, but, what will all happen on the way to the hangar? Find out next time on the Xenosaga Episode 1 LP!

Last time, KOS-MOS commandeered a cargo freighter, the Elsa, with Shion, Allen, and commander Cherenkov boarding as well in due time. However, we're not with Shion at the moment. However, rather than staying with Shion, the game goes to an entirely different character. You could say that the game...

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( •_•)>⌐■-■
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...switches Gears.

Now that the bad jokes are temporarily out of my system, let's get to the cut-scene, because, of course, this chapter starts off with a cut-scene.

A video feed of a planet being engulfed in light, tears in the very fabric of space-time forming upon it, then vanishing as if it never existed. The ones watching this feed is Margulis, and another officer-looking woman by the name of Pellegri. Marguils doesn't place any value on the lives lost in the destruction of this planet, but, Pellegri sure does! At least until Marguils questions her loyalty, asking if she's forgotten what they've been striving for in the last 14 years.

The two are interrupted by a report from Vanderkam. This report contains various bits of information that the player already knows. That the Federation fleet was blown to smithereens, the Zohar was not secured, and was likely taken by the Gnosis. Margulis issues an order concerning the possible implementation of Plan 31. Whatever the hell that is.

Cut to the orbit tower of Fifth Jerusalem, capital of the Federation. Moving into a circular meeting hall, members of a committee discuss a cyborg they wish to send out on a mission before he appears before them on the central lift. I will not bore you with the details of the discussion of the cyborg, but, his mission is of note. First, I want to name-drop the cyborg, Ziggurat 8. His mission is a search-and-rescue operation regarding the prototype 100-series Realian. The game mentioned the 100-series before, but failed to mention that they are a type of Realian at the time.

Be that as it may, the 100-Series are important to the Federation, in a general sense, as they can produce the Hilbert Effect. Perhaps not to the degree KOS-MOS can, but, it's still a whole lot better than not having it at all. The crew of the Woglinde could certainly testify to that, would that they still be alive to do so. However, what makes this particular 100-series special is that she's the prototype of the entire 100-Series line. What's so special about that, exactly? This is discussed in more detail later.

The cutscene is a lot longer than it needs to be, splicing in information because it was given a grant from the Department of Backstory and the Department of Character Development. However, I will note that 100-Series have the appearance of young girls. The prototype is no different in this regard, having an appearance of a girl somewhere between 10 and 12. Though, the prototype might actually be about that old (maybe a touch older), but, I don't know if Realians can grow the same way, or at the same rate, that "regular" humans do.

Next up, we're back with Marguils, making brief conversation with his prisoner, the aforementioned 100-Series prototype. She doesn't think she'll be terribly useful to him, but, Margulis thinks otherwise, and makes a vague threat to her well-being before leaving.

After this is a short infiltration cut-scene with our friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man Ziggurat 8. He's got a heck of a cloaking device installed. Not only does nobody see him, no sensor has picked up his presence. The player sees him as this green outline whose opacity is maybe a little under half, and we take control of him as he arrives at the compound where the target is locked up. Thankfully, there is a save-point not all that far from the entrance, and you bet I'm going to use it before continuing with this mission.

The next cut-scene triggers when attempting to visit the next room. It starts off with Ziggurat 8 planting explosives to use during the getaway, and the cloaking device conveniently malfunctioning while behind some cover as he scopes out the sentry movement routines. A bit of a flashback too, thanks to another donation from the Department of Backstory. This flashback concerns what makes this 100-Series prototype so special. Contained somewhere within her lies data that is a repository of research by the U-TIC founder, Joachim Mizrahi, and may very well concern itself with the welfare of mankind, itself. Of course, the Department of Character Development would like us to know that Joachim is largely considered a madman and murderer, but, this research is still quite valuable regardless of these labels.

Either way, now that the cloaking device is out of commission, we have to guide Ziggurat 8 to the holding cell. You could call this a "sneaking section", since you're not supposed to get caught. You can still fight the guards, but, the fact that only one character benefits from these fights kinda turns me off to the idea. It's not terribly hard to avoid fights, juts kinda annoying. Like, all the player really has to do is watch the guards, and hold R2 to walk, rather than run.

After a bit, there's a ladder down, with a AGWS unit by it. The game has us distract it with a nearby crane, knocking it into some boxes. The next room triggers a brief cut-scene of the guards that were placed at the 100-Series' prison being engaged by our cyborg. After the battle is another cut-scene, where it's revealed that breaking down the door to the cell will trigger an alarm, but, if we had the key, we'll be fine.

A bit more sneaking off before we hit up the monitoring room. There's a bot in here guarding the key we need. That thing's a bit tough, as it spawns bits, and they deal quite a bit of damage. How I dealt with it was basically hit the main target once so that it spawns the bits, then guard, then use Ziggurat 8's special weapon attack, which takes 6 AP (of course it does), but attack all targets. That move felled the bits, and did significant damage to the main boss, so all I had do do at that point was guard again and do a SSC combo to finish it off. The bits died with it, which was an extra bonus.

Back to the cell, where a barely conscious guard activates an alert, and we are briefly introduced to...



...MOMO. Her name is an acronym, standing for Multiple Observational Mimetic Organicus. However, that information isn't in the game, proper, and we'd only know this via the manual. Perhaps it's in-game database. Technically speaking KOS-MOS is also an acronym, but, what it stands for isn't even in the manual, and I don't recall if it's in the in-game database. Take that to mean what you will.

At any rate, now that the alert has been sounded, and MOMO is with us, I no longer feel any further need to hold back. Which is another way of saying that it's time to turn the codes back on, and start beating things to a pulp. Now, maybe it's just me, but, they could have thrown...



...this track into this situation. Or, you know, something. You know what we do get? Nothing. No BGM whatsoever. Just the blaring of the alarm, and the noise that players make when they run. Like, when I looked up the OST for this game, I was honestly surprised there's that many tracks in the game. Yet, it feels like 90% of the game, you're listening to white noise. I just have to wonder why this decision was made? Did the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which performed the tracks, stipulate some limits as to how often tracks would play in-game? Did some suit at Monotith think that they'd be saving money (and development time) by choosing not to play music unless it was "necessary"? I don't know the backstory to this decision. I just know that a decision was made, and being horribly frustrated by it.

There's an enemy entrenchment the way we came, so, we double back to the monitoring room for another cut-scene, thanks to another donation from the Department of Backstory and Department of Character development. MOMO questions Ziggurat 8 if he's some kind of military Realian, and he specifies that, no, he's a cyborg. The conversation moves forward into some background as to how he became a cyborg, but, do we really need to know that? No. However, the conversation moves to how MOMO doesn't know his name yet, and when he tells her, she decides that the name "Ziggurat 8" isn't gong to fly, and will be henceforth known simply as "Ziggy". This LP will, naturally, follow along with this nomenclature.

That cut-scene done, we can activate a switch on one of the consoles to open a door. I guess this "Master Key" only unlocks cell doors. Through the door, down the ladder, annnnnnd cut-scene! A report to Margulis that of the intruder is after the 100-Series, and is approaching D-Block. He orders the block to be surrounded. A sentry bot, similar to the one we fought to get the the key to the cells, moves, and throws down a few bits for good measure. The cut-scene with Margulis does have music to it... which I can't seem to find on the OST list. However, for those curious, it's scene #49. After cutting back to the sentry bot, it's back to white noise. Though, there is one room this dungeon that has music...



...having the feel and look of a church? I dunno about anybody else in this organization, but, Margulis sure as hell doesn't come across to me as the religious type. Anyway, we move along the path until we come across another ladder. Hey everybody! It's another cut-scene! Here, MOMO displays her ability to produce the Hilbert Effect...



...though, apparently, inverse Hilbert waves has some small effect on AGWS? Don't look at me as to how that's supposed to work. I don't think this ever comes up again anyway. At any rate, the two face-off against three AGWS, and pound them into submission. Beating up mechs with one's bare hands was a thing you can do with Fei in the Aveh desert in Xenogears. Here, we're doing it again with Ziggy.

The command center lies beyond, which is the room Margulis, Pelligri, and their flunkies were at. Except they are nowhere to be seen. There's a save point here, so, let's use it before the game throws more cut-scenes at us.

It was a long way around, but, the pair come out to where Ziggy was sneaking around before, and continue their retreat. They run across, of all people on this base...



...Margulis, himself. I recall an article in Game Informer magazine that pointed to this boss fight being incredibly epic, and taking about an hour to defeat. I think my original experience against this guy wasn't all that much different. However, because of how potent my tech attacks are, he goes down in one attack.

Not that this matters. The cut-scene that follows gives the impression that if there was a victory, it was by the skin of their teeth. He's not the first boss that turns what should have been a victory into a defeat, and it's incredibly annoying when the game does this. Anyway, Ziggy decides it's time to fire off the explosives to give them the opportunity they need to commandeer a ship, and get the hell out of there. Naturally, pursuit craft are launched, but, they have some room for a breather.

Which is what the next cut-scene entails. Ziggy is thinking about something his sensors picked up, but no visual contact was obtained. MOMO gets him out of his thoughts, and he requests that she find a jump column to try to shake off their pursuers before setting course for wherever MOMO is to be delivered.

Back to Shion on board the Elsa, going full-on visual novel mode with this music...



...with a pair of silly little scenes to go along with it. Though, given how little choice the player has in anything in this game, maybe we could call it kinetic novel mode. Anyway, I won't bother summarizing either of these cut-scenes. The second cut-scene, however, was clearly thanks to another donation by the Department of Backstory, concerning the Kukai Foundation. All we really needed to know is that the crew of the Elsa works for them. After which, the player takes control of Shion again, with a piping hot tray of curry to send to Cherenkov.

We are free to explore the Elsa's interior to a degree. Because of the tray, we cannot use ladders, but elevators, ramps, and staircases are okay-ku. There's a handy-dandy save-point near the entrance to the bridge. Let's use that for a brief breather before moving on.

Using the elevator triggers a cut-scene, because of course it does. Here, we have chaos speaking a bit to KOS-MOS as she slumbers. He leaves, with Cherenkov taking his place not long after. As he observes the resting KOS-MOS, we get a flashback to when an earlier version went haywire. Cherenkov was handed over a control mechanism by a rather shady-looking character, which seems like the main cause behind the malfunction of the unit more than anything else. Though, I have doubts Shion recognized that could have been the case. KOS-MOS went utterly berserk. She went after both Vector employees, and the U-TIC solders that came with Cherenkov.

So, from this, Cherenkov knew that if the system was unstable, it wouldn't just eliminate the Gnosis, it would take out the Federation fleet. Not that the Gnosis needed much help in this regard, but, the point stands that he knew, first-hand, that if KOS-MOS wasn't completed properly, she could have been a potential threat. That pushing the engineers to release an unfinished, unrefined product will spell disaster. It's almost like Monolith is calling out the subset of the modern gaming industry that have a "release now, patch later" mind-set.

That out of my system, maybe KOS-MOS could be regarded as a threat either way. It's no longer much of a secret at this point that Cherenkov's alignment is with Margulis and U-TIC, rather than the Federation. Though, I don't doubt that his position in the Federation was of some use to U-TIC. Or, at least a cover for him to gather intelligence for U-TIC.

At any rate, he draws his pistol, and takes aim, point-blank range, at KOS-MOS' face. Visibly shaking, maybe he's thinking what could happen to him if this blatant assassination attempt fails. I mean, if she is somehow able to take the shot in the face, the consequences for him would be a disaster. Though, I'm not sure how well Shion would take it. Would she believe KOS-MOS' self-defense claim when she's proven to not hold Federation personnel in any regard?

Back to Shion. We run into a bot in the AGWS hanger of the Elsa, and sells parts for the machines. Not that we ever use them, but, eh. Arriving in the maintenance storage where KOS-MOS is at grants another cut-scene. Cherenkov still has that gun in his hand, and whirls around as the lights in the room turn on, and the door opens. Cherenkov manages to withhold firing for long enough to realize it's not an enemy, and manages to stand down. Things are more than a little awkward here...

Shion: What were you doing?
Cherenkov: I was looking at her.
Shion: At KOS-MOS? With a gun in your hand?
Cherenhov: Ah, this? It's... it's a bad habit.
Shion: I see. Well, you are a solider, after all. I know someone with a bad habit like that. He's always carrying around a sword around with a weird grin plastered on his face. Don't you think that's dangerous?

...though, Shion tries to make light of things by referring to her estranged brother, Jin. The conversation goes a little further, as they tend to do in this game, but, I feel no need to relay more.

Back to Ziggy and MOMO. They've lost the pursuit craft for the moment, so, it's high time we get MOMO to where she's supposed to be. Naturally, MOMO assumes that she'll be sent to Fifth Jerusalem, and meet with "mommy", Juli Mizhrahi. To wit, Juli was on the committee that sent Ziggy, and even Ziggy questioned her why MOMO would be brought to Second Miltia rather than Fifth Jerusalem. Juli isn't even a quarter as excited to see MOMO as the ladder is to see her. However, no hard-reasoning specifics were mentioned as to his orders, and all Ziggy can do is break the news to the girl. Her mood goes from high-spirited to a depressed low, but still makes the arraignments for the jump-route herself for Second Miltia, and off they go.

Next, we're back at the committee meeting room, where they discuss Ziggy's progress report, as well as their plans to decrypt that data that's within MOMO. The UMN control center on Second Miltia is the only place where they can perform that task. So, now we at least have some reasonable context as to why MOMO needs to go to Second Miltia, rather than Fifth Jerusalem. The cut-scene also provides a name to attribute to the information that everybody and their brother's uncle wants to get their hands on: the Y-Data. The Department of Backstory makes the cut-scene longer (as it tends to do), but, yeah, we might be hearing about the Y-Data again as the LP moves forward.

Back to the Elsa. When Shion leaves the maintenance hanger, she gets called to the bridge. I'll note that she's leaving Cherenkov alone with KOS-MOS. As a player, I think this is a really, really bad idea. Then again, if Cherenkov was going to pull something, he either would have done so already, or it'll be in a future cut-scene.

Getting to the bridge is a little faster, now that we can use ladders. Naturally, I hit up the save-point again before getting hit with another cut-scene, because of course, there's a cut-scene. This is a relatively short one, where Hammer is picking up an issue with the catapult deck. Possibly an electrical malfunction. Shion volunteers to go down there for a first-hand look at it.

From the ladder on B1, we take a left to B2, where the catapult deck lies. We have Shion check the system, and she finds nothing wrong. Another cut-scene here, with captain Matthews thanking Shion, and seeing her walk off screen, with a bit of electrical discharge in the background as she does. Not foreshadowing anything at all with this.

So... back to the bridge? Yeah, back to the bridge, hitting up the save-point before we do. And, what would you know? Entering the bridge triggers, surprise, another cut-scene! Here, the Department of Character Development has us see captain Matthews talking with a UMN worker concerning their route, and the charges applied thereof, in using hyperspace. The captain decides to have the bill sent to the Kukai Foundation, as per usual. Sending him deeper into debt, no doubt. Trying to bill a separate entity, such as Vector, would probably make more noise than he would like, and it behooves the Elsa crew, in a business like theirs, to keep their heads as low as possible.

Cut back to Ziggy and MOMO. U-TIC fighters have caught up to them within the confines of hyperspace. Now, if this were Star Control 2, an enemy engagement would drop the potential combatants out of hyperspace, and into real space for the battle. No such occurrence here. MOMO does a bit of a trick to get their ship behind enemy lines, with Ziggy firing off, and eliminating the targets. The ship blasts off again, and we cut back to Shion.

And, man, she is steaming. The poor girl on the other end of the line can only get the director on the line. What all this is about is the transfer of KOS-MOS on Second Miltia. Shion's argument is that, since KOS-MOS is acting on her own accord, she must know the cause before handing her over. Now, maybe it's just me, but, she's got time before getting to Second Miltia. Even if KOS-MOS is to be transferred to a different division of Vector when arriving at Second Miltia, I don't think they would turn down help from Shion in... whatever it is they are going to do to her. It's in Vector's best interest to make this product the best it can be, isn't it? Anyway, the director relents, giving Shion the okay-ku, and to smooth things over with the people upstairs.

Back to the battle in hyperspace between U-TIC, and Ziggy/MOMO. MOMO pulls off some crazy evasive maneuvers as they attempt to get the fighters off their tail. MOMO detects a civilian craft ahead, and Ziggy asks to open an channel. Quick cut back to the bridge of the Elsa, as Ziggy relays that a battle has broken out in hyperspace, strongly recommending gating out as soon as possible. I don't pretend to know what the charges might be for gating out early, and gating back in at a later point. Like, at this point, I'm imagining this hyperspace travel something akin to an interstate.

Anyway, Matthews is taken by surprise by this development. Before they can react further, Ziggy's ship slides by with very little wiggle room. The U-TIC vessels zoom past in pursuit, with Tony shifting out of the lane a bit to avoid a crash, and the oncoming lasers.

Matthews might not like being fired at, but, getting involved in this fight is just going to make things more complicated than they already are. Tony has to perform additional evasive maneuvers for another wave of U-TIC pursuit craft. Matthews is adamant that they stay out of this, at least until they take a hit to the outer hull. Then he decides that it's time to mix it up, and Tony is all too happy to oblige.

The Elsa fires off some shots, taking out a few pursuit craft. MOMO is absolutely ecstatic about this. Ziggy is more stoic, but, still appreciates the assist in his own way. MOMO then skims off the lane corridor, creating a column of fire that eliminates more foes. This inspires Tony to do one better. Or, at least take out another wave of U-TIC with a similar move. Another wave approaches, zooming past the Elsa, focusing their fire on Ziggy's craft.

It's a four-on-one fight, and chaos thinks they don't stand a chance. MOMO is a very capable pilot, and it's not like we haven't seen MOMO quickly switch the engines into reverse for a brief time to get into a better position to fire. However, the Elsa might be blocking them from that maneuver, and all she can do is weave to and fro in a desperate attempt to dodge the oncoming enemy fire. However, an engine gets hit, and falls off, their ability to maneuver compromised. They hit a column wall again, but this time, they might not be able to rebound. This time, it might be the end of the line.

Except Shion saves their bacon by using a crane equipped on the catapult deck. However, an electrical malfunction occurs, because of course it does, and the hatch to the catapult deck cannot close fully. chaos advises the vessel occupants to get inside as fast as possible. As they move, an enemy craft also gets into the opening, and drop some mechs as shock troopers to capture their quarry. After a drone demands surrender over comms, Matthews, refuses, and orders Tony to use the ship to take it out. The aftershock of which is enough to close the catapult deck in full, but, the enemy is still very much inside.

Whew! That was quite a lot to summarize in regards to this cut-scene. Here it is in full.



So, as you may have noticed, KOS-MOS has randomly come out of absolutely nowhere, and is available for this situation. So, the crew to take out the on-board enemies is chaos, Shion, and KOS-MOS. chaos is a completely new character, so, he's got some things to get/learn. However, before all that, let's hit that handy-dandy save-point again and catch a breather.

Except the game doesn't allow me to engage in combat with this party. The game has Shion activate a console to close the doors, and activate an electromagnetic field on a room south, full of mechs, which slows/stuns their movements. While the game doesn't force the player down the ladder, it just comes natural to me to do so, then the game switches to MOMO/Ziggy. We play as them for a while until the parties converge, which would be just outside the door that would lead to the ladder Shion would have just climbed down.

I spent some time getting chaos up to speed before engaging the boss. It goes down in two tech attacks, which is pretty impressive. After it's defeat is another cut-scene. The Elsa has dropped out of hyperspace. I'm not sure if it did so voluntarily, or if they reached the end of the particular column they were using. Either way, there's time before getting to the next column, so, why not use some of that time to do some damage assessment? Allen makes a report, which causes a little scuffle between Tony and Hammer. Matthews already has enough headaches as-is, with all these unexpected passengers, and now the cost of the repair bill on top of that. This really is not the day for him to make any kind of dent in the debt he has, is it?

Next up is some down-time in the cafeteria, kicking off with KOS-MOS serving Shion a drink? What? Anyway, this is another fluff-filled cut-scene where MOMO makes a humble request to go to Second Miltia. Funny that such was their destination anyway, thanks to the Vector staff the Elsa picked up earlier. However, concerning the repairs, there's a nearby dock colony that could provide that service. Who knows how long it will be before they get there, though?

Shion is asked to give the grand tour to MOMO and Ziggy. I've not been into the crew cabins on the main floor, and one of them has a key item that opens a path on one of the lower floors of the Elsa. I half-considered going to open it up, but, nah. That cabin also serves as the cut-off point to the "tour", and ends the chapter, should one choose the option to rest. Which might suggest there's more hijicks to be had before the Elsa arrives at the dock colony. As for how many, let's found out next time, on the Xenosaga Episode 1 LP!

Last time, Cherenkov has checked out of this game. We will never hear of him again. Aside from that, KOS-MOS made quite the showing of her abilities, and in so doing, revealed that there's more to her than whatever Shion and the other Vector technicians installed into her.

At any rate, this chapter being with, you guessed it, a cut-scene! This one, provided by the Department of Character Development, focusing on Jr. We learn later on that this was a dream/nightmare, but, of course, none of the images in the dream have any context. Except, perhaps, an early scene with a dead cat with a name-tag of "Gaignun". I'll note that, last chapter, when Jr. was introducing himself to Shion, was that the name he was giving her wasn't his "real" name, but, the one he did tell her would suffice for now.

He curses to himself after waking up. Then, a bit of a fast-forward to the quarantine hanger of the Durandal, where the Zohar emulators are stored. This cut-scene is brought to us by the Department of Backstory, as it's pointed out that the room is situated in such a way that there are six container on one side, six on the other, with one in the center. Each labled with a name. The names presented to the player are: Peter, Andrew, Boanerges, Thomas, John, Phillip, Matthew, Bartholomew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas. The one in the center? Marienkind, or, "child of Mary", as the game will explain soon after. This is absolutely, 108%, a reference to Jesus, and the 12 apostles, by the way.

A lab in the hanger lies a Gnosified human, and the conversation moves to that subject a bit. Which, as you might imagine, gets to Shion. We saw what happened to Cherenkov, and Shion saw how close he was before chaos intrupted the process. Shion had as close a scrape with death by way of Gnosis on the Woglinde, so, I can only imagine she's wondering if a similar fate won't fall on her one day. Allen picks up on this possible thought-process, but, Shion dismisses him, saying it's nothing. The conversation moves to when the Gnosis first started to appear. While there may have been sightings, and such, the Gnosis jumped into the forefront during the Miltian Conflict, and the name of Joachim Mizrahi is dropped again, being called a lunatic, much to MOMO's dismay.

Back to regular gamepaly. Talking to the party members, they are concerned about MOMO, and perhaps rightly so. Finding her is our next goal, but, let's visit the save point on the Elsa before doing that.

The Durandal, itself, is sub-divded into the dock, the quarantine hanger, the bridge, the residential distcrit, and the park. MOMO will be found in the park, as is the next cut-scene. This is largely a fluff cut-scene, where Shion tries to cheer up MOMO, with some assistance by KOS-MOS. At some point, Allen drops by to let us know that after refuiling and resupplying at the Foundation, the Durandal will be heading towards Second Miltia. Shion has her suspicions. Why is everybody going to Second Milita? Allen just kinda shrugs it off.

Anyway, the game would have us go to the residential district and take a nap. The room we're assigned to doesn't have a save-point, but, there's a game room in the upper right hand corner of the district that does have one. Let's use that, because having the game prompt the player to take a nap has so far resulted in disaster.

Cut-scene? Yes! Trouble? No! It's just the Durandal docking into the Kukai Foundation, and relaying...



...the wonders of artificial gravity. We then meet Gaignun Kukai, the director of the Foundation, accompanied by both Mary and Shelly. Shion's not quite 100% herself with this introduction, muttering "Jr?" to herself, but, she manages. His attention is then drawn to MOMO, and relays that he's been in contact with Juli Mizrahi, and that he'll do everything he can to get her to Second Milita. MOMO's interest is piqued, asking if she could speak to "mommy", but, no dice.

Fast-forward a bit, to a room likely on the Foundation. Jr. is talking to Gaignun. The topic moves from KOS-MOS, and her potential then to Shion, and how she could be "onto them", though Jr. highly doubts it. He then asks Gaignun to tone down on any Mizrahi talk, as it clearly affected MOMO's mood. Jr. considers the possibility that something's been imprited on her, and talking smack about her "daddy" might be affecting her in unpredictable ways that's more than outward signs of depression. To which, it's suggested she is taken to the beach to get her mind off of things. A ship the size of the Durandal is going to take some time to resupply, I imagine.

Gaignun also presents Jr. with a gift of a gun that he won at an auction, to which Jr. is quite pleased with. Though, reminding Jr. that he's older than him, and that he should act like it every so often, is an interesting tidbit.

Back to Shion in her quarters on the Durandal. Allen drops by, making a quip about how it's time from them to go. Where, to Second Miiltia with KOS-MOS? I'm not exactly sure, but, it's apparent to even him that Shion's not herself. He tries to get her to talk, but, Jr. butts in from nowhere, proclaiming it's time to go out and play, and to meet him at the shuttle. Neither of these two are particularly enthused by this invitation, but, go anyway.

Both Ziggy and KOS-MOS are at the dock, but, neither of them will join in the festivities. Which, perhaps, one can expect from these two. However, Jr. chaos, and MOMO joins at the shuttle launch area, and, oh, boy, I can finally access the Ether, Tech Attack and Skill menu items for Jr. Darigaaz, game.

After spending some time there, I lift off to the beach party. Jr. and MOMO are playing some variation of volley ball, with choas overseeing them. Allen's in the water, looking like an idiot, but I repeat myself. Shion's lying on a beach chair, checking out some info on KOS-MOS before the flashback sets in. The flashback doesn't last that long, but, she's basically looking for some kind of response data from KOS-MOS in regards to empathizing with MOMO in the park. Alas, the data record is a flat line.

Allen eventually walks up to her, to complain that she shouldn't be here staring at a screen. MOMO joins in the push, but, it goes nowhere. At some point, Shion asks Allen if he thinks of Gaignun and Jr. are father and son. Allen shares with her some rumors he heard. One is that Gaignun cloned himself. The other is that Jr. is some kind of illegitimate son. There may have been a third comment, but, MOMO cuts him off, saying she doesn't think they are clones. Their genome arrays are a little too different for that. Which is a comment that surprises Shion, but, let's not forget MOMO is an observational Realian first and foremost. She's literally designed to notice the finer details.

Jr. walks into the scene protesting the "illegitimate son" comment from Allen. For what it's worth, he tries to change the subject, making a quick quip about the nice weather. Which prompts Jr. to activate a module to change it to a thunderstorm. Which provides quite the reaction from Shion, very loudly proclaiming that she hates thunder. Now, there is a reason for this reaction. However, unlike Rikku's background as to why she's afraid of thunder in Final Fantasy 10, it will take some time before we learn why Shion fears thunder.

Next is a meeting of Gaignun and the Second Miltian representative, Helmer. This is a guy we'll be seeing a lot, so I've no qualms name-dropping him. I'll note that he calls Gaignun "Nigredo" before a correction is made. They first talk about the Zohar that they retrieved from Cathedral Ship, and that it was briefly on the Woglinde. There is no question in Gaignun's mind that this emulator bears some of the responsibility of Ariadne disappearing. He then goes on to inform the representative of the presence of MOMO on the Foundation, and that he's worried about possible action from U-TIC. The subject moves back to Zohar emulators, or the possibility that U-TIC's goal my be to obtain the original Zohar. There's also mention of an "U-DO", and that whatever it is should not be allowed to awaken.

Back to Shion. The mini-conversation with Allen points us to the residential district of the Foundation, proper. You know, it would be nice is at least the bar in town had more than white noise running in the background. There's even a piano, and a player, but, the game pulls a "broken piano" excuse because... reasons? Maybe I should try a hand at researching this decision. Until then, I will continue to not understand this decision to have white noise for, like, 90% of the goddamn game.

Anyways, the shop has a few pieces of equipment of note for me to get. The prompt to get some shut-eye does not trigger a cut-scene upon agreeing to do so, but, the game points the player to join up with Allen for the maintenance on KOS-MOS afterwards. Thankfully, we don't have to walk all the way to KOS-MOS' lab on the Elsa, though, Allen is kinda in the bottleneck between the bridge area with the save-point, and the rest of the Elsa.

Talking to him triggers the next cut-scene, on the U-TIC base of Pleroma. A few tidbits that this scene lays down concerning the Y-Data that MOMO's hanging on to. So, yeah, it's primarily a repository of data from the late Joachim Mizrahi, but, it also seems to contain the UMN column transfer code for the sealed-off sector of Old Milta. You know, where the original/actual Zohar is? Yeah. That is the real reason why the Y-Data is so valuable.

So, while we don't learn exactly what the plan is for U-TIC to re-obtain possession of MOMO, outside of a vague reference to a "Plan 401", and possibly using the Song of Nephilim. Whatever those are. We do, however, get Albedo's name dropped, along with the term "URTV". As a refresher, Albedo is the guy that appeared before Marguils after Ziggy got MOMO off of Pleroma, and claimed ownership of her. As for what a URTV is, well, I'm pretty sure it's another acronym, but, what it stands for is certainly not in the manual. I'll have to wait to see if it's in the in-game database.

Anyway, back to Shion and Allen in KOS-MOS' lab. This is a bit of an incidental peice, as Allen is trying to get whatever Shion is concerned about off her chest, but, she brushes it of with "it's nothing". The man can only sigh and shake his head. Cut to the bridge of the Durandal, where Shelly communicates that they are about to enter the Miltian system, and requests permission to dock. Cut to a scene of MOMO walking the halls of the residential sector, with Jr. meeting up with her to give her a gift of... a bullet attached to a bracelet? Not the kind of gift I would consider for MOMO, but, the girl seems appreciative of the gift, so, I guess it's okay?

Cut to an external view of the Foundation, with approaching Federation ships. Which then proceed to fire on them. Huh. What's all this about? This cues a scene of the Federation Parliament discussing the matter.

So, what this is all about is a faked video of the Durandal destroying the Woglinde. The video used footage of the battle against U-TIC. Now, as one recalls, the Durandal fired against the U-TIC force, and U-TIC fired on the Woglinde. The video spliced the footage so that it looks like the Durandal fired upon the Woglinde instead. The edit is exceptionally convincing. Even the absolute coordinates match. Shion's testimony is meaningless, as it can be easily claimed she could have been in on the conspiracy.

Federation troops invade the Durandal, putting it under martial law. They apprehend choas, Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, Shion, and Allen, putting them in a single room, with Gaignun being taken elsewhere by the officer in charge.

Now locked in a room in the residential district, Ziggy makes some observations.

Ziggy: It's all orchestrated too well.
Shion: Huh?
Ziggy: The fleet deployment came too quickly. They must have been prepared to ensure that MOMO would return to them, regardless of what happened. Or, perhaps, ensnaring Second Miltia was a part of their plan from the very beginning.

Ol' Ziggy can't help but to wonder where the information about the asteroid where MOMO was held came from. There was a question raised by chaos if there are members of U-TIC that were on that committee, with Allen going so far as to suggest Juri could be such a member. Naturally, MOMO protests, and Shion gives him a small scolding for even suggesting such a thing.

Elsewhere, the officer from before presents Gaignun with a cell phone. On the other end is Helmer, doing a situational report. Part of of which is letting him know that said officer works for him, and that she was sent to keep an eye on possible U-TIC influence within the Federation. The two will be working together as much as possible before the records on board the Durandal are altered. Then, Herlmer receives a call from the Vector director, Wilhelm. Both Helmer and Wilhelm have no doubts about the involvement of U-TIC in this matter, and what their goals are. His proposal, then, is that Vector will lend KOS-MOS to Second Miltia, at least until Vector's flagship, the Dammerung, arrives to the scene.

The Federation officer in league with Helmer enters the cell-room with a guard. Officially speaking, she's there for the initial inquiry. Unofficially, she provides a situational report, with orders to provide as much support as she can. To be frank, things are not looking good. As things are now, within a matter of hours, MOMO will likely be back in the hands of U-TIC, and Second Miltia will be stripped of any authority it might have. The best course of action is to find concrete proof of our innocence, but the million dollar question is how?

The Woglinde's black box? Nope. Already altered to be the same as the video recording that's being presented as evidence. The database that the U-TIC battleship that Jr. infiltrated had may have the original data on it, but, it was sorta shot it up. What about the Durandal's database? Nope. It's a standard database. It's not secure enough to count. The kind of database that would count would have, like, triple-A encryption on it. However, the systems that come to mind to Jr. when that's mentioned are systems like the Federation government's mother frame, or the UMN operating system. But you know what? We do have access to something like that. KOS-MOS's memory module!

Extracting that data normally requires keys from both Vector HQ and the Federation government. Shion seems to think it might be possible to take a virtual dive into KOS-MOS' subconscious, experiencing the record themselves, and making a copy through the connection gear. They don't exactly have the proper equipment, but, they might be able to use a simple dive unit.

Still, there is a question of how the hell they can get to KOS-MOS, considering the situation. Which prompts some action by the officer. She unshackles Ziggy, and passes a device to Shion, saying it'll open any locked door they comes across. However, to make things look legit, she asks Ziggy to knock her out, and her subordinate. I mean, think about it. Shion and Allen are researchers. Jr. and MOMO are kids. chaos, well, maybe, but, Ziggy makes the most amount of sense for her plan. He proceeds with the plan, punching both the captain and the guard in the gut, apologizing to the latter. Now, as cool as this officer was, we'll basically never hear from her again. That's why I decided against doing a name-drop for her. However, for those curious, the name that was dropped was Lapis Roman.

Our equipment is in another room, which isn't terribly far from where we were held. Let's hit up the save point before moving on. Though, I did access the in-game database to see if there was an entry on URTVs. There was not. Maybe later.

I decide to putz around the Durandal for a bit, getting Jr. up to snuff before attempting to board the Elsa, and getting to KOS-MOS. While we could use the front door, and fight guards while doing so, we can there's something of a backdoor entrance that can take us to hatch #17. This takes us to an area on B1, between the elevator and the ladder to B2. So, we take that ladder, proceed to Ziggy's lab, hit up the save-point there, then proceed across the AGWS hangar to KOS-MOS' lab.

There's a cut-scene here because of course there is of the entire party being pulled into the simulation, and not just Shion. Which certainly wasn't expected.

Shion finds herself standing in the rain before a giant tower. Then, the thunder, to which she cowers. When she recovers, she's somewhere else entirely, and sees a familiar figure...



...on a swing set, humming a tune. Eventually, the youngster gets off the swing, and runs off, proclaiming "Daddy!" Shion turns in disbelief, and whispers towards the phantoms to not go. Then, everybody's favorite Elly wanna-be decides to intervene. Shion finds her sitting on the end of a slide, saying she's been waiting for her, and they've much to talk about.

Back to Jr., Ziggy, and MOMO. The trio are getting their bearings as a vessel flys by. The marching of troops are heard as they hide behind some rubble. They take a peek, and see... child soldiers? Jr. has no doubts about what they are. Those are URTVs. Ziggy asks if he can recognize this place. After coming to his senses, Jr. relays that if this isn't some kind of illusion, this is Old Miltia about 14 years ago. In other words, during the Miltian Conflict. He runs off on his own, and neither Ziggy nor MOMO think this is a good idea, and go after him.

Back to Shion, but only long enough for the Elly wannabe to finally get a name-drop: Nephilim. The game then shifts back to Jr. and company, into regular gameplay, if only for one screen before getting hit with a cut-scene. This one has a bunch of URTV soldeirs firing off at citizens. To which, Jr. can only proclaim that they were infected. A non-infected unit guns them down, then calls out for "Rubedo". As he moves off the scene, Jr. speaks out the name "Gaignun", and we get into a flashback. Young Gaigun walks along an hexagonal catwalk above a pit, but, another URTV blasts hiim away onto a level below before floating down before him, exuding this red aura of power before Jr. snaps out of it. MOMO does her best to try and reach out to him again, but, recoils on his angered response. He apologizes, then wonders what the hell is going on.

Back to Shion and Nephilim in the park. I'm not sure if I'm entirely capable of summarizing this, so, excuse the quote-block.

Shion: So, you're saying this really is Miltia?
Nephilim: Yes. A world of unbroken memories slumber at the depths of your consciousness. KOS-MOS has sensed this, and recreated it. This world, it is also KOS-MOS' memory as well.
Shion: KOS-MOS' memory? No, that's not...
Nephilim: Memories do not belong solely to one person, and they are not fixed to just one location.
Shion: No, I mean... it's... the original KOS-MOS was...
*flashback*

Nephilim: ...Destroyed, during that incident, two years ago.
*the flashback commences, showing the archetype's head being blown off, then to a moment before when it tore into Kevin*
Nephilim: And you lost someone dear to you as well.
*returns to the present*
Nephilim: Joyful memories form only one half of the whole. Only when they are combined together, with the other half, can your consciousness truly take form. You must, no, all of you must accept the entirety of your memories.
Shion: Accept... our memories.
Nephilim: You must return to Miltia once again.
Shion: Please, tell me! Why must I go to Miltia?
*Nephilim points in the distance*
Nephilim: Only KOS-MOS knows the answer to that question. She is waiting for you there.
Shion: KOS-MOS is... out there?
*stares, then starts walking off*
Allen: Hey! Wait up! Chief?
*the two move, before the camera refocuses to choas and Nephilim*
Nephilim: Are you sure this is what you want? There is no turning back.
chaos: I know, but, Shion is vital to her.
Nephilim: And to you as well? What will you do?
*the camera cuts again to behind the swing set then pans to show red lights flying upwards where Nephilim used to be*

So, uh, it seems Nephilim and chaos know each other. Just another mystery for later. For now, we gain control of Shion and chaos. There's a handy-dandy save-point in the next screen that we utilize. There's a few fights on the path that I have a little trouble with, but, nothing else worth noting in my book. After two, maybe three screens, the game jumps back to Jr. and company. They move into a subway, with a handy-dandy save-point for us to use as a checkpoint. There's tough fights abound on this path, with the party finding itself on a sewer floor that we had passed through as Shion previously. Climbing up a ladder triggers the next cut-scene.

Jr. and the others find themselves staring at a tower before them. This is the same tower Shion saw earlier. Jr. identifies the building as the U-TIC's base on Milta, Labyrinthos. On top of that tower is the man, himself, Joachim Mizrahi, spouting stuff that sounds like it came from the Book of Revelations.

Joachim: Hallelujah! "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man, according to their works!"
MOMO: That voice. That's... That's daddy! Daddy!!
Ziggy: What!?
*MOMO starts to rush forward, Ziggy attempting to hold her back*
Ziggy: MOMO, stop! Where are you going!?
MOMO: Let me go! Daddy! Daddy is calling for me!
Ziggy: "Daddy"? Is that really him?
Jr.: That's Joachim Mizrahi, without a doubt.
*as Jr. says this, you can hear Joachim saying in the background, the following: "And death, and hell were cast into the lake of fire! This is the second death!"*
Joachim: "And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire! Rejoice, all ye! The time for feasting has come!"

After he finishes saying this, his body ignites, and falls to the ground. This is too much for MOMO to take, and frees herself from Ziggy's grasp, running towards the plummeting form of her father, only for the body to dissipate into the aether in her hands. Visibly shaken, MOMO can only whimper the words, "Daddy", then rises her head, and cries out that same word. Jr. looks on worried, while Ziggy wonders if this really is Miltia from 14 years ago. Then, the ground beneath them fades in a pixelated manner and the free fall in the void before a bright light envelops them.

Back to Shion, finding herself in a forest. There's a handy-dandy save-point right here, so, let's use it. Along the way, we see a Bunnie (an in-game mascot character who looks pretty much as one might expect with a name like that), headbutting a carrot-like object, and taking the contents. This is a puzzle-hint for later on. See, Bunnie likes the "Super Carrot Juice" that are left behind by using the Vaporizer on those carrots. We can lay one on a stump to lure it out of it's home, and, with a little timing and luck, we can race Bunnie to the the door before it closes on us. The thing has another face on the other side of it's head, so it's not a simple matter of being able to sneak up behind it, though it is kinda possible.

The prize for beating Bunnie in this race?



A decoder. I haven't been talking about this at all, but, suffice it to say, there's doors and keys to said doors strewn across the game. How relevent the rewards are is sometimes questionable, but, I don't have too much interest in this pursuit. If I come across a door, and don't have the key, fine. If I came across a door and do have the key, fine.

Anyway, we're back with Jr. and company, MOMO crying her heart out. They're in a forest clearing, and there doesn't appear to be much danger, so, the let her cry a little before attempting to cheer her up. Back to Shion's group, they come across an old church in the middle of the forest. She turns, and finds Jr. and company, and the parties combine. Though, the Department of Padding makes it so that it takes a while for this to happen, since the characters have to muse about how the hell it's possible for everyone to be here, since the Simple Dive Unit should have only brought in Shion.

Attempting to enter the church triggers the next cut-scene. A woman kneels before the alter in prayer. She's not dressed as a nun, but, still, one gets a sense of devotion from her. The party makes some exchanges between themselves concerning the possibility of her being a Realian. Ziggy asks more directly to the subject, to which she answers the affirmative, and gives her name: Febronia. This is a figure from Shion's past, of which we only get a brief flash of.

Febronia asks Shion to follow her. She moves to a side door, and then, everybody's favorite Elly wannabe, Nephilim, appears out of nowhere, saying that they will face "themselves" when they open that door. Or some such nonsense. After the blat, we gain control of Shion again, with the default party of her, Jr. and chaos, with access to a handy-dandy save-point. Well, then, since the game is very obviously suggesting something really really important/crapastrophic is going to happen soon, let's use it.

So, what's behind door #1? Why, it's the next cut-scene! The party finds themselves in a hallway, with a window on one end being cracked. There's blood smeared across the wall in one section as they move down. They arrive at the end of the hall, stopping at a door there. Nephilim id's the place as the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility on Miltia. More specifically, they stand before room where Shion's mother was kept. At this time, we only know that she was hospitalized here, but not the reason for the hospitalization. Anyway, the door opens, and with a flash of light, the party is in the room. The room is a mess, with objects strewn about the floor, and the dead body of Shion's father against a wall, a splattering of blood behind him. There are maybe two other bodies on the floor, and, of course, Shion's mom on the bed. She gasps, and flinches backwards at the sight, and then, strange figures phase into the room, then fuse into one gigantic being that serves as the next boss fight. Though, before doing so, Jr. has his own visions of the past, of a young Albedo spouting complete nonsense.

I'm not sure if I can explain this boss very well. So, it's got a kind of barrier that will sometimes respond to attacks by Jr. or Shion. I don't know what would happen if chaos tried to get in there, as I had him on support/healing. However, once the boss falls below 0 HP, it's barrier against the character that felled it, and again, it can only be Jr. or Shion that does this, it counter-heals for 1500, that the other character has to whittle down. Or, you know, do a tech attack that's at least 1500-ish.

After the boss is felled, the room fades to black as the boss turned into purple lights that surround Shion and Jr. The two shrink from them in fear. The camera moves to a different POV, as the lights orbit, then one comes smack dab into the camera, where it fades to white, then fades back to a grassy plain with a tree in the middle, and one can hear the laughter of children. The camera switches between a view of the party, and the tree before it pans down, and we can see a pair of girls running around the tree, and a vision of Febronia leaning against it, observing in a motherly fashion at the girls. The music during this scene is a rendition of...



..."Green Sleeves". At which point, Febronia takes a post in the Department of Backstory. This lovely scene before us is an illusion created for the girls, Cecily and Cathe. When the illusion is removed, the scene is much less a happy one. Rather than blue skies, a healthy tree, green grass, and a smiling Febronia, there is a gray sky, a withered tree, rubble on the street, and a knocked-out Febronia. The actual Febronia goes on to say that they are imprisoned, and this imprisonment has something to do with the Zohar control system, and wants Shion to release them. This, according to both Febronia and Nephilim, is "for the future" of Realians, humans, non-humans, and all matter of living consciousness.

Nephilim then shows us a vision of a possible future. Under a backdrop of space, a planet comes into view that Shion identifies as Miltia. Then KOS-MOS flies into view, equipped with her tertiary weapons system. The planet before her pulsates red, then shoots out a beam. KOS-MOS counters with a beam of her own. Then a super zoom-out of the galaxy(?), where there's a little blue spark at the edge of the cluster, which expands rapidly outward to engulf, well, everything in sight. Nephilim goes on to explain that the steam of energy is a consciousness known as U-DO. It's definitely got something to do with the anomaly that engulfed Miltia 14 years ago. The future that we just saw is merely one of the many possible futures that could come to pass. One in which KOS-MOS faces U-DO in the "form she was meant to have". She then spouts that even the smallest of waves can cause ripples in the stream of time, and yes, Shion picks up on the possibility/hint that Nephilim wants her/them to be that wave, and proceeds to ask "why us/me"?

Nephilim points out that Shion was once "touched" by a Gnosis, yet remains as human as she ever was. Which, yeah, is very much an interesting point onto itself, considering that Jr. said earlier how humans touched by Gnosis become Gnosis, themselves, no exceptions. Though, I suppose, there are exceptions where humans are turned into salt piles instead of Gnosis, or Gnosified humans, but, I suppose this is more about how "alive" one is after being touched. I'm not sure if you can call a Gnosis, or being Gnosified, could be considered "alive", but, I digress.

Either way, a familiar blue-framed door phases in (there was one of these during Cherenkov's visions) before Shion and company. She opens it, and then the party finds themselves in a cave. At the end of the cave is a stone crucifix, with...



...KOS-MOS arragined with wires on it. Shion approaches her, then places a hand on her cheek. The figure starts to glow blue. Then, after a bit, Shion makes a sign of the cross and speaks the password: "Ye shall be as gods." This activates the dormant KOS-MOS, and exits the dive. Here's the full cut-scene, as it's a bit of a doozy.



The evidence submitted, the Kukai Foundation is cleared of charges in due time. Though, Jr. has a bad premonition concerning the name "Nephilim". Cut to the park, where chaos and Allen have become members of the Department of Padding, and talk over how Allen wants to be more than just a co-worker to Shion, but also understands she doesn't see him that way at all. Cut to Guignun's personal quarters, where Helmer makes a report, concerning the review of MOMO's subconscious, and that the charges against Second Miltia, and the Kukai Foundation, will be dropped, officially, tomorrow. Naturally, they suspect that U-TIC won't let MOMO go quite yet, but, they also don't know what they could attempt to pull.

Back to Shion, failing to get any amount of sleep. She's perfectly aware that handing over top-secret government info is very likely going to get herself fired. Her train of thought moves to MOMO, and how incredibly sad she looked. It then moves to Allen, where he was making an attempt to cheer her up with something that sounds like a date, but, Shion refused, not exactly feeling positive, herself. He mind continues to whirl chaotically, thinking about the task laid before her by Nephilim and Febronia, and what it all means.

Rather than trigger an end-of-chapter save, despite all that's happened, and despite how it feels like there really should be one, the game gives control to Shion again, on the context of wanting to apologize to Allen. However, this is plenty of content for this update, despite how the game refuses to end Chapter 5. What will U-TIC pull next to reacquire MOMO? I guess we'll see, next time on the Xenosaga Episode 1 LP!

Last time, MOMO was captured again, this time by Albedo. A fake MOMO joins the party for a while, and jumps on Jr. before the boss battle. However, Albedo gets away, only to activate Proto Merkabah. Which we are summarily charged with bringing down by Juli, standing for her entire committee on this matter. The sight of "mommy" brings a certain mixture of joy and sadness in the prototype 100-series, but, she does not make any attempt to butt into the conversation, or make any other kind of contact.

There's an opportunity to putz around, and I do! For a while! Then they start laughing at the gun. Nonsense aside, let's get into that Proto Merkabah, and maybe find an end-of-chapter save this time. Naturally, there's a bit of a cut-scene before the Elsa docks on on Proto Merkabah, but, it's mostly fluff at this point.

After going through a bit of a puzzle creating a bridge, we take an elevator, only to run into flights of stairs to climb instead. There's explorative space on each floor, but, the amount of space to explore varies. On some floors, you can very clearly see that there's room on the other side of the wall, or there's a straight-up door that's locked. Of course, those areas aren't accessible until you climb to the very top. Even then, the path forward isn't unlocked until the climb down the other side for a spell. However, when it's all said and done, we face off against a cameo boss...


...in the form of Proto Dora. Ya'll remember Dora, right? It was the Gear Vanderkaum used after the Kefeinzel went kablooey in Xenogears. Back then, it used it's claws to pick up one of the AI-controlled allied Gears, and used it as a weapon to bludgeon of inspiration Fei's Weltall. The fact that the Proto Dora comes with two AGWS highly suggests it might do something similar. However, the battle doesn't last long enough for the boss to attack, much less the bits that came with it.

Further in is a room MOMO recognizes as the place she was born. While she was never specifically told what purpose this overall facility was meant for, she's got a good idea. She knows that not long after she was born, Joachim died, and the Gnosis were summoned. Of course, a lot of the blame of the summoning of the Gnosis lies on Joachim's feet, and I'm pretty sure MOMO is distinctly aware of that. However, it seems like Proto Merkabah was the main tool. That she was also born here gives her the impression that she's a part of the package. To put it another way, would there be a need for the 100-series if it the Gnosis weren't around in such large quantities as they are now? Is she little more than a method to stem the tide of the catastrophe her father triggered? Is she merely a tool of redemption? An abomination created in the need to eliminate the abominations that are the Gnosis? Shion profoundly disagrees. Even if MOMO is a Realian, she is still the child of Joachim. Surely, no parent would consider their own child an abomination?

That aside, this isn't the room we were looking for, but, we're certainly closer. We take a number of elevators, one of which has fights every so often. A bit further ahead is our next cut-scene, where Albedo taunts Jr. for the umpteenth time before engaging in combat. Of course, this is another "you didn't actually win this battle" scenario. Albedo mouths off even more, because of course he does, then summons another boss fight.


This Gnosis fused with the reactor, so, defeating it means a cascade explosion effect across the entire structure of Proto Merkabah. If that wasn't enough, movement is detected, and KOS-MOS confirms it through her sensors. The facility is now on a crash course set to Second Miltia. If the facility is broken up into compartments, a decent number of those structures might vaporize in the atmosphere, and the rest might land on the surface, the planet relatively unharmed. There was a control room on one of the floors we passed on the way here, and there, MOMO gets to work. Naturally, the console in that room is the only place where the command to decompartmentalize can occur, and the process will take one minute. Not enough time to return to the Elsa. Ziggy asks if it can be done remotely, but, MOMO's data references and search functions come up negative.

KOS-MOS volunteers to stay behind to input the commands necessary. While non-Vector personnel might not be a priority for her, her internal logic dictates that having her stay behind provides the greatest chance of survival. There may be many factors involved in this calculation, but, she tells Shion that, at maximum speed, she can reach the Elsa in under one minute.

The next sequence is a medley of scenes of the party running, cutting to KOS-MOS doing her thing in the control room, with exterior shots of the facility, as explosions trigger, and subsections falling off one by one. When they reach the bridge, and relay the situation to Captain Matthews, he's a little troubled that they aren't lifting off right away. Of course, Jr. wants to wait for KOS-MOS, and the Elsa gets pelted by rubble as they do. The situation is unstable, but, Jr. holds off the launch as long as he dares. However, he can only dare for so long, and the launch happens before KOS-MOS makes her rendezvous. Shion, of course, will not leave her creation behind, but, Captain Matthews is adamant about the decision to leave. Nephilim speaks to Shion's mind, asking her to "see with your heart". She closes her eyes, and has a vision of KOS-MOS running. Back on the intercom, she pleads to get closer to the port side wall by 400 meters. The Captain will have none of this, but, Tony complies. From the opened port door, Shion observes the wall, looking for the errant KOS-MOS. A portion bends and crackles, and the battle android bursts forth. Shion calls out for KOS-MOS, and reaches out. KOS-MOS catches her hand, but, her frame is rather heavy, and takes everything Shion has just to hold on, much less make any attempt at pulling her in. Just as Shion's grip is about to fail, Ziggy is there to provide support, and manages to pull KOS-MOS in. The line that comes out of Shion after this is kinda funny.

Shion: KOS-MOS, I really ought to put you on a diet!

So, we're cool, right? Things can finally settle down? We can get our end-of-chapter save? How about...



...No. Not even close. Because of the hits that the Elsa took while waiting for KOS-MOS, they cannot stop their own deadly descent onto Second Miltia. As Hammer reports that the hull temperature is exceeding the maximum limit, there is a cut to chaos in, er, I think that's the AGWS hanger? KOS-MOS enters, presumably from her lab, and says something nonsensical...

KOS-MOS: Relinquish your pain... unto me.

...before leaving the room. Cut back to the bridge, a report is made that the aft hatch is open? To quote Captain Matthews...

Matthews: What!? Who's the moron doing that!? Is he trying to burn all of us from the inside out!?

I'll give you one guess. Yep, it's KOS-MOS. By her estimation, she can maintain this position for one minute and twenty seconds, and that should be enough time to stabilize the Elsa. Shion thinks this is suicide, and tries calling her back, but, well, KOS-MOS is quite stubborn about this. The scene shifts a number of times between Nephilim, a child (who looks suspiciously like Fei) in a white room, and Wilhelm before getting back to the Elsa. But, you know, something weird happens. It's not just KOS-MOS getting blue eyes again. She grows...


...wings of light? The Elsa, now stabilized, and very much in one piece, cruises across the surface of Second Miltia. Matthews raises his chair, looking out the window, thinks he sees something out there, and orders Hammer to activate the bow camera. There, at the bow of the ship, stands KOS-MOS, as if nothing happened. The only visible marking of damage is that her visor snapped off, her rather lengthy hair blowing in the wind as the ship moves.


Shion almost can't believe her eyes. Trust me, I couldn't believe my eyes either, the first time I saw that. Then the credits star rolling, and a number of cut-scenes play as they do. First, we see a lone man approaching a rock tablet on a cliff, watching the meteor storm, created by the remnants of Proto Merkabah's decoupling before the Elsa passes by. Next, Gaignun speaks to Helmer over comms. They confer on the likelihood of U-TIC's target is on Miltia. Albedo is also name-dropped, as he might want the same thing. Speaking of the devil, Albedo's next in line. He seems entertained enough for the moment. All he needs to do now is wait for MOMO to link up with the UMN, and he can do his thing. Next is Wilhelm and the red-cloaked guy. Wilhelm doesn't mind Albedo doing his own thing. The key to Abel's Ark can only be opened by him, and he cannot link with U-DO again, even if he wanted to. Wilhelm seems to think it's a shame to relegate such a minor role to a person with such a bright will. Next up, we're back on the Elsa, this time, at the canteen. Ziggy is talking with MOMO, while Jr. is messing around with Allen, ad Shion's just kinda standing there. The attention moves to the door as it opens, and the camera cuts to Shion turning around in slow motion, and faces KOS-MOS once more.

KOS-MOS: Mission complete, Shion.
Shion: Welcome back!

At this, the screen fades to black, the credits finish, and we get our Clear Game save to load into Episode 2, when I get that far. 21 hours, 6 minutes, 34 seconds, by the way. We were hit with a couple of cool cut-scenes at the end, there, so, let's throw them here.


This was a funky little journey, I hope I have been entertaining as you took it with me, or if you read it after it's completion. However, this is only the first episode out of 3. What kinds of zany things await in the second episode? Find out, when I do the Xenosaga Episode 2 LP!



What? Don't give me that look. I said in the first post of this topic I'd do them all. Though, as mentioned, it might be a bit before I delve into Episode 2. I'll leave a post here when I make the topic so that one can follow along. Until then, remember: Winners don't use the `Drive`! They use... lots of `Drive`!

Oh. Wait. Wrong game.