=============================================================================== Tables of Contents =============================================================================== [I] Introduction [II] Version History [III] Pre-Star Ocean [IV] Star Ocean 4 [V] Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey [VI] Star Ocean: The Second Story [VII] Star Ocean: Blue Sphere [VIII] Star Ocean: Till the End of Time [IX] Star Ocean: EX [X] Galactic Map [XI] Unsolved Mysteries Note: To skip to any section, simply hit CTRL+F and input the Roman Numeral with brackets. =============================================================================== [I] Introduction =============================================================================== Welcome to the Star Ocean Series Story FAQ. Perhaps you've heard of a wonderful series of video games under the title of Star Ocean, developed by a group called tri-Ace, and published under Enix (Now SquareEnix). What you may not know, is that these games have an incredibly rich and detailed story behind them. This FAQ plans to be a guide to that story. Star Ocean takes place within our very own universe, and is thus governed by the same set of rules. Due to fantastic speculation, tirelessly dissecting the dialogues, the very helpful dictionary included with Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and a wealth of Blue Sphere info translated by K_19, we have a very good understanding of the specific circumstances that tri-Ace has woven for us, as gamers, to enjoy. This FAQ is arranged in a timeline-like format, though so many events happen during certain years it may seem like a narrative rather than a timeline. Along the way will be explanations of just how some of the things accomplished are possible - meaning, what the technology is and how it works. tri-Ace has done extensive research into this (or they're all just really smart), as most of this technology is based within theoretical astrophysics and quantum mechanics (seriously!). I realize not everyone has a Ph.D regarding these issues, so for any confusing technical terms I'll try to put it in layman's speak. To provide a slightly more seamless experience, these descriptions will be offset from the main story in the form of an indented section. For example, if I brought up Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, following it would be a section as such: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is a consequence of the wave- particle duality of nature. This means that light can be perceived as both a particle (photon), or a wave. It simply states that one cannot be sure of both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle at any given time. If we were to measure the position, the very act of measuring it would alter the momentum, and if we measure the momentum we cannot simultaneously know the location. See, things can get complicated! Don't worry, it doesn't get much worse than that. Before beginning however, 5 simple caveats: 1) About the dates: Standard B.C. and A.D. abbreviations will be used until the establishment of the Stardate (SD) system, then the A.D. date will be included in parenthesis. 2) No side-quests are discussed (with two exceptions), as they can be skipped and are not important to the overall story. 3) The story of the games varies slightly depending on which characters you choose. I try to account for that as much as possible, but there are so many different combinations I may miss a few things. However, none of these differences really matter in the overall story. 4) Somewhat along the lines of #3, endings are not discussed as they are not set in stone. The only exception is every ending but Fayt's in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. 5) It goes without saying, but this FAQ contains MASSIVE SPOILERS! If you do not want the stories of these games spoiled, stop reading now. =============================================================================== [II] Version History =============================================================================== Version 3.6 - 5/8/08~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few minor corrections here and there. I've added a new section for the Star Ocean EX anime, which has a new take on the events of SO2. A few updated things for the 2 PSP remakes as well. Version 3.5 - 4/13/08~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alright, I lied. I said to be continued with Star Ocean 4. With it still in the development phase, I have somewhat satiated my hunger for Star Ocean with 2 brand new UMDs straight from Japan. Yes, it's the Star Ocean 1 and 2 remakes! No full English translation has been made as of yet, as they are both to be released in the US in the future. Going through the Japanese text however, I found a few interesting tidbits! So, information about the remakes have been added. Also, based on the new Star Ocean trailer, I saw that Earthlings apparently started with SD 0, instead of SD 1 like I assumed. Thus, my AD equivilant years were one behind, so they have been corrected. Additionally from the trailer is a date of humans' first contact, which has been added as well. Version 3.0 - 6/23/07~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, don't I feel like a fool! A friendly IM by adelinathepirate has informed me that there is in fact, a Star Ocean map from the Star Ocean 'Eternal Materials' book out there on the wonderful interwebs. More info on this can be found in the galactic map section, along with links to the images in question. Version 2.0 - 5/11/07~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here we are, slightly over a year(!) since my last update. As you may or may not have heard, there is a new Star Ocean game in the works to be announced in, at time of writing, in just a few days. This has inspired me to continue on, what is by far, the most fun FAQ I've ever written. As such, I've added a big update - by tirelessly analyzing the dictionary, I have compiled together a Galactic Map of the Star Ocean Universe! This has gone through multiple revisions, until I think, I finally got it right (Earth is in the right place now!) The position of some of these forces opens up some very interesting speculation on the political struggle in the galaxy, as well as expaining a few more things! Hop on down to the Galactic Map section for more info. Version 1.5 - 3/14/06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I added a fair amount of information concerning the Wise Men of Star Ocean 2. In other news though, I've begun to populate Wikipedia with Star Ocean articles. So far I've begun with the planets, which a fellow Wikipedian was nice enough to create a category for. Check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Star_Ocean_planets After the planets are done, I intend to start on the characters. If you have Star Ocean knowledge to contribute, I invite you to make or edit Star Ocean articles over there. If you've never dealt with Wikipedia articles before, don't panic - it's very easy to do. I encourage anyone with a passion for Star Ocean to give it a go. Version 1.4 - 3/1/06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's been a long time since I've updated, but theres really been nothing new. Just a small ninja-update to the SO1 section. Version 1.3 - 1/29/06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imperit adds a bit evidence supporting Valkyrie Profile taking place in the same universe. Version 1.2 - 1/25/06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks again to K_19, who clarified a few things on the Blue Sphere section. Thanks to j mcdermid who corrected a minor error in Star Ocean 2. Also thanks to SkyDragnSlifer3K, who added an event I completely missed - the Torastic Religious War on Elicoor II in SD 72. And as always, a fair amount of spelling, spacing, and grammar changes. Version 1.1 - 1/16/06~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy belated new year everyone. Some feedback from Claudelv250, as well as a lot from K_19 (the man is a 4D being, I tell you) caused me to rethink, change, or add a few things. I also corrected some minor things such spelling, spacing, and grammar. Version 1.0 - 12/02/05~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a method of procrastinating from studying for my finals, I started this FAQ. About a month and a half of on and off writing, I finished it! (at 3 A.M. on 01/14) Any comments/suggestions are welcome. To do: *Double-check, confirm, or otherwise polish up Blue Sphere. *Add more science techno-babble if needed. *Add any reader-submitted content. *Take out the trash and do laundry. =============================================================================== [III] Pre-Star Ocean =============================================================================== 15,000,000,000 - 20,000,000,000 B.C.___________________________________________ -Tria, the multi-faced god/goddess of creation, initiates the Big Bang or some other method to create the universe. Pre 3,699,997,548 B.C._________________________________________________________ -Many of the planets in the Galaxy were under the rule of Nede, an extremely advanced planet with no rival. Uprisings began on 24 planets, and Dr. Lantis of Nede was charged with initiating the 10 Wise Men Program - that is, an experiment in Heraldry-Genetics to create superhumans to quell the uprising. Phase I included the close-in combat weapon "Marsilio", the remote projectile- attack weapon "Shigeo", and the base-defense special weapon "Berle". After these 3 were completed, work began on the strategic weapon "Decus" to control them. After this, 2 information gathering agents named "Ruprecht" and "Nicolus" were deployed. They were joined by "Jibril", and assembled under the command of the civilian control agent "Vesper". Finally, the agent "Cyril" was created to oversee the other Wise Men. 3,699,997,548 B.C._____________________________________________________________ -Rebels opposing the 10 Wise Men project attacked Dr. Lantis's daughter, Filia. The Nedians issued an information blackout to conceal this from Dr. Lantis. An infuriated Dr. Lantis found out through the information gathering capabilities of the Wise Men. He began to transfer his conscious into code name: Indalecio (Gabriel in the Japanese version). He changed the orders of the 10 Wise Men from quelling the uprising to destroy the universe. -The 10 Wise Men led an uprising on Nede and destroyed countless cities and killed many Nedians. The Nedians rallied their forces and defeated the 10 Wise Men. -As punishment, the 10 Wise Men were banished to a dimension known as Eternity Space, of which there is no escape. -Due to the actions of the 10 Wise Men, 80% of the Nedian Military was destroyed. The outlying rebel planets began a revolt, and began to close in on Nede. In order to protect themselves, the Nedians constructed Energy Nede and surrounded it with an impenetrable, Class 9 force field. The Nedians moved to this new home, completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Finally, they destroyed their own planet of Nede. May 13th, 699,997,565 B.C._____________________________________________________ -Rena Lanford, Nedian, is born to Reema, lead Heraldry Researcher at the Heraldy Research Center on an unnamed planet in Beta Sector, and an unnamed father. -The Nedians discover Creation Energy around this time. Quoting from the North City Library in Star Ocean 2, a Creation Energy Generation Device uses an artificially induced small-scale Big Bang to extract energy from the resulting imaginary number space. This system would provide even more energy than a Quadratic Sphere. However, it is extremely difficult to control the strain of the balance of space that results from opening a hole in the imaginary number space. Because the possibility exists that in the worst case scenario a collapse of the time/space continuum will be initiated, no one has applied this theory yet. We of course find out later it doesn't collapse the time/space continuum - hooray! This explanation however, is similiar to current experiements in Quantum Mechanics. Interesting... 699,997,563 B.C._______________________________________________________________ -Rena Lanford is sent through time from the Heraldry Weapons Laboratory to the planet Expel in the year SD 351 (2438 A.D.) 2,200,000 - 1,600,000 B.C._____________________________________________________ -Earliest known humans evolved from apes on the 3rd planet in the Sol System, given the designation "Homo Habilis" - literally "skillfull person". 10,000 B.C.____________________________________________________________________ -Evidence of early humans using copper to create tools and weapons Copper, atomic number 29. This reddish-colored metal was very easy to extract and forge, however it is quite weak in its pure form. All humans have small amounts of copper in their blood, which assist in digestion. High amounts of the metal are toxic. 4,000 B.C._____________________________________________________________________ -The first widespread alloy, bronze, is created by humans. Bronze is a mixing of 2 metals, usually about 60% copper and 40% tin. This mixing is known as an alloy, and contains unique properties its parent metals do not. Bronze was easy to produce due to its low melting point and wide availability. It was also significantly stronger than copper. -First evidence of iron being used. Iron, atomic number 26. While iron was heavy, and sometimes hard to work with, it was bronze's closest competitor due to its widespread availability. In fact, roughly 5% of the earth's crust is made of iron. Iron is also important in the normal functioning of humans, and is present in our hemoglobin. 1,000 B.C._____________________________________________________________________ -The continent of Mu is destroyed by a meteorite. 600 - 800 A.D._________________________________________________________________ -The Chinese develop black powder, the first explosive in recorded history. A combination of sulphur, charcoal, and saltpeter, black powder burns extremely quickly. When this is confined, the air pressure will build until it overcomes the strength its container, resulting in an explosion. 1,000 A.D._____________________________________________________________________ -Steel was first produced on Earth. Steel is an alloy of iron and a very small (usually only 1% or 2%) amount of carbon. This carbon acts as a hardening agent, but requires a high temperature to smelt together. The hot alloy is then usually dunked into a pool of water, to cool it so fast that the iron and carbon mix do not have time to separate from one another, as if it were allowed to cool in the air. The end result is an extremely strong metal still in widespread use across the galaxy today. 1886 A.D.______________________________________________________________________ -Charles Martin Hall develops an electrolytic process to extract Aluminum cheaply and efficiently enough to use in industrial applications. Aluminum, atomic number 13. It's origins date all the way back to Roman times, however extraction methods were extremely primitive and it had very limited use. Once more valuable than gold, this metal is extremely light and durable, and without it aviation simply could not exist. December 17th, 1903 A.D._______________________________________________________ -The Wright Brothers and their flying machine make their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on the 3rd planet in the Sol System. Even though the materials composing airplanes are heavier than air, they are able to fly simply due to differences in air pressure. By curving the top of the wing in an aerofoil shape and leaving the bottom mostly flat, the air pressure on the bottom of the wing is significantly higher than on the top, lifting the plane up into the air while causing little drag. 1914 - 1919 A.D._______________________________________________________________ -World War I occurs because of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, as well as mounting tension between European nations. 1939 - 1945 A.D._______________________________________________________________ -World War II occurs when the Nazi's invade Poland. October 4th, 1957 A.D._________________________________________________________ -Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the earth, is launched on a R-7 rocket by the Russians. Earthlings are now a part of the galactic community. Rockets are vehicles that obtain thrust by expelling exhaust from some sort of reaction at extremely high speeds. While it's origins date back to ancient China, modern rocketry is possible because of the Nazi research during World War II. The end result was the V2, which was used as a launching pad (no pun intended) for sending rockets into space. April 12th, 1961 A.D.__________________________________________________________ -Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man ever to leave the Earth in his vessel, Vostok 1. July 20th, 1969 A.D.___________________________________________________________ -Neil Armstrong in the U.S. craft Apollo 11 is the first ever to land on the moon. 1995 A.D.______________________________________________________________________ -Anti-matter is successfully produced in the form of anti-hydrogen. 2064 A.D.______________________________________________________________________ -World War III takes place. 2074 A.D.______________________________________________________________________ -Humans have first contact. March 7th, SD 0 (2087 A.D.)____________________________________________________ -Professor Trillas Bachtein develops subspace warp technology, allowing humans to break the barrier of light speed. Our universe has a sort of galactic speed limit, in that when an object approaches the speed of light, it gains mass and thus requires more energy to accelerate. This is an infinite process, thus preventing us from ever breaking that limit. This is expressed in the famous equation E=mc2, that is energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. Subspace technology wraps the ship in layers of subspace. This subspace is a sort of galactic shortcut, a hole in spacetime. So the ship is going slower than the speed of light, yet can still cross vast distances very quickly. March 7th, SD 4 (2091 A.D.)____________________________________________________ -The Stardate method of dating is officially established by the Terran Government on the four year anniversary of the development of subspace technology. =============================================================================== [IV] Star Ocean 4 =============================================================================== SD 10 (2097 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -Supposedly, the events of Star Ocean 4 take place during this time. Stay tuned. SD 12 (2099 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -The Terran Alliance established on the 3rd planet of the Sol System (Earth) in order to unite all the newfound planets and species. This organization rapidly grew, as more planets were discovered, and the Terran Alliance eventually changed their name to the Pangalactic Federation. In order not to interfere with still-developing planets, the Underdeveloped Planet Protection Act (UP3) is passed. Sometime after SD 12 (2099 A.D.), likely before SD 114 (2201 A.D.)_____________ -The Planet Styx (AKA Planet Stream) is discovered. An OPA is discovered in the form of a sentient Time Gate. The Federation severely limits all access to this planet until the technology is better understood. An OPA, or out-of-place-artifact, is an object inconsistent with the technological level of the area. Not every OPA is extraordinary, and often times they are mislabeled due to the ignorance of the alien culture on the part of the discoverers. Notable OPAs throughout Star Ocean include the Time Gate on Planet Styx (Stream) in Star Ocean 1 and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the inner sanctum of the Parj Temple in Star Ocean 1, the facility on the Planet Milokeenia in Star Ocean: The Second Story, the Sorcery Globe in Star Ocean: The Second Story, and the Orb of Apris in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. SD 25 (2112 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -Cius Warren, Highlander, is born to Ryas Warren and an unknown mother on the Planet Roak. -Joshua Jerrand, Featherfolk, is born to unknown parents on the Planet Roak. SD 46 (2133 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -A virus that turns its victims to stone was engineered on the Planet Roak. Viruses are microscopic parasites that replicate themselves. Since they do not have the means to replicate themselves on their own, they infect host organisms and use them as a tool to increase their numbers. The host usually reacts to this invasion in adverse ways. Just how the virus unleashed on Roak turned its victims to stone is unknown, but it would have to change the atomic structure of its host at an extremely rapid rate. -Most of the events of Star Ocean 1 take place after our heroes travel back in time from SD 346 (2432 A.D.). See Star Ocean 1 section for more info. SD 72 (2159 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -The Torastic Religious War occurs on Elicoor II, establishing a royal bloodline. SD 114 (2201 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Professor J.D. Wormer publishes his famous paper on the space-time discontinuity effect. It addresses the grandfather paradox of time travel, which postulates what would happen if a time traveler traveled back in time and killed his own grandfather. He would then cease to exist, but then how would it be possible for him to ever go back in time and kill his grandfather? It also proposes another scenario. What if Time Traveler A goes back in time 3 seconds? After 3 seconds have passed, Traveler A1 and A2 will meet. If A2 goes back in time as history has planned, there is no problem. But then, what will happen if traveler A1 somehow bars A2 from going back in time? Travelers will be infinitely duplicated, and the amount of mass in space will fall to zero, reverting all dimensions to nothingness. Wormer warns then, that even a single speck of dust could have a catastrophic effect on the universe. SD 168 (2255 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -The Planet Edifice is devastated by a tsunami, killing many and wiping out their culture. SD 207 (2294 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Transporter Technology is developed. It works by desintegrating an object at one location, and sends an exact replica to the desired location to be rebuilt at the quantum level. While initially believed Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle would prevent this, it has somehow been compensated for. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is a consequence of the wave- particle duality of nature. (Meaning light can be perceived as both a particle, that is a photon, or a wave) It simply states that one cannot be sure of both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle at any given time. If we were to measure the position, the very act of measuring it would alter the momentum, and if we measure the momentum we cannot simultaneously know the location. SD 308 (2395 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Ronixis J. Kenni, Human, is born to unknown parents on the planet Earth. SD 323 (2410 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Iria Silvestoli, Human, is born to unknown parents on the planet Earth. SD 327 (2414 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Ratix Ferrance, Felpool, is born to a resident of Clatos Village on planet Roak. -Dorn Malto, Felpool, is born to unknown parents on the planet Roak. SD 328 (2415 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Milly Killiet, Felpool, is born to a healer in Clatos village known as Maltos and an unknown mother. August 31st, SD 331 (2416 A.D.)________________________________________________ -Ernest Raviede, Tetrageniot, is born to unknown parents on the planet Tetragenes. December 30th, SD 339 (2426 A.D.)______________________________________________ -Bowman Jean, Expellian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Expel. August 5th, SD 341 (2428 A.D.)_________________________________________________ -Dias Flac, Expellian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Expel. SD 342 (2429 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -War between the Earth Federation and the Resonians erupts. February 16th, SD 342 (2429 A.D.)______________________________________________ -Noel Chandler, Nedian, is born to unknown parents on the planetoid Energy Nede. August 24th, SD 343 (2430 A.D.)________________________________________________ -Opera Vectra, Tetrageniot, is born to unknown parents on the planet Tetragenes. September 18th, SD 343 (2430 A.D.)_____________________________________________ -Celine Jules, Expellian, is born to Eglas and Labe Jules on the planet Expel. October 22nd, SD 344 (2431 A.D.)_______________________________________________ -Chisato Madison, Nedian, is born to unknown parents on the planetoid Energy Nede. September 28th, SD 346 (2433 A.D.)_____________________________________________ -Ashton Anchors, Expellian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Expel. =============================================================================== [V] Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey =============================================================================== SD 346 (2433 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Planet Ise at Mark 301.209 in Sector Gamma is destroyed by some third party under the guise of the Resonians. A Federation Research Explorer is witness to this act. -Half a year later, this same third party fires a biological weapon at Roak, triggering the once dormant virus engineered 300 years ago. -Ratix and Dorn fight off a gang of bandits attacking Clatos village. -The Elder of Clatos receives a letter from the neighboring village of Cool that a virus is spreading that is rapidly turning people to stone. Maltos travels to Cool to investigate. -Dorn receives a letter two days later from Maltos warning that the disease cannot be cured, and that the village of Cool is done for. -Ratix, Dorn and Milly travel to Cool to meet Maltos. Maltos berates the party for coming, and they return to Clatos. -Ratix, Dorn and Milly scale the dangerous Mt. Metox in order to retrieve a herb that they believe could save Maltos. Along the way Dorn reveals he has contracted the virus from the carrier pigeon from Cool. -Ratix, Dorn, and Milly are greeted by Iria and Ronixis at the summit. They ask the three to come back to their ship, Calnus with them to analyze Dorn and hopefully devise a cure. Dorn accepts, and the others follow. -The doctor of the Calnus reveals that the disease is parasitic, and not currently curable. However if the host was found and a blood sample taken, a serum could be devised. He also reveals that the body is perfectly preserved after being turned to stone, so there is no immediate timetable. -Felworms are sighted in the transporter room, hatched from eggs they left on Ratix, Milly, and Dorn. Since Federation Phasers are ineffective, Ratix and Milly fight them. Ratix is wounded, and bleeds on one of them. The Felworm disappears from the sight of Iria and Ronixis only. It is later revealed that the blood of Roakians absorb all light wavelengths between 240nm and 780nm. The light we see is actually just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Violet colored light has wavelengths beginning at around 380nm. As the wavelengths get larger, the color changes from one to another, ending with red at around 740nm. The Roakian blood then would absorb all visible light, as well as a small amount of infrared and Ultraviolet. -The doctor reveals the difference in Roakian blood to Human blood. Specifically, the hemoglobin of Roakian blood is primarily composed of copper with unknown elements. Iria speculates that the Roakians are being harvested to create some sort of weapon. Sensors on the Calnus confirm 20 million statues or no longer on the planet. -Dorn begins to succumb to the disease. He and the rest are transported back to Roak. He gives Milly his sister's music box before "dying" in his bed. The remaining members return to the Calnus. -Ratix and Milly observe a ship approaching the Calnus before sensors detected it. It uncloaks and claims to be a Resonian vessel come to negotiate. The group reveals that the mysterious third party is responsible for the planet's Ise and Roak, and they were coerced into starting this conflict against their will. They also reveal that retrieving the host would be impossible, as it was 300 years ago. -The Calnus returns to Earth to learn the Pangalactic Federation has abandoned the Roak rescue mission. Ronixis and Iria risk court-martial and life imprisonment by traveling to the Planet Styx (Stream) with Ratix and Milly. -The sentient time gate on Planet Styx (Stream) accepts the team's goodwill, and opens a portal to the planet Roak in SD 46 (2133 A.D.) SD 46 (2133 A.D.)______________________________________________________________ -Iria and Ratix arrive on Roak, south of Clatos on the Moore continent. Ronixis and Milly's location is unknown at present. -Ratix and Iria travel to the village of Hot (later known as Cool). They meet up with a swordsman named Cius Warren, and the 3 accept a job from a shopkeeper known as Badam to deliver a package to the town of Portmis in exchange for a pass to allow entrance to the city. -The party delivers the package, returns to Hot, then travels back to Portmis. Cius may or may not leave at this point, depending on the choice of the player, but in the grand scheme it effects little. -Ratix and Iria want to travel to the Astral Continent, but pirates are blockading the port. Ratix and Iria defeat the pirates and travel to Astral. In the pirate cave they save a Lesser Felpool, Perisie. -The party arrives in the port town of Otanim, then travels south to Tatoroy. It is possible to recruit Ashlay at this point, but it makes no difference in the overall story. -Ratix and Iria travel to Astral Castle Town. -The Captain of the Astral Knights, Fear Mell, is observed killing 2 soldiers. -The party spends the night at a man named Ryas Warren's house (Cius's father). Depending on whether you have Cius or Ashlay, Fear is observed by your party attempting to kill Ryas Warren. The party chases after Fear only to discover\ she is an impostor. She is defeated. -The party returns to the castle and is thanked by the King and the real Fear Mell. It's said that Ryas's injuries are not life-threatening. The King then suggests you travel to the Parj Temple, as there is an object there known as the Eye of Truth that will let you see whatever you want, and thus show where Milly and Ronixis are. -The crew arrives at the Parj Temple. Outside they meet a Featherfolk named Joshua Jerand who is searching for his sister. He says that his parents were murdered his was sister abducted, and he was left for dead. Since everyone has similar interests, Joshua joins the team. -The inner sanctum is reached, and 3 spirits appear. They say that the Eye of Truth is nothing more than a myth, but may still be able to help you. They identify Ratix and Iria of not being of this world due to their incorrect time signature. This surprises everyone and confuses the heck out of Joshua and whomever else you have. The 3 spirits show you a vision of Ronixis and Milly in a place Ashlay/Cius identifies as the country of Van. -The party leaves the temple. Joshua may or may not leave you here, but it matters little in the overall story. -While heading towards Tropp, a spaceship lands outside of Clatos village. The party goes to check it out. The "3rd party" has arrived. -Ratix, Iria, and crew return to the port of Tropp and sail to Ecdart. They meet Milly here, who tells them Ronixis is just south, in the town of Ionis. (Although it is possible to not meet Milly until Sylavalant, I'm including it here for simplicity.) -The party travels south to Ionis. At the entrance they see Ronixis and Marvel Frozen, a women Ronixis and Milly met in their travels. Marvel is arguing with a man known as the Crimson Shield, who she claims killed her parents and brother (Hmm...). The Crimson Shield says it is a case of mistaken identity and leaves. -All the reunited members celebrate in a bar. Marvel steps outside for a moment. Depending on your party composition, you learn that Marvel's body is not her true one... rather, she traded her old body for this one to become more powerful. Ronixis is understandably disturbed by this. Ashlay says he once fought along the Crimson Shield. He also reveals that he turned evil after going on a mission to retrieve a mirror for the King of Van that turned out to be cursed. -Iria says that they need to find the host of the virus, who is identified as the demon king Asmodeus. Since the King of Van has been fighting against the demon world for some time, they travel to Van Castle Town. -The King puts the party through a trial to see if they have any chance of defeating the demons. The party succeeds. -The King then reveals that is impossible to enter the demon world on this side. Rather, portals can only be opened from the demon world to Roak. The party insists there must be some other way. The King elaborates that a portal was opened once by the original Moorians a long time ago, and they are responsible for the link that still exists today. They accomplished it by creating a special treasure called the Eye of Truth. He also reveals the original Moorians were not babies, rather they sprung forth as full-grown adults. Finally, the King says that the Moorians left different bits of information with each of the other kingdoms of the world, and tells the party to visit other countries for more information. He gives you the emblem of Van and his blessing. -Ronixis reveals that he was taught magic (also known as Symbology, Runology, and Heraldry) by Milly. Ronixis regrets he did not learn it sooner, as it may have been able to save his wife who died several years ago. Iria says that is unlikely, as it was unable to cure the disease on Roak. -It is possible to recruit both Tinek, a lycanthrope, and Perisie, the Lesser Felpool you saved earlier, at this point. They are both optional however. -The party travels north to the ice country of Sylvalant. They pass a village named Dulus along the way, and learn the entrance to the demon world is nearby. -The crew arrives at Sylvalant castle town, in which all the residents are in a state of quarantine because of the war. The party meets with the King. -The King reveals that the entrance to the demon world is on a small island to the south. He gives you the emblem of Sylvalant, a key to access some ancient Sylvalant ruins, and access to the port. -Ratix and crew travel to the Sylavalant ruins to the east. In the inner-most sanctum, they meet a girl encased in ice Joshua identifies as his sister Eris. Marvel warns everyone to stay back, or she will fight everyone. Joshua is obviously not too pleased by this, and an argument erupts. An angry Marvel disappears in a bright flash of light with Eris, never to be seen again. For those of you confused on what happened, Marvel is in fact Joshua's sister Eris. Eris discovered and used the Moorians Soul-Transfer device, and transferred her soul to a Moorian, Marvel, in order to acheive revenge on the Crimson Shield. In order to save Joshua the heartache of finding his sister "dead", she takes her old body and runs. (While technically a side- quest, I am including this here as it is important to the story. Thanks K_19.) -The party travels to Moore castle. The King also puts the party through a trial, to dispose of the monsters in their treasure room. Ratix and crew succeed. The king thanks you, and gives you the emblem of Moore. -The group travels to Astral castle. The King gives you the emblem of Astral and tells you some cryptic passages that have been passed down through the generations. -The group travels back to the Parj Sanctum. They meet the spirits and show them the 4 emblems. The spirits wonder if they are the ones the ancient Moorians predicted would come. They are transported into the inner sanctum. The inside is very high-tech with computers and machines, obviously far beyond anything the Roakians are capable of. -The party reaches the bottom. Using the phrases the King of Astral gives you and the hint provided there, the password to open the final door is "Earth"! Iria and Ronixis are understandably shaken by this turn of events. Inside is a holographic projection of the planet Earth. Iria notices a large continent in the Pacific Ocean, and that it could be the legendary continent of Mu that supposedly existed a long time ago. It is said the civilization was very advanced, but was destroyed by a meteorite. A hologram of a person appears who explains that he and his fellow Moorians were somehow transported to this planet while the meteorite hit. Iria recalls incidents in the Federation where people sometimes were transported short distances by space-time vortexes, but nothing nearly this far. The hologram reveals that the Eye of Truth's purpose was to open a wormhole to allow the Moorians to return to Earth. Something went wrong however, and it opened a gate to the demon world instead. The party retrieves the Eye of Truth and returns to Sylvalant. A wormhole is literally, a hole in space. If you imagine space as a round object, traveling from one side to the other would require you to travel around the circumference of the object. If it were possible to simply drill a hole through the middle, your travel time would be significantly less. -The King thanks them for their efforts, and to enter the demon world at the small island to the south. At that time, a demon runs in and warns that you are too late, as a massive weapon has been developed. There is a rumbling, and its revealed the entire village of Dulus was destroyed. The party leaves right away to the demon world before the weapon can be used again. -The party arrives at the demon world to be greeted by the Crimson Shield. He attacks and is defeated by your party. If Marvel is with you, Ronixis points out she has finally achieved her revenge. If Ashlay is with you, he feels remorse for defeating an old comrade. The Crimson Shield says not to feel bad, and to hurry for Astral. He warns that while the crew was distracted, his evil shadow attacked in order to secure "the bladeless sword". The party uses the Eye of Truth to travel immediately to Astral, and defeats the Crimson Shield's shadow. They retrieve "the bladeless sword" from Ryas, and Iria reveals it is actually a force sword (read: lightsaber) much like they have in the Federation, but it's very old. New weapon in tow, Ratix and the group travel back to the demon world and enter Asmodeus's stronghold. -The party enters Asmodeus's stronghold, which is some sort of biological research laboratory. They reach a computer which Iria tries to hack into, but it sets of an alarm and Asmodeus appears. His henchmen attack the group, and Asmodeus runs away. -The party chases Asmodeus. Suddenly 2 men appear, detain Asmodeus and take a blood sample. Noticing Ratix and crew, they quickly leave. Iria says that must have been the 3rd party who originally they killed Asmodeus. In order not to change history or potentially create a time paradox, (yeah, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night Iria) the party kills Asmodeus and takes a blood sample for their own use. NOTE: In the PSP remake, this scene is slightly different. The party fights Asmodeus BEFORE the 3rd Party arrives. After he is defeated, they beam in and take Milly hostage. While Milly is taken hostage, they safely take the sample, rough up Milly and Ratix a little bit, then leave. -Ratix and everyone return to the King of Van, who praises their efforts. He thanks them for restoring peace to everyone. -Ratix, Ronixis, Iria, and Milly travel back to the future via a gate in northeast Sylvalant. (likely the one Ronixis and Milly came out of) They take the blood sample with them. SD 346 (2433 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -A serum is produced and a cure is administered to everyone affected by the virus. Dorn is revived. January 23rd, SD 347 (2434 A.D.)_______________________________________________ -Claude C. Kenni, Human and son of Ronixis J. Kenni, is born to an unknown mother. (read: probably not Iria. See the Unsolved Mysteries section for details.) SD 347 (2434 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Ronixis and Iria return to Federation Space. -Admiral Beize of the Federation reveals to Ronixis that a ship from the planet Fargett appeared in Federation space out of a wormhole and demanded the Federation surrender. It was learned that on Fargett, a superhuman named Jie Revorse is the mysterious third party who is plotting against Earth. He has established a dictatorship, but there is a lot of opposition on Fargett. The Admiral authorizes Ronixis to put down this uprising, and permits him to use the Time Gate. -Ronixis and Iria return to Roak to retrieve Ratix and Milly. The 4 once again use the time gate to recruit their friends from Roak's past. -The party takes the wormhole to Planet Fargett and beams down to the surface. They are captured by Jie's soldiers. -Ivana, leader of the resistance movement on Fargett, rescues them. She reveals that planet Fargett has few natural resources, so they studied genetic engineering as well as wormhole technology to survive and seek out resources. Jie Revorse is the only successful product of this genetic research, and has gone mad. NOTE: The PSP version depicts these events a bit differently. You beam down to the surface, walk around freely, and are then surrounded by Fargettian soldiers. Ivana throws a bomb, which lets some escape. Milly and everyone in your inactive party however, are captured. You then appear at the Resistance base on Fargett. You travel to the west to a prison, whereupon you can rescue your friends. Then the group travels north to a ruined laboratory, where you learn a bit more about Jie's backstory. This information was previously only revealed by speaking to NPCs. The group then takes an underground tunnel to the base of the tower. -Ronixis, Ratix, and everyone else travel to the top of Jie's tower. Jie reveals that not all the Moorians were sent to Roak, that some were also sent here to Fargett - so they all share a common ancestor. If Marvel is with you, Jie recognizes her as a Moorian. -The party defeats Jie Revorse. -The Roakians from the past travel home. Ronixis and Iria drop Ratix and Milly back on planet Roak, and say their goodbyes. Star Ocean 1 ends. -Ronixis and Iria return to the Federation. For their efforts to put down the Jie Revorse uprising, and introducing the new technology of Symbology to the Federation, Ronixis is promoted to the rank of Admiral. =============================================================================== [VI] Star Ocean: The Second Story =============================================================================== February 29th, SD 350 (2437 A.D.)______________________________________________ -Precis Neumann, Expelian, is born to Dr. Graft Neumann and an unknown mother on the planet Expel. SD 351 (2438 A.D.) (roughly)___________________________________________________ -Rena arrives in Shingo forest on the planet Expel from the year 699,997,563 B.C.. She is adopted by a woman living in the nearby village of Arlia named Westa and by an unnamed father. November 25th, SD 354 (2441 A.D.)______________________________________________ -Leon Geeste, Felpool, is born to Florence and Murdoch Geeste, two researchers at Lacour Castle on the planet Expel. Roughly sometime in between SD 355 (2441 A.D.) and SD 360 (2446 A.D.)__________ -Dias's parents and his sister Cecille are killed by bandits in Shingo Forest. The grief-stricken Dias leaves Arlia to hone his skills as a swordsman. SD 360 (2447 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Due to their expanding influence, the Earth Federation changes their name to the Pangalactic Federation. SD 362 (2449 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -War again erupts between the Resonians and the Federation. SD 366 (2453 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -The Sorcery Globe lands on the planet Expel, near the town of Eluria on the continent of El. It emits some sort of energy that begins to transform animals and people on the planet into demons. -Approximately 3 months later, the Federation ship Calnus, commanded by Admiral Ronixis J. Kenni and accompanied by his son, Claude C. Kenni, arrive at the planet Milokeenia to investigate strange energy readings detected in the area. -Ronixis, Claude, and other crew members take a shuttle down to the planet to investigate. Ronixis gives Claude his phase gun. -A large, destroyed dome is detected with strange energy readings. A science officer concludes an explosion happened from within. -Claude, despite warnings from his father, investigates a device within the dome. It opens up a trans-warp portal, and sends Claude to Shingo Forest on the planet Expel. -Claude sees Rena Lanford being attacked by a monster in Shingo Forest. He accidentally breaks the UP3 by using the phase gun to defeat it. -Rena believes Claude is the legendary warrior who wields a sword of light, and wears alien ramients who will come to save the planet. Claude denies this. -Westa, Rena's adopted mother, cooks Claude a huge meal as thanks for saving Rena. That evening, Arlia's mayor Regis informs Claude about the Sorcery Globe. Claude again denies he is the warrior. -The next day, Rena is kidnapped by her childhood friend Alen-Tax and taken to his mansion in the nearby town of Salva. There, she is taken into a chapel erected in a mine, and is forced to marry Alen-Tax. -Claude travels to Salva and rescues Rena before the marriage can take place. Claude destroys a mysterious stone that was making Alen-Tax evil. Alen-Tax returns to normal. -Claude and Rena return to Arlia. -Claude recognizes the Sorcery Globe as an OPA, and realizes it may hold information about returning home. He offers to investigate the Sorcery Globe, but again denies being the warrior. -Regis privately tells Claude Rena is not Westa's child, and they have no idea where she comes from. She also possesses a strange healing power that was previously unheard of. -Rena reveals to Claude she secretly knew this all along, and that the only key to her origins are a necklace she's always had. She accepts an invitation to travel with Claude. -Claude and Rena travel to Cross Castle. They receive an audience with the King, who reveals more information about the Sorcery Globe. He also gives them a passport to proceed to El and travel money. -Claude and Rena meet Celine outside of the castle. Celine convinces Claude and Rena to help her investigate Cross Cave, which she "claims" is rumored to hold information about the Sorcery Globe. -The party retrieves a tome nobody can read. Celine suggests they take it to the Elder of her home village of Mars to see if he can decipher it. Celine may or may not leave the party at this time. -Returning to Cross, Celine begins a romance with Prince Chris. (this is optional in-game, but Blue Sphere's intro for Celine states it as fact.) It is also possible to begin a quest to recruit Opera. -The Elder of Mars says that he cannot decipher it, and suggests trying the town of Linga on the Lacour continent, as it is home to many linguistics scholars. -The party travels to the port town of Clik. Before they can leave for El, a tidal wave destroys the entire town. It is unknown if this was a natural phenomenon or the work of the Sorcery Globe. -The party leaves for the town of Helre to travel to the Lacour continent, and then travel from there to El. -Claude and Rena stop off at Mars for supplies. They learn that bandits have abducted the children of the village, and are holding them hostage for the Ancient Book of Seals, which holds powerful Symbology (known as Heraldry on this planet). Dias is traveling through, and is hired by the town to save them. Claude and Rena have a falling out when Claude refuses to let Dias join their team. Claude and Celine leave for the hideout. Rena and Dias leave for the hideout in the Heraldry forest separately. (thanks j mcdermid) -Dias and Rena learn the kidnapping was a distraction to invade the village and steal the Book of Seals. They defeat the leader. -Simultaneously, Claude (and Celine) defeat a strong monster cooperating with the bandits. Dias praises Claude's swordsmanship and leaves. -At this point, it is possible for the party to recruit Ashton, an Expellian swordsman. -Reunited, the party travels to Helre and sails to the town of Hilton, on the Lacour continent. -Upon staying at the Inn in Hilton, Claude will go outside in the middle of the night to try and see if his transmitter works - it does not. Rena oversees him do this. -Claude and Rena travel to Lacour, and wish to have an audience with the King. It is impossible as he is busy preparing for the Lacour Tournament of Arms. The receptionist suggests if Claude were to win, he would be able to have an audience. -Rena and Claude travel to Linga, and learn of a scholar named Keith who may be able to translated the book they received in Cross Cave. He refuses to see them. -Desperate, Claude and Rena turn to Keith's friend, Bowman to see if he can arrange a meeting. Bowman puts them through a test to retrieve a rare herb from the nearby Sanctuary of Linga. They succeed. -Bowman arranges a meeting with Keith. Keith says he will need time to decipher the tome, and to return later. Bowman or a hyperactive, machine-freak girl named Precis can join the party at this time. -It is possible to recruit Opera, a Tetregeniot searching for her lover, Ernest. -The group travels to Lacour castle. Claude enters the Lacour Tournament of Arms and loses to Dias in the final round. Nevertheless, Claude receives an audience with the King, who says they are working on a weapon known as the Lacour Hope to defeat the demons. -The party meets the child genius Leon, who is in charge of designing the Lacour Hope. Before departing to El, the group decides to help Leon finish it. -Claude, Rena, and Leon travel to the Hoffman Ruins to retrieve energy stones needed for the Lacour Hope. Rena's necklace resonates near these stones. If Opera is recruited, you can run into Ernest here and recruit him as well. -The Lacour Hope is completed, and transported to the front lines. The weapon is used and destroys a large wave of monsters. A powerful Demon known as Shin shows up and defeats the party. Dias may or may not join here. -After recovering, the Lacour Hope is loaded onto a ship and sails to El. Along the way the ship is attacked by Shin, who deflects the shot from the Lacour Hope with some sort of shield. He then destroys the Lacour Hope. The party abandons ship, and awakes on the continent of El. -Everyone reunites at a small village of refugees on the continent. Claude and Rena receive a mysterious keycard from a refugee. Leon may or may not join here. -The keycard opens the gate to the town of Eluria, which has been transformed to the demons home base. -About midway up the tower, Claude's transmitter suddenly receives a transmission from the Calnus. They reveal he will shortly be beamed up. Claude begs his friends to wait for him, and they are all shocked as he disappears in a beam of light. -Onboard the Calnus, Claude berates Ronixis for beaming him up without authorization, as he violated the UP3. Ronixis says it was unavoidable, as the Calnus has detected that Expel is about to collide with a high-energy body (Energy Nede). Claude is infuriated, and demands he be beamed back down, as he is determined to fight against the Sorcery Globe. Ronixis refuses. -Claude eventually persuades Ronixis to beam him down just for a moment so he can say goodbye to his comrades, appealing to the way Ronixis fought alongside Ratix and the others in SO1. Ronixis agrees, and beams down Claude. -Claude re-unites with everyone after about 2 hours. Rena bursts into tears, and yells at Claude for making them wait so long, and leaving so suddenly. Claude comforts Rena, and they decide to proceed. Claude leaves his transmitter on the ground. Rena reminds Claude he forgot it. Claude then comments that he "No longer has any need for it." The transmitter is beamed up by itself. Ronixis is devestated. -The party scales the tower, finally defeat Shin, and encounter the 10 Wise Men. They reveal that they sent the Sorcery Globe to alter Expel's orbit and have it crash into Energy Nede. They plan to use the energy of the impact to travel to Energy Nede. (I assume the collision will disrupt the shielding around Energy Nede, allowing them to enter it.) It is said Expel was chosen simply because it had the closest orbit to Energy Nede. However, the stones they found in the Hoffman Ruins, like the ones on Rena's necklace, sped up the process considerably. These stones can be converted to Quadratic Keys, and can be used to unleash an enormous amount of energy from Quadratic Spheres (like the Sorcery Globe). Rena learns then that she is Nedian. They also identify Claude as an Earthling, much to the surprise and confusion of everyone. Moments before impact the group is attacked and easily defeated by them. -The party awakes in an area Rena identifies as the Outer Wall Paradise. Rena wonders if everyone back on Expel is alright. Claude says nothing for fear of upsetting everyone. They are beckoned by a mysterious voice. -The group finds the source of the voice, a strange object. They step inside. -The object was a teleporter, and transports them to Central City. There they meet the mayor of Central City on Energy Nede, Narl. Narl tells the party that the Nedians' power has weakened over these billions of years, and that they are the last hope of defeating the 10 Wise Men. He then tells them the story of the 10 Wise Men's uprising so long ago, and the history of the Nedians and Energy Nede. They also learn that they were brought here to Energy Nede by a mysterious force, and that the Wise Men have captured a city of Energy Nede, Fienal. -Narl instructs you to travel to North City to obtain a Synard, a Heraldric Beast that can be used to transport the party around Energy Nede. -Claude, Rena and crew travel to North City. The Synards there are artificial, so the owners data must be inputted before they will obey. When entering Claude's data (a non-Nedian), the Synard goes berserk and has to be killed. The Director of the institute sends you through a teleporter to the Nedian Preserve. -The party meets Noel, the director of the reserve. He says there is one wild Synard remaining in the cave to the south. -Noel, Claude, and Rena defeat the Synard in battle, and it swears its loyalty to them. Noel may or may not join at this time. -Returning to Central City, Narl instructs the party to journey to the Fields of Power, Love, Intelligence, and Courage to merge the powers of Nede with their own. -The party overcomes the challenges in the Fields of Power, Love, Intelligence, and Courage. -The group reports back to Narl, who says the forcefield surrounding Fienal cannot be penetrated by air. However, it does not extend to the ocean's floor, and a Heraldric beast called a Harush can be used to travel underneath it. From the Star Ocean 3 Dictionary, "A shield system that utilizes powerful radiation to form layers of gravitons in any desired location. This system uses the phenomenon whereby energy that is continuously fed into a certain closed space creates matter and gravitons to be formed, in order to create an antigravity field as well as a physical force field." It is likely the force field protecting Fienal worked in the same manner. -A researcher named Marianna, Narl, and the party travel to L'Aqua to board a Harush, and travel to Fienal. -Everyone is greeted by the 10 Wise Men. Anticipating their arrival, the Wise Men have prepared an antimatter cannon. They show an image of the Calnus, which has been looking for Claude. The 10 Wise Men destroy the Calnus, killing Ronixis and everyone on board. -An enraged Claude attacks, yet is still easily defeated. Marianna sacrifices herself so the others can escape. It is later revealed that she survived, but was seriously wounded. -Narl reveals that the crest the Wise Men possessed at Fienal is the Crest of Annhilation, a heraldric method which creates an infinite point of mass, causing the universe to collapse into itself like a giant black hole. A party member will ask about contacting someone back on Expel. Claude and Narl know the truth, which Narl reveals. He says that not all is lost however - if all the cities of Energy Nede focuses their powers, they may be able to bring Expel back to this space-time continuum. Without Fienal however, it is impossible. Narl realizes that they need more powererful weapons to defeat the Wise Men. He begins devising a way to defeat the Crest of Annihilation, and sends the party to the town of Armlock. -In Armlock, Narl shows the party through a transporter that leads to the now destroyed Heraldry Weapons Laboratory. -Narl accesses the mainframe to collect data on how to create an antimatter (specifically, antiproton) weapon. Rena learns that an accident occurred here, leading to its destruction. Her mother and father, researchers at the lab, put the young Rena in a space-time transporter, despite the great risk involved. -Narl and the rest take the data back to Dr. Mirage, a scientist in Armlock. -Dr. Mirage analyzes the data, and determines that anti-matter could be stabilized to form a weapon if LEA metal was acquired. The party is sent to a cavern home to the Barkers, a lifeform composed of this LEA metal. Antimatter is just that - the opposite of matter. When matter and antimatter come into contact with each other, they both annihilate themselves violently. Once just a theory, antihydrogen was successfully produced in 1995 A.D.. However, the energy needed to produce it far outweighed the energy it emitted, so it was impractical to use as an energy source until it was refined centuries later. The LEA metal then, is likely neither typical matter nor antimatter, or at least projects an extremely powerful, natural magnetic field. This could serve as a barrier between the weapon and the world, to prevent it from instantly annihilating itself. -A large Barker is defeated, and a very pure form of the LEA metal is returned to Dr. Mirage. Dr. Mirage then gives the group a NFID, which is a pass for entry into Fun City. There the group will test their strength against simulations of the Wise Men. -Dr. Mirage comes to Fun City during their training and gives the party the antimatter weapons. -During the simulations, the real Wise Men attack. Marsilio and Shigeo are defeated at Fun City. Berle is defeated at Armlock. -Narl gives Rena the Crest of Enchantment, which will re-write the Crest of Annihilation and change its meaning. -A Harush is taken back to Fienal. The party scales the tower, and defeats 6 of the Wise Men along the way - Ruprecht, Jibril, Nicolus, Decus, Vesper, and Cyril. -The party finds and defeats Indalecio. Upon his death, the Crest of Annihilation was activated. Rena invokes the Crest of Enchantment, but wonders why it did not stop it. Narl reveals that the Crest of Enchantment could not stop the Crest of Annihiliation, rather is just re-directs all of its energy into the only place in the Universe that could contain it - Energy Nede. Just before this happens, the power of Fienal is combined with the power of the other cities in Energy Nede, and Expel is brought back to this continuum. The group is transported there, and Energy Nede is destroyed. SD 367 (2454 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Dias, Ashton, Noel, Bowman, Chisato, and Celine remain on Expel. Opera and Ernest travel the galaxy to find new ruins to explore. Precis and Leon travel to Earth to study robotics and science, as well as to assist in the research of the new discipline of Heraldry. Rena also moves to Earth to study medicine. Finally, Claude is promoted to Lieutenant, and he and Rena take on a mission on behalf of the Federation. -Due to the pollution given off by the Sorcery Globe, the Blue Dolphin race on Expel evolved (mutated) the ability to live on land. =============================================================================== [VII] Star Ocean: Blue Sphere =============================================================================== SD 368 (2455 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Bowman and Nineh give birth to a daughter on Expel. -Searching for ancients ruins to study, Opera and Ernest crash land on the planet Edifice. They send out a distress call to Precis. -Precis gathers everyone still living on Expel, as well as Leon. They head off to Edifice, where they too crash due to some unseen force. -Claude and Rena are unavailable due to their duties with the Federation. They soon learn however, their mission involves investigating a being known as Akuma, who has been destroying and rebuilding the civilization of a planet for some time. That planet is... Edifice! Claude and Rena depart to meet up with their comrades. -Precis and crew depart the ship to explore. They come across a boy named Lent from the nearby Scout Village. Lent shows the party to his grandfather's house. -Lent's grandfather tells the group of Mile Dungeon to the north, which is rumored to hold some sort of artifact called "the gift". Thinking this may lead them to Ernest or Opera, the party decides to check it out. -The party does not find Ernest or the "the gift". They do however, obtain bombs which they used to unblock the east exit of Scout Village and continue their quest. -Outside, the group meets Radol (Ruddle!), a traveling merchant who claims he saw a 3-eyed man heading to Aba city. -Precis and the others arrive at Aba city and meet the king. They learn there are more ruins beneath Aba city, known as Leviabor. Again thinking Ernest is there, they ask permission to enter. The king agrees under the condition that the party goes to Garp Dungeon and defeat a bothersome dragon to prove their worth. -Precis and crew go to Garp, defeat the dragon, and return to Aba. -They receive permission to enter the ruins from the king. Before they can however, they get into an argument with a woman outside who is a member of the resistance movement against the king. A soldier arrives, and thinking everyone is a member of the rebels, throws them into jail. -With the help of sympathizers, the party escapes. -Back in Aba city, they finally meet Ernest! Ernest does not know why he and Opera crashed either, so they decide to go to his ship to find out why. -Ernest and company travel to Slave Village. Showing their authorization from the king to the guard, they proceed to the crash site at Agit, which is also home to the resistance movement. -Climbing to the top of the trees, the group retrieves the energy crystal from Ernest's ship. They also find that nothing was wrong with the ship after all. -Heading back, they learn that Aba's army is attacking Agit and Slave Village. They defeat the army and save the leaders of the resistance, Elius and Marcus. -Ernest recommends the group go and retrieve Opera, who is working in the laboratory at Knott. -Passing through the Underground Passage, Nusa Beach, Bunny City, and a desert, Ernest and the others finally reach Knott. -They meet Opera in the laboratory, along with a young girl named Rival that Opera saved from a monster. -Opera asks the party to retrieve the Parentia Stone from the ruins underneath the laboratory. The party agrees. -The group successfully retrieves the Parentia Stone and returns it to Opera. -Rival begins to explain a little about herself, but asks the group to return to Bunny City and tell everyone they have the Parentia Stone, as well as to obtain some info. -The party travels to Bunny City and does so. Then a messenger informs them that Knott is under attack! -The group returns to Knott, defeats the monster invasion, and save Rival and Opera. -Rival then tells the whole story of Planet Edifice. Edifice was once an extremely advanced planet, but one day Akuma appeared and destroyed the planet except for a small number of survivors and some ruins. The people rebuilt, but it was again destroyed. This process continually has repeated itself, the most recent destruction being in SD 168. Rival wishes to put a stop to this, and asks the crew to come with her to the city of Lung, which is rumored to hold the secret behind Edifice's cycle of destruction. Everyone agrees to help. -In order to get to Lung, Rival and the others must pass through the lead of the dead known as Scream, as well as scale Sunerupentesu tower. They pass these trials and arrive at Lung. -Rival and the team meet Jima, leader of Lung and one of the few survivors of the tsunami 200 years ago, and thus is a seal to a place known as Grand Knott. After a brief talk about Edifice before the disaster, he elaborates on Akuma. He says that Akuma is not a single being, rather it is born to a human every 200 years. He says that he sent the monsters to attack Knott, in order to prevent Rival from obtaining the Parentia stone - this entire time, she has manipulated the party. Rival? But she... -Suddenly, Akuma manifests itself within Rival! She kills Jima, and breaks the seal on Grand Knott, the large object sitting above the city of Knott. Rival then takes the Parentia stone with her and runs away. -Meanwhile, Claude and Rena arrive at Edifice. The same strange force pulls their ship into the planet. -At a loss for what to do next, a being calling himself Lohse arrives. He reveals he is an Edifan, the underwater race of the planet. He says that he was sent by Jima to guide everyone come and meet his leader at the underwater ship called Aqua City. The party agrees. -Lohse sacrifices himself and transforms into a trinket to allow the party to breathe underwater. -Everyone travels through the Underground Combs and arrives at Aqua City. -They meet the king of Aqua City, Bie. Bie pleads with the party to stop Akuma from destroying the planet again. Bie asks the party to rescue the other 2 kings of Aqua to obtain their guidance and power. The 3 of them can also allow the party to enter Grand Knott. Our heroes agree. -King Laum and King Nero are saved. -During this time, Rival has returned to Knott and boarded Grand Knott using the Parentia stone. All of a sudden, Grand Knott begins to fly! It travels to Aba City, and completely destroys it with a laser! It then "docks" with the Leviabor ruins. -The party rushes to Leviabor ruins to stop it before it can take off again. -Along the way, they meet Rena, who tells everyone Claude is sick in Bunny village. In order to cure him, Rena and the others travel to the Knott laboratory with a herb found in the Underground Combs. A scientist known as Simone makes an antidote, and Claude is cured. (This is technically a sidequest, but Claude is such an important character story-wise it's almost a crime to leave him hanging.) -The party fights through the Leviabor ruins and defeats Rival... NOT! It turns out they defeated a clone of Rival. The real one shows up and smites you with power extracted from the Leviabor ruins. Before she can deliver the final blow, the 3 Kings of Aqua teleport you out. -Rival disengages from the ruins, and flies all the way up to a space station orbiting the planet. (How did everyone NOT notice that?!) Apparently the ruins are "recharging points" for the Grand Knott, which is why they are always spared from destruction. The Kings of Aqua say it is only a matter of time before Edifice is once again destroyed. -Bie tells the party there is only one remaining way to save the planet - by using the space elevator known as Ex-Trokia, they can travel up to the space station. -Ashton, Precis, Dias, Noel, Chisato, Ernest, Opera, Leon, Bowman, Rena, Claude, and Celine prepare for the final assault. They fight their way up Ex-Trokia and make it to the space station. -On the space station they run across Cosmo City, a city of robotic guardians. -Everyone finally infiltrates Grand Knott and finds Rival. -Rival tells the group she is being controlled by a computer known as Mother Edifice. This computer "protects" the planet of Edifice by wiping it clean when it's technology advances too far, in order for the inhabitants to not live through the grief of destroying each other, as a result of misusing that technology. Akuma is simply how Mother Edifice works through a being in order to re-unite the Grand Knott with the space station. The ones responsible for Mother Edifice are... the Moorians! They were sent to Edifice as well, after the disaster on Earth. -In order to save Edifice, the party defeats Rival. Before dying, she tells everyone she was responsible for their ships crashing on Edifice. Even though she was being controlled by Akuma, deep down she wanted to end the cycle, and used her power to pull ships from outer space - in hopes of finding the prophesied heroes who could save the planet. -Our brave heroes destroy Mother Edifice. This ends the cycle of death once and for all, as well the stories of these characters. SD 371 (2458 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Dr. Neumann (perhaps Precis) develops a device known as a Neumann Purifier to remove the effects of the Sorcery Globe from the Planet Expel. It does this by removing the Symbological particles that are a cause of the pollution. This phenomenon is known as Kurtz Absorption. -Expel joins the Pangalactic Federation. SD 396 (2483 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -The Federation begins mining the energy stones on Expel as a source of power for Creation Energy. SD 446 (2533 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Roak enters an alliance with Earth. SD 450 (2537 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Roak joins the Pangalactic Federation. SD 452 (2539 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Greeton invades and destroys the Kingdom of Aquor on Elicoor II. From the ashes rise the seperate kingdoms of Aquaria and Airyglyph. SD 537 (2633 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Gravitic Warp is invented by Dr. Krupp. By using high amounts of gravity to compress space in front of the vessel, it can travel large distances extremely quickly. SD 652 (2639 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -The Federation comes in contact with the Klausians. SD 704 (2791 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -First practical applications of Creation Energy appear. This is due to the technology discovered by the Calnus on the planet Milokeenia in SD 366 (2452 A.D.). SD 710 (2797 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -The Pangalactic Federation makes first contact with the Aldian Empire. Their Imperialistic attitude causes a war between them and the Federation to almost immediately erupt. -The Pangalactic Federation makes first contact with the Planet and Nation of Vandeen. Unlike the Aldians, they remain neutral. SD 714 (2801 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Adray Lasbard, Elicoorian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Elicoor II. SD 732 (2819 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -An accident involving a Creation Cannon on the battleship Tilgrem caused a massive explosion that annihilated the ship and a neighboring planet. This led to strict regulations regarding creation energy. SD 736 (2823 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Cliff Fittir, Klausian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Klaus III. SD 745 (2832 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Mirage Koas, Klausian, is born to unknown parents on the planet Klaus IV. SD 748 (2835 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Albel Nox, Elicoorian, is born to Glou Nox and an unknown mother on the planet Elicoor II. SD 749 (2836 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Nel Zelpher, Elicoorian, is born to Nevelle Zelpher and an unknown mother on the planet Elicoor II. SD 753 (2840 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Fayt Leingod, Human, is born to Robert and Ryoko Leingod on the planet Earth. -Maria Traydor (adopted name), Human, is born to unknown parents on the planet Earth. She is adopted by Jessie and Richard Traydor sometime afterwards. SD 755 (2842 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Sophia Esteed, Human, is born to Clive and Kyoko Esteed on the planet Earth. SD 758 (2845 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Peppita Rossetti, Velbaysian, is born to Elayne Rossetti and an unknown father. SD 760 (2847 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Roger S. Huxley, Menodix, is born to Forte G. Huxley and Aznor T. Huxley on the Planet Elicoor II. SD 763 (2850 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Albel fails his Accession of Flame Ceremony, and Glou Nox dies shielding his son from the flames with his body. Albel loses his left arm in this incident. SD 765 (2852 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Federation Stations #16, #17, and #18 are attacked by the Aldian Empire. #17 is completely destroyed, #16 and #18 are seriously damaged. =============================================================================== [VIII] Star Ocean: Till the End of Time =============================================================================== SD 772 (2859 A.D.)_____________________________________________________________ -Sophia, Fayt, and Fayt's parents are vacationing on the planet Hyda IV when it is attacked by the Vandeeni. -Sophia, Fayt, and Fayt's parents try to escape to an emergency shelter, but Robert and Ryoko Leingod are captured by the Vandeeni. -Sophia and Fayt continue to the shelter, and meet Peppita Rossetti along the way. -The party leaves the shelter for the Federation Transport ship Helre. -The Helre is attacked and destroyed by the Vandeeni. The 3 escape in escape pods, but Sophia's is captured. -Fayt lands on Vanguard III, and stumbles upon the town of Whipple. He is taken in by 2 residents, Niklas and Meena. -Fayt volunteers to fix Meena's broken music box as payment. He travels back to his escape pod to use the replicator, but notices it has been pillaged. -Fayt returns, and finds Niklas has been abducted by Norton, a man who has been extorting the town. -Fayt travels to the Ruins of Coffir, Norton's hideout, to save Niklas. He learns Norton is an offworlder and fugitive. -Cliff shows up and helps Fayt defeat Norton. Cliff tells Fayt he is a member of the Anti-Federation movement Quark, and he is to take Fayt to meet his leader. -Fayt travels with Cliff back to his ship, the Eagle, piloted by Mirage. -The Eagle is attacked, and crash lands on the planet Elicoor II, in the city of Airyglyph. -Fayt and Cliff give themselves up to the Airyglyphians. Mirage stays on board to sneak out at a later time. -Fayt and Cliff are rescued from jail by a women from the enemy nation of Aquios, named Nel. Nel knows of their advanced technology, and believes they are from the Kingdom of Greeton, who possess superior technology to Aquios. Nel says she saved them so they could develop a weapon for Aquaria. -The 3 escape through the catacombs of Airyglyph. They board a wagon along with 2 agents of Nel's, Tynave and Farleen. The wagon crashes, and Tynave and Farleen are captured. The remaining 3 escape to Kirlsa. -Instead of taking the main road to the Aquarian town of Arias, they sneak through the Kirlsa mines and take a mountain path to Arias. -Cliff and Fayt meet Clair, Adray's daughter. They agree to build a weapon, thinking it will end the war faster. -In the middle of the night, Nel sneaks away to rescue Tynave and Farleen from the Kirlsa Training facility. -Fayt and Cliff follow. They rescue Nel, then the 3 rescue Tynave and Farleen. They then defeat Shelby, second in command of the Black Brigade to Albel. -The 3 travel to Arias, where Tynave and Farleen remain. Cliff, Fayt, and Nel move on to the town of Peterney. -It is possible to join the Craftsman's Guild and start item creation at this point by talking to Welch Vineyard (Welch Vineyard? Very funny tri-Ace). -Fayt meets a woman named Ameena Leffeld, who looks identical to Sophia. Fayt then learns Ameena traveled to the dangerous Duggus Forest to pick flowers, which is now the hideout of the vicious Moonshadow Clan. -The group travels to Duggus Forest, and rescues Ameena. The group may also save and recruit Roger along the way. -With Ameena safe, the party moves on to Aquaria. -Cliff, Fayt, and Nel meet lead researcher Elena Frahm and her assistant Dion Landers at Aquaria's runological weapons department. They determine the weapon would be more effective if the wire was made of copper, but the only mine is under Airyglyph control. Fayt, Cliff, and Nel decide to infiltrate the mine to acquire some. -The group travels to the Bequerel mine and takes some copper. They defeat Demitrio of the Airyglyph Dragon Brigade, and drive away Albel of the Black Brigade. -Fayt, Cliff, and Nel travel back to Aquaria. It's learned that Airyglyph is beginning to attack. All available weapons are moved to the front line at Arias. -The party defeats Duke Vox, leader of the Dragon Brigade. This victory is short-lived though, as a Vandeeni ship appears. -Fayt goes into super-angel-like-being-flip-out-mode and destroys the Vandeeni battleship. -The group returns to Aquaria. Ameena meets Dion, and unfortunately they both perish. -Maria, the leader of Quark arrives. She explains Fayt destroyed the ship with his power of Destruction, the result of his father's symbological-genetic research. It is unpredictable, however. Maria holds a similar power, Alteration. -The party learns the Vandeeni have returned infiltrated the sacred Shrine of Kaddan to steal the Orb of Apris. Fayt, Cliff, Nel, and Maria enter the shrine and stop them. -The King of Airyglyph wants to talk of peace. The party agrees to escort to Queen to the Ruins of Mossel for negotiations. -The group is ambushed by Airyglyph radicals along the way. They are defeated, and the group reaches the meeting site. -It's explained to both nations the Vandeeni are only interested in Fayt and Maria. Their escape ship, the Diplo, cannot approach however due to the presence of a Vandeeni Battleship. They decide to provide a distraction by using the newly completed Thunder Arrow, the runological weapon Fayt and Cliff retrieved copper for. It's range is limited however, so it will need to be fired from the air. The Airyglyphian dragons are not strong enough, to carry such a load though. The King of Airyglyph asks you to retrieve Albel from Airyglyph, and try to make a contract with the great dragon Crosell. -The party retrieves Albel, and they travel through the Mountains of Barr and to the Urssa Lava Caves. The path to Crosell's lair is blocked, but fortunately the group meets an engineer named Vanilla who will offer to make them a Ring of Disintegration to destroy the barrier. A glowstone will be needed however. -The group travels to the Airyglyph Acqueducts, acquires a glowstone, and returns to Vanilla. -The party receives the ring and defeats Crosell, who swears his loyalty. -Everyone returns to Aquaria, where the Thunder Arrow is mounted on Crosell. They begin their attack on the Vandeeni. A mysterious beam of energy destroys the Vandeeni battleship. The group moves to the Diplo and leaves the planet. -Bizwig arrives in the Vandeeni ship Dasvanu, carrying Robert Leingod and Sophia. They agree to meet at the Kirlsa Training Facility on Elicoor II to trade them for Fayt. -Biwig betrays the party, and comes with soldiers and a transport jammer. -Before Robert can tell Fayt and Maria why he performed forbidden research on them, he is killed by a Vandeeni Disruptor Rifle. The Federation Battleship Acquaelie arrives and destroys the Dasvanu. The party defeats Biwig. From the Star Ocean 3 Dictionary, "A personal weapon used by the Vendeeni that vaporizes its target in an instant with a high-powered laser." Fortunately, the beam that killed Robert was not so wide that he was instantly vaporized. -The party transfers to the Acquaelie. They learn of a new enemy, the Executioners, who destroyed the Alidan empire, and have completely devastated the Federation. Fayt and Maria ask to go to Moonbase in the Sol System to visit Dr. Leingod's lab, to see if they can learn more about their power and possibly how to control it. Commander Wittcomb agrees to honor this request. -Sophia, Fayt, Maria, and the rest meet Peppita on Moonbase. They find Dr. Leingod's lab, and find that these new opponents are gods who are out to destroy all of humanity for intruding on symbology, the territory of the gods. Robert, learning this years ago on the planet Styx (Stream), decided to experiment on Fayt, Maria, and Sophia to create a counter to this. The end result is Fayt's power of Destruction, Maria's power of Alteration, and Sophia's power of Connection. -Commander Wittcomb agrees to transport them to Styx (Stream), to use their powers to enter the realm of the Executioners and destroy them. -The party takes the transport Calnus down to Styx (Stream) when the Acquaelie is attacked by Executioners. The Acquaelie is destroyed. -The group uses their powers to enter the realm of the gods, known as 4D space. They exit in the middle of a suburban city, and meet a child named Flad Garrand. -They learn that they, and the entire world of Star Ocean, is nothing more than a simulator. The way Flad describes it, it sounds like it is a sort of personal reality show where you assume the role of a character. This world is Known as the Eternal Sphere, and it is run by the massive Sphere Corporation. The Milky Way has been slated for deletion, as it is ridden with bugs. The Executioners are simply programs designed to delete the buggy areas. -In order to try and stop this deletion, the party travels to the Sphere Corporation. -They are greeted by Azazer. He tries to defeat the party but fails. -The party meets Blair Lansfeld, an employee of Sphere who is opposed to the deletion. She gives the group an Uninstaller, to delete the Executioners. It must be activated within the Eternal Sphere, however. -The party is attacked by Belzeber and Berial, henchman of the president of Sphere, Luther Lansfeld. They are defeated, and the party returns to the Sphere. -They activate the uninstaller, and the Executioners are deleted. However, more powerful beings known as Enforcers appear. Blair suggests to meet Luther, and negotiate with him. In order to enter his realm however, an object is required. The party learns it's the Orb of Apris. -The Diplo arrives, and picks up the crew. They return to Elicoor II, which is now covered with Enforcers. -Mirage joins the party. -They retrieve the Orb. Blair contacts them, and tells them the entrance to Luther's realm is at the Mosel Ruins. -Adray (re)joins the party. -The party travels to the Mosel Ruins, and passes through the Firewall Luther has erected. They fight to the top of Luther's Spiral Tower. Luther refuses to cancel the deletion process. -Fayt, Cliff, Sophia, Mirage, Adray, and the others attack and defeat Luther. -Despite their best efforts, Luther deletes the Eternal Sphere. He is unable however, to delete the individual character data. Thus since everyone in the universe retains their perception of the Eternal Sphere, nothing has changed. -Mirage travels back to Klaus IV to visit her "ill" father. -Adray remains in Aquaria to conduct military training for the Shield Legion. Meanwhile, he's looking for a guy to marry Clair off to... -Peppita returns to the Rosetti Troupe, and is allowed to star in her own act. -Roger returns to Surferio and continues to go on "manly adventures" with his friends. -Albel and an investigation team is charged with exploring a dungeon underneath castle Airyglyph. Albel meets the King of the Dead, Romero, who has killed the investigation team. Romero threatens to kill Albel. Their fate is unknown. -Nel returns to Aquaria, and is given a task to investigate corrupt merchants in Peterney by the Queen. Nel decides to undertake the mission herself, but is instead ordered to entrust it to one of her subordinates, and to take time off. Nel reluctantly agrees. Upon leaving, Nel passes Elena Frahm, who hints that she is in fact, a 4D being. -With Quark disbanded, Cliff works as a diplomat. He was last seen traveling to the Genesis system to negotiate the formation of a new Federation. -Before Maria leaves the Diplo to live out her life, Lieber attempts to finally confess his love to her. The actual confession is unseen, but Maria hints that he does in her ending with Fayt. -Sophia is on the transport Hornet, bound for Roak and Clatos (remember Clatos?) Spaceport #3 to visit Fayt's parents. Onboard Sophia meets Ruddle and Rumina, who have a chat about the war. ...to be continued? =============================================================================== [IX] Star Ocean: EX =============================================================================== You may be asking yourself, "Wait, there's a Star Ocean game I don't know about?" Nah, not really. Star Ocean: EX is an anime based on the events of Star Ocean 2. It follows the game fairly closely, but for the sake of completeness, I have outlined the most noticable changes here. * Yuki (the girl who runs the jam store in Salva), is a supporting character, accompanying Claude to Alen-Tax's mansion. She will appear several times throughout the series. * Three bumbling brothers who seem to always be on the wrong side of the tracks make frequent appearances. While in the beginning they seem to butt heads with our heroes with their petty crimes and shady acquaintances, they eventually come to help them out to save the world. * Claude's phase gun is damaged during the battle with Alen-Tax, not while trying to open the door. * A plot point is created where Claude's communicator reacted to the energy on Milokeenia, and again when fighting near the stone that corrupted Alen-Tax. Claude suspects the Sorcery Globe was the source of this stone, and since it emits that same energy, may hold a clue for leaving the planet. * Celine references the ancient Kyuu civilization of Expel putting their spirits into the statues at Cross Cave. Unfortunately, this is never expanded upon. * Claude learns Kuuhazan by fighting, and losing to Dias after meeting him in Mars. * Celine has a paralyzing fear of bugs, and Ashton has well, an unhealthy fascination with barrels. * Gyoro and Ururun are not in the Salva Drift, rather in just a cave in the countryside. They were blamed for killing livestock, but it turns out that it was a swarm of large insects. The insects were corrupted by the same type of stone that Alen-Tax had. Ashton is possessed by Gyoro and Ururun, and they are defeated. * The Mountain Palace (named Kuruko in the anime), is actually within the Lasguss (Lasgas) mountains. A shrine carries them near the summit to meet Xine. * The goblet to hold the tear of the Mountain King is never collected - only the tear itself. * The ships in Herle refuse to leave because of a ghost ship, the C Barelisu. 70 years ago, there was a mutiny aboard and a young shipmate stole a jewel from onboard. In has last breath, he gives this jewel to Dias to return. It is returned, and the ship's soul is finally put to rest. * Meanwhile, this provides an excellent cover for a group of pirates looting the area. It turns out however, they are controlled by a giant sea creature, who in turn is controlled by the Sorcery Globe. The stone controlling the creature is broken, allowing our group of heroes to secure the harbor and continue the journey. * Clik is never mentioned or visited. The group decides to go to Lacour based on getting the writings in Cross Cave translated at Linga, and no ship from Cross will travel there because of the Sorcery Globe. * Hilton is also never mentioned or visited. Linga is simply made a port town, and the group sails directly there from Herle. * In more geographic madness, the sick girl Eleanor is in Linga instead of Herle. She is also a good friend of Precis. * Metox is located in the Sanctuary of Linga, rather than the Lasguss (Lasgas) mountains. * Precis runs off to the Sanctuary of Linga on her own, and retrieves Metox. The party chases after her, defeating a dryad corrupted by the Sorcery Globe. * Precis's Bobot goes on a bit of a rampage through Linga. Hilarity ensues. * Instead of being given the sword, Gamgee's sword (Ouma) is stolen by our three favorite thieves for another weapon shop. They hire Dias to wield Ouma. * Claude's sword that he recieved from Regis is named Kouma, Gamgee's Son's finest work. * Ashton also enters the Tournament of Arms. He is defeated by a giant in the first round when Gyoro and Ururun have an argument. Ururun uses a spell called Ice Cloud Rage which causes both opponents to be tossed out of the ring, disqualifying them. * New characters are introduced, General Bisk and General Gaizel of Lacour. It is later revealed they are monsters under the influence of the Sorcery Globe. Many other monsters have infiltrated Lacour, and imprisoned Leon. Celine and Ashton rescue him. * Claude has a flashback to his first teacher of swordsmanship, Gashu. This might explain Claude's skill with a blade. * The tournament is interrupted before a winner is declared. Gaizel transforms and attacks Dias and Claude during their match. * Leon's parents, Florence and Murdoch, are never seen nor mentioned. * The Hoffman ruins are located near a river north of Lacour instead of on an island. * Our heroes escort the Lacour Hope to the Front Line. Many carrier pigeons were sent with no reply, so Claude and the others go on ahead to see why. Leon shows up with the Lacour Hope a few episodes later, in just the nick of time to defend from the monster assault. * The fortress at the Lacour Front Line is named Heinz Fortress, and is much more grand than it appears in the game. The soldiers there were being entertained by the one and only Yuki when our heroes arrive. * Dias has gone ahead to El as a scout. He returns to the front line, horribly injured due to a curse. Rena is unable to heal him. * The Commander of the fortress, Harvest, is much different. A rather untrusting fellow, and throws everyone in jail under suspicion of being a monster. Later he sells everyone out to Shin, who promptly kills him. *NOTE* From this point on, the story differs significantly from the game. It seems they tried to take the whole "Crest of Annihilation" story from Energy Nede and compress it into Expel. What results is a strange hybrid of discs 1 and 2, with a bunch of unique stuff thrown in. This might be because the show was not greenlighted for another season, and they wanted to wrap things up. The story was finished however, in the form of drama CDs. Anyway, you've been warned - here we go. * Shin is defeated in the forest outside Heniz Fortress by a Hou Kou Ha from Dias instead of at Eluria Tower. Consequently, the ship carrying the Lacour Hope is destroyed by a tsunami instead of Shin. * Astonishingly, the Lacour Hope survives in this version. It is broken, but Leon and the others eventually fix it. However, the Heraldric Spell Converter had broken, and our heroes had to travel to the city of machines, Smith to get parts. * While the crew it gone, monsters and robots attack (yes there are robots in this version). The robots steal the Energy Stone powering the Lacour Hope. Leon and our favorite three bumbling thieves fight valiantly. Opera runs after the robots and disappears, but Ernest shows up in the nick of time. She does not return, however. * Turns out there were no parts at Smith - whoops! Claude offers his phase gun and communicator to use for parts. However, Precis shows up in her Bobot along with Bowman, and they scrap it instead. * Meanwhile, Leon overhears Claude's communicator send out a transmission for him, but he is unable to get any response. * Leon says the damage to Claude's phase gun was minor, and repairs it for Claude. * Some light (as opposed to NONE) is shed on the runes recovered from Cross Cave. The runes have a prophecy of the Sorcery Globe falling to Expel. However, no hero is mentioned. Bowman speculates the story of the Hero of Light is just a fabrication to give people hope. * The prophecy itself states that when the Black Moon of the Sorcery Globe appears, it will bear the Crest of Annihilation. Within 7 days, all living things on the planet will die, and within another 7, all the stars will die. Must be one of those slow reacting Crest of Annihilations. * The crew travels through a sewer of Eluria to the Sorcery Globe's underground. They learn the Sorcery Globe is a sort of parasitic plant, sucking the life energy from the planet. Not like Final Fantasy VII or anything. * The crew is attacked by a hovering, robot monster. When all seems lost, Ernest shows up in his ship and blasts it to pieces. Our heroes return to where the Lacour Hope is being repaired. * The Lacour Hope is put onto Ernest's ship and transported to the front line. Energy from the Sorcery Globe forces them to land. Leon, using the weaker Energy Stone from Bobot, begins to start the firing incantation. * A robot army appears to stop the Lacour Hope. Everyone fights to hold them off so the Lacour Hope can be fired. * Sadly everyone dies a horrible death - kidding! The Lacour hope is fired at the Sorcery globe, and the robot army is destroyed (mostly). When the smoke clears however, from the organic remains of the Sorcery Globe comes a metal structure. It rises into the sky, and the Black Moon appears. The Lacour Hope is inoperable. * The Sorcery Globe begins spewing lightning, severing the ground asunder. Claude, Rena, Celine and Ashton are seperated from the others. They beg them to escape, which they do. A bolt of lightning destroys one of the engine cowlings however, and everyone else only manage to get a short distance away before crashing. * The party retreats to cave, where Claude is contacted again by the Calnus. Ronixis found him by detecting the high energy source, the Sorcery Globe (not Energy Nede, apparently). Claude is told the Sorcery Globe is a spaceship launched from Star System N56 to sap energy from the planet, for an unknown reason. Claude, like in the game, refuses to return despite his father warning him of the futile effort. * On an interesting side note, we learn that Expel has a moon occording to a display on the Calnus. * Opera and Ernest return and save the 4 on hover bikes. They retreat back towards the tower. * Ernest reviewed the translated runs a bit more, and points out a section saying at the top of the tower is the controller of the Sorcery Globe, a demon. (literally Akuma, which translates to Devil like in Blue Sphere. It is used as an improper noun here however, as opposed to Blue Sphere where it is a proper noun.) Claude, Rena, Ashton, and Celine take the hover bikes and speed off towards the tower. * They are attacked and knocked off the bikes. Surrounded, things are looking grim until a somewhat recovered Dias appears and makes quick work of the robots. Dias also gives Claude a feather of Xine, which allows him to generate a magical barrier at will. * Eluria Tower is much more... ethereal. There is little to no solid structure on the inside. * Ashton and Celine stay behind to fend off the monsters while Claude and Rena proceed. * The three brothers read another section of the prophecy that says the holy light will save everyone from the Sorcery Globe. They take that to mean the Lacour Hope, which means they failed. * Leon and Precis manage to fix Ernest's ship. They take off in order to... promptly crash it into the base of the Sorcery Globe. However, the vibrations knock over some robots who were about to fire on Claude. The ship is destroyed immediately after by the enemies outside. * Claude and Rena are guided by a mysterious woman throughout the tower. Rena is told by Gabriel that she is Nedian, and should stop fighting. Claude and Rena have one of their moments, and Rena is convinced she should go on. * Meanwhile, earthquakes and other sorts of natural disasters begin all over the planet. * Gabriel shows Claude the device that brought him from Milokeenia. He explains that the Sorcery Globe was responsible for that planets destruction as well. The Sorcery Globe is a system to sap a plants life force, and transport it elsewhere so that they (the Wise Men), can survive. * Gabriel also tells Rena she is a shrine maiden - someone sent to Expel to find the hero and eventually bring the hero before him. * Claude is put through his paces by being put in various illusions by Gabriel, which he of course overcomes. * Gabriel transforms into a giant eye. He attacks, and Claude defends with the feather of Xine. Except it overcomes the barrier, and breaks his sword. Claude throws the hilt containing the feather at Gabriel's eye, who finds that less than appealing. He attacks, but Rena steps in front of it, receiving a deadly blow and shattering her pendant. * Things are looking pretty bad for Rena when... the Holy Light appears! It is manifested in the form of that woman who guided them here. Rena is healed. * Dias, Celine, and Ashton arrive and attack Gabriel. While he's stunned, Claude deals the fatal blow with his phase gun. The gun sprouts angel's wings as the holy power is added to the shot. * Outside, the Sorcery Globe is destroyed. But the Black Moon remains! It vows to destroy the planet regardless. As the planet starts to break apart, Xine appears and stops time. * Gyoro and Ururun warn Xine is shortening his lifespan considerably by using so much power. Xine says he does not care, and only wishes to do his part to save the planet. * The holy light woman appears with a Milokeenian teleporter. She says in order to save the planet, take the teleporter to the enemy base and stop them once and for all. Everyone agrees to help Claude defend the planet, and the series ends. =============================================================================== [X] Galactic Map =============================================================================== The map has been revised, thanks to adelinathepirate. She has pointed me to another Star Ocean map, from the 'Eternal Materials' book. While although very similar to my old one, has a few key differences. I felt the images were busy and difficult to read, so I modified my old map, as well as added territory markers. That map can be found at: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/weggy/somap-1.gif The originals can be found at: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/weggy/SO3EM_Map_Textless.jpg AND http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/weggy/SO3EM_Map_Text.jpg AND http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/weggy/territory_map.jpg These maps however, contradict the dictionary in 2 locations. First is Remote Station #6. Remote Station #6 is said, by the Dictionary, to be located _ON_ the borderline between Gamma and Lambda. Why they stuck it in the heart of Gamma, I don't know. Also is the Kappa sector. The dictionary states that the Federation controls only half of it, yet this map shows them controlling all of it. Hmm... Remote Station #8 is another interesting phenomenon. Why is it sitting on the edge of the galaxy? The overlay of the Milky Way would seem to imply that there are stars, and thus planets. So why has it, along with the other edges of the galaxy, been given a sector designation? Arakh is also quite interesting because it is so far out from the galactic core - it's a wonder its star, Estoch and itself did not become a rogue system! Arakh's distance of 7.6 AUs would put it at about halfway inbetween Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system. It would seem Arakh is even more unique, in that modern astronomy suggests that most planets at that distance from their stars are gas giants. Arakh however, also has frozen Nitrogen - which occurs at below 63 degrees Kelvin. Jupiter's average temperature is 152 degrees Kelvin and Saturn's 143 degrees Kelvin. This would indicate that Estoch is a very small star. In fact, it's barely within the range of size needed to be a star for nuclear fusion to occur. A truly unique planet indeed. We've barely scratched the surface though! There's still a lot of territory out there, and the war with the Aldians has just begun. What will Star Ocean 4 hold in store for us? A huge thanks to adalinathepirate for her contributions to this section! =============================================================================== [XI] Unsolved Mysteries =============================================================================== 1) Who is Claude's mother?_____________________________________________________ Theres a popular theory going around that Iria, is in fact Claude's mother. After all, they both have similar hair, Ronixis's first wife died a long time ago, and Ronixis and Iria seem to be very close. However, I do not believe that is the case. The Star Ocean: The Second Story instruction manual puts Claude's date of birth at January 23rd, SD 347. This was during the later part of Star Ocean 1. It simply would not be possible for Iria to do all the flips and punches she does if she was pregnant with Claude at the time. Plus you can tell by her sprite that she is clearly not pregnant. What makes me think then, that the later events of Star Ocean took place in SD 347 as opposed to SD 346, where it would be conceivably possible for Iria and Ronixis to have a child after returning? Well, Dorn oddly enough provides evidence. After returning from the past with the serum, there is a time lapse where it is being administered. The Calnus's sensors confirmed that 20 million people at least had the disease, so it is certainly widespread. Ronixis and Iria likely stayed on Roak to oversee the inoculation process. For such a large scale, this could easily take a couple of months. Dorn comments after this time lapse that "Spring's already over...". This indicates a time lapse in the story, one I beleive, considering the circumstances, would be significant enough to designate it as a new year. As such, Claude would have had to be born during Star Ocean 1. EVEN if all the events of Star Ocean were condensed in SD 346, it still wouldn't be possible. We know half a year has passed since the incident at planet Ise. Even in the unlikely event it took place on January 1st, SD 346, Star Ocean 1's events would start to unfold on June 1st, SD 346. Again, that is the EARLIEST possible, it's extremely likely it took place later than that. Counting the travel time between the planets, and the time lapse during the innoculation, Iria would definently be showing signs of pregnancy. And again, all the flips and kicks she does would probably not be possible for a pregnant woman. And the final nail in the coffin so to speak, Iria is never mentioned again after SO1. She was a very major character, I think if she was Claude's mother her name would have been dropped now and then. 2) When did Star Ocean 1 take place?___________________________________________ You'll notice that I have Star Ocean 1 taking place from the years SD 346 to SD 347 (excluding the trip back to SD 46). That is based upon 2 things: First, in the opening of Star Ocean, it is specifically stated it is the year SD 346 when planet Ise is destroyed. Second, the Resonians state to your party that was half a year ago. Also, Dorn's comment about spring being almost over indicates a time lapse during which the serum is administered. It is entirely conceivable that the events of Star Ocean 1 take place in late SD 346 but so much happens in such a short period of time I think it is unlikely events do not spill into SD 347. Wheres the mystery then? The opening cinematic of Star Ocean: The Second Story. The narrator (the same guy who voices Noel, strangely enough), states that the battle against Jie Revorse took place in SD 345. Hmmm... very interesting. The only conceivable way for this to happen would be that when returning from ancient Roak to modern Roak, they were sent to SD 345. But if that were the case, no Roakians would be infected at the time. Not to mention, that this would create a huge time paradox. If they did arrive early, and somehow nipped this disease in the bud, Dorn would have never contracted it, and all of Star Ocean 1 would have never taken place. If Star Ocean 1 never took place, how could everyone have traveled back in time only to return to SD 345 in the first place? I'm going to have to say the SD 345 statement was an oversight on tri-Ace's part, or a translation error. As it simply does not make any sense. 3) What of the Moorian Disappearance?__________________________________________ Seriously, what the heck happened to the Moorians? Iria's details at the Parj Sanctum are sketchy at best. Did an unusually large space-time vortex just swallow them up as she hypothesizes, for no apparent reason? Is the meteor story fact or fiction? If it is fact, how could a meteor instigate such an event? How did they get sent to Roak, Fargett, and Edifice? Is it safe to assume there are scattered Moorians on other planets as well? There are many questions left unanswered about this subject. The Moorians have been appearing in every other Star Ocean (in 1st one, not in Second Story, in Blue Sphere, not in Till the End of Time), so if tri-Ace keeps up that pattern we may see a return of them in Star Ocean 4. Hopefully that will wrap up any remaining questions about this bizarre incident.