Quote Originally Posted by Jandor View Post
An outside force of magic flying space aliens fighting the Empire to a standstill at the cost of their own millennia old leaders body is probably the worst example
Within the context of the game world it isn't. The Garleans don't know that dragons are aliens, for one thing. For another, to them Eorzea is a frontier. Not only do they struggle to combat Primals without recent technological marvels, but the amount of resources they pooled into the Agrius was substantially high. They sent it in, fully expecting it to absolutely crush all opposition and raze Eorzea mostly to the ground. Instead, it's a scrap heap in the middle of a lake.

Also, aerial superiority doesn't mean as much in this world, as it does in ours. Case in point, flying Imperial dropships bombard you during the last segment of Keeper of the Lake. Not only are these bombardments non-lethal, we can anticipate where they land more precisely than the Garleans aiming them. Without a rapid fire bombardment, their normal air units can't even touch us.

Add to this, they tried the same trick twice. They built yet another dreadnaught, being a FF Empire, they are addicted to constructing them. It has been unable to leave Azys Lla for at least 15 months by my count from battle damage sustained from fighting ONE Primal.

So Garlean Dreadnaughts are O and 2 vs. Filthy Savage Magicks/Filthy Frontier Dragons. They're about to be O and 3.

To address your points directly:

A: Doesn't matter. Cost the Empire so much that they won't willingly commit that kind of force to Eorzea ever again, until the events of Stormblood.
B. It got rid of the mainstay in their military force, allowing the Alliance to engage them on somewhat even terms until Bahamut happened.
C. That's the Dragons' cost to bear, because they acted in accordance with the pact between Middy and Hydaelyn.