Can someone recap me (FF XII)

[CatalystiCam]

I feel like my memory shouldn't be this bad, but yeah. Trying to pick this back up after 7 months. Anyways, just want a story recap up to where I am. Whatever you guys can remember from the game. Without spoiling what's ahead please.

Heres what I do know/remember:

-I'm 10 hours in
-been through early game, all the desert stuff.
-been through sewers.
-wound up on the sky land place where I had to do some escort mission for a kid.

A lot of it's a blur already. I want to know whos who. What happened and whatnot because it was interesting me. Booted up the game, was arrested and escorted to leviathan or something, and that's where I'm at.

Any help? I only really remember who vaan, balthier and Fran are.

Maybe I need to watch the first bit of a lets play or something. I was legitimately enjoying this game a lot, but dont want to start over.

any recap up to the point I can would be truly helpful. No spoilers. Thanks guys.

Also this was written out on phone, so grammar, yeah.

[DrunkN]

I haven't played in 8 months. I got to like, the exact place you're at but a little farther in.

Here's what I remember;

So, like, there's two continents that are connected by this isthmus. Each of the continents harbors these giant super political factions that want to kill each other like in the Cold War. Your dude lives on a country on the isthmus and one of those countries is trying to annex your land.

So first your dude has to take part in this dungeon siege because war or something. You do it and it all goes great but the military guy who was leading you betrays you for some bad military guy reason. You die.

It's okay though because you get another main character dude.

Your second dude (more annoying and only a little less generic than the last one) is some street urchin who does odd jobs all day and is all butt hurt that his home city is having a puppet government installed. Some ruler guy from the big country that nobody likes gives a big speech which gets him all sorts of praise for some reason.

Your overly hormonal dude gets anxiety and decides to ditch his lame girlfriend so he can go case some fancy palace joint but he runs into other, way cooler dudes who are already doing that. You save some hot princess chick but she runs away.

Then you all get thrown in some desert jail.

[CatalystiCam]

All sounds familiar, but I do remember getting out of the desert jail. I'm in yet another jail. I remember running into the guy that kills Vaan's brother early on (Basch), and he joins you for some reason or other. I think this was after the sky pirates take you with them (Fran & Balthier).

So missing links on why Basch is safely with my party now. I believe it's an instance where you know more than the character. Vaan doesn't know that Basch killed Rekks (Brother). Also Balthier & Fran don't care because they're pirates.

Forget exactly how you end up being with Fran & Balthier

Forget who the girl in the sewers was that joined and left. Some person of royalty?

This is kind of what I'm piecing together.

Seem to remember the stupid kid you escort later on the sky land betrays you and a bunch of things try to kill you which you have to flee from. Then it turns out the kid was of high power governmentally or something too?

I get really fuzzy of memory after the desert stuff and where I am now. Skimming through HCbaily's let's play as well.

Figures I remember the not so fun desert stuff, but don't remember anything else that I remember enjoying a lot.

[Seahawk]

While you were in the desert jail some lizard people who have a grudge against Balthier kidnap Penelo and take her to some mining colony, thinking that she's involved with Balthier.

You escape and get back to Dalmasca. Balthier and Fran leave since they're tired of playing babysitter. You do some errands for Basch, who is trying to stir up some rebellion among the old knights. Vaan accepts that Basch didn't kill Rekks.

Later Vaan finds out about Penelo being kidnapped. He finds Balthier and Fran at the local airport and offers up the Magicite he stole from the palace if they take him to the mining colony get Penelo back. They accept.

You go to the mining colony and that's as far as I've ever gotten.