Operation story: 12-16
< 12-16
| Operation | Story |
| Previous 12-15 | Next 12-17 |
| Characters | |
 Royal Court Soldier | |
| Backgrounds | |
 1A  1B  2 | |
Before operation
| “ | Amiya is being forced to help penetrate the airship's defense systems. Ascalon arrives in the nick of time to save her, but she must face the revenant as the King of Sarkaz. The Damazti Cluster formally meets Eblana for the first time. | ” |
| <Background 1A> | |
|---|---|
| Amiya | So this is the airship... |
| "Trilby Asher" | All our attempts to infiltrate it ended in failure. Anyone who approached simply vanished into thin air. Is that some kind of Sarkaz witchcraft? Surely the Lord of Fiends would know how to neutralize it. |
| Amiya | I... Is Theresa here? But I can't feel– Urgh! |
| A heavy pressure comes over her. It is far too thick, far too cruel, to be described or spoken of. Amiya can hardly stand. | |
| Amiya | What... is this...? |
| "Trilby Asher" | What are you doing, Lord of Fiends? Don't try anything funny! Neutralize it with your witchcraft! Or else... |
| [Suddenly someone stabs the Trilby Asher...] | |
| "Trilby Asher" | Ugh– |
| [...who is revealed to be Ascalon as the Asher falls to the ground.] | |
| Doctor | Ascalon. |
| Ascalon | Sorry I'm late. |
| "Trilby Asher" | Calm down, Ascalon. This was all my colleague's plan! I tried to talk him out of it! I don't intend to harm your Doctor. We're just getting a deal done. You'll be the witness. |
| Ascalon | Then get out of my way. – |
| Doctor | What is it? / ...... / You're really pale. |
| Ascalon | You can't feel it because you're not Sarkaz. We're coming face to face with our history. The sum of the Sarkaz's millennia of suffering. It's angry. It's screaming, and it's making all of us listen to it. No wonder. Ha, the dukes are going to be disappointed. This is no engineering or technology that can be copied. The ship itself is a revenant. |
| How did the Sarkaz live? How did the Sarkaz live in the beginning? The Elders and the Ancients had not come upon the land yet. All things were how they should be. Then they came. They killed and slaughtered. They brought barbarism and rage upon the land. Their fangs and claws were not pointed at just each other, but at us as well. The proud Sarkaz never surrendered. We fought back. We fought rage with rage. They will taste the fruit of vengeance! But Kazdel was destroyed in the blink of an eye. Despicable! They stopped at nothing. They were cunning, shameless, cruel. How dare they trample upon pure Kazdel?! How dare they?! | |
| Amiya | Argh– I... the voices... |
| Ascalon | Don't let it affect you, Amiya! Resist the illusion! |
| Amiya | I know, I'm trying... Argh–Aah– |
| Kazdel was destroyed. The King of Sarkaz and the Royal Court led us in the fight against the scum. The Sarkaz will not permit such shameful failure. But those cowardly Sarkaz, who call themselves the Sankta, deserted their duty. They betrayed their people, betrayed themselves! The walls fell again, and with it our dream. No matter. The traitors will be purged. Kazdel will stand again. As long as the King of Sarkaz still stands, we will never fall. | |
| "Trilby Asher" | The shadows... No, it's not like the shadows from Ines's Arts. What is it? |
| Ascalon | Get out of the airship's shadow, Doctor! |
| The airship's shadow wriggles, stretches. The other "Trilby Asher" whom Ascalon knocked to the ground disappears in the dark ocean. | |
| "Trilby Asher" | What the hell is this...? |
| Suffocating black, suffocating despair, suffocating fury. | |
| The King of Sarkaz will lead us. The King of Sarkaz. Thirty-four times did Kazdel fall. Six hundred and seventy-five times did Kazdel fall. Three thousand four hundred and twenty-one times did Kazdel fall. The shortest it took was three days, between the rebuilding of Kazdel's walls, and the hoofs of pegasi trampling it to dust. Time and again Kazdel was destroyed. Time and again, it was rebuilt. Time has changed our faces and theirs. But the way has never ended. Our resistance never wavered. But each rebuilding of Kazdel took longer than the previous one. Our civilization was devastated. Our arts were forgotten. But we still have our hatred. The King of Sarkaz will slay our foes with it! I am proud of this, of our unwavering resolve. But what do I see? | |
| |
| A twisted chimera... An Outblood King?! The King of Sarkaz who stands before me is an Outblood?! This crown is not yours to wear! This pain is not yours to stand with! This fury is not yours to stand for! Answer me, impostor! Answer me, fraud! Answer the revenant's question! | |
| Amiya | The revenant... |
| Open your eyes and see, False King! What do you see? | |
| Amiya | I see... |
| Ascalon | Don't look, Amiya! It's the revenant's witchcraft! |
| Amiya | ...... I saw tears. I saw deep, heavy sorrow. Has this sorrow always been with you? |
| Sorrow? This is no sorrow. I feel no sorrow anymore. | |
| Amiya | You have scorched your wound with the flames of rage. It's... painful. |
| I know what is real and what is false! Answer my question! How–dare you– Twisted–Outblood– How–dare–you– Carry the burden of the Sarkaz!!! | |
| <Background 1A> | |
| Ascalon stumbles. | |
| Doctor | Are you ok, Ascalon? |
| Ascalon | I... I'm fine... Amiya– |
| Amiya looks up towards the great shadow of the revenant. You cannot see her face. You only know she is looking up. | |
| Amiya | You're right, Revenant. I should see. I have seen. I have seen it all. All three thousand four hundred and twenty-one destructions, every brick that turned to ash. I saw the resistance of every King of Sarkaz. I saw their hearts, each and every one of them. I saw the tears and blood swallowed. I saw the dust and broken pieces. Familiar silhouettes fall, overlapping with one another. Familiar scenes replay themselves. I have seen. I see. I will see. I never averted my eyes, Revenant. I will remember. Every hard decision, every death and sacrifice, every destruction, every hope. |
| –I made you see, Chimera. I made you see!! Impostor! There is not a single moment that I do not experience it, feel the burning flames! But you? Yes, you could see it, like a map, like a play, a mere passerby watching from above the cliffs. I denounce you, False King, I despise you, not because of your foolishness, not because of your arrogance, not because of your conceit. It's because you can never truly stand with us. | |
| Amiya | But I've tried– |
| Tried? You could try to not avert your eyes– But you can still turn away any time you choose. | |
| Amiya | I... |
| You're not Sarkaz. You will never be. The souls of the Sarkaz reject you. You call our fate "pain?" You say you try to endure it– But we are fated to be buried by it for eternity. You say you have the courage. But if the day comes that you can take it no more... You can abandon us. | |
| Amiya | I won't– |
| How many seasons have you seen? How dare you promise that you won't? No, you will. You will, because you can. How could Sarkaz pick such a king? How could Sarkaz accept such a king? | |
| Amiya | Theresa wanted me to be... she said we can share in the same feelings, even if we're not of the same blood! |
| Then she was a fool! If you truly share the same feelings... now that you have seen it all... Why do you come before me? Why do you try to stop this war? | |
| Amiya | I... |
| Amiya finds herself at a loss for words. Why does she want to stop this war? She has seen the anger, the pain, the longing. Why does she want to stop this war? There is no other way for the Sarkaz. No Sarkaz could come to any other answer, after coming face to face with it all. | |
| Amiya | But... |
| Amiya realizes that, for an instant, she understood Theresa's choice. Drown tears with tears, and bury suffering with suffering. Only scorched earth will bring new life to the Sarkaz. | |
| Amiya | But... Still... I renounce this path. |
| The revenant was right. She renounced it. She can never truly stand with them. She can leave. | |
| Get out! Get out of us! | |
| The shadow wriggles furiously, splitting apart, growing so thick it seems to take physical form. The chaotic shadow of the revenant emerges from the empty shipyard. | |
| [Suddenly someone launches a purple flame Arts attack at the Revenant's shadow.] | |
| Eblana | Hello there, big one. |
| The purple flame impacts the black shadow. | |
| Eblana | You interest me, Revenant. What ember will you leave behind when you burn? |
| "Trilby Asher" | – That Draco... Eblana. Nothing in the mission brief said she would show up! Go! Hurry! |
| Doctor | Amiya! |
| Amiya | I... I'm fine... |
| Doctor | Here, hold onto me. |
| Amiya | Doctor, I... They're right... I can't stand with them... |
| Doctor | Maybe that's why it has to be you. |
| Amiya | ...Huh? |
| Ascalon | The Draco's fire is getting closer! She's strong! We shouldn't try to fight her here! |
| Eblana | ...... Hmph... interesting. Rhodes Island... I seem to hear that name often lately. |
| <Background 2> | |
| Royal Court Soldier | G-General... the Draco... |
| Manfred | Pay no heed. Her flames burn nothing but her own short-sighted ambition. Lead us away from here, Great Revenant. This shipyard is too small for your fury. The noises of those Outblood are not worth your time. I have heard from the Regent. He is ready. |
| <Background 1B> | |
| Eblana | ...... |
| "The Brigadier" | Your Royal Highness. The Sarkaz airship has taken off and is slowly turning towards Londinium. Battleship squadrons are ready to intercept on the perimeter. Other regiments are also assembling. |
| Eblana | Oh? |
| "The Brigadier" | The Duke of Windermere's fleet is already deployed near the plate. The Duke of Caster's ships are also in movement and will likely approach in short order. |
| Eblana | Looks like everyone cares a lot about this place. |
| ??? | Do they? |
| [Colbert (the Damazti Cluster) shows up.] | |
| Colbert | Aren't the dukes are little late? |
| "The Brigadier" | You're... the manager of that hotel? What are you doing here? You're a Sarkaz mole in Londinium? |
| Colbert | No, Colbert is just a Sarkaz cleaner who thinks he's Victorian. |
| Eblana | What about you? |
| [Eblana attacks | |
| |
| Damazti Cluster | We...? |
| [As the purple flames burn off the Cluster's guise as Colbert...] | |
| Damazti Cluster | Just some poor souls made to come out and work while having a chat with a friend. You're such a spoilsport, Draco. |
| Eblana | Why not have a chat with me? |
| Damazti Cluster | Give us a break. Let's get this over with. |