act4d0

Why apologize, General? You did nothing. I am damned.

Oh, yes. The knife in your hand. Yes. You adopted, the daughter, of the enemy commander.

My daughter, is older. When, next we meet. I will bring her.

Hah. I hope they get along.

We have wounded! Get their blood types! Don't mix up the Infected and Uninfected! Quickly!

You can give Uninfected blood to the Infected!

Who's the next of kin?

Forget it, just get to safety! Britt... move it!

Talulah's attack, on Rhodes Island. This misunderstanding. Will be hard to, clear up.

I do not wish, to fight you. If this cannot, be solved.

This may go beyond what we can solve ourselves.

...General.

It saddens me. That we cannot, once again, fight side by side.

...Listen to me, 'Patriot...'

I alone have never been able to decide the fate of Ursus.

Countless generals before me have sought to become masters of the Empire's destiny, and to a man they all died miserable failures.

Just as the many emperors have escaped the wrath of history.

The Empire has weathered its crises and enjoyed its golden ages. The sorcerors can divine the Empire's future, the ministers can plan the outcomes of campaigns, courtiers can study the shifting Catastrophes...

I have never participated in any political machinations. Not in the legislature, not in the army. Never.

They always embarrassed me with their confidence. Everyone who thought his victory certain saw his dreams shattered. Everyone who thought his survival assured is now dead.

Mama, what are we going to eat tonight?

Potatoes again? I, I don't wanna eat boiled potatoes again!

Huh? You have to go fight? Mama, you don't have to fight.

Uncle, does Mama have to go with you again? I want her to stay! I don't want Mama to go!

Uncle, please make Mama stay. When Daddy went with you, he never came back...

I don't wanna be alone again, Uncle...

Win or lose, a war is a war.

And where we go, ruin follows. Only ruin.

We are but pawns on the chessboard of war. And who cares for the pawns? Who cares to even know their names?

You, are correct. I, am correct. War, doesn't care, who is correct.

Yet you persist. I persist.

For what? 'Patriot' of Reunion, I ask you:

No matter what meaning your war may hold...

After however many years this Ursus campaign takes, when you have filled mass graves in a dozen cities, will their lives have meant anything? Will anyone remember their names?

Names? Mean nothing. Warriors don't think, of these things.

You call them warriors...

Sometimes, these nameless people cannot articulate their reasons for joining in battle.

Now, they have no chance to do so.

I have grown tired of such things. I now wish only to protect those around me. At least this small thing is within my power.

To Ursus, to the Infected,

This is all I can say.

I can't blame you, General. You don't need, to face death again.

Oripathy, will kill me, sooner or later. I am a warrior. I want my death, to have meaning.

I am glad you have a reason to keep fighting. I truly hope you will find happiness.

...Hm. General. Listen.

I'm here.

You don't fear death. If you did, you would be, at Rhodes Island.

You stay. You listen. You don't fear Catastrophe.

You want to know. Reunion's goal.

In fact, I want to know what you plan for the Infected of Ursus.

Then. I will, tell you.

You are tired, of fighting. I fight, for you.

The rights, of the Infected. You and your children. I fight to free you, all.

You are tired, of fighting. Good. Wallow in disgust. To end war, is also good.

My days, are numbered. I will fight, to the end.

You truly are an Ursus.

And this truly is a tragic war.

It may come to pass that I never again set foot on Ursus soil.

Listen well, Buldrokkas'tee.

You shall not be my enemy. Ever.

I do regret. That I never, served under you.

General, you shall not, be my enemy. Either.

It's late, General. My men will, get you out, of the city. Easily.

I would not want to cause problems for you with your leadership.

You won't. General.

She does not care.

Splendid. Then I accept.

General!

Hm?

I hope... I pray...

That you find yourself. A true home, for yourself.

Scout... why did you do this for me?

I'm garbage! Why did you think I'm worth saving...?!

What am I even doing? I just got a bunch of great intel off Reunion, but who am I supposed to give it to?

Maybe we got them all wrong? I guess if we could clear up this misunderstanding, maybe we wouldn't have to...

Oh right... this paper. Were there any orders written on it?

I can do it, Scout... anything you tell me to do...

I won't let the boss down...!

I have a humble request, if I might be so bold. As recompense, I took the liberty of treating your wounds. You are, for the time being, out of mortal danger.

So I ask that you entertain my frivolous trifles.

My objective for this operation is to rescue the Doctor. Amiya is quite insistent on this matter. She cannot be persuaded otherwise.

Ace and Amiya are of one mind. They firmly believe that only by rescuing the Doctor can Rhodes Island break this deadlock.

Assuming the good Doctor retains the same mental faculties as before, Rhodes Island might well be looking at a golden age.

But weak as I am, I am uncertain...

I am not certain I have the fortitude to undertake such a golden age.

What...? What does that mean?

Over the past three years, I have suffered many losses, and bid farewell to those like unto my own flesh and blood.

I always believed that as long as one of us lived on, we could someday be reunited. In this spirit I have served Rhodes Island.

But having lost so much, now I see that even a perpetual pessimist like Misery seeks to bring back the Doctor.

He believes with every fiber of his being that we are destined for a future of endless victories, that we shall put death and loss behind us.

I do not share this belief.

It is not that I doubt the Doctor's skill. The Doctor can indeed tip the scales. Without the Doctor, Kazdel would be dust in the wind.

In fact, it was the Doctor who taught me what it means to fight.

And yet... With the Doctor commanding us... looking into the Doctor's eyes, one sees only victory.

Nothing but victory. I see nothing, save victory.

Nothing else in those eyes.

And so I am left thinking: the truth that Kal'tsit is so unwilling to reveal, does it have to do with the Doctor?

In these three years, why must we draw more and more crosses onto the photos of our friends? Why do these sacrifices grow more and more frequent? Why do we fight without understanding the fundamental goals of our organization?

I dare not speculate. I cannot speculate.

If the Doctor must be forged in the crucible of war, then we force this professor to transform from an educator and a researcher into a war machine...