GFL2 Story/2-3/Script

[Incomplete. Proofread and diarize.]

Commander, they're falling back!

We've breached the safety perimeter! The railway garrison may attack us any second!

Full stop, turn on the headlights. Groza, stay on alert and watch out for attacks. Return to the MCV once you confirm that the enemy has retreated.

Understood.

(The Elmo decelerates.)

(The headlights shine towards the Great Wall Railway and start pulsing.)

(After a few minutes...)

(Something seems to be happening on the train through the gray snowflakes dancing in the air.)

(Meanwhile, the MCV receives a comms request.)

—Commander!

...

Esteemed warrant officer of the Railway Garrison, greetings from a bounty hunter registered with B.R.I.E.F.

Humph, "maintain a 10 km distance,"—I did say that, didn't I?

Apologies, Warrant Officer. Please accept my deepest gratitude.

Gratitude—ha.

Indeed. Thank you for letting us through and helping us shake off the Varjagers.

...

...

Your acting is terrible—Commander, it's been a while.

You put up quite a show asking me to keep my distance even after seeing my transponder ID. I was honestly worried for a second that you'd actually left, my dear Warrant Officer Vladimir.

Well, you're in luck. As a matter of fact, I AM going to leave soon. I received a transfer notice just last week. I can finally leave this godforsaken place and move to a Green Zone.

Congratulations. So you finally have decent subordinates who can take over from you after so many years?

Eh, they'll have to do... Ha, garbage will always be garbage, but it's been five years, surely they've improved... You, on the other hand, haven't changed at all even after all this time.

As you can see, my financial situation is pretty much like this beat-up MCV. Thanks to you, my Elmo finally lost its annoying tails.

What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into? The Varjagers shouldn't be a problem for you, no?

It's a long story. Anyway, I'm glad I can lie low here for just a while. My poor MCV and dwindling supplies can't take much anymore.

Ha, never thought I'd see you in such a sorry state. What if I add more stuff to your plate, o great bounty hunter registered with B.R.I.E.F.?

Damn, you're collecting your debt much sooner than I expected.

You just came at the perfect time.

What's the matter?

Nothing too troublesome.

Purification has been completed here in Zone 0105, and the ground is being leveled so that new tracks can be laid for a new purification zone just ahead. ELID clean-up in that area shouldn't be any of our business right now, but then they sent a distress signal—I can't just ignore it, can I?

What about your competent subordinates? Why don't you send them over?

Ha!

It's snowing today. "In this kind of weather, Collapse radiation levels skyrocket. The protective suits don't do jack." See, nobody wants to go.

Besides, your Dolls don't die. Whereas if I send my garbage subordinates out, who knows how many will return? In any case, I'm still their superior. I write to their parents at the end of every year. I promised I'd bring them home.

Wow, what an—outstanding officer? I'm moved to tears.

Oh?

Not bad, Commander. Taken in another Doll, eh? Your hobbies are as... varied as always.

Stop making fun of me. Got any environmental data on this area?

Environmental data...?

I do, but my garbage subordinates won't even hang around in the duty room in this weather. God knows where the data is stored. It might take a while to find it—but I do remember the environmental report sent along with the distress call?

...What's the reward? Reward? A bounty hunter registered with B.R.I.E.F. actually thinks the so-called Great Wall Railway Garrison, which is hovering just above the poverty line, has anything to offer as reward? No reward? Warrant Officer, we're starving to death here. Surely one shouldn't treat an old friend so discourteously? I mean, the great bounty hunter registered with B.R.I.E.F. isn't too courteous either. Thanks to you, we, the so-called Great Wall Railway Garrison, have been treated like dirt since we were dispatched—you brought this upon yourself, no? ... Still—I could share some supplies with you—ammo and the like. ...I thought they kept a very close eye on the use of military supplies. A close eye? In these five years, not a single soul has asked me anything about our reserves, and even if we kept them—I doubt they'd ever come into use? Fair enough. Alright, we have a deal. I'll go and clean up the ELIDs there. I knew I could count on you, Commander. I have one more condition. Could the esteemed Warrant Officer take the time to carefully recall any locations that meet all three of the following conditions—complex terrain, unvaried weather patterns, and teeming with ELIDs? Possibly—but retrieving the info is complicated business. I might recall it once you've completed the task. Tsk, I didn't know Collapse radiation could affect someone's memory. You never know. Mr. Vladimir doesn't seem to have changed at all. Yeah, he's every bit the quibbler he was. He really shouldn't be a military officer. He would've made a brilliant underground broker. We have received the mission information and environmental data of the area. Let's be on our way then. I hope the warrant officer's trip down memory lane proves fruitful.