Arknights story · Episode 11: Return To Mist
11-21 Unavoidable
Hope lingers among the ashes, while thunder rumbles overhead. A real war awaits Rhodes Island and the Self-Salvation Corps.
1 scenes, 256 lines
1. Interlude
256 lines
......
Vina!
Did I fall sleep?
You're lucky to be out for just a little bit after your injuries.
Siege, Self-Salvation Corps reinforcements have arrived. This place is relatively safe. Rest well; we'll be at your side.
Mm...
She scans the faces of her friends.
Everyone is bruised and battered, just as she is. But they are alive, and there is still hope in their eyes.
Except...
...Allerdale.
The door to the Mausoleum of Kings has closed once again.
The Sarkaz have noticed the sound of the Steam Knight, and they must have guessed that the Sighs of Kings has left its home. They're sending men to the palace.
Our scouts have tried to get close to the entrance, but there has been no sign of Allerdale.
......
Do you want to talk about what happened below?
...Ah.
Sounds like something Allerdale would do. Cumberland the Ever on High.
Cumberland...
There's no such thing as Cumberland the Ever on High, Clovisia.
Allerdale protected what she wanted to protect with her life.
Not out of any duty... simply of her own accord.
Her own accord...
Yes, she was brave.
Shame... I had a surprise for Allerdale when she came back.
This is...
The ducal manor is in ruins, but the scouts found this among the ashes.
The steam armor of House Cumberland.
It wasn't lost in the fire...
Haha.
If only she could see this.
Then she would have known that there is no such thing as a fixed path.
The fire had not taken away all the hopes that she placed on the armor.
......
Clovisia, we saw a Steam Knight in the Mausoleum of Kings.
Maybe the last one.
Four years ago, the Duke's men lured the Steam Knights into the Mausoleum of Kings, where they were ambushed by the Sarkaz.
That passage is the tomb of the Steam Knights.
What a gruesome scene it must have been, even though I was not there to see it.
He attacked you, didn't he? He attacked the heir to the throne of Victoria.
He was just doing his job.
He's defending the Sighs of Kings, even if it was merely an excuse to lure the Steam Knights into the mausoleum.
He witnessed comrade after comrade fall, and spent so many years in darkness. The pain must have gnawed away at his sanity.
...No.
Words like these are too simple to describe what went through the mind of this warrior.
On one side, the tombs of the kings. On the other, the bodies of his fellows. He defended the silent resting place for countless days and nights.
He was no madman or ghost. His will was so strong that it conquered death.
By his own will, he exacted revenge on a Victoria that betrayed him.
By his own will, he defended the symbol of Victoria.
......
I don't know if we'll ever see him again.
If... if he can escape the darkness...
May he once again find what he wants to defend.
We found the mercenaries who went to Highbury, general.
Bring them forward.
Yes, sir.
*cough* *cough* L-Let me go!
......
A mere girl...
She was found tied up on the streets with her fellow mercenaries.
I checked her weapons, and there were few signs of use. She hardly even qualifies as a merc.
Is that so?
......
Speak, mercenary.
Did you not kill a single Victorian?
Uwah...
Are you afraid of me?
......
Take her back.
What...?
General...
You said she hardly qualifies as a mercenary.
Young Sarkaz like her don't understand what we fight for, nor the true face of our enemy, because no one ever taught her.
The real war is about to begin.
I will show her what this war means to the Sarkaz. She will watch it unfold by my side.
Feist!
Rockrock... ha, Squad 11 of the Self-Salvation Corps, back together again, eh?
There's only the two of us left from Squad 11.
Right.
But I'm sure we'll grow again.
We have the Doctor and the commander, after all.
What's the situation, Clovisia?
How is the Corps faring, Clovisia?
The retreat was initiated on-time, but we suffered heavy casualties.
And we're facing a supply shortage after Allerdale went missing.
If only we had more hands...
You've got a few here.
Totter?
My employer has gone missing, so my contract is now null and void.
Are you sure you want to stay?
We're already here. Hard to get out when you're on the wrong side of the Sarkaz anyway.
And we fought alongside Dagda's group in the mausoleum.
I may not have made it out alive, if not for them.
Another debt... I guess I need to push my retirement back.
Doctor, we're here.
Hello, Misery.
On time as usual.
Sorry. I wished we'd moved quicker and helped you at the command tower.
And you are...?
Horn, leader of the 2nd squad of the Tempest Platoon of Victoria.
Misery helped us break into a prison at the border of Auchterigg and Highbury a few hours ago.
We rescued a Defense Force patrol that was about to be executed for refusing to fight for the Sarkaz.
We'll be operating with Rhodes Island and the Self-Salvation Corps from this point on.
Looks like we have some new friends, Clovisia.
Thank you, everyone.
It's a pleasant surprise, one that has opened up many possibilities.
Although we took heavy losses, we did manage to obtain important information about the Sarkaz supply lines.
Commander, Doctor, here's the intel on potential depots in Highbury.
Add to that the data that Closure obtained from the command tower...
We'll be able to locate the supply line.
The hint to our next step lies within this intel.
Understood.
We'll make preparations for the battles ahead.
There is no one around her.
...Duty.
You've been with me all this time. What is the duty that you've chosen for me?
To put a king on the throne of Victoria again?
Silence.
Allerdale... she aspired to be a Steam Knight, yet...
We can't always know what we're heading towards.
If, one day—
If, one day I strayed from the destiny that you chose for me.
Would you become my nightmare?
The only sound in the underground space is a quiet sigh.
......
Ascalon.
Hello, Ascalon.
......
How are Kal'tsit's injuries?
Repelling the Sanguinarch was plenty.
It's not your fault.
We got away only because you slowed the 'Red-Eye'.
......
Amiya...
She's recovering. You can see it. She won't let herself sleep for too long.
I didn't see what she saw.
I'm never there with her when I should be.
You've always cared a lot about Amiya. All the versions of you.
I never had a chance to ask.
Did you suspect that I was pretending to have amnesia?
Do you trust me, Ascalon?
I want to know the truth of what happened four years ago.
......
I've asked Kal'tsit.
I've asked Amiya.
But I don't know what's true and what's not.
......
I hardly ever get a chance to sit down and talk to you.
You're always quiet.
Can you tell me what you saw?
Four years ago, you sent me on a mission away from the landship.
Her Majesty had left us by the time I returned.
What was the situation at Rhodes Island?
What about Amiya?
Rhodes Island had to escape before Theresis's army surrounded us.
Amiya was in a coma after inheriting the King of Sarkaz's powers.
What about Kal'tsit?
She wanted to save Rhodes Island, save Amiya, and save you.
Save me?
......
Doctor... Doctor... Dr. Doctor...
Amiya...
I'm here.
I won't leave you.
Amiya grabs your clothing subconsciously, then slowly loosens her grip.
Tears flow from her eyes.
Theresa...
She showed me the voices of the Sarkaz souls.
They wanted to take revenge on everyone who has wronged the Sarkaz. They wanted to take revenge on Dr. Kal'tsit.
Kal'tsit?
What does this have to do with her?
...I believe that everything I felt was real, Doctor.
I remember how Dr. Kal'tsit and Theresa spent many nights talking at Rhodes Island.
I remember how Dr. Kal'tsit went a whole week without sleeping to save a group of Sarkaz Infected.
But it's true that she wronged the Sarkaz, two hundred years ago...
Dr. Kal'tsit must have told Theresa why she did it at the time.
And Theresa must have accepted it, which was why they became such good friends.
But even I... even I, who knows Dr. Kal'tsit so well...
I felt anger and sorrow when I felt the memories of the war.
........
Maybe that's what Theresa wanted to tell me.
Theresa wanted to tell me why she sided with the souls of the Sarkaz.
They are there... above Londinium.
......
The sound of thunder approaches.
It is outside the window, above your heads, never far away.
War is coming.
You hold Amiya's hand.
The two of you look up at the sky together.
Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.
Even the nearby cities feel the vibration, not just Londinium.
A massive object, the likes of which has never been seen before, rises up from the dark clouds.
Behind it, the thick clouds atop The Shard finally crack open. Those who have raised their heads to look up finally realize it was no ordinary cloud that surrounded Londinium.
It was a Catastrophe cloud, far more massive than what any Catastrophe Messenger has ever recorded.
Sparks fly out of the overcharged black clouds, rumbling like thunder.
The strange flying machine is like the eye of the storm.
Beneath its gaze, there is nowhere for the enemies of the Sarkaz to run.
2:28 P.M. / Overcast
Tradersmill City, Victoria
Chenchen!
......
What're you daydreamin' about? Hughes is waitin' for us. Sounds like he got a really solid lead.
......
......
The one who just left Hughes's house...
Look at this crowd. Who are you talking about?
Well, you've got a better memory for faces than I do. Maybe she was there to talk business with Hughes? Did you see her at the station a few days ago?
Not a criminal you caught in Lungmen, is she?
Victoria South Office
Hello.
You're... I've seen you in the sickbay at HQ, haven't I?
There's something I would like to ask of you.
Please give this letter to Dr. Kal'tsit and Dr. Doctor.
You... ahem. Are you planning to leave the office?
You should submit an application, like the other evacuating operators. Just so that HR is on top of things, you know...
They know.
They know there's something I have to do.
I'll only bring danger to the rest of you, if I stay here.
You want to protect Rhodes Island?
Rhodes Island... is a quiet place.
I like it here, and I'm thankful to you. Especially the Sankta who left us... you've given me the peace that I always sought.
And now, I repay this peace.
I'm ready.
The Sarkaz airship has taken off within Londinium.
The heir to the Duchy of Cumberland is missing. The Duke of Caster did not obtain the Sighs of Kings.
A dozen Messengers have visited your demesne in a single day.
They want to know whether you are ready to grant them an audience.
—
What do you think, Your Highness... Princess Eblana?
Duke Wellington...
Right before my eyes... I see a new Taran era.