Operation story: R8-4

Operation

Story

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Characters
Talulah Alina Infected Infected Patrol Unit
Backgrounds
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Before operation

“

Talulah visits the Infected civilians who have been forced into a dire situation. At the same time, the Infected Patrol Unit shows up, and a conflict is inevitable.

”

<Background 1>
Hui-chieh: If memory serves me correctly, and I don't trust it to, the old man's name was Ivan Iziaslav. A very common name. And he was the sort of peasant farmer you could find anywhere. But he sacrificed himself. For a whole mess of reasons, he gave his own life... I think about it every now and then. Am I truly worth people sacrificing their lives? Alina went with me. She was gentle most other times, but would suddenly just come out with venomous tongue-lashings. That made me uncomfortable, to say the least. The plan was proceeding smoothly. In accordance with my own ideas, rapidly, the Infected of this place would surely unite as one. I hoped it would be effective. And I hoped it would be enough for the old man to rest peacefully. Aside from the old lady, no-one else had been closer family to me. February 7th
<Background 2>
Third year without the Black Snake
Talulah	Sir, I'm...
Infected	Whatcha here for? Don't like the look of your clothes. Some old vet, are you? Get lost! There's nothing even left here. You lot stole it, all of it! And what you couldn't steal, you burned! Bastards! You came to kill me? Kill me, then! Goddamned demons!
Talulah	No, sir, I'm here to tell you that the Infected Patrol Unit is sweeping this area today.
Infected	Then let 'em sweep! Let 'em kill us all, why don't you! We built our pathetic, unlivable village all the way out here, and they still come for us! What else can we do but let 'em!?
Talulah	Sir. You can hide yourselves, and I'll talk to them. Or I can conceal myself...
Infected	And who're you? I always said, you military noble bunch, no matter what you pretend! You're all just out for our lives— Hah, you're not quite their sort. You actually talk with us! And they think we're barely even worth whipping! Huh? Hello? Gone...? What kind of stunt is this? Oh... damn us all... Damn us all. What a pathetic ending.
[An Ursus Army anti-Infected patrolman approaches the Infected.]
Infected Patrol Unit	It's no bad thing to know your own damnation.
Infected	Ah... Mr. Patrolman...
Infected Patrol Unit	...Destitute and lousy. Bad physique. You wouldn't be much use even if we sent you to the mines.
Infected Patrol Unit	How do you want to die, then? Painlessly? Slowly?
Infected	...Mr. Patrolman! Look at me... what harm would leaving me alive do you?
Infected Patrol Unit	You say that with a weapon in your hand?
Infected	...Sorry, Mr. Patrolman! This was for whoever that was just a minute ago! I don't know where she's gone now, but...
Infected Patrol Unit	Even burdenbeasts are worth more than you Infected. They can at least move goods. Your existence is a waste of His Majesty's land!
[Talulah appears and interrupts the patrolman.]
Talulah	Why is that?
Infected Patrol Unit	—— Where did you come from?
Talulah	From far, far east.
Infected Patrol Unit	What the hell are you...? You, are you Infected too?
Talulah	I am. I can think. I can speak. We Infected live and die. Why should you decide when and how?
Infected Patrol Unit	What is this bullshit?!
Talulah	If you could let us die peacefully on our own terms, we'd hardly even be upset about it... But, my Infected brother, look up at him! Look at his face, his grin, his laugh! They want to decide our fates. Control us. Perhaps our lives aren't worth much, but do you think you'd be worth a single gold coin?
Infected Patrol Unit	You!
Talulah	You're not worried that the Infected will hurt anything. No. You've hardly met more than a few remotely threatening Infected in your whole life. All you want to do is exploit us to our last days, make playthings of our lives!
Infected	Ah...!
Talulah	My brother, in all their past outrageous acts, have they ever spared someone for their conduct? Have they ever let another live for following instructions? They have not! Each time they let you live, it was only because they still saw worth they could squeeze from you! With no money and no land left, they'd kick you to the floor. After all, the cities don't even give Infected the chance to live! How should we Infected live? How should we die? That is for us to decide!
Infected	......! But... who are you?
Infected Patrol Unit	You good-for-nothing! Tell me your name at once! In the name of the Emperor! For daring to lead his citizenry astray with these ludicrous ideals, we sentence you to death!
Talulah	To my brothers, I have no name. Refer to me how you wish. If you must call me something, you may call me Talulah. To my enemies, you have no need for my name. But my fires will set you alight.

After operation

“

Talulah, having repelled the patrol, is welcomed by the Infected, who have their lives back. Talulah tells Alina about the experience.

”

<Background 1>
Alina	So? You fought them off, is that it?
Talulah	Yeah.
Alina	I was right not to go with you. Burning people alive... If I ever have to smell that again, I'm sure I'll throw up.
Talulah	Alina, don't force yourself.
Alina	I'm the one who followed you in the first place.
Talulah	And I'll protect your Infected here. I will.
Alina	No, I'm not here to beg you to—
Talulah	Of course you're not. Alina, without you, I wouldn't have the time to go gather resources or info.
Alina	Who's your contact? Would it be safe to tell me?
Talulah	——
Alina	Are you worried I'm an Ursus spy?
Talulah	Just wondering if it'd be better not to get you wrapped up in this.
Alina	The moment we became Infected, life for us couldn't get any worse.
Talulah	I'm in contact with Infected in other places. Trying to keep tabs on which way the cities are moving, so I can help the Infected surviving out in the Northwestern Tundra as best as I can.
Alina	What you're doing is... insane, in a lot of ways. Where did your conviction come from? Did someone teach you all this?
Talulah	No. What taught me was both malignant and deranged, brimming with the arrogance of rule and the terror of power. And I vowed to walk against it. I'm going to tear their decorous flesh straight from their bones, pull apart the noble cities their pride built layer by layer, and let everyone know the truth, everyone out on the Tundra... And after that, we'll decide our own destinies. We're going to clear this land out. We'll found our own homeland, and if anyone thinks to stop us, we'll topple them right then and there. Part of this world belonged to the Infected in the first place... just as so many places across this land belong to all people.
Alina	...Be more realistic, Talulah. This is all too out there. If you do this, the village will be destroyed. They'll have nowhere to go, and the Patrol Unit will chase them down.
Talulah	And if I don't do this, the village would still end up abandoned over time.
Alina	Not everyone can join the army. The elderly, children, the injured and sick. If you have them give up everything they've ever survived on, they'll die no matter the soil quality.
Talulah	I know, Alina. So we'll find somewhere new. Come on. Let's go. We've got somewhere we can stay tonight.
Alina	*Sigh*...
<Background 2>
Talulah	Thank you for having us.
Infected	Ain't nothing. Without you, we'd probably all be dead by now. Though we're still pretty much at death's door. Sorry. Back at the start, seeing you, I was readying up to fight. That was all my bad. Don't really have anything left to welcome you with, either. Just put up with this bit of oat gruel, I guess.
Alina	We're extremely thankful, sir. You shouldn't have, honestly.
Infected	No, it's nothing. We only had this bit left over, anyway. However many days we have left, makes no difference. Wanna set up a village, huh? Doesn't matter how far you go... there's no point. Not much point at all. We can't run. You know how big Ursus is? There's no point heading anywhere when there's patrol guys all over... and other people aren't gonna want us. We've got nowhere to go.
Talulah	Then come with me.
Infected	...Where? Now?
Talulah	It doesn't need to be now. I'll wait until you've thought it all through. Or if you end up with absolutely nowhere left to go, and you still want to live on, come find me, or find one of my brothers. If we head for the wilderness, life in the tundra's... cruel, to say the least. But we've got places to go. Places without the hearth of civilization as of yet. We'll find somewhere we can sow and harvest; we have so many people, they'd surely be able to help out with business, and we'd have an income. We can always live on.
Infected	And if the patrolmen come?
Talulah	—We'd defeat them.
Infected	Huh? ...What did you just say?
Talulah	What I can do, you can too. You were correct, arming yourself against me back there. If people think to come and rob us, we'll come together and fight them off. The Infected have strength. We Infected can, bit by bit, regain our own lives. Our bread. Our flames.