Operation story: TR-24

Operation

Story

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Characters
Hoederer Ines Ulšulah W Quiet Sarkaz Worker Tired Sarkaz Worker
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4A 4B

Before operation

“

Hoederer's group finds the Sarkaz Lifeline and realizes that the mysterious vehicle that has been laying Arts Circles and mirages around the battlefield is a Feranmut with only bleached bones left.

”

How absurd it is that we're chasing illusions on this battlefield full of bones, blood, smoke and mud. The illusions are our only clue. Like the Lich said, the drifting fragments of history are the tracks it left behind. We passed through many ruins, some long-forgotten, some never remembered to begin with. Soon, these sights will be gone too. Many times we barely arrived in time to grasp the last traces. We found seventeen Vampire War Arts Circles. There are maybe dozens more... maybe even hundreds more of them on this battlefield. They all appeared within the past week, a scary level of efficiency. We found troop tracks on two of them, but the marks indicated that the troops were only on maintenance or patrol missions. I doubt there's much point to destroying the Arts Circles. They could easily replace them with new ones. It's only that much more important to take control of that thing, whatever it is.
<Background 1>
[As Hoederer, Ines, and W walks through the passage...]
Hoederer	This place is completely ruined.
Ines	Just like the Rhodes Islanders said, it's another secret network of routes that lead into the city. Through these hubs, Theresis has shipped huge amounts of steel, crystal units and witchcraft devices into Londinium, enough to repair The Shard and complete that airship. But how did these materials reach Londinium? Even the dumbest dukes wouldn't let large shipments of materiel outside their control to travel freely around Victoria. It's probably that they, like the Nachzehrer King's legion, appeared out of thin air around the hubs. The so-called Sarkaz supply line we've been looking for may be the last and least important step of the transport process. How did they do it?
Hoederer	Not only that, if Theresis had access methods like this, why isn't he using them directly in battle? Teleporting armies behind enemy lines, or plopping Originium bombs right on top of ducal flagships.
Ines	Either there are limitations to the method... or it's actually really fragile. The Lich called it an Art beyond the realm of Originium Arts, but I just couldn't picture it...
Hoederer	W, over there—
W	...... Huh? Uh, no sign of battle. It's completely collapsed.
W has looked detached ever since that encounter a few days ago. I saw her gaze absent-mindedly into the fire while on night watch. I can't help her. She'll get through this on her own.
Hoederer	Let's go. There's nothing to see here.
<Background 2>
I look at the map in my hand. Scattered dots mark the locations of the Vampire Arts Circles. I added a few, including the logistics hub just now, and the Nachzehrer King's legion camp. Something had been placed there using the same methods. There must be something linking them. I scan the names on the map. Hills, valleys, small patches of forests, and a few small ponds. Some sort of commonality? Shared geographical traits? My eyes fall upon the name of a town. Brentwood.
Hoederer	Ines, you said that Rhodes Island analyzed the intel from the Defense Forces command tower, where they had set their sights near a town by the name of Brentwood.
I draw a circle around Brentwood's location.
Ines	Closure came up with the analysis. She stole the records of all cargo movement since Theresis entered the city in 1094, and created an overlapping route map. All the towns around Londinium were covered in these cargo movements on the map. It's Victoria's capital, after all. All the steak and wine the citizens enjoyed before the war didn't grow on the shelves. But the area around Brentwood is strangely empty, with only a few scattered entries around 1094 and 1095. It's pretty weird. Like there's a forgotten town right here in the middle of Victoria. The Rhodes Islanders think Brentwood might be the starting point of the Sarkaz underground railroad, or the hub of a hidden network, implementing some sort of secret embargo. We just proved the existence of these logistics hubs. But, we also learned that Theresis has a pair of, well, invisible hands, which lets him puts things anywhere he wants. We may need to reassess the significance of Brentwood.
Hoederer	...No. The closer we get, the more Vampire Arts Circles we see. Meanwhile, if we draw a line from the furthest points to Brentwood, we see that they're about equidistant. That might be the logistical limit.
W	Stop guessing. I know Brentwood. You couldn't hide anything in that poor-ass town. There were barely any Sarkaz vagrants when I visited a few months ago. Maybe the caravans just don't pass through 'cause there's nothing interesting there.
W disinterestedly throws a rock over. She's in a bad mood alright. She would normally have thrown a grenade pin. The rock rolls on the map and falls right where I'm looking. I'm about to move it out away— There's a patch of hills not far behind Brentwood. The rock fell right in the middle of the icons representing hills.
Hoederer	...*sigh*. Let's go. It's not like we have any better leads. Maybe coincidence has something in mind. Let's start there.
The hills are dark and eerie. A Victorian history book wrote that the study of history is like walking into a cave, feeling the grains on the wall. Working blindly in the dark, all you can do is try to piece together the puzzle of where we came from by feeling around in the darkness. This land is not friendly to history. Originium veins assimilate any organic tissue around them, even bones. All that archaeologists had to work with are Originium-infested ruins. All they could do is mull over metal shards. But we are different. We are Sarkaz. We have many ways to look back. Legends say that the revenants in the furnace of Kazdel whisper the achievements of a certain King of Sarkaz, or the sad ending of another. When I was little, I used to wait by the furnace that never went out, hoping to capture a single echo from the past. But all I ever heard was silence.
<Background 3>
Ines	You might actually be right. There's something unusual about the shadows here. There seems to be a pattern in the chaos. It's like the ripples created by a sailing ship, overlapping and interfering with one another, until nothing is left but entropy. Not so much sailing as... drifting.
Hoederer	Drifting. I once heard a story from an old Diαblo, this word came up in his broken whispers.
W	What story?
Hoederer	A story of disaster. Let's hope we don't run into the stuff of those stories. Let's hope we still have some good luck left in the bank.
W	A merc who thinks he's lucky is a dead merc.
Hoederer	Which is why we need you to stay behind, W. We're not here to fight. We need to figure out what we're facing. If things go south and we need to pull out...
W	Don't worry, I won't leave the way open for you. I'll set up the explosives and wait until you're almost at the exit, Vampires and Nachzehrer hot on your tail, maybe Theresis himself, and just as you're about to see the light... Boom! You'll become the tragic hero right out of your favorite stories, Hoederer!
Ines	You can't handle Theresa on your own, W.
W	...... Ines. I'll actually bury you, you know.
Ines	Hmph. You do you.
<Background black>
Hoederer	She really will blow the hills apart though. We both know she's crazy. No need to provoke her with Theresa's name.
Ines	It's just pathetic, the act the she's putting on. I'd rather she knew what she wanted. You've been in the city for so long. If she wanted to know the truth, she could've just asked you. Did she ever ask if that Theresa was real?
Hoederer	......
Ines	She never asked me, either. She's never grown up. She could do one of two things: Grovel at that Theresa's feet and beg for forgiveness, or plan to kill her. But what is this that she's doing? Trying to prove that she's all great and powerful? Or is she trying to convince herself that nothing ever happened, that all she needs to do is kill people and plant mines like she always has, and it'll all pass? It would've been fine if she could actually stop thinking about it. But right now, she's like a little girl standing on the ice. She takes a few steps forward, then a few steps back, looking around the same place, sinking into pointless sentimentality.
Hoederer	I have no idea.
Ines	Give me a break. You just don't want the extra trouble.
Hoederer	I didn't know you cared so much about her.
Ines	I care about me. I don't want to die because of her.
Hoederer	In all seriousness, Ines, have you ever thought about going back to Kazdel?
Ines	What? Am I in the way of your great plan?
Hoederer	No, it's just occurred to me that W and I have a reason to stay in this war. But what about you?
Ines	...I've got my reason too. Here we are.
<Background 4A>
Ines	We're... inside the hill. They hollowed out the whole thing?
Hoederer	Well, that's going to make things easier for W's demolition plan.
Ines	Look at the size of these tracks, and the loading mechanism. That's a big guy.
[Footsteps are heard...]
Hoederer	Shh, get into the shadows.
[...as two Sarkaz workers walk by, the trio having hid themselves already.]
Tired Sarkaz Worker	When's the next shift?
Quiet Sarkaz Worker	Close. It's always on time.
Tired Sarkaz Worker	I should've made a report to the boss. I would rather be outside, killing Victorians.
Quiet Sarkaz Worker	You're not a warrior.
Tired Sarkaz Worker	I don't need you to tell me! It's just that this place is so... oppressive. I see those illusions every day, the things you don't know whether they're real or not. It's like a maelstrom that keeps spitting out trash from another dimension. Good thing Ulšulah is a decent woman who doesn't pick on us for no reason or abuse her authority. Is she the youngest major ever, according to Military Commission ranks?
Quiet Sarkaz Worker	She's not a member of the Royal Court. She won't go far.
Tired Sarkaz Worker	Lady Theresa and the Regent aren't blue-blood devils either. Screw the Royal Court. Kazdel wasn't won by those old fossils huddling around in a circle.
Quiet Sarkaz Worker	But they're the strongest.
Tired Sarkaz Worker	That's because...
Quiet Sarkaz Worker	It's almost time. Go to the machine and prepare to load.
[The workers hurriedly leave.]
<Background fades out and in>
Ines	Did you hear the name they said?
Hoederer	Ulšulah.
Ines	Could it be...?
Hoederer	It's not necessarily the one we're thinking of. Sarkaz names are often codenames or taken from legends. Ulšulah the Time-Stealer. Ulšulah of the Lock and Key. It's a Sarkaz legend about the Feranmut. Anyone could've drawn from it. Wait... Ulšulah the Time-Stealer?
Ines	What's the origin of your name, "Hoederer"?
Hoederer	Don't have one.
Ines	Hah.
[A bell tolls.]
Hoederer	Bells.
Ines	Wait, over there... What's that?
<Background black>
What was that? The hills are trembling... No, space itself is trembling.
The following cutscene will be automatically played when the story is skipped.
Load video Local File Local File might collect personal data. ContinueDismiss
For an instant, I see visions beyond reckoning. Bloated emperors crumbling in halls of gold, ancient bloodborn cutting open their wrists to feed the newborn. Diαbolic flames burning amber. Demons with deer horns prowl beneath great bronze walls, offering battered willow wood. The one knot falls from nothingness, splitting into countless threads; a red-skinned monster cuts off its own horn, impaling its own chest with it.
[...]
Broken shards become whole again. I see a far-away city. Calm, peaceful, not yet wheeled, not yet drowned in hatred. Its beauty is absurd and out of place, even in a dream. For no reason at all, I am convinced that it was Kazdel. A home that has long ceased to exist, from somewhere in history. I want to go there, go into there. I want to see what kind of life we once led.
[...]
I lift my foot, but put it down in the same place again. I watch it quietly. Until all is silent. Until—
[...]
A pathetic creature that is naught but bleached bones moves slowly. Nerve strands reach out and grab the massive containers. It still roams this place. It is not dead yet.
<Background 4B>
Ines	This... this is the "cargo ship"? So big... how did Theresis...?
Hoederer	It... it's really... Ulšulah the Time-Stealer...
[Someone walks behind the trio...]
???	What a coincidence, right? The legend of Ulšulah tells of Kazdel being attacked by a Feranmut that could slow the time of all things and peer into the past through the fog. Through so many pasts the hero Ulšulah journeyed, rescuing their kin lost in the mirage of time. Who knew that I, who took the name by happenstance, would one day witness the legend with my own eyes?
[...who is revealed to be a Sarkaz woman officer.]
???	You've really ground those horns into shape, Ines. You could almost pass for a true blue Sarkaz.
Hoederer	Ulšulah.
Ulšulah	Are you really going to betray General Manfred, Hoederer? I knew you wouldn't kill Ines when I first heard the rumors, but the confidential nature of my work precluded a personal visit to Londinium to see you.
Ines	Aren't you supposed to be the handpicked successor to the Scar Market? Sounds like you're already the bone driver here. Is playing a hero of legend worth such loyalty and commitment?
Ulšulah	Ancient things are not so appealing anymore. Only one stuck in the past would continue to use the name.
Hoederer	You could give yourself a new name.
Ulšulah	How would old friends who came a long way to visit be able to find me then? Care for a drink?
[Ines draws out her sword.]
Ines	You didn't used to be a drinker.
Ulšulah	Used to, huh? You didn't used to swing your sword at me either, Ines.

During operation

[A Bloodborn Spawn moves toward Hoederer and attacks him upon coming close. Notice that the Spawn's attacks heal itself and there is a Blood Amber close to a structure known as the Bloodcalling Altar. Hoederer defeats the Spawn which turns into another Amber just as the Altar emits a pulse which turns the Ambers into more Spawns — essentially bringing them back to life — gathering around the Altar. The Ambers themselves have an unnaturally high defenses that Hoederer barely scratches them.]
<Game paused>
Ines	Gah, those Vampire-altered things came back to life.
Hoederer	<The Bloodcalling Altar is highlighted> It's the Bloodcalling Altar's doing. The tactical witchcraft platform periodically recycles Blood Amber from dead Vampire spawn to produce Bloodborn Spawn. We have to use W's Anti-Witchcraft Repositionable Bomb to destroy the Bloodcalling Altar so we can vanquish the enemy for good.
Ines	We can only maintain our lines for now.
<Game unpaused>
[Ines is deployed behind Hoederer to back him up as more Spawns appear. Notice a Bomb Loading Point on the upper right corner of the map whose skill is ready just as the Bloodcalling Altar releases another pulse.]
<Game paused>
Ines	Bomb's in position.
Hoederer	<The Bomb Loading Point is highlighted> We still need some manpower to fire up the bomb transport, to get it to automatically move towards the altar. We can speed it up by attacking the transport, but enemies can slow the transport's movement speed with their attacks too. <The Bloodcalling Altar is highlighted> The bomb will explode once it reaches the altar, destroying it. Once it's gone, the Blood Amber will vanish on its own. Try and see it for yourself.
<Game unpaused>
[Folinic is deployed above Hoederer to provide healing support while Gravel and Vermeil are available for deployment. (The player activates the Bomb Loading Point's skill) An Anti-Witchcraft Repositionable Bomb appears, but it does not move unless "pushed" by friendly units; (The player deploys Vermeil near Ines as well as Gravel below the Loading Point) Gravel and Vermeil attacks the Bomb, pushing it into Ines' range who also pushes it past Hoederer. Notice that the Bloodborn Spawns are capable of attacking the Bomb, pushing it away from its destination indicated by a blue line on the ground (the player might need to use Gravel to keep pushing the Bomb). The Bomb eventually reaches the Bloodcalling Altar and explodes, destroying it along with the Spawns. Without the Altar, the Blood Ambers expire over time, making the battle a foregone conclusion.]