M8-5 Ruination, Long Awaited

Transmission went through!

Captain? Do you copy?

I'm here! It's me! What's your status?

Most of us are fine. We're trapped under this building at the moment, but we found an access hatch.

We'll regroup with you if we find another exit.

We disabled the restart function. Rest assured, we've got a very defensible position. Make your way here and you won't have to worry about getting caught flat-footed.

But...

Bluishsilver, she's...

Gah!

...No, no, Rosmontis! Wait!

Focus on the mission... don't come for us! You promised us before we set out!

But!

Keep your promise! We wouldn't have followed you into Chernobog without it.

Remember our talk back when we joined your team?

Listen to me, Rosmontis... we talked about how elite operators and their teams are all different.

You can do so much. You Arts are so strong. There's not much we can do for you in a fight.

But when you can't handle the burden, we'll share it with you. Just like Amiya and the other elite operators.

But you're my team!

Calm down!

Bluishsilver's last wish...

Was that we help you grow as a warrior, not a soldier, and not a weapon.

Captain, you get your job done. We'll make it out of here safe.

Listen, Rosmontis. This might be hard to do. But it's what Bluishsilver wanted.

'You're not just an elite operator, you're Rosmontis. We all love you, not just your team, but Rhodes Island and the Infected, everyone who hates loss and destruction... we all love you.'

So, Captain, 'Think about what 'Rosmontis' would do, okay?'

Over and out. Tell Amiya hi for us.

......

Don't leave me. Please come back.

We will.

They cut the transmission.

What's the situation?

Oh, Amiya. We lost one member of the engineering team, but the rest are safe for now.

Rosmontis... We need a little more firepower. The guerrilla mortar team needs supplies. We'll ambush them.

Are you okay?

Amiya, after Ace died, what did you think?

Oh!

You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But I want to know.

Sorry, I don't want to think too much about it.

You want to run away too?

No, it's just not the time to face up to it. Tears are for the end, when it's all over.

I only remember the very end, I was thinking...

That I didn't want to let him, or any of our Rhodes Island operators, die in vain.

Good.

Recon Operator, tell me where. I'm going.

Reunion is totally out of control. Watch yourself.

Because we're their enemy?

Because everything is their enemy. Without an enemy to fight, sometimes people make their own.

What are you worried about? Vanguard group, attack!

Roger! Form up and reload!

Roger! Hold fast! Don't let them cut off the corridor!

Stop casting! Watch for friendly fire!

No further! Too scary.

Don't hit! Pain! Pain everywhere.

That's an unpleasant infection symptom.

If you want to ask if I worry about Rosmontis, Amiya, and their teams...

I have to confess, there's no use worrying.

We settled on the plan, and it all runs on a predesigned track. If you squeeze onto someone else's rail, you'll just end up derailing two trains.

The herd doesn't look like it's pushing up!

Clear them in waves. We don't have the capacity to take on an entire battlefield.

Amiya is a mature leader and an excellent fighter. She knows the team, the operation, and our objectives.

Rosmontis is a powerhouse and the elite operator best supported by her team. She clears her mission objectives cleanly and decisively, as long as the operation utilizes her properly.

Chernobog is in the midst of a raging storm, and given the circumstances there's not much worrying about the situation can accomplish.

The most important thing we can do for them is accomplish our own team's strategic objectives.

I don't think so.

She's through all seven training segments and passed every test given to her. There were three in which she showed particular promise.

I have no faith in casters like this. Kalt'sit, I pride myself on my skill with Arts, and I hope to help others with it.

That's not what Rosmontis is. Her Originium Arts are not those that serve to benefit mankind.

I want her to fight, but for one consideration.

If Rosmontis spent her whole life in the greenhouse, her outburst once reality shatters her beautiful world would be catastrophic.

If you can't do it, I will.

Pith!

You and Amiya have too much faith in the future. One misstep and someone else's future is gone forever.

Before we make a judgment like that, we have to at least try.

I'm worried about a future that's beyond saving.

For now, I'll have her serve as an elite operator. Not in the future, but now.

Right now, we teach her, polish her, forge her strength into shape, hold her to the highest standards, and watch her stand firm in the face of Catastrophe.

Until there is nothing in the world that can shake her.

Only then will she be free of the terrible fate the Columbians set out for her. Only then can she lead her own life.

That is my goal.

I knew you'd say something like that, Kal'tsit.

But who's responsible for her?

I need you to work with me. I need the elite operators on this together.

And I promise you, I stake my life on it. We will see this through.

A war cast in warmth and kindness is a much more dangerous form of war.

I don't want to speak of such horrible cruelties, even if my fears should never come to pass.

Amiya and Rosmontis are in the care of Rhodes Island herself, and more directly the elite operators who take responsibility for them.

Further, they are the core of the squad's strategy, Dr. Doctor.

Trust in them, and you trust in yourself.

Hey, Hawk, did you see that?

How could I not?

Shhh. Don't give us away.

(Then why did you ask me? You're the one making noise.)

(I said shhhh. You don't want the Captain to chew you out.)

(She can't talk, how would I know if she's chewing me out, or if it's just you pretending for her?)

(I wouldn't do that.)

(I know.)

(......)

(......)

(I mean...)

(Enough. I know you want to ask about this stuff.)

(You've got all these weapon and armor cases, all this machinery laid out all nice. If it was just laying around I'd say I came up with a million Victorian pounds or so.)

(I bet you two big ones that's Ursus stuff. I saw goods like this when I was smuggling around Laval. This is brand spanking new.)

(You got the Central Corps, but other units can't have had anything like this more than... Hmm, maybe five years?)

(You think it makes any sense that Reunion could've just looted all this equipment?)

(You mean the guys who go around swinging pipes? I don't think they'd even know how to grease it.)

(What about the guerrillas? They're ex-Ursus Army.)

(How long ago did they desert? Those big, heavy metal guys would sink if you pushed them into a lake.)

(Even if they managed to bring some logistics units with them all those years ago, they'd probably all be dead by now.)

(Think about it. With the stuff they're using now, it's a miracle they can keep their plates wiped clean.)

(Let them get their hands on these weapons? I doubt they'd even know which end to point at the enemy.)

(You're making them sound like a bunch of idiots.)

(Ignorance and idiocy aren't the same thing. Logistics is skill as much as it's knowledge. The guerrillas aren't dumb, but the odds that they'll come across some Infected logistics officers eager to run off with them are pretty slim.)

(Saving an Infected officer from execution... that's a tall order.)

(Look... The serial number's been filed off. Sure, a deserter might do that, but you know who else might...?)

(You might do it if you were trying to trick somebody.)

(It wasn't done very clean. Just looking at it I can tell what kind of file they used. Looks like somebody was short on time.)

But the most important thing for now...

We have to tell them, and quick. Whether or not it's useful info.

I just hope we're not too late. Captain, should we have Raidian tell Amiya's team? Or go report it direct?

We should keep Reunion and the weird looking guys busy back here? Got it.

Wait.

We've got bogeys closing on our position.

Mantra, you on it? Just make them forget what they're doing. No need to fabricate some orders or turn them into gibbering morons or whatever...

Conserve your strength. If we run into Reunion, we'll need you to defuse the situation.

Hm? Hm.

'Good. Be careful.'

Right.

Okay... And it's good to send, Captain. Here.

'The Ursus Army is in the core city.'