Ifrailian Tales

Censorship bureau | Relic Site A

Well this is an absolute shock. The Royal Family tends to keep any and all information in regards to the First Civilization under tight lock and key. So the fact that I’m even looking at this document and related contents proves the severity of things after the Wasteland Incident. My job is to trim this information into something presentable, while maintaining accuracy to depicted events. Although I bet his majesty’s administration will edit down whatever I write. Ah well, that’s life I suppose. -Seal

The following document is a collection of audio files and security footage. Taken from the ACR (Ancient. Civilization. Reclamation) society’s Wasteland division. Most prominently sites A & C, which fell under the command of Chief scientist Anarson Holt.

1/21/179

Anarson arrives at site A at 5PM. This transcript originates from a recovered  recording from the body camera of Knight Raus. Please refer to the original files for further analysis. 

Description: During one of the Wasteland’s infamous blizzards. A four wheeled vehicle slowed to a stop outside Site A. Out from the passenger side door, came Anarson. He approached Raus, both hands stuffed into the pockets of his fur lined coat. Knight Raus made his way towards the shivering man, meeting him halfway.

Raus: Welcome to the Wasteland professor.

Anarson: *Shivers* I devoted my life to the Emperor, spent years of my precious lifespan studying ancient texts. Only to be dumped off in the middle of a massive ice cube!

Raus: Hahaha! Something tells me you don’t leave the oasis much sir.

Anarson: Don’t start with me soldier, I’ve had a very long day. State your name and rank.

Raus: Leonidas Raus, Knight first class.

Anarson: Ah, so you must be the chief of security.

Raus: Correct sir.

Anarson: Brilliant, now I want a full tour of this relic sight. Alongside undoctored personnel files for everyone at this facility. That includes your men, Knight. 

Anarson walks towards the gargantuan double doors. Seemingly placed right into the center of a large mountain The entrance still seemed halfway entombed by thick walls of ice, 

Raus: Now sir? Wouldn’t you rather take a moment to warm up?

Anarson: I’ll warm plenty once I’m back in Agarosa. For now, we have responsibilities we must uphold.

The newly appointed chief of research walked towards site A, followed by Knight Raus shortly there after.

   Pay attention to Anarson’s behavior here. While stern, and perhaps a bit posh, the scientist still demonstrated commendable loyalty alongside an impressive proficiency in regards to his work -Seal  

Inside the excavation area, everything that Anarson stated occurred. Knight Raus gave him a full run through of the entire dig site. Guiding him through the labyrinthian designed hallways. Security footage from that time recorded every step of Anarson’s journey. Nothing abnormal to note, that night Anarson filed the required report. Detailing any new discoveries or situations the Emperor might find concerning. Once more nothing worthy of discussion could be found. 

1/24/179

After Anarson took over operations at the site. There was a large increase in productivity. This wasn’t without fault however, many of the diggers were forced to work long hours. Frequently suffering from fatigue and poor working conditions. Culminating in an unfortunate mining disaster. During the final touches of excavating a book repository, one of the workers pushed their FD-14 personal laser drill past it’s operational limits. Resulting in a contained flare up, which turned the man to ash, alongside all eight of the other workers.  Even the fire resistant Urtus wood which made up the floors of the chamber caught flame and quickly spread throughout the room. FD-14’s were specially made to remain functional under immense frozen temperatures, not heat. Shortly thereafter the remaining FD’s exploded and completely engulfed the room in flames.

There were no survivors

Multiple sources, including security footage confirms that clean up crews were dispatched. And after an hour-long battle with the flames, the situation was under control. What was believed to have been an ancient library was reduced to blackened soot. The rare Utrus wood’s light color, now more so resembled the charred remains of a tree after a forest fire.

The aftermath of the incident shocked many. While the secrets within the chamber had been lost. It paved the way for one of the most monumental discoveries in ACR history. Anarson recorded this audio diary that night.

“January twenty fourth, one hundred seventy nine.  It has been three days since my arrival at this particular relic site. And I was beyond appalled by what I saw. While I wish no ill will towards my predecessor, that man could not organize anything if his life depended on it. In fact, he had actually broken our strict code against using explosives on First Civilization structures. The madman had the whole of the western section demolished! Worst of all, he didn’t even log what was discovered. Think of all the knowledge lost underneath the rubble! I may not hold any hate towards the man, but the Emperor is another story.” 

{Anarson yawns, and flips a page. Presumably the after incident report.} 

“Speaking of lost knowledge… Earlier today, during the expansion of the eastern eastern section. We uncovered what appeared to be a library of sorts. Complete with towering bookshelves, and even chairs which appeared to be woven out of tree roots. To my dismay, the ice from the mountain seeped into this location as well, splitting the surface area of the room in half.”

{He sighed, but continued.}  

“Immediately I ordered the team to begin work on the ice. However one of the workers pushed his FD-14 personal laser drill to it’s breaking point. A laughable mistake to be sure, and one that cost the man his life. When the heat exceeds a thousand degrees, the burner inside the canister, the heatsource experiences what we call a flare up. Essentially, the extreme heat causes the regulator to malfunction. Momentarily allowing the device to push past it’s limits and literally melt the drill’s base. From there, the heater explodes and engulfs everything within ten meters… and the room was only twenty meters wide.” 

{The recording deteriorated, Anarson’s voice became pitched down and distorted. Until finally, cutting out completely. This lasted for the next minute and a half, when suddenly the audio returned,}

“...a loss to be sure, but there is a silver lining to this blemish on my career. The fire happened to melt most of the ice which blocked our path. But instead of more ornately designed bookshelves, there was nothing. Only stone walls and floors, contrasting horribly against the once bright Urtus wood lined left side. This was strange for a multitude of reasons, by all accounts the First Civilization were artisans. Who took great pride in the buildings they constructed. So why, why make this particular section of a room gray and mundane?”

“Aside from the strangely bland décor, there was another abnormality. On the far end of the room, was a doorway. Jagged rocks protruded forward from the gaping hole. On closer inspection, it looks to be the opening to a descending staircase. But when we looked through, we could only see a sickening blackness. I’m no fool, me and the other workers were not fit for such a task. And so I’ve had Knight Raus assemble an expedition force. They’ll descend tomorrow sometime in the afternoon.” 

   Strange doesn’t even scratch the surface of how unusual this is. Not most, all other First Civilization ruins were lavishly designed. The dull, muted colors of the stone walls are definitely cause for alarm. Not to mention the spiked rocks, and confusing nature of the entire structure… What exactly was this place used for? -Seal

1/25/179

Knight Raus assembled a group of soldiers for the mission. A team of five to be exact. As per Agarosian standards, infantry units were dressed in white suits of armor. Each of which had a helmet camera that recorded every second of an operation. The following footage was recovered from the corpse of apprentice Ryan. Unlike the previous footage, we believe seeing the unedited footage will prove more effective when presenting this event. 

Lesser Knight, Clarend Mistus led the group down the staircase. From the passing glance Ryan had, the stairs seemed to be made of the same dull gray stone as the entrance. Ryan stood at the center of the formation, surrounded by his fellow troops. The tracker at the top right of his heads up display, informed the young man that they had descended somewhere around fifth-teen feet underground. 

“Night Vision on,” Clarend shouted back to his men. All obeyed their commanding officer. Switching their visors over to the familiar green haze of night vision. With clearer vision, and the help of the helmet’s magnification function. Ryan and most likely his peers spotted the end of the steps. Regrettably, there was still a stunningly large distance between them and their destination.  

“You know… for an advanced civilization,”  A woman spoke, Ryan turned to his left. The soldier’s IFF tag listed his fellow squadmate as Alyice Mylle, “There seems to be a LOT of stairs.” 

“What’s the matter Alyice, getting tuckered out?” The man at the rear end of the formation teased.

“Look... I’m just saying, they could have built an elevator or something.”

“Why’re you talking, Cyrus? Didn’t you fail the stamina test during training,” Ryan replied, following it up with a hearty chuckle.

“Hey, that wasn't my fault! I happened to have suffered from an unknown illness during my last lap.”

The women to the right of Ryan chimed in, “Actually it was your third lap, and I’m not sure passing out in your own vomit counts as a sickness.”

“Nobody asked you dollface”

“Well this doll lasted seven more laps than you did.” 

Clarend looked over his shoulder, “You four, cut the chatter. We’re almost near the bottom.”

Ryan, Cyrus, Alyice, and Doll let out an “Yes sir,” before falling into silence while they neared the bottom. In anticipation, all five men and women drew their rifles. First Knight Clarend stepped onto the smooth stone floor, followed closely by the rest of the squad. They had come down so far that the top of the staircase wasn’t visible any longer.

Once settled, Ryan took a moment to survey the surrounding area. The group found themselves with a narrow hallway. Five people barely seemed to fit, when width was concerned. There was no split in the halls, no intersection of multiple halls all converging at a central port. None of that, there was only one way to proceed, and that was to move down this singular, narrow hall. 

The squad moved only when Clarend did. Coming up behind him, as the soldiers made their way forward. The air seemed fresher than what was available on the surface. According to the blinking display at the top left side of Ryan’s screen. The helmet’s air-purification system couldn’t identify anything other than oxygen. No carbon dioxide, or any other substance that may dilute the oxygen levels. 

Much like the stairs, this hallway seemed endless. What’s more insulting was that it only branched out in a single direction. Perhaps the boredom would kill the soldiers before whatever may have awaited them. Out of the blue, Clarend stopped and used a hand sign to command his men to do the same. 

“Far end of the hall. I can see something that looks like a door.”

Surprised, the squad was instantly snapped out of their bored stupor. Now refocused, everyone once again raised their weapons. Their leader took a step forward, but soon halted.

“Doll, with me.”

“Of course sir,” she responded, then moved to her superior's side. With a nod of approval, both started down the path once more. Quickly closing the distance between them, and the door. Ryan, alongside the rest of the squad formed a perimeter as best they could within the confined hall. 

“Watch an alien is about to come out of that door.”

“Really,” Alyice started, “No like seriously, an alien?” 

Ryan once again found himself right in between Alyice and Cyrus’s little discussions. Although, something about this made him feel tense. And having Cyrus yap into his left ear was definitely not helping, “Quiet, and focus on Knight Clarend.” 

“Woah, did Ryan just shush me? Come on man, we’ve been stationed at this dump for how long? What makes your think anything's gonna happen now---” 

The hallway started to rumble, kicking up layers of dust. Ryan, Cyrus, and Alyice snapped their heads forward. There was a thick, green colored smog pooling out of the opened door. Clarend and Doll were nowhere to be seen… The green fog slowly dissipated until none of it remained.

“Ryan, alert Knight Raus,” Alyice said, aiming her weapon towards the now opened doorway.

“No use,” Cyrus responded, bringing his own weapon out to bear, “I already tried to get through. Comms aren’t getting through.” 

Ryan did the same as his companions, tracking his iron sight on the opening at the end of the corridor.  “We’re probably too far underground…”

“One of us should head back up and alert the others.”

“Alright, but who--”

"Guys, the door!” Alyice shouted, bringing the two boys back to reality. Instinctively both turned back to the opening. Two figures were approaching… “Oh my god.”

“Knight Clarend? Doll? What’s going on back there,” Cyrus questioned, weapon still drawn.

“... wait a second,” Ryan lowered his rifle, “Why did you take off your helmets? That green mist could have been some kind of posi----”

Before Ryan could have reacted, Clarend brought out his rifle. And while holding it one handed, fired off a burst of crystalline projectiles towards the Apprentice. Effortlessly, the five twisted bits of crystal punched through his armor. Ryan’s vital display listed major puncture wounds along several points on his chest. He tilted his head down, staring at the foreign matter which buried itself within his body. Blood gushed out from the puncture points, and Ryan dropped to his knees, then fell forward.

“s**t!” 

Visuals  blacked out, the camera was still rolling, but the way Ryan fell obscured the camera’s view. From audio alone, the sounds of footsteps getting father and farther away mixed into the sounds of gunfire. Three combatants exchanged fire, just moments before the rattle of an empty magazine sounded off.

“f**k-” Alyice screamed before a single shot from Doll’s sniper silenced her. A pair of perfectly synchronized steps boomed through the empty corridor. One of those steps, crushed Ryan’s helmet under their boot. The screen cut to static, and then nothing, the recording was over.

   This still gets underneath my skin. You’d think that working with the censorship bureau would prepare someone for this kind of thing. Well, it doesn’t make videos like this any easier to watch. Although, that green gas… need to look into that further. -Seal 

Later records show that Cyrus was the only member of his squad to survive the journey. The inexperienced man returned, petrified and near unintelligible. Sometime after the soldier resurfaced, and once his stress levels calmed, he gave his testimony. Only mention of note, Cyrus’s retelling of events fails to align with recordings of the event in a few regards. For one, Cyrus claimed to have fled after the treasonous Knight gunned down his teammates. This was attributed to the soldier’s fragile ego. Apprentice Cyrus was shipped back to Agarosa the following day.

Without delay, Raus took initiative against the two traitors. Footage tapped on that night shows the chief of security rounding up the bulk of his forces. Anarson’s report provides us with the exact composition of his team. Ten infantry units, five heavy gunners, and oddly enough four snipers. Infantry were armed with the typical CTA-4 assault rifles, HRT-30 detached turrets for the gunners, and the PCT-2 sniper rifle for the marksmen. Raus made only one additional acquisition, two air purification grenades. 

In total, a force of over twenty were rounded up. That’s half of the site’s security, all gathered together to raid a single hallway. After analyzing this situation from multiple soldiers perspectives, and cross referencing the associated documents. Here is what transpired during the immediate second expedition into site A’s depths.

The second expedition force stormed the descending staircase. They met no resistance until the team made it halfway down. Knight Clarend and Doll Face suddenly came into view. They were ready for them, unfortunately for them, so was Chief Raus. Helmet footage shows Clarend fire off a single burst of his rifle, fatally wounding one infantry unit, and injuring another. This was all that was accomplished by the traitors however, as both Doll and Clarend were gunned down by Raus personally.

Video evidence shows Raus demonstrating erratic, violent behavior. Specifically, from the point of view of apprentice Erickson. We can see Raus empty a full clip of his CTA-4 assault rifle into the lifeless body of former Knight Clarend. The man’s reasoning for doing so remains unknown, though analysts theorize it may have been the shock of Clarends betrayal that elicited this reaction. 

Knight Raus ordered his men to push on, a command they obeyed. Another five to Six minutes passed, till they reached the very same hall that claimed the lives of the previous team. 

“You two get those bodies back topside,” Raus commanded two of the soldiers to his left. They responded with a salute, and then grabbed hold of the limp corpses of fellow soldiers Ryan and Alyice. The chief didn’t even wait for those two to reach the stairs before barking out more demands, “Heavy gunners, front and center now!” 

The five heavy troopers lumbered to the Chief's side. Their armor was far more bulky than the standard armaments, if anything a better name for the unit would have been walking tanks. As layers upon layers of metal plating weighed them down, creating a loud boom with each step they took. Sandwiched between a defensive line of armed men and women, Raus used his helmet’s binoculars to take a closer look at the end of the hall. Exactly like the only survivor from the previous team mentioned, there was an open doorway carved into the far side of the hall. 

“If the apprentice was telling the truth. Then that means--” 

 On cue, a thin ethereal green mist started to seep out of the entrance. Unlike the report Cyrus, the fog didn’t fade after a few seconds. No, this time it was expanding. Exactly what Raus was waiting for, he turned back and nodded to the four snipers, who immediately jumped into action. Two of them plucked the cylinder shaped bombs from their hips, and chucked them down the hall. The air filtration devices soared through the air, and both landed a few centimeters away from the door. The bombs rotated on their X-axis before erupting from the inside out. Spraying a perfectly safe, albeit toxic smelling gas from end to end of the hallway. 

The sickly coloration of green fought against the cloudy gray of purification. A battle which the unknown cloud of gas lost. Knight Raus jutted a finger towards the strange doorway and shouted, “NOW! While that green stuff is subdued, reign hell on whatever’s through that hole!”

The Heavy gunners, Infantry units, and snipers all listened to their commanding officer without question. Hundreds of thousands of sharpened rock cut through the distance, and hit unseen targets within the doorway.  The loud punch of the heavy weaponry’s fire bounced off the walls. Raus kept his weapon holstered, instead focusing his energy on observing the anomalous gas which still filled the insides of the room. 

He had hoped the endless gunfire would eventually put an end to whatever was generating the mist. However, it seemed like the fog wasn’t coming from anything living, perhaps some sort of ventilation system? The First Civilization were known to possess technology far exceeding that of modern day humanity. So a harmful gas generator of some kind was definitely within the realm of possibility. 

The barrage of projectiles carried on for several minutes to no avail. In fact, the effects of the air purification grenades started to weaken throughout the prolonged battle. Frustrated, no, enraged over this defeat Raus removed his helmet and slammed it into the rock floor. All of the soldiers stopped shooting, and awaited response from their chief.

“Pull back, this thing’s got us beat!” Raus screamed, hurling his mangled helmet into the room. It cut through the void of green, and banged up against something metal, or at the very least as strong as the material. But to the absolute bafflement of everyone present, this act caused the smoke to disappear, “W...What the?”

A low, gravely voice came from within the now smokeless room, “Helmets? Why I should have realized my mistake sooner. I hope you’ll forgive my transgressions masters.” 

The footage cuts to static here, and remains that way for the remaining twenty five minute runtime. 

   What in the hell did I just watch?  I have so many questions running through my head I don’t even know where to begin. What was the green smoke, was it the reason Knight Clarend and Apprentice Doll turned against their allies?  Most of all… what the hell was that voice at the end?  The Emperor’s administration is still looking over the last piece of information relating to the Wasteland Incident. Hopefully it’ll shed some light on these questions of mine... -Seal