12 Kowloong Metropolis
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12 Kowloong Metropolis
These are NOT official divisions of Chapter 12. They are divided as such for organizational purposes. Normal and Hidden Stories are told in one continuum due to unlock requirements
Gathering
Upon docking at Kowloong City’s port, the party finds it strange that there is nobody nearby. Chrome suggests sending an elite squad ahead to scout the area, with Yazi as a guide. They discover a wall of light surrounding the city, and Lee surmises that the entire city is surrounded by a signal jammer, which helps it stay undetected, as well as a layer of virus filter.
The group enters the city and finds the place remarkably well-preserved, but does not find even a single person. The real Qu appears on a screen and explains that she has relocated the residents to the core area. She introduces herself as the true leader of Kowloong, and expresses her disapproval of the events that have transpired on the Nighter, rejecting Yazi and the rest of the ship’s crew as citizens of Kowloong.
Qu also reveals that she is perfectly aware of the Ascendants’ planned attack on the city; she is confident that the light wall will protect Kowloong against the Corrupted. Hassen interrupts, using the Commandant as a relay, to ask Qu whether the Ascendants are after Huaxu and suggests that they join forces to prevent Huaxu from falling into the Ascendants’ hands. Qu rejects the proposal and activates the army of Phecda, Kowloong-made Constructs. The party is forced to retreat. Nonetheless, Hassen concludes that they should protect Huaxu no matter what; he proposes they join the war and help defend Kowloong’s weakest points.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic, Diana and the Forest Guards borrow a ship to chase down the Corrupted heading elsewhere.
In an abandoned train station, Watanabe and the Forsaken, who have agreed to act as reinforcements for the impending battle at Kowloong, are contacted by Nikola. They are joined by Jamilah and her two bodyguards, Changyu and Sophia. Together, they board the Adilek to head to Kowloong.
The Ascendants set foot in the city, with a horde of Corrupted following them. Their invasion plan involves having Roland and Gabriel work together while Lamia tries to find a way into the inner districts. The three depart along with the Corrupted, leaving Luna and Alpha to reflect on their shared dream.
War Decision
At the Kowloong port, the Babylonian forces set up a base and prepare for combat. Yazi and the Kowloong crew stay behind to defend the rear. Later, Vera arrives, hinting at a “spicy gift” from Asimov for the Gray Ravens. After she leaves, Liv tells the Gray Ravens to extend their hands, forming a four-shaped clover leaf, and draws a smile on each hand—a symbol that they will always be together no matter what. Suddenly, a series of explosions are heard, signaling the beginning of the war.
Alpha is intercepted by the Gray Ravens on a bridge. Lucia confronts her and asks why the original Lucia chose to be an Ascendant. Lucia is once again defeated, her frame damaged beyond repair. Before Alpha finishes her off, Luna arrives and asks to let her go. Luna offers Lucia the opportunity to become an Ascendant since she is still her sister. Diana and the Forest Guards arrive in the nick of time to halt Luna’s advance and help the Gray Ravens retreat. Later, they are met by Bridget from the Support Force, who brings the injured Lucia back to base while Ayla temporarily joins the Gray Ravens. Hassen orders them to stop Gabriel’s surprise attack inside Kowloong’s light wall.
Meanwhile, using the fact that the Kowloong Constructs do not have Inver-Devices, Roland devises his plan to spread the Punishing Virus inside the city. He suggests that the Ascendants play defensively since his plan would take some time. Gabriel disagrees with Roland’s suggestion and leaves on his own to attack and spread the virus at the same time.
In an abandoned factory, Kamui and Chrome are joined by Vera, the sole representative of the Cerberus squad. Vera’s two other teammates, Noctis and No. 21, are stationed in another place. The three are ambushed by Heteromer Corrupted, which Vera speculates is a part of an Ascendant’s plan. She then leaves Chrome and Kamui to deal with the horde of the Corrupted inside the factory. Without Cerberus’ help, the Strike Hawks retreat to higher ground. Kamui picks up an ID card, which lets them access a hidden room where a pair of Phecda Constructs are surrounded by Corrupted. The Strike Hawks save the Phecda Constructs and convince them to join as allies in the war.
The Cerberus squad continues to wipe out the remaining Corrupted in the factory. Vera encounters Roland, who offers her a chance to become an Ascendant. She declines and instead challenges him in combat.
Gabriel makes his way to the light wall, destroying all Babylonian forces standing in his way. He creates an explosion to make an opening in the wall. The Strike Hawks hear the explosion, and begin to make their way to the core area. At the same time, Lamia positions herself near the light wall and stealthily poisons the Phecda Constructs with the Punishing Virus. She hears the sound of the Akdilek approaching and decides to put on a show to please Luna.
In the Observatory, the tallest tower in Kowloong, Qu witnesses more and more Phecda Constructs turning into the Corrupted. Because of Kowloong’s outdated Construct technology, their army remains extremely susceptible to the Punishing Virus, unlike Babylonian Constructs. She tells Huaxu that they have no choice except to win to preserve the Tabula Akasha, a record of Kowloong’s legacy on Earth. Huaxu suggests that they send out the Prime units, which can cause greater damage before they succumb to corruption. Qu then commands the Kowloong forces to abandon the outer districts.
Crisis
The Gray Ravens and Ayla enter through the hole Gabriel made in the light wall and head to the Observatory. At the base of the tower, they are ambushed by Qu’s Prime guards. Liv catches a glimpse of Gabriel climbing up the tower.
Outside the tower, Lamia is forced to retreat when the Kowloong guards and the Babylonian army, including the Strike Hawk squad, decide to join forces.
Back on the bridge, the Forest Guards face off against Alpha and Luna but are nearly overwhelmed. Suddenly, Rosetta—in her new frame, which she has received from Babylonia in exchange for agreeing to help them hold off the Ascendants at Kowloong—appears and intercepts Alpha. Rosetta leads Alpha into impaling her with her sword. Rosetta grabs the blade tightly and signals Nikola to release the particles from the Golden Vortex, severely weakening Alpha.
Meanwhile, in the factory, the Cerberus squad continues their battle against Roland and the Corrupted. The tide of battle turns in Cerberus’s favor when a series of explosions release the Golden Vortex particles into the air. The Akdilek train fires artillery shells at a weakened Roland, with Changyu and Sophia providing combat support. Furthermore, Babylonia uses the remote connection technology to connect Vera with the commandant of Cerberus, greatly enhancing her combat abilities. Roland eventually flees, and Vera pursues him.
On Kowloong’s outer rim, Watanabe and the Forsaken prepare to intercept the Corrupted. Lamia attempts to sabotage the Forsaken by disguising herself as one of their soldiers, but Watanabe easily sees through her disguise. Watanabe, however, lets her go when she pleads for her life, saying that an Ascendant could have easily killed them.
Bridget from the Support Force contacts the Strike Hawks to open the light wall for Lucia, who will be arriving shortly in her new frame. Chrome and Kamui combine their efforts with the Kowloong army to create a small opening, and the two hold the crack open as the aircraft carrying Lucia flies in.
Hope
Lucia wakes up at the base. Seeing her desire to return to battle to save the Commandant, Asimov presents a powerful new frame called Plume for Lucia, containing Alpha’s data.He warns that Lucia must pay a heavy price for using the frame: because Plume is data-overloaded, Lucia’s thought model will have to go through the initialization process to read the data contained in the new frame. This is tantamount to “killing” the current “Lucia.” Nonetheless, Lucia decides to don the new frame when she hears a distress signal from the Gray Ravens. She boards a spare aircraft to head to the Observatory.
At the Observatory, Qu confronts the Gray Ravens. Liv detects traces of the Virus from Qu, similar to the ones emitted by other Ascendants such as Alpha and Roland. Qu, however, has not sided with them, instead remaining in the Observatory and ruling the city of Kowloong. Qu then reveals the ultimate goal of her Tabula Akasha project – to use Huaxu to destroy Babylonia and what is left of humanity, preserving them forever as data after their deaths. The group flees to the top of the tower as Qu and her guards chase them.
Lucia arrives right before Qu strikes the final blow to the Commandant. Lucia barely manages to defeat Qu before all her memories are erased. For the first time, she feels at peace as she holds the Commandant’s hand.
The rest of the Gray Ravens and Ayla arrive at the top after Lucia falls. At that moment, Gabriel stabs Qu and seizes a part of Huaxu that serves as a backdoor authentication key. The Commandant asks Gabriel what Luna’s goal is. According to Gabriel, the Ascendants would filter out worthy individuals and create a world that could coexist with the Punishing Virus. He invites the Gray Ravens to join him. They refuse, and Gabriel makes his escape in order to deliver Huaxu’s key to Luna.
In the aftermath of Rosetta’s attack, Luna assists an injured Alpha, who is being healed by the power of the Punishing Virus. Alpha explains that she intentionally did not stop the explosion because she wanted to see how far Rosetta would go in order to win. Luna claims that Alpha is too gentle, just like her.
Diana and the Forest Guards tend to Rosetta. The latter asks her about the Arctic Route Union’s condition, to which Diana replies that things are getting better. As a trail of light flashes from the Observatory, she tightens her embrace around Rosetta.
Because of the failure to prevent the Ascendants from taking Huaxu’s key, the situation appears grim for both Babylonia and Kowloong. Nonetheless, the Commandant stays with a barely conscious Lucia and continues to reassure her. Lucia leans on the Commandant's back and slowly calls them by their name over and over. She wonders what kind of person she will be once she wakes up.
Before she closes her eyes for one last time, Lucia says, “See you soon, Commandant.”
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