act33side

Where's your friend? She can come too.

She's already here. Her sword and her clothes... may be a little loose-fitting, though.

She was a strong warrior. Felt a little like this one over here.

I'm a little something of a tailor. I could hem it for you.

There's no need. I'm used to it.

Let's go, then, Julie.

One moment, please, Your Highness.

There are other mercenaries here who want to go with you.

Theresa looks toward the dark exit of the Scar Market, and sees a swaying speck of flame.

One speck becomes two, two become three, and many more emerge from the darkness. The first torch-carrying mercenary steps into the sunlight and sees the white figure standing on top of the hill.

He points forward and walks toward Theresa without looking back.

More and more follow him, the line seemingly without end.

Just because we're used to battle doesn't mean we're willing to bury ourselves in a campaign with no end in sight. If there's another way to live, many of us are willing to take it.

I heard some people are secretly recruiting the willing in Kazdel. There may be some there ready to join us, although the journey through the wilderness would be a tough one...

I'll make arrangements.

Let's go, Julie. We have a lot to do.

There are plenty of people for us to house, after all.

You're back.

They've retreated. Outstanding work, Doctor.

Who...?

A group of medics hurry through the corridor, carrying several stretchers. Kal'tsit turns to block them from the Doctor's sight.

The enemy was essentially making suicide attacks. It was inevitable that there would be casualties as we broke through.

We lost fewer than we had any right to expect.

How many did we lose?

There was nothing wrong with how you commanded the operation. You don't need to be involved in the cleanup.

Dr. Kal'tsit! We're running low on plasma.

I'll deal with coordination and surgery.

Kal...

The medics have already gone. The Doctor is not sure whether the terrifying scene just now was a figment of the imagination, but the smell of blood simply would not got away.

A sense of dizziness.

I'm able to reconstruct a battlefield as a computable data model.

But it's not numbers that fight a war.

Living, breathing people are fighting for their survival. How long as it been since I...?

Doctor.

First time seeing the blood and gore?

...You could say that.

We didn't have so many lives to waste in the wars I fought in the past.

Treat yourself to a sweet drink. It will make you feel better. I speak from experience.

It's all thanks to your command that we were able to triumph against overwhelming odds.

Are your battles always like this?

No, this was one of the easy ones.

I'll gladly entrust my life to you, if it means our future battles will be so easy.

Is war really the only way?

You're not the first to ask that question.

But this attack is only a sign of things to come. No one knows what the future holds.

I have great expectations of you, our tactical genius.

The history books would record that the two Sarkaz rulers declared war on each other in the winter of 1091, causing open hostilities to break out between the Military Commission and Babel.

For the Sarkaz themselves, however, the civil war had begun in 1086, when isolated conflicts started to escalate rapidly.

The two centuries of peace that Kazdel had enjoyed have come to an end.