Arknights story · Exodus from the Pale Sea
EP-6 When the Way Out Burns
Anastasio leads the raid on the pirate camp. Juana lets Thorns go, but he returns when he sees the light from the fire in the distance.
2 scenes, 324 lines
1. Before Operation
139 lines(Whisper) I can't believe she'd let us leave... I thought for sure we'd be tied up and handed over to the Inquisition.
(Whisper) Shh...
I know no amount of apologies will make up for your loss.
I suppose this is the end, Isidro.
You needn't worry. I don't blame you. It's not your fault. I accepted the consequences when I made my choice.
I know it was you who bore the brunt of your crew's wrath for us, and I know it was you who saved Pascuala's life.
...Maybe you could come with us.
You would certainly be in grave danger if you stay, señora.
Go. Weren't you discussing how you'd escape earlier? Here's your chance.
...
I'm the leader of the fleet. I won't abandon my crew. This was my oath to Cruz, and one which I will never turn my back on.
Señora Juana... there's something I need to return to you.
You can keep the clothes and the sword. Consider it payment for your troubles.
No, not that.
What else is there?
The young man reaches into his pocket, but suddenly stops. He lets out a slow breath...
And takes out the object.
The compass? No...
I... I don't understand. If it's undamaged, then what is that debris in the lab?
If you haven't been repairing the compass, then what have you been doing?!
...
Answer me!
The destroyed compass was a replica. I never touched the original.
Whew...
What?! How come no one ever told me? When'd you make the switch?
I never told anyone.
I don't understand. Why?
The Corazonix in the compass was far more complex than I expected. If I'm unable to replicate it perfectly, that means I haven't understood its true nature.
In which case, attempting to manipulate the actual Corazonix could only lead to failure.
But I couldn't afford to fail. Your hopes, the future of the fleet, the fates of Elysium and Pascuala... all of that was on my shoulders.
So if I was doomed to fail, I thought I should at least limit the damage.
That's why I tried to replicate the Corazonix. If I proved incapable of understanding it, at least you could keep the original and find a better alchemist.
I left some of the materials you gave me behind for the fleet as well.
I...
I'm sorry. I tried.
Isidro... is this your idea of giving it your all?
The chance of failure was at least 87%... This was the safest way I could think of.
Are you that afraid of failure? Even if the chance of success were one in ten thousand, I would have wagered everything on it.
That's not experimentation. That's gambling.
Hah... Have you ever considered that the odds of getting a second chance might be even lower?
Tell me, is life a gamble, or an experiment?
...
Weedy's on her way to pick me up. Are you coming with us?
...My journey is not yet over.
I will continue.
What about you, Pascuala?
I...
Come with me. I can find a way to get you out of here, at least...
Alright... Take care, Isidro.
Take care.
You too. Both of you.
Señor Silver.
You're willing to stay. Good, very good...
Have you forgotten? I've got a bad leg. Can't go.
...No, I haven't. You were injured during the second raid, correct?
See, you have forgotten. It happened on the day of the execution. You treated the wound yourself, but it ended up infected anyway.
...
If... hypothetically... if I were a better doctor and fixed your leg then, would you have come with us now?
Of course.
...I see.
...
...
What were the two of you discussing? It is time.
Señor Anastasio...
Yes?
It is an honor working with you.
Where were you, señora?
...Saw the kids off.
I did what you told me to.
...Take the crew and Nene. Lie low in the Salt Flat for a few days.
I can't leave you here by yourself.
This is an order, Teach.
Under the moon, Isidro walks by himself through the Salt Flat, leaving behind a trail of lonely footprints.
He does not know how long he has walked. The entire night, probably.
He feels like he has let a lot of people down, but does not know what he did wrong.
Suddenly, he feels lonely and wishes he were with a friend. Then he realizes he just bid farewell to Elysium.
Perhaps Weedy has already found him. Their mission would have come to a close after confirming he was safe.
Perhaps they are discussing the journey out of the Flat and their next mission even now. As for him, he will continue his journey, alone.
Nothing wrong with that. No attachments, no responsibility.
*yawn*
Shouldn't have had those extra swigs of saltfin garum...
Ugh—!
The guards have been eliminated. Inform the Alguacil that the intel is good.
Prepare to advance.
You work fast, Javier.
...You're alone.
As you can see.
You shouldn't have been left unguarded...
Maybe because the one who should have been protecting me is standing before me now.
Pointing the blade I made for him at me.
Go on. Kill me, and the fleet is yours.
...
Juana is in our custody. Keep an eye on her, but don't let her get hurt.
...What a joke.
How did you find this place...? Which finshit sold us out?!
Even now you think of vengeance? Meet your end, villain!
Gah—!
What of the compass? Have you learned anything?
Nothing, Señor Alguacil. It's all rank-and-file thugs who can hardly string two sentences together.
We won't find anything unless we go deeper into their base.
Do not stop without my direct command. Everything here must be cleansed with fire.
There is no reason to allow such tools of sin to continue to exist.
Sir!
A noise rouses Isidro from his musings and causes him to halt his steps.
He turns around and sees the dark night lit up on the horizon.
That's...
It is the light of a raging fire...
No...
In the direction of the fleet.
How could it...
I...
Isidro steps forward without hesitation.
It is a decision made not with reason, but pure impulse.
He runs as if his life depends on it, retracing his old set of footprints, towards the direction that he came from.
That same set of footprints is no longer lonely.
Don't bother searching. You won't find it.
The sailors told me that the kid screwed up. The compass was wrecked. It'd be of no use even if you found it.
Do not think to presume whether it is of use to me or not, bandit.
Yeah, yeah, perdón.
I have safeguarded the compass for nearly a decade, and slain all who reached for it...
Even if it has become dust, I must see this dust with my own eyes.
Where is your leader?
We had a deal. Juana will be spared.
And how does your agreement with Silver concern me?
Surely the woman fled with the compass, yes? This tale of alchemical failure a ruse?
A lie... to protect a woman, for the sake of your own desires? You, too, ought to be cleansed—
I'm not lying. Juana doesn't have the compass. Whatever's left of it is of no use to her.
It's the alchemist and his lab you should be looking for.
And where might that be?
Second tent in the back row. There's a secret door leading to the lab.
...More lies.
Do not make me cut you down where you stand.
...
On the ground! Don't move a muscle!
I-Is it true? We'll all get pardoned if you find the compass?
Are we gonna get a lighter punishment if we don't resist?
...
Fools.
Okay...
2. After Operation
185 lines...
Chaval.
Teach? What's going on?
Javier led the Inquisition to us. Señora Juana is being held captive in the captain's quarters.
...
Why did you come back?
I don't know... Same reason as you, probably.
Wait... is that one of your friends hiding on the opposite deck?
Huh? Is that Isidro? I guess he really did come back.
See, I told you. I mean, even I couldn't stay away.
Of course he'd come back when he saw the fire. He's my best amigo, after all!
Um, to help put out the fire?
Ugh...
Wake up, señora!
Perlita... Where's Nene? You shouldn't have come back.
I set it free in the Flat. It may be weak, but better out there than getting killed by mutineers.
We can't just leave you here.
You don't look well...
What did they do to you?!
Nothing... just gave me some drugs.
You could have fled. You would have lived.
I didn't take you for someone who would give up so easily.
Now that we're all here, don't we have better things to do than just talk? You know the Salt Flat better than anyone else, señora. Is there anywhere we can go?
How big is our group?
Twenty-four.
Excelente. Enough to commandeer a ship.
Which one?
La Conquista.
That's the oldest one, slower than the newer salt ships.
But I know it best.
Besides, because they consider it an antique, it will be lightly guarded. All the easier for us.
I'll take eight men up to the deck and get rid of the sentries. The others will go in through the side with Elysium and deal with the rest.
What about me?
Stay with Señora Juana. She's... not at her best, and won't be able to move as quickly.
Okay.
What's that noise?
Argh—
Ngh—
My aching bones... Maybe I'm getting too old for this.
The guys on the deck are out cold. I tossed 'em overboard.
Good. Climb the mast and be ready to hoist the sail at my command. We'll need full speed on the double.
You done over there?
Now we wait for the boss.
Search inch by inch. By the Alguacil's orders, we must find the compass.
We've turned every room upside down, but haven't found anything remotely like it.
Keep looking. Don't miss a single nook or corner.
Yes, sir.
Señores, the Alguacil has issued new orders. A squad is to come with me to pursue the fleeing alchemist.
And why are you the one delivering the order?
What's wrong with that? We're still working together according to our agreement.
Very well. Wait here while we muster the men.
Gracias.
What is Javier doing over here?
No idea, but he's gotten rid of the warrior priests for us, even if he didn't mean to.
When they leave, we can continue behind those tents.
They won't be able to see us from any of the salt ships.
I can see you've become an expert at sneaking through our base.
Ngh...
Hang on. We're almost there.
Okay...
Go on to the deck first. I need to fetch something from the lab.
Be quick.
A ship from the old era...
Does your desire for the compass point towards the source of the calamity, the ocean?
Where did I leave it...
You.
...You.
It is you who has been leading the raids.
And it is you who has been repairing the compass.
People always tell me to look for the good in others.
The truth always proves them fools. When first we met, I knew you intended to take the compass for your own sinful alchemical research.
I was right.
The compass is no more. I'm still trying to scrape what's left of it off the transmutation table.
That black mud? No, that is not the true compass. Your lies have no purchase here.
Must the Inquisition spill so much blood for each thing it loses?
You know that the compass corrupts the heart.
It's nothing more than a tool for sailing the seas.
Sailing the seas. Hah.
Those who attempt to elude both judgment and the reins of morality often seek out thorny paths that few have walked, and distant shores that none have reached.
As if their accomplishments could offer sanctuary for their sins.
I don't recall sinning.
Harboring a thief, feeding upon the remains of the townsfolk, assaulting a cleric of the Inquisition, associating with bandits who menace the town... Is that not enough?
Pretexts and framed crimes.
And now you begin to deny your sins.
All who have sinned will desperately deny it. I was no exception.
But I learned to accept my sins, and thus discovered the path of atonement.
My life was born from the evils of cannibalism. My very being is a sin. I am unworthy of the liberation of death.
But you were once pure and upright, before desire corrupted you. You have the right to die.
I will free you.
You're insane...
I don't have time for this!
Strange. Why isn't Isidro here?
It's all right. He must be somewhere on the ship, so everybody's accounted for.
Just waiting on your orders, señora.
Hoist the sails.
We sail.
This ship...
(Mierda, Juana doesn't know this lunatic is in here!)
(He'll be nothing but trouble once the ship starts moving.)
Everyone involved in this futile escape attempt is on this ship, correct?
Shut it.
This is where it ends for all of you, along with this sinful vessel of the old era.
The Alguacil's attacks are ferocious. All Isidro can do is defend himself.
(This is getting me nowhere... I have to do something...)
This is his own lab. There must be something he can do here.
What does he do best?
During the time he spent here, his most frequent creations were undoubtedly explosions of various sizes.
Explosions...
This calls for an explosion.
*cough* *cough* Argh! Ugh!
...Thorns?
Finally! You were starting to scare me when you went down to the lab and didn't come back.
I ran into someone from the Inquisition there.
I thought we cleaned out the cabins.
I don't know how he got there. He just came in all of a sudden looking for the compass, and wasn't in a mood to negotiate.
I had to blow up the lab to eject him from the ship.
Him and half of this ship!
...Good work.
Is there anything from the lab left, though?
...Maybe?
Very well...
We're going into the Skeletal Reef. The ocean lies just beyond that.
You might have one last chance to repair the compass before we arrive.
S-Señor Silver! The Alguacil is still on that ship! We must come to his aid!
No...
No one could survive an explosion like that.
But the Alguacil...
I said, no.
Will we let his martyrdom go to waste, sacrificing the living for the sake of the departed?
But what if he's still—
Aarón needs you now more than ever. Take inventory of the confiscated supplies, and round up the prisoners.
This is an order.
Steady! You're gonna snap the mast in two!
Are you trying to crash the ship on those bones and have us hang on them to dry like human jerky?
Full left rudder!
—Full left rudder!
Damage to the starboard side! Another hit from a steam blast, and this ship's going to fall apart!
The skeleton formations are getting denser! We'll crash if we don't steer this just right!
The erupting steam means we're close to the Skeletal Reef.
They won't dare go in there!
But do we? The steam blasts will punch through us like a hot knife through butter!
Better than the Inquisition, at least!
...Ugh!
Boiling steam shoots out of gaps in the skeletons and tears the sail apart with terrible force.
The gang is thrown into the air before crashing back onto the deck.
The helm wheel spins wildly out of control. Gushing steam sends the ship crashing towards a massive skeleton more than a dozen meters tall!
...
Juana says nothing, as if waiting for something.
Weedy! You're an engineer! Do something!
This is my first time on a Golden Age ship, never mind one that's been modified beyond recognition! I need time to figure out how it works!
Do we abandon ship? We might survive if we jump right now!
Are you loco?! You'll be impaled by saltfins in less than a minute!
—Señora!
We're done for...
No, we're not.
Juana looks towards the spinning helm wheel.
If the ship were alive, its flesh would have been stripped away by a century of wear, leaving only a bare skeleton. Even its once-magnificent embroidered sail was replaced with a patchwork of finskin.
Yet, the helm stands proud at the deck's center.
Juana halts the spinning helm wheel with her hands, as if steadying a dance partner, and begins to turn it with a frenzied rhythm. Her ink-black hair whips around like seaweed caught in raging tides.
It's been so long, old friend!
La Conquista brushes past the massive skeleton, banking at a dangerous angle. Only by hanging onto a rope for dear life did the passengers avoid being thrown overboard.
For decades, this heavy old ship has had to drift slowly behind other salt ships.
Now, though, it darts through the bones, riding upon the wind, as it once navigated treacherous reefs with Juana at the helm.
Señora...?
W-We're on course again!
*pant*... *pant*...
I... I'm alive? Do I have all my body parts? Am I hanging off a piece of bone?
You said... YOU SAID YOU ONLY NEEDED ME TO PUT OUT A FIRE!
...
They stand in silence before the carnage.
...
I managed to salvage the transmutation table. The outer casing is gone, but the output's stable enough...
As for the probes... this is the only one left. Pretty worn, but still usable.
And we still have a little bit of alloy and Originium, scavenged from the antiques. I don't know if it's enough though...
Anything I can help with?
Are your fingers as thin as a probe needle?
A long rumble interrupts the conversation as Elysium places a hand on his belly, looking embarrassed.
At this rate, they might be soon. We don't have much food on the ship...
...Let's go find some.