act17d0

Oh, they're here.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Now let's skip the pleasantries.

Thank you for saving Occphen. Without you, Rhodes Island would have lost a good worker.

When the mission is over, I'll make a full report, and Rhodes Island will remunerate you appropriately, and compensate you for your supplies.

Remuneration...

Remuneration is nice.

Also, you put your lives on the line for the Infected. And that wins this old man's admiration.

These townsfolk have done a lot for us in our time here. Leaving them to die wouldn't be our style.

So you're mercenaries?

No... We're...

Yes. Yes we are.

We're mercenaries. The super expensive kind.

Can you give us the name of your company? Mercenaries like you are a rare breed.

Err... We're... um...

(Russian) Help me think of a name!

(Russian) Polar Bear Logistics?

I understand if you're not in a position to say.

We're... We're from a faraway country in... in the south!

That's right! We're from way down south!

The south? South of Sargon? ?

Beyond the foehn hotlands?

Foehn...? Yes, the south. Right.

There's other countries beyond the foehn hotlands? ?

That's... shocking. I've lived a long time, and this is the first I've ever heard of people down there.

In all the records of all the Lords Ameer, there's never been a single report of someone crossing the hotlands.

(Russian) You could've made your story a little more plausible.

(Russian) Plausible like Polar Bear Logistics?

Anyway, warriors with Ursine and Victorian accents, it doesn't matter where you come from.

You're willing to fight for the Infected. And at least on that point, our interests are aligned.

At least for now, we can work together to deal with this situation.

I can agree with that.

So who can tell us what the heck happened to this town?

Sarkaz Mercenary...

Controlling the monsters, should be casters.

They're organized, disciplined, and most importantly, they know when to cut their losses and back down. They're not here for a quick raid.

They are all properly geared up with Columbian equipment. Some of them were extremely tough back when they sieged the safe house.

Judging from the equipments and tactics, they should be professional mercenaries who signed the 'Redmark contract.'

I'm afraid it's a rebellion against the local lord.

But why are they attacking civilians?

They chased us here from the Infected quarter.

What on Earth do these mercs actually want?

The most likely answer is they wanted to silence you.

I'm afraid that's not the only thing they were after.

What do you mean?

When they attacked the Infected quarter yesterday, they were obviously targeting the sick.

They were trying to round them up.

I'm pretty sure that was their goal.

Kidnapping... Infected?

That doesn't make any sense.

The enemy's objectives are a mystery to us, but that's not the most important thing.

For now, the best thing we can do is wait.

Wait?

You may not realize it, but we're standing in the middle of a fait accompli.

We walked into this Lord Ameer's territory without his permission, violating his commandments and the local laws. We've broken a major Sargon taboo.

The town nobility may be in the middle of a war, but they're still the rulers here.

Sticking our noses in anything else at this point would only make our situation even worse.

The local lord set up an Infected quarter. That tells us he's not totally cruel and heartless.

He was willing to let Rhodes Island build a safehouse here. That means he's not an isolationist.

I think he'll treat us fairly.

National law... local government... I get it. That's the best we can hope for right now.

Until the situation changes again, we'll hold out in the safehouse and wait for the riots to die down.

I hope you can help us.

No problem. We need Rhodes Island's professional expertise too.

All right then. I'm looking forward to working with the four of you.