Hey Freesabre! Good questions:
1. Yes - the next update [v0.3.8] will be a season finale to Phase 1. After that, you'll be training for a Branch for the whole of Phase 2 [earning stats through unique and chooseable missions.
2. Yes - some of those will be montage-style. I do like a good musical montage 😂
3. No... Sarge's fascistic tendencies stop short at body-piercing. She's all in favour of those. She is a major proponent of Directive 349, though. 'Any officer found to have been slaughtered and replaced by a shape-changing chameleonic life form shall forfeit all pension rights.'