Oi, Vina! How many more times do you want me to fess up to my mistakes?!
Baird
I dropped in now and then after you left, tidied things a little. Been a few years, but shouldn't be much different than it was?
Indra
My whole stash is still here! Always knew you were tight, Baird!
Baird
*sigh* Fancy me having to be the poor girl left behind.
Indra
Don't give me that, Baird. You told us you were going to stay!
Indra
How you need to be in your own bed, be shambling the moment you were out of Norport!
Baird
Yeah, well, maybe I should've tried and put up with it.
Indra
Stuff that! You think I don't know you? We're all stuck in hell when you can't sleep!
Indra
If I'm tired enough to go six feet under, the last thing I want is you trying to chinwag with me again!
Baird
Hahah, well, I've been falling asleep just about anywhere these days.
Siege
What, too tired?
Baird
Might be.
Baird
Just, found out sleeping's the... best way to empty your head.
Siege
...Once my Rhodes Island mission's done, Baird, I'll bring you lot out of here.
Siege
All of you.
Indra
Here, here, here, let's pop some bottles to celebrate getting back together after all these years!
Indra
It's cheap stuff, but hey, maybe leaving it so long made it better?
Indra
Morgan, give Baird a read of those books you wrote! Tell her about our adventures!
Indra
Hey, Baird, you're missing your chance to become part of the King's chronicles—
Indra
...Morgan? What's wrong? You've been pale as a sheet this whole time.
Indra
We finally made it home! You ought to chin up a little.
Morgan
I'm thinking about... the... hand I stepped on.
Indra
...
Indra
It was probably just some accident.
Morgan
It had a thumb ring on it. Something's telling me I've seen it somewhere before.
Morgan
I feel like I should remember...
Morgan
But I just keep drawing a blank.
Morgan
I... Baird, what's been happening in Norport all these days?
Baird
Not much, Morgan. Maybe it was just an accident.
Baird
Everyone's been trying their hardest to survive, that's all.
Baird
It's in the past, anyway. You're back now. We'll be out of here soon. That's enough for us.
Morgan
Norport's our home.
Morgan
I...
Morgan
I used to picture what it'd be like when we came back. I thought we'd spend our first night piling into that snooker place to play until the sun came up, then go drinking next door until it all went dark.
Morgan
Or maybe we'd go to McClaren at the video place and reserve all the seats, end up watching ten whole adventure movies back to back.
Morgan
......
Morgan
I saw it. But I didn't dare look properly.
Morgan
All that broken glass caked with the blood, and the... shadows all on the ground inside.
Baird
You should get a proper kip. Like me.
Baird
Must be shattered after coming all this way.
Morgan
Vina, you've got that Realmblade now. You'll be the hero, yeah?
Morgan
You'll save Norport. We'll save Norport.
Morgan
This'll all just pass, right?!
Siege
Of course.
Siege
We'll take back our old lives.
Baird
Maybe if...
Baird
Nah. Look how late it is. Get some rest, muckers.
Baird
We've got mountains to deal with tomorrow.
Siege
Baird's right, Morgan. We all need to... get some proper rest.
Siege huddles up on the sofa. She used to spend countless nights here. Every inch of it feels as familiar as ever.
She still remembers how they picked up this couch at the flea market all those years ago, the four of them breaking their backs to carry the bloody piece of tat all the way to the gym's upstairs.
She reckoned it pretty wide back then, but soon enough she was resting her feet on the armrest just to fit.
In the dark, Siege's hand brushes over the sofa, feeling each nook and cranny.
Here's the gash left from when Hannah was practicing with her knife. Three whole days she felt guilty about that.
Morgan spilled a whole bottle of drink here. She bought a tin of awful cleaning stuff to treat the stain and it got worse the more she tried. The whole patch is still smooth as a baby's bottom to this day.
Baird put the iron down here and forgot about it. Nearly burned the whole room down.
We need to make some plans... for our upcoming operation.
Amiya
The Sarkaz are treating the citizens as insurance that they won't be directly artillery-struck, but whether the Military Commission or the dukes, we can't truly count on their benevolence in this.
Amiya
And even if we ignore the game that's ongoing between them, we're still bearing witness to the terrible state the blockade zone is in.
Baird
You've seen the state of chaos Norport is in these days. Far easier said than done to change the status quo.
Baird
That medicine and stuff you brought with... I gave it a count. Afraid it's only a drop in the bucket.
Amiya
Right, what you can accomplish is going to be very limited with our help alone. But that's no reason for us to hold back.
Amiya
Investigation of the airship and evacuation plans for the plate's citizens are simultaneous work for us. We can't afford to overlook anything.
Delphine
Um...
Amiya
What's the matter, Miss Delphine?
Delphine
You lot have the chops, right? You wriggled through the Sarkaz blockade to get here, so I'm guessing it's as easy for you to slip back out.
Amiya
I can say with pride that those gathered here now are all extraordinary operators of Rhodes Island, but I'm very sorry, Miss Delphine... I think we may not live up to what you're imagining.
Amiya
When pitted against those steering the war from behind the scenes, we may very well be called puny.
Delphine
So... you only got here thanks to some help?
Ines
Unfortunately, it's a 'deal' as the man loved to put it, and not a fantastic one at that.
Delphine
Are you... a Sarkaz?
Delphine
Didn't think a duke would've found another Sarkaz lot to work with instead...
Ines
Hmph. Someone thinks too much.
Delphine
No, I just read the papers usually.
Ines
Very good habit.
Delphine
You're still planning the evac right now, aren't you? Did your fancy-pants backer agree to help?
Ines
Sadly for you, no. All signs say she doesn't care.
Delphine
But you lot obviously do.
Ines
Hah. Welcome to Rhodes Island.
Ines
I'm keeping my opinions to myself, though. My concern is whether we can get out of here alive.
Delphine
Then I've a proposal. Rhodes Islanders, this may be a bit of a risk...
Delphine
The Sarkaz have locked down every information channel out of Norport, and I think I can guess what their excuse to the wider public is.
Delphine
And see, I trust any of the dukes to know it is nothing more than an excuse.
Ines
But they won't spoil the facade themselves. In fact, the dukes and the Military Commission of Kazdel have a quiet understanding on that.
Ines
Yes, the Sarkaz are using this plate's people as an excuse. Aren't the dukes? My guess is if the Sarkaz did slaughter every last soul here, a few dukes would be breathing a sigh of relief.
Ines
In a war, some only see ethics as a burden.
Delphine
Yeah, you're not wrong.
Delphine
So we... go and break that silent understanding.
Delphine
We need to give some of the dukes a push. Make them act more decisively.
