The General's Hand/Script

Before Battle (Central Army Camp)
Senator General Zelgius! Why did you retreat so quickly?! Order an all-out attack!

Zelgius The Laguz Alliance is inching closer after successfully crossing the river. It would be unwise to attack them head-on at this time.

Senator At this time? That is for me to decide! You are a fool, Zelgius! The senate wants all sub-humans roaming our lands to be exterminated at once! I forbid you to retreat from now on! Am I understood, Zelgius?

Levail Pardon my impertinence, but that is madne--

Zelgius I understand, my lord. I will do my best to end this fighting as soon as possible.

Levail But, General Zelgius!

Levail General Zelgius! Why didn't you say anything? The senator's orders are insane!

Zelgius Don't make me repeat myself. We soldiers are in no position to question the orders of our superiors.

Levail But I thought... No, I was certain that you would steer the military in the right direction.

Levail General Zelgius! ...

Before Battle (Laguz Alliance Camp)
Soren I'm late. My apologies.

Skrimir Ah, here comes the great strategist! Don't be so shy. Come sit next to me.

Soren Not if you begged me, Skrimir.

Titania Soren! I'm so sorry. He's rude to everyone, but strangers especially.

Skrimir You still don't trust me? Then I will take the first step. I admit that we won the last battle thanks to your cleverness. I underestimated the wisdom of the beorc. As a general of Gallia, you have my thanks.

Soren ...You're welcome.

Skrimir What do we do next? We hit Begnion hard in the last battle. Surely we will use this opportunity to wipe out the enemy entirely?

Soren Actually, it would be unwise to launch a new offensive now. I recommend we negotiate a peace treaty with Begnion.

Skrimir What?! You'd give up our best opportunity to crush Begnion for some peace treaty?!

Soren For once, please try to think for a moment, Skrimir. Yes, we crossed the river, but we haven't so much as touched the Central Army. Not one scratch. Consequently, Begnion still has the advantage. It would be foolish to press the attack.

Skrimir I must ask you to think harder! A peace treaty? Now? My soldiers will never accept this! We need another way!

Ike What do you think, Ranulf? Do you feel the same way?

Ranulf Well... It's not so much how I feel, but how we laguz are as a species. Once the fighting begins, laguz can't see anything except the enemy in front of them. In a long fight like this, it's even harder to keep ourselves in check.

Tibarn The same goes for my tribe. If we were to stop fighting now, I'd have to go around knocking every one of my men unconscious.

Ranulf But rushing headlong into the enemy and getting killed is not an option. Soren, can you think of something? ...Maybe it's too much to ask.

Soren No, I can do it... ...Just let me think. ...All right, I have it. Gather around the map. I'll explain what we have to do.

Before Battle (Battlefield)
Lyre Hey, Captain Ranulf! The hawk king's decoy attack got the Begnion forces to move out!

Ranulf Good. Our unit will hit them from the north, Ike from the south, and Skrimir from the west. I'm impressed. If everything goes according to plan, Soren will have delivered another easy victory.

Kyza Captain! We appear to have a situation! General Skrimir's western forces are charging down the cliff!

Ranulf What?! I told him to keep his men under control at all costs!

Kyza Apparently, an enemy commander challenged General Skrimir to a duel. He accepted, of course. He always was an impatient one. The challenger was a large raven-haired beorc, clad in stunning crimson armor.

Ranulf That must be Zelgius. No, no, no! Skrimir can't win. He'll get slaughtered! Send a message to Tibarn and Ike. Tell them I'm going to save Skrimir. We can't let him do this!

Soren Ike! A company of enemy troops has appeared to the south of Skrimir's forces.

Titania General Zelgius seems to be in command.

Ike Uh oh. That's not good.

Titania If Skrimir's force collapses, we'll get penned in by Begnion. We must change our strategy. Ike, let's help with the rescue. You can't take everyone, though. Assemble a strike force to accompany you.

Ike Got it. Titania, let Tibarn know what's going on.

Ike Where's Skrimir?

Ranulf He charged up that cliff, chasing after Zelgius.

Ike We have to get up there. The two of us might be able to save him from Zelgius.

Ranulf Kyza, can you carve us a path to the top?

Kyza Certainly, Captain. I'd be happy to. We'll neutralize anyone in your way. You can count on me, sir.

Ike All right. Let's clear this pass. Time is a factor here, everyone, so let's make this quick!

Arrive
Ike (if he arrives first) Ranulf! This way. Hurry!

Ranulf (if he arrives first) I have a bad feeling about this... Ike! Come on, there's no more time!

After Battle (Skrimir vs. Zelgius)
Ranulf No!

Ranulf Skrimir!

Ike Stop, Ranulf! Don't get too close!

Skrimir and Zelgius battle

Zelgius Heed my words, Laguz Alliance! I am Zelgius, general of the Begnion Central Army! Your general has fallen to my blade in single combat!

Zelgius My army does not wish to continue this senseless bloodshed. Leave this place immediately! Soldiers of Begnion! I forbid you to attack the fleeing laguz soldiers! This fight is finished!

Begnion Soldier 1 General Zelgius is amazing! He kept the damage on both sides to a minimum!

Begnion Soldier 2 Yeah, that's great, but... I wanted to fight! How am I going to get my kid a stuffed laguz now?

Gallian Soldier 1 No... General Skrimir was defeated?! By a beorc?!

Gallian Soldier 1 If General Skrimir is defeated, we must fight on in his name! We must get revenge! Don't be fooled by that human! Fight on, brothers!

Ranulf Stop! We will fall back! Brothers, listen to me! I swear upon my life that I'll take Skrimir back with us! Fall back!

Zelgius A wise choice.

Zelgius Levail. Go back to base camp. I have business to take care of.

Ranulf What are you plotting? You could have crushed us.

Zelgius True. That's exactly what the heads of the senate want. But the apostle feels differently. The apostle wishes to resolve this conflict peacefully. Begnion is not united on this idea, however. So, how about this? Arrange a peace proposal from your people. The apostle would accept it.

Ike But...to begin a peace talk under the current circumstances...

Zelgius The most favorable opportunity for a peace talk would have been when you crossed the river. You missed that chance, and now look at where you are.

Ranulf ...

Zelgius Think it over. I'll give you three days. Request a peace talk within that time. If that isn't possible, negotiations are over. I sincerely hope that won't be the case.

Zelgius As for the heir of King Caineghis, he will be fine. Treat his wounds quickly.

Ike You mean you didn't finish him off? Why not?

Zelgius It does not matter who the enemy is. If there is a way to avoid taking a life, that is the path I will choose. Leave now. I swear upon my name that my men will not attack as you retreat.

After Battle (Laguz Alliance Camp)
Tibarn ...Three days, huh? What will the beast tribe do, Ranulf? What will become of Gallia?

Ranulf I'm sorry, Tibarn. Now that Skrimir has been incapacitated... Gallia can't go on any further.

Tibarn Right... That's too bad. I guess the Laguz Alliance has to take a break, then.

Ike What about you? Will Phoenicis agree to a peace talk?

Tibarn I haven't decided. Our force lacks numbers and supplies. We can't possibly take them on, but... I imagine that a peace talk would be far from pleasant.

Ranulf General Zelgius seems like a trustworthy beorc. I also know from the Mad King's War that even the apostle is not a bad person at heart. But in reality, the senate controls Begnion right now. They were the ones who killed our messenger.

Ike I know that General Zelgius can't disobey orders from the senate. But what about the apostle? She's Begnion's supreme leader, right? Can't we just contact her directly?

Reyson Trust me, we tried. All our efforts were in vain. It's not just the laguz, either. Tanith said that the apostle won't even meet with the Holy Guards these days.

Ranulf Wait, she won't meet with Tanith? But Tanith has been at her side forever! There's something very wrong with all this...

Ike What is happening in Begnion?

Tibarn Well, we'll stick around and see what happens. The Laguz Alliance will disband temporarily. The problem is Gallia's retreat. You've got a lot of ground to cover before Begnion attacks in three days.

Ranulf Agreed...