Mission 19: Partners in Wonder/Temperance
Note!
If you install the Strangers First Aid Pack, you'll get mission timer updates every 15 seconds for Part 1, which helps pace it out a lot.
Part 1 : Evolution 101
This is the last mission base, so spend those XP and prestige points now. Any customs you recruit will automatically get used in one part or the other.
This is the big Epic Battle at the end of the story, so epic that the Fundamental beings known as the Architect and Navigator have swung by to watch!
You start off with King Zero only, against the infant form of the Connection. Every ten seconds, another team member will make a dramatic entrance, until no-one is left. Devil Doll, then Adam, Anemone, Jimmy and so on, and finally any custom characters on the team. As team members fall, they'll get replaced by new heroes.
Of course, the heroes you select (and Chaos) do not appear, they're left to mop up in part 2.
The Connection will move along the ice canyon in the centre of the map, attacking anything in its path in an attempt to get to the walls of New Victoria. It uses about 30 different custom attacks, many of which were seen here first before appearing in FFX, such as magma vents, weather control, teleport beams, and so on.
All you have to do is delay it for ten minutes.
Along the way, various NPCs have been positioned to help you - starting with the M.A.S.S. squad. Next up are a couple of Atlanteans, then a couple of superhuman New Aedenites, and finally a squad of Antartican soldiers with a pair of giant Duranon cannons.
These groups will hang back until the Connection is in range before attacking.
Anemone and Sgt. Drummond also bring extra NPC's with them when they appear.
The Connection is literally unbeatable - it can be dispersed briefly but will typically reform in about 15 seconds, so you'll find yourself 'killing' it several times over. It also periodically upgrades to larger more adult forms as it evolves, with more health and a few extra powers each time. After the ten minutes are up it will start to get really nasty, and employ tricks that make it impossible to hold back any longer, effectively hastening the inevitable mission ending.
A couple of points to note. Any scientist present can modfiy the Duranon cannons to drain energy rather than project it. This is much more effective, since the Connection is EPHEMERAL, and takes dmaage from having its energy drained, and also absorbs 50% of energy attacks.
Devil Doll can MIMIC the Connection, gaining access to a fair few of its powers, but will become tempoorarily mental blanked if she does so as she experiences its vastly superior sensory spectrum.
The Spider can grow in this level, just like the Fly does, becoming bigger and tougher. She'll admit that its very un-ladylike, but these are desperate times!
If one of your team absorbed the Pharaoh's Shaping Stone in Mission 12, then prepare for the repercussions of all those free powers. The Connection will take the stone in the base cutscene, and use it against you in this mission, creating blue plasma hulks, gun turrets and so on just like the stone wielder was able to do. It will also attack certain characters in its own unique way - Adam Zorn or Jimmy will get best by a blue plasma Professor Zandor, the Fly will get a blue Chaos, and Devil Doll gets attacked by a blue Mr. Jones, all berating the characters for their failure to save them. The Connection is a telepath, and knows what these guys feel guilty about, after all!
Part 2 : Temperance
Time to put Penny's brilliant plan into action.
The first objective is to get her to TRANSMUTE all 11 orgone accumulators on the map. You have a minute before the Connection turns up, so its best to start with the ones near the walls where it appears and get them out of the way. When it does appear, have Penny finish the remaining ones while the rest of the team hold it off.
Once the mini-accumulators are transmuted, you have to do the big one before the Connection reaches it - it will head towards that one if it has no-one to fight. Once this is transmuted, withdraw and let it drink.
Chaos is one of the slowest members of the team, and not really suited for running around the map - if you want to speed things up its better to release AlCuBUS and fly him around to do the transmuting.
Once the Connection has drunk from the central Accumulator, Penny reveals the truth, that she's converted all the orgone to alcohol. The Connection is now suprememly powerful still, but almost too drunk to stand up. let alone use its powers, and its time to finsih it off. Ko-ing it will disperse it, and it will reform in the next 'lower' form of its eveolution, ending with the baby form, which will disperse into the ether, causing you to win the mission.
This final battle can be difficult if your team is in bad shape from defending the accumulator before its transformation.
Penny can safely De-transmute any of the accumulators at this point, turning them back into orgone, which will have a healing and energising effect on your squad nearby. So any member who's nearly out of health can be left in an accumulator to heal for a little while.