Operation story: TW-3

Operation

Story

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Characters
Folinic Mudrock Suzuran Severin Tatjana Townsfolk Armed Infected Armed Infected Townsfolk
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Before operation

“

The unthinkable has occurred. The medical facility had been burnt down not long ago, and all signs indicate that misfortune had befallen Atro. A despondent Folinic wants to go back to search for Atro's body, but at that time, a member of the Mudrock Squad was confirmed to be attacking the town.

”

<Background 1>
Suzuran	This... this is...
Folinic	......
[Folinic checks the ruined campsite.]
Folinic	Rhodes Island supply crates, yes. With dates and serial numbers. The last time we made contact, it was me who... ......
Suzuran	Miss Folinic...
Folinic	What caused the fire?
Tatjana	An accident... At least, that's what we decided at first, but... Dr. Atro would never be so careless as to leave flammables lying around. All the signs point to this being caused by someone's Arts. We couldn't figure out where the fire started. The tent's metal support frame melted, and the bodies... Oh...
Folinic	It's fine. Continue.
Tatjana	Judging from the remains, the victims couldn't even leave the tent. There was no struggle. And of course, they were completely unrecognizable. I don't think an ordinary fire could just incinerate Dr. Atro and her patients like that. It would have to be some form of Originium Arts that could achieve such high temperatures so quickly...
Folinic	How many of them were Infected?
Tatjana	Hm? Oh... three from our village: Kevin, Biederman, and Eckehard were receiving treatment. And there was also...
Folinic	......
Tatjana	Thor... Thorwald. He was the only son of the Schultz. And my friend. He wasn't Infected. He just went there to help, out of the kindness of his own heart.
Suzuran	Just let it out, Miss Tatjana. You need to get it off your chest.
Tatjana	Huh?
Suzuran	I can sense the pain here. Here... there was a lot of discontent here. Much joy, much pain. But it's all gone now.
Tatjana	Is that... is that an Originium Art?
Suzuran	No. I've just seen this kind of thing so many times. Everyone wants to keep their feelings bottled up inside. But it's not healthy. Maybe I'm wrong. But if you treat yourself like that, you'll worry the people who care about you, no? You should cry. Cry it all out. No one will judge you.
Tatjana	You're right. Thank you. I already knew that, in a way, but for now I can't... I just can't let it go.
Suzuran	Hm–
Folinic	Don't. Don't look at me, Lisa. I get it.
Suzuran	Hm!
Folinic	*Sigh*... Now, I'm sorry!
Tatjana	Huh? What's that about...?
Folinic	...I thought I had prepared myself mentally back on the Rhodes Island landship. Atro was a very dedicated doctor. She always reported in on time. Of course I know what it means to lose contact with an operator. Rhodes Island has said goodbye to so many. I just couldn't get myself to believe it. I... I let my emotions get the better of me. And I'm sorry. But we're not the only ones to lose somebody to this act of murder.
Tatjana	Schultz Severin found the remains of eight individuals. Since there are no Infected experts in our town, we can only hastily bury them... We can't let them stay with Wolumonde. They'll be buried in the wasteland outside the town. And when Wolumonde leaves, they'll lose their hometown forever. Of course... in keeping with our traditions... we should do better than that, at least...
Suzuran	This sort of thing happens a lot.
Folinic	You said there were eight?
Tatjana	Yes. The five I just mentioned, and the others should be some wanderers who came seeking treatment. When the Great Rift came, Wolumonde didn't escape unscathed, and of course many merchants and travelers nearby got caught up in the Catastrophe. Things were bad for Wolumonde, but there was nothing else those people could do but chase down the town slowly crawling across the wasteland. The look of the refugees coming in started to change... But Dr. Atro treated everyone equally. She even rescued some of the Infected. At least the ones who would accept the help.
Folinic	That means one non-infected and seven Infected. What about the Infected remains? Within minutes to hours of the cessation of vital signs, depending on the rate of Originium assimilation in the body, there is a risk of secondary spread. It's very dangerous if not handled appropriately.
Tatjana	Oh, right, well, the Schultz decided that because they were only lightly infected, and with the rapid incineration of tissue, there wasn't much risk.
Folinic	Didn't you say you had no Infected experts?
Tatjana	Oh, Schultz Severin just said he was going off of experience, and couldn't be absolutely sure.
Folinic	Experience, huh...? What kind of job gives you experience handling Infected corpses...? But anyway, if he can keep his cool even after losing his own flesh and blood, maybe he takes his job more seriously than I thought. I would like to inspect the Infected remains... I need to see Atro myself.
Tatjana	Yes, of course. I'll explain it to the Schultz. But most of the remains are charred so badly that we can't tell who was who.
Folinic	No problem, I–
Suzuran	Ah–!
Folinic	Lisa?
Suzuran	That badge...
Folinic	Wow... it's Atro's employee badge. It survived... Oh. Right. She always complained it got in the way of her work. Isn't that funny? Just wear it on your neck or your chest. How could it get in the way...? Let's go. I want to see her...
<Background 1>
[An explosion is heard.]
Folinic	What was that sound?
Tatjana	It's coming from the town!
Suzuran	M-Miss Folinic! Someone's coming!
[A Sarkaz warrior appears.]
Armed Infected	Hm...? That symbol. It's... Rhodes Island...? When did you get here...?
Folinic	And with your outfit... you're no ordinary Infected. Are you Leithanian? Or the Sarkaz they were talking about?
Tatjana	They're some armed Infected partisans who showed up outside the town recently. It looks like a group of Sarkaz make up the core, but they've taken in a lot of our local Infected. The call themselves... the "Mudrock Squad."

After operation

“

Severin wanted to kill the Infected, but was interrupted by the return of Folinic and the others. Just when they thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, the enemy destroys the town's power generator. The town's movement is greatly affected, and the threat of a Catastrophe is imminent.

”

<Background 2>
[Fighting can be heard as Folinic, Suzuran, and Tatjana returns to Wolumonde.]
Tatjana	I can see the Rathaus spire from here! Thank goodness, it looks like everyone's safe!
Folinic	Lisa, hurry!
Suzuran	Okay!
Townsfolk	Wh-what happened? Is there a fire?
Townsfolk	My sons haven't come back. Has anyone seen them?!
Townsfolk	Where are the Gendarmerie?! Where is Severin?! Isn't he supposed to be a hero? And he's missing at a time like this?!
Suzuran	Everyone's panicking!
Folinic	But it looks like they haven't attacked the residential areas. Someone must be leading them!
Tatjana	Everyone's been on edge for far too long. That explosion was all they needed to snap– Over here! We have to make sure the Rathaus is secure! Look! There's a lot of them! Hurry!
[Severin fights an armed Infected.]
Armed Infected	Hah?! Not bad for a man your age. Must be nice to live without the constant torment of Oripathy, huh?
Severin	Sure... If I gave up smoking in my younger days, you and your friends would be sharing a jail cell by now. Get out of here. Out of respect for you as my fellow townsfolk, I won't–
Armed Infected	Hah! Look at the mouth on this one! You think we don't know you're the last cop in Wolumonde?
Severin	You...
Armed Infected	Severin! The jig is up. Let us into the Rathaus so we can run our town already.
Severin	What do you plan to do?
Armed Infected	Hah?!
Severin	Settle down. Truce. I'm going to smoke a cigarette while you tell me what exactly you want from this town. Go ahead. Maybe Wolumonde can consider your demands.
Armed Infected	What are you trying to pull?
Severin	Look, I'm putting down my sword. I think we can come to terms here. No need to fight.
Armed Infected	Hah. Now you decide to be reasonable? Hand over the murderer. And abandon your prejudices. ...I want to go home. And I want my job back. Simple enough?
Severin	I just need you to fill out a report, and submit to regular physicals. Simple enough.
Armed Infected	That's it?! You walled us in and left us to die! All that's left of my block is a heap of earthquake rubble. It's all Originium clusters that could blow at any moment. You evacuated all the non-infected and we're running out of supplies. Is anyone coming to help us? Oh right, I almost forgot. Because you suck at your job, Wolumonde is heading straight to hell, and we're just the first ones to be thrown under the bus. You still think you're so bright, hiding the truth to "maintain order?"
Severin	...*Sigh*. Looks like my matches got wet. I guess I don't have a light. Let's get back to it.
[Severin fights the armed Infected with his bare hands...]
Armed Infected	Wha?! Hand-to-hand?
Severin	Sure. Just a quick whiff of tobacco is enough to pump me up.
[...eventually knocking him down...]
Severin	But, I'm sorry to say, we may be about to have an "accident" here.
Armed Infected	Damn it, let go! Are... Are you trying to kill me? Gah–!
Severin	No, just a "slip" of the hand–
[...just as Folinic, Suzuran, and Tatjana appears.]
Tatjana	Schultz!
Severin	Hm?
Tatjana	Um...
Severin	Finished. There were only a few of them, and the rest ran off, leaving this poor fella alone.
Folinic	Did you kill him?
Severin	I don't think so.
Folinic	......
Severin	It would be nice if the good doctors could wake him up.
Suzuran	He's breathing!
Folinic	Let's make sure we're saving lives now. I'll have words for you soon, "Schultz."
Severin	Sure. I'm all ears, Miss.
<Background fades out and in>
Tatjana	Sir...
Severin	I told you before, I'm not "Sir." I'm not your Schultz when we're alone. I'm Thor's father, and your uncle.
Tatjana	No, Sir, you just... you were going to kill that Infected man.
Severin	I won't deny it.
Tatjana	That's only going to make things worse! And you can't attack a member of the Wolumonde family so lightly!
Severin	Even if he told the militants that we're defenseless?
Severin	You know what this means, Tatjana.
Tatjana	You should have a heart, at least–
Severin	Can't always make the right choice, no matter how much you might want to. Not unless you're omniscient. Objectively speaking, if a prophet or a banker baron told me just a few deaths would bring peace back to Wolumonde... I'd do it. No matter who had to die.
Tatjana	...Even if...
Severin	No. Matter. Who. ...At least he managed to hold on to his life. That's good enough. Let's get back to Rhodes Island. Did you tell them the truth? Did you already take them to the camp? That girl had a different look in her eye.
Tatjana	You already knew...?
Severin	I was pretty sure. For what it's worth, I never saw the point in hiding it from them. But keeping it under wraps myself calmed a lot of people down. What's your read on them?
Tatjana	I think they'll help Wolumonde. They're the same kind of people as Dr. Atro.
Severin	*Cough* *cough*, *hack*. And you think they speak for all of Rhodes Island?
Tatjana	They're the ones they sent. So I guess they should be decently representative?
Severin	Truth be told, if every Rhodes Island operator we ran into turned out to be a good person, that would disturb me a lot more. Severin
Tatjana	The one who came with Dr. Atro and left shortly thereafter? I hope she didn't get swallowed up by the Catastrophe...
[An explosion can be heard...]
Tatjana	Wh-what? Another attack?
Severin	At this point, every bandit for miles must know we have no Gendarmerie here. So what can we do? Get down on our knees and beg for mercy? Or fight to the bitter end?
[...which actually comes from below the ground.]
Tatjana	No, those explosions are coming from... underground?!
Townsfolk	Severin! They're over at the workshops! They came through a tunnel on the next street over! They crippled the main power plant!
<Background fades out and in>
[The armored Sarkaz seen earlier gazes upon Wolumonde.]
???	Look at it. A beautiful, empty town. Wolumonde. Moon of the Winterwisp Mountains. Yes, truly worthy of its name.
Armed Infected	A moon? Pfah! Four of our people died in that fire. And they have the gall to try to pin it on the Infected? What's next? Where do they go from here? Do they just expect us to turn the other cheek?
Mudrock	You're quite worked up. Try to relax. You don't usually talk like that.
Armed Infected	We should level this place! Damned Wolumonders! Damned immigrants!
Mudrock	No.
Armed Infected	Mudrock! You and your Sarkaz could do it!
Mudrock	No. You're right... Who knows the pain of losing one's home better than the Sarkaz? Even in Leithanien, where the Infected are supposed to be able to do what they can with what they have, there is no place for the Sarkaz. ...But, the cupcakes that nice granny gave us were delicious. Just the right amount of sweet.
Armed Infected	Huh?
Mudrock	So... We wait. The only thing we're here to destroy is the murderer. We can't lose control of our hate. Or else... What separates us from what we were before?