Test:Story Test Page
Main Story
The Commandant and Lucia find themselves surrounded by Corrupted and see that they are out of Anti-Punishing Serum. She suggests they turn off her pain receptors despite the risk of M.I.N.D. deviation to buy time to retreat. While waiting for her to recalibrate, the Commandant engages in combat with the incoming Corrupted and is almost attacked. Lucia manages to come back in time to finish the rest while Liv connects with the duo and launches an overload attack.
On the way to regroup with Liv, Lucia becomes more aggressive in fighting the Corrupted as she suffers from the symptoms of M.I.N.D. deviation. They take a short break before arriving at a small area hidden by the ruins where they rendezvous with Liv and Lee. The overload attack a while ago caused the core of Liv’s Levi-Gun to melt and Lee’s hands to suffer burns. It is then revealed that the Gray Ravens were sent to participate in the recovery of City 015 but to compensate for their losses, they would first need to rendezvous with the nearest supply team. The squad decides to take a shortcut through the church where Lucia feels a wave of deja vu passing through it but Lee theorizes it might be from her Sea of Consciousness stabilizing her M.I.N.D.
In the depths of the building, the crew encounters a construct-like figure but realizes it isn’t an ally due to it possessing a high amount of Punishing Virus. Lucia is unable to decipher the figure despite everyone being able to perceive it and her M.I.N.D. starts to destabilize further, strangely not due to the virus. The unknown Construct named Alpha then challenges her to a fight. She manages to nail Lucia’s arm in the wall and is about to finish her off before the Commandant fires at her. Alpha redirects her attention to them and similarly pins their arm to the wall, asking if they can understand what Lucia is currently going through. Seeing their dedication, Alpha lets them go for now and tells Lucia that she looks forward to her choice once she sees what humans truly are.
Liv cures an injured Lucia while Lee is puzzled as to why Alpha’s combat moves were similar to Lucia’s and how she could have affected Lucia’s M.I.N.D. Upon reaching the designated meeting point, they see that the Constructs have lost the stronghold and Corrupted are swarming the place. Suddenly, Liv detects nearby friendly signals. Upon clearing the area, one of the survivors reveals that the graffiti drawn nearby is gathering the Corrupted which causes them to overwhelm the place. Before leaving, the injured Construct gives Lucia his working arm as the team gathers supplies to repair Liv’s Levi-Gun.
Lee analyzes that the graffiti is mostly composed of Construct fluids and that the same paint is made into a bomb. This proves that the Corrupted are learning and evolving based on their environment. As the newest Support-type model, Liv can access the memories of the defeated Constructs to find more clues about the enemy. Afterward, the Gray Ravens were attacked by an unknown enemy and unable to detect it via radar since it used Construct parts and vital fluids to conceal itself. Lee analyzes the enemy and finds that it is based on the Nozzle model, which was used in the past for artistic purposes. With Celica’s help, they begin to track Nozzle down using the paint trail it has left.
The squad stops at an abandoned shop to take a break and prepare for the battle where Lucia and Liv each pick up a frog and sheep plushie. Lucia remarks that the frog plushie fills her with a strange feeling. Lee reassures her that it is alright since they all have things they hold dear. The squad uses EM Camo to bypass the enemy lines and reach Nozzle. It contemplates why it is forced to choose between humans and Ascendants before engaging in combat. Before it falls, Lee questions why it uses graffiti as a mode of expression when it explains that it is enlightened by a being called the “Sagemachina”. The crew retrieves its memory as Celica relays a transport aircraft to bring them back to Babylonia.
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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.
On Earth, Watanabe and the Forsakens are faced with the increasingly frequent threat of the Conversion Probe, which releases a high concentration of Punishing Virus upon landing to corrupt all nearby machines. Probes fired from the corrupted International Space Station have proven to be especially difficult to deal with, as they are launched from directly above the Forsaken’s location at a high velocity, giving them little time to prepare. Watanabe notes that Babylonia has decided to deal with the International Space Station once and for all; Babylonia must have uncovered information that would guarantee decisive victory against the corrupted space station, which has been constantly attacking Babylonia as well as humans on Earth. Realizing that eliminating the threat of the space station would be a turning point in the war against the Punishing Virus, Watanabe decides to join forces with Babylonia.
As Babylonia continues to defend itself against the attacks of the International Space Station, Hassan tasks Karenina with operating a “secret weapon” capable of destroying the space station once the ground forces expose its weak point. Asimov requests extra manpower to escort a satellite to the vicinity of the space station, believing that it would result in findings that can uncover the secrets of the Punishing Virus. Meanwhile, the Gray Ravens manage to land on the space station, but their communication with Babylonia is promptly cut off due to the station’s defense system destroying the relay satellite. Lee suggests disarming the station’s defense system first to re-establish their communication channels.
Allen, the president of WGAA, convinces Hassan to send Ayla on a mission to retrieve a Construct named Selena. Years ago, Selena supposedly perished in a disastrous investigation of the space station; however, having recently deciphered a signal from the station and finding it to be the lines from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Selena’s voice, Ayla is convinced that her friend may still be alive and is determined to bring her back to Babylonia. Hassan enlists the help of Watanabe to safely escort Ayla to the space station. On the spacecraft, Ayla and Watanabe both express their interest in the Gray Ravens and their Commandant.
The Gray Ravens succeed in their initial goal of disabling the station’s defense system and continue their investigation. Their investigation comes to a temporary halt when they find their way to the control center blocked. Watanabe flies his spacecraft through the corridors of the space station, clearing the obstacles. Watanabe temporarily joins the Gray Ravens in their mission, and when questioned about his motive for doing so, he reveals that there is an Ascendant already present at the space station. The Ascendant is revealed to be Gabriel and Luna instructs him to avoid fighting the Gray Ravens.
Suddenly, the space station starts to dislodge its compartments into space. Watanabe compares it to a living organism’s immune system: because the Gray Ravens have destroyed the station’s observation room and weapon control system, allowing other Babylonian troops to land, it is attempting to expel the intruders by self-destructing. While this process does not cause permanent damage to the space station, which, thanks to its powerful gravity core, can attract nearby matters and re-assemble itself, it could be devastating to humans and Constructs. Liv attempts to hack into the space station’s main system to stop its self-destruction. Watanabe offers to help buy more time by allowing her to connect to his frame in addition to the other members of the Gray Ravens. The team decides to trust him, setting aside the hostility between Babylonia and the Forsaken. Their efforts result in successfully locking the remaining cabins to their position, preventing further disintegration of the space station.
The events leading up to the current state of the space station are revealed through the copy of the station’s data log: when the station’s gravity core was corrupted, it continued to attract nearby Punishing Virus, resulting in the creation of a high-density condensation of the Virus, named Punishing Heteromer. Heteromer particles can gather and disperse at will while maintaining coordination with one another; cross-shaped enemies control nearby Heteromer particles to form various Corrupted.
On their way to the gravity core, the Gray Ravens are attacked by Korolev, a gigantic ball-shaped Corrupted that used to provide guided tours around the space station. Unable to withstand the impact of the battle, the platforms shatter, but Watanabe protects the Commandant from falling into space. Babylonia’s Demolition Squad blasts open the walls of the gravity cabin, creating an enormous vacuum. The Commandant shoots Korolev in its “eye,” causing it to lose balance and fall into the vacuum. Using a nearby satellite, Karenina contacts the Gray Ravens to announce that the “Prism” is ready, and instructs them to let her know once the station’s gravity core has been stabilized.
The Gray Ravens find themselves unable to unlock the mechanism blocking the path leading to the gravity core. Through a transmission, Ayla relays the information about the space station she originally received from Selena to help them progress, saying that Selena in her current state is “unable to explain it in person.” When Ayla’s transmission is suddenly cut off, the Gray Ravens hypothesize that she has been attacked by an Ascendant based on her signals. Shortly thereafter, they encounter Gabriel, who jumps out of a compartment. Ayla then appears, following Gabriel and attacking him. Gabriel blocks the Constructs’ attacks with ease and reveals that he has taken Selena’s incomplete carcass. Gabriel leaves in silence, seemingly unwilling to fight them. Ayla follows Gabriel to retrieve her friend.
With the platforms stabilized at last, the Gray Ravens and the rest of the Babylonian Task Force reach the space station’s gravity core. The Gray Ravens take on the corrupted core itself, while the others battle the enemies created by Punishing Heteromers. During the battle with the gravity core, Watanabe suggests they use the “secret weapon”—he has realized that the satellite Karenina used to communicate with them was not only a relay station, but also a conduit for the “Prism,” Babylonia’s high-energy beam cannon. This catches the Commandant and the Gray Ravens by surprise; nonetheless, they agree to his suggestion and continue to fight the core to buy time for the Prism to aim at its target.
Watanabe instructs the Prism to fire when the core’s weakness is exposed during its fight against the Gray Ravens. Karenina fires the cannon from Babylonia’s command room. The beam strikes the core; however, the shot merely succeeds in destroying its outer shell. Moreover, the impact causes the space station to rotate, making it impossible to aim properly at the core. Once again gathering energy, the core launches itself out of the gravity cabin and flies towards Earth. Watanabe is the first to act, hurriedly boarding his spacecraft to pursue the core. Watanabe and the Forsaken seemingly disappear from Babylonia’s radar after he collides with the core.
At the space station, Gabriel, who has successfully escaped Ayla’s pursuit, loads himself and Selena into a launch capsule and departs.
On Earth, Jamilah, the leader of the “Eternal Engine”—Akdilek Commercial Alliance—and her trusted aide Sophia watch the Punishing Heteromer fall from the sky. They reaffirm Jamilah’s plan to gain the upper hand against her opponents using the Heteromer.
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The Gray Ravens prepare for a round of data collection on Plume’s frame in Babylonia’s reserve area when Rosetta arrives, asking for the Commandant’s help to defend the ARU. Whilst mid-air, their transport craft is shot down upon approaching ARU territory, leaving the Commandant knocked out for over half an hour as Rosetta defends them against hostile bionic machines. After fending off the bionics, the duo proceeds to locate other surviving forces from Babylonia. Rosetta explains that since the Punishing Virus cannot spread well in the Arctic environment, the ARU only needs to defend against small groups of Corrupted and the occasional “tide” of bionics. Despite this, the scale of the current tide is unprecedented and the duo speculates that the bionics may be under someone’s command. They are located by Simon, the Commandant’s former classmate in F.O.S. Military Command College, and Atiel, a Construct under him, both of whom have already been in the ARU for a week and have located the others.
The party is met by the captain of the ARU, Staessen, upon arrival at the base. He then explains that the ARU is on the verge of collapse since the bionics have managed to capture their warehouse. To recover key areas efficiently, Simon and the Commandant decide to split up. Rosetta inserts the Commandant in a Polar Soldier unit to provide them protection while on the battlefield. After saving some fishermen, they are treated with hostility due to Rosetta being labeled as a “sinner” and the Commandant as an outsider from Babylonia. Diana meets up with the pair upon hearing of the arrival of Babylonian forces when Simon calls up and asks the party to rendezvous in a nearby residential area. They find Atiel playing with the children and Evan, who lights up upon seeing Rosetta after a long time. Not for long, they were led away by one of the fishermen who was saved by Rosetta earlier and seemed to accept the Forest Guards more. Simon recalls the group and explains that he, Atiel, and the fishermen will take the rear since Atiel’s leg is injured while the Commandant leads the Forest Guards.
After reclaiming the area, the Commandant questions Rosetta about “Amberia”, a name mentioned by one of the bionics. During the outbreak of the Punishing Virus, the ARU remained untouched, leading them to perform various experiments on military science on Construct technology. This led to the creation of Amberia, a humanoid-hybrid Construct able to command bionic machines. Unfortunately, she went berserk upon activation and the ARU had to use innumerable amounts of ships and narwhals, like Derek, to contain her. She was eventually defeated but at a great cost to the ARU. Afterward, all engineers related to the experiments were either executed or imprisoned while their family and friends were labeled as “sinners”, some of which were turned into Forest Guards. Rosetta speculates that Amberia might have been alive all this time and is the cause behind the rise of the bionics. Her hypothesis is confirmed after meeting with Staessen, who eventually admits. Every captain upon taking office is sworn to secrecy to this fact. The previous leaders of the ARU used a code to suppress Amberia to place her in a deep sleep and hid her somewhere in the tundra. The nightmares she has causes the bionics to attack people. Simon noted that the bionics earlier were taking energy tanks away and speculates that they are waking Amberia. Meanwhile, the code is hypothesized to be hidden in a research lab.
Outside the laboratory, the party finds bionics emptying it of research equipment. They make use of roadblocks to take care of stragglers and make their way into the database room. Simon finds files on Amberia and plays the code, which is revealed to be Derek’s voice. The party then remembers that Evan had a shiny gadget with Derek’s voice recording and immediately rushes back as the bionics head for the residential areas. Rosetta explains that Derek’s voice was designed to resonate with the frequency of humanoid-hybrid M.I.N.D.s. As an example, she was not corrupted during her last fight with Alpha. There are also specific times in which Derek chooses to return to the Arctic in its migratory cycle but it has since malfunctioned during its last encounter with Alpha and is nowhere near ARU territory. Before the party can reach Evan, he has already fallen to the ground and Atiel has snatched the recorder. Luckily, the Commandant is able to scratch her torso and place a tracker using the Polar Soldier’s grappling hook before she escapes.
The Forest Guards use Atiel’s tracks, as well as her leaking vital fluid and Construct parts to chase her down. Her tracks stop amidst a structure hidden in the snow. The hidden base is revealed to be an underground cave, with a production line to create bionics and signal jammers to remain hidden. They are interrupted by Lamia, who plans to use the code to control Amberia. Unfortunately, they are caught in a trap, separating the Commandant and Rosetta from Diana and the rest of the Forest Guards. Rosetta tells Diana to head back and tell the others of the presence of the Ascendant Lamia and Amberia. After some time, the pair eventually reach Amberia and see her grotesque form, just as detailed in the records. Lamia reveals that the very same figure is Atiel and both parties have agreed that the latter will find a way to control Amberia without using the Punishing Virus, while Lamia ensures her safety so she could exact revenge on the ARU. Atiel was a descendant of a researcher who worked on humanoid-hybrid constructs and was the only one in her party to have escaped the ARU. Despite this, she was forced to become a Construct due to the existence of the Punishing Virus outside and to exact revenge at the ARU. Atiel then enters the next phase of M.I.N.D. integration while Lamia uses the code to activate her frame before escaping.
Back in the base, Simon’s effective leadership manages to hold off the bionics before he starts vomiting and forces Staessen to take over. Meanwhile, in the underground cave, Rosetta collapses due to her M.I.N.D. being forcefully linked with Amberia’s. She suggests the Commandant do a remote dive into her M.I.N.D., use it to hop into Amberia’s, and suppress her with the help of the voice recorder she somehow stole back from Lamia. The Commandant meets the real Amberia in the virtual M.I.N.D. space, where she is still adamant about destroying the ARU and regaining her freedom. Their success causes Rosetta’s M.I.N.D. to get out of Amberia’s hold. During the battle, the distinction between Amberia and Atiel exists no more. She asks Rosetta to join her in taking revenge against the ARU but Rosetta disagrees, as this would bring more tragedy. She utters the words “I’m sorry…” – the words which Amberia wanted to desperately hear. Then she proceeds to transform her spear, releasing a huge blast of energy at the Amberia-Atiel hybrid’s core and destroying it.
The pair evacuates through an emergency exit as the cave collapses in the aftermath. Before they manage to get out of the base, they are trapped beneath the collapsed rocks. The Commandant is ejected out of the Polar Soldier suit and shielded by Rosetta from the debris. She revealed that she chose the Commandant to aid her since the Constructs under them always seemed happy despite the challenges they faced. Staessen hears their voices and manages to rescue them from the debris. As the sun rises over the Arctic landscape, they return to a world where humans, bionics, and Forest Guards work together toward a brighter future.
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Hidden Story
Before the Gray Ravens return to Babylonia in their transports, they begin extracting Nozzle’s memory. Within the scattered memory chips, it is revealed that Nozzle used to be called Anthony and has helped an old artist complete his final work. Anthony asks if he is now considered useless since his work is done as well but the old artist rebuts and tells that its journey has only just begun. Even if he does not understand its works, he hopes that Anthony will be able to continue painting. Fast forward to the arrival of the Punishing Virus, nobody wanted to buy Anthony’s artworks after everybody became fearful of machines.
After most humans have left or gone into hiding, Nozzle wakes up and finds a machine’s travel notes. It feels the writer’s individuality and happiness, unlike his memories of slavery under both humans and the Punishing Virus. It then decides to paint the will of the Sagemachina so all machines can awaken to a free world. The graffiti starts to gather different machines rallying to its cause. A group of Constructs stumble upon Nozzle and start destroying the graffiti so it attacks them. Later, it encounters Lee and throws a paint bomb at him to help him understand it. From a distance, Nozzle then detects a battle between Constructs and Tifa and approaches them to draw it down. While approaching, Nozzle lets go of the fleeing Constructs. This puzzles Tifa but sees something special in it and offers it to become an Ascendant like her. Nozzle refuses since it follows only the Sagemachina and flees from Tifa with the help of its followers.
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As the Gray Ravens and the Babylonian Task Force fight the Corrupted on the International Space Station, Ayla follows the signal from her friend Selena. During her search, Ayla receives a transmission from Allen warning her about something, but the connection is soon cut off.
Ayla finally reaches the location of Selena’s signal. Upon entering the cabin, Ayla finds Selena’s dismembered upper body connected to a terminal. Despite the state she is in, Selena is fortunately unharmed by the Punishing Virus, and the energy from the terminal has kept her alive and allowed her to emit the signal. Ayla promises to take Selena back to Babylonia and begins to unplug her. Selena, however, beckons Ayla to first help the Gray Ravens find their way to the station’s gravity core.
In the middle of Ayla’s transmission to the Gray Ravens, Gabriel appears and violently rips Selena away from the terminal. Ayla chases Gabriel, who flees to the room with the gravity core. Unfortunately, she is held back first by the remnant of Kolorev, and then the shock from the Prism attacking the space station. By the time she reaches the outside of the station, Gabriel and Selena had already departed to Earth on a launch capsule. Staring at Earth, Ayla vows never to give up on her search for Selena.
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In a snowy forest, Nanami attempts to communicate with a sentient bionic bear named Martin. It explains that it came here to shoot down aircraft from Babylonia but Nanami insists she helps out, damaging them without hurting the people inside. After accomplishing its mission, Martin states that it doesn’t know what to do anymore since it lost contact with Amberia, the mother-frame. All arctic bionics are equipped with a receiver device where they receive the thoughts, feelings, and commands of Amberia. Martin broke its device during its last retreat against the ARU and is now free. Nanami then decides she will help stop the conflict by breaking the receivers of each bionic.
The duo surveys a nest where the bionics are transporting tanks. Before they can communicate with the overseers, Nanami leaps out of cover and kicks a hidden Corrupted. After she rescues the bionic mechanoids, some express their anger at her since they cannot hear Amberia’s voice anymore. One of them reveals that Amberia is a construct – just like Nanami and that the ARU used terminally ill or dying people to turn them into humanoid-hybrid constructs. As the first successful prototype, Amberia was weaponized against her will. Her anger coursed through her M.I.N.D., spreading through the receivers of the bionics. Even if they do not hear her, they still wish to help free Amberia from her nightmare and proceed to leave Nanami behind. Nanami still has not given up despite their rejection and calls the attention of the remaining bionics. She plans to ask Amberia to stop attacking humans and to figure out the Corrupted’s plans. With their help, the party locates Amberia at an underground place nearby.
On their way to the objective, they see an ongoing clash between the joint forces of ARU and Babylonia versus the angry bionics earlier. Nanami deduces that there are Corrupted hidden amongst the machines and that someone is controlling them behind the scenes. While she engages in battle, Simon recognizes her and orders everyone to pull back. Likewise, Diana and the rest of the Forest Guards arrive to aid the frontline after leaving Amberia in the hands of Rosetta and the Commandant. Nanami then senses the culprit trying to escape, which is revealed to be Lamia. She claims to have only done this for entertainment and does not know of the other Ascendants' plans before disappearing. A voice rang throughout the battle, “I’m sorry…” as they heard an explosion over a distance. Everybody slowly began to realize these were Rosetta’s final words to Amberia and that the fight is over. Staessen admits his involvement in the cover-up of Amberia’s existence in the underground base and commands everyone to lay down their arms before crying. Among the bionics, Martin concludes that in her last moments, Amberia said, “Thank you”.
After the battle, some of the bionics decide to follow Nanami instead of staying behind at the ARU. Just like the pied piper in the story, Nanami raises her chainsaw as a flag and leads the parade of bionics.
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Main Story Mobile Test
The Commandant and Lucia find themselves surrounded by Corrupted and see that they are out of Anti-Punishing Serum. She suggests they turn off her pain receptors despite the risk of M.I.N.D. deviation to buy time to retreat. While waiting for her to recalibrate, the Commandant engages in combat with the incoming Corrupted and is almost attacked. Lucia manages to come back in time to finish the rest while Liv connects with the duo and launches an overload attack.
On the way to regroup with Liv, Lucia becomes more aggressive in fighting the Corrupted as she suffers from the symptoms of M.I.N.D. deviation. They take a short break before arriving at a small area hidden by the ruins where they rendezvous with Liv and Lee. The overload attack a while ago caused the core of Liv’s Levi-Gun to melt and Lee’s hands to suffer burns. It is then revealed that the Gray Ravens were sent to participate in the recovery of City 015 but to compensate for their losses, they would first need to rendezvous with the nearest supply team. The squad decides to take a shortcut through the church where Lucia feels a wave of deja vu passing through it but Lee theorizes it might be from her Sea of Consciousness stabilizing her M.I.N.D.
In the depths of the building, the crew encounters a construct-like figure but realizes it isn’t an ally due to it possessing a high amount of Punishing Virus. Lucia is unable to decipher the figure despite everyone being able to perceive it and her M.I.N.D. starts to destabilize further, strangely not due to the virus. The unknown Construct named Alpha then challenges her to a fight. She manages to nail Lucia’s arm in the wall and is about to finish her off before the Commandant fires at her. Alpha redirects her attention to them and similarly pins their arm to the wall, asking if they can understand what Lucia is currently going through. Seeing their dedication, Alpha lets them go for now and tells Lucia that she looks forward to her choice once she sees what humans truly are.
Liv cures an injured Lucia while Lee is puzzled as to why Alpha’s combat moves were similar to Lucia’s and how she could have affected Lucia’s M.I.N.D. Upon reaching the designated meeting point, they see that the Constructs have lost the stronghold and Corrupted are swarming the place. Suddenly, Liv detects nearby friendly signals. Upon clearing the area, one of the survivors reveals that the graffiti drawn nearby is gathering the Corrupted which causes them to overwhelm the place. Before leaving, the injured Construct gives Lucia his working arm as the team gathers supplies to repair Liv’s Levi-Gun.
Lee analyzes that the graffiti is mostly composed of Construct fluids and that the same paint is made into a bomb. This proves that the Corrupted are learning and evolving based on their environment. As the newest Support-type model, Liv can access the memories of the defeated Constructs to find more clues about the enemy. Afterward, the Gray Ravens were attacked by an unknown enemy and unable to detect it via radar since it used Construct parts and vital fluids to conceal itself. Lee analyzes the enemy and finds that it is based on the Nozzle model, which was used in the past for artistic purposes. With Celica’s help, they begin to track Nozzle down using the paint trail it has left.
The squad stops at an abandoned shop to take a break and prepare for the battle where Lucia and Liv each pick up a frog and sheep plushie. Lucia remarks that the frog plushie fills her with a strange feeling. Lee reassures her that it is alright since they all have things they hold dear. The squad uses EM Camo to bypass the enemy lines and reach Nozzle. It contemplates why it is forced to choose between humans and Ascendants before engaging in combat. Before it falls, Lee questions why it uses graffiti as a mode of expression when it explains that it is enlightened by a being called the “Sagemachina”. The crew retrieves its memory as Celica relays a transport aircraft to bring them back to Babylonia.
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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.
On Earth, Watanabe and the Forsakens are faced with the increasingly frequent threat of the Conversion Probe, which releases a high concentration of Punishing Virus upon landing to corrupt all nearby machines. Probes fired from the corrupted International Space Station have proven to be especially difficult to deal with, as they are launched from directly above the Forsaken’s location at a high velocity, giving them little time to prepare. Watanabe notes that Babylonia has decided to deal with the International Space Station once and for all; Babylonia must have uncovered information that would guarantee decisive victory against the corrupted space station, which has been constantly attacking Babylonia as well as humans on Earth. Realizing that eliminating the threat of the space station would be a turning point in the war against the Punishing Virus, Watanabe decides to join forces with Babylonia.
As Babylonia continues to defend itself against the attacks of the International Space Station, Hassan tasks Karenina with operating a “secret weapon” capable of destroying the space station once the ground forces expose its weak point. Asimov requests extra manpower to escort a satellite to the vicinity of the space station, believing that it would result in findings that can uncover the secrets of the Punishing Virus. Meanwhile, the Gray Ravens manage to land on the space station, but their communication with Babylonia is promptly cut off due to the station’s defense system destroying the relay satellite. Lee suggests disarming the station’s defense system first to re-establish their communication channels.
Allen, the president of WGAA, convinces Hassan to send Ayla on a mission to retrieve a Construct named Selena. Years ago, Selena supposedly perished in a disastrous investigation of the space station; however, having recently deciphered a signal from the station and finding it to be the lines from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Selena’s voice, Ayla is convinced that her friend may still be alive and is determined to bring her back to Babylonia. Hassan enlists the help of Watanabe to safely escort Ayla to the space station. On the spacecraft, Ayla and Watanabe both express their interest in the Gray Ravens and their Commandant.
The Gray Ravens succeed in their initial goal of disabling the station’s defense system and continue their investigation. Their investigation comes to a temporary halt when they find their way to the control center blocked. Watanabe flies his spacecraft through the corridors of the space station, clearing the obstacles. Watanabe temporarily joins the Gray Ravens in their mission, and when questioned about his motive for doing so, he reveals that there is an Ascendant already present at the space station. The Ascendant is revealed to be Gabriel and Luna instructs him to avoid fighting the Gray Ravens.
Suddenly, the space station starts to dislodge its compartments into space. Watanabe compares it to a living organism’s immune system: because the Gray Ravens have destroyed the station’s observation room and weapon control system, allowing other Babylonian troops to land, it is attempting to expel the intruders by self-destructing. While this process does not cause permanent damage to the space station, which, thanks to its powerful gravity core, can attract nearby matters and re-assemble itself, it could be devastating to humans and Constructs. Liv attempts to hack into the space station’s main system to stop its self-destruction. Watanabe offers to help buy more time by allowing her to connect to his frame in addition to the other members of the Gray Ravens. The team decides to trust him, setting aside the hostility between Babylonia and the Forsaken. Their efforts result in successfully locking the remaining cabins to their position, preventing further disintegration of the space station.
The events leading up to the current state of the space station are revealed through the copy of the station’s data log: when the station’s gravity core was corrupted, it continued to attract nearby Punishing Virus, resulting in the creation of a high-density condensation of the Virus, named Punishing Heteromer. Heteromer particles can gather and disperse at will while maintaining coordination with one another; cross-shaped enemies control nearby Heteromer particles to form various Corrupted.
On their way to the gravity core, the Gray Ravens are attacked by Korolev, a gigantic ball-shaped Corrupted that used to provide guided tours around the space station. Unable to withstand the impact of the battle, the platforms shatter, but Watanabe protects the Commandant from falling into space. Babylonia’s Demolition Squad blasts open the walls of the gravity cabin, creating an enormous vacuum. The Commandant shoots Korolev in its “eye,” causing it to lose balance and fall into the vacuum. Using a nearby satellite, Karenina contacts the Gray Ravens to announce that the “Prism” is ready, and instructs them to let her know once the station’s gravity core has been stabilized.
The Gray Ravens find themselves unable to unlock the mechanism blocking the path leading to the gravity core. Through a transmission, Ayla relays the information about the space station she originally received from Selena to help them progress, saying that Selena in her current state is “unable to explain it in person.” When Ayla’s transmission is suddenly cut off, the Gray Ravens hypothesize that she has been attacked by an Ascendant based on her signals. Shortly thereafter, they encounter Gabriel, who jumps out of a compartment. Ayla then appears, following Gabriel and attacking him. Gabriel blocks the Constructs’ attacks with ease and reveals that he has taken Selena’s incomplete carcass. Gabriel leaves in silence, seemingly unwilling to fight them. Ayla follows Gabriel to retrieve her friend.
With the platforms stabilized at last, the Gray Ravens and the rest of the Babylonian Task Force reach the space station’s gravity core. The Gray Ravens take on the corrupted core itself, while the others battle the enemies created by Punishing Heteromers. During the battle with the gravity core, Watanabe suggests they use the “secret weapon”—he has realized that the satellite Karenina used to communicate with them was not only a relay station, but also a conduit for the “Prism,” Babylonia’s high-energy beam cannon. This catches the Commandant and the Gray Ravens by surprise; nonetheless, they agree to his suggestion and continue to fight the core to buy time for the Prism to aim at its target.
Watanabe instructs the Prism to fire when the core’s weakness is exposed during its fight against the Gray Ravens. Karenina fires the cannon from Babylonia’s command room. The beam strikes the core; however, the shot merely succeeds in destroying its outer shell. Moreover, the impact causes the space station to rotate, making it impossible to aim properly at the core. Once again gathering energy, the core launches itself out of the gravity cabin and flies towards Earth. Watanabe is the first to act, hurriedly boarding his spacecraft to pursue the core. Watanabe and the Forsaken seemingly disappear from Babylonia’s radar after he collides with the core.
At the space station, Gabriel, who has successfully escaped Ayla’s pursuit, loads himself and Selena into a launch capsule and departs.
On Earth, Jamilah, the leader of the “Eternal Engine”—Akdilek Commercial Alliance—and her trusted aide Sophia watch the Punishing Heteromer fall from the sky. They reaffirm Jamilah’s plan to gain the upper hand against her opponents using the Heteromer.
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The Gray Ravens prepare for a round of data collection on Plume’s frame in Babylonia’s reserve area when Rosetta arrives, asking for the Commandant’s help to defend the ARU. Whilst mid-air, their transport craft is shot down upon approaching ARU territory, leaving the Commandant knocked out for over half an hour as Rosetta defends them against hostile bionic machines. After fending off the bionics, the duo proceeds to locate other surviving forces from Babylonia. Rosetta explains that since the Punishing Virus cannot spread well in the Arctic environment, the ARU only needs to defend against small groups of Corrupted and the occasional “tide” of bionics. Despite this, the scale of the current tide is unprecedented and the duo speculates that the bionics may be under someone’s command. They are located by Simon, the Commandant’s former classmate in F.O.S. Military Command College, and Atiel, a Construct under him, both of whom have already been in the ARU for a week and have located the others.
The party is met by the captain of the ARU, Staessen, upon arrival at the base. He then explains that the ARU is on the verge of collapse since the bionics have managed to capture their warehouse. To recover key areas efficiently, Simon and the Commandant decide to split up. Rosetta inserts the Commandant in a Polar Soldier unit to provide them protection while on the battlefield. After saving some fishermen, they are treated with hostility due to Rosetta being labeled as a “sinner” and the Commandant as an outsider from Babylonia. Diana meets up with the pair upon hearing of the arrival of Babylonian forces when Simon calls up and asks the party to rendezvous in a nearby residential area. They find Atiel playing with the children and Evan, who lights up upon seeing Rosetta after a long time. Not for long, they were led away by one of the fishermen who was saved by Rosetta earlier and seemed to accept the Forest Guards more. Simon recalls the group and explains that he, Atiel, and the fishermen will take the rear since Atiel’s leg is injured while the Commandant leads the Forest Guards.
After reclaiming the area, the Commandant questions Rosetta about “Amberia”, a name mentioned by one of the bionics. During the outbreak of the Punishing Virus, the ARU remained untouched, leading them to perform various experiments on military science on Construct technology. This led to the creation of Amberia, a humanoid-hybrid Construct able to command bionic machines. Unfortunately, she went berserk upon activation and the ARU had to use innumerable amounts of ships and narwhals, like Derek, to contain her. She was eventually defeated but at a great cost to the ARU. Afterward, all engineers related to the experiments were either executed or imprisoned while their family and friends were labeled as “sinners”, some of which were turned into Forest Guards. Rosetta speculates that Amberia might have been alive all this time and is the cause behind the rise of the bionics. Her hypothesis is confirmed after meeting with Staessen, who eventually admits. Every captain upon taking office is sworn to secrecy to this fact. The previous leaders of the ARU used a code to suppress Amberia to place her in a deep sleep and hid her somewhere in the tundra. The nightmares she has causes the bionics to attack people. Simon noted that the bionics earlier were taking energy tanks away and speculates that they are waking Amberia. Meanwhile, the code is hypothesized to be hidden in a research lab.
Outside the laboratory, the party finds bionics emptying it of research equipment. They make use of roadblocks to take care of stragglers and make their way into the database room. Simon finds files on Amberia and plays the code, which is revealed to be Derek’s voice. The party then remembers that Evan had a shiny gadget with Derek’s voice recording and immediately rushes back as the bionics head for the residential areas. Rosetta explains that Derek’s voice was designed to resonate with the frequency of humanoid-hybrid M.I.N.D.s. As an example, she was not corrupted during her last fight with Alpha. There are also specific times in which Derek chooses to return to the Arctic in its migratory cycle but it has since malfunctioned during its last encounter with Alpha and is nowhere near ARU territory. Before the party can reach Evan, he has already fallen to the ground and Atiel has snatched the recorder. Luckily, the Commandant is able to scratch her torso and place a tracker using the Polar Soldier’s grappling hook before she escapes.
The Forest Guards use Atiel’s tracks, as well as her leaking vital fluid and Construct parts to chase her down. Her tracks stop amidst a structure hidden in the snow. The hidden base is revealed to be an underground cave, with a production line to create bionics and signal jammers to remain hidden. They are interrupted by Lamia, who plans to use the code to control Amberia. Unfortunately, they are caught in a trap, separating the Commandant and Rosetta from Diana and the rest of the Forest Guards. Rosetta tells Diana to head back and tell the others of the presence of the Ascendant Lamia and Amberia. After some time, the pair eventually reach Amberia and see her grotesque form, just as detailed in the records. Lamia reveals that the very same figure is Atiel and both parties have agreed that the latter will find a way to control Amberia without using the Punishing Virus, while Lamia ensures her safety so she could exact revenge on the ARU. Atiel was a descendant of a researcher who worked on humanoid-hybrid constructs and was the only one in her party to have escaped the ARU. Despite this, she was forced to become a Construct due to the existence of the Punishing Virus outside and to exact revenge at the ARU. Atiel then enters the next phase of M.I.N.D. integration while Lamia uses the code to activate her frame before escaping.
Back in the base, Simon’s effective leadership manages to hold off the bionics before he starts vomiting and forces Staessen to take over. Meanwhile, in the underground cave, Rosetta collapses due to her M.I.N.D. being forcefully linked with Amberia’s. She suggests the Commandant do a remote dive into her M.I.N.D., use it to hop into Amberia’s, and suppress her with the help of the voice recorder she somehow stole back from Lamia. The Commandant meets the real Amberia in the virtual M.I.N.D. space, where she is still adamant about destroying the ARU and regaining her freedom. Their success causes Rosetta’s M.I.N.D. to get out of Amberia’s hold. During the battle, the distinction between Amberia and Atiel exists no more. She asks Rosetta to join her in taking revenge against the ARU but Rosetta disagrees, as this would bring more tragedy. She utters the words “I’m sorry…” – the words which Amberia wanted to desperately hear. Then she proceeds to transform her spear, releasing a huge blast of energy at the Amberia-Atiel hybrid’s core and destroying it.
The pair evacuates through an emergency exit as the cave collapses in the aftermath. Before they manage to get out of the base, they are trapped beneath the collapsed rocks. The Commandant is ejected out of the Polar Soldier suit and shielded by Rosetta from the debris. She revealed that she chose the Commandant to aid her since the Constructs under them always seemed happy despite the challenges they faced. Staessen hears their voices and manages to rescue them from the debris. As the sun rises over the Arctic landscape, they return to a world where humans, bionics, and Forest Guards work together toward a brighter future.
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