Rivals Collide/Script

Before Battle (Laguz Alliance Camp)
Ike The Daein army is working with Begnion? That's unexpected, to say the least...

Ranulf Why would Daein join the war? I thought all their resources would be tied up in reconstruction.

Tibarn Yeah, that bothers me too. There's something weird about all of this. Didn't Daein resent Begnion's occupation? Why would they be so quick to help out their former enemy?

Skrimir Why does not matter. We are running out of time. We must deal with this quickly, if we are to get home.

Ike General Skrimir! Have you recovered from your wounds already?

Skrimir Yes. Do not underestimate the healing power of the beast tribe.

Ranulf All right, everyone's here. Let's begin the meeting.

Ranulf The immediate threat is the Daein army. They're dug in around the area that we'll have to use to cross the Ribahn. Maybe we can find another spot to cross?

Soren No, we can't afford it. If we waste any more time, the Central Army will catch up to us. If that happens, we're dead.

Ike Ranulf, tell me your impression of the Daein army. Anything special?

Ranulf ...Well, there weren't very many of them, but their morale was really up there. Their commander seemed very clever, as well.

Soren It must be the Maiden of Dawn.

Ike Who?

Soren She was the hero of the recent Daein uprising. Micaiah is her name, if I recall correctly. Supposedly she has performed miracles and turned many losing battles into victories. An interesting figure.

Ranulf Miracles? I'm finding that a bit hard to swallow. Are you sure about that?

Soren Who knows? Personally, I doubt it. All I know is that the Daein army believes in her miracles, which makes her dangerous.

Soren This Maiden of Dawn is supposed to be the savior of Daein, whose miraculous powers freed their people from tyranny. In other words, her followers are fanatics who see her as a goddess. She will make a formidable enemy.

Ranulf If we attack them head-on, the fighting won't stop until one side is decimated. There's got to be a way to avoid that, right?

Tibarn What about a decoy force, like we've used in the past?

Titania The decoy only worked because the enemy didn't expect it. I wouldn't count on the same strategy working twice.

Soren Not necessarily. The empire assumes superiority over all other countries. Begnion is only using the Daein army as a pawn to stop us, and likely won't care if it is destroyed in the process. As such, the Daein army is most likely uninformed about our past tactics.

Ranulf You might have a point there. I went scouting after the fog cleared, and their forces looked really unprepared to fight us. They had no ballistae, and they hadn't fielded many fire mages. It felt like they didn't know a thing about fighting laguz.

Soren Then we should definitely have a decoy force hit them head-on, while the bulk of the army crosses the river in the meantime.

Ike I'll head up the decoy force, then. The armies of Gallia and Phoenicis can cross the river while we fight.

Ranulf I'll go with you, Ike. Daein would get suspicious if they didn't see any laguz in the enemy force.

Titania Sounds like a plan to me. Take some of my men as well, if you want. I don't want their talons getting dull.

Ranulf The Laguz Alliance may have lost the war of might. But we haven't lost the war to save the lives of our brothers! This fight will be ours!

Skrimir Yes! With the fangs and wings of the laguz and the knowledge of the beorc, we will return home!

Reyson Daein cannot stop us now, just as they could not stop us during the Mad King's War. We can do this!

Before Battle (Ribahn River)
Sothe The laguz failed to cross the river. This is their last chance to try. This time, they'll attack with beorc as well.

Micaiah Sothe, you know what that means. If we end up fighting beorc...

Sothe I know. We'll probably be fighting the Greil Mercenaries. I'm aware. It's not going to be pretty.

Micaiah Sothe. Tell me more about Commander Ike.

Sothe Why? You used to hate it when I said anything about him.

Micaiah I want to know more about the man I'll be fighting against. What kind of a person is he?

Sothe Well, let's see... He's generous. He doesn't care about petty things. He holds no prejudice against laguz, nor does he care about the opinions of the nobles. He's a master swordsman. He accomplishes everything he sets out to do. He's a true hero.

Micaiah I see. He sounds...quite different from King Pelleas.

Sothe Micaiah, they don't even compare. King Pelleas lacks any leadership or decision-making skills.

Micaiah ...That may be, but I believe in King Pelleas. His heart is in the right place. I believe in his virtuous nature and his commitment to being a good king...

Sothe Even though he would set you out on a war that doesn't involve Daein at all? A war of bigotry and hate, fighting on the same side as our real enemies? You're smarter than this, Micaiah.

Micaiah Sothe, we've been through this. I know we're about to fight Ike and the Greil Mercenaries, but I...

Ike It's time. Shall we?

Ranulf Sigh... Those two are still here. So much for friendly advice, I guess. Now it's friends against friends... Things are getting crazy around here.

Daein Soldier 1 The enemy is on the move. They're crossing the river! There are humans among the beasts!

Sothe Here he comes.

Micaiah Without the advantage of an ambush, this fight is sure to be tougher than our last one.

Janaff and Ulki alive
Ulki ...Janaff. The king is calling us.

Janaff Hmm, right. Good! Looks like we did it!

Janaff Ike! The main force has crossed the river. We did it!

Ike Excellent. Everyone, push through! Let's meet up with the main force!

Janaff dead; Ulki alive
Ulki ...General Ike. A message from my king. The others have crossed the river. We've done our duty.

Ike Excellent. Everyone, push through! Let's meet up with the main force!

Janaff alive; Ulki dead
Janaff Hm... It's about time. Good! Looks like we've done it!

Janaff Ike! The main force has crossed the river. We did it!

Ike Excellent. Everyone, push through! Let's meet up with the main force!

Janaff and Ulki dead
Ike That's the signal from Tibarn. We did it! Everyone, push through! Let's meet up with the main force!

Daein Soldier 1 The beast soldiers are behind us! We're being attacked from behind!

Micaiah The Gallians?! How did they cross the river?!

Daein Soldier 1 It's not just the beasts! There are hundreds of hawks, as well!

Sothe Even the hawk tribe is here? The Begnion army never told us that they had moved out...

Micaiah ...They got us. Commander Ike's force was just a decoy.

Sothe Staying will only increase casualties. Let's retreat.

Daein Soldier 1 No, Maiden! We can still fight! Please give us your orders!

Sothe I have. We shall retreat! I will not let all of you die in vain!

Daein Soldier 1 But...

Micaiah General's orders. We kept our losses to a minimum. That's enough for this battle.

Daein Soldier 1 Yes, sir!

Micaiah Micaiah, I'm surprised. This is the first time you couldn't predict the enemy's movement.

Sothe ...You're right.

Micaiah Micaiah?!

Micaiah What's wrong?!

Sothe Sothe, don't... Just act...normal. Everyone...is watching...

After Battle (Daein)
Pelleas What? Micaiah failed to eradicate the Laguz Alliance?! No!

Lekain Hmm, this looks bad, King Pelleas. Is this how the people of Daein repay Begnion for all the kindness it has offered them? I'm afraid Daein and the senate's friendly relationship stops here.

Pelleas P-please, wait! Give me one more chance, I beg of you!

Lekain Well, well... Since you begged, I suppose... I will consider it.

Pelleas Please, just listen... Daein remains loyal to the senate. We will carry out any task given to us. Your whim is our command. Just, please give us another chance!

Lekain Very well. We shall overlook your failure this one time. But only once. Farewell, young king of Daein.

??? Pelleas...

Pelleas ...Mother!

Almedha That man you were speaking with... He is a senator from Begnion, correct? Duke Lekain of Gaddos, I believe? He was here before as part of the empire's inspection team. He came in Duke Persis's stead.

Pelleas Yes. You are quite right, Mother. That was Vice-Minister Lekain of Begnion. So you saw us together...

Almedha Tell Mother what happened. You look absolutely terrified. Does that man have something on you? Is he trying to hurt you? It's all right to tell your mother th--

Pelleas No. It's quite all right, Mother. We were talking about the future of our two countries, and how we might...repair our relations.

Almedha But--

Pelleas Please go back to your room. I shall go rest as well. I find myself very tired of late.

Almedha Pelleas... Wait! Oh, my son...