Coastline.
The waves crash in, bringing the Red Tide with them, as a salty wind whips across the ruins along the shore.
The howls of Hetero-Creatures drown out the wind, and everyone along the coastline is scrambling.
We've still got things under control, but we're totally short-handed!
Even with those refugees and the handful of folks from Scarlet Revelation, we're barely holding our own transporting the Omega Weapons in the west sector. We certainly can't spare anyone for anything else...
What about Dark Aries? They just got here to lend a hand. Lucia's back, too, plus the other two Gray Raven members who just landed. Keep them busy.
Dark Aries has already been dispatched to the east sector. A massive wave of Hetero-Creatures suddenly appears along the eastern coastline, almost instantly breaching the defense line there...
Wait, over there...
Clouds of dust roll across the edge of the beach as several transport vehicles roar toward the temporary camp at full speed.
I don't see Babylonia's insignia... Who are you?!
...It's me.
A familiar figure leaps down from one of the transport vehicles.
...The Forsaken?
This whole mess has hit part of our Oasis. I asked Lee about it, then reached out to Celica.
The Oasis might not have state-of-the-art weapons, but we can pitch in with about a hundred people... Where do you need them deployed?
Watanabe holds out a joint operation notice signed by Nikola.
Alright, grab the Omega Weapons. Send sixty people to back up the east sector, and the other forty can hold the southern sea.
The Omega Weapons can keep the Hetero-Creatures at bay on the surface for a bit, but there are just so many of them...
Karenina anxiously scans the perimeter.
On the sea surface! That's Strike Hawk and...
Teddy, who's been directing drones to scan the sea surface, suddenly snaps her head up.
A small boat, slapped together from crude wooden planks, parts the waters like Moses dividing the Red Sea—
Bianca stands at the bow of the small boat, her Crepuscule frame glowing with a luminous white light. Wherever the light touches, the Red Tide in the seawater pulls back.
It's the commandant and Bianca!
Commandant!
Tch, I was really hoping to see [player name] looking totally wrecked... What a shame.
The Gray Raven Commandant and Bianca, who had almost been declared dead, appear once again, causing a ripple of cheers to go through the camp. But just as quickly as it starts, the celebration dies down, and everyone gets right back to the never-ending fight.
After briefly exchanging information about the situation, everyone heads ashore together.
...That covers most of it. We infiltrated the aquarium but came up empty. All we found was another drainage outlet, just by following the Red Tide's tracks.
Camu did spot a sign of "Lower Level Passage," though we never found the actual entry point. Still, we assumed the island was somewhere near the aquarium's vicinity.
After assembling this small boat, we scouted the likely direction... and got lucky running into Bianca and Commandant.
Well, could've been much worse. At least everyone's in one piece!
And now...
She glances around, and pretty much everyone has already noticed the changes happening on the sea's surface—
The Crepuscule frame can disperse the Punishing Virus! The tide is finally turning in their favor!
This news undoubtedly boosts morale on the battlefield, while additional reinforcements from Babylonia pour in from all sides...
It's finally time for a counterattack.
With the Ascendant's and Chiko's suppression gone, countless Hetero-Creatures suddenly swarm out of the ocean, instinctively crawling onto the shore.
They're charging into the shallows with the tide, ferociously biting at anything in sight.
Uh... This isn't good...
The Construct, already wounded, can't dodge the incoming wave of Hetero-Creatures—
Then, the Lashblade, gleaming with a solemn light, pierces the creature.
Move back!
Th-thank you...
As the Omega Weapons hit peak operation, the Red Tide on the surface is temporarily reined in. The Hetero-Creatures are slowly dwindling thanks to the soldiers' cleanup efforts.
Strange... there should be more Hetero-Creatures than this...
Chiko? You mean... Vice-Captain Chiko of the Purifying Force?
Didn't she go missing at the aquarium...
Chiko fought against the Ascendant, holding her ground until her very last breath before falling in the line of duty.
The agent and Ascendant made her part of their experiment, but she still retained her own consciousness...
At the altar on the island, she absorbed a large amount of the Red Tide and numerous Hetero-Creatures in the sea.
...That explains it.
The horizon, where the coast meets the sky, starts to glow with the white light of dawn.
Ah... Dawn's breaking. The fight probably won't last much longer.
But the battlefield still needs me, Commandant.
My frame's "reversal" ability can handle areas the Omega Weapons can't touch...
Let me fight until the very last second before I power down.
Commandant...
Bianca turns, her hand extending toward you as her smile flickers to life.
Please join me in witnessing this dawn as the storm comes to an end.
Science Council
Babylonia
One week later
One Week Later, Science Council, Babylonia.
With everyone pitching in, the Hetero-Creatures along the coastline have been completely wiped out.
However, a portion of the ocean remains tainted by the Red Tide. It's currently impossible to predict the extent of damage the Red Tide will inflict on the marine environment, or if it might autonomously evolve into organisms resembling Hetero-Humanoids.
...Alright.
After jotting down his final notes, Asimov gazes at the "shard" displayed in the center of the light screen.
"Heteromer Shard"... That does sound like typical Science Council nomenclature.
At the Science Council... Want to take a look?
...
He stands up and leads the way to another room.
Inside its sealed glass container, the Heteromer Shard flickers with bizarre colors.
Distorted specks of light gnaw at your consciousness, while golden threads unfurl from some unseen source—
Your heavy heartbeats echo wearily, a dull drumming within the hollow of your chest.
Your consciousness is dragged into a river of nothingness, swallowed by the cold seawater.
Bianca's lantern flickers into focus. She stands before you in her Stigmata frame, an exact echo of the visions that have haunted you.
Together, you and Lucia enter the aquarium with her... You rescue Grace of the Scarlet Revelation, and then Bianca is separated from the group...
She finds Chiko... and falls into the silence, deep sea.
Lithos isn't missing. He confronts Bianca, trying to buy more time for the Hetero-Humanoid Chiko to incubate, only to be slain by Bianca. And then...
The coastline becomes a slaughterhouse of the living and the dead. Blood, vital fluids, and the creeping Red Tide stain the waves crimson.
The "witch" slays the "monster" on the sea.
Every scene is almost identical to what you have already witnessed through your "visions."
It's like watching a "director's cut" of a film—I've seen the complete story of "what if I had entered the aquarium with Bianca."
The "Time Prison" alone couldn't possibly explain this.
You look down on it all, and then nothingness devours the seabed.
Here you are!
The vibrant colors of stars pierce through the inky blackness.
Ta-da! This is a message from Nanami! For [player name] only—the Gray Raven Commandant's eyes only!
Your eyelids feel like they're weighted with lead, granting you only a blurry glimpse of the figure in front of you.
No peeking, okay? If you see it, Nanami's magic spell just won't work anymore!
This is my special gift for you, Commandant... haha, though I might've bent the rules just a tiny bit—
But don't worry! I'm going to pay the price for you, Commandant! So, you have to keep it a secret, okay?
What I want to tell you is—
The "answer" is hidden within a secret only the Commandant knows!
Heehee, you must be buzzing with questions, Commandant! But Nanami can't spill the beans! This is just Nanami's shadow—the real Nanami is already happily soaring through the starry cosmos!
Well then... that's it for now!
See you, Commandant!
Suddenly, the star cluster shatters, and countless golden threads wrap around you—
You jolt awake, your collar soaked with a cold sweat you're only now noticing.
...The Heteromer Shard exhibited unusual fluctuations just now. What did you see?
The words are right there, on the tip of your tongue, but you can't seem to get them out. All you can do is try to tell the answer by asking your own questions.
Yeah.
It appears to be... a vessel, engineered purely for data transmission. However, its encryption protocol is incredibly complex, way beyond my current grasp...
The only segment we've managed to decrypt so far is this one...
"This is... the gift of the 'future'."
The "answer" is hidden within a secret only the Commandant knows!
The dimly lit archive room, a handwritten file code, a faint sting in your fingertips...
Memories in your mind are as hazy as if shrouded in white mist, yet this one message is seared into your brain, crystal clear.
...?
You mean... you "saw" the decryption code?
...
Without hesitation, Asimov shoves you into the examination chair and conducts another full-body scan.
Brain activity is normal, and your Mind Beacon shows no issues...
What in the world is going on here?
Asimov rarely shows such confusion.
The aftereffects of the "Time Prison" might explain all this, but... is it really the "Time Prison"?
The biting cold seawater, Bianca's struggle... it all feels too real to be just some figment of imagination.
...I'll try the code you gave me. If you experience anything like this again, come find me right away.
You step out of the Science Council, your mind still buzzing with questions.
DING-DONG—
Your terminal signals an incoming report from Celica. The military has tallied the casualty figures from the aquarium battle, and the numbers are surprisingly low.
You can't help but recall the horrifying "vision"—the coastline strewn with bodies and the wounded, the seawater a gruesome crimson from blood, vital fluids, and the dreaded Red Tide, everyone fighting tooth and nail to survive...
Thanks to the quick deployment of the Omega Weapons and the elite squads' advance support, you and Bianca managed to head off the Hetero-Humanoid creature at the island...
Casualties from this operation are way below the projected 40-50%. There's talk of an award ceremony, so you might want to get your formal uniform ironed!
After the end of the incident, even Celica's message takes on a cheerful tone.
As you put away the terminal, your thoughts immediately pivot to what comes next.
What should you do... for the next step?
Should you hunt down Vonnegut and put a stop to his crazy plan?
Or dig into the source of your "visions" and figure out what's really going on?
Or...
As a mental checklist of tasks starts to form, the sunlight of Babylonia bathes you.
Golden threads of cause and effect weave together, converging into a new path right before you.
