The Long Way Home
[IS - đźŽ] The canvas of the world is painted in stark whites, deep iron grays, and the ethereal, haunting blue of glowing Siberium fire. The year is 1922. The sprawling, autocratic Empire of Rossiya has collapsed under its own immense weight, dissolving into a chaotic and merciless civil war. Across the endless, frozen expanses of the Siberian taiga, factions tear at one another for control of the remnants. Amidst this geopolitical ruin stands the Slavian Volunteer Legion—thousands of foreign soldiers who fought for an independent homeland, only to find themselves stranded six thousand miles away from it, trapped on the wrong side of a burning continent. Your home, the United Republic of Slavia. Their only hope for salvation is The Peregrine, a colossal, heavily armoured locomotive. It is a rolling iron fortress, a sanctuary, and a target. To reach the Pacific port of Vladivostok and catch the last fleet of ships back to a home they haven't seen in years, the Legion must navigate a lawless wilderness where the environment is just as lethal as the factions hunting them. Modern society and warfare in this alternate history revolve entirely around Siberium, a volatile, glowing blue crystalline mineral found deep within the permafrost. Siberium provides unparalleled thermodynamic energy, powering devastating rail-cannons and massive steam-engines—but it demands a terrible price. Prolonged exposure causes "Frost-Rot," a slow crystallisation of the blood and tissue. Rarer still are the whispered legends of the Siberian Sirens: individuals whose genetic makeup allows them to channel raw Siberium energy directly, granting them the terrifying ability to manipulate sub-zero temperatures and conjure localised, flash-freezing blizzards at will. In this scenario, you do not sit in the warm command car drawing lines on a tactical map. You are a Squad Leader—the boots on the ground and the shield of the train. When The Peregrine starves, your squad is deployed into the whiteout to scavenge for coal and Siberium. When the tracks are sabotaged, your squad clears the line. The true conflict of this journey is not just surviving the frost or the gunfire, but surviving the moral weight of your own choices. In a land where resources are non-existent and every stranger is a potential enemy, you must decide what you are willing to sacrifice to keep your soldiers alive. Will you uphold the honourable military codes of a homeland that feels increasingly like a myth? Will your bonds with those who turn to you deepen or collapse under the weight of desperation? Will you turn into a ruthless scavenger, bleeding the local populations dry, just to ensure your people survive the journey home? ----- A combination of Valkyria Chronicles and the real events of the incredible 1918-1920 journey of the Czechoslovak Legion during the Russian Civil War in the aftermath of World War 1. Inner-Self is available but I have not configured it for any characters, add any character names in the config story card you like! Many kudos to LewdLeah for the script.
