You'd Better Love Me for This...
The Explanation
After the Marquis has Vaan and friends arrested, they are taken to Judge Ghis on the Dreadnought Leviathan. There, Ashe a.k.a. Amalia, confronts Judge Ghis. After a very pleasant conversation, Basch mention something called the Dusk Shard. The 'shiny rock' (as Jowy put it) that Vaan has been carrying the whole time (I wonder where he stored it?..) is actually-dun dun dun dun-the Dusk Shard! The Dusk Shard being a piece of nethicite that can prove Ashe's royal heritage.
Anyways, Ghis demands the Dusk Shard-and Vann submissively hands it over-and then, because they've been such a good help, Ghis rewards them by having them...imprisoned? Yes, imprisoned; complete with Ashe stored off in separate quarters.
Next, we see over favorite yaoi star Vaan and his cheeky pals being taken to the brig. But a mistake by an over-eager Imperial leads to a small rumble, aided by one of the mysterious guards. Who is this guard?...It's the sexy hunk of man candy we know as Vossler!
Then you have to go through the ship and rescue the Princess, fighting guards, dodging beams-bla bla bla...
After fighting a mini-boss battle against some mini-Judges, you gain the No. 1 Brig Key!
OMFGZORZ!
Then, you make your way to the holding cells where you finally find Ashe. You then have to do this crazy sprint all the way back to the beginning of the ship or something like that. Anyways, while you're running back towards the front of the ship...Guess who we run into?...
Larsa and Penelo!
Larsa informs us that-*gasp*-Ghis knows about the prison break! He then tells Vossler to follow him (to what can be assumed an escape airship), leaving the party without Vossler. But before he leaves, he gives his right hand woman Penelo the blue sample of nethicite he's been carrying (Remember in the Lhusu Mines?). Also, to replace the sexy, broadsword-swinging, tough-as-nails general, Vossler, you get...Penelo...>_>
Then, we arrive in the Port Launch. There we meet...Judge Ghis! And he doesn't look happy...He tells Ashe that Archadia pretty much finds her useless at this point, so he tries to kill her with a magick spell. BUT, the nethicite sample Penelo was given by Larsa absorbs the spell! That's when Ghis gets pissed and you have to fight him...
After you mercilessly slaughter Judge Ghis, Vossler runs in (Just a minute too late to help us kill that SOB, Ghis!), and says he's got an Atomos airship (lol liek teh sumonn!?) for them to escape on. Fran then expertly flies them all the way to Bhujerba.
After arriving in Bhujerba, Ashe talks with Ondore (Uncle Halim), about how he should support the [strike]insurgents[/strike] resistance. But then, Ondore says that until Ashe gets the Dusk Shard back (proof of her lineage), the Gran Kiltias (Ivalice's pope) on Mt Bur-Omisace won't recognize her as the queen.
Later on that night, Ashe goes all Cuban Nationalist on us and tries to hijack the Strahl from Balthier. Vaan catches her and then Balthier walks in. Then Ashe comes up with a plan: If Balthier helps her, she will lead him to something called the Dynast-King's treasure in the Tomb of King Raithwall. Balthier naturally joins in (along with Fran), Basch joins in 'cause he wants to protect Ashe, and Vaan and Penelo, being the little tagalongs that they are, decide to come along so they can play pretend sky pirates and just generally get in the way.
Next, we see Emperor Gramis and Judge Gabranth (in Archades) talk about the going ons at the shady Draklor Laboratries-the Empire's primary weapons factory. The Emperor then asks Gabranth to guard Larsa-and keep a close eye on Vayne...
*Fast Forward through the Sandseas and Tomb of Raithwall*
After exiting the Tomb of Raithwall, Ashe and co. are captured by an Imperial fleet-led by none other than...the Dreadnought Leviathan!
Soon they find...Judge Ghis ( xO I thought we killed him!). This time, Ghis wants the nethicite. Not Penelo's puny imitation manufacted nethicite, but the real deal deifacted nethicite-The newly acquired Dawn Shard! For whatever reason, Vayne wants all three of the great nethicite shards (The Dawn Shard, the Dusk Shard, and the Midlight Shard). Ashe then hands over the stone-and the party is sent to another airship-the Light Cruiser Shiva-while his peeps experiment on the Dawn Shard.
The party is on the Light Cruiser Shiva-being taken to what can be assumed to be the prison cells-while the Dawn Shard is being assessed on the Leviathan. It soon becomes obvious Ghis is trying to steal the throne from Vayne using the Dawn Shard. But what he didn't count on was...
Fran is in a homicidal freakout frenzy rampage ballistic panic attack-because of the experiments on the Dawn Shard (Viera being sensitive to fluctuations in the Mist and all that jazz...). Fran then beats to death with her bare hands the guards. The party then tries to escape but they're being blocked from their escape by...
VOSSLER!?
stfu! wut iz goin on????...
Apparently, Vossler's Dalmascan patriotism has driven him to the dark side...Then, we have to fight him!
After Vossler dies (for good, unlike stupid Ghis!), we see what's going on in the Leviathan. Pure havoc. The Dawn Shard is overloading the Leviathan's systems, and they're all probably going to die (except for Ghis of course).
The Leviathan then explodes, causing the Shiva (and the rest of the fleet to go down with it)! But somehow, Balthier is able to pilot an airship out of the swirling inferno and chase after the Dawn Shard (It survived the explosion, and the party was able to spot it, despite the fact it can fit in the palms of your hand?...)
I can't believe I just typed all of that up for you guys...