Last Letter (ラスト レター Rasuto Retā) is a theme from Thunder Force V. It is played at the end of the game where the Guardian causes a break down on the WorldNet and gives its last message to Cenes Crawford about the destruction of Vasteel Technology and asks her to keep humanity away from the RVR-02 Vambrace to prevent another massacre just like Rynex did on its previous service.
Guardian's Last Letter[1]
I am cyborg humanity.
Cyborg animals.
Cyborg flowers.
A cyborg world.
And my name is the Guardian.
[Soldier/Human], listen to me.
All the things [created using Vasteel/that surpass human power] have been destroyed [by me/by you].
Their number was too great, but now has been reduced to the proper level.
The world will continue as it was before.
The living creatures of this planet will continue [to rejoice in/fear battle], and [die in/live by combat].
But even in a world of minor warfare, one oversight could mean...
RVR-01 Gauntlet: Destroyed.
RVR-02 Vambrace: Operational.
The existence of Vambrace will once again cause humanity to embrace mass death and destruction, just as Vasteel did.
This I know.
You know it too, do you not?
[Soldier/Human].
If you wish to safeguard the future of humanity, you must make sure humans can never again gain access to Vambrace...
[Soldier/Human], May fortune be with you...
Curiosities
- Depending on which version of Thunder Force V is played, the ending message will vary. The SPAZ/Working Designs version says "TunderForce V: Mission Complete!", while the japanese version says "Thunder Force V: Be over."
- Last Letter is parodied in the "Bad Ending" from Thunder Force VI where ORN Faust sends a message asking humanity to change its way and wake up in the right direction which implies to join forces with the ORN Empire.
Difference between Sega Saturn and PlayStation versions
While the original Sega Saturn version proceeded with an in-game credits, the PlayStation version replaced the cutscene by a CGI cutscene, to which both of them display the RVR-02 Vambrace escaping the Judgement Sword, albeit with a few differences :
- in the Sega Saturn credits, Vambrace is shown to have its wings deployed as Cenes swiftly escapes the Judgement Sword's destruction, followed by her ship flying away as the moon disclose the cutscene;
- in the PlayStation credits, Vambrace is initially taking off before being caught by a shockwave that disbalanced her ship, causing Cenes to change Vambrace's mode to deploy its wings, speeding up before getting caught by the explosion beneath her. Following the same scene as the Sega Saturn version, Vambrace narrowly escapes the Judgement Sword's explosion and is shown to fly back to Earth safely, before receiving the Guardian's last letter.
- The PlayStation credits features two versions of the said cutscene : one with the credits but without the sound effects (obtained after finishing the game on Normal difficulty) and another one without the credits but with the sound effects (obtained after finishing the game on Hard or Master).