act10mini

December 21st, 1097, 8:44 A.M.

Ancient Ruined Tower, Bleached Wasteland

Ruined buildings stand tall between the steep canyon walls, their purpose now unknown.

Those who live in the shadows of these ruins have brought life back to this barren land.

Here's your potato.

How's production coming along?

Never thought you could grow so many of them in a car.

I've never seen farming like this before...

What's it called? Hy... hy something...

Hydroponics. It's only become commonplace among nomadic cities in the last few decades or so. I'm not surprised that you didn't know about it.

You seem to know a lot about these things.

A little bit. I've seen a lot of these farms on Rhodes Island.

But one car won't feed everyone.

No worries. It's only a matter of time, now that we have the help of the Kazimierz scholars.

But all that knowhow is in the hands of that engineer and his team.

We're completely reliant on them.

And I still don't trust him.

Why not?

He's not even an Infected.

He says he's helping us because his wife and daughter died of Oripathy.

So it's because of his anger at the injustice of fate, and his sympathy for the Infected.

But what if he decides to start a new life, a new family?

Would it become inconvenient for him to keep supporting the Infected? Would he betray us for that new life?

He's not one of us, no matter what he says.

You're making assumptions based on hypotheticals. Just because someone isn't Infected doesn't mean they're our enemy.

We'll never make allies if we treat every act of kindness with suspicion.

Cooperation needs to start from trust. Even the word 'reunion' is all about coexistence, isn't it?

Did you already forget Talulah? That can't be allowed to happen again.

Then what we need is a contingency plan. Planning for a rainy day doesn't mean looking at everyone with suspicion though.

Fine, fine.

Has anyone ever told you that you're becoming more and more like Patriot?

Aw jeez, that's a little much, don't you think...?

Changing the topic—how are the clothes?

A little tight, but wearable.

The material looks like it could stand up to some heavy use. Not bad.

It's cheap and practical—ideal for combat attire.

Never thought I'd live to see the day.

How many years has it been since I last got something new to wear?

You can thank the Infected workers in Caladon for that.

There's something that I don't quite understand, though.

Why are we taking down the Reunion symbol?

We don't need it anymore.

We don't need Reunion?

That's not what I meant.

We just don't need a symbol anymore.

We're linked by a common purpose, not by lines and shapes.

We should be helping and supporting the other Infected, not differentiating ourselves from them.

So why is Team 4 still wearing the symbol then?

They have a special mission: running diversion.

I... I don't understand.

They're operating in eastern Ursus, wearing the symbol in order to draw attention. That way, Ursus will think that there are only scattered remnants of Reunion roaming in the eastern wasteland.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can operate unnoticed by them, or any other country for that matter.

They'll think that we're just rogues, operating independently. They won't connect us to Reunion, or give us a second thought.

Mr. Bean! You're here!

Bean reporting back.

How did it go?

No problem. Captain Red has delivered the equipment to the warehouse.

Good. I was getting worried when you reported a change in the situation.

We encountered something unexpected in Caladon, but nothing we couldn't deal with.

Good morning, Mr. Guard.

Oh, hello, Miss Elba.

The rest of the Messengers are here.

What's the situation in Columbia?

It's a long story...

Life isn't easy for the Infected on the frontiers, and the help that we can provide is limited.

But the Columbians are giving land to homesteaders, even the Infected.

I see...

The Infected in Tkaronto are willing to provide supplies and housing. For a price, that is.

There's a brewery owner who's offering to help for free though. He's a trustworthy guy, just a little... eccentric.

Sounds like a good start.

Good work, Miss Elba.

What about the guerillas? Any response from Avrora?

Captain Avrora has travelled to the Northern Plains to find the troops who stayed behind. She probably won't make it here.

However, Sarkaz warriors from the guerillas have already rendezvoused with Nine's team.

Reinforcements from Kazimierz arrived yesterday.

Then we're almost at full numbers.

I'll check out the hangar. You guys go find Nine.

Got it.

A massive machine sits at the center of the abandoned warehouse, and industrial noises fill the air.

Reunion mechanics busy themselves around it, the sounds of metal cutting and welding following them wherever they go.

Lightly! Lightly! Don't break it!

We've finally gotten the engine out of there.

Oh hey, Mr. Guard!

How's the situation in Caladon? How are the Infected doing?

Could be worse, all things considered.

Setting aside Councilor Angst for a moment, we have half the city council in favor of maintaining the Infected community. Things won't get any worse as long as the community continues to operate.

Two months ago, a nobleman bribed a security guard to sabotage their power generator. Things could've been really bad if we didn't happen to have an engineering Caster stationed there.

Still, the Infected face a lot of difficulties. They need help.

I heard you encountered some trouble when transporting the engine?

I would call it a little unpleasant surprise.

As you predicted, there are a lot of people who don't look kindly upon the presence of the Infected community, but at least we took care of a bunch of problems.

Were our people at risk?

No one got exposed, although there are a few guys who should probably lay low for a while.

And we can't use the old supply tunnel anymore, after it got revealed by an explosion on the surface.

We'll need to scale down activities in Caladon for a few months.

It would seriously compromise the Infected community's day to day operations if anyone discovers our involvement.

Agreed.

But the incident also allowed us to extract the engine without a hiccup, no traces.

So... are you really sure this thing can fly?

I've ridden on something like it before.