Camera tunes in at the Dream Land, a wasteland lost from people's memories. This cosmos is further away than anything else, yet it is also a place closer than anything else to people. This may sound contradictory, but it is a true statement, for this place is the one place in the world where distance has no meaning. It is both a place where anyone can reach, and a place where no one can ever arrive at. As such, there are no words to accurately express what this place is. It is nothing more than a concept, a world that rules the void. In this wasteland is a crystallization of that concept, which towers high and is filled with the brilliance of agate. It is the Final Utopia left to those who have had everything taken from them, and within its walls, the castle's king opens his eyes.
Nuadens starts talking about how the arrow signaling battle has been shot, and the migrant bird has taken to the skies. Soon, that bird shall come to this castle where the defeated king who has lost everything reigns at the end of an era. The wise king Nodens caresses his silver arm as he speaks, and he thinks about the arm he once had. He then talks about how the castle is still part of his territory, and if it is then all of creation must kneel before its glory, even if they are kings who rule over everything. With that in mind, Nodens says he must fulfill his role as king until the very end, then commands his subordinates to rise.
Cthugha, Tsathoggua, and Nyarlathotep stand, though they say nothing. They seem less like people and more like transcendental beings. If humanity were to see this it would surely go mad, and the overpowering aura the three give off is that of a ruler's. They believe that no one can stand equal to them, that no one can make them bow to that person. Yet here they are, silently and wordlessly waiting on the king's orders. Nodens commands the three to punish all who would encroach upon his throne. Unleash the hounds of battle and sound the horns of war! Take the reins and send the worthy pawns to battle. Draw their bows, and split the wind with their arrows! Until the child to inherit his dream (re: throne) arrives, let no one pass!
The three obediently leave, and Nodens starts moaning in pain as he remains seated on his throne in the hollow silence. His voice reverbs as he orders them to bring the successor to the remains of his dream (re: throne) to him once more, then cries out as the madness of the night envelopes him. Nodens then transforms into his rocky looking armored form, eyes glowing red as he begins cackling madly about how the dull setup is finally done with. Gone is the wise king, and now the crassly laughing man has taken his place. Nodens rants about finally seizing the line to his dream (re: glory), the one chance at winning for the one who was fated to lose from the start. There'll be no more resets, no more redos because this route can only be used once, and he'll throw everything away for that goal. His unparalleled wisdom, his kingly pride, everything.
Did you see how the Crawling Chaos of a Thousand Forms obeyed him without protest? The joy was so much that Nodens couldn't suppress it, and he let it out in peals of crude laughter. They are the former rulers from beyond the stars equaled by no one, and no one can compel them to obey. But Nodens could through the use of a forbidden technique. Mad zeal lies within his eyes, and mad greed stretches his face. Pure determination is what drives him on now.
Title card: Remembrance of Things Past
Several days have passed since the escape of the space battleship Wall of Time and its crew. It was a hasty retreat due to an enemy attack, but it made it through unscathed, and the commander has ordered the continuation of the operations. Along the way, you and Breke have been sent down to a certain surviving colony. Mankind may be cornered and facing defeat at the hands of the invaders, but it still lives yet.
Breke informs you that you two are here on a new directive as he refers to you as a warrant officer. In order to make sure you are clear on what you two are doing, he orders you to briefly describe your current objective. You either say you were training for so long that you are sleepy, or you chirp back about how you two are here to gather military supplies. In A, Breke is briefly surprised and saddened by this before he takes a firm tone to tell you to shape up since you're in the army now. He then tells you your current job is to gather supplies for the ship and help Breke. He makes a point about how you must obey orders from your superiors, and if this happens again he'll be disciplining you. In B, Breke approves and is glad that you understand what's happening. He talks about how in the current situation, it's still common for orders to be given orally. It may be a situation where radios are out, or there's a gag order in place. Your listening ability and memory will be important, so he tells you to keep sharp.
Breke then informs you that there's another objective that was handed out before takeoff that he didn't tell you about, which is the recruitment of forces to run the battleship. You ask if you guys are looking to recruit soldiers, ask if this means you'll be at full capacity soon, or mention you heard that all other squadrons were destroyed. Breke clarifies that you two will be looking for capable personnel since there's intel there are people like that here. There are certain reasons for that, so he was picked for being known already and you were picked for not looking like you're part of the forces. He'll tell you more on the way, and he says you can go buy your daily necessities while you're here.
You can either ask Breke how many snacks you're allowed to buy, consider getting souvenirs for everyone on board aloud, or note that the economy is running well here. In A, Breke initially reprimands you and tells you to be more on guard, but he retracts it as he tells you this is going to be the first and last colony you guys can go shopping. He gives you permission to buy luxury foods so long as you don't waste your money away like an idiot. Best to buy what you like so you won't regret it later. In B, Breke is surprised at the thought and tells you there's no need to go that far since there'll be shore leave for the rest later. He briefly explains that the half shore leave means half the crew can leave and go on a break while the rest stay on the ship, and for you guys it coincides to when you two finish your tasks. In C, Breke explains that the colony is a bit outside the Shadow Buggers' territory, which is why it was picked as a stopover point. It's also why things are relatively peaceful here and people look happier. Seeing it helps steel his resolve to fight to protect it.
Plenty of people are around in town, and a sense of peace fills the hustle and bustle. The two of you push your way through the crowds and look inside the shops and marketplace, and Breke buys necessary things for the management as he goes along. You either ask Breke if he's used to doing this, offer him some of the candy you bought yourself, or note that this seems like a date.
In A, Breke admits he's not good at doing this and says Bertro or Kurogane normally handles it. Right now he's dealing okay since his phone has a shopping list and a guide to the shops he needs to go to. He then admits he normally has his subordinates buy his things for him and isn't really suited for normal daily living. He then gets embarrassed at the face you're making at him and tells you to stop. In B, Breke is surprised since he didn't see you buy those, then tells you not to pull them out so suddenly since they'll stick to your clothes. He does accept one, then comments on how sweet it is and notes there's custard inside. He talks about how sweets go well with booze for a soldier and says he likes it. He reminds you not to eat too much of it since doing so could slow you down. In C, Breke is shocked for a second before noting that you're bold in a certain perspective to be able to say that. He quickly denies being mad, just taken aback. He feels someone who's so dedicated to the military wouldn't be attractive or popular, but he's surprised to hear there was a popularity poll among the crew that he won in a landslide. He's annoyed for a moment about people slacking off in training, but he takes it as a compliment. After a moment, he admits that it feels kinda good.
Breke starts talking about noticing that he and someone else don't have any memories of walking around town like this. He looks off to the distance, then says mankind has been in trouble ever since the Shadow Buggers invaded. Defensive lines get broken, colonized planets are lost, and all the army could do was lie down and take it. Even with the development of the Denial Field and advancement of Authority research, that didn't change. Turns out many abilities are unstable, making them unreliable, uncontrollable, and dangerous. Even if you pay the same costs at different times, the same power might manifest differently each time. That's not something you can use in battle, so the army started looking into a way of making useful powers to manifest. If that panned out, they'd have more of an edge in the war.
You ask Breke if he was a part of that, comment that artificial power manifestation sounds dangerous, or ask if it was possible. Breke says there were many experiments conducted, but most of them ended in failure. There was the one test that was able to give consistent results, but only in one respect. They say that at first, it started with the observation of a naturally occurring ability. This would be the power of Acceleration, the ability to cross long distances in an instant. It was noticed that the one who had this power was able to speed up faster than normal people as compensation for having lost something. What the formula involving speed, mass, and energy showed was faith for the rule known as science. It's how they understood it, though Breke says a specialist in the sciences would say it's a bit different from that. Breke wonders if the speed of light has anything to do with things, but he suggests talking to the commanders if you want more details.
Anyways, Breke explains that the Time Acceleration Experimental Subject was the title given to the one who was like Breke. What they call a power, an ability where something is artificially given and taken away, was made manifest that way. And while they classed the ability as Acceleration, how it actually worked in practice varied. He gives an acceleration experimental subject as an example, someone created to adapt life forms from other planets. What would normally take thousands upon thousands of years of evolution to achieve could be sped up until it changed its appearance. The testers would create results with that ability and mankind would make that development quicken.
Breke then says that there were few cases of successful artificial ability users, and many of those ability users ended up self-destructing with their powers. By comparison, though who naturally developed their abilities tended to be tough and had strong wills to live. They would even cast off their pride to live, no matter what hell they would be thrown into. But on the other hand, the test subjects were made to assume their families and friends would abandon them later on, so Breke suggests they may have given up at some point. To accelerate, you needed to have a reason to use that power. It could be a longing to take back something you've lost, or burning revenge on the ones who abandoned you. A strong will in other words.
Suddenly a voice calls out hawking his fresh hot galaxy yakisoba, and Breke turns towards a fragrant aroma coming from its direction before telling you to come with him as it seems you guys will get your tasks done here. Nomad is of course manning the stall and initially starts asking what you guys would like before he realizes he's talking to Breke. Breke says it's been a while as he refers to Nomad as a second lieutenant. Nomad claims not to know what he's talking about and says he's just some street vendor. Breke glares silently, so Nomad sighs and drops the act and asks if Breke is here to formally serve him papers for court or execute him on the spot.
Breke tells Nomad to ease off on his tooth switch, then says he's actually here to bring Nomad back to active service. He reminds him that this is an order and that under the law he can't say no to this. Nomad is unimpressed and asks if that's really why he came all this way. He has his own goals to fulfill and he'll desert the army as many times as it takes to complete them. You are surprised about the desertion, ask about Nomad going AWOL, or ask if you guys came to pick him up. Nomad asks who you are, so Breke answers that you were recently put into his unit.
Nomad is outraged that the government is still up to its old tricks and would poach a kid like you too. Breke attempts to deny that and explain you chose to join up, but Nomad accuses him of coming back with the tired 'making the smallest sacrifices for the continuation of mankind' rhetorical propaganda drivel and wanting him to be the first to die. Breke doesn't come up with a response to that, so Nomad talks about having a reason for surviving to this point. It's his revenge on the ones who abandoned him and threw him to the depths of prison, the goal in life only he has. He swears to get payback no matter what, but his rant is interrupted by some sudden pain.
You ask Nomad if he's okay in concern, so Nomad says he's fine and just loses control over himself when he thinks about his past. His rage at being abandoned is what drives him on. Breke doesn't comment on what he says, and Nomad says he must be losing his edge if a kid like you is worrying about him. Nomad then decides to give you some advice as someone who's experienced more in this field than you. He tells you that the upper management sees you guys as bullets, which he means in a more literal sense. When you're blasted off into the big wide universe, it'll be too late to regret how things happened. If the war is on the fast track to hell, then you should figure out how you want to die.
Breke tells Nomad it's not his fault, it's just how things ended up since there weren't any other options. Nomad jokes and asks if that's his pitch to take a one way ticket to hell again, then says he's refusing to return. He doesn't care whether humanity lives or dies, then demands you guys leave if you have no other business with him. Breke is saddened by this, but he accepts Nomad's decision and decides to make a statement of his own. Nomad may have been enraged about losing something he couldn't bear to lose, but Breke says there are people who never had anything to begin with. He admits to being jealous of Nomad since all his own friends and memories came from the army. He lived and accepted that his friends assumed they'd lose their battles, so he thought highly of Nomad for having a past he cared so much about and pushed himself for. You sympathize with Breke, and Nomad looks sad as he keeps quiet. The episode half ends as Breke excuses himself and tells you to come along.
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