act33side

Selfless, honest, cautious about picking a side, but committed once they've made their choice.

Pah. How sentimental.

Do the Sarkaz hate outsiders in Babel that much?

Fools like you who would give your lives for Her Highness wouldn't understand.

Babel might be changing certain things, but it's meaningless. It's not fast enough, and its reach is not far enough.

Her Highness did not have to have her hands tied. She didn't need to waste her time.

The Doctor helped Chairman Theresa a lot.

In what capacity?

A researcher? A military commander?

Both.

Even though the Doctor killed so many Sarkaz? The more people like that, the longer the war will drag on.

Her Highness's achievements are grand. She's solved problems all her life, taken care of the needs of generations, and now she leads the fight against Oripathy.

But what's happening now? We're fighting the Military Commission. Fighting our own. That's not part of her vision.

Oh, I almost forgot. You're a mercenary, but you're not a Sarkaz mercenary.

True enough.

I only came to Babel because I was with the others. I got involved in this because most of my people were Sarkaz.

Oh, White Smoke is dead, too.

Why bring her up now?

I thought maybe there was something going on between you two.

Doesn't matter. She's dead.

She died in the presence of Chairman Theresa.

Damn, now I'm starting to envy her. What happened?

Ambush. Only the two of us survived, but she lost her legs to an Arts trap. I had to drag her through the mud.

That's when we ran into Chairman Theresa. Well, we ran into the Doctor first.

Pah. The evil spirit showed up on the battlefield personally?

Believe it or not, I thought I was looking at a Lateran priest when I first saw the Doctor in the distance.

Huh?

The Doctor was praying with that black hood bowed low, next to the glowing Chairman.

Wasn't even kneeling or doing any sort of ritual, just gazing silently into the distance with Chairman Theresa.

That evil spirit you're talking about, Dr. {@nickname}, is not some heartless monster.

The Doctor is torn, wandering in solitude... and still, in the end, chose to bring victory to Babel.

So you came to preach? You're trying to guilt-trip me?!

Get out and take your bloody wine! Did you think I would—

No, you're not that naive.

Has a decision been made?

Yes.

Death sentence?

The Doctor and Chairman Theresa had reservations, but Dr. Kal'tsit and most of the fighters who participated in the operation won't have it any other way.

What about you?

Your betrayal cost us dozens of lives, brother.

This time, I'm with Dr. Kal'tsit.

Hmph. More wine.

You just spilled the last of it.

Are you gonna be doing it?

Yes. No need to burden Scout. He's tough on the outside but tender inside. And I don't want to hand you over to anyone else.

I came to tell you, brother, that even though you did something stupid...

Babel will remember your name. We'll keep fighting, keeping your warning and reproach in our hearts.

Train some promising young ones while you still can. Decent ones like you don't live long.

Guess so.

See you again, when the Sarkaz can finally live in peace.

The traitors and spies have been executed. Royal Court spies. They really have a lot of problems in their tribe.

Good work. What about the unit that entered the war zone?

Scouts report that they blocked key passages leading out of the mountains after attacking Babel positions.

The General did not order this. Was it someone from a Royal Court... or a Siracusan plot?

Unlikely. Reports indicate no particular bloodline characteristics to the witchcraft, and little effort was made to cipher communications. It's a rabble.

May I speak frankly, sir? The unit may be rogue, but they just happened to cram Babel in with the Catastrophe.

Isn't that a good thing for us?

What about the other commanders and mercenary captains?

Watching the show, of course, waiting to see if the enemy chooses to surrender, or die at the hands of the Catastrophe and the ruffians.

I wouldn't overthink it if I were you, sir.

You've shown as much mercy as you possibly could by ordering that we pull out of the valley and leave an opening for them.

Who knows, maybe some of my family are in that Catastrophe. I've gotten over it.

You don't care?

I try not to.

Rhodes Island of Babel, Kazdel

Sorry I'm late.

So...?

No need to start from the beginning. Ace was called on short notice. Just follow Mantra's instructions.

Go ahead. We don't have much time.

Emergency?

(Nods)

I'll keep going then.

We have twenty five hundred souls in the Catastrophe radius, mostly medics, Infected civilians, prisoners, and injured mercenaries.

The scale of the Catastrophe is larger than the Catastrophe Messengers predicted. It's currently expected to affect five outposts, three key passages, and a field hospital repurposed from an abandoned town.

They had almost made it out of the Catastrophe radius when their path was cut off by mercenaries.

Trapping medics, wounded and civilians to die in a Catastrophe?

Is Manfred willing to go to such lengths these days?

It's not his style. The three Military Commission units have retreated from the forest, even leaving a humanitarian corridor open in one of the canyons.

The Military Commission has casters on the cliffs, ready to annihilate any armed unit that attempts to pass through.

But they're not trying to hide what they're doing, and they're not doing anything we didn't expect.

These mercenaries are different. They came out of nowhere, attacked our positions, destroyed important roads and bridges, and polluted several water sources in the mountains with Originium explosives. There seems to be no reason with their actions.

Who's their employer?

We're still looking into it, but based on what little intelligence we have, it's very likely that they're rogue.

Revenge, a last-gasp struggle after being abandoned by Theresis, instigation by another country... anything's possible.

Doesn't matter. I'll find out who their leader is, and kill them.

Without leader, a band of aimless mercenaries is just a useless rabble.

You go save those people. We'll regroup back at base.

I'll leave them to you, then.

One last message. Her Highness says this operation is not part of the 'campaign'.

We should be relieved.

In a war that has become increasingly gridlocked, the opposing sides have a chance to work together for a common goal...

Saving lives from Catastrophe.