ITEMS TO GET: Lunar Rod, D Circuit, Serpent GWhip, SuperGoggles, PremiumShoes, Mentsol, [Ygg D.Charge]

   Meanwhile, Fei and Elly are picked up by the floating city Thames, where you meet Hans, another penguin. He tells you to go speak with the Captain, then wanders off, leaving you free to explore.

Thames Map

   On the Armor Ground (where you are), you can find item and equipment shops, in the upper-right and upper-left corners, respectively. These stores have a lot of great stuff, including new weapons for Elly and Bart, and better armor. Go ahead and buy stuff for characters who aren't in your active party right now; you can equip it on them later. There's also a save point, should you want it.

   Leave the Armor Ground screen and go to the Salvage Dock (both entrances will take you to exactly the same place). Head north across the big black gun onto the crates. Drop down to th east and walk across the wooden plank and the giant knife (if you fall off, just go up the stairs to the south and try again). Hop up the hanging platforms and grab the Lunar Rod from the chest. It's not as strong as the Marshall Rod, but it puts enemies to sleep. Generally, it's not worth using.

   Head to the south area of the dock, on the lower level. Go into the small room and walk to the southwest corner. Drop off the south edge into the room below (you should land on a crate). Drop down to the north and collect a D Circuit from the chest. It boosts your agility underwater; equip it on either Weltall or Vierge, then give the O2 Cylinder (from the Goliath Factory) to the other.

   In the upper-left corner, you'll find a kid who will challenge you to a game of Speed (the card game). If you're not familiar with the game, the kid does a pretty good job of explaining the rules. You can play either the R1 and L1 buttons, or the Triangle and Square buttons. Although the former might seem more intuitive, I find it's easy to get them mixed up with the directional buttons, so I recommend using Triangle and Square instead. There's really not a lot of strategy to this game (it's just reflexes), but here's a few tips:

• If you get into a "one-two" situation, position yourself over a card before the "one-two" call. This way, you might be able to play the card as soon as the new cards are turned up.
• If there's no plays available for you, turn over some cards in the empty spots. Try to always have as many cards face-up as you can (but go for actual plays first).
• If you get into a situation where your opponent can't play any cards but you can, stop for a moment and figure out how you can play as many cards as possible in the shortest amount of time. The game will wait for you; you can plan as long as you want.

   Really, the key to this game is just seeing the available plays and making them as fast as you can. In any case, you should be able to dust the kid after a few tries; he'll then fork over the SuperGoggles and refuse to play you any more. Give the SuperGoggles to Elly; they'll help shore up her horrendously low hit rate.

   Jump up on the crate just to the east of the Speed kid, and from there leap over the fence. Grab the Serpent GWhip from the chest, then exit via the barrel. The guy you're now standing next to is the Gear Shop; buy two Grounds (you should now have three; counting the one you picked up in the factory) and a D Circuit. Equip one of the Grounds on both of your Gears. Then refit Weltall, Vierge, and Brigandier with new frames, engines, and armor (don't bother upgrading Heimdal and Stier, you won't be using them for a while).

   BTW, there's one other chest in this area; it's the one that's one the moving platform overhead. However, I have no idea how to get to it; if anybody can tell me how to get it and what's in it, it would be appreciated.

   To travel to the rest of the ship, you'll need to use the Screw Elevator. There's two entrances to it; one near the Gear shop and one on the main deck. To use it, go inside and then exit again; you'll be presented with a list of floors. First, go to the sick bay on the second floor. Here, you can rest by talking to the doctor. Then take the west exit up to the third floor, the Beer Hall. In the southwest corner (you'll have to rotate the camera to see him) is a guy whom you can play Speed against; he'll reward you with the PremiumShoes if you beat him. Also, climb up the ladder onto the pipe and talk to the kid for a free Mentsol.

   The fourth floor is the Bridge; you can reach here either from the northern door in the Beer Hall or just from the Screw Elevator. Talk to the walrus guy in the red clothing; he's the Captain. After performing his famous "Man of the Sea" routine, he'll invite you to join him in the Beer Hall. Go back there and talk to him. There will be some scenes introducing Kelvena (should be Cherubina), the leader of the Elements. Afterwards, go back to the bridge and talk to the Captain again. He'll bring up your Gears so you can fight the Solaris forces. If you didn't upgrade your Gears earlier, go back to the Gear Shop and make sure Weltall and Vierge both have Grounds and O2 Cylinders/D Circuits. Otherwise, just go straight to the deck (the "map"), where your Gears are waiting. Go up to them and enter. You'll automatically fly to the Yggdrasil, where Bart joins you to take on the Haisho/Haishao (it's called the Haisho in battle, but Haishao in the dialogue) underwater.

   This isn't too difficult a battle; the Haisho will open the battle by using Nereid Cyclone to do about 900 damage to each member of your party, but then it degenerates into using Electric Arm, which only hits one character for about 350 (and even less if you've got Grounds equipped). Just pound it on with your Deathblows and you should win pretty easily. After you do enough damage to it, Bart will call in a strike from the Yggdrasil, and Brigandier will receive the Yggdrasil Depth Charge Option.