Rescue the ARCAM Investigator

*Rescue the ARCAM Investigator* is the seventh campaign mission of Spriggan: Lunar Verse. A riot is currently occurring at the ruins being excavated by ARCAM. It appears that the ARCAM excavation team rebelled within the ruins. The investigation team was sent in to discover the cause, but their contact was lost eventually. Tatsuki must investigate the ruins and put a stop to the rebellion.

## Briefing

Graham holds an emergency briefing about a riot occurring within the ruins by the ARCAM excavation team. He sent agents to find out the cause, but lost contact with them at some point. He instructs Tatsuki to hurry to the ruins, discover the cause of the rebellion, and prevent its further occurrence.

## Mission Overview

Tatsuki arrives at the ruins with a dinghy, as Graham shortly contacts him of his mission objective to find the ARCAM researcher and protect him. He explores the ruins and comes across a wounded man who reveals himself to be one of the agents sent by Graham. The man states the atrocity of the researcher's action by transforming his fellow scientists into werejaguars with a mask. He then begs Tatsuki to help them, and offers him a Browning H.P. pistol before succumbing to his wounds. Accepting his request, Tatuski heads further to the heart of the ruins.

Graham calls Tatsuki again and forms a suggestion to avoid engaging with the rebellious excavation team as much as possible since they belong to ARCAM. However, he is eventually shocked and bewildered to discover the researchers being in a werejaguar state. He then tells Tatsuki to just keep investigating. As the latter attempts to find the particular researcher, werejaguars begin to close in on him and attack. Those who have become werejaguars by the technique cannot be reverted to their original state until they are killed, so Tatsuki takes advantage of this by annihilating the beasts who stand in his way. He continues to investigate the ruins until he finds a pillar with a lever attached to it. Interacting with it activates the three platforms that ascends from the ground, and serving as pathways to the new area. Tatsuki only has a certain amount of time before the platforms descends, so he must quickly dash on the bridges, dodge traps, destroy the walls that unexpectedly close down between him, and jump on the platforms to arrive at the deepest part of the ruins.

Tatsuki walks to the room where the ARCAM researcher appears at. The researcher is surprised to see him arriving very early and provide an explanation of his thoughts to him towards how he thinks it would take another half a day for someone to arrive, but doesn't expect someone like Tatsuki to be competent of their actions. He also realizes that the werejaguars didn't do help much towards impeding Tatsuki's progress of investigating the ruins. Regardless, he believes the mask that he is holding in his right hand will make up for the werejaguars' failures. He puts on the ancient mask and have Tatsuki witnesses the former's significant, physical transformational changes where he appears more muscular and acrobatic. He then shuts the room's entrance behind him, and brings the four ancient beasts acting as decorative stones back to life. The battle then ensues with Tatsuki appearing at a disadvantage against having to fight in a one-on-five confrontation, but still manages to defeat his current adversaries. The researcher then insults him before being reverted back to his original state by the mask and being rendered unconscious.

Tatsuki picks up the mask from the defeated researcher and notices the platform leading to a new room opens up. He jumps down and finds some sort of a lithograph on the wall in another room ahead. It appears to be the cause of the entire rebellion within the ruins. Tatsuki punches it, with the lithograph shortly afterwards stating some cryptic messages before exploding into pieces.

## Debriefing

Graham sympathizes with Tatsuki's reluctance of having to kill his former ARCAM allies since there are no other choices to help them of their unfortunate demise. He explains that modern science cannot comprehend the fact of the excavation team being transformed into werejaguars, so he will have to report this to upper management. He is also unsure of the usage from the recovered ancient mask, but concludes it is a dangerous object that shouldn't be needed in modern times, though it will be analyzed and sealed in the underground vault at the ARCAM headquarters building. Finally, he offers a news of the philosopher's stone that was recovered from a particular ruin, in which the ARCAM research team utilized it to recently developed a special Orichalcum fighting knife similar to the one Yu Ominae uses from Dr. Mayzel. He tells Tatsuki to use it and consider it as a reward for finding that special stone.