EX00 Frozen Darkness





Alpha stands in the middle of the ocean, on top of a mechanical narwhal, when Roland calls and informs her that she has entered the Arctic Route Union and will soon arrive at a port called New Murmansk. Alpha then asks Roland to scan beneath the ocean where he finds a huge number of Corrupted hiding below the water. She realizes that the narwhal is trying to warn the humans about this impending disaster.

Meanwhile, the Gray Ravens are headed towards a monastery where the Ascendants were last sighted but unfortunately, are chased by missiles from a destroyed warship infected by the Punishing Virus. Lee and the Commandant quickly take evasive maneuvers but are about to be overwhelmed when a lance comes out of nowhere, hitting the missiles and saving them. After they land safely in ARU territory, it is not long before they get surrounded by Corrupted. They end up being saved by the Forest Guards, a group of humanoid-hybrid Constructs. Before the Gray Ravens can establish friendly relations, the Forest Guards display hostility due to them being outsiders but are stopped by their captain, Rosetta. It turns out that Rosetta is the one who saved them in space earlier; she then invites the Gray Ravens to their camp for the night.

As the night comes, the Gray Ravens and Forest Guards look up at the sky to see an aurora and enjoy a moment of peace. This is soon broken with a shout not far from the camp. Diana, one of the Forest Guards, detects Corrupted chasing a boy called Evan. In another location, Rosetta communicates with the mechanical narwhal, named Derek, about letting the town suffer the catastrophe but Derek disagrees with her. After defeating the Corrupted, Evan meets up with Rosetta and tells her that Derek is headed to the port and that the grown-ups are getting agitated with the narwhal trashing their ports and the increasing amount of Corrupted lately. Afterward, Rosetta goes to the port with Evan and the Gray Ravens. But upon arriving in New Murmansk, the party is met with hostility. The Gray Ravens find out that the townspeople deem Rosetta and the Forest Guards as criminals, and blame them for not doing enough in protecting New Murmansk against the narwhal and the Corrupted. Before the Gray Ravens can interrupt, Derek comes out from the surface of the ocean.

On the other side, Alpha is trying to tame Derek but gets interrupted by an attack from Rosetta’s lance. Derek seizes this opportunity to escape Alpha’s control and dives back beneath the ocean. Alpha lands on the ground and quickly spots Rosetta as the one who attacked her. Before Lucia can unsheathe her blade, Rosetta starts to attack Alpha. As the two of them exchange blows, Derek resurfaces again and sends a signal to Rosetta, telling her it wants to save the people from the Corrupted. After witnessing the conversation, Alpha realizes that she and Rosetta share the same ideas regarding humanity’s destruction since she has neither chosen to evacuate New Murmansk nor bring the Forest Guards with her. Meanwhile, Lucia tells the Commandant that she wants to fight with Alpha one more time. Her request is received by Babylonia and is sent her new frame: Dawn.

On the battlefield, Alpha tries to win over Rosetta to her side but is disturbed soon after being attacked by an ARU citizen. Alpha, displeased with her conversation interrupted, launches a counterattack. The citizen is soon corrupted but not for a short time before Liv injects an Anti-Punishing serum. Rosetta then tells the townspeople to flee because a massive tide of Corrupted is coming but sadly, her effort is only to be met by rejection. Alpha then gives the option for Rosetta to choose between saving the narwhal or defending New Murmansk. While Lucia changes her frame, Rosetta switches her form and flies to attack her before getting interrupted by Lee and Liv. Soon after, the tide of Corrupted arrives and plunges the entire area into chaos. The Forest Guards, led by Diana, arrive to help ward off the Corrupted. She proceeds to tell the townspeople, who have previously avoided them, to never forget this act. Liv moves to help them while Lee faces Rosetta, but is quickly overwhelmed.

After a while, Rosetta’s corruption levels rise as her M.I.N.D. reaches its boiling point and flies over to Derek. Alpha then tries to make Rosetta an Ascendant since she displays the qualifications but she is attacked by Lucia with her newly equipped Dawn frame. This angers Alpha, telling Lucia that it was her last chance to save Rosetta, and proceeds to defeat her quickly. Alpha tries for the last time to tame the narwhal but Rosetta, who is now fully corrupted, attacks the injured Lucia. Upon seeing this, Alpha reluctantly stops taming the narwhal and saves Lucia from Rosetta’s spear, dragging her into the water. She then tells Lucia, “I will wait…until that day comes…” before resurfacing.

Alpha continues her battle on land with Rosetta to clean up the mess she has made. Before she can deal the final blow, Evan stands in between them. The corrupted Rosetta tries to stab Evan only to be slashed by Alpha first, protecting both Evan and leaving her core intact. Derek then emits a signal, which helps recover Rosetta’s consciousness. In the aftermath of the battle, the Babylonian forces led by Bianca arrive to help clean up and to propose an alliance with the ARU. Meanwhile, Rosetta is taken away for repairs under Babylonia while the townspeople have begun reconsidering their prejudice against the Forest Guards. Despite failing her main objective, Alpha accepts the outcome and quietly stares at the Arctic Ocean.

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