Story Reader / Main Story / 16 Evernight Beat / Story
After noticing the situation inside the tower, Harley Jo and Yata have extended the extraction points further inward, finally reuniting with all of you just now.
Following Harley Jo and Yata, everyone inside retreats according to the extraction points they established. The sea of Hetero-Sapien remains around the area speaks silently of what the two have encountered.
The enemies' howls rise from within the tower. Despite the retreat being incomplete, Hans knows he can no longer wait.
He pulls the trigger of the Longinus Arsenal. In a few minutes, the most powerful weapon humankind has invented will bring its judgment from the sky, annihilating all enemies.
And yet, the signal from the trigger has not been sent. There can only be two possible reasons: either the bit domain nodes are destroyed, or the nodes have malfunctioned.
...
Looking at his terminal, Hans can see the nodes securely planted, meaning they have not been destroyed. Instead, they are not working because they have malfunctioned from the effect of the Hive Mother and the twins.
There is only one way to solve this. Someone has to return to the nodes and calibrate them manually.
Realizing that, Hans puts the trigger back inside his coat and looks at Simon and Harley Jo, who are helping the rest to retreat.
Harley Jo. Yata and you have the highest mobility. You two are in charge of bringing the sample back to Babylonia after we're back on the ground.
Roger. Yata and I have just assembled a portable rocket. Once we're outside the range of the park's surface-to-air artillery, we will use it to deliver the sample immediately.
Vanessa will be instrumental in helping you guys retreat from the Hetero-Sapiens in the park. Once you're on the ground and regrouped, follow her orders.
Understood. I'll let her know.
Protect Simon on your way out. [player name] is dying, so Simon is the only one who can protect the Constructs from being infected. It all depends on him whether all the Constructs can get out of this place in one piece.
Taking on the responsibility as the sole person to stabilize all the Constructs, Simon leans on a Construct next to him, wiping off the nosebleed from being fatigued.
...Simon, copy...
What about you, Chief Commander?
There's something wrong with the bit domain nodes. They require manual calibration from someone with commandant clearance.
I'll stay behind and finish my mission, making sure that the Longinus Arsenal hits the Hetero-Hive Mother and ends its reign inside this forest.
No, Commander! It's too dangerous for you to go alone. I'll come with you.
Enough!
Hans scolds the Construct next to him.
None of the commandants here can protect the Constructs from being infected with the Hive Mother and the twins present apart from Simon and [player name].
Going back this way will only make you my burden.
Hans stresses his words when he says "burden," ensuring that everyone present understands where he stands.
But...
There is no "but." I've fought more wars since the Golden Age than the miles you've walked.
Are you questioning your superior? Questioning my ability to return from the gates of hell?
Still...
If you still feel the weight of your duty as a soldier, then you will finish your mission.
I will finish mine and initiate the Longinus Arsenal, and you will finish yours and escort the sample.
That's how we don't fail this uniform.
Chief Commander...
I will be back. Trust me.
With that, Hans walks past everyone and heads in the opposite direction of the extraction point.
Walking alone, Hans no longer has to face the Hetero-Sapiens, most of whom are drawn to other locations due to the previous fights. Now, he is facing the purest malice from the Punishing Virus—infection.
The virus concentration inside the tower is growing exponentially. The protective suit Hans is wearing has reached its limit long ago.
He removes the earpiece so that the repeating warnings do not interrupt his thoughts.
Right now, his mind is sharper and more active than it has ever been.
Move forward.
He walks straight toward the bit domain node that requires his manual calibration.
That is his mission, his duty. His unwavering belief as a soldier.
Capillaries underneath his skin begin to burst. Hans starts to sweat blood, soaking the protective suit from within.
His organs, having gone through multiple enhancement surgeries over the years, started to show worrying symptoms a few months ago. Now those symptoms are getting worse, sending immense pain to his brain.
With the pain that can topple the toughest giant, Hans keeps himself awake.
He wipes the blood seeping out of the corner of his eyes with his hand so that his vision is not obstructed.
As a habit, his hand wipes past the corner of his mouth after that.
Hah...
Even when he hates to admit it, the rise of the corners of his mouth reveals the joy Hans is feeling right now.
He knows exactly why he is so ecstatic.
Because, as a soldier, he is not lying on a hospital bed somewhere on Babylonia, with tubes plugging into his body as he experiences the last moments of his life.
Instead, he is spilling his last drop of blood on the battlefield, fighting to meet his end.
His body will not be perfectly preserved in a coffin covered with flowers and adornments, waiting to be revered and praised.
No, he will lie on the frontline, all alone, with no medals to tell his story, save for the one on his chest, a blossoming flower dried from his own blood—that is the best honor he can ever get.
Hans has never questioned his initial choices on the countless nights after the Great Evacuation.
He will not, and cannot doubt his life because of shame.
That would be him betraying the past and failing humanity.
Having survived, he has to spend his life to its fullest. He must make it worth it.
Cough...
As he walks, Hans suddenly feels his foot give way.
His right leg has gone limp from all the infection and the exhausting fights.
And so, he uses his rifle as a crutch, hobbling forward.
Whatever it takes.
...Even your life?
A soldier's life is humanity's leverage. To be utilized to my fullest is my ultimate wish.
Both Hans and Hassen know that the battle in the Pulia Forest Park Ruins will be the last fight Hans can participate in.
Ten meters...
He is glad that he has not betrayed his vow.
His right hand can no longer hold onto his rifle, and Hans falls to the ground.
He cannot wipe away the blood coming out of his eyes anymore. Using his still-mobile left hand, Hans crawls forward, undeterred from his target.
Move forward until the end.
From an opening of the tower, Hans sees the starry night sky.
(The last time I saw something like this was before the Great Evacuation, wasn't it...)
Since then, he has no longer smelled the grass on the field or admired the stars from the surface.
Nowadays, Hans is closer to the stars, a ghost haunting the space beyond Earth, a tombstone of the Golden Age. He no longer has to look up to see the starry night. Yet at this moment, what he wanted to see more of is his home.
He has not forgotten the glory of being a soldier. He has sworn to put out all fires that threaten humanity.
Hans has not stopped at traitorous friends, ravaging Corrupted, deadly natural disasters, and he is not stopping now.
He is a great soldier and a role model in the army, so he suppresses all his feelings, burying them deep inside.
He is, as he has always been, fulfilling his duty as a soldier, and he moves forward.
Paving the road to humanity's victory with his flesh and blood.
I will be back. Trust me.
I'll be back... Well, I... I never left.
Roger. Yata and I have just assembled a portable rocket. Once we're outside the range of the park's surface-to-air artillery, we will use it to deliver the sample immediately.
...Simon, copy...
Whether it is Harley Jo, Simon, or the dying [player name] who risked death to retrieve the sample, Hans can feel the same spark—
The will to move forward, passing from soldier to soldier.
A soldier might fall, but that passage does not stop.
Hans' fingers can feel the exterior of the bit domain node. He reaches out in the dark, finally opening the manual calibration module of the node.
If someone opens up Hans' protective suit now, they would be surprised to see him still moving.
His body has already begun rotting from the infection, and his organs have almost stopped working even before the infection started.
The Hetero-Hive Mother...
It must be destroyed here. It cannot threaten the generations that come after him.
Hans thinks as he finishes the calibration.
With his last ounce of strength, he presses the trigger to the Longinus Arsenal.
The activation signal sounds so out of place among the noises of the tower. But it is the most beautiful melody Hans has ever heard, grander than any symphony or orchestra.
After many years and countless battlefields, Hans knows that his duty as a soldier has finally come to an end.
The tombstone that has spanned ages breaks, and from the crack grows the strongest, fairest white flower.
(Arnold... I'm coming back...)
