Eclipse Contact

Eclipse Contact was a Challenge story in Mobius Final Fantasy. Set in a projection of a redesigned Midgar, it was the first active collaboration between Mobius and the still-forthcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Scenario
Wol and his Echo suddenly find themselves in a sprawling metropolis, a massive web of cold steel and cement with the scent of something burning and a neon glow throughout. Before the pair can get acclimated with their surroundings, Wol is attacked by a security detachment from the city's reigning government. As he brings them down, he is met by a mysterious man who seems very familiar with the attackers. The two have barely met when reinforcements arrive, but the mystery man leaves for one of the smoking buildings without so much as a second thought. Wol must quickly follow behind to investigate the matter for himself.

Under pressure from Wol, the man identifies himself as Cloud. He cannot remember how he got to Palamecia, much less why his "home" was reconstructed there. He does, however, remember hearing a voice before he arrived. Cloud also remembers that he has to shut down the smoking buildings—Mako reactors—because they are sucking the planet dry of its life force in his original world. This leaves Wol and his Echo just as confused as before the meeting with Cloud; they struggle to understand why this could also be happening on Palamecia. Nonetheless, the pair continues to pursue Cloud, and eventually they resolve to cooperate in order to shut down Reactor 01. All the while, the Echo makes the observation that the two men are similar; neither has a past, and both are sarcastically cold, knowing only to fight. Each denies that this is the case, and Cloud wants nothing to do with Wol himself. A Guard Scorpion lies in wait, but is quickly defeated.

Wol and company proceed through the next reactor, but this time, they trip various security alarms, summoning the guard and cutting off the quicker paths to the reactor complex's deeper levels and its central core. Plodding through mazes of alarms and switches, the trio reaches the second core and squares off with another Guard Scorpion, Mk. II. This also is dispatched. Meanwhile, Cloud ponders whether he is but a shadow of himself, though the quest rolls on.

The three reach a third Mako reactor, far more complex than the last with more puzzles and traps to solve. The trek is slow-going, but the reactor core is eventually reached in an isolated zone. Realizing that the reactors are now a Palamecia problem, Wol forces Cloud to step back as he fights the final Guard Scorpion. In the process, Wol recovers a crystal filled with Mako. This crystal, Cloud's light, may yet be his ticket home, his Promised Land. Though reluctant to go, Cloud takes the crystal, and vanishes. Wol, meanwhile, wonders if the same will help him return to a life he once knew. He cannot, the Echo explains, as he is integral to Palamecia's fate, as is she.

Unbeknownst to both, a fourth reactor, ∞, is still functional. Reaffirming his resolve to fight, Wol proceeds to shut down the complex, a maze of test chambers connected by locked doors, switches, and Mako-powered teleporters. Most of the journey is quiet, though Wol eventually triggers the central core's alarm systems. He nonetheless reaches the core and shuts it down.