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Chapter 52: Tell Me Goodbye
Contagio: Those humans have broken past our defensive line.
Ignis: Haha, they’re just as feisty as always.
Contagio: We’ll settle this once and for all today, Ignis.
Ignis: Yeah, I won’t let that human get close to Laki. I’ll fucking kill him.
Contagio: (Even if you can’t do that, I still have a plan B. That’s why I brought Glacies here with us. *chuckle*
*Oh sup, deploy*
Ryuusei: Those machines… That’s Ignis and Contagio!
Viletta: Rim, can you hear Ventus’s voice?
Rim: Yes… He’s calling me…
Josh: (This sensation…. She’s here, too…)
Eita: Captain, there’s a strong energy reading from the underground areas of the base!
Tetsuya: Match it up with our map of the base.
Eita: Roger!
Tetsuya: (What kind of trap have they set up this time…?)
Eita: Captain, the energy is coming from the underground hangar! But according to the map of the base, there shouldn’t be anything in that area that could produce such power!
Tetsuya: Then it’s something that they set up.
Josh: Glacies is here…. There’s no doubt about that.
Ariel: …Has the synchronization started?
Josh: Yeah…
Aya: Josh, don’t get pulled too far in. Be careful.
Josh: I know. (I know her heart just as I would know my own. She…. Wants to kill me. But her soul is bound into such a twisted shape, and I can still hear her pleading to be set free. …Are these her thoughts, or mine? I don’t know…. But it doesn’t matter. All I know is if I don’t meet her one more time, I won’t be able to move on….)
Kai: …Josh.
Josh: Major Kai, Rim and I will head for the underground section of the base.
Kai: …To find your answer?
Josh: Yes…. No one can do that for us but ourselves.
Kai: Okay. We’ll have someone guarding you…
Josh: No, please let us go by ourselves.
Ratsel: That’s dangerous. We don’t know what could happen.
Josh: That’s why only Rim and I will go. So please…
Kai: …If you’re going to tell us to take care of the rest, I won’t hear it.
Josh: I don’t plan on dying there. There’s still a lot of things I need to do.
Ryuusei: You mean things WE need to do.
Josh: …!
Excellen: That’s right! In for a penny, in for a pound, as it were.[1]
Masaki: Is that really the phrase to use here?
Yang Long: Yes, it would be better to say “We’re in the same boat”.
Excellen: …. Aaaanyway, Don’t think you gotta go it alone, Joshy.
Kouta: That’s right. The Ruina are our problem, too.
Kyosuke: Just like at Septen Polum. We’ll open up the path.
Josh: Looks like we’re up against heavy odds again.
Kyosuke: Just how I like it.
Josh: I’m sorry…. Please help me, everyone. To help me…. To help us do what we should do.
Kai: Erebus 1 to all units! Clear the Ruina from Coihaique! Show the Melior Esse what the Steel Dragons can do!
Josh: Let’s go, Rim!
Rim: Got it! (I need to know what’s there. And why Ventus called to me. And….) (Why we’re like this….)
Ignis: Humans, I won’t let you get to Laki. You’ll die gushing your blood and hatred before me!
Josh: Ignis, I don’t have the time to deal with you right now.
Ignis: Your existence disrupts Laki. Things that shouldn’t happen keep on happening. I don’t want to watch her break down even more.
Josh: What…?!
Ignis: So I’ll kill you! You’ll never touch her again!
Josh: (Does he…. love her?)
Chapter 52: Tell Me Goodbye
Victory: Shoot down the Violaceum.
Defeat: Josh or Rim are shot down, an allied mothership is shot down.
SR Point: Defeat all enemies besides the Violaceum and the Impetus by the end of the 4th player phase.
*Josh v Ignis*
Ignis: You won’t make it to Laki! Die with regret clawing through your heart!
Josh: What’s the reason you don’t want me to reach her?!
Ignis: She’s acting weird! And it’s your fault! So I’ll kill you!
Josh: (He doesn’t realize it himself…!)
*Rim V Ignis*
Ignis: Human, you will die too!
Rim: Just like my bro said, we don’t have the time to be slowed down by you!
*kill Ignis*
Ignis: Noooo!! This is impossible! For me to be defeated by these humans!
Contagio: Fall back, Ignis.
Ignis: I can’t do that! I need to slaughter than human! If I don’t, Laki will!
Contagio: I have a few ideas about that. Leave it to me. Just fall back.
Ignis: Grrr….
*Bye*
Rim: Bro, Ignis is!
Josh: With just a few words, he gave up on Glacies and left. Why…?
*Who knows*
*Rim V Contagio*
Rim: What did you do to Ventus?! I can’t hear him!
Contagio: So you can feel that…. I can’t let you contact Ventus again, human.
Rim: I’ll get to him, with my partner!
Contagio: You are disrupting Ventus’s abilities. I’ll illuminate the problem at the source. Disappear.
*Josh V Contagio*
Contagio: *Chuckle*, you should just die here and become parts for my Officinus.
Josh: Officinus…? What’s that?!
Contagio: It’s where we will birth more of our forces. Though I doubt you’ll live to see it!
*Beat him up*
Contagio: (For me to have to retreat…. Then I’ll have to use that…! Goodbye, humans. This will be your grave. *chuckle*)
*if you killed Contagio before Ignis*
Contagio: We’re falling back, Ignis.
Ignis: I can’t do that! I need to slaughter than human! If I don’t, Laki will!
Contagio: I have a plan.
Ignis: What about the Officinus?! Are you just going to hand it over to them?!
Contagio: It will be a setback, but only a momentary one. This will prove useful in the future.
Ignis: What will happen to Laki?!
Contagio: I told you I had a plan, right? Leave it to me.
Ignis: Grr…!
Rim: Bro, Ignis just…!
Josh: With just a few words, he gave up on Glacies and left. Why…?
Contagio: (Goodbye, humans. This base will be your grave. *Chuckles*)
*Bye*
Eita: The Melior Esse machines have left the base!
Tetsuya: Are they just abandoning this base…?!
Josh: This is our chance! Rim, purge the Weapon Box Hangar and follow me underground!
Rim: OK, bro!
Kai: Josh!
Josh: I know, I won’t do anything stupid!
*Bye big shit*
Josh: Let’s go, Rim!
Rim: Yeah!
*Down they gooooo*
Glacies: He’s coming…. Joshua Radcliff….
Ventus: Then Contagio’s….
Glacies: Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that human. That’s why I’m here.
Ventus: (No, I think we’re here to….)
*Hi*
Josh: You’re here, Glacies.
Glacies: I’ll erase you from this world and from myself. You are destined to fall, and your corpses will rot with your hatred.
Josh: (Gr…. That’s right, Glacies…. That’s how you feel. This Hatred, this fear, this will to kill is so pure and distinct, that you feel as if without these thoughts, you could not stay alive. That’s not right. After all, I….)
Glacies: (Ugh… Stop! Your thoughts are weighing me down. Those saccharine words will ruin me. That’s what I was created for, to be the embodiment of destruction. The only thing ruining it is you. What’s not right is the fact that you’re inside my head!)
Josh: (Look at the me inside of you, Glacies. Look at the distortion in your soul. The part of you that empathized with me, the part of our consciousness that we share, wished for your freedom. That became one of my thoughts, and brought me here. Look at it.)
Glacies: (Be quiet… Human… Before I’m completely destroyed, I will kill you.)
Josh: (G-guhh…. Then, destroy…. Die…. Lord of…. Ruin’s…. Aaaaah!)
Rim: (R-Riana! Josh is….!)
Rim: Huh?!
Rim: (Call out to him! Hurry!)
Rim: What’s wrong, bro?! Get a hold of yourself!
Josh: Uuugghh! Rim?!
Rim: Bro, are you alright?
Josh: Y-yeah…! (Dammit…. Is her consciousness trying to destroy me? No, that’s not it! Our connection has just gotten stronger…! …Until I know what this Lord of Ruin and the Ruina are, I can’t cut the Sympathia….!)
Glacies: (The malfunctions are getting stronger… I… I…?)
Contagio: So you were useless after all.
Glacies: It…looks that way….
Contagio: In that case, I’ll just have the base self-destruct. Your death will release the energy of the Officinus. Your destruction will be useful.
Glacies: Under…stood….
Contagio: You too, Ventus. With the power taken from the Lord of Ruin, send those humans to their deaths.
Ventus: ….
Contagio: Well then, Goodbye. I hope your deaths bring about some good destruction.
Josh: What?! What’s happening?!
Glacies….
Josh: Answer me, Glacies!
Glacies: …Contagio has decided we’re not useful. With our death, the energy of this Officinus will be changed into power for the Lord of Ruin. You’re going to disappear alongside us.
Josh: W-what?!
Rim: That can’t be! Ventus!
Ventus: There’s nothing I can do anymore. I’m being consumed by the system.
Josh: Dammit! Hiryuu! This is Josh! The base is going to explode! Get out of there now!
Rim: We really can’t stop it?!
Ventus: ….
Kai: This is Erebus 1! We’re on our way! We can somehow stop the explosion…
Josh: It’s no use! We don’t even know when it’ll go off! Please get out of here!
Kai: What will you do?!
Josh: We’ll figure out something! End transmission!
Glacies: …You should understand. We are not afraid of death, or the cessation of our existence. We do not feel sadness, or anger, or hate.
Josh: That’s not true! You have emotions!
Glacies: But I am not afraid of death.
Josh: Then why did you tell us this place was going to explode?! If you hadn’t said anything, Rim, myself, and the Steel Dragons would have been eliminated!
Glacies: ….! (That’s right… Why did I…?)
Glacies: ! What?!
Josh: I’m getting you out of here!
Glacies: Why? You want me to live? Why do you want that?
Josh: I can’t just do nothing! If my dad’s the one who started this mess, then I’ll be the one to end it!
Glacies: I’m broken. Even if you take me with you, there’s nothing you’ll get out of it.
Josh: There is! My consciousness is inside of you, so you have the chance at a different life! The reason I came here is because it’s what you wanted! So I’ll…!
Glacies: I am a Melior Esse…. There’s no other way for me to live. Your efforts are useless.
Josh: Even if it is!
Rim: Bro!
Ventus: …The power of the Lord of Ruin is flowing into me. Please kill me, you two.
Rim: What?!
Ventus: If you kill me, it may seal the energy threatening to destroy this base.
Rim: (B-but that’s!)
Ventus: Why do you hesitate? That’s why you came here, after all. Now, hurry. Erase me.
Rim: Why are you saying that! We can’t stop it, right?! So why?!
Ventus: (That’s right…. Why do I wish to die at their hands…?)
Ventus: !
Rim: With the Blanche’s Sympathia, I’ll break your curse!
Ventus: I only wish to disappear. And if that’s impossible, then I want this system gone. Please leave here alive, Riana…. You could be swallowed up by the energy and vanish.
Rim: (Huh?!)
Rim: Even so, I don’t want you to die! And you don’t want to die, either! We came here to save you!
Ventus: Why? Why do you think that?
Rim: Huh?!
Ventus: …. That was simply a phantom made by your sympathy. A false misunderstanding. A fake thought. That thought, that feeling… It doesn’t exist. I didn’t think it. The only place that thought exists is inside of you.
Rim: (S-still, even so, it’s something I envisioned! That’s not a lie, that’s my own will!)
Ventus: The part of me that connected with you was born from that. It isn’t real. Now hurry and kill me. Before you disappear….
Rim: I said… I’ll break this curse!
*Wooop*
Ventus: !?
Rim: Aaah! My head!!
Rim: (R-Riana!!)
Rim: M-my soul is my own! I don’t care if it’s real or not! And now I can hear what you’re thinking! Inside of me, I can hear you calling for help!
Ventus: !!
Josh: Wh-what?! Rim!!
Rim: Uuuaaaaaah!!!! Aaaaaaahhh!!!!
Ventus: Stop! No! You’ll disappear!
Rim: (Aaaaaah! Riana! Rianaaaaaaa!!!)
Rim: Ch-Chris! I’m….!
Ventus: Y-you’re trying to replace the sacrificial energy with your own spirit?! That’s impossible, you can’t do that!!
Rim: (S-stop it! Rianaaaaa!!)
Rim: (G-goodbye… Chris…. I’m sorry, bro……) (Riana, Nooooooooooooo!!!)
*Well, there’s some light*
Rim: U-ugh…..
Josh: You’re awake, Rim….
Rim: B-bro… I….
Josh: …It’s fine…. Your body should be fine….
Rim: But… She’s not… She’s not here….!
Aya: She…?
Latooni: Who…?
Clifford: Rim….
Rim: Chris… Please… Answer me….! I-I can’t do this, Chris…! We were always together…!
Latooni: Always together…?
Seolla: Rim… Who is Chris…?
Josh: (We… can’t hide it any longer. If we don’t tell everyone… Then it will have meant nothing…. And even my own actions will…)
*elsewhere*
Lefina: How are those two?
Sean: They have not resisted any of our orders, and are co-operating with our examinations of them.
Lefina: The investigation is in progress, but while the matter than makes them up and a few of the organs are different, it seems they are basically the same as humans.
Tetsuya: So they’re Hybrid Humans…. Like the Idealants?
Sean: It looks that way. But there are Melior Esse who don’t really resemble humans… We don’t really know why they are the way they are. The Doctor and Rahda guess that because they are more similar to humans than the other Melior Esse, their souls were able to resonate with the Sympathia.
Lefina: …What about their mechs?
Sean: Doctor Cliff and Professor Wong are investigating. It seems there’s no sign of danger at the moment, but….
Lefina: Then, after the investigation is complete, and after Rim wakes up, please call them. What happened… And why they saved Josh and Rim… I want to hear what they have to say.
*Briefing room*
Katina: Seriously?! Are you serious, Josh?!
Josh: …Yeah.
Michiru: Those fucks are Melior Esse, man! They’re the enemy!
Yang Long: That’s right. They exist to bring about Mankind’s destruction.
Josh: I know that.
Hugo: So why?
Josh: It…. It’s thanks to Glacies and Ventus that Rim and I are even here. They saved us when we couldn’t move.
Glacies: ….
Ventus: ….
Yang Long: That’s not what we were talking about. You want to have them fight alongside us.
Katina: Yeah. We should lock them up somewhere and throw away the key.
Glacies: …If that’s what you want to do, I have no problems with it. If you want to kill me, go for it. I should have disappeared anyway.
Bullet: Then why did you save Josh and Rim?
Leona: That’s right… You could have escaped.
Glacies: I don’t know. I’m not a person, like you.
Leona: That’s your answer…?
Michiru: The fuck’s that? Josh, are you seriously vouching for this woman?
Josh: She’s a Melior Esse. A Ruina. That’s true. But I still think she’s a human. In battle, my Sympathia resonated with her, and I could hear her words. Just as she’s inside of me, I’m inside of her.
Glacies: …
Josh: My soul, a human soul, is somewhere inside of Glacies.
Kai: So… You think we can co-exist with them.
Josh: …Yes.
Rishu: That is part of your kindness. I said it before.
Lefina: But having them with us… Fighting alongside a Ruina….
Ventus: …I don’t have any place in this world to call my home. Umbra and Contagio threw me away. If you want to kill me right here, I won’t complain. But those two girls gave me this life.
Rim: Ventus….
Ratsel: (Those two…?)
Ventus: so…. I want to be with Rim… With you all. If you’ll allow me that, I’ll give my life to helping you.
Rishu: Hmm… As suspected, you are requesting life.
Lefina: Glacies… What’s your opinion?
Glacies: Right now, I’m not under the influence of the Lord of Ruin…. Perfectio. Back then, something inside of me broke. Even right beside Joshua Radcliff, I feel nothing odd.
Lefina: ….
Masaki: That Per-whatever you mentioned, the Lord of ruin… What is it?
Glacies: I don’t know. I’ve never seen Perfectio. All I know is he brings death and destruction to all life, and he is powered by strong negative emotions. He brings ruin to all things.
Masaki: All things… Including you Melior Esse?
Glacies: That’s right. Our reason for existing is to get Perfectio to awaken. So now, I’m….
Gilliam: …I have one question. Can you two still pierce through Ruina barriers?
Glacies: Yes, My Fabularis has that ability.
Ventus: In my case, I believe I could make a gate for you to pass through.
Tetsuya: Colonel Lefina, with this….
Gilliam: With them on our side, we would be able to open holes in the Ruina Defenses.
Lefina: Yes. Glacies, Ventus…. We’ll look after you. As long as it takes to defeat the Lord of Ruin and the Ruina, you can work alongside us and lend us your power.
Glacies: …
Michiru: W-we’re really going to be bringing them with us?!
Yang Long: Are you serious, Colonel Lefina?
Lefina: Yes. With an enemy as strong as the Lord of Ruin, we can’t pick and choose our allies.
Katina: You’re saying you’ll use every tool in your box?
Lefina: Exactly. This is what I have decided after weighing the risks, as the commander of the Steel Dragons.
Ventus: …Without me, the Lord of Ruin’s awakening should be slowed. So we still have some time. As I said before… I will fight against the Ruina, for humans… For Chris.
Rim: …
Aya: (Chris… Rim has that name, too… Could she be….)
Lefina: Glacies, what will you do?
Glacies: I was born to fight. However, while fighting you all, I encountered an anomaly in myself, and I was unable to complete my duties. I no longer have a purpose. I should just disappear.
Josh: Glacies…
Glacies: But if Joshua Radcliff needs me, if you all need me… If you’re telling me to fight the Ruina, then I will.
Lefina: …Understood. Then as I said before, I have judged that they can work with us, and I am allowing it. You will all cooperate with them. That is an order.
Katina: If you order it, I have to follow it, but…
Yang Long: Colonel, I am not a member of the military, or one of your subordinates.
Lefina: …
Tytti: Yang Long….
Yang Long: It’s not my intention to complain about how you do things on the surface…. But I refuse to simply shut up and accept this. Better an open enemy than a false friend, or so they say….
Mio: But is there any other way to break through the barrier surrounding Antarctica beside having them help us?
Yang Long: I understand that. But if I determine that they’re going to cause us problems, I’m not going to stay quiet, and I’m not going to pull my punches.
Michiru: Me too. I don’t care about Kouta, but if they try anything on Ms. Shouko, I’ll ruin some faces.
Glacies: …If I’m not useful here, either, then I’ll simply accept it’s my fate to disappear.
Ariel: (Fate… to disappear….)
Ventus: Me… Me too.
Yang Long: …Okay. I’ll be watching what you do.
Lefina: So are you satisfied, Yang Long?
Yang Long: Yes.
Lefina: Then….
Josh: No, not yet, Colonel. There’s still something else I need to tell you.
Rim: Bro, I should say it….
Josh: Rim…
Rim: If I don’t explain it….
Josh: …Okay.
Lefina: Then, please, Rim.
Rim: Yes…. I haven’t told any of you up till now… but Cliana Rimskaya is two people.
Lefina: !
Arado: What?!
Aqua: What does that mean?!
Rim: I’m Riana…. The other is Chris…. With those two personalities…. Our souls share the same body.
Rahda: So you have multiple personalities…?
Rim: I guess you could think of it that way…. Chris and I, we share knowledge, and we can decide who is in control… When we were at Mother Base, we never hid that… But… Because we didn’t know how you would react, when we went to Izu, we discussed it, and usually, Chris…. She would talk to you. But when we got on the Blanche Neige…. I was the only one who could pilot it, so….
Aqua: So it wasn’t that you were just psyched for battle….
Shine: So you’re… Riana…
Rim: …
Seolla: The one who would usually interact with us was Chris….
Arado: And the one who would talk to us in battle was Riana….
Ratsel: The reason she… The reason they became like that, did it have something to do with the Sympathia?
Josh: …That’s right, but even Cliff doesn’t know the details. And Riana and Chris don’t remember it, either.
Rim: And… Chris and I don’t know… Which of us is the original Cliana….
Latooni: …
Rim: But we… We didn’t care who was the original….
Josh: The only people who knew the truth was father and a small section of Re-tech…. But they never said anything. No matter how many times I asked, they never answered.
Ratsel: …
Kai: But you also used the Sympathia and….
Josh: No, my father and I never had something like that happen… Why it was only my sister… or why only Riana could pilot the Blanche Neige…. I never learned the reason.
Kai: I see….
Rim: …
Aya: Riana… You said earlier… that Chris was gone…
Rim: Y-yes…. She’s disappeared….
Ventus: That’s right… To save Riana and I….
Rim: And… I can’t hear her voice… The other part of me….
Rahda: With multiple personalities, it could be possible that a shock could send one of them to the background, have it sleeping…
Rim: No… Chris’s soul…. it’s gone. She… won’t return…
Ventus: …
*GRAND FUCKING CHRISTMAS*
Duvan: What do you want with me, Erde?
Erde: There’s something I want to ask of you.
Duvan: If it’s about the Model-X, I refuse. I have the Alles Geist.
Erde: So you’re still fixated on that, I see.
Duvan: ...One day, it will have the power to surpass the Model-X. I’ll show you.
Erde: But the higher-ups are really insistent, so you can’t really say no, can you?
Duvan: …is it because you lost Albero Est and the 2 prototypes?
Erde: If we have the Model-X, then it doesn’t matter what happened to the units 8 and 9. At least to me. And Albero’s successor has been chosen.
Duvan: Oh, who is it?
Erde: A mercenary named Murata. Though originally, he was supposed to become the leader of Gamma, and not get involved with my project.
Duvan: …So what did you want?
Erde: First, there’s something I want you to see.
Duvan: What…Is this…?
Erde: I was interested in you, so I looked into the Idealants a little. Professor Ozunu’s secret files… It was hard to get my hands on them, and even harder to crack the encryption.
Duvan: This is impossible….! This can’t be true…!
Erde: From that, I take it you didn’t know. You didn’t look up anything about yourself.
Duvan: I refuse to believe this! Why would I… Why would the Idealants be…!
Erde: Wasn’t that the original plan?
Duvan: Shut up! You’re trying to trick me!
Erde: Then you can investigate for yourself and come to your own conclusion. Depending on how much time you have.
Duvan: ….
Erde: In any case, on the reason I called you here. Duvan Org…. Will you work with me? I believe I have a solution to this problem.
Duvan: You mean the Lazumunanium…. Meaning… What do you want from me…?!
Erde: I want to stop you from becoming the test pilot for the Model X. I can’t refuse orders from above. Without the support of the Gaia Sabers, I can’t continue my research…. So we need to come together and think of a reason you can’t pilot the Model-X. For instance…. If I was handling your maintenance. Commander Alteur knows everything already, so that should be enough.
Duvan: I won’t fall for that, Erde! After all, there’s no guarantee that the Lazumunanium will even help….! So I have to! I have to somehow get her!
*run*
Erde: (…So he won’t listen to reason…. Though he’s right, there’s no guarantee the Lazumunanium would work… I thought I could use him as a replacement for Albero...... But now that it’s come to this, I think I should tell the truth about the Idealants to Professor Zapad…
*South pole*
Ignis: Contagio! You bastard, did you plan that from the beginning?!
Contagio: It’s not like it was the first plan I tried. After all, if we were rid of those humans, a few Melior Esse and an Officinus is a small price to pay.
Ignis: But they’re still alive, and I lost Laki!
Umbra: …
Contagio: If you’re saying it was a loss, I admit that. It’s true that we lost the Oficinus. But at the very least, we were able to remove some worrisome elements from our midst, so our base goals were achieved.
Ignis: Worrisome elements…?!
Contagio: That’s right. With those broken Melior Esse and human sympathizers gone, the obstacles in our way have been removed. And the humans did not escape unscathed. And we can always build a new Officinus. *chuckle*
Ignis: But, Laki….
Contagio: Why are you so caught up about damaged goods? Just because you came into existence at the same time?
Ignis: if I get rid of that human, then she’ll…
Contagio: Then do it. For the Lord of Ruin. Crush the human who twisted Glacies with your own hands.
Ignis: Hmmph. I don’t need you to tell me that…!
Contagio: …Could he be malfunctioning too?
Umbra: If that’s the case…. We simply need to put him on the same path as Ventus and Glacies.
Contagio: That’s true. *chuckles*
Umbra: But with the loss of Ventus, the Lord of Ruin’s awakening has grown slower. Hurry with the construction of the Officinus, Contagio.
Contagio: I understand. All to better lead this world to ruin…. *chuckles*
Previous Chapter: Chapter 51: The Wind Calls Next Chapter: Chapter 53: The Seal's Omen
[1] If you’re gonna eat poison, eat the plate, too. The first Japanese idiom I actually love.