The Rise of PULSAR

Chapter 4: The Bounty Hunter

(A/N: As of 2024, Jett has been completely removed from the game, and any existing Jett characters have been converted into Explorers. Similar to Beast Tamer and Zen, Jett still exists in GMS-verse through Stellar Detectives, which still remains in GMS at this point in time. Jett’s storyline received a somewhat open-ended ending as part of a special cutscene released during the end of Jett’s time in the game, which I’ve covered in the last section of this story arc, as it’s set after the events of Stellar Detectives. While Jett was still around, she did receive a revamp, but there were no real lore changes, other than the fact that she now gets an expanded backstory between herself and her partner, Burke, at the start of her tutorial.)

On the distant planet of Cerberus, two children named Jett and Burke were best friends. One day, the two children were playing a game, with Jett pretending to be a vicious space criminal and Burke attempting to capture her. To block Burke’s make-believe laser, Jett summoned a make-believe shield that the royal guards used in order to defend herself.

Burke noted that it was strange for a criminal to be using a royal guard shield, but Jett proclaimed that she didn’t want to be a criminal or space pirate, instead deciding that she would become a royal guard that lived in the castle and protected the king. Burke asked why she would ever think of becoming a royal guard when her family was the most famous bounty hunter crew ever, adding that her parents likely wanted to take her on all sorts of adventures.

Jett explained that though it was cool, it quickly became tiring, adding that there were times when she simply wanted to find something that she truly loved and hold on to it for as she could. She also added that she was tired of being left at home while her family vanished on distant missions, though Burke claimed that he thought that her family was cool, as they chased down villains all across space. However, he lamented that he didn’t have a family or anything as powerful as the Core in order to follow in their footsteps. Jett told Burke that her father’s Core would someday be passed down to her and vowed to use its power to destroy the pirates who had killed Burke’s family.

Many years later, Jett returned back from her fifth failed attempt at passing the entrance test for becoming a royal guard, as she was unable to work in a team, believing that others only got in the way during fights. Burke then appeared and asked how the exam had gone, to which Jett lamented that she didn’t know what she was lacking, as she even had the power of the Core. She wondered whether her constant failures were a sign that she ought to have followed in her father’s footsteps as a bounty hunter.

Burke told her to think of her failure as an opportunity and offered her a place in his bounty hunter crew, persuading her by explaining that hunting down dangerous criminals was merely a different way for her to protect the king. Jett thanked Burke and said that she owed him, but Burke told her that he was the one who owed her, as her family had taken him in after his own family had been killed by pirates, with their exploits as bounty hunters fueling his own dream of becoming one.

After Jett joined Burke’s crew, she spent many years working with him to capture villains from across space. During one such mission, the crew brought in a group of criminals, one of whom cursed Burke and noted that he was nothing without Jett and her Core. Jett immediately ordered the criminal to shut up and told the crew to escort them away. She then consoled Burke, reminding him that everyone viewed him as the true captain of the crew.

As Jett walked away, Burke found himself growing jealous of Jett and the Core, though he attempted to keep his emotions in check, reminding himself that Jett was his best friend. He then walked outside, where he found his crew discussing how powerful Jett was, noting that she ought to be the captain instead of Burke, as they would be better off, since the king trusted her.

A few days later, Burke was leading his crew on a mission to capture several criminals, refusing to call for backup when a crew member suggested it. The crew member then pointed out that they might be walking into a trap, reminding Burke that Jett had to save them the last time it had happened. Burke immediately lashed out, claiming that there was nothing special about Jett without the Core, and reminded the crew that he was their captain. Suddenly, the criminals ambushed the crew, laughing that the rumors of Burke losing his edge were true. However, Jett quickly arrived at the scene and single-handedly apprehended the criminals.

Soon after the mission, Jett worriedly asked Burke whether he was okay, as his decision to put himself and the crew in danger was unlike him. Burke dejectedly confessed that he had only wanted to be as good as her, to which Jett promised him that she wasn’t as good as everyone said, as all her power came from the Core, not her own abilities.

As she began to remind him that she had never wanted to be a bounty hunter, Burke stopped her and explained that it angered him that despite her never wanting to be a bounty hunter, she had been the one to end up with the Core, his voice trailing off as he began saying that it wasn’t fair. Realizing that he was stressed, Jett told him to get some rest while she took care of the crew.

After she left, Burke attempted to calm himself down when he suddenly received a mysterious transmission from someone in Maple World. (A/N: The transmission came from Baroq the Master of Disguise.) Noting that he had heard of Maple World before, Burke asked the voice what they wanted. The voice told him that in order to revive their master, they needed the power of the Core.

Burke asked why he would betray his friend to a stranger, to which the voice asked whether someone who was ungrateful and trying to steal his position was truly his friend. Burke realized that the voice had bugged their ship, to which the voice laughed that it hadn’t been difficult to find their ship, adding that the Core was more powerful than they would ever know.

The voice then told Burke to bring the Core to Maple World, after which Jett would lose her powers and he would be at the top again. Though Burke was intrigued, he asked how he would even get Jett to Maple World. The voice then suggested eliminating the king and framing Jett, which would result in the Cerberus government chasing her across the galaxy.

Burke conceded that he had no love for the king, who had ignored his plight when his family had been killed, and who constantly fawned over Jett. He then asked the voice whether they could guarantee Jett’s safety, promising only to bring them the Core alone, to which the voice agreed. Burke then set out to eliminate the king by taking Jett’s outfit, silently hoping that his friend would forgive him.

Several hours later, a crew member rushed in and informed Jett that the king had been assassinated. Suddenly, Burke arrived and showed her a wanted poster of herself, with the caption noting that she was to be brought in dead or alive. Though Jett was shocked at the baseless accusation, Burke noted that there was no time, as the royal guards were likely already on their way. However, Jett refused to run, claiming that it would only convince them of her guilt.

The crew member then told her that there were witnesses that had seen her, noting that the people of Cerberus were furious. Though Jett was aghast, Burke reminded her that it was unsafe to remain and promised to clear her name. Suddenly, the crew member received an alert that the royal guards had arrived and told her that they would hold the guards off. Jett refused to let them fight for her, claiming that she would fix her own mess without dragging others in, but the crew member explained that they were merely returning the favor of her saving them countless times.

Burke and Jett then fled the scene before encountering several robotic guards which had already eliminated the rest of their crew. Though Jett managed to defeat them, Burke noted that one of the guards had stolen the master key and fled to the control room. Jett rushed to the control room and eliminated the guard, bringing the key back to Burke.

She then told Burke to disappear after escaping, as he would otherwise be implicated as an accomplice. However, Burke refused to abandon her, claiming that they were family. As Jett began boarding an escape craft, Burke contacted the mysterious voice and reported that they were en route, asking the voice once again whether it could truly bring them down over Maple World. The voice laughed and reassured Burke that their power was great.

Burke and Jett then boarded their ship and began speeding away from Cerberus. However, the royal guards’ airships remained hot in pursuit and managed to shoot Jett and Burke down. Their airship was then mysteriously teleported across the stars, crash landing on Maple World near Nautilus Harbor. Soon after, Jett awoke and found that the airship was completely wrecked. As she began recalling the pursuit, Jett realized that the royal guards’ volley of fire had likely ruptured the ship’s photon lines and caused a backlash wormhole.

Suddenly, she noticed that nearly all of her strength had vanished and realized that she had lost the Core. She also realized that Burke was missing and began searching for him. While looking around, she came across Black Bark of the Nautilus, who was annoyed that she had crashed her ship and made a mess of his beach. Jett asked him whether he had seen another survivor of the crash, to which he told her that he had seen someone with red hair and black clothes leave the crash site. Realizing that Burke was likely scouting the area for enemies, Jett proceeded ahead in search of him.

Soon after, she encountered Burke standing on a hill wearing a cloak that disguised his face. As she began asking why he was wearing such a suspicious outfit, she noticed that he had recovered her Core. Happily calling him the best captain ever, she asked Burke to toss it over so that she could get them off the strange planet. However, Burke merely asked her whether she felt powerless without the Core, as though she couldn’t really make a difference in the world.

He then proceeded to attack Jett, who was shocked by his betrayal. Jett angrily ordered him to hand over the Core before she reconsidered their friendship, to which Burke asked whether she had really thought that they were friends, explaining that he had always walked in her shadow because no matter how much he had trained, he had never been able to surpass the power of her Core.

He then added that letting her live the life that he had been forced to lead was his last gift to her as a friend. Jett retorted that he already knew that no one outside her family could use the Core, and that it would be nothing but a useless rock to him. Burke merely replied that it would then be a useless rock to them both, allowing them to finally be equals, the way that it had always been meant to be.

As he turned to leave, Jett desperately asked him to tell her that he wasn’t the one who had assassinated the king, but Burke merely told her that it was a secret that he wasn’t yet ready to surrender. He then turned to leave, just as Jett began to lose consciousness. Soon after, Jett awoke to the sound of voices around her, finding herself in a bed aboard the Nautilus with Kyrin and Black Bark. Delirious from having just regained consciousness, Jett mistook the pair as royal guards and exclaimed that she was innocent.

Kyrin calmed her down before introducing herself and explaining that she was captain of the Nautilus, the ship that they were on. Noting that Jett had come from space, Kyrin asked why she had come to Maple World. Jett silently noted that she had never even heard of Maple World, and that it likely had to be quite out in the boonies if it had been left off the galactic charts.

She decided that she would lay low and let the pirates think that she wasn’t a threat, noting that despite them saving her life, her large bounty might result in them turning on her. She then made up a story that she had been on a vacation when her ship’s converter fan had stopped working, and so she had landed on their nearby world.

Kyrin silently noted that she was right about the ship not being Maple World technology and wondered how much she could make by selling a real alien. (A/N: This is such an out-of-character moment for Kyrin. Despite her being a pirate, I highly doubt that she’d ever consider trafficking an actual person.) She then told Jett to explain how such a small ship could generate such power, noting that it could be possible that she might be trying to cover up a secret government experiment.

(A/N: Kyrin, you’re literally one of the leading members of the Alliance. If you really wanted to know about any secret government projects, I’m sure Cygnus would tell you everything.)

Jett explained that her people had figured out focus-beam propulsion a century ago, to which Kyrin gleefully noted that she could appropriate that technology onto the Nautilus and become rich. She then told Jett that the Nautilus crew would help repair the airship and offered a place to rest in the meantime. Black Bark then gave Jett back her belongings which he had stolen, including her gun and a glowing chunk of rock that Jett realized was a fragment of the Core. Though she lamented that it was only a piece, she noted that it would be sufficient in helping her find the rest and regaining her full powers.

Kyrin then told Jett that she ought to stop by the Navigation Room in order to meet the rest of the crew once she had rested. After getting ready, Jett met with Kyrin in the Navigation Room, where Kyrin told her that she would have to prove herself in order to gain the respect of the crew. She also added that Jett would need to follow her orders in order to do so. She then instructed Jett to meet with Athena Pierce in Henesys, who would help her get started on her journey. Jett traveled to the Bowman Instructional School and met with Athena, who introduced herself and explained that Henesys, being one of the safest towns in Maple World, would be a good place to stay until she grew stronger.

(A/N: She tells us to meet with Camila, but that’s just to start the regular basic Explorer quests with the pie ingredients and such. These quests were removed for Explorers in the Destiny update, since they have their own streamlined storyline from levels 1-30. You now need to get to level 20 on your own in order to continue with the storyline.)

As Jett trained to grow stronger, she was soon contacted by Kelm, Abbes, and Gal, who explained that they were the only surviving members of the crew, and that they had been searching for her. After they beamed her back to their ship, the crew asked where Burke was. Jett told them that Burke had killed the king and framed her in order to steal the Core, and that she suspected that someone had put him up to it.

She then explained that she planned to get stronger in Maple World and recover the rest of her Core before proving her innocence on Cerberus, as she believed that whoever was behind Burke’s plot was planning to use the Core for evil. When her crew asked why she was so concerned with Maple World, Jett explained that its people had helped her greatly, and so she considered Maple World to be a second home. (A/N: And after only fifteen minutes of being there too.)

Though she blamed herself for the rest of their crew being killed, the others told her that it wasn’t her fault, and that they were fully behind her, even having built their current ship on a budget after their old one had been shot down. They then unanimously agreed to make Jett their new captain.

Soon after, Jett was contacted by Bart, who explained that Kyrin had asked him to deliver something that the Nautilus crew had found in the wreckage of the ship while repairing it. Hoping it to be another fragment of the Core, Jett was disappointed to find that it was an empty box. She asked Bart whether he had encountered anyone during his trip to see her, as she believed that someone else had taken its contents. (A/N: How do you just not notice that your box suddenly became empty?)

Bart admitted that he had travelled to the North Rocky Mountain in Perion on personal business before getting to her, but he assured that no one suspicious would be there. Jett decided to investigate the area and found obscure sets of footprints that had been overwritten by the nearby Stumps. As the only thing she could deduce was that there had been at least two people in the area, she decided to investigate the Stumps for clues.

While defeating the Stumps, Jett obtained a plain black envelope, which she believed may have been sealed with a stamp, though it was hard to make out. She then obtained a black glove, which she believed someone had tossed away a while ago, as it had no warmth anymore. She also noted that she had seen other gloves just like it before.

Next, she discovered red hair that had been cut by something sharp, which reminded her of Burke’s. As she continued hunting, she discovered a paper with strange code and drawings, which she believed to have been written in the fairy language. (A/N: I have no idea why she would recognize the fairy language when she’s literally never even met a fairy.)

Finally, she recovered a bloody handkerchief, which she believed had been tied around a small cut, leading her to believe that its owner had been injured. After obtaining all the items, she wondered whether the red hair meant that the items belonged to Burke, though she reminded herself that many people had red hair.

Based on the fairy writing, she decided to head to Ellinia in order to follow the trail. In the forest, Jett met with Fanzy, who noted that she had the scent of a distant stranger. When Jett lied and told him that she came from the Nautilus, Fanzy replied that he detested lies and explained that her scent was far more exotic, similar to the scent of another stranger who had recently passed through the area.

He noted that the stranger had worn red and black, and that he had left soon after disturbing the forest with loud noises. Jett asked where the stranger had gone, to which Fanzy told her that he hadn’t followed them, though he recalled that the stranger and the others with whom they had been speaking had left after throwing their trash in the forest.

(A/N: Fanzy teleports you to this jump quest area, and I had the worst time navigating because your speed and jump don’t get reduced in this map, making it impossible to get back up if you fall from the top of the map where you start. I never figured this out until much later, but you actually don’t need to move anywhere for this quest. Instead, there’s an invisible spot at the left-most side of the screen from where you start, and you just have to click on it.)

Fanzy then teleported Jett deep into the forest, where she discovered that the trash that the stranger had dropped was actually a fragment of the Core. Realizing that it was the item that Bart had been delivering, Jett wondered whether the stranger had intercepted it while knowing beforehand that it was a Core fragment.

She also wondered why the stranger would have thrown it away and supposed that they had likely realized that such a small fragment would have no real power, and that the Core itself was useless if someone from her family wasn’t wielding it. Based on her observations, she concluded that the stranger was trying to prevent her from obtaining it, as they knew that she was the only one who could use the Core.

Though she strongly suspected that Burke was the culprit because of the red hair that she had found, she realized that she didn’t have any concrete proof. Nevertheless, she decided to let Kyrin know about what had happened, believing that it would be easier to track down the thieves with the Nautilus’ intelligence network, rather than chasing after them on her own.

Jett then contacted Kyrin and explained the situation. Though Kyrin was irritated that someone had the nerve to steal her package, she was pleased that Jett had managed to recover it on her own and promised to help her investigate, reminding her that pirates were strongest together. (A/N: This is such a complete 180 on her original stance, unless she’s just trying to help Jett get the Core so that she can sell it or something.)

Soon after, Kyrin contacted Jett and asked how her training was going. When Jett explained that she was hoping to move on to bigger things, Kyrin realized that she had an idea about to help. She explained that she had recently met a talented blacksmith who had fixed her gun to the point that it could shoot through a steel hull, and that it was said that he could fix anything. Because of his talents, she believed that he would be able to help repair the Core and sent Jett to meet with him.

Aboard the Nautilus, Jett met with Gere, the Master of Smithing from Ardentmill. Though he was unfamiliar with the alien atomic structure of the Core, Gere believed that he could repair it and asked Jett to collect Blue Ore, which would act as an energy barrier to hold the Core fragments together. He then sent Jett to the Blue Ore Cave, where she obtained the material from the monsters inside. Using the melted Blue Ore, Gere was able to bind the Core fragments together, making the overall Core much stronger.

Jett continued using the Core to grow stronger, but soon realized that there were cracks developing on it from strain, to the point that it was beginning to fall apart. She returned to Gere and told him what had happened, to which he realized that Blue Ore wasn’t strong enough to handle the Core’s immense power output, and so they would need stronger bonding agents to harden the coating. He suggested using Fire Ore, which had unique strengthening properties, and sent Jett to the Blast Furnace in order to obtain some.

Jett collected the ore from the monsters and brought the pieces back to Gere, who excitedly claimed that he could create an alloy from them that could break diamonds. Using the ore, Gere enhanced the Core’s coating, such that he claimed that it would be nearly indestructible. Jett also noticed that the Fire Ore’s heat energy had mingled with the Core, augmenting its power.

(A/N: The quests with Han the Broker below are actually prerequisites for your 4th job advancement, although they take place around level 80.)

With the augmented Core, Jett continued training in order to grow stronger. Soon after, she was contacted by Han the Broker from Magatia, who explained that he urgently needed her help in order to make a deadline for his client. Though Jett was dubious about the type of scheme he was running, Han promised that he was being honest, though he added that he needed her to be discreet about the matter.

He explained that several days ago, he had received an order from a secret organization to create a Matter Disassembler, based on an old alchemy manuscript which the client had found. He asked Jett to collect Pieces of Steel, Hardened Pieces of Steel, and Wires for him to bind together with magic in order to create the device. Jett noted to herself that Han’s client seemed dangerous and resolved to investigate them.

After she collected the parts, Han asked her to deliver them to Bedin, who was working on assembling them with the alchemy book provided by his client. Jett went to meet with Bedin, who explained that he had been working sleeplessly for several days in order to meet Han’s demands. He told Jett that the Matter Disassembler was capable of sapping the entire output of a power plant and displacing it at the user’s leisure. Though it was powerful, he noted that it was also very specific.

He also wondered about the stone that the device was meant to be used upon, as he was unaware of anything in Maple World that would fit with the device’s calibrations. Jett was disturbed by the news, but nevertheless gave him the parts. Bedin then finished the Matter Disassembler and gave it to Jett, who passed it along to Han. Han was pleased and asked Jett to deliver it to his client by traveling through a portal in the Desert of Dreams.

While traveling through the desert, Jett noted to herself that if the Matter Disassembler could work on the Core, then she ought to toss the device away, rather than risk it falling into the wrong hands. After throwing away the Matter Disassembler, she entered the portal and entered a dark cave, where she found Burke speaking with Baroq the Master of Disguise.

Baroq greeted Jett, mistaking her as Han the Broker, though Burke and Jett immediately recognized each other. Nevertheless, Burke attempted to keep up the charade and referred to her as Han, asking where the device was. Jett refused to hand it over, to which Baroq gleefully noticed that since he was free to attack, he could gain access to the device’s power without even having to pay for it.

Panicking, Burke attempted to convince Baroq to allow him to handle the situation, to which Baroq approvingly claimed that Burke’s initiative would help him go far in the Black Wings. Jett attempted to provoke Burke, noting how far he had fallen from being the captain of the bounty hunter crew to becoming some stranger’s lackey.

An angry Burke immediately attacked Jett, who fell unconscious. Jett awoke some time later and discovered that both Burke and Baroq had vanished. Though furious, she wondered why Burke hadn’t simply killed her and vowed to track him to the ends of the galaxy. She then decided to visit Han, though she knew that he would be upset at her throwing away the device. Just as she had expected, Han was furious at her breaking the deal and costing him a fortune.

Some time later, Bart contacted Jett and explained that they had received a letter in her name aboard the Nautilus, though there was no return address. Jett opened the letter and immediately realized that it was from Burke, who had written that the Black Wings knew that she was the only one who could activate the Core, and that they knew exactly where she was and where she had been, warning her to leave immediately.

Believing it to be another scheme, Jett resolved to track down Burke and settle things once and for all. Bart suggested meeting with Eurek the Alchemist, who had delivered the letter in the first place, in order to see if he knew about Burke’s whereabouts. (A/N: I’m so shook, I thought that Eurek was a woman this entire time.) Jett met with Eurek and asked him about the person who had asked him to send the letter, to which Eurek explained that the man had crimson hair and offered to teleport her to him.

Jett then found herself in the same dark cave where she had first encountered Baroq and Burke. She discovered an injured Burke lying on the ground, who immediately yelled for her to escape. Suddenly, Baroq arrived and smugly noted that Burke had fallen for his trap because of his weak-hearted sympathy, as his very warning to Jett was what had drawn her out. He then declared that he would show Burke what he did with traitors, piquing Jett’s interest.

Baroq revealed that the power of the Core was wilder than he had expected, and that it had taken him some time to tame its more ferocious tendencies. He explained that after learning that only the Core’s true owner could fully control it, he had been searching for Jett, though Burke had been misdirecting him for a long time in order to stop him from capturing her. He then summoned several Black Wings henchmen and ordered them to seize Jett, who quickly made short work of them.

Surprised, Baroq sealed the exit of the cave with a magical barrier and disappeared in order to make the preparations to unlock the Core’s power. A dying Burke told Jett to leave him behind and save herself, ignoring her protests to get up and walk away with her. Burke weakly told her that he had wanted the Core in order to be as powerful and special as her, and that his blind jealousy had allowed the Black Wings to manipulate him in order to learn everything about the Core.

He revealed that the Black Wings had initially ordered him to kill the king, who was nothing more than a pawn in their scheme to bring the Core to Maple World. Jett then asked why he had let her live, knowing that she was the only one who could use the Core’s power, to which Burke told her that he only hated her power, not her. He revealed that he had done everything that he could to prevent the Black Wings from enslaving her and begged her not to let his sacrifice go to waste.

He then began telling her that the Black Wings’ true goal was to revive someone, but began coughing painfully before he could finish his sentence. Drifting away, he confessed that he had hoped to return home before dying, adding that he wanted things to go back to the way they used to be, when all they had needed was each other. Jett promised to save him, but Burke told her to hurry, as Baroq would soon learn that he had hidden the real Core at Steep Hill.

With the last of his strength, he used his power to break Baroq’s magical barrier, sacrificing his life in the process. Jett immediately rushed to Steep Hill, where she found where Burke had hidden the Core. Though she noted that it had disintegrated, its powers had condensed together without compromising its strength. She then reclaimed her full power, reminding herself that the Core now held the legacy of her parents, her fallen crew, and Burke.

She also realized that with Burke’s death, there was no one who could clear her name, meaning that there was no way for her to return back to Cerberus. Nevertheless, she vowed to protect the Core and fight for Maple World, which she accepted as her new home. She then silently promised Burke that she would ensure that his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. Suddenly, Jett felt a strange being calling to her and found herself being transported to Maple Island, where she stood before the Goddess of Maple World. (A/N: They call her the Spirit of Maple World here, just like in the old Explorer storyline.)

Jett asked the Goddess if she was the one whose voice had been coming from the Core, to which the Goddess explained that she was the spirit of Maple Island, and that though she had no true body, she had become part of the Maple Tree over time, supporting the Explorers of Maple World in the hope of maintaining peace. She told Jett that despite her not being from Maple World, her genuine care for the planet was clear. She then explained that the Core had combined with her spirit that resided within Maple World’s gemstones, allowing her to appear before Jett.

(A/N: The whole gemstone thing is a throwaway line that they never explain properly. I know that it’s likely not what they were intending, but I wonder whether it could be retconned into having something to do with the gemstones in the hands of the Goddess Statues at the Outpost.)

She then promised to watch over Jett and allowed the bounty hunter to call upon her strength in order to help bring peace to Maple World.

(A/N: Just like how Shinsoo’s Call is a prerequisite for getting the Call of Cygnus skill on Cygnus Knights, this quest is a prerequisite for getting Maple Warrior on Jett. I like the inclusion of this quest as a way of explaining why Jett gets to use the skill when she’s not even from Maple World.

Here’s Jett’s exclusive cutscene from Black Heaven. I don’t really know where all of GMS-verse fits within the chronology of the main story, and so I’m just including this in case anyone’s interested.)

The night before the Black Heaven operation, Jett returned aboard her spaceship and met with her crew. Kelm told Jett that there were rumors of a war happening in Maple World and asked whether she was getting herself involved. When Jett was surprised that they had heard about it, Abbes added that they routinely intercepted transmissions from across the planet, allowing them to be even more informed than her about what was going on.

Jett confirmed that she was planning to fight, as the ones pushing the war were the Black Wings, who had forced Burke to betray her. However, Kelm pointed out that since she had recovered the full power of the Core, she ought to go back to clearing her name. Abbes agreed, adding that since they had just come to Maple World for Burke and the Core, there was nothing keeping them there anymore.

Jett pointed out that Burke was the only one who could’ve proven her innocence, adding that she didn’t want to return to being a fugitive with a high bounty on her head. Abbes then asked why she would want to draw attention to herself in that case, as many people would notice her if she were to join the war, with the possibility of rumors spreading off-world. Kelm conceded that he sympathized with her desire for revenge, but noted that it would be bad for her image if people on Cerberus were to learn that all her actions on Maple World had been solely for vengeance.

Jett agreed that the bounty hunters of the universe would all converge on Maple World, but explained that she wasn’t acting merely out of revenge, but because she viewed Maple World as the home that she never had, as she had never felt like Cerberus or her ship were where she truly belonged. She added that the people of Maple World had been incredibly kind to her when she had been powerless without the Core, but Kelm and Abbes pointed out that there were other ways to repay their kindness without involving herself in the war.

Jett retorted that there would be nothing left if the Black Wings won the war, and that her duty to uphold justice across the galaxy was still valid on Maple World. Hearing her conviction changed her crewmates’ minds, who promised to support her decision and intercept anyone who might learn about her location if she were to be discovered during the war. They then claimed that if Maple World was her home, then it would be their home as well.

(A/N: Here’s Jett’s Aftermath cutscene. In the Labyrinth of Suffering, she hears Burke’s voice. The White Mage gives her the title “Far-flung Avenger” at the end of Limina, making her the only Special Explorer who doesn’t get the regular “The One Who Walks the Path of Adventure” title that all other Explorers get.)

After the battle with the Black Mage, Jett returned to her crew, who were glad to have her back. They explained that Maple World was abuzz with stories of her role in defeating the Black Mage and joked that she must have gotten a huge bounty for it, to which Jett apologized for being away for so long. She then pulled out the Core and, staring intently at it, noted that she had been through a lot on Maple World, and that the planet was growing on her.

Clenching her fist around the Core, she noted that because of her experiences and the time she had spent with others, she had come to realize that having people that she could rely on was more powerful than any Core. However, she lamented that it had taken her too long to realize it, as so many good people had been lost in the war. Nevertheless, her crew eagerly told her that there would never be another hero like her, adding that she had done them all proud. They then asked what came next, to which Jett amusedly told them that there were still many criminals for her to hunt down and bring to justice.