act34side

Correct.

Even before it was conceived, I had my doubts about Ægir.

From where?

...That decisive campaign.

You were meant to kill the Firstborn.

But you lost contact with your team.

Skadi was left to take the burden.

...So you already know.

Skadi trusts you more than expected.

I put it together from what she said.;She's not sure what happened herself.

My dereliction was due to a moment of distraction.

In a cave, or rather, a cavity closest to Ishar'mla's core, I noticed something that should not be there.

Crude piles of meat, turbid mucus. At first, I assumed they were nodules of its body, but then I saw clearly the measuring scales and flow channels around them...

A corroded water flow meter.

One from Ægir. A design hundreds of years old, one that now exists only in museums.

Hundreds of years old?

Based on the degradation, it had sat within Ishar'mla's body for two centuries.

But I had been told that no other Ægir had ever managed to reach the Firstborn before us.

That is to say, before Ægir was even aware of it, its people had secretly come into contact with the Firstborn.

The undercurrents beneath tranquil Ægir are more turbulent than anyone could imagine.

I also found something odd while you were out.

As soon as the Hunters awoke, they left.

They are being used to break the deadlock at the front.

I can imagine the mission they have been assigned. Bypass the front lines, advance to the nest, and deploy the beacon.

First support, now the linchpin? It's too quick.

The advisor seemed more anxious than them.

He left the lab at the first opportunity.

Blandus.

Then I fear we, too, must act as quickly as possible.

If the coordination between the beacons and weapons has been tampered with, then there is only one place to go: the core of the Waterway Program. The beacon launcher.

As for you...

I'll go see the one who gave the order.

Consul Clementia.