Epoch (Chrono Trigger)
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Epoch (Silvard in Japan) is the name of the flying time machine the characters of Chrono Trigger use at some point into the game to cross time and space, making their travels easier. Epoch is for Chrono Trigger what the airship is for the Final Fantasy game series: a fast and efficient method of transport introduced late into the game to make the few remaining quests easier.
Story
Epoch is the best and last invention of Belthasar, the Guru of Reason from the Kingdom of Zeal in the time 12,000 B.C. Belthasar was banished to the year 2300 A.D. by the monstrous alien parasite Lavos. He was forced to experience the bleak future of the world after the apocalyptic Day of Lavos in 1999 A.D. Even then, Belthasar continued to conduct research on Lavos and concluded that if anyone was to stand a chance against it, one should first master time itself.
To that end Belthasar, his sanity ever diminishing, managed to construct a working time machine, which he called the Wings of Time. He soon after died, but not before copying his memories to a robot Nu. When the main characters of the game reached his home, happening to need a time machine to continue their quest, Belthasar's last recorded messages and his Nu self delivered them the time machine and taught them how to use it. The player can then name the time machine with a word up to five letters long, as if it were a recruited character. The default name is Epoch.
At this point the Epoch could not yet fly, but it could cross time while remaining in the same place. The heroes used it to return to Zeal in 12,000 B.C. After Lavos briefly awoke and destroyed Zeal, the Epoch was seized by Dalton, counselor to Queen Zeal. Since Queen Zeal and her heirs Schala and Janus had disappeared during Zeal's destruction, Dalton proclaimed himself king and had the Epoch modified to become his air-throne (or Air Dalton Imperial). After the heros escaped their captivity and defeated Dalton, they reclaimed Epoch, which was now capable of flight.
The player has the option to take Epoch to the Day of Lavos in 1999 A.D. If so, the Epoch will crash itself into Lavos' shell, shattering the shell completely and saving the player from actually having to fight that first part of the final battle himself. However, since it is implied that Epoch shows some rudimentary signs of intelligence or even life, the ending one gets that way is slightly worse than one in which the player defeats Lavos all by himself and Epoch is not sacrificed. In the ideal ending, the heroes take off in the Epoch for yet another adventure.
Controls
When on the world map, press A next to the Epoch to board it. Press B to disembark when the shadow of Epoch is above solid ground. Use the direction keys to fly around.
Press Y to open the Time Gauge, press B to close it and return to the world map. Select a time period from the Gauge using L/R, down/up or right/left. You can't select the time period you are currently in. Then press A to confirm your selection and travel through time. Epoch will reappear in the same spot on the world map at a different era (except in 1999 A.D. where it is heading straight for Lavos and the End of Time where it arrives under the right-hand stairway).