Idea for a plot point

[Raqrie_Tohka]

Well I would still like to meet those engineers. Send us to Garlemald already!

Edit: I still got questions:
1. If their base was still operational, why didn't they keep sending fleets of airships against us? (though I vaguely remember this answered somewhere before.)
2. When we "liberated" the place, shouldn't we have captured lots of equipment and personnel if it was indeed one of their supply fortresses? Why wasn't there more explicit story/plot on this aspect?
3. I know i will never be as imaginative as the devs, but please consider some of the ideas here, and please make FFXIV focused on story more.

[ObsidianFire]

Well I would still like to meet those engineers.

Ironically, we've met a lot of them already. We've certainly met the most influential engineers Garlemald has. Cid and Nero came up with a lot of the airship and reaper technology when they were both at the Magitek Academy together. It's entirely possible that the flagship and all other Garlean military airships we see were designed by them. However, Cid defected after one of his father's experiments killed him. Nero was part of the Legion that went (and largely stayed) AWoL. Neither of them have a lot of reason (or desire) to go back to working for Garlemald. That would also go to a sizable portion of the Ironworks engineers. Many of them are originally from Garlemald and wanted out of Garlemald so they could decide what they wanted to work on instead of the government picking for them.

1. If their base was still operational, why didn't they keep sending fleets of airships against us? (though I vaguely remember this answered somewhere before.)

Apparently, the Battle of Silvertear Skies did... something. Whatever that that something was it stopped the XIVth Legion in it's tracks and prevented them from going into Eorzea for the next fifteen odd years. What that "something" is, we don't know. We do know it has something to do with Silvertear Lake though. That said, the only reason why we know any of that is because of Koji telling us that's why the XIVth Legion didn't resume invading Eorzea until Nael was handed the Metor project.

2. When we "liberated" the place, shouldn't we have captured lots of equipment and personnel if it was indeed one of their supply fortresses? Why wasn't there more explicit story/plot on this aspect?

You see this happening in 4.1 when the Resistance members are going over the place Aulus was doing his research on the Resonant. You also see it in the very first MSQ quest of StB when you go to Castrum Orines, a Castrum the Alliance has occupied. Other examples would be Castellum Velodyna when it's and Castrum Abania and even Ala Mhigo itself.

3. I know i will never be as imaginative as the devs, but please consider some of the ideas here, and please make FFXIV focused on story more.

For an MMO, FFXIV is very heavily story focused. In fact, many of the people who play FFXIV only for the gameplay complain about a story being involved in everything. If you haven't already, I highly suggest getting the lore books. Those have tones of story in them, a lot of which has never and probably will never make it into the game because of the limits inherent in a game's medium as opposed to a book's.

[Cilia]

Just... ehh... elucidating a few points.

Neither [Cid nor Nero] have a lot of reason (or desire) to go back to working for Garlemald.

What led to Cid's defection, specifically, was the incident at Bozja. Aside from it claiming the life of his father (who could be considered semi-tempered by Bahamut at that point, or at least so obsessed with Meteor he may as well have been) it was Solus' willingness to continue the experiments and weaponize Meteor despite the risks it posed that led to his defection. His conscience simply couldn't abide what Solus wanted to do, and he's remained an expatriate due to disgust for the Empire's imperialism and brutality (another factor leading to his defection was the conquest of Ala Mhigo which, while quick, was supposedly incredibly brutal).

Nero can't go back to Garlemald even if he wants - since he was part of the XIVth which went rogue, he's wanted for desertion and that's apparently punishable by death. He joined the military only for the opportunity to get up close and personal with Allagan tech since engineers only got the scraps the military didn't want. (Despite his outward disdain for the Eorzeans' simpler lifestyles, he seems happier as an itinerant engineer in the region.)

Apparently, the Battle of Silvertear Skies did... something. Whatever that that something was it stopped the XIVth Legion in it's tracks and prevented them from going into Eorzea for the next fifteen odd years. What that "something" is, we don't know. We do know it has something to do with Silvertear Lake though. That said, the only reason why we know any of that is because of Koji telling us that's why the XIVth Legion didn't resume invading Eorzea until Nael was handed the Metor project.

The point of invading Silvertear was to gain control of the aether in the region. Midgardsormr threw a gigantic monkey wrench into those plans; not only did he halt the attack, his death made it possible to summon eikons in the first place (no records of summons exist prior to this event). Nobody's really sure what kept the Garleans holed up in Ala Mhigo for 15 years, but it's plausible Gaius was simply being shrewd and not attacking to prevent those summons. He refused to march on Eorzea again until he had a way to permanently deal with eikons, having the foresight to recognize that attacking would simply cause the same summons he wanted to prevent. (Meteor being the nuclear option would make them a nonissue in the end.)