The moon rose high in the sky as soft chatter could be heard from the Grand Company's war room in the dead of night. A large group of warriors of all races and talents could be seen huddling around the long table in the center of the room as a blue-haired Miqo'te with glasses stood at the very end. Various diagrams and blueprints were sprawled out across the table with handwritten commands and arrows defacing each of them.
"...Squad B, you will take this corridor and line three of your archers behind the two gladiators here. Squad C..." Alvin explained pointing to one of the diagrams as he instructed the large force around him. This continued for quite some time as he had gathered enough of the company's combatants to take down the entire castle.
"By the end of the morrow the Dragon's Scales will be under my command, and all of you will finally get the recognition and respect that you all deserve. No more acting as fodder when we are called upon to defend towns, no longer will you all be sent to do menial tasks whilst Gaius and his favored members bask in the glory awarded for their grand assignments. You have all been hiding in the shadows of the others for too long, it's time to rise up and take what you deserve!" The Miqo'te rallied and everyone in the room roared and cheered at his words.
"This is going to be so much fun..." He chuckled to himself.
Leo awoke in his private chambers within the Grand Company building, rolling over in his bed to find that his wife Juria wasn't by his side. He got up and leaned his back against the bed frame, rubbing his eyes and waking himself up whilst thinking to himself. Juria went to sleep with him so she couldn't have been at their home in Mist. The silver-haired Hyur got up from his bed and made his way towards the window, pulling back the curtains as the morning sun shown through the room. Perhaps she had already awoken to eat breakfast? He took some time to get dressed into his usual attire of a formal vest and dark black pants that he wore around the company during his free time and went to leave the room, reaching for the door knob before he noticed it slowly turn on it's own. Leo stealthily moved to the side, behind where the door would open as it slowly creaked outwards. A rogue brandishing a twin pair of knives quietly made his way into the room and towards to bed until he came to a sudden halt as Leo grabbed one of his arms, forcing it up behind his back as he slammed the intruder down on the ground, disarming him.
"What are you doing in here? Speak." Leo demanded before his attention turned towards a pugilist who had rushed into a room and swung her fist forward, her weapon barely missing Leo's head by an inch as he dodged. The rogue grabbed his daggers as he was was free and lashed out towards Leo. Leo evaded to the side and quickly grabbed the nearby coat stand, and used it as a make shift lance as he fought off the intruders, parrying and countering their attacks as they came at him and knocked them both unconscious one by one. After checking their pulses Leo studied their faces before coming to the realization that they were recent additions of the company. Confused, he tried to gather his thoughts and assess the situation before distant shouts caught his attention. The man rushed to his armory and got changed into his armor as quickly as he could before grabbing his lance and rushing towards the commotion.
"Leona hold back the ones to the East!" Gaius commanded as the Au Ra defended himself against a group of soldiers with his long-sword.
"Godsdamned traitors... Where in the Seven Hells is Leo?!" He growled to himself.
Malik stood at the entrance of the Grand Hall looking upon the sight with antipathy. All of the company's members seemed to be engaged in combat with one another as an uprising broke out among a large majority of the members. One of the turncoat lancers nearby took notice of the Elezen and charged forward to attack. Malik took out his bow, reeled back an arrow and struck the traitor down with one swift movement before lowing his weapon. The man spat at the corpse before turning his back towards the war zone that was currently taking place inside the building and took a step forward as he slowly departed.
"Ahahaha, it looks like you've got your hands full Mr. Nassau. What's the matter? I thought you'd be more than capable of dispatching these warriors. Or are you too soft to harm your own men and women?" Alvin snickered as he stood behind a group of warriors with his arms crossed while assessing the battle in front of him.
"I swear I'll kill you this time!" A blonde Miqo'te woman screamed. Alvin turned towards the noise and shifted his body to the side as a bullet flew right by his face. Turning completely, he noticed Robyn charging straight towards him, firing her weapon rapidly. Alvin danced between the shots with ease, the smirk on his face never fading as the woman came closer. Just before she was about to pull the trigger again, Alvin jolted forward towards her. The Miqo'te's eyes widened and her body stiffened as she looked down to find a glowing dagger stabbed deep in her stomach. Alvin removed his weapon from her body before kicking her to the ground as Robyn clutched her arms around her waist, writhing in pain.
"ROBYN!" Alex screamed from a distance as he saw his daughter fall. He tossed away the daggers he was using to fend off his attackers, curled his hands into a fist and began punching them rapidly. His fist struck the iron helmet of a marauder, heavily denting the armor and knocking the Roegadyn down cold. Another punch struck a rogue who was sent flying and crashed into a large piece of furniture on the other side of the room, sending wood and debris flying as the two collided. Robin entered the fray and held off the rest of his attackers as Alex quickly ran towards Alvin. He pulled back his fist and roared as he charge forward to deliver a deadly punch, but Alvin just stood there grinning. The Miqo'te's weapon glowed brighter and changed form into a book. Alex's charge came to a sudden halt as a magicked ring formed around him and bound him in place as the Miqo'te slowly walked up to him. Alvin grabbed the man's arms and removed a pair of bracelets from each of them and placed them on his own wrists.
"Now, now, Mr. Hawke, you didn't think you could keep this a secret forever could you? Your punches are nothing without these." The Miqo'te chuckled before forming fists and thrusting them into each of the man's legs, a gut wrenching crunch could be heard each time as the bones snapped from the impact. Alex collapsed in agony as his bindings faded. He had no weapons and no way to fight back, all he could do was stare at Robyn in horror from a distance as blood slowly formed from beneath her.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Paris screeched as she sent out a flurry of dark magical orbs towards the armed forces that rushed towards her. It deterred them for a moment but once the orbs clashed and dissipated with the gladiator's shields the forces continued their advance towards her. Her summoned Ifrit-Egi blocked their path with a bust of flames before it was struck down buy a pair of thaumaturges behind the group. Frantically flicking through the pages of her tome, Paris quickly performed a summon for her Garuda-Egi which lifted her attackers of their feet and blew them away with a massive gust of wind. Rose who was observing the scene from a high balcony near a set of stairs used her magics to freeze the downed opponents in place. Paris, who had fallen to the ground in a panic during her earlier summon rose to her feet, smiling and nodding towards Rose in gratitude before their attention was turned to the conflict between Gaius and Alvin.
"You will all pay for this betrayal!" Gaius shouted as he swung his long-sword towards the Miqo'te who swiftly blocked it with a glowing long-sword of his own. The two clashed continuously with great force until Alvin leaped back out of Gaius' reach. His weapon began to glow brighter and changed into the form of a lance, and as his weapon changed, so too did the Miqo'te's fighting style. His moves were much faster and unpredictable, Gaius struggled to keep up. As Gaius slashed outward Alvin jumped into the air, dodging his attack and landing behind the Au Ra before quickly striking the side of his head with the shaft of his lance. Gaius toppled to the ground, dropping his weapon and holding his head in pain as he looked back at the Miqo'te to was laughing tauntingly.
"You should stick to books, I don't think weapons are your sort of thing Mr. Nassau." Alvin mocked. His grin widened as he lifted his lance over his shoulder and shifted his weight, preparing to launch it at the downed warrior like a spear.
"Mr. Nassau! GAIU-" A woman screamed before she was cut off instantly. Rose had leaped in front of the pair trying desperately to protect her mentor as the Miqo'te shot his weapon forward. Rose gave a bloodied cry as the glowing weapon skewered her from behind, the illuminated white edge visible from the opening in her stomach.
"Rose, you fool!" Gaius cried out in disbelief as Alvin approached the girl who was somehow still standing as if her nerves had completely halted from the impact. Alvin grabbed the lance and thrusted forward, sending the woman collapsing to the ground face first as he put a foot on her back and knelt down with his face as close to hers as his stance would allow.
"That really looked like it hurt, you've done well but I'll take it from here." He sneered as he got back up and thrusted the lance from her body. "Now, where were we?"
"That's enough!" Leo shouted as he entered the fray, lance by his side. "How could you do this to your comrades? Your friends? There is no forgiving what you've done."
"What are you talking about? I'm giving them exactly what they want. Change. Quite a few of the members weren't happy with how things operate here and so I simply wanted to do all I could to change that for them." Alvin explained.
"Enough lies, you just wanted to take Gaius place. Well I won't let that happen, your coup ends here!" Leo shouted as he readied his weapon.
"Come now, do you really want to try this again? You do remember how our little duel turned out the first time we met, right?"
"Things have changed since then and I'm not the same man you fought when you arrived."
"I guess we'll see about that." Alvin grinned as he rushed in for an attack. The two were locked together in a ferocious battle, each of them swinging and slashing their weapons rapidly and trading blows, it seemed as though they were evenly matched with neither of them having the upper hand in the battle.
"You seem to have made some remarkable improvements since our first encounter." Alvin acknowledged as he parried a hit.
"I told you, I'm not the same as before." Leo growled as he swung again.
"That may be, but there's something you should know about me." Alvin began as he dodged a stab. "I just hate to lose." At that moment a frightened shout could be heard nearby as an Au Ra woman was being held hostage by one of the enemy marauders.
"Juria!" Leo shouted as his eyes widened in panic. Alvin snickered, using this moment of vulnerability to strike the man, sending him down to the ground. Leo rubbed his head in a daze before looking up at the Miqo'te approaching him.
"Comrades? Friends? Lovers? These bonds you hold onto are nothing but a weakness. Those things mean nothing to me and that is why I always win. And why you're about to lose." Alvin laughed as he lifted his lance, preparing to strike it down before an unfamiliar commotion nearby caught his attention.
"Detain them immediately, don't let anyone escape! I want every last person in that building under my custody." A man shouted as a large force of Maelstrom soldiers stormed the castle. The dark-skinned Highlander who had been giving the orders entered after the squadron, along with a familiar blonde Elezen slowly followed behind them.
"Rildein, what are my orders?" Malik asked bluntly.
"Gather the injured and use the Aetheryte to transport them to the facility I told you about." Rildein instructed as they went their separate ways. The Hyur leaped forward with his lance in hand and speared towards the Miqo'te who was standing over Leo, who managed to dodge with but a moment to spare.
"Well I guess this game's over. I sure can't wait for the next one! Until then, have fun." Alvin smirked as he casually walked behind his accomplices who blocked any pursuers before disappearing from sight. After some time the Maelstrom soldiers managed to quell the rebellion and capture all who were involved. Leo, Paris and Juria were escorted from the premises along with the soldiers and rebels. After travelling to Limsa Lominsa, Rildein led the trio to a medical facility where several of the heavily injured members were recovering.
Leo could be found a week later on the roof of the building, staring at the sunset as the waters around the city sparkled in red and orange hues. Rildein slowly approached the man, interrupting his thoughts as he briefed him on the situation.
"Gaius has apparently been able to re-established some amount of order within the Dragon's Scales, although for now I don't think it's safe to return. Alvin seems to have completely disappeared without a trace, but I have some of my best men looking for him. We'll find him eventually." He began to explain. Leo nodded, but didn't turn his gaze away from the view in front of him.
"Alex's legs were in a pretty bad state. He still won't be able to walk on his own for at least a few more weeks, but he should make a full recovery. As for the two women..."
"Don't say it..." Leo interrupted.
"...We did all we could."
"GODS DAMN IT!" Leo yelled as he paced around frantically. "This isn't right! They were my friends! My family! Everything is a mess, I haven't heard from anyone back at the company, Juria hasn't spoken a word since we came here and Alex is consumed with grief and hatred. I finally felt like I had a purpose in life, a place where I belonged surrounded by people who cared for me and now I have NOTHING!" Leo shouted as he slammed his fist into the wall of the roof access entrance. His knees began to weaken and he slowly fell to the ground, his fist still clenched and leaning against the wall as tears began pouring from his eyes. "It's not fair..." He muttered. Rildein knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Look kid, remember what I told you back when you were still a snot nosed brat barely able to swing a lance? I told you you have either of two options. One, sit there feeling sorry for yourself about what happened to your parents, or two, work towards doing something about it. So you can either stay out here moping or you can work to make things right. It's your call." Rildein encouraged him. Leo stared at his now bloodied fist for a moment before wiping his face and looking up at the man's eyes and nodding in confirmation.
"Just like back then... I'll find the one responsible for ruining my life. And I will make him suffer." Leo said coldly.
"That's the boy I know." Rildein acknowledged with a grin.
"I doubt the five of us will be able to accomplish this alone though..."
"You saying it's time to put on the red coat again?"
"I'm not sure..."
"The Maelstrom has been looking at promoting a couple high-performing officers to commander status. I think I just found a suitable candidate. There are benefits to this. You could build your own unit and use them to locate Alvin Ballard and back you up in battle." Rildein explained. Leo simply nodded.
"I guess I have a lot of work to do..."