Chapter 9

Item	Gem Color
Figure Token	Blue
5000z	Blue
Beam Miracle S	Green
100 Tank Energy	Yellow
Figure Token	Blue
Unlock Limiter	Blue
Gain Hyper	Blue
3000 FME	Blue
Backup	Blue
Cure All	Blue
Build Speed	Blue
Build LE	Blue
Build Hyper	Blue
Build Armor	Blue
Build WE	Blue
Build Speed	Blue
25 Tank Energy	Yellow
50 Tank Energy	Yellow
Z Sabre +++	Green
Vitality Missiles	Green
Tank Parts	Pink
50 Tank Energy	Yellow
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
Super Absorber	Green
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
Figure Token	Blue
100 Tank Energy	Yellow
Gain Hyper	Blue

Note 1: Before I go on here, I should note that after this one, you will not be able to access Central Tower for a while, so if there are some items you'd like to get (optional areas, Mechaniloid Deployment, missed items (Treasure Tokens), or the items from the Eternal Forest), do so before entering this mission. You'll have to wait til you beat the game if you choose to go on.

Note 2: This is one of the most frustrating levels with the lasers. Be prepared to spend some time in those areas if you want to get all the items (this includes Treasure Tokens for you GCN people).

Final Note: When you get to the Glaicer, BEWARE of the Preon S Faces! These nasty enemies will use their "Damage Charge" to taunt you continously. However, do NOT attack them in this stance. Each time you do, they'll get stronger, and eventually be able to kill one of your party members, so wait til after they use their "Discharge" (at 0 power hopefully) to attack them before they can go back into their Damage Charge stance again.

Before this mission starts, you've gotta go take down another Cadre! Heal up, change your offense to Fire and defense to Thunder, and use the Air Bus to get where Scarface, the second-in-command of the Rebellion, waits for you.

How to beat him: Scarface will counter the same attack that he's hit with, so make sure to have altenating attacks for him. Also, if you got the Reverse Thunder Force Metal from the Gimialla Mine (via the Mechaniloid Deployment mini-game), equip it to a character along with a Bait Subweapon so that when Scarface attacks that character, he actually HEALS them! It's a fun trick to do once you've got all three Reverse Force Metals.

Once Scarface has been defeated, he'll retreat, so go shopping at the Arcade. You're going to see a lot of Preons in this next area, so it wouldn't be too wise to go in without Axl's Preon Killer weapon. When you're set, go talk to Nana to find out that the Rebellion's base might be at the Glaicer, a Reploid testing field under some of the harshest conditions (hey, that'd make sure that no one came to bother them, right?).

The final challenges are ahead, so be prepared. Check the Optional Areas section as well as the Alternate Eternal Forest Paths to pick up anything you think you might need. I would not go into these final battles without the Ultimate Armors for X and Zero or the Elemental Reverse Force Metals. Also, try to get all the Sub-Tanks you can (there will be at least one you won't have completed til later, but you'll have at least 9 for the final battles). Also, raise your levels as high as you can and agument the team's stats with the Build Items as well as well as create as many Force Metals that you'll need. When you're set, it's time to go into the Glaicer to confront the big boss man Epsilon himself.

You'll see a Save Point once you enter, so use it. You won't see one for a while. One note here: You'll see a lot of doors in this area, but not all you can go through. Make sure to keep an eye on the map to see which ones you can go through, and which ones you can't! Once you enter the door that you can go through, you're locked in! The only way to get out is to trigger the security laser and fight the Preons to reopen the door. Get used to this, since this'll be how most of this area will be played out. Also, though the beam is slow here, it gets a LOT faster in the upcoming areas. Also, note the colors of the beam. Green means you can leave; yellow means you can still leave; and red means you're locked in and must fight the guards again. Axl will be VERY useful for this area if you got him a Preon Killer weapon. In the next area, you fight two beams to open the doors. After you do, you have a choice to make. You can go west to the dead-end door and get 5000z and a Figure Token behind some more security beams. Since these beams are slow, it's okay to do so. After you get them, it's time to head north.

In the next area, you have to unlock three beams in order to unlock the doors. To get to the eastern door, start with the western door and move east. The room has a panel to unlock the laser gate you saw coming in, and it also has a deactivated Bladey as well. When you head back out, you'll have to deactivate the beams again, so do so and head southeast to get the Beam Miracle S weapon for Marino. Head back to the laser gate (it's in the same area with the Save Point) and take the telaporter to the next area.

First thing's first here. Get the Tank Energy 100. Now, you'll be heading into a big circle. This is Area C. There's three beams here and five doors. If you want to get to the next area, just take the north door. However, if you want the items, here's where each of them are:

Door	Item
Southwest	Figure Token
Southeast	3000 FME
Northwest	Unlock Limiter
Northeast	Gain Hyper

There's not a lot of time to get to the door of your choice, so be quick! Personally, though, I'd get the Gain Hyper, since those are rare to come by. ~_^ Anyhow, once you head north, you're in Level B. Be warned that these are the QUICKEST of the beams to disable, since they'll go to red very quickly. You need to get to the door while they're still on yellow if you don't want to face 'em again, since the Preon battles here are pretty tough. Head through the center door to get to your next destination.

Note: The two dead-end rooms you should only go in if you're playing the GCN version of the game. They have a Treasure Token each.

Remember the note earlier about the Preon S Faces? Well, this is the area, you're going to be facing 'em as well as the Preon S Epsilons and the other two Preon types of the other Cadres you beat earlier, so be warned. The harder the baddies, the closer you are to the boss.

This next area has a Save Point, so I'd make use of it if I were you. Next, you head into the area known as the Battle Field, but don't worry. You don't have to fight anything here. Just grab the six items here: Build Speed, Build LE, Build Hyper, Build Armor, Build WE, and Build Shield. Now, it's time to head to the telaporter to the next area. In this next area, take the Tank Energy 25 and Tank Energy 50 and head into the next room. This is the Revolver Shaft. See the two columns in front of you? Well, those are the two controls to this area. You get to activate one column, the room rotates, and you get whatever's behind the door? Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it's not, since there's bad guys behind three doors, prizes behind three doors, the entrance is the one you came in, and the exit behind one door. Also, the two columns rotate the room in different ways. The left side goes 3+ (Clockwise), and the right goes 2- (Counterclockwise). Use the chart below to figure out where you want to go. If you're just wanting to get to the end, use the left one twice and then the right one twice, but if you want to get the items (and avoid the enemies), have fun finding them out!

Door Number	Contents
1	Room Entrance
2	Enemies
3	Exit to next area
4	Z Saber+++
5	Enemies
6	Vitality Missiles
7	Tank Parts
8	Enemies

Now that you're outta that crazy room, grab the Tank Energy 50. Time to head up to the next level with the telaporter. You're now in the Level S Top Security Zone. It has a Save Point, and beyond the door is a trio of powerful Preon S Epsilons to boot, so I hope you're set. Make sure to have Fire Protection Force Metals intalled to protect yourself. They're guarding Epsilon's inner sanctum, but even after you beat them, you have to go through the two doors at the top of the two staircases before you can enter the door. The east wing has a Figure Token in the closet to the east, and there's a Super Absorber along with one of the door release panels. Yup, there's two, so guess where the other one is? Yup, in the west wing along with a Figure Token. Once that's done, it's time to head to the Final Gate.

The Final Gate area has two Tank Energy 100 refils and a Gain Hyper. Best make sure you're ready, since you're going to be facing Scarface again before you take on Epsilon not once, but TWICE! When you're ready, head through the door.

Wee-hee! Finally in this cutscene, we get to see X shoot that X-Buster of his (at least he's not just pointing it)! First up, it's Scarface, so I hope you're prepped for him.

How to beat him: He's a tad stronger than before, but don't switch your weapons out (unless you've got Thunder, that is, and no Thunder protection), since you can't change weapons before the next fight. He's got a bit more HP this time around, but you're likely stronger now. Add Subweapons that help out with offense, like Power Charge and Generator, and for Zero, Heat Haze if you want. WE+ Force Metals are quite handy here as well, if you need 'em. You can steal from him to get a Tank Energy 100, and once he goes down, you might get a Thunder Buster MKIII or a Thunder Saber+.

Well, now you've managed to take down one of the two here, so guess what? Time to take down the big boss man and put a stop to the Rebellion once and for all!

How to beat him: There's two forms here, and this is the first of the two, so be ready. I recommend not using Hyper Modes until the second form (unless you've got a good store of Gain Hypers). Be ready with the Subtanks, as he usually opens up with a nasty move, the Meta Crush, which reduces one character's LE down to 1, and that's never a good thing. Hopefully, you've got guards for all three elements (you should for Thunder at least), since he also has element attacks of all three elements, and his Nova Thunder attack will do 1000 points of damage to all party members. He's not too fast either, so at least you have that working for you. Steal from him to get a Protect +5 and a Full Specs +3. Just keep hammering him with pumped up regular attacks and the occassional Action Trigger. When you deplete his HP, he activates the Omega Force and seriously pumps up his power ratings and restores his HP, so if you got turns before that comes up, heal or guard!

How to beat him: This is the time to break out the two Ultimate Armor Hyper Modes (if you got them)! You don't want to give Epsilon a chance to unleash his full fury, do you? Also, remember the Meta Crush and Nova Thunder? He uses those a LOT more, and he restores a ton of HP (just like the Belladonnas and Raffelsian did). He also does the same thing that Scarface does as well, so be warned. If you manage to steal from him, you'll get a Gain Hyper and a Build Hyper. If you've agumented X and Zero with WE+ Force Metals, they should be able to do a LOT of damage with their Action Triggers with possibly tens of thousands of damage to Epsilon each turn! When Epsilon goes down, you'll get Tank Parts and some Force Tomahawks.

NOW guess what? There's Redips again (gee, where was he earlier? I thought he'd help them out somehow...) to congradulate the Hunters on taking down Epsilon, but note that there's a tenth chapter.... We're not done JUST yet....

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Chapter 9: When Giants Duel