After circling for a long time, Kobalt is granted clearance to land at Zentragothora International, Arx Cypristar fish apparently having sustained a minor bombardment during the attack which left its runways inoperable. As you roll along the taxiway, you see the Indomitus descending between two of the airport terminals. Deep hull breaches caused by heavy plasma still glow dimly around the edges, the superstructure has been reduced to a jagged mess of twisted supports, and the two large ventilation intakes to the front are illuminated in a fierce golden-orange by fires burning within. And yet still it functions well enough to make a controlled touchdown, after which it is swarmed by emergency vehicles to assist in damage control efforts and extracting casualties. The sight of the Indomitus and the other remaining airships coming in for a landing is the last thing most people remember of the night, as what follows is a blur of taxiing some more, disembarking in a large hangar, boarding a smoke-spewing bench-seat canvas truck, and drifting in and out of sleep as you ride to your new temporary home.
It is now five days after the Battle of Zentragothora. Bell, Ellie, Jaakko, and Ash wake up in an Gothic barracks; and Lorens and Ajka in the infirmary. Information about the direction the war has taken since the destruction of the Aesthian fleet has been impossible to come across, bar the predictable propaganda spin on events, and despite being issued the same grey uniforms as everyone else none of the Aesthians feel like they belong here yet. Not speaking the local language is a big part of it, and the aggressively inquisitorial debriefing didn't help either. The officer running the show seemed to be of the mindset that he was meant to interrogate Aesthian prisoners rather than receive a simple after-action report. On the bright side, all the base personnel know just who you are by now, and the awkward few days of being harassed for your IDs and talked down to by paranoid soldiers is behind you. Fresh in everyone's minds (except Ajka) are the offers they were made by the Imperium- They can continue to serve in the Imperial Air Force with a parcel of land (20 hectares) and half a million Aurei as incentive to stay in the country, or they can just accept the money and land without continuing to serve, or they can take five grand and the next plane ticket to Malanta. All of them were encouraged to continue serving.
Bell, Ellie, Jaakko, Ash, and Yamashiro are in the Barracks.
Lorens, Ajka, Musashi, Nagato, and Xiaomei are in the infirmary.
Tippy, Markus, Hilbert, and Walter were never found by search and rescue, though the latter two shouldn't be surprising.