An explosion rips through the side door of the transport, half-buried in mud at the edge of the dense forest.
White smoke rises from two smoke grenades as shadows dart through the haze.
Without warning, the belly-mounted turrets open fire, spraying bullets into the surrounding trees.
The large-caliber rounds tear through the two Corrupted hiding behind the trees, sending them crashing to the ground.
Report—targets eliminated by turret fire.
Yata, take point.
Shiva, maintain electronic warfare and environmental scanning. Stay beside me or take position behind.
Discord, take rear guard. Protect Shiva and watch our six.
V, 4 o'clock.
Valeria swiftly swings her weapon toward the dark thicket, firing two pulse rounds.
The whistling rounds pierce into the thicket and vanish into silence as if devoured by the darkness.
They dodged it.
Everyone, night vision on.
Before the words can settle, three Corrupted spring out from the clearing just ahead of the Scarabs.
The Corrupted fan out in a trident formation, pressing their attack.
You bastards having a party here?!
Yata charges forward decisively, her mechanical arms making quick work of two Corrupted with effortless swings.
The remaining Corrupted hesitates for a moment, then bypasses Yata to charge straight at Valeria.
Heads up, Valeria! They're coming for you!
Valeria fires twice, but the Corrupted sprints straight through the gunfire.
As everyone moves to defend Valeria, a towering figure suddenly materializes behind Shiva.
Before that moment arrives, a nimble figure dashes past both Valeria and Shiva in a blur.
Two pairs of metallic arms intercept the incoming fists.
The towering mechanoid staggers back two steps as its attack is interrupted by the counterforce.
With her mechanical arms extended, Yata cracks her neck in annoyance as she stares down her opponent.
I'm right here, dumbo!
Standing tall, Yata uses her external arms to forcefully twist the Corrupted's fists away from their intended direction.
When it comes to raw strength, I won't lose to you!
Inch by inch, the Corrupted's body is forced off the ground in the struggle.
A deep breath. Feet planted firmly. Then—a straight punch pierces through the Corrupted's chest.
Two fists against six—get it now, you big lug?
Yata, stay alert! They're coordinating their attacks!
Valeria calls out the warning while maintaining suppressive fire in the opposite direction.
But before Valeria can finish her sentence, she notices something off.
Tactics...
Tactical coordination?
Can the Corrupted really understand tactics at all?
Though there was that incident at Praia Forest Park...
But that was essentially just a hive mind issuing collective commands.
These Corrupted are coordinating with one another far too perfectly.
There must be a puppeteer behind this.
This isn't something mechanical minds can cook up.
Are you suggesting they're operating with a commandant-and-squad formation like us?
But you're not my puppets.
The Corrupted attacking us are just mindless marionettes programmed for suicide attacks.
Come to think of it, they breached our M.I.N.D. without any resistance...
How did they manage to do that?
While Yata is lost in thought, a mechanoid covered in explosives shambles toward them, its movements unsteady.
Land of eternity... paradise... escape from this mortal realm...
I... am a firefly...
With these cryptic words, the Self-Destruction Mechanoid suddenly charges at Valeria in a frenzy.
Watch out!
With lightning-fast reflexes, Yata kicks the Self-Destruction Mechanoid skyward.
After a blinding flash, the airborne mechanoid becomes nothing more than a momentary burst of light.
Its "remains" rain down like metallic petals, scattering across the ground with an otherworldly wail.
After a moment's pause, Valeria and Yata cautiously approach to investigate.
A fragment of bionic vocal cords on the ground continues to emit unintelligible static, stuttering and mumbling.
The promise... Yata... come back...
Before the mechanoid can finish speaking, Valeria raises her gun and delivers the final shot.
At this moment, Shiva and Discord arrive on the scene.
Did I hear that wrong, or was it just... calling my name?
Unless we all heard wrong.
What's really going on with these Corrupted?
Three units appeared as a group. Two executed feint attacks while the third charged straight for V.
Are they assuming that the Task Force's commandant lacks combat capabilities?
Take out the command first, then dismantle the rest of the squad one by one.
Maybe this is how we lost contact with the last Task Force.
Yata.
Tell me exactly what happened here.
Why... did that Corrupted know your name?
Valeria's voice remains unnaturally calm.
I have no idea how to answer that question, V.
This is my first time back here in years.
Back then, the Punishing wiped out almost all of humanity. Even my best friend.
Ghosts... are probably the only things left here.
If that's what you're trying to ask!
Enough.
She shifts her gaze away from Yata and prepares to step forward.
But in that instant, almost simultaneously, Yata collapses face-first onto the ground.
Yata!
Valeria kneels down and sees that Yata's eyes have gone lifeless.
...A M.I.N.D. quake!
Stay calm and focus on the Mind Beacon.
Just as Valeria is about to connect with Yata, Discord, too, collapses to the ground nearby.
They're falling one after another?
The commandant's consciousness connection with their squad weakens when they lose focus.
This was the moment they were waiting for.
Valeria turns to Shiva, the only one still barely conscious.
Shiva, report.
My head... it hurts... damn it... Valeria!
There's a force in my M.I.N.D... It's trying to tear us away from your beacon...
Gritting her teeth, Valeria struggles with all her might to stabilize the connection.
A song... This voice...
Lying on the ground, Yata seems to be regaining consciousness.
However, what reflects in Yata's eyes is an otherworldly scene, one that looks like anything but a battlefield...
Endless rays of bright sunlight fill a spacious classroom where boys and girls in uniforms gather.
Their faces beam with bright smiles as they join hands, singing a heartwarming melody together.
They sing on tirelessly, free from worry and care.
—How many years have flown by since those days of school life...
—When we look back, we're surprised by how fast time went by...
Is this... a graduation ceremony?
A young girl, holding a bouquet of hydrangeas, makes her way through the crowd toward Yata.
A pleasant floral fragrance emanates from her—an innocent scent that puts all guards down.
Who are you?
Shh.
The song...
Hallucinations, huh...
No time to waste. We need to do a deep dive now.
Valeria takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
As a commandant, she understands the implications of such actions in battle.
Dropping one's defense, even briefly, means becoming nothing more than a sitting duck on the battlefield.
Casting all caution aside, Valeria dives deep into Yata's M.I.N.D.
Suddenly, sounds emerge from the dense forest, followed by intermittent footsteps that break the silence...
Valeria, something's coming...
Shiva lets out a heavy sigh as she watches an unresponsive Valeria.
As the footsteps draw closer, she staggers forward to grab Valeria's sidearm.
Join us... Join the spiritual Eden... Become a citizen of the eternal realm.
Whatever your faith may be, this is the ultimate paradise, Canaan, the Pure Land...
The controlled Construct soldier mutters incomprehensible words as it slowly raises its weapon at Shiva.
...Stay away from us!
A pulse bursts from the muzzle, knocking down the already unstable Construct.
Why did you betray Babylonia?
We did not... have a choice.
She's... invading our minds...
Her dream of Eden is corrupting everyone's will...
The fallen Construct continues to mutter bewildering phrases, while Shiva, beyond exhausted, collapses to her knees.
So this is what it's like getting controlled...
SCREEEEE—
...Ugh, not again!
Shiva struggles to pull the trigger, but cannot stop the massive Corrupted from drawing near.
Valeria... are we not done yet?
I have a bad feeling about—
An elongated shadow blocks out the light from Shiva's view as something hoists her onto its shoulder and frantically runs away. She desperately tries to scream, but no sound comes out.
THUD—!
SCREE??
Stop right there!
A bolt of electricity pierces through the Corrupted's body, but another Construct quickly snatches Shiva away.
Tsk... I was too late.
Despite launching an attack the moment her consciousness returned, Yata, due to insufficient charge, fails to stop the Construct that took Shiva.
The Corrupted working together with Construct soldiers? What interesting times we live in.
What kind of brainwashing did they go through to become one big family?!
I'm more curious about who it is that's working the strings here.
Having just stabilized Discord, Valeria forces herself to stand up.
We don't have time for that now. Isn't Shiva's tracking device connected to our terminals?
We can still track her now since the connection's still active, but I can't guarantee it'll work if they get too far.
Someone needs to stay close to her to act as a relay point for the connection to stay alive because of signal interference.
If we align the direction in which the interference is the most powerful...
With where the corrupted M.I.N.D.'s infiltration is intensifying...
Bearing 451 is where the two overlap. Initiating image analysis.
Enhancing night vision mode... Looks like a stone monument among some abandoned buildings.
There's a line of text embedded in the stone monument. It's hard to make it out, but it looks like something about a school...
Misono Academy High School.
That's not a monument. It's our high school gate.
Let me handle this. I know the school's layout well.
Try to brute force your way through them while I draw their fire.
...
Valeria briefly closes her eyes.
We can't wait any longer... Scarab can't afford to lose another member.
I'll be back in one piece, and I'll bring Shiva back with me...
...
Don't force your way through. Fall back if things ever go south.
Keep your terminal on and check in every ten minutes.
Valeria is unusually fussy with her instructions.
Also, short-range communications on the ground are working just fine, but we aren't getting any response to any messages sent to Babylonia.
Take the comm relay with you.
Valeria hands a black device to Yata.
We can reach out to Babylonia once we restore long-range communication. The rooftop would make an excellent installation site.
Roger that.
Yata knocks down two approaching Corrupted with her mechanical arm and dashes into the dense forest.
Now...
Discord, prepare to strike—
