Crushed Earth

Careful. Walk slowly.

I'm alright... no need to prop me up.

Save your strength. We're still not clear until we're over that mountain.

How far are we now... from Ursus?

Not that far. We aren't deep in the barrens yet... not deep enough.

Let me just breathe for a moment...

Go ahead. I'll wait.

...Huff...

What's past the mountain, to the northeast?

Kazimierz people's land, I think.

But we're not going that way.

This is the first time I've left Ursus.

You'll get used to it.

There's nothing left for us in Ursus.

Phew... this place looks good enough.

It's almost night. Let's set up camp here.

Um... how much do we have left in rations?

We've gone through more than half the haul from the warehouse. Plus what we traded for from the wandering settlement, we still have about four day's worth... not a whole lot.

Watch our bags. I'll look for some firewood.

This place is... so quiet.

That's not a bad thing. We should be wary of anyone passing by, though.

Call it a stroke of good luck that we came through without any trouble.

Bandit groups and outlaws, packs of wild beasts...

Most would say the barrens are a fatally dangerous place to be.

Can we really find our way to these 'Rusthammer' people?

There's no reason the vagabonds would trick us. There'd be no sense in tricking us.

Rusthammer's people are operating nearby, that much plenty know.

Will they accept us?

We can't be sure, but we have to try.

Long before, in the village... the soldiers all said the 'Rusthammers' were a vicious, barbarous lot, thugs who killed for pleasure on the wastes.

They all said that, and afterwards there were people in the team who told of them too...

Rumors aren't sure to be truth. Have you forgotten how those bastard noblemen spoke of us?

'Insatiable, ruthless Reunion bandits.'

All the old patriarchs of Ursus need to do is make a bag of rumors up, and they can turn anything they don't like into maneating monsters for the commoners.

It's a customary trick of theirs. This definitely isn't like that, as far as I can see.

Have you met them before?

I have. It was even while I was serving.

That year was the year they said the borderland armies went into Kazimierz territory, plundering villages.

Ah... I heard about that from someone in my own village.

The captain mentioned it too. They all died after, apparently?

The captain told you all that?

They were Ursus regulars. A whole army platoon, armed to the teeth, bringing full sets of combat equipment past the border. There's no hope of completely fooling us about what was happening.

The looting was just an excuse by the brass to shift the blame. Maybe the soldiers really did want to stir up a battle, you know.

Sadly, things didn't go how they wanted. I don't know what took place in Kazimierz's hilled forests... but not a single one of them came back. A total annihilation, more or less.

As for the truth behind why they crossed the border... they're all dead, and who cares anymore.

But their death isn't solely down to the Kazimierz people... that I know for sure.

So what happened?

It was the fourth day the soldiers had crossed into Kazimierz... a sentinel reported that a great group of wastelanders entered Ursus' own borders.

Wastelanders?

Back then, I was stationed right at the border garrison's resupply station, and when the sentinel announced invaders, nobody in the barracks took it seriously.

Though you don't often see a whole crowd of barrenland vagabonds on their last hopes, it's not new, either. Especially not at the Ursus border.

They sent out a little squad, ready to intercept the poor saps and boost manpower a little in the jurisdiction's mines. Nothing too strange compared to their usual business.

...But...

Let me guess. That squad didn't come back?

The next morning, a guard with his face coated in blood scrambled into our camp. It wasn't just the squad who got wiped out. Three neighboring checkpoints had completely fallen too, and only he made it back out alive.

The station officer at that time wasn't as stupid as now. He determined it was Kazimierz soldiers disguising as barrenland wanderers and springing attacks on checkpoints, so he immediately reported a need for reinforcements to the higher-ups.

It took until then for us to realize, our Originium communicators had lost all signals from allies within range, and we were sitting fowlbeasts on our own. After that, that night...

After the sun set, a sound of metal beating traveled all throughout the valley, fearsome and ear-piercing, like the primitive drums of war.

And then there were people. So many people... more than a hundred... maybe more than a thousand, carrying countless rough works of weaponry, shouting rallying cries we had no hope of understanding, charging madly into our camp.

They looked like humans, yet you couldn't sense the 'human' part of them. I thought they'd gone crazy, because even if the comrades by their sides were blown away by artillery, the pace of their assault didn't slow one bit.

I'd say that's the most terrifying attack I've ever experienced. Forget Reunion's countless battles afterwards, none of them could compare to that evening of insanity.

......

They only retreated once first light finally came over the valley.

Innumerous corpses piled all around the camp, bloodstains and marks from Originium Arts bombardment everywhere... the whole day through, the air was filled with a smell of rust so thick you could vomit.

...That's just too excessive.

Why?

Why attack the Ursus Army with no regard for the cost? What was their goal?

That's the crucial bit.

After a few days, a backup unit finally made it. It was only then we learned that two Infected mines nearby had been totally plundered, they'd set everyone in the mines free, and burnt down five whole military supply warehouses in the area.

They hacked up the officers and mine overseers they caught, and tore every Ursus flag and landmark they found to shreds...

Rusthammer washed off the traces of Ursus, and left behind not a single mark in the ruins.

What was most important was, the unlucky lot who gallivanted into Kazimierz land had practically lost all of their rear reinforcements. Once the Ursus Army had reacted, it was already too late.

Even now, I still can't comprehend their lunatic conduct.

But 'wasteland scum who slaughter for pleasure' wouldn't raid the Ursus Army in order to free the poor people in the mines.

They're not normal thugs, I'm certain of that.

...That story really is...

Hard to believe, right.

I still have no way to tell... if it would be a correct choice to join them.

Even someone of Mr. Patriot's caliber got...

Don't think about it. Let's just go to sleep.

There'll always be a way.

Maybe...

We're here...

This is where... we were looking for...?

'Straight north from the second peak, on top of a massive, upright boulder.'

I didn't imagine it would actually be here.

'If you wish to join us, then search for the rusthammer in the rent-apart rock.'

This group likes a bit of dramatic delivery, huh.

This isn't dramatics, this is a symbol.

If you want to live on the barrens, you must be like this hammer.

You don't need to be sharp, but you do need to be tenacious.

!

......

You don't resemble... 'ordinary passers-by.'

I recognize the symbol on your clothes.

'Reunion.'

Speak. Tell us why you sought us.

You... you don't look like you're Infected.

I thought...

We-We want to join the Rusthammers!

Join?

Weak, timid, fearful, helpless...

You're scared of everything upon the barrens, shivering, like livestock awaiting slaughter.

Here. Pick these up.

Wh... What are these? A shovel and pick... and a beast trap?

What do you mean by this?

Why give these tools to us?

You want to join the Rusthammers? Then prove yourselves.

What?

Prove you belong to the wastes. Prove you aren't livestock incapable of surviving beyond their pen.

We are warriors. We are the wasteland's conquerors. We look after each other. We share everything of ours.

But we will not care for unbearably weak trash.

See that gorge over there? It's a kind place to be, the kindest all around here.

In the gorge is everything you need.

Survive for a month here.

If even that's beyond you, then head straight back where you came as soon as you can.

Survive? For a month? In a place like this?

You've got to be fricking kidding me.

Surviving on the barrenlands with just these?

If you just wanted to watch us die, why make it so complicated? Wouldn't it be so much easier to do it right here?

You're just going to laugh at us as we die on the barrens? Is this some sick hobby of yours?

Or is persecuting the Infected one of your joys, too?

And I thought you weren't like the other bandits... you bunch of...

...Hahahaha.

Infected? Infected??

Hahahaha...

Persecute the Infected? Hahahahahahahaha...

Boone!

Come on over, take a look at this moron.

Look, look, look, Boone.

Do you see? These are your 'Infected comrades.'

Bullshit. I have no comrades this weak.

Y-You're Reunion too...

Here, nobody cares whether you're Infected or not. Nobody cares what kind of special rank you have.

Nobody fricking cares.

Man, woman, old, young, Sarkaz...

Reunion? Fallen noble? As long as you embrace the wilderness, cut away from the poison blood of civilization, we are all equal.

......

Just one month, was it...

Illa?

That's right. If you can hold out for one month, that'll show you're part of the wastes, that you've broken free of civilization's fetters.

Once the time comes, you'll be a part of the barrenlands, and our Rusthammer brothers and sisters will welcome you.

Alright... it's a deal.

Not a bad attitude. I have great faith in you.

I wish you good luck, young lady.

Illa, are you serious?

We... don't have much choice, do we?

No. We still have rations. We can go back, go back to that vagrant village, think of another way.

Don't mess with me! We never had that much in supplies! You haven't eaten for two days, I've noticed that!

I...

We're comrades in arms, aren't we? Comrades have to look after each other, right?

These Rusthammers... they're able to survive here... perhaps we can do the same.

...I suppose.

Lend a hand. We'll find a place to set up camp first.

...Why isn't it moving...

Shh! Don't make a sound. It took the bait.

And I feel it's about to run.

Calmly... wait for it... wait...

It moved!

Just a bit more... just a bit more...

We caught it! We caught it! Hahahaha!

Oh, wonderful! Wonderful!

Hahahaha! Alright.

Illa, pass me the knife.

Here it is.

There really were burdenbeasts here. This is my first time seeing one wild.

With all this meat, we can smoke it, dry it in the cave, and it'll keep for a while...

At least for the next long while, we won't have to eat dried sandworm.

I'm not sure if that wandering village is still around.

What made you think of it suddenly?

Even if we smoked this meat, we wouldn't finish it. Maybe we could trade it with those wasteland wanderers for some supplies.

Like a couple seeds or something...

Has anything happened with those mossoats?

Listen to you. Have you never planted anything before in your life?

...I haven't. I was born in the city.

Heheh. My little city friend, food is hardly that easy to grow. You'll want to properly learn.

Who's a little friend... You're barely older than me.

Whatever, I'm dropping it.

Those wanderers barely ever stop in one place, but there should be a few settlements below the mountain to the east. If we have the chance, we can go take a look.

Come over here, let's take all this back in.

Alright.

Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...

Still half a month to go...

I hope those Rusthammers mean what they say.

But I feel like now, it doesn't matter whether we have them or not.

I've been feeling more and more like we can survive.

I've actually wondered the whole time... Why would there be a cave like this in a gorge? It doesn't seem naturally formed, either...

I'm betting this was an ancient mine.

A mine? In this completely desolate area? Was it the Kazimierz?

Can't say it's either Kazimierz or Ursus for sure.

Can't even be sure if it's a country we're familiar with.

Before, when I was in the army, someone told me all these ancient stories.

They said that centuries ago, millennia ago, Ursus wasn't yet Ursus, Kazimierz wasn't yet Kazimierz, and so many countries were emerging across the land, growing, becoming strong.

And in the end, once again because of war or Catastrophe or some other reason, they were destroyed, and fell to pieces.

Catastrophes repeatedly swept the earth, any trace of these countries' existence cleaned up along with them. Everything we can find was left underground, just like this mine, for example. They say loads of other places all have ancient remnants like this.

So that means...

These places weren't always barrenlands, but were once towns and cities where people lived?

Maybe.

If... If we keep living in here, and get more and more people like us, we might just be able to set up a small town or something...

This gorge goes south to north. It could hold plenty of people.

And then I'd be Mayor Illa! And you'd be Deputy Mayor Gareth!

Alright, enough daydreaming. Help me hang up the meat.

Alright~

Gareth! Gareth!

What is it... so early...

Quick, come look, the mossoats!

!

Are... Are these buds?

They are!

Great! Great! Oh, that's amazing!

So we can plant grains here after all!

I'm guessing the burdenbeast bone powder played a part.

Alright, let me see... what was the most important thing, again?

Water!

We won't have enough relying on that mountain creek. We'll need to think of some other way.

But... there's no other springs anywhere nearby.

Our only option's to head to the foot of the mountain east and try our luck. There's trees there, which means there's a water source.

But that's too far away. Would we be carrying water every day?

It's far, but it's worth it.

If these mossoats can grow properly, then it'll all be worth it!

Let's sort our things out, and we'll head to the woods to look.

It seemed to be pretty close... I didn't think it was so far...

We'll need to think of something later on, figure out an even bigger container.

It's not realistic to carry it just with water pouches.

Hold on... what is this?

Are these footprints? There's other people nearby.

Footprints? What footprints?

...No... these...

These are army bootprints!

I'd recognize these sole markings anywhere. These are Ursus army boots.

What... What are Ursus soldiers doing here?

What do we do...

...Let's hurry back. Get our things in order.

We need to leave this place. These marks... they haven't gone too far, and there's at least twenty of them by these footprints.

Wait! We have other options, too.

If we don't light a fire... they won't be sure to notice the cave in the gorge.

They'll find us sooner or later! Even if we don't light fires, what's the use of hiding in the cave day after day? We don't even know if they'll leave or not!

They've come to get me. I knew the colonel wouldn't let me off so easily...

No! I'm not leaving!

Illa!

Where would we even run to? I'm already sick of running! I joined Reunion so I could live with some semblance of self-respect at all!

This past month... life this past month has been tough, undoubtedly, but what does it matter that it's tough?

There's no taxmen, no nobles! There's prey in the forest, mossoats in the ground, all of my own!

This whole month, I've lived like a person! And not like some beast just dragging out its life!

Illa, calm down a little, listen to me.

As long as we're still alive, we can always find some place that belongs to us, and if we die, we'll have nothing at all!

Don't tell me, every time we run... every time we run, we have to abandon everything that's already ours? Why should I let those wretches destroy my life again and again!?

First, my village's people... my little sister... then Sharla... the captain.

I'm not going anywhere today.

If today I die, then I'm dying in this gorge. Everything in here was our painstaking work. This is my new home.

I'm not going anywhere!

...Illa.

Stay here, Gareth. Let's fight them.

We're warriors of Reunion. We're not cowards.

You...

You're right!

These goddamned sons of bitches!

Those bastard nobles, and Colonel Lomono... damn them all... damn them all to hell!

Good! Excellent!

You finally resemble the spitting image.

!!

...It's you!

Why were you... Were you nearby the whole time?

You were to survive on the barrens for a month. All I did was check in daily to see if you were still good and going.

Forget that for now. There's Ursus nearby...

Don't get too wound up. All I'm hearing is a few paltry little annoyances.

Then... have we qualified?

Qualified?

You're Rusthammer already, sister.

......

And you. Though you came just short of your willpower crumbling, I'm very happy to see you chose the right path.

Compromise and escape are never-ending. Remember that.

Welcome, brother.

Now, as well as that, a group of idiotic prey are heading straight for the beast trap. You shouldn't miss this.

Prey? What prey?

They're here.

I knew there'd be people in this gorge.

You really have given me the runabout, you know, Corporal Gareth.

......

You shameful deserter. You even dared mingle in just to steal food supplies from the army warehouse.

Did you truly believe you could trample on the Ursus Army's dignity and then so vainly flee?

Colonel Lomono's very angry. Particularly angry. Only lopping off your head can quell his fury now.

Time to pay for your crimes, you Infected scum...

Black-clothed Ursus brutes... twenty-four of them.

Heh, I see you're quite merry with these flesh-tearing savages! Surely you don't think a couple of barrenland natives can save your lowly lives?

Now kneel and off yourself. I can promise you a death in one piece.

Snipers, ready...

C... Captain! H...

How... How many is this???

H-How could this be?! What about the sentinel? Where did the sentinel go?!

If you're looking for your 'sentinel,' then right here.

These... helmets... weapons, how could you possibly...

My brother and sister, welcome to the wastelands. This is your first hunt since joining the Rusthammers.

I'm glad of the chance to join you in battle.

Battle?

Sister, we never 'battle.'

They—the so-called 'countries' and 'civilizations'—display, from the root, their evil. Their colossal nomadic cities, their ugly steel creations, their metal fetters and cells cast from malice, are the sinister proof of their sin.

They have stolen everything. They have plundered this world's minerals, seized its water and land, and taken it all for their own.

They claim that only faith in 'civilization' can bring salvation, that everything not bound by their shackles has been stamped by a barbarous seal. They fear the truth, and we will return the truth to the land.

They use force to make you afraid, they use civilization to make you feeble, they give you no choice but to rely on their baselessly invented 'order,' no choice but to trap yourself in the cage.

And so they enslave you who by all rights ought to be free, and so they swallow you!

This world ought to belong to everyone. Everyone should, like you and I and anyone else, take a place in these wastelands with their own two hands! The wasteland will eliminate the weak, but when traced to the source, just who was it that made the people of the world weak?

You must become their nightmares, become their calamity, become the force that destroys them.

Who can shackle and manacle a hurricane, an earthquake? And who can imprison a thunderclap, a lightning bolt within a cage?!

We never battle! We destroy!

We pulverize the cage, we destroy the fetters, we plunder back that which was stolen, and those willing to abandon weakness may all become Rusthammer brothers and sisters.

Have no fear! They're just a bunch of lunatics!

Get into formation! P... Prepare for battle!

They tremble. They fear us. We destroy. We hunt.

Cast away the fetters of civilization. We will never be weak again.

Catastrophes sweep the wastelands...

Rusthammers smash the world!