Estella

CODENAME: Estella

GENDER: Female

AUTHENTICATION: Endfield Industries

DOB: April 9

RACE: Feline

[ORIPATHY INFECTION STATUS]

Oripathy negative, based on medical examination reports.

[INTEGRATED PHYSICAL EXAMINATION]

PHYSIOLOGICAL STRENGTH: Normal

COMBAT SKILL: Standard

TACTICAL ACUMEN: Excellent

ORIGINIUM ARTS ASSIMILATION: Standard

Given the results from Miss Estella's latest physical examinations, we recommend raising the intensity of her endurance training to improve her muscular stamina. Should the results of the next PE fall below average, a probationary training regimen shall be administered and monitored by the Capitan of Operations Team Z7.

Operator Estella (ID name: Estella Kerr) has official operational records with the TGCC and the UWST. She has demonstrated remarkable talents in scouting and intel gathering operations. Following Operator Akekuri's applications, Estella is now a member of Operations Team Z7.

Estella's work experiences are rather extensive. I wanted to learn more about her past but she remained exceptionally quiet during the signing process and exhibited zero intents of communication apart from answering the questions I asked. And even amongst these limited things we talked about, I find most of her answers rather difficult to interpret... Fortunately, no issues of principle have been identified. However, given the positive reputation of her superior officer Miss Akekuri and the latter's guarantee, we shall overlook potential risks of personnel management that may result from Estella's lack of communication abilities. We hereby approve Estella's employment.

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

No Op Z7 teammates, except for Estella, have positive memories regarding the anniversary for the Founding of Operations Team Z7. However, everyone agrees that it was an unforgettable occasion.

At first, Akekuri found that the team had no field assignments on the day of the anniversary and suggested celebrating the occasion. Everyone responded positively and a discussion on the means of celebration began. However, since the team was encamped in the wildlands far from the Civilization Band, every suggestion involved some form of outdoor activity. Estella, unwilling to engage in any physical exertion, naturally voted against every single proposal. In the end, "riverside picnic" was the only option that received a unanimous vote. It was not the favorite option for everyone, but at least nobody voted against it.

On the day of the anniversary, everyone was eagerly gathering herbs and hunting game. Estella, however, returned with an armful of colorful mushrooms. Her teammates firmly rejected her suggestion to toss those wild fungi into the cooking pot. In the end, the team conceded. Under Captain Akekuri's watchful eyes, several unassuming mushrooms were allowed to be part of the stew.

As the sun set, the team built a campfire by the river to enjoy what they had gathered throughout the day. Fortunately, the "unassuming" mushrooms turned out to be only mildly toxic. Unfortunately, they were incredibly spicy. The team emptied their water canteens to douse the heat but to no avail. Desperate, they rushed to the riverbank to wash the spicy taste away with river water. That's when they heard a low rumble coming from upstream — the dam had begun a reservoir drawdown!

"Curses! I forgot about the UWST reservoir drawdown notice! That's why there's no field operations today!"

No one remembered exactly how they ended up swept away by the floodwaters. When they finally came to, they found Estella skillfully surfing the rushing water on the team's cooking pot. The sun had already set when the four Op Z7 teammates pulled each other to shore. They had no choice but head downstream to look for Estella. Finally, the team found Estella sound asleep at a nomad campfire in wee hours of the morning. The nomads treated Akekuri and her team to a proper wildlands feast.

The nomads were extremely accommodating and the team decided to rest there for the night. Just as Akekuri was about to fall asleep beneath the starry ceiling, she suddenly remembered a Z7 field assignment in a few hours' time. Estella could not be awakened, so the four Z7 teammates took turns carrying her. They successfully reached the Endfield camp at daybreak.

According to Estella's memories, she was completely unconscious as she probably ate the other fungi she picked. She treated the flood waters as a packed and riotous moshpit, and fantasized herself as a rockstar performing a stage dive and surfing the crowd while she growled and screamed her songs. Nobody knew what Estella sang. Akekuri only remembered how she carried Estella and trudged back to camp. The young girl on her back did mumble a few things while she slept — things about home.

DOCUMENT: Archived operational records (OBSOLETE)

"Operator Estella, you were instrumental to the success of our espionage and counter-espionage mission against the surviving Landbreaker elements that infiltrated this area. For operational debriefing, we must now go over details of the following achievements we made in the field. They will be used as reference and instructional materials for our future operations."

"Okay. You flatter me."

"How did you successfully avoid enemy's feint and correctly deduce actions of the main attacking force?"

"I ... uh... I was conducting voluntary standby. When I'm done standing by, the enemy's main force were within visual range."

"In other words, can we assume you have received a relevant order? Sounds like incredible foresight. Did Captain Akekuri give you that order?"

"I believe it was given to me by electrolytic imbalance and accumulation of anaerobic metabolites. At least that's what I felt..."

"So... You're trying to say that you missed the enemy's feint attack because you were resting, but woke up to encounter the main enemy force? Okay... Erm... Next question."

"So, how did you intercept the enemy's operational pass code and decipher their subsequent actions?"

"The beat wasn't right. I heard it."

"Beat? What's the beat?"

"I spent a day in the camp of the surviving Landbreakers. They kept playing the DEATH☆DREAMS album. I have always been a fan since I was little. Akekuri and Fluorite called it noisy so I stopped playing it."

"Can we get to the point, please...?"

"Well, DEATH☆DREAMS has a simple structure. The drums were played on 4/4. I knew the rhythm and tempo of every song on the album. But the beats were off that day. Bass was off. There's a sound that's constantly changing lurking under the drums."

"I'm afraid I'm losing you there. What happened next?"

"I thought it was some wildlands remix so I focused really hard on the beat and jotted it down. And it happened to be a series of breaker codes. I've learned them before. We later rallied and cleared out the outpost and discovered they were using oscillators to send out their codes. DEATH☆DREAMS was just the camouflage. What a waste of good music."

"Well... regardless, you successfully provided us with key intel. Thank you. This will be the end of our inquiry."

Application rejected. The aforementioned operational log offers no values of reference to standard operations teams.

— Akekuri, Captain, Operations Team Z7

DOCUMENT: Log of Captain Akekuri's interview regarding Operator Estella's background check

Given the extraordinary circumstances of the operator in question, Captain Akekuri met me beforehand to discuss the operator's background and showed me a number of relevant physical and documentary information.

EXHIBIT: A photograph

An old photograph shows a little Feline girl with silvery-white hair, happily sitting on a wooden rocking chair. A young man and woman sit beside her, their hands resting on her shoulders. Together, they look like a happy family.

Information from Akekuri revealed that this was a photograph taken 10 years ago in the study of Estella's family home. The place is now a ruin. The Aggeloi and the Blight forced them to move. The family brought their entire savings and traveled to La Fantoma with the aim of settling down in that city.

However, the family did not achieve their goals. Captain Akekuri next displayed a newspaper cutting that recorded how Estella's family was swindled by an investment scheme and lost almost the entirety of their savings.

EXHIBIT: Old newspaper cutting

MacDoff Financial Scheme Breakthrough: Criminals Splurge and Decimate the Victims' Savings

Reported on the 9th of this month (Correspondent: Meralda). Bernard MacDoff, the chief suspect behind the super-massive financial scheme that shook Talos-II with the sheer scale of fortunes involved, was finally apprehended just yesterday after years of hiding.

In-depth investigations by our judicial system discovered that the criminal organization had devised a massive fraud scheme, luring unsuspecting investors with promises of generous returns. Principals from new investors were disguised as “payments” to older investors, creating the illusion that the scheme was generating massive profits. Many unsuspecting companies and individual investors were enticed to increase their investments in the MacDoff scheme. Such illegal financial operation of paying older investors with money from the new is a complete abomination of genuine investments that aim to generate true value.

Persistent efforts by our law enforcement agencies paid off when MacDoff was finally brought to justice. He will be facing the full severity of the law. Unfortunately, the MacDoff gang has either splurged or transferred their illegal gains during their escape and hiding. After the case was filed, the amount of assets recovered and returned to the victims was a paltry sum compared to their losses. This means that despite arresting the chief suspect, the massive losses incurred by many companies and individual investors can no longer be salvaged.

This case is a stern warning to the general public: Money doesn't fall from the skies. Investors are advised to remain vigilant and alert. Be wary of intricately designed investment traps created by various criminal organizations.

When the MacDoff case was closed, Estella's family had already joined the UWST and worked at Shaft 39 in the Northern Mineral Field. However, luck did not smile on this family. Captain Akekuri showed us another newspaper cutting.

EXHIBIT: Old newspaper cutting

Accident in the Northern Mineral Field Worsened by Landbreaker Raid

Reported on the 19th of this month (Correspondent: Riise). A massive mining accident has occurred at Shaft 39 with many miners trapped in the pits. Surface facilities were also subject to a sudden Landbreaker raid at almost the same time. Many crew mates and their family members have gone missing.

According to Chief Mineral Field Monitor Lyube, Shaft 39 was about to conclude their operations in the evening of the 18th when the shaft entrance collapsed after a loud explosion. Only a few miners closer to the surface managed to escape to safety. Search and rescue (SAR) operations are ongoing, and all SAR work is expected to complete by the morning of the 20th. The number of casualties is still unknown.

Our correspondent also successfully interviewed Mineral Field Surface Facility Office Monitor Povkova. According to her, in the evening of the 18th, a large Landbreaker band appeared about 5 minutes after the massive explosion in the shaft. The raiders then began to vandalize and raid various surface facilities and buildings. Armed personnel of the UWST were defeated by the Landbreakers within minutes. Surface facility office staff and family members in the residences then started to run for their lives. Exact casualty figures are still being determined. Many escapees are still missing and cannot be contacted. Ongoing investigations have yet to identify a direct link between the mining accident and the Landbreaker raid.

The UWST Commandery is extremely concerned with this incident and has deployed multiple teams to conduct SAR operations in the northern mineral field. We will continue to bring you the latest updates from the site.

According to Captain Akekuri, Mr. Kerr (Estella's father) was rescued, very much alive, from the shaft. However, Estella was separated from her mother during the Landbreaker attack. UWST SAR teams quickly rescued Mrs. Kerr, but Estella herself was captured by Landbreakers. They brought her with them to the wildlands and subjected her to involuntary labor. However, her talents were unexpectedly revealed during this cruel experience.

Operations Team Z7 infiltrated a Landbreaker camp and Captain Akekuri encountered Estella during that time. The dirt-covered girl verbally conveyed the geographical layout and defense deployment and even drew a map of the entire place on the sand. Estella's intel allowed Op Z7 to capture the camp and rescue all civilians with minimal losses.

Akekuri was impressed with Estella's intel gathering abilities and invited her to join Endfield. Having spent many years in the wildlands, Estella also strongly desired to have a safe residence and joined our organization without hesitation. Captain Akekuri also added that this episode of extreme hardship in Estella's life has made the operator extremely adverse to any work involving heavy labor.

All logs above have been transferred to the Human Resources Division for reference.

DOCUMENT: A medical record often reviewed by Akekuri

BASIC INFO

PATIENT NAME: Estella Kerr

POSITION: Member of Operations Team Z7; full-time operator, Endfield Industries.

OPERATIONAL CODENAME: Estella

ROUTE OF ADMISSION: Combat UAV ambulance

ADMISSION TIME: 2307

ADMISSION LOCATION: Endfield wildlands medical station, Valley III

CHIEF COMPLAINT

Hit by an explosion. Multiple open and bleeding wounds. Shock after 45 minutes of intense pain.

PRESENT ILLNESS

Patient was conducting recon operations 5 klicks away from the site of the explosion but exercised personal initiative in changing the operational plan 45 minutes ago. Patient charged into a cross-firing zone to cover the retreat of trapped teammates but was exposed to enemy's suppressive fire. Patient described that she has been knocked off her feet by a blast and temporarily lost consciousness. She then crawled for about 20 meters before other teammates of Op Z7 discovered her and quickly sent her on medevac.

MEDICAL HISTORY

Healthy. Denies chronic illnesses, past surgeries, and past blood transfusions. Oripathy negative.

PHYSIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION (AT ADMISSION)

Clouded consciousness, pallor, grimacing in pain

VITAL SIGNS: Normal temperature. Weak pulse. Blood pressure slightly below average. Weak breathing.

HEAD: Open laceration (4 cm) at left temporal fossa. Cortical bone intact. No fractures.

NECK: No tracheal deviations. Observable collapse of jugular vein when supine.

CHEST: Penetrating wound of right rib cage, diameter about 1.2 cm. Percussion reveals tympany. Diminished breath sounds. Muffled heart sounds, no arrhythmia.

ABDOMEN: Distension and tenderness of lower right abdomen.

LIMBS: Open mid-shaft fracture of left femur, open wound measuring 6 cm long, end of bone visible; Penetrating wound of posterolateral aspect of right calf, pressure dressing already applied to site of bleeding; Weakened arterial pulse in lower extremities

SKIN & MUCOSA: Multiple abrasions and contusions

PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS

RIGHT SIDE: Open pneumothorax

Hemorrhagic shock (Lv.Ⅲ)

Open fracture (type Ⅲ) of left femur

Multiple penetrating wounds of soft tissue

Light blunt trauma of cranium

LIST OF EMERGENCY RESPONSES

Open pneumothorax treatment

Blood volume resuscitation

Anti-shock treatment

Pain management treatment

Anti-Oripathy measures

Dressing of wounds on left thigh and right calf

Tetanus vaccination

PROGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

Patient has been transferred to the Endfield Medical Division after emergency treatment

According to combat trauma assessments, patient has 85% survival rate for the next 24 hours

If hemodynamics remain stable and no subsequent infections occur, physical training and rehab can proceed after 6-8 weeks

VISITATION RECORDS

VISITORS: Akekuri, Fluorite, Catcher, Antal