PART II: AFTER THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 22: Rise of the Resistance

In Edelstein, a group of kids were playing hide-and-seek close to the Verne Mine, despite being warned that they should never venture there. While trying to look for their friends, one of the kids crawled through a hole in a large rock formation and accidentally stumbled upon a strange laboratory. Inside, they were shocked to find dozens of children inside strange pods. One of the children introduced herself as Vita and urged them to leave before Gelimer or the other Black Wings found them.

(A/N: Vita is canonically female, but her NPC’s gender is the opposite of that of the player. The game went through this weird phase for a while where they tried to have your class companion be the opposite gender in order to push a romance angle, which is weird because we don’t have anything remotely close to a romance with Vita in this story.

I also think it’s funny that they consider it inconceivable that characters of the same gender could have a romance as well. Nowadays, it seems like the writers have gone from flat-out denying the existence of gay people to having characters like Ark, Lucid, and Veronica exist in a state that I like to call Schrödinger's gay, in which they’re both gay and not gay until the writers inevitably get bored of queerbaiting and decide to kill them off.)

The kid had never heard of Gelimer before, and so Vita explained that he was the mad scientist of the Black Wings who performed experiments on living subjects. Just then, they heard footsteps approaching and the kid hid behind a large piece of apparatus. Gelimer and a Black Wings officer named Schiller arrived at the lab, where Gelimer told Schiller that his experiment was going well, thanks to the huge supply of rue. He told Schiller that the android that the Black Wings wanted would be completed soon, and that he was about to enter the next stage in his experiment. Schiller asked what he meant by that, but Gelimer merely teased that what he was planning was much more interesting than a simple android.

(A/N: The next stage in his experiment is likely a reference to either Black Heaven or his Retoxin gas, although I highly doubt that the writers had either in mind at the time, since the Resistance storyline was released way back in the Big Bang patch.)

Just then, a power surge caused the lights to flicker in the lab. When Schiller and Gelimer left to investigate, Vita told the kid that they had a chance to escape, but the kid refused to leave Vita behind and smashed the container that she was trapped in, allowing her to break free. The kid then grabbed her hand and led her outside the lab. Just as they reached the outskirts of Edelstein, Schiller appeared to capture Vita. He realized that the kid was a citizen of Edelstein, and since they had seen too much, Schiller decided that he would take them back to the lab in order to make them a new test subject.

Just then, an airship appeared, from which a Resistance agent with the codename J dropped down from a ladder and grabbed them both before escaping to a safe spot. J assured the pair that while he could have easily handled Schiller, he wouldn’t have been able to guarantee their safety during the fight. Upon realizing that Vita had been a prisoner of the Black Wings, he decided to bring her to the Resistance in order to protect her, though he told the kid to return back home. Before J left, the kid eagerly asked him how they could join the Resistance, to which J smiled and told them to get stronger.

The kid then returned home to Edelstein and immediately sought out Headmaster Ferdi in order to ask him how they could get stronger. Realizing that they were the one whom J had mentioned, Ferdi suggested that they help other people around town. The kid first approached Elex, who asked them to defeat Sprout monsters and bring them back to plant in the school garden. Afterwards, Elex asked them what the children of Edelstein needed most. The kid replied that they needed peace, which Elex agreed with, adding that Edelstein was very unstable.

Next, the kid helped Belle eliminate Potted Morning Glories. After returning, Belle told them that the roads would be safe to walk again and asked what the most important part of the roads were, to which the kid told her that the most important part was how safe they were. Belle agreed, adding that she considered unsafe roads to be the same as being threatened under strict surveillance.

Next, the kid spoke to Claudine, who asked them to bring her some acorns, which she wanted to use in order to make medicine. After collecting them, Claudine asked them what the most important thing that the citizens of Edelstein ought to do in order to stay safe. The kid replied that they should try to stay out of places that could lead to injury or illness. Claudine agreed, though she told them that Edelstein was far from such an ideal.

Next, the kid spoke to Brighton, who asked them to eliminate Grape Juice Bottles and bring back their Cork Stoppers. Brighton then asked what ought to be the first thing that they eliminate from Edelstein, to which the kid replied by saying that they should remove restrictions on their freedom. Finally, the kid met with Checky, who asked them put up a flyer at the town billboard, as it would be too suspicious for him to do so himself. Checky then asked them what would happen if people couldn’t exchange information, to which the kid replied that they would live as puppets without ever realizing it.

(A/N: I don’t know a single middle-schooler who would say things like, “We’re living our lives as puppets,” except for the edgy quiet kid in the corner who has an unhealthy obsession with guns and anarchy. Also, it’s great to know that the Resistance is so willing to recruit child soldiers. Incidentally, we actually have quite a number of child soldiers in the game: Explorers, Cygnus Knights, Resistance, Evan, Kaiser, Angelic Buster, Cadena, Illium, Hoyoung, Lara, Alpha, Beta, and Kinesis. And those are just the playable classes. If the Alliance was this willing to put weapons in the hands of kids and then send them off to fight gods, I hope that they at least factored in a large therapy bill for all the trauma that they now have to live with.)

After helping the townspeople, the kid returned to Ferdi, who gave them a special invitation. Upon opening it, the kid was transported to the Secret Plaza of the Resistance. There, they were surprised to see the familiar faces of Claudine and all the other townspeople whom they had helped. Claudine explained that while they pretended to be ordinary and meek in public, all of them fought secretly in the Resistance. After speaking with each of the different leaders and learning about their specializations, the kid chose their path and became an official member of the Resistance.

After completing Headmaster Ferdi’s training program, the Resistance member was assigned their first mission by Claudine, which was to eliminate Patrol Robots and bring back their memory chips so that she could analyze the surveillance footage. After bringing the chips back, Claudine analyzed them and learned that the Black Wings were closely watching one of their allies, an old man named Surl. Claudine believed that the Black Wings were suspicious of the items that Surl was purchasing on the Resistance’s behalf and asked the Resistance member to warn him. She taught them one of the secret codes of the Resistance, which was to substitute ‘Black Wings’ with ‘Roaches’, ‘surveillance tapes’ with ‘Dances’, and ‘supplies’ with ‘naps’.

After they gave Surl the coded warning, the old man responded with his own code and instructed them to deliver it to Claudine. The Resistance member unscrambled the code and told Claudine that Surl needed to purchase supplies for the Resistance, but he wanted to ask for her advice, since the Black Wings were watching him closely. Claudine told them that the Resistance used special potions that allowed them to transform into each other, allowing them provide alibis for members out on missions. Using one of Surl’s hairs, Claudine created a potion that would allow the Resistance member to transform into Surl. While they distracted Watchman Bavan using the potion, the real Surl was able to purchase supplies without Bavan keeping an eye on him.

After the Resistance member returned from their mission, Claudine told them that Vita had awoken and gave them permission to see her. Vita thanked them profusely for rescuing her, but quickly felt a wave of exhaustion. She told them that she would speak more after she rested and went back to bed. The Resistance member then asked Wendelline, the Resistance’s treatment specialist, when Vita would make a full recovery. Wendelline explained that while Vita didn’t have many physical injuries, she was extremely weak because of the experiments that the Black Wings had performed on her.

When the Resistance member asked if there was anything that they could do to help Vita, Wendelline suggested that they could make her a more comfortable bed by collecting Wooden Boards from the Strange Signs around town. After they brought the boards back, Wendelline thanked them and told them to train hard for Vita’s sake. They then reported back to Claudine, who told them that the Resistance had decided to look after Vita, as she had no recollection of her life before the lab. Thrilled that Vita would be staying with them, the Resistance member rushed back to see her.

Vita was excited to become a member of the Resistance and explained that though she couldn’t fight, she used to watch the Black Wings closely while she had been imprisoned and had learned how to make medicine. In order to make a special medicine for the Resistance member, she asked them to bring her Serpent Tails. She then created a medicine that could boost one’s strength, although she admitted that she didn’t know what the side effects would be.

The Resistance member offered to test the medicine for her, causing Vita to tear up upon realizing how much faith they had in her. She injected the serum into them and suggested that they fight a strong robot in the training center in order to test its effects. After defeating one of the special training robots with ease, the Resistance member reported back to Claudine and told her about the effects of the medicine. Claudine told them that she would consider using the serum on the other Resistance members, but only after thoroughly testing it.

Soon after, Claudine gave the Resistance member their second mission, which was to help Surl. In code, Surl explained that the Water Thief Monsters were stealing his supplies and asked them to recover the water that they had taken. After returning with the water, Surl thanked them and explained that he now had a surplus of water.

Though he wanted to sell the excess, he knew that there were too many Black Wings around, and so he asked the Resistance member for their help. He told them that he normally sold water to distant regions in Maple World and asked them to deliver his shipment to Ace at the Edelstein Airport. There, however, the Resistance member encountered a Black Wings ambush. After defeating the Black Wings henchmen, they successfully delivered the water to Ace and took back one of the Black Wings henchmen’s pins to Surl.

Surl was furious at the Black Wings and told them to show the pin to Claudine, who was equally furious that the Black Wings had stooped so low as to steal the citizens’ supplies in spite of the heavy taxes that they levied. She thanked them for their work and resolved to formulate a plan to deal with the Black Wings.

The Resistance member then went to visit Wendelline, who told them that she wanted to thank Vita for her work on the serum by giving her a present. She explained that she needed Streetlight Tendrils, but as she was afraid of fighting, she asked the Resistance member to collect them from the Streetlight monsters. They brought the materials to Wendelline, who created a Resistance badge for Vita. Vita was overjoyed to have a symbol of her new home and resolved to be even more useful.

Soon after, Claudine told the Resistance member that she had decided to distribute Vita’s medicine and asked them to deliver the supplies to an undercover Resistance agent at the drop-off point. She explained that the agent was typically away from Edelstein doing other missions, and since that was part of his alibi, he couldn’t publicly enter Edelstein, even if he wanted to.

At the drop-off point, the Resistance member was surprised to see J, who told them that the medicine would be popular with the Resistance’s secret agents because of its effectiveness, though he added that the medicine seemed a bit strange. After taking the shipment, J told them that he had a feeling that their paths would cross again. Just then, Claudine contacted the Resistance member and told them that the Black Wings were planning to rob Surl and asked them to protect him. Arriving just in time, the Resistance member drove off hordes of Black Wings henchmen before returning to the Secret Plaza.

There, their job instructor assigned them a special mission to steal a report from a Black Wings agent, which contained information gathered from the outside world. The Resistance member went to the Edelstein Airport, where they were surprised to find Schiller. Though he initially didn’t recognize them, Schiller was reminded about who they were when the Resistance member told him that though they hadn’t originally been strong enough to face him, they would finally get their revenge.

After defeating Schiller, they brought the report to their instructor, who was impressed by their skills. They explained that they felt that it was important that the Resistance member face Schiller again, not only to get revenge, but also to see how much they had improved. Having proven their talent, their instructor decided to teach them more advanced skills.

Some time later, J asked the Resistance member to meet him at the drop-off point and told them to keep their meeting confidential. There, J asked them to help him with an investigation and gave them a small package, which he instructed them to bring to Lisa in Orbis. Lisa told them that she would start the analysis immediately, but explained that she needed Stirge Wings in order to complete it.

The Resistance member obtained the wings and brought them to Lisa, who was able to finish her analysis. She told them that that, at first, she had thought that the contents of the package were medicine, but after her analysis, she was sure that it was poison. She explained that the poison would initially cause positive effects, but after the user developed a dependency on it, the poison would drain their life force cleanly away. She gave them her report to give to J and warned them that though she had no idea what he intended to do with the medicine, she recommended that he get rid of it as soon as possible.

After reading the report, J’s suspicions were confirmed and he told them that Vita might be a spy. He explained that he had first grown suspicious after seeing the effects of Vita’s medicine, but as he doubted that a kid could make something that potent, he had kept quiet because he hadn’t wanted to cause trouble for her in case he was wrong. He had then begun watching the Black Wings closely to see what their next move was, but he had been surprised when it had seemed as though they weren’t even trying to get Vita back.

The Resistance member attempted to defend their friend and told him that it was likely because Vita was hidden in the Secret Plaza, but J countered that even if that were true, it didn’t change the fact that the medicine was poison. He told them to inform Claudine that they needed to keep a closer watch on Vita, and that they needed to plan their next moves very carefully. As the Resistance member had helped uncover the truth, J knew that he could trust them, but he added that if the Resistance were to show its hand too early, the Black Wings would simply pull Vita out and the Resistance would learn nothing.

The Resistance member returned to the Secret Plaza and told Claudine what J had said. Claudine was surprised by the news and told them that she hated to think that their comrades were spying against each other. However, she knew that if J was right, they couldn’t afford to disregard it as a coincidence. She told them that she would keep a close eye on Vita, and that she would analyze the medicine a second time, just to be sure.

Some time later, Claudine contacted the Resistance member and told them that she had confirmed that the medicine was poison. After having met with the other Resistance leaders, they had decided to lock Vita up and recall all her medicine. The Resistance member protested that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding, to which Claudine replied that she hoped that that was the case. She told them that they were more than free to visit Vita.

Since they were her closest friend, Claudine hoped that Vita would tell them truth, as she was currently claiming that she hadn’t meant to make the medicine poisonous. The Resistance member went to visit Vita, who sobbed and told them the same story that she had told Claudine. They reassured her that they knew that she hadn’t meant to hurt anyone and told her that they would make sure that she would be set free.

Vita thanked them and explained that even after what had happened, she still believed that her life with the Resistance was wonderful, and that she had no regrets. She told them that Claudine was trying to make an antidote and asked them to help her with it. The Resistance member returned to Claudine and told her that Vita was sticking to her story, adding that there was no way that she could be a spy.

Claudine replied that she was inclined to agree, but told them that the evidence was stacked against her. She then explained that for the antidote that she was working on, she would need Feather Plants, but as they didn’t grow in Edelstein, they would need to find some on Victoria Island. She asked them to speak with the Dark Lord in Kerning City, as she had been told that he had a stash of Feather Plants.

They went to speak with the Dark Lord, who told them that Feather Plants were extremely rare and were often saved for antidotes. He explained that many were needed to make even a single antidote and offered to give all the Feather Plants that he had, as he would rather that someone in need of them take them before they went to waste. In exchange, he asked them to eliminate the Jr. Necki monsters in the Swamp Region. After the Resistance member finished, the Dark Lord gave them a pouch containing about half the Feather Plants that the Resistance needed. He mentioned that Ereve had stashes of Feather Plants, and that they might be able to get the rest from there.

The Resistance member brought the plants to Claudine, who thanked them, but since they were still missing half, she wasn’t sure about what to do. When the Resistance member suggested that they ask Ereve, Claudine grew angry and told them that any self-respecting member of the Resistance would rather stay poisoned than beg the Cygnus Knights for help, explaining the story of how the Cygnus Knights had betrayed them. With no other option, she decided that she would try to pad the Feather Plants with some other herbs and thanked the Resistance member for their help. 

A few days later, the Resistance member was contacted by Eckhart, who told them to come alone to the Edelstein Airport. There, he told them that Ereve’s information network was the most powerful in the world, and that he knew that the Resistance had asked the Dark Lord for Feather Plants. He explained that Feather Plants only grew in Ereve, and that he would give them to the Resistance as a gift in order to demonstrate the Cygnus Knights’ commitment towards working together.

The Resistance member brought the Feather Plants to Claudine, but after learning how they had obtained them, she told them that she refused to be bought off by traitors. Though she appreciated the Resistance member’s intentions in accepting the gift, she explained that she still couldn’t take them. As it wouldn’t be fair to ask them to return the same gift that they accepted, she promised them that she would ask someone else.

Some time later, Ferdi contacted the Resistance member and explained that their instructor had a special mission for them. Back at the Secret Plaza, their instructor explained that the mission would require them to leave town and head to the Power Plant inside the Verne Mine. They explained that both the Power Plant and the Verne Mine rightfully belonged to the citizens of Edelstein, but the Black Wings had taken them both over and built an Energy Conducting Device to divert power away from the city for their own purposes.

For their mission, the Resistance member was to infiltrate the Verne Mine alone and destroy the Energy Conducting Device without affecting the Power Plant. Their instructor explained that the Power Plant was essential for the livelihood of the citizens, and that its destruction would wipe out all of Edelstein. They added that the Black Wings had successfully taken over the town by holding the people hostage with their own Power Plant, threatening to blow up the city if they didn’t comply with the Black Wings’ orders. Because of this, the Council President had no choice but to give the Black Wings full control of Edelstein.

After accepting the mission, the Resistance member was told to find a Black Wings member named Stephan, who sold Black Wings hats as an illicit side trade. With the hat that they purchased from him, the Resistance member infiltrated the mine and successfully destroyed the Energy Conducting Device. Pleased by their accomplishment, their instructor rewarded them by teaching them more advanced techniques.