Zeroth Directive

Archive II

[Voice Log] I saw your message, Doctor. I must say, you've been rather curious about her ever since your experiences in Londinium, yet you've never come to ask me directly. In the earliest days of Rhodes Island's establishment, nearly every day saw a new assassination attempt on Kal'tsit and Amiya. As the one in charge of S.W.E.E.P., Ascalon has protected Rhodes Island from the shadows from the beginning. She is a master of close-quarters combat, personally trained by the Regent himself. Her two sleeve blades? Those are her last resorts. She will happily wield whatever is at hand first. Did you know she can kill a man with a bowl of soup barely three centimeters deep? Simply ridiculous. In short, whatever you can imagine, she can do, along with everything you can't. I suggest not knowing too many of the details. You are a commander, after all, and it would be a pity to have your precious sleep taken over by nightmares. Oh, right, as for her Arts, I've only ever glimpsed them once. Most who have are too dead to discuss them. Perhaps you should ask Kal'tsit. She would know more. —■■■ Forgive me, Doctor, but there is nothing I can divulge on this topic. As the head of Medical, all I can inform you of is that the harm her Originium Arts place on her far exceeds that of your average Infected operator. Since returning from Londinium, it is our unanimous belief that she should stay completely off the frontlines. Whatever your plans for her Arts may be, I suggest you reconsider them. —Kal'tsit I've heard from Kal'tsit that you've been asking about my Arts. It seems you're as inquisitive as ever. You could have just asked me directly. I have nothing to hide from you: I am the mist, and it is my blade. Simple to conceal, yet able to strike decisively at critical moments. That is all, nothing more. —Ascalon Alright, now you're asking too many questions. One at a time, please. First, Kal'tsit is right. My Arts harm me whenever I use them. On some missions, a little blurring of my outline is enough. For others, I must disappear completely into the mist. No, it is not a smokescreen. The mist is my eyes. It misses nothing. The mist takes away life. Both mine and my enemies'. To this day, very few have lived to tell the tale. Nobody taught me to do this. My Arts manifested while I was out hunting. Wild animals have far sharper intuition than humans. I hid to avoid being sensed, and there is no better hiding spot than the air itself. It's also thanks to these Arts that I can survive Catastrophes. After I first came to Kazdel, Master... Theresis taught me a lot. I put them to use, both on and off the battlefield, as well as in places far darker. In Babel, I had even more opportunities to refine my mastery. At the time, manpower was in short supply, and on some missions, they turned out to have other, more personal uses. Oh, you've already written another question. ... ... Yes. It hurts. It hurts every time I use them. —Ascalon

Archive III

[Classified Log] Target: Ascalon. Of the participants in the operation against her, only one survived. Intelligence confirms that Babel has left the Kazdel region and is heading south towards Rim Billiton. The target is not within Babel's zone of control, and leads a small group of stranded survivors. She is isolated and helpless, and this is our best opportunity to kill her. Note that if the target goes out of control, it will be difficult to predict her actions. We request that the Regent and the General re-evaluate her threat level. —Intel intercepted from a Military Commission contact point, Jan 15th 1095 In the wake of Theresa's death, Ascalon underwent a self-imposed exile. Before Kal'tsit recalled her, she undertook an unbroken series of assassinations and infiltrations. The intel sent back was rather sparse, and only directly related to the mission at hand. Not a single word was spared for herself. All that we obtained were the names of the targets she had erased, trickling in one by one. At times, we had to rely on scraps of intercepted Military Commission and Victorian intel to speculate on her current circumstances. She has placed herself in great danger. As for her psychological condition... we cannot say. She has almost completely relied solely on her own strength to purge the traitors to Babel who participated in Theresa's assassination. It is as though she believes that if she purges them, she will make up for the mistakes she made then. But our understanding is that, as far as she is concerned, every kill she makes only gives her cause to think over past events once more, which only pushes her deeper into her inner turmoil. After some internal disagreement within Babel, Ascalon was determined to be the sole candidate to establish the path forward for Rhodes Island to follow. However, this is no reason to ignore her fall into turmoil. With Rhodes Island safe for the time being, and all threats to Amiya eliminated, there were many new things lying ahead on our path. There was no reason for us to leave Ascalon behind in the past, even if... that was her request. [Voice Log] I plan to recall Ascalon. We cannot leave her trapped in the past. Rhodes Island has only just been established, and we have plenty of work requiring her attention. I hope that this work can help her find a goal, faith in something, or perhaps even... a measure of regularity in her life. Though Theresa and I never wished for her to become a weapon, in war she has become what we least wished to see. But even a weapon should have worth beyond its wielding. —A message from Kal'tsit to ■■■, ■■■ 22nd 109■

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