Ember

CODENAME: Ember

GENDER: Female

AUTHENTICATION: Order of Steel Oath

DOB: April 10

RACE: Sankta

[ORIPATHY INFECTION STATUS]

Oripathy positive (infected), based on medical examination reports.

[INTEGRATED PHYSICAL EXAMINATION]

PHYSIOLOGICAL STRENGTH: Excellent

COMBAT SKILL: Excellent

TACTICAL ACUMEN: Excellent

ORIGINIUM ARTS ASSIMILATION: Standard

Operator Ember has multiple instances of combat trauma throughout her body that have yet to fully heal. Despite her sub-optimal physical condition, she has achieved stellar performance in her physical examinations. Though Ember claims to have experience in self-treatment to sustain operational performances, close monitoring of her health and recovery is strongly advised to prevent regression.

Operator Ember served in an assault banner of the Order of Steel Oath. She saw active service on the northern front against the Aggeloi before returning to the Civilization Band to manage the posthumous affairs of her late comrades and recruit new soldiers. Following a recommendation from Order Castellan Gerald "The Sanctified" Zasso, Ember began collaborating with Endfield Industries and carrying out various operations on their behalf.

Ember is a team player and never hesitates in sharing her thoughts. She is also an extremely sensitive listener. As an Oathkeeper soldier, she appreciates the importance of discourse. The duration of this particular interview is about 37% shorter than the average. We recommend adopting the relevant recordings in the Select Examples of Effective Communication of this division.

Also, pursuant to Supervisor Perlica's requests, the following reminder shall be re-emphasized: Although Ember herself expressed no particular concerns, unnecessary questioning of her past remains an offense to her personal dignity. Anything could have happened in a battlefield, and anyone who endured and survived such extreme adversities shall deserve the utmost respect.

— Martin Marvin Malen, Assistant, HR Division, Endfield Industries

The assault banner often carry out Ankhor-busting missions, and is often nicknamed the "Nail" by fellow Oathkeepers. Unlike blades, bullets, or spear heads, nails require a sharp point, a strong, stiff shaft, and a sturdy head. Everything matched the properties of the assault banner. They would pierce through the defenses, hit the mark, survive the encirclement, and wait for the main hammering strike to silence the Ankhor permanently.

As an elite and exemplary member of an assault banner, it would seem that Ember was born for this role. She has extensive experiences in performing hot combat drops and team battles. She is also skilled at suppressing enemies and supporting allies in mid- to close-range combat operations. Ember also wields Originium Arts that can burn enemies or offer basic first-aid to her allies. It is also rather surprising that Ember does not prefer fighting with guns like most Sankta. Nevertheless, she is a dream soldier for any commander: skilled, professional, steadfast, experienced, and always aware of her mission and actions.

"The war in the north is an arithmetic problem. A 5-point enemy force can only be engaged with a 6-point formation, because our 8-point forces must be held in reserve to take down 7-point enemies. It is not uncommon to fight 200-point Aggeloi forces with a 100-point company. Every score we miss must be avenged with interest."

"The assault banner is our force multiplier. Without them, we have no hope of victory. If we lose them, everything we've fought and bled for so far will be lost as well. I believe you now have a better understanding of the caliber of people who get to become the Oathkeepers' nails."

The Oathkeepers have twenty words for rain. When I saw her again, it felt as though she had been smothered and battered by each and every type of the downpours.

"Azrila," I said, "We all make mistakes."

Those were feeble words. I had never served in any assault banner, and I was not at the frontlines. Like the others, I still had zero knowledge how she survived the living hell. I had no intention of paying any heed to the festering rumors — doubting your fellow Oathkeeper was a path to calamity. Even if the concerns were grounded in reasonable doubt, any fracture should never emerge from within.

She remained silent and swept the surroundings with her stiff gaze. No one else came to see her off. This was the first time when I failed to read her expressions. It was not sadness, but neither was it release. I thought I could hear her breathe a sigh of relief.

"The Castellan has given his verdict." I said.

I wanted to give her a pat on the shoulder but quickly realized it wasn't the right thing to do. For the first time, her pauldrons seemed too big for her, and the straps rattled against her dagger.

There was no way we could fit the cremation urns of twenty-eight Oathkeepers into her baggage, no matter how hard we tried. Azrila settled on something else, insisting on carrying their service tags with her at all times. They clattered and rang with every movement, but no one laughed.

"Nilla's weapon has been placed in the Vault of Relics. Her family will be here in a few days to retrieve her other things. Don't you want to go and see them again?"

"No," she finally spoke, "I intend to set off at once."

Nilla's family placed great importance on traditions, and turned down the Order's request of returning the cremation urns and her personal effects.

Perhaps I should not question any further. My neck slightly itched. Perhaps several pairs of eyes were gazing at this place from behind the safety of the windows and blinds that demarcated the boundaries.

"Go forth and see to our mission." I opened the gates of the keep. The vehicle was already loaded and had been waiting for a while. The driver was meticulously cleaning the mud from the bumpers as it always rained in the north. "I shall look after your patron firearm. I swear it by my name."

"Gratitude, Grand Treasurer." Azrila then paused for a while.

"The Crusade will eventually end."

Senior Staff Officer Master Gruman, I, Intel Officer Roland Arlos, hereby report the relevant details of this battle pursuant to the orders of Castellan Zasso.

The battle was a 7-day engagement. We committed the 4th and 6th Standards comprising 22 banners and 6,143 combatants. Over 42,000 Aggeloid entities and 32 Ankhors were eliminated. Multiple unregistered Aggeloid construct patterns were sighted in this conflict, with average combat capabilities approaching or exceeding the Homoiossaron. Most samples have been sent to the Grand Archives for categorization. (COMMENT: Samples received. Though I appreciate having more intact samples, I am also aware that my inputs would hardly affect what I actually get.)

The following is a summary of the actual battle events —

INTERCEPTION:

2300 hours, February 10, Year 152: Sector West-2 of the Aurora Belt picked up Ankhor-level readings. The 4th Standard was assembled according to the Order Codex for emergency airlift.

0005 hours, February 11: Interception operation initiated.

0008 hours, February 11: Ankhorfall occurred ahead of schedule and entered a mobile orbit. The interception fleet missed the estimated interception point and failed to inflict sufficient damage to most of the Ankhors.

(COMMENT: The biggest and most severe failure of this entire battle. Why was the early warning facility located so far outside? If the Ankhors were targeting somewhere further back, perhaps we had already missed our window of early interception. Have the monitoring stations been redeployed to better locations?)

CONTACT:

0500 hours, February 11: Forward elements have established a line of defense at the plateau of battle sector M-320a, and commenced Aggeloid host extermination according to scout intel. Said elements then proceed to push toward known Ankhor sites.

1100 hours, February 11: A new Ankhorfall barrage entered the field from low orbit height. Master Fintha responded and seized battle sectors M-322a and M-322b. A total of 4 assault banners (Gray Wedge, Flood Peak, Blazing Fire, and Black Wings) were committed as reinforcements to assault the Ankhorfall sites.

(COMMENT: I must reiterate that issues stemming from our understrength field combat and early warning formations have become significant. Our assault banners should not be committed in such low-intensity conflicts. The Order is facing a worsening situation. We must introduce new detection measures, or train casters skilled in the Arts of detection and scrying and include them within our banners.)

MAIN ENGAGEMENT:

1600 hours, February 11: The battle escalated as the termination of the Ankhors occurred behind schedule.

0100 hours, February 12: Sudden spike in Aggeloid spawning rates reported. Incoming bombardments forced us to retract the radius of anti-air coverage and impeded the transport of our reserves. Sightings of an unregistered Aggeloid pattern (temporarily codenamed "High Tower" by our frontline elements) were also confirmed. The assault banner Gray Wedge engaged the High Tower ahead of schedule, causing our frontal attack formations to disintegrate one after another. Contact with assault banners Flood Peak and Blazing Fire was lost. Preemptive tactical Ankhor strikes failed. Battlefield dynamics shifted to artillery duels and defense consolidation on both sides.

1800 hours, February 13: Contact with assault banner Black Wings was lost. Battlefield dynamics have entered a complete stalemate.

2100 hours, February 15: Numerous giant Aggeloi breached battle sector M-322a. Contact with assault banner Gray Wedge was lost.

(COMMENT: We have an official codename for the unregistered Aggeloid pattern: Psithyrosson)

ENDGAME:

0800 hours, February 16: Mothership from the 6th Standard arrived at the field, providing the required reinforcements for securing air superiority. Effectiveness of our artillery formations was re-established. Master Grimnir deployed 15 banners of foot and artillery that successfully arrived in battle sector M-320a.

2300 hours, February 18: All Ankhors eliminated. About 80% of the Aggeloi were neutralized. The remnants withdrew to the areas beyond the Aurora circle. Pursuit was no longer possible.

For this battle, our two standards report a loss of 623 killed and 854 severely wounded. Our carrier mothership was forced to return to port for major repairs. Heavy losses were suffered by the foot banners Stone Claws, Weregild, and Thorned Razors. These banners have since been merged and re-organized. Assault banners Flood Peak, Blazing Fire, and Black Wings have been removed from our roster. One Oathkeeper, though no longer combat-capable, remains in the assault banner Gray Wedge. Pursuant to a signed directive from the Castellan, the understrength banner shall continue their crusade in our rear.

(COMMENT: The Commandery has always respected the judgment of the frontlines. Nevertheless, the details of the concluding section were unnecessary. If you insist on defending that Oathkeeper of that assault banner, then I shall provide a more detailed analysis report regarding the Psithyrosson. Truth be told, I am not inclined to believe our best elites would commit an error as severe and inane as in this particular case. Also, given the limited intel we have so far, I have my doubts and suspicions about whether that entity can be classified as an Aggelos, if at all... In any case, I will do whatever is necessary, to the greatest extents permitted by our principles of justice and fairness.)

This concludes our current understanding of the event. The Castellan awaits your reply.

(COMMENT: My opinion has been furnished throughout this report. The original shall be mailed to you directly. Note that the Grand Archives is extremely concerned with the sudden pike in Aggeloid spawning rates. Your performances in this battle were less than ideal. Perhaps a face-to-face meeting can be arranged soon enough.)

Thank you for visiting my humble abode. Please, take a seat. Apologies for being unable to greet you on my two feet. Ah, just a fracture of the calf bones. I'll be out of the plaster next month. It's healing nicely and I don't think anything worse could happen.

I'm more than happy to support your investigation. But really, this is just a minor issue of being bested by my betters, to put it simply... Oh yes, there's no personal grudges or disagreements between the two of us. I formally submitted my application to her and took part in the "trials" as agreed. Now, I'd never met Lady Azrila. However, it was an opportunity for joining the Order of Steel Oath and their legendary banners. If you've read anything about their crusading traditions, and if you're the type of person who wants to defend the homes of your people, no warrior would ever let this opportunity slip by. Pardon my insolence, but what actually makes you think this is an issue of personal grudges?

...She didn't pass anyone? Not even that champion knight from the majors? Is that so? That's a little different from what I've been told. Regardless, I do not agree with your guesses. People can indeed communicate with each other by crossing their blades, and our blades did cross. Let me think... Oh, something small did happen afterwards. I hope it'll help you decide what really happened.

Lady Azrila actually paid me a visit after the "trials". I sensed there was something on her mind, and I was concerned she felt guilty for not stopping her sword in time and accidentally hurting me. So that was what I asked, but she just smiled apologetically and countered with a question of her own: "Was there any time when you felt helpless?"

Honestly, I felt helpless in more occasions than I could ever hope for. But given the circumstances and vibe of our conversation, I believe that we were not talking about the same thing.

"The powerful enemy is before you, but you no longer had the strength to even swing your blade. Your comrades are slowly losing every hope of victory just to keep you alive... What would you do in this situation? Or rather, what would you let them do?"

I have no idea why she asked me this question or what she hoped to get out of it. I just gave her my honest answer: "I would hate to admit this, but if I'm already a piece of dead weight, I might as well give my comrades another chance. We can't afford to suffer any defeats. The Civilization Band is right behind us."

I was trying to join the Order of Steel Oath and it was natural for me to read about the stories from the frontlines. But ... she looked really conflicted after listening to my answer. "Nilla and Claire did exactly that," she said, "They all did... And this is why I cannot approve you."

Blightery, that was the first time my brain ever overclocked itself. I had a feeling that she did not outright disagree with me. She seemed to be hesitating about other things... No. I don't really care about passing or failing her trials. I just want to help. It was during this time that Lady Azrila seemed as though she was ... in need of serious help.

So, I did my best to think about all sorts of possibilities and acted as though I know what actually happened. I told her, "If you're seeking revenge on an enemy, just remember that nobody wants their friend to die trying to avenge them."

...Yeah, even I felt it was a dumb thing to say and I immediately regretted my words. Then we said absolutely nothing for about five minutes or so. But Lady Azrila was actually really friendly. She forced herself to smile and comforted me by praising my combat skills. She even told me I could seek the others out and try again after my wounds heal.

And after that, we talked a little bit more before she left... Oh, before I forget, she also asked me plenty of things about you. Since you're here specifically to ask me all these questions, does that mean she's going to stay at Endfield Industries for a while?

(NOTES: This is followed by friendly banter that does not require specific review. Also, we advise getting the logistics operators ready. Operator Ember may need to receive an ordinary visitor next month.)