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A Thousand Years Later
- Pavlovich
Forward! Tear them to pieces!
- Pavlovich
No conserving ammo! Everyone gets a bonus when we win!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug A
Fire!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug A
This will do a number, even on these nutjobs! Pin them behind their cover!
- Leto
Instructor! Time to pull back!
- Dur-nar
Take the wounded! I'll cover you!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug A
They can't take any more! Focus fire on that Vulpo with the shield!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug B
Svolach! How dare you use the boss's stash against us!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug C
Avenge Gromov!
The calls for vengeance swell like waves, as thugs rush forward like the tide...
- Anxious Student
Rosalind can't hold out much longer! We have to help!
- Zima
Stay hidden. She'll be fine. Everything is going according to plan.
- Anxious Student
But they have more firepower than we thought. If they got supplies from outside, we—
- Zima
Calm down... believe in your comrades.
- Zima
I've served under the greatest tactician across all the lands. We will get out of here.
- Anxious Student
...Yes, ma'am!
Zima takes a deep breath as the tide approaches, following in hot pursuit of Rosalind's group.
Dur-nar puts up only symbolic resistance before turning and running away. Behind them, the thugs pursue like hungry manglerbeasts, squeezing into the narrow alley barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other.
They do not notice the viscous liquid beneath their feet, nor the unnaturally shut windows above their heads.
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug A
The brats are afraid! After them!
- Botani
The Sixteen Warriors have reached the target location.
- Botani
Sonya?
- Zima
Ready, on my mark.
At the end of the alley, Dur-nar suddenly stops her fleeing steps.
She does not look back, only turning sideways and knocking her shield on the ground with a 'thump'.
- Zima
Group One, Group Two, go!
The windows open at the same time, dropping burning torches and explosives onto the thugs with impressive precision.
Flames climb their flimsy clothing, and the alley is suddenly filled with screams of terror.
- Zima
Circle them from the sides! Avoid the flames in the middle!
- Zima
It's our turn now!
Countless figures emerge from the shadows, from underneath the shattered windows, from behind the overflowing trash cans.
Wielding pipes, spanners, and assorted weapons confiscated from Gromov's stash, they charge at their former oppressors with a roar.
Some wear school uniforms of various degrees of refinement, others wear old cotton coats, but all are wearing the same 'uniform' now.
On all their chests, painted in oil pigment, is a prominent symbol—a clenched fist, once raised simply to survive, now tightened to break its chains.
- Zima
Ura—
Angry fists meet the thugs attempting to flee the siege in the alley.
One by one, the erstwhile jailers fall to the angry prisoners they have berated and persecuted.
Zima walks over the weapons on the ground to the head of the formation, gazing at the fleeing backs of their foes.
- Zima
Medics, care for the wounded. The rest of you, we push forward.
- Zima
Instructor, Rosalind, take some time to catch your breath.
- Leto
I'm fine, Sonya! Let me—
Zima walks towards her with a smile that permits no question or doubt. She extends her fist.
After a moment of hesitation, Leto nods and lifts her right hand, knocking it firmly against the offered fist.
- Zima
(Whispers) Good work, General Leto. See you later.
- Leto
......
- Zima
Follow me, comrades!
- Zima
Victory is before us. Do not let your guard down—
- Botani
Sonya, they're pulling back to their lines and firing.
- Zima
Take cover and assess their firepower.
- Botani
Yes, ma'am.
- Brave Student
They have reserves, General! Our right flank is pinned down!
- Zima
I'm coming to help!
- Zima
...Huh?
- Leto
I'm going back out there once the bleeding is stanched, and I won't let anybody stop me.
- ???
Don't force it, Leto.
- Leto
It's just a few scratches... hey!
- Leto
Gummy?! What are you doing—
- Gummy
Shh! Don't let Zima hear you, it'll distract her.
- Gummy
I wanted to help, so I asked Lyudmila to bring me along.
- Gummy
She even got some people to help us out.
- Leto
Lyudmila? She's here too?
A group appeared ahead.
It is as though they just crawled out from underground; few in number, they nevertheless charge at the thugs on the right flank without hesitation, and soon their greasy clothes are stained with blood.
- Ursine Worker
You're mine, svolotsch!
- Ursine Citizens
Ura—
- Botani
We are not the only ones fighting against Pavlovich and oppression...
- Zima
Explosion? From behind enemy lines... must be the Unbound.
- Zima
Antosha and his comrades are bleeding! Forward, friends!
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug D
The boys can't hold them! We need to fall back!
- Pavlovich
Shit, shit, shit! That's their 'support'? A few shots and a fart?
- Pavlovich
Hui! Ten days ago those nobles were fighting each other to kiss my boots! How did it come to this?
- Security Team Captain
It's time to go, magistrate!
- Security Team Captain
We'll be taken prisoner if we stay!
- Pavlovich
Set a fire and go up the walls.
- Pavlovich
The duke, no, Ursus will save me. I must fight to the bitter end.
- Pavlovich
I will take these zasranets down with me, if I have to!
- Brave Student
I made a round. It looks like the rest of them have retreated up the wall.
- Leto
I'm back, Sonya! We've brought the explosives from behind. This is the right occasion for it.
- Cautious Student
But the walls are tough, and we need to put out the fire and collect the explosives that they didn't remove.
- Brave Student
It'll take a lot of time...
- Leto
We'll put out the fire first, then worry about the rest. Watch me—
- Botani
...Sonya?
- Pavlovich
Hah.... hah....
- Pavlovich
Wh-Why don't you come in?
- Security Team Captain
Sir... I understand your resolve.
- Security Team Captain
But the walls are tough, and they haven't gained entry.
- Security Team Captain
Can you put down the match? At least don't point it at the fuse—
- Pavlovich
Never!
- Pavlovich
...What about the people that Captain brought?
- Security Team Captain
They seem to be struggling. We have not heard from them.
- Security Team Captain
Sir, we cannot wait any longer! Hit that comm button and call in fire support!
- Pavlovich
No! What do you know?! I... I can't end up like that. I'd rather—
- Pavlovich
What's this sound? What are they doing?
- Cautious Student
Where are you going, Sonya? Come back!
- Brave Student
That's where the statue of Igor is, but the fire hasn't—
The swing of the massive hamaxe shatters the ground, sending burning grease and debris flying with the shockwave, and brutally ejecting the air itself from the area.
Denied oxygen, the flames are stemmed for a moment, before being quenched by the stirring dust.
- Zima
I see...
She steps forward and puts her boot on the ash where flames had burned a moment ago.
One strike, two strikes... sparks fall upon her hair and shoulders, as she continues to slam the burning earth, as though trying to forge a path where none existed.
- Cautious Student
Maybe toppling the statue in the direction of the wall will bash the gate open...
People start to gather behind her, following her to the end of this flame-forged path—
The statue of Igor Velikiy stands next to the gate of the quarantine zone, gazing down at the last corner of Grypherburg, and at the bearer of the hamaxe.
The young leader walks toward the thousand-year-old giant, whose stony head wears a golden crown of sunlight, the emperor admiring the centuries of creation and suffering that he began.
She clutches her hamaxe. Every breath she takes seems to be the roaring furnace...
- Zima
Hrrah—
She raises her arm, for the voices trapped in her throat, and a gushing crack appears in the marble pedestal.
- Brave Student
......
- Brave Student
Follow Sonya!
- Brave Student
Smash it, topple it! Grypherburg lies before us!
- Resolute Student
Here I come!
She brings the hamaxe down again, for those dreams frozen in the winter night. Cobweb-like cracks spread through the empire's foundation, and the illusion of grandeur begins to wail.
- Leto
Look at the cracks! It's buckling!
- Resolute Student
Don't just stand there, Fedya! Give us a hand!
- Fyodor
......
He peers up at the statue, once awe-inspiring, now trembling and teetering, his heart trembling along with the sound of every hit.
He cannot help but put his hand on the statue too. He hears the cries of young people all around him, feels the warmth of their shoulders rubbing against his.
- Fyodor
Ura—
- Pavlovich
......
- Security Team Captain
Magistrate!
- Pavlovich
Gosudar-batyushka—
Igor's pieces come thundering down on his head as he mutters his last words.
The dust has yet to settle. A bright ray of light shines in.
- Student's Voice
Someone's running! More Sixteen Warriors ahead!
- Student's Voice
Get them! Make them pay for their crimes!
- Student's Voice
For Ursus!
Igor's sword falls upon the wall, the authority wrought from stone shattered to pieces.
Igor's fist smashes the shackles. One figure climbs over the ruins, then a dozen, a hundred...
Zima's speech last night echoes in their minds.
- Zima
...They told us to be ordinary.
- Zima
Did they tell you that you would have bread and butter if you cut out your tongue?
- Zima
Did they tell you that you would have a pardon if you shattered your kneecaps?
- Zima
Did they tell you to polish your plaques and medals with your comrades' blood?
- Zima
How easy it would be to enter the dustbin of history, the trampled weeds that feed the soil...
- Zima
But no, we say.
- Zima
We chose kindness and honesty. We chose to brave the storm and suffering, because we are protecting ourselves, protecting everyone who deserves a future.
- Zima
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more—
- Zima
For all the children of Ursus who will not kneel!
The red sweeps the earth like lava breaking through a dam.
The Ursine students burst forth from the pale, frozen soil.
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug
I, I was the only one who made it out alive. Everyone else—
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug
(Sobs)
- Impatient Noble
That's the fourth one to describe the battle... why do they all sound the same?
- Thinking Noble
Don't expect too much of Pavlovich's thugs. I think the captain's soldiers will be more useful.
- Arbiter
Keep your emotions in check, sir. The committee needs more details.
- Arbiter
Captain Chicherin has... fallen honorably. However, you say you are aware of the Captain's exploits in battle?
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug
Yes.
- 'Sixteen Warriors' Thug
They, they killed almost all of the traitors, but most of them died in the explosion and the collapse—
- Ukusik
Liar!
- Ukusik
You didn't see anything that happened!
- Arbiter
...Police, remove the child from the room.
- Leto
We've done an inventory check, General. We need to leave soon.
- Zima
...How many casualties this time?
- Leto
Medic team's still counting... not everyone made it.
- Zima
......
- Zima
What about the Unbound?
- Antosha
......
- Antosha
Sonya. Rosalind.
- Leto
Antosha?
- Leto
Where are the others?
- Antosha
We ran into a company of Ursus Guards while assaulting their rear.
- Matvey
Take this and press it against your chest. You'll be fine.
- Resolute Girl
Mm...
- Resolute Girl
Is it so late already, Matvey... it's dark...
The cold winter wind blows past, freezing the mud on her young face.
- Matvey
Yeah.
- Matvey
They're well-equipped. We can't keep this up. Antosha—
- Matvey
Antosha! Come back!
Antosha charges forward, an Originium bomb in his arms. A bolt whistles past, and his left leg buckles, causing him to fall in the mud.
- Antosha
Almost—
Footsteps approach like the beating of drums. Before he can react, a firm hand has snatched the Originium bomb from him.
- Yura
Remember, Antosha?
- Yura
I'm the nimblest amongst us.
- Antosha
!
- Yura
Raise your weapons, svoloch! You will not kill freedom—
- Antosha
The Unbounded defeated them all...
- Zima
Then, Matvey—
- Antosha
......
- Leto
No... no...
- Zima
......
- Zima
We're alive because of him. Because of all of you...
- Zima
I'll find him and the others before we leave and say a proper goodbye, Antosha. I—
- Antosha
No. Say no more.
- Antosha
There is one more thing that you must do.
- Antosha
You must defeat me.
- Leto
What?!
- Antosha
You killed Pavlovich in order to walk out those gates.
- Antosha
Because you knew he was guilty, the persecutor of all who dwelled within Katorga...
- Antosha
Then why didn't you see the crimes of Pavalo, the crimes of the Ursine nobility?
- Antosha
People like him, the nobles who are even worse, and this 'Emperor' Fyodor, all throw their weight about in this miserable hole.
- Antosha
They watch as common folk bleed... they live off the rot, not a worry on their minds.
- Antosha
Think about our magistrate beneath the rubble. His pathetic life finally gave back to the oppressed at the moment of his death.
- Antosha
Their destruction brings the answer I seek, the total destruction of Ursus.
- Zima
You're judging everybody, justifying execution by their status.
- Zima
Wrecking things is just a means to an end. Sometimes it can be useful, but it's pointless if it doesn't unite people.
- Antosha
This again, this talk of flexibility, of taking stock of the situation...
- Antosha
Today, you leave them, their corrupt thoughts and methods to linger. Tomorrow, their 'better life' will claim your friends, and your successors.
- Zima
And you think death and destruction can get rid of the corrupt thoughts, and wipe out all injustice overnight?
- Zima
For the sake of a prophecy that hasn't even come to pass, we're not to unite and protect ourselves, but instead send our pure hearts to face the guns and warships of Ursus?
- Antosha
Enough talk, Sonya.
- Antosha
Since when did you pick up lecturing... we shall fight.
- Zima
You're hurt really bad.
- Antosha
Pave the path to your new order with my dead body.
- Zima
No.
- Zima
Do you really think this is how you make your dreams come true...?
- Zima
Or do you just want a poetic death because you saw your friends die?
- Antosha
......
- Zima
I know how hard it is to be the only one left... but Antosha—
- Zima
You're always talking up the value of destruction. You think that if I kill you, it will lay the foundation for some kind of future.
- Zima
And I'm not about to go along with that stupid idea. Taking a life doesn't add anything to a dream.
- Zima
I have to go find my comrades...
- Antosha
Wait, Sonya, don't go—
- Leto
...Stop!
- Leto
Do you think you're the only one who mourns the Unbound?
- Antosha
No!
- Leto
Don't hurt them any more...
- Leto
Enough is enough.
- Leto
Your dreams, and maybe even you yourself...
- Leto
It's all the meaning of their sacrifice.
- Antosha
......
That taste of rusty iron again. It is the second time that he has tasted such regret today.
- Ukusik
What are you doing? Let me in!
- Ukusik
Rosalind? Why...
- Leto
This was the fastest way.
- Leto
We also needed time to bury our friends.
- Antosha
Ukusik...
- Ukusik
Antosha! I'm here!
- Ukusik
You're bleeding! I'll wrap you up...
- Antosha
You don't know yet...
- Ukusik
Know what?
- Ukusik
I woke up in Sonya's camp. They said Matvey brought me here last night.
- Antosha
......
- Antosha
Do you still have the letters?
- Anxious Noble
Your Majesty! Your Imperial Majesty!
- Anxious Noble
You must have suffered such a fright! We summoned the Imperial Guard as soon as we heard—
- Fyodor
Really? To do what?
- Anxious Noble
To purge the traitors, of course!
- Fyodor
Traitors, you say. Which traitors?
- Anxious Noble
You mean...?
- Witte
Your Imperial Majesty!
- Fyodor
Witte?
- Witte
We can discuss at the palace.
- Attendant
A car is waiting for Your Majesty.
Fyodor can see the red velvet in the black car parked a short distance away, even seems to smell the familiar aroma.
He pauses, then keeps walking.
- Fyodor
Tell me, Witte.
- Fyodor
Is that fire the culmination of all that we achieved over the last twenty years?
- Fyodor
How did it come to this...?
- Witte
......
- Attendant
Chairman, we can't let the people see His Imperial Majesty like this!
- Witte
Let him go.
- Witte
It is his wish...
Fyodor has lived in this city for decades. Now, for the first time, he walks its streets on his own two feet.
The snow falls upon him, equally cold in the ruins as it is in the palace.
