Read only if you've read all of Adventures in War to understand the whole story, but then again... this might even work as a one hitter if it's your first time reading it :)Chapter 51- How to save a life and a country
Vyse and Aika were still huddled together in the blast crater, out in no mans land. Vyse had taken the 1st loss of a squad member quite hard. It wasn't just that it was one of his team mates, but it was a good friend and one of Nadine's Darcsen comrades.
"I should have had us all go at once… we all could have made it across and no one would have died." said Vyse.
Aika shook her head, "It's not your fault Vyse. You made the right choice to have us go in waves, if you didn't, we might of all been cut down at once if we encountered heavy resistance." she replied "But, you didn't know that there would be no opposition against us, thanks to Marina."
And as if on que, Marina appeared above the blast crater, looking down at both Vyse and Aika. She then jumped down and knelt down in front of Vyse.
"Come on Sgt. Inglebard, time to get moving." she said, in a voice so normal it was almost shocking, despite what had just happened.
Aika glared at Marina, "Give him a moment, for pity sake" she said, "We just lost a squad member and a dear friend."
"So" Marina replied flatly, "Fight now, cry later if you must."
Vyse looked up at Marina with tear red eyes, he then gave her an icy glare "What the hell is wrong with you!" he screamed "Wavy… he's dead… don't you care?"
"No, not at the moment." Marina replied "This isn't how a squad leader should be acting right now. The mission still isn't over."
She then reached forward and hauled Vyse up onto his feet, "On your feet sir." she said, she then turned his body towards the direction of the Imperial trenches. "You still have men and women to lead, if you fail to lead them properly, then Wavy won't be the only one who dies out here."
Vyse lowered his head for a moment and sniffled loudly; he then wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and nodded his head. "Right… let's get moving"
And he led the way with Marina and Aika following right behind him.
Meanwhile, back at the main encampment, Fina the medic was attending to wounded soldiers, of which there were many. She was in the middle of tightening bandages around a wounded male soldier when she happened to look up and see Lynn walking towards her, supporting Nadine on one soldier who had a distance, lost look in her eyes as she limped along.
"Mina, finish this up for me!" Fina said, reaching over and picking up her medical pouch, once she had it in hand, she very quickly made her way over to Lynn and Nadine.
"Nadine! What's wrong, where are you injured!" Fina asked, but once she reached her and Lynn released her, she looked Nadine up and down, and then turned her around to inspect the other side for any injuries or gunshot wounds, but there weren't any.
But Nadine still seemed to be in a comatose state as she stared forward with almost unblinking eyes. Lynn found a wooden chair nearby, just outside the medical tent and sat down, setting her machine gun down, right beside her.
"She's not hit anywhere, but she's not able to continue fighting either." Lynn said "We just lost a very close friend, Private Wavy to rocket fire."
"Oh no… I'm sorry to hear that." Fina said, she then guided Nadine inside the medical tent and sat her down on an open cot and knelt down in front of her.
"Nadine… I'm sorry to hear what happened to your friend. You stay here for as long as you need, ok?" Fina said Nadine just nodded her head ever so slightly, mouth still slightly open, eyes still staring straight ahead. Fina nodded and patted Nadine on the shoulder and left.
Just then Gina, Fina's identical sibling came in, helping an injured Juno Coren find a cot. And she sat her down in a cot, right beside Nadine. Juno had some white bandages wrapped around her right arm, a round, red blood stain in the middle.
Juno moaned and looked over at Nadine; she shook her head "Twice… can you bloody believe it. I've been shot twice, almost directly in the same place both times, here and at Vasel Bridge." Juno said. She then looked Nadine over good and long.
"Wait… you're not shot!" Juno exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing in here, you're still able to fight."
But Juno then noticed Nadine's lips slowly begin to quiver, tears welling up in her eyes at the same time. She choked on some tears and sobs then lowered her head. "Wavy… he-he's" Nadine sobbed, she lowered her head and broke down completely, emitting loud sobs of pain and sorrow. "He's dead!"
Juno had heard of the extremely close bond all Darcsens share, and it seemed to be so for Nadine. Juno felt bad for reacting so harshly towards Nadine, so even as painful as it was, she reached out and took hold of Nadine, pulling her close and letting her cry against her shoulder.
Nadine continued to sob directly into Juno's shoulder and Juno brought her arms up and patted Nadine on the back as a knot began to form in her throat and tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Just then she looked up and saw Lynn looking down at her.
"You still think she's able to fight?" Lynn asked. Juno tried to gulp down the knot in her throat, shaking her head at the same time. There was no way Nadine would be able to perform her engineering duties in this state.
She then looked over and saw an unconscious Alicia Melchiott being brought in, face down in a white stretcher, a bullet hole in her back. At the same time, Fina had come back to check up on Nadine, a cup of water in her hands as well.
"Fina… what happened to Alicia?" Juno asked, worried, for Welkin's sake. She knew how he felt about her, but he was waiting with the rest of the tanks and armour for the ground troops to take out the radio station controlling the rocket fire. So he wouldn't know about what had happened to Alicia just now.
Fina lowered her head, "She… was shot, in the back somehow." Fina said "She didn't even make it 10 feet from the Gallian trenches before she was hit from behind… I think someone on our side did it…"
"What!" Juno said, "Someone from our side… shot Alicia?"
Fina shook her head, "I don't know, but that seems to be the most likely case. How else could she be shot from behind when she had just barely got out of the trench?"
Juno shook her head; it was a disturbing thought indeed. Why would anyone shoot someone from their own side, as soon as the charge was commenced? If they wanted it to look like Alicia got shot out in no man's land from Imp snipers, they didn't do a good job.
Meanwhile, back in the Imperial trenches, the 7's and what was left of squad 1 were slowly making their way through the winding maze of trenches, Imperials attacking them the whole way.
In one area, Jane Turner was taking cover behind some large, cube wood boxes, firing her machine gun wildly at Imperial soldiers taking cover behind crates a short distance away. Susie right beside her, but she was crouching down low, hands covering her head, still unable to shoot at human beings.
She then felt Jane grab her by the back of her collar and haul her up, "Come on, those Imps are dead, time to move on. "
Susie whimpered but nodded her head, 3 soldiers from squad 1 followed the two. Susie was shaking so badly she was having a hard time stepping over the dead bodies of all the Imperial and Gallian soldiers that littered the trenches. She tripped over one and Jane stopped to help her up while the 3 squad 1 soldiers continued on.
But as soon as they rounded the corner to the next area of the trench system, there was the sound of automatic gunfire and the three soldiers were cut to pieces, either falling down or against the mud, wood and earth wall of the deep trenches.
Susie and Jane looked up at the same time, "Ah! Damn Imps, you'll pay for that!" Jane growled and she led Susie towards the corner to the next area. But she pressed her back against the wall, Susie doing so as well. And one of the soldiers was still alive and looked over at Jane, and pointed forward, gurgling blood at the same time
"M-machine… g-gun nes-" but another burst of machine gun fire riddled his body with bullets and he died instantly.
Jane turned to Susie, "You stay put, and I'll take out that machine gun position."
Susie nodded and kneeled down in a ball, trembling hands grasping her rifle.
Jane then reached down and retrieved one of her three grenades and pulled the cord, she then stuck her arm around the corner and lobbed the grenade in the direction of the machine gun position. It exploded and multiple groans and cries rang out. Jane then rounded the corner and ran full speed down the narrow trench way, a short ways away she saw a pile of sandbags with a machine gun barrel sticking out a short distance ahead of the bags. But the 3 man crew were coughing, moaning and crying out in pain from the grenade explosion.
Susie meanwhile, stuck her head around the corner, just in time to see Jane jump up on the sandbags, then spray a stream of fire from her flamethrower at the downed soldiers, laughing loudly as she did. "DIE DIE DIE!" She screamed.
Susie felt like throwing up as she brought her head back around and held her hand against her mouth. But what she didn't see was an injured Imperial soldier crawling along the ground, towards a standard Imp rifle that was on the ground near Susie's feet.
Susie then opened her eyes and immediately saw a gun barrel pointing right at her face, an Imperial soldier with an open, bleeding wound on the side of his head glaring at her, teeth barred as he growled at her. But she was frozen in place, rifle still in her hands, but not raised up.
Jane turned around and saw Susie's predicament, she raised her machine gun up and pulled the trigger, but only a "click click click" sound followed, she was out of bullets.
The Imp pulled the trigger of his rifle, but there were no rounds in his rifle either, he cursed then reached with a trembling hand down to his ammo belt and started to retrieve another clip.
"Susie! Shoot the bastard!" Jane yelled from down the trench.
And Susie raised her own rifle up and aimed it at the Imp's face, but didn't pull the trigger. "Stop! Stop!" Susie ordered, her gun shaking uncontrollably in her hands.
"Damn it Susie, shoot him!" Jane yelled again
Susie shook her head, "I-I'm t-t-telling you to s-s-stop, please, just surrender!" Susie said, once again trying to reason with the Imp, but he continued to load his rifle.
And by now, the Imp soldier was able to load another clip into his rifle; he grinned and pulled the bolt back, loading a fresh bullet into his rifle.
Susie just lowered her rifle and released a terrified sigh as she back up against the trench wall.
"What a wimp!" The Imp taunted as he took aim at Susie's forehead.
But from behind him, Jane grabbed him and sliced his throat with her bayonet, Susie screaming at the sight of the blood spilling from his neck onto the ground. Jane then released the Imp and shook her head in disappointment at Susie.
Suddenly, from behind her, a screaming Imp was charging at her, rifle in hand, bayonet coming towards her. But Jane managed to turn, and was able to grab the barrel of the rifle and stop the Imp from gutting her with his rifle bayonet. Jane then fell back against the ground, and the Imp was now standing over her, pushing with all his might, trying to stab Jane with his bayonet.
Susie was still on the ground, trembling in fear as she looked on, unable to move. Jane was struggling and groaning with effort as she tried to keep the bayonet away from her, but it was very slowly getting closer. She heard Susie whimpering and shouted "Damn it Susie, shoot this Imp!" while glaring at the said Imp.
Susie raised her rifle up, but was still whimpering quite loudly as she took aim. But her barrel stayed up, and didn't fire a shot yet. The Imp looked up and saw another Gallian aiming at him, so he tried to raise his rifle up to shoot her. But Jane, instead of pushing the blade away, was this time, pulling it down, towards herself, keeping his aim on her. And now it was a back and forth battle, with Jane either holding the blade back, or keeping the Imp from aiming at Susie, by pulling it towards herself
"SHOOT. THE. DAMN. RIFLE!" Jane ordered, but still she hesitated.
By now the Imp got the jest of it, he knew that Susie was a pacifist and wouldn't do it. So he refocused his attention on Jane, "You should pick your team mates better!"
The air was then cut with one loud 'KABANG' and the Imps head whipped back and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. Some blood splattered on Jane's face, and she blinked her eyes a few times and gave her head a shake. She then sat up and looked back, spotting Susie with her rifle up against her shoulder, a tiny trail of grey smoke exiting her barrel and swirling up into the air.
"Oh my…!" Susie exclaimed, dropping her rifle and cupping both hands against her mouth, "What have I done…"
Jane pushed herself up and walked over to Susie, "Saved my damn life, that's what you just did." Jane said, patting Susie on the back "It was either him or me, and I'm glad you didn't hesitate too long. Another second or two and my strength would have given and I'd be gutted like a stuck pig."
Unfortunately the words Jane used to describe her gratitude were too much for Susie and she keeled over and threw up, once, then twice.
Jane just shook her head, and then heard a lot of footsteps, fast approaching. So she raised her machine gun to her hip and aimed it down the trench. But she immediately raised it up once she saw Vyse, Aika Alex, Hector, Yoko and Marina come around the corner. Back up had finally arrived and it was Vyse's squad no less.
"Glad you could make it!" Jane shouted while waving.
She then bent down and helped Susie to her feet just as the other's arrived.
"You guys alright?" Vyse asked, Susie's face was now just as pale as Jane's and she looked extremely sick to her stomach.
"Yeah, you could say that." Jane said, she then turned and pointed down the trench line behind her. "The radio station should be very close now, so let's get this over with."
"Alright, follow me!" said Vyse, leading the way with everyone trailing behind him in a single line.
This deep into the trench, resistance was much lighter is what Vyse noticed as he led the way. Soon they began to hear the crackle and chatter of Imps working a radio nearby.
"Keep up the rate of fire, don't let any more Gallians into our trenches!" one shouted.
The other growled in frustration, "Damn it, if these Gallians take this position we're finished!"
Vyse stopped moving and looked back at his squad mates, raising his finger to his lips to signal quiet. And everyone did so; he then pressed his back against the trench wall and slowly peered around the corner. Just up ahead was a large, square shaped opening with sandbag defences, tables, spotting 2 Imperial officers in black standing over a radio operator working a large radio system and a handful of soldiers protecting them.
He then pulled his head back and looked up, judging the height of the trench wall. And he figured out his plan, so he turned to his squad mates and signalled for everyone to crowd around.
"Alright, I want each and every one of you to get your grenades ready and pass them out to those who don't have any." Vyse ordered and everyone did just that. "On my order, throw them as hard as you can over this wall and into the area up ahead. Once the explosions cease, the shock troopers will move up and take out any survivors."
Everyone nodded and each took a grenade off their belts and got ready to pull the cords.
"NOW!" Vyse screamed and everyone did just, yelling and pulling their cords and heaving their grenades over the trench wall and into the opening where the radio equipment and troops were. A second later there were multiple explosions that sent blue flashes, smoke and screams from the Imps stationed there.
Vyse and Alex then rushed around the corner and fired their machine guns from the hip, spraying bullets left and right, taking out the rest of the Imp soldiers and officers. Vyse ceased firing and looked around, seeing no movement anymore. So with that clear, he whistled loudly to signal that the coast was all clear to the rest of his squad.
The others then entered the radio station location, slowly surveying the area and seeing that the radio itself was also destroyed in the blast, their objective was now completed. So with that done, Vyse reached down to his belt and retrieved a long cylindrical object and popped the top, and held it up high. And almost immediately a blinding green flash of light appeared from one end, followed by thick green smoking fizzing out of the smoke flare, a sign that Welkin and the rest of the armoured units were waiting for.
At the same time, far on the other side of the battlefield, The Edelweiss, Shamrock and 8 other Gallian tanks were waiting, their radiators glowing blue as the idled. Welkin had half of his body sticking out of the turret hatch and was scanning the horizon, when he happened upon the signal everyone was waiting for.
"Green smoke! I see green smoke!" he said into his headset said, "The other's have done it, they're through!"
"Alright, now it's our turn!" said Zaka next.
Meanwhile, inside of the medical tent, there was a radio set up at the back, so the medics could know what was going on at the battlefield and when to expect casualties. And Nadine, Juno and Lynn happened to hear Welkin and Zaka's messages.
Nadine slowly turned her head towards the radio and nodded after hearing that her squad had successfully taken the Imp radio station.
Soon, the rest of Squad 7 had arrived at Vyse's location, some were cheering, others patting each other on the back. Even Vyse couldn't help but smile, but even he knew that the battle wasn't over. There were still Imps to take out.
"Alright, now that that's over with, we should move on and attack the main Imp encampment." Vyse instructed, and his squad, along with the rest of the squad all nodded their heads.
Rosie took point, "After me Kiddos!" she called out, waving her arm forward and heading through an opened gate, leading northward towards the Imp encampment. Many others followed her, while Vyse stayed back with his squad, taking a head count and making sure everyone was fit to move.
As he did, Marina nodded her unsmiling head, "This is how a squad leader should act." she complimented.
Close by, Montley was kneeling by some sandbags; he had gotten mud all over his rifle and was cleaning it out before moving on. "Yeah, he actually looks after and cares about his own team mates and the safety of their lives." Montley said angrily.
Vyse just shook his head, and kept his back to Montley as did everyone else. "That's enough Montley…" Vyse said lazily, he was far too fed up with his attitude to try anymore.
Marina on the other hand, turned around and glared at Montley. At the same time reaching back to her large hunting knife, which she quickly slid out of its sheath and flipped it around, taking hold of the blade.
"Marina, what are you doing?" Vyse cried, reaching over and trying to grab her hand before she threw her knife at Montley.
But it was too late; Marina drew her hand back and threw her knife towards Montley. And he was too afraid to move as he watch it spin through the air, end over end towards him.
He closed his eyes, but he still heard the 'Swoosh swoosh swoosh' sound of the blade spinning through the air, first grow louder, then pass by him completely. Next he heard a loud groan, followed by something heavy hitting the ground hard next to him.
He quickly opened his eyes and looked down, spotting a dead Imperial officer in red armour, lying on his back with Marina's knife sticking out the side of his neck, blood was pooling all around his head. The sound of footsteps behind him made him jump and swing his rifle around.
Marina didn't even flinch when the rifle was trained on her as she approached Montley; she then stopped in front of him. She looked over and locked eyes with him, never breaking her gaze as she reached down and retrieved her knife from dead Imp she killed, saving Montley from certain death.
She then slid the blood soaked knife back into its sheath that was attached to the back of her belt, sideways. "Come on… keep moving boy" she said, motioning with her head in the direction of the main Imp encampment, where the rest of the squad was currently heading.
Montley just nodded and stood up shakily, then taking off after the others, while Marina slowly walked back to her squad.
Vyse was both dumbfounded and embarrassed, he didn't know which to do first, apologize for assuming she was going to do something terrible or thank her for saving Montley's life.
"Marina I…" said Vyse
"That was amazing!" Alex complimented
Marina just shook her head, "Only doing what team mates do for each other, protect and watch out for the other." Marina stated plainly.
"Even after the way he's been treating you?" Aika asked
"One life saved for 2 lives taken…" Marina said, "But I still haven't fully repaid my dept to him… and to myself."
Vyse nodded his head, now fully understanding why she went out alone and cleared the way and saved Montley without any hesitation. It was to atone for her past mistakes.
"Alright, I understand Marina." Vyse said, "But don't do anything overly rash to try and make up for you debt."
Marina didn't answer at first; she just started walking forward, past everyone else and towards the Imp encampment. "No promises." she said
Vyse just smiled and looked over at Aika; she smiled to and patted Vyse on the shoulder as she walked past him. Vyse followed soon after with the rest of his squad trailing behind him.
On the other side of the battlefield, the tanks were rolling across No Man's Land, towards the Imperial trenches. The Edelweiss and other tanks were firing shells towards the main Imperial Encampment to the North, slowly making their way through the mud and over blast craters, some deep enough to engulf an entire tank.
"This is Lieutenant Gunther of Squad 7." said Welkins voice over the radio on Vyse's hip and inside the medical tent at the same time. "We're nearing the Imperial camp, resistance is light and everything is looking good for our side!"
And all at once, everyone inside the tent, injured, medics and other all cheered loudly, clapping their hands and whistling out loud. But others like Lynn, Nadine and Juno all remained quiet, looking around at everyone else cheering.
Juno was concerned about how her best friend Welkin would react, once he learned that the girl he admired and possibly loved had been shot and was critically wounded. Nadine was still mourning Wavy, as was Lynn; neither was in the mood for cheering.
And across from them, the 7's were fighting hard just outside of the Imperial camp. Guns on both side were blazing, lancers were firing anti-tank rounds at tanks stationed inside, blowing some sky high. Soon tank rounds were flying into the base, taking out tents, tanks and Imp soldiers left and right. Everything looked like it would be over very soon.
However… Welkin Gunther's radio crackled for a moment then came to life. "Lieutenant, we've just got word that the Valkyria is heading this way from the East… She's already destroyed much of our forces stationed over there. She'll be here very soon, so watch out!"
And almost immediately, all across the battlefield, the joy that was once in the air was gone in an instant. There were terrified murmur and conversation inside the medical tent, even Nadine and Juno raised their heads and gasped, almost at the same time. Lynn stood up and looked towards the radio, "Oh no…" she thought.
The 7's were all looking around at each other, no words exchanged, but everyone looked worried or absolutely terrified. But Vyse shook his head, "Keep fighting!" he yelled to everyone around him and they went back to fighting the Imps and trying to take the base.
And as Welkin, the shamrock and the other tanks were nearing the base, a bright, blue, swirling beam appeared from the east, taking out the two Gallian tanks trailing in the back of the group.
Welkin's tank came to a halt, as did the others and he appeared from the turret hatch, binoculars raised up to his face. "Where did that come from?" he asked as he scanned the horizons. Suddenly, from the East, but over a mile away, he saw her, Selvaria Bles, one of Maximillians Generals and a Valkyria. Her body was engulfed in a glowing blue light, which danced around her body as if it were on fire, but had no affect on her.
"Unbelievable… she did that from well over a mile away… why?" asked Zaka
Welkin lowered his binoculars and sighed, "Probably just to show that she could…"
Welkins eyebrows lowered and a determined look spread across his face, "Alright, everyone, spread out, we're far too vulnerable when bunched up like this. Attack her from all sides, she must have a weakness!"
And with that order, Welkins tank sped forward; Zaka's tank went into reverse and the remaining Gallian tanks moved left and right, everyone taking a different direction towards Selvaria.
Meanwhile, just outside the Imperial camp, Vyse couldn't help but look over his shoulder every now and then, at the battle going on between Machine and Valkyria. The tanks were crisscrossing all over the battlefield, firing their tank turrets at Selvaria, but she just stayed were she was, shield up, blocking all the hits, or moving slightly to the left and right to dodge the incoming rounds with ease.
He then saw Selvaria single out a single Gallian tank, raise her blue, spiral lance up and take aim. The lance itself began to spin round and round, while a glowing blue, swirling light began appear around the lance, spinning faster and faster, then shooting out in a straight beam that flew towards the tank and vaporized it instantly.
"No way… that's a Valkyria's real power…" Vyse said to Aika who was kneeling beside him amongst sandbags. "But still… we should do something."
Aika looked back, and then tapped Vyse on the shoulder. "Come on Vyse, focus!" she said, "We've got orders to take this base, and Welkin doesn't need our help!"
Vyse nodded and refocused his attention on the battle he and his squad were currently engaged in.
Out on no man's land, where the tank battle against the lone Valkyria was going on, another Gallian tank got too close to Selvaria and she blew it up with her lance in the same manner as the other one.
Welkin lowered his head and cursed, just then "Hey Kid, I'd hate to say this, but I don't think there's much that we can do against someone like her." said Zaka, "I suggest retreat…"
Welkin shook his head, "No, if she gets past us, she'll head straight for our base, where all our injured comrades are. And we cannot let that happen, no matter the cost." Welkin replied
Zaka sighed, "Understood…" he said softly
At the same time, Selvaria moved at an impossible speed, in a blur of blue light, towards another Gallian tank. She screamed in rage, then swung her lance against the side of it, breaking apart one of its treads and leaving a giant dent in the shape of her straight lance in its side. She then jumped up on the tank and hit it over and over again, breaking the turret completely off before jumping off and slamming her lance into the side of the tank once more, flipping it over with ease and causing it to explode.
Now there was only the Shamrock, the Edelweiss and 4 other Gallian tanks still fighting Selvaria. She was dodging or blocking the shots with ease. She then crouched down and jumped, straight up, catching at least 15 feet of air, all while charging her lance up as she got higher. She then smirked and released a "Hmmm" before firing her lance and this time a steady, streaming beam flew from the tip of her lance and she moved it from right to left, remaining high up in the air as she did so. The beam then took out the 4 remaining tanks as the beam moved over them and then stopped just as the last tank exploded. Selvaria then gracefully landed on the ground and smiled in satisfaction as she looked around at the many columns of thick, black rising smoke from the destroyed tanks.
And now, it was only the Edelweiss and the Shamrock still standing as they zig zagged all over the battlefield, never staying still to let her get a shot off at them.
But now, Vyse could take no more, "Come on, we've got to help… somehow!" Vyse said, looking towards the battlefield and seeing the devastation Selvaria had caused.
"Vyse… that's suicide, to attack her head on is just plain reckless." Susie warmed.
Jane shook her head, "I may be brave and want to kill every single Imp out there… but that's one that I am not attacking!"
Vyse clenched his teeth together and grunted angrily, he then nodded his head, "Alright, anyone brave enough to follow me, say so now." Vyse said. "This is not an order to any of you, just a request, we have to help out our squad leader."
Everyone looked at each other, but no one said anything. "Are there any volunteers?" Vyse asked. And almost immediately, Marina was the first to step forward, walk towards Vyse and stand next to him.
"I said that I wouldd follow you anywhere, even to death and I will stay true to my word…" said Marina
Aika stepped forward as well. So did Alex, Hector and Yoko.
"You're my best friend Vyse," said Aika. "So you shouldn't have to ask whether or not I'm willing to follow you anywhere."
Susie was visibly trembling "B-but there's nothing that so few soldiers can do against Selvaria… we've all seen what she did to an entire tank brigade…" Susie warned.
Hector laughed out loud "Numbers… HA, we've got guts on our side!" he boasted while slapping Vyse on the back.
"Vyse is the man! There's nothing that he can't do, we all know that!" Alex shouted while grinning.
Yoko wrapped her arm around Aika and smiled, "The young lady is going to need some protection out there and I've always made it my job to look out for the younger ladies of the squad."
Vyse looked at his squad mates with a thankful smile, "Thanks guys," said Vyse gratefully. "And I know we can do it, we can save our squad leader!"
The other squad mates lowered their heads; they could only wish they had that kind of courage, to take a stand against a Valkyria.
Vyse gave his head a nod, "Alright then, we don't have much time, so we should be off soon!"
But before they left, Oscar and Emile approached the group, and headed towards Marina Wulfstan. She just slowly turned her head and looked to them. Oscar immediately un-slung his sniper rifle from his shoulder and held it out to Marina.
"You will need this, Marina," Oscar said with some sadness in his voice. Emile undid his ammo belt, which held all of his spare rounds and held them out to Marina as well.
Marina nodded her head and took Emile's belt and put it on, then took the sniper rifle from Oscar and slung if over her shoulder.
"Thank you, boys," Marina said. "Should we not succeed, you two will be the only snipers left… you are the future, remember that."
The boys came to attention and saluted Marina respectfully, "Yes, Ma'am!" they said in unison to their senior sniper.
Marina saluted them in return, but as she did her eyes drifted over to Montley, who was looking back at her, silently. She then lowered her salute and turned on her heels, back towards her squad leader, Vyse Inglebard.
"I'm ready to go," Marina said plainly
"Alright, farewell my squad mates, my friends. Pray that we succeed," said Vyse to the other's who remained behind.
And Vyse began to lead his squad of volunteers back through the trenches, towards the battlefield. But just as Marina was about to follow the rest of the group, at the back, someone called for her, "Wait! Marina!" said Montleys voice.
And Marina stopped in her tracks but kept her back to him, "Yes?" she asked
"I… I forgive you, for Ted and Nancy," Montley said, "You've saved my life and now you're going to save others. And for this, I forgive you, and I do hope you succeed."
Marina slowly turned, looked to Montley and smiled, "Thank you" said Marina, "And I've never said it before, but I'm sorry for what happened to your friends, for what I did to them."
Montley smiled back and Marina quickly turned and jogged to catch up with her squad mates who were still moving. At the same time, the other 7's were sadly watching the others leaving, some sadly shaking their heads as they watched their comrades leave, possibly for the last time.
But back on the battlefield, the battle wasn't going so well, for now Selvaria was toying with the Shamrock and the Edelweiss. Either batting away their tank rounds, or just standing and watching them circle around her. One was going one way, clockwise, the other going counter clockwise, firing at her on occasion.
She then made her move, rushing towards the Edelweiss and stabbing her lance right into the tank treads; destroying the wheels on the left side and causing the treads to come undone and fall to the ground in pieces. She then jumped up onto the turret, slamming her lance down hard, causing the entire tank to shake and rumble underneath the lances blow. She then raised her lance up and brought it down again and this time, even the mighty Edelweiss let out a metallic groan and squeal of grinding, twisting metal. The Edelweiss's turret then dropped forward, and aimed at the ground, almost as if the monstrous tank had died.
Selvaria smiled slightly, and then laid her lance down on top of the tank. She then reached down and grasped the hatch and pried it open with her monstrous strength. And inside, she saw a groaning, moaning Gallian with brown hair, a severe laceration on the side of his head that had blood flowing from it, and down the side of his face.
"Ah… so here you are." Selvaria said in a voice that sounded other worldly, she smiled again. "How have you been since Barious?"
Her hand then shot forward and grasped Welkin around the throat, he coughed and choked as she began to lift him out of the tank hatch with just one hand, and once he was out, she kept on raising him up, until she had her arm fully extended outward and looked up at Welkin and laughed.
"I owe you for that defeat at the Barious Desert… but I want to watch you die, instead of vaporizing you completely. I will then take your head back to Lord Maximillian, in payment for destroying his prized tank, the Batomys" Selvaria said
All this time, Selvaria's death grip around Welkin's throat, had activated his radio's throat activation button that needed to be pushed before he could give orders. And every single word was heard by Vyse, his squad, and sadly, Juno Coren back at the Medical tent.
"Welkin…" Juno said, her voice trembling with fear and worry.
Just then, there was a single, loud, echoing gunshot and a bullet cut Selvaria across the arm that was holding Welkin by the throat. She cried out in pain and released Welkin and raised her shield back up, just in time to block burst of machine gun fire that slammed into her shield, blocking the rounds. Welkin's body hit the top of the tank, then he rolled over the side, fell down and hit the mud hard. But he managed to look over and see, fighting from the Imperial trenches, Vyse Inglebard and his squad mates, firing away at Selvaria.
Welkin's vision was getting blurry, his throat was aching and sore from the choke hold, but he managed to croak out "Vyse…" before his face fell forward and into the mud, he was now unconscious.
Selvaria glared at the foolish Gallian foot soldiers as she held her shield up, blocking the hailstorm of bullets being fired at her. She saw an older female soldier take aim at her with an anti-tank lance, so she crouched and jump high into the air, spinning and twisting, before making a landing some distance away from the Edelweiss. She readied her lance and aimed it towards the bunched up soldiers, "Fools! I'll teach you for interfering!"
But just then, there was an explosion behind her, so close it actually startled her this time, for she had no defence against a rear attack, her one vulnerable spot. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Shamrock still moving, still taking aim at her. Probably the only reason it didn't fire sooner was because she was either near or on top of the Edelweiss, or clutching Welkin in her hands.
"Hmmm… I had almost completely forgotten about you… Darcsen!" Selvaria said. She could see the tank had the Traditional Darcsen pattern paint on its armoured hull. "Now, it's time to fix my mistake of foolishly ignoring you and turning my back on you."
Selvaria then took off after the Shamrock, leaving Welkin and the Edelweiss behind her.
"She's taking off, move move move!" Vyse ordered, and he and the other's left the Imperial trenches and made their way over to the battered Edelweiss. While Marina remained inside the trench, providing sniper cover from a distance. Vyse and Aika quickened their pace, getting ahead of the others and the kneeling down next to Welkin, carefully rolling him over on his back and checking him over.
He had a hand shaped imprint over his neck and a deep gash on the side of his head, other then that he seemed to be mostly alright.
The rest of the squad took up positions around Welkins tank, keeping an eye out for Selvaria or any other Dangers. Vyse looked over and saw her chasing the Shamrock, but it wasn't going without at fight, firing its turret wildly, and spraying her with bullets from its machine gun.
"Aika! Check inside, see if Kreis is alright!" Vyse ordered, Aika nodded and began to climb up the Edelweiss. While Vyse took off Welkin's throat communicator and held it against his own throat, pushing the talk button.
"This is Sergeant Vyse Inglebard here." he stated, "We're currently tending to Welkin and Kreis, just outside the Edelweiss." He then looked up and spotted Aika, with an unconscious Kreis hanging from her shoulder.
"We've secured Welkin Gunther and Kreis, they're both safe for the moment. But we need to get them both off the battlefield, please send some kind of help!"
Back at the Medical Tent, Juno was trying to run out of the tent, but Mina and Fina were both holding her back. She had tears flowing down her cheeks as she screamed Welkin's name over and over again.
But even amongst that, Nadine clearly heard Vyse, her lover's voice and plea for help.
"Vyse… he needs our help!" Nadine cried, making a move towards the tent exit, but Lynn stopped her.
"No, you can't go out there!" Lynn cried, holding on tight to Nadine.
"But Vyse, he needs help, he cannot do this on his own."
"But you of all people shouldn't go out there, Nadine," Lynn said, maintaining her tight grip on her friends arms, preventing her from leaving.
"Don't try to stop me Lynn!" Nadine warned. Eyebrows furrowed in anger.
Lynn pulled Nadine close and hugged her, and with her mouth close to her ear she whispered "You can't go, because Vyse won't be able to concentrate on the battle. I know how much you mean to him, so don't go, he'll only become distracted by worry of your safety."
"But… he needs help…" Nadine said with tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll go," Lynn said. "I'll go out to the camp and see if I can get anyone else to help and then we'll head to the battlefield, I give you my word."
The two then hugged once more and Lynn grabbed her machine gun and ran as fast as she could, out of the tent exit. Juno shook off Mina and Gina who had heard Lynn's speech and released their grip and Juno followed Lynn. Nadine sat back down on her cot and buried her face with her hands, extremely worried for Vyse and the others.
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield Vyse threw the communicator to the ground and grabbed Welkin by one arm, Alex taking the other and they dragged him to a nearby blast crater, Aika brought Kreis soon after.
Fortunately, Selvaria was still pre-occupied by Shamrock, which gave Vyse the time he needed. He turned to his squad mates, as well as Marina who had come back from her sniping location.
"Alright, everyone fight a crater and stay hidden, we must somehow attack her from behind. Once you have a shot, take it right away. We'll spread out all over so that at least one of us will get a shot off at her from behind. Got it?" he asked.
Everyone nodded and they began to head out, crawling across the ground, trying to keep their movements hidden while Selvaria was distracted by the Shamrock. Marina went off to find some high ground or other suitable locations for her to get a shot off at Selvaria, ideally from behind if possible.
Vyse turned to Aika, "Aika baby… stay here and protect Welkin and Kreis."
Aika shook her head, "No! I want to fight with you!" She protested, but Vyse shook his head and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Not this time Baby," Vyse said. "I want you to stay here and protect our Lieutenant… please… for me."
Aika lowered her head and nodded, "Alright, for you."
Vyse smiled and patted her on the cheek, "Thanks… and should I require your help, do not come until I ask for it. No matter what you see or hear." Vyse then grabbed his machine gun and headed out, leaving Aika to retrieve her hand gun and load it, Welkin's head in her lap.
Vyse remained low, as he scampered across no mans land, searching for a place to hide. But just as he found one, he saw Selvaria flank the Shamrock and slam her lance into its side, causing it to flip over and cartwheel into a large dip or divot in the battlefield, deep enough that it nearly disappeared, but its treads could still be seen.
She then jumped onto the downed Shamrock and looked like she was getting ready to drive her lance straight down into the Shamrock; he knew she could easily stab right through the tanks armour and kill Zaka… if he was still alive inside.
So he raised his machine gun up and fired off a quick burst before diving back down into the crater and disappearing. The rounds then reached Selvaria, but she reacted quick enough that she spun around and raised her shield up, blocking the bullets before lowering her shield and scanning the area.
All she saw were smoking destroyed tanks, the banged up Edelweiss and bit of debris blowing across the battlefield, no sign of life anywhere.
"Sneaky little vermin." said Selvaria, and she jumped off the tank and landed back on the battlefield, she held her shield up, at the ready just in case she needed to block as she walked. Her red, glowing eyes glancing left then right as she moved.
"Come out and face me! Dogs of Gallia!" Selvaria shouted, but there was no response, just the wind blowing.
Just then there was a boom sound behind her and she spun around, deflecting away a lance round that would have struck her in the back, but who ever had fired it had disappeared once again.
Selvaria growled, "Think you're so clever that I'll never find you… you're sadly mistaken!" and she crouched low, then jumped inhumanly high and looked down at the battlefield from her position high up, and sure enough, she spotted a terrified Yoko looking up at her. Yoko threw her large lance away from herself, out of the blast crater and she was held her hands up in front of her.
Selvaria brought her lance up and fired off rapid, purple shots of energy that instantly killed Yoko. And the other's heard her scream for a moment, before becoming silent. But they remained where they were, not wanting to give away their positions, despite what had just happened. Selvaria landed back on the ground and began to walk around the battlefield.
"Where are you hiding?" she asked aloud, looking left and right, she then stopped, "If you won't come out, I'll just have to find you once more."
And she got down low and jumped up high once more, but this time "NOW!" shouted Vyse and everyone came out of their hiding spots, all at once, weapons aimed up high and it was clear to Selvaria now that they were on all sides.
"Fire! FIRE!" Vyse shouted, and everyone did just that, rifles firing, machine guns blazing, a lance round went flying and trailed smoke as it shot towards her.
Selvaria held her shield in front of her body, but the rounds hit and the lance exploded, and she was covered in a cloud of smoke that masked her fate from view.
Vyse and the other's lowered their weapons as they looked up at the thick cloud of smoke, and Selvaria wasn't coming back down. Vyse smiled, "We did it… WE DID IT!" he cried.
But his smile suddenly faded when he saw a spinning blue light appear from within the cloud, the spinning helped dissipate the smoke around her and she came back into view, looking extremely angry as she remained hovering in the air, her blue lance charging up for a powerful blast.
Vyse's eyes shot wide open, a cold sweat covering his entire face in almost an instant, he looked over "RUN!" he screamed, and everyone turned 180 degrees and took off running in different directions.
Selvaria's eyes picked a target, a young blonde haired boy running away; he looked over and saw her glaring at him.
Alex dropped his machine, held up his hands and cried "NNNNOOOO~!" before being engulfed in a beam of blue energy, completely disintegrating him.
Vyse stopped upon hearing Alex's cry, but he only turned in time to see him die at Selvaria's hand.
"ALEX!" Vyse screamed. He dropped to his knees, clenching his teeth together in extreme anger and released a stifled cry of pain and anger at the loss of his friend. He looked up at Selvaria who had landed back on the ground and was looking over at him.
Vyse screamed in anger, while raising his machine gun up and firing it continuously, all the time walking and still screaming at Selvaria, never taking cover.
Selvaria just calmly raised her shield up and blocking all his bullets with ease, Vyse then ran out of bullets, but quickly discarded his machine gun and reached back for his side arm pistol, and firing every round it had, all while still walking towards Selvaria.
He was now less then 6 feet from her when he fired his last round and then threw his empty pistol at her. He then reached to his waist, and took hold of his Cutlass's hilt, this caused Selvaria's eyes to widen upon seeing such a weapon. So she quickly stepped forward, drew her shield arm back and hit Vyse with her shield, sending him up into the air and quite some distance back, until he landed and slide through the wet mud, stopping just in front of the Edelweiss.
Selvaria then began to slowly walk towards Vyse, eyes glowing, blue flames still burning brightly all around her. Vyse was stunned and winded by the blow, as he held his stomach and chest in pain, coughing loudly. He looked and saw Selvaria coming, but still hadn't caught his breath.
Just then, from behind Selvaria, Hector popped out of a blast crater, "VYSE!" he shouted, raising his lance up and taking aim at Selvaria, he then pulled the large trigger and fired off his last anti-tank round at Selvaria's back.
But she just smirked, and then spun around, smacking his anti-tank round straight back towards him, he only had enough time to cry out in fear before the round slammed into the ground, near him. A ball of fire exploding high into the air and Hectors cries ceasing at the same time.
Vyse could only watch helplessly as yet another member of his squad was killed; this caused him to release a cry, longer, louder and angrier than any he had ever done before. It even caused Selvaria to stop in her tracks and look at him. Vyse then got up, drawing his cutlass at the same time; he then stomped towards her, his eyes burning with a thirst for vengeance.
He then stopped just a short distance away from her, still breathing hard and heavy, eyes still burning, teeth now bared.
Selvaria looked at Vyse, and then her eyes drifted down to his long, cutlass sword.
"Foolish Gallian… do you even know how to kill me?" she asked.
Vyse growled in anger before raising his sword hand up, "I'll cut your damn head off!" shouted Vyse, "See if that works!"
Selvaria closed her eyes and nodded, "Hmmm… indeed you are brave Gallian. None before you have ever dared to face me one on one."
Vyse chuckled and grinned, "Oh, I'm not from Gallia, witch!"
Selvaria's eyes opened wide in surprise, "What did you say?"
"I said I'm not a Gallian, nor an Europan!" Vyse said
"Hmmm… so were do you come from then and why would you be here, fighting this war that's not even yours to fight?" Selvaria asked, taking a step closer to Vyse.
"Arcadia!" Vyse said proudly, "I hail from Arcadia and I came here to stop Tyrants like your master, Maximillian."
Selvarias eyes glowed even brighter, angrier. "How dare you say that about my Lord Maximillian!" Selvaria shouted back, "He… He saved me from unspeakable torture and torments from that evil research lab…. gave me a new life, a name, and the freedom to fight for his just cause… No Tyrant would ever give back so much!"
She then raised her lance up and it began to charge, but as it was charging, Selvaria was struck from behind, a bullet grazing across the top of her shoulder, just inches from the back of her neck and head. Selvaria clenched her teeth together and growled in anger, turning just as her lance finished charging and in the distance, she saw a head duck back down into the trenches behind her.
"Snipers… I hate snipers!" Selvaria growled.
But just as she aimed and fired her beam shot off at the unseen sniper, a sharp instrument cut her across the back from behind. Selvaria cried out in pain and the beam hit the trench and continued to fire and was dragged to the right, across the land as Selvaria's arm went uncontrollably in that direction after the cut or slash.
Selvaria looked back angrily and saw Vyse with some red blood on the sharp edge of his cutlass, he had drawn first blood. Selvaria angrily swung her lance back and struck Vyse hard; causing him to fly backwards and slide through the mud on is back.
Selvaria then raised her lance back up, took aim at Vyse and charge up for a beam shot, her lance spinning faster and faster. But suddenly the lance stopped spinning, the light disappearing. For Selvaria was very impressed that this Arcadian was able to get close enough to strike her with a sword of all things.
"You say you come from Arcadia… do they have good swordsmen from where you're from?" she asked curiously.
Vyse nodded as he sat back up, holding his chest in pain, but he was still able to grin while shouting "The BEST!"
Selvaria smiled slightly, and then planted her lance straight into the ground, and setting her shield down beside it. Vyse didn't know what to make of it, was she surrendering or playing a trick. But he found his answer as she looked at him, smiling and reached her hand down to her waist. And it was only now that Vyse saw that she herself carried a sword. The hilt had some sort of extremely fancy looking hand guard that was black as night and as she drew her sword, it had a bluish tint to it, as if it was made out of some kind of metal or material that Vyse didn't know about. The blade itself was long and had an extremely sharp point at the end, the edges shone in the moonlight, obviously razor sharp as well.
She held it with one hand, then got into a ready position that Vyse had never seen before, "Come then… Arcadian!" She said, smiling. "Let us see how good your swordsmanship is, I've never faced an opponent who dared challenged me in this way."
Vyse glared at her, got back onto his feet and then raised his Cutlass up, his other hand behind him, helping balance himself. Selvaria quickly shuffled towards Vyse and Vyse got ready to block her first swing, but instead was caught off guard when she immediately thrust her sword forward, rather then swing it.
He moved his head just in time to avoid being stabbed in the eye or worse, but the blade slid across his right arm. He then spun and swung his sword, trying to slash across her back, but she spun as well and blocked his attack with her own sword. She immediately recovered and stabbed Vyse in the right thigh in a forward thrusting motion once again.
He cried out in pain and looked down at his leg, and Selvaria pulled out her blade and stepped back as Vyse fell on one knee, groaning in pain.
Selvaria shook her head, "Is that all that you Arcadians possess?" Selvaria said, clearly disappointed.
Just then, from behind her came a screaming voice and Selvaria looked back and saw a bloodied, but still alive hector rushing at her, swinging his lance downwards like a massive club. Selvaria spun on her heels and raised her sword up, blocking the massive lance with her sword, stopping it dead cold with just one hand. The blade neither broke nor bent in the slightest and Vyse had never seen such a small sword take such a massive hit, with one hand no less and not break, shatter or bend.
Vyse looked up, "Tha… that's impossible!"
Selvaria then pushed Hectors lance away and swung her sword once his arms were up, easily lopping off his right arm with a single swing from her sword.
Hector looked over at his arm and screamed, "MY ARM!"
Selvaria walked up to him and looked down, into his eyes and glared. "It's not your's anymore!" she said, drawing her sword back and making a clean thrust that stabbed straight through the middle of Hector's brave heart. He gurgled on blood that immediately came up, and then his head fell forward, eyes closed. Selvaria just closed her eyes and shook her head, "Hmmm… stupid boy." she said, then pulling her blade out, Hectors body falling to the ground soon after in a lifeless heap.
She then turned back around and saw Vyse rushing towards her; he then made 4 very quick slashes with his cutlass, all of which were easily blocked and parried by Selvaria as the two moved through the battlefield, continuing their sword fight. The two then locked swords and the weapons were locked in an X formation as both opponents pushed hard against the other.
The two then got nose to nose as they both leaned over their locked up weapons, Vyse glaring into Selvaria's bright, glowing red eyes. Selvaria just smiled, then with inhuman strength, pushed Vyse away from her with her one sword hand alone, so hard he actually caught air and then landed hard on the ground, sliding quite some distance away before coming to a stop.
Selvaria just shook her head as she walked towards Vyse, her blades tip hovering just an inch or two above the ground as she walked.
She then reached Vyse who was still on the ground, coughing and moaning. She then walked around him and kicked him hard in the stomach as he was trying to get up, sending him back to the ground.
She then stood over Vyse, kicking his sword away as he rolled over on his back and looked up at her, legs spread apart, one foot on either side of his body.
"This is the end for you… Brave Arcadian!" Selvaria said, raising her sword up and aiming the tip directly at Vyse's heart.
Vyse just chuckled and cough at the same time "Hehe… I'm not the only Arcadian here!" Vyse replied
Selvaria paused, "What?" she asked.
Vyse smiled slightly, "AIKA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
And from behind Selvaria, Aika came bounding out from her hiding place in a nearby crater like a rabbit out of it's burrow. And with her rifle in hand with the bayonet now attached, she charged at Selvaria from behind while screaming like a banshee and thrust her bayonet forward, slicing Selvaria across the back as she turned just in time to avoid being hit right in the middle of her back. Aika then pull her rifle back and got ready to make another thrust.
Selvaria cried out in in pain, and then dodged another thrust by Aika, this time the bayonet missed her completely. Selvaria recovered and quickly punched Aika across the face with her free left hand, stunning her and immediately following that up with an angry thrust of her sword, running Aika straight through the midsection. Aika cried out in pain and looked up at Selvaria, straight into her eyes and glared at her. Selvaria glared back and kicked Aika away, her sword sliding back out from her body at the same time as Aika fell onto her back, her eye's closing and her body not moving anymore.
She then heard Vyse screaming in rage and upon turning saw him back on his feet, sword in his hand as he charged at her and he quickly slashed his blade across Selvaria's cheek, cutting deep and painfully.
Selvaria began enraged and when Vyse brought his sword around for another slice, she somehow caught it, mid air, mid swing and barehanded. Vyse's mouth dropped open in horror as Selvaria glared at him, then with one move, broke his sword and spun the blade around, then stabbed it right through his midsection, the tip appearing from out his back.
Selvaria then stumbled back and looked down at the numerous wounds she had received from these two Arcadians. She reached up and touched her bleeding cheek, then looked down at a heavily breathing Vyse Inglebard.
His eyes were bloodshot from extreme pain, but he saw what he thought appeared to be a smile form on Selvaria's lips. His eyes looked at the wounds on her body and her cheek, which immediately began to heal and close up right in front of his eyes. And both ends of the wound that he had caused to her cheek began to come back together and healed much in the same way as the wound that Aika had caused.
"You see… you do not know how to kill me, a Valkyria." Selvaria said, walking ever so slowly towards Vyse, sword still in hand.
But Vyse, still not wanting to give up, reached down and painfully pulled the broken blade out of himself and threw it away. He then reached back and retrieved his long bayonet blade and charge at Selvaria, while clutching his still bleeding wound with his left hand. Selvaria just stood her ground and easily dodged the defiant Arcadia as he took wild swings with his smaller bayonet blade. She ducked under a high swing, but slashed her blade across his leg in response. She leaned back and dodged another high swing, this time stabbing him in the other leg, causing him to fall to one knee. And now, feeling she wasted enough time on him, slashed downwards across the top of his knife hand, causing him to drop the weapon to the ground. She then drew her rapier back and went in for a killing blow, but Vyse moved slightly out of the way of a thrust that would have pierced his heart. And the blade went straight through his midsection instead.
Selvaria shook her head, "Fool! You choose to trade a quick death for a slow and painful death instead?"
Vyse lowered his head, looking down at the blade that had impaled him; he then coughed up a mouthful of blood and groaned. But he reached up and took hold of the blade, grasping it tightly, cutting his hand as blood dripped to the ground, much to Selvaria's surprise and curiosity.
"Well…" coughed Vyse. "It looks like… this battle… is over."
Selvaria looked down at Vyse's bleeding hand that held onto her blade and then down to what could still be seen of her sword that had impaled him.
"You are indeed brave Arcadian, braver than any I have seen before you." Selvaria said. "But it was foolish to challenge a Valkyria one on one, for now… you have lost."
But she gasped when she saw Vyse look up and grin at her, while blood dripped from both side of his mouth. "No… I have not lost… you have!"
Selvaria glared at him, "What did you say?"
Vyse's head slowly turned and looked past Selvaria, "I… don't have to kill you… to defeat you."
Selvaria gasped and looked over her shoulder, seeing Aika slowly sitting up, Yoko's lance in hand and taking aim at Selvaria's lance and shield that were still planted in the ground.
Aika looked over at Selvaria and weakly said "We shall simply take away the weapons that give you all of your power."
Selvaria's mouth dropped open in horror, "NO! You wouldn't dare!"
And she tried to charge at Aika, but felt Vyse grab her by the wrist, keeping her in place and now, all too late she finally realized why he was holding onto her sword and why he didn't let her kill him quickly… it was so he could get close enough to hang onto her and give Aika enough time to fire.
And indeed she was correct as Vyse now pulled her closer, the entire blade now sinking deeper into him, nearly all the way to the hand guard and hilt itself while he summoned the last of his strength to hold onto her.
"Fire Aika! FIRE!" Vyse screamed
Though Aika's vision was extremely blurry and seeming to spin, she took aimed and squeezed the large trigger of the anti-tank lance, firing off the one remaining round. The kick from the lance firing knocked Aika back onto her back, but she still managed to smile.
And time itself seemed to come to a crawl as Selvaria watched with her mouth dropped open and Vyse still hanging onto her as he watched to. The lance, as if guided by the spirit of Gallia herself and the hands of all those from Squad 7 who had died, flew straight and true to its target, spinning, trailing a tail of gray smoke.
"No…" Selvaria mouthed the word, with tears in her eyes.
The anti-tank round then struck the Valkyrur lance and shield, the round then exploded in a bright ball of fire, but that was immediately followed up by a much larger, blue cobalt explosion that sent blue light and smoke into the air. The force of the explosion knocked Selvaria off her feet as the blast wave hit her, and as she fell back. Vyse too fell on his side; sword still lodged inside him as he coughed up blood, but he looked towards the explosion. He smiled once he saw that her lance and shield were now gone. They had done it; they had robbed her of her weapons.
Selvaria then sat back up and looked towards her lance and shield, but saw that they were gone.
"No… it can't be!" Selvaria cried while climbing to her feet and running back to her destroyed weapons. But once she reached them, the once mighty lance and shield was gone, just little bits of blue shards and a pile of blue dust remained.
Selvaria sank to her knees, head held low. She then reached down and gathered a handful of blue dust in each hand and let it sift through her gloved fingers and drift through the wind or fall back to the ground.
"My… my lance… my shield…" Selvaria said sadly.
She then heard a painful cough from behind her and upon looking over her shoulder she saw Vyse, head held low. But he managed to look back up at her. "And so it is done… your lance and your shield are gone, and without your weapons, you'll never be as powerful as you once were!" Vyse said defiantly. "So it is you who have lost!"
Selvaria was filled with rage, "How dare you! How dare you take my weapons away from me!" And she got up and began to stomp back towards Vyse. Once she reached him, she planted her foot against his shoulder and withdrew her blade from Vyse, who cried out in pain. She then pressed him down into the ground and brought her sword back up.
But Vyse remained defiant and smiling, "You can go ahead and kill me, but now I know for sure that Gallia will win the war," said Vyse. "My only regret is; that I will not be there to see when your master is defeated."
But just as she was about to bring her sword down for a finishing blow, Selvaria was struck in the shoulder by another bullet. She stumbled forward, past Vyse and clutched her shoulder in pain. Upon looking back, she spotted the same female sniper in the distance, she had reappeared, still alive and able to fight. But at the same time as she looked over she saw Gallian foot soldiers charging towards her, next to rolling tanks and large covered trucks. But now that she had neither her lance nor shield, she had no real way of defeating that many soldiers on her own.
Selvaria lowered her head, "This cannot be…"
She then looked over at Vyse, he looked extremely weak and near death now, "You have bought nothing but time for Gallia… my master will never be defeated."
Selvaria then began to retreat, back to the East, leaving Vyse to die.
Vyse fell back to the ground and hit it hard, his vision was getting blurry and his breathing softer, the sounds of the approaching Militia and tanks slowly growing softer. But he still managed to hear a familiar voice, "Vyse… Vyse…" said the voice softly.
Vyse slowly looked up and saw Aika slowly crawling on her stomach, clutching her stab wound with her other hand. And even though Vyse's body felt extremely heavy and it was hard to keep his eyes opened he too crawled towards her. And soon the two neared each other, and Aika reached out with her hand, Vyse crawled a little more and reached out and took hold of Aika's hand.
She smiled, but then grimaced in pain, "We… we did good Vyse baby…"
Vyse nodded, "Yes… maybe now, Gallia will be safe."
Aika was feeling extremely weak now, but she managed to say "Vyse… it is an honour to die beside my best friend. But please… let me go first, I couldn't bear to watch you die before me."
Just then "Vyse!" Marina called out and in the distance Vyse could see her running towards the downed two.
"Alright baby… go to sleep," said Vyse weakly. "I'll be right behind you, I promise…"
Aika reached out and caressed Vyse's cheek, "Thank you Vyse… good-bye…" and Aika closed her eyes, her hand falling away from Vyse's cheek as she laid her cheek against the ground, passing away.
Vyse took her hand in his and kissed the top of her hand, tears falling from his eyes. Just then Marina reached the two and knelt down on one knee and looked over the two. Sadly she saw that Aika was already dead and could not be helped, but she saw that Vyse was still slightly alive.
"Hold on sir, I'll save you," she said, retrieving her ragnaid and small medical kit.
But Vyse shook his head, "No… don't bother," said Vyse
"Sir?" Marina asked
"I… I made a promise to Aika, and I intend to keep It." said Vyse weakly. "But before I go, I have one last request…"
Marina sighed, honour bound to obey her squad leader's orders, even if it meant not trying to save him. "Very well sir, what is it?"
Vyse smiled and reached forward, running his hand across the top of Aika's hair and over her braids. He then carefully, but respectfully removed Aika's goggles that were perched on top of her head, removing his own seconds later. He then held these out to Marina.
"Remember us… remember why we died," said Vyse. "That we died for Gallia… a land so beautiful and one of a kind. In all the countries we have ever been so, there's not been more beautiful a land that covers the whole earth. And for our friends, the greatest friends we've ever made and had the honour of being with. And… for freedom, your countries freedom, May you win it, keep it and remember us for it."
Marina nodded and took Vyse's eye patch and Aika's goggles. But her face remained neutral, "I will do this for you… sir."
"And lastly, tell Nadine… good-bye, my love and that I am sorry..." said Vyse, but he only had enough strength to finish that last sentence, then he laid his head next to Aika's and passed away as well, keeping his word to his best friend and following her in death not long after she did.
Marina nodded her head, "An honourable death… non other would do for two people like you," said Marina.
The sounds of approaching soldiers and vehicles made Marina turn around and she saw the relief force that Vyse had requested. Made up of members the rest of Squad 7, who had come after securing the main Imperial camp and Lynn, Juno and Captain Varrot who had gathered what forces and vehicles they could.
But once they approached Marina, they saw the saddest of sights they could ever see. Their two Arcadian heroes, gone from this world. Aika was on her stomach, cheek against the ground and Vyse next to her, on his side, clutching her hand in his own. Everyone then gathered in a large circle around the two and sadly looked down at them, some with their heads lowered, others crying and sobbing loudly. Captain Varrot even removed her hat and glasses and held her hand to her face, sadly shaking her head.
"How… how could two people, so far from home, lay down their lives so bravely and without hesitation for a land that is not their own…" Varrot asked.
"They loved this land and it's people," Marina said. "And in return, Vyse, my leader asked only one thing; to be remembered, him and Aika, for what they have done for us."
Marina then stood up and looked around at the squad, "These two have destroyed the Imperial Valkyrias weapons. They've disarmed her and taken away the edge that the Imperial army once had, and now, our chances of winning are that much greater," Marina said loud enough for everyone gathered around to hear.
And now Welkin had come to, after being tended to by Fina the Medic. And he joined the gathered up squad and listened.
"He was the bravest man I have ever seen! And he and his companion Aika have died in the most honourable way that one can die!" Marina continued as she walked around "He was a hero, or at least the closest thing I have ever seen to a hero. He's saved so many lives, done so many great things and has asked only the simplest of things in return; to be remembered…"
Everyone nodded their heads, Marina knelt down next to Vyse and Aika, "Remember this 7's… remember this scene, this time and never forget… that here and now, Gallia's truest heroes lie. Remember this time and place and these two names till the end of your days…"
Meanwhile, a short while later, there was much joyous cheering and celebrating going on inside the main Gallia encampment, as the entire Imperial army was in full retreat, the day was Gallia's. Soldiers were drinking, hugging each other and crying out in pure joy. All but one and that one was Nadine, who was waiting at the camp exit leading towards the battlefield. And as she sat on top of the sandbags, she happened to look up and see a small force returning. Soldiers were marching in a column; a jeep was in the lead, tanks following behind the soldiers and two red and white medical trucks bringing up the rear.
And once they got closer, Nadine recognized Captain Varrot in the passenger side of the jeep, Lynn sitting in the back. So Nadine got up and ran towards the jeep, which came to a halt at the entrance of the encampment. Captain Varrot got out and walked towards the encampment, but as she neared Nadine, she reached out and patted her on the shoulder and continued on. Nadine didn't know what to make of that and she saw Lynn slowly climbing out the back of the jeep so she ran to her.
"Lynn! Where's Vyse! Where is Aika?" she asked
Lynn looked down at the ground and didn't answer, so Nadine looked to the rest of the squad. And everyone in the column parted down the middle and Marina appeared, walking towards Nadine. Nadine's legs became wobbly and weak and she fell to her knees. Soon Marina reached Nadine and knelt down in front of her. She looked at her for a moment, then reached back to a rear pouch and held out two items.
Nadine's heart broke once she saw what they were, one was Vyse's eye patch, and the other was Aika's goggles.
Marina sighed, "They're gone Nadine… but they went together, just as they came here together," Marina said. Then she smiled, "They went home…"
Nadine held her best friend's prized possessions against her forehead and began to weep sadly. Moments later Lynn knelt down, hugged her best friend and joined her in crying for two of the bravest people she had ever met.
Other members of Squad 7 reached down and patted Nadine on the head or shoulder as they walked past, giving their condolences.
Another hand then rested on Nadine's shoulder and remained there, so she looked up with teary red eyes. "He has one last message for you, from Vyse" Marina said, looking down sadly. "He said to tell you; Good-bye my love and that he was sorry…"
Nadine nodded sadly; she knew what he meant, about being unable to keep his promise to her. But she was happy that he stayed with his best friend, till the very end.
And that night as the other squad's celebrated, all of squad 7 were inside their large tent, all gather around the large table in the middle, mugs of beer and other drinks were in front of them, but all were sitting silently.
Finally, "Remember us…" Edy Nelson said, "That was his one request, wasn't it guys?"
Everyone nodded, and Edy stood up, mug held high. "So Cheers to Vyse and Aika and the other's who followed him and so bravely sacrificed their lives to even the odds for us." Edy said and everyone raised their mugs, and then drank from them.
"I remember…" said Nadine. "I remember a time when Vyse saved my life out in the Barious desert. He would never allow me to be left behind or anyone else, no matter who they were. So… I followed his example, and saved Cezary Regard, because I remembered that it is exactly what Vyse would have done."
"I remember how he so bravely charged into that burning factory, to save Catherine O'Hara, my Auntie Cathy. And how he kept his promise to me that day." said young Aisha, a cup of juice in her hand.
Juno shook her head, "Remember us… that's all that he asked," said Juno. "He could have asked for far greater honours and we would have gladly followed them. But I remember how humble he was, he would never ask for anything more than he needed. Such a simple request, from so great a man…"
"I remember how close those two where, there weren't many times they were apart from each other." said Lynn, "And when they were apart, it was like they had lost the one thing that mattered most to them in this entire world and were not whole until they were together again. I'll remember that forever."
And Welkin who was at the head of the table chuckled, "We all have so many stories of Vyse and Aika, that it'll be impossible to not remember them. And when we win this war, remember who helped us the most!"
"CHEERS!" everyone said in unison, clanking their mugs with those next to and across from them.
And that night, everyone exchanged stories about Vyse and Aika and there were indeed many. But each and every story told that night, started with "I remember…"
Hey Readers, thought I'd let you see my origional end to Adventures in War, one totally different than the story that is still going. Like I said, I wrote it out, read it and didn't really like it and thought if I tired I could continue the story, though MUCH would have to be changed, so here is the unchanged ending. Like it, don't like it? Would it have worked, or is it better that the story is still going?
ALSO: If there's any problems with me having this seperate from my story just tell me, I just didn't want to include an ending to a story that was still going, even if it was a glimpse of what could have been.