Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs

"What's up Louise? You've been putting that face on for a couple of days now," Laura said as Louise was looking out the window of the building as Louise turned to look at her.

"Just thinking that's all..." Louise replied.

"About your friend? The red haired girl?" Laura asked as Lousie nodded, "There's not much you can do about it. The evidence against her is pretty solid, of course she could be telling the truth and that Markson did set her up but it's her word against his. And even if he is under investigation for corruption it still doesn't help that she was found with the drugs in the bag."

"So what's going to happen to her then?"

"Most likely she'll be court martialled and then sent to prison."

"Huh...no way Guiche's going to let it go, or Tabitha for that matter."

"As I said there's not much you can do about it."

"I know...it's just...I feel like I should help her; even if she was my rival back in the academy I still have to help her."

"I know...it hurts to see your friend like this, but you can't jeopardize yourself for her. It may sound selfish, but it's the best advice anyone can give you."

"Thanks...I know that," as Laura smiled and nodded.

"Anytime...I owe you that much at least Valliere and a whole lot more," she replied before walking away. Louise sighed to herself wondering if Kirche was destined to spend the rest of her life behind a prison bar for a crime she may have not committed. It wasn't something that she would wish on Kirche, not even in the worst moments of her life when Kirche's bullying became unbearable, she would never wish for Kirche to become like this...a broken woman just wanting to go home. Deciding that she couldn't stay and wallow in an endless loop of wonderment she decided to go out and patrol the city, it always calmed her down and let her think much more clearly.

She didn't take anyone with her because she did the best of her thinking when she was alone, without anyone distracting her train of thoughts, naturally she also sneaked away from everyone else so that neither Alexander or Suzie could follow her. The air was pristine clear and she took a deep breath savouring the smell as she continued to walk around the town trying to clear her mind. She knew that there wasn't anything that she would be able to do and it was all up to the military police and the investigators to find out what happened, hopefully they'll find out that Kirche really had nothing to do with the whole mess and let her go. But yet deep in her mind she couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that she could do to help Kirche out. Shaking her head she knew that there wasn't anything or else Alexander or Suzie would have told her, she would just have to believe in Kirche and hope for the best.

Sighing she went to her an ice cream shop and bought one before eating it by herself, she needed something sweet to get her mind off Kirche and to think about something else, such as trying to make sure that she gets out of this thing alive. Although there had been no attacks on the city there had been numerous sightings of Confederacy troops going across the border, no doubt to continue attacking Belfast, she was surprised that they would continue to attack knowing that the Belfast military had the advantage with several key cities being retaken. Why were they so desperate to take over Belfast? She sighed as she also hated the war, much like Kirche did, she hated how to had to continue fighting and she hated that there were people dying everyday because of this war. She might be considering a career in the military, but it didn't mean that she liked war. "Hey there what are you doing?" Claudia asked surprising Louise as she giggled.

"Stop doing that Claudia," Louise said with a frown.

"But it's so fun~" Claudia said.

"You wouldn't think so if you were the one getting caught off guard all the time."

"Then it just means that you need to be better at sensing your surrounding," as Claudia sat herself next to her, "so what are you doing all alone out here? Usually either Alexander or Suzie would be stuck on you like glue."

"I wanted some time alone to myself...to think and contemplate," Louise replied.

"Big words from a small person."

"Shut up."

"Seriously though...you really need to stop thinking all the time, even Mason's seeing that you've been distracted lately."

"I know...but without anything to do I can't stop thinking about it."

"Careful or else Mason will send you on patrol duty."

"I rather be on patrol duty then sitting around here doing nothing."

"Well I'm sure that time will come soon enough...but was that all you're really thinking?"

"Among other things..."

"So I gathered...do you think the war's going to end soon?"

"I hope so, I'm getting tired of fighting all the time."

"Same...I can't wait to go back to school."

"Oh so you're a student?"

"No I'm a teacher."

"EH! You're a teacher?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You don't look like one, you sure don't act like one."

"Haha! Is that so?"

"So does that mean your students got conscripted as well?"

"Yeah...I hope all of them are alright, I hate to lose even one of them."

"I can't imagine..."

"How about you? What are you going to do if the war ends?"

"I don't know...I was thinking of maybe continuing a career in the military," as Claudia looked at her in complete shock.

"What? Seriously? Why?"

"Well...I...I just feel right here...you know at home...I know it sounds strange but I feel like I would be doing the most good by staying and protecting Belfast."

"Wow...I never seen someone that voluntarily want to have a career in the military, most officers were nobles whose family had been in the military for generations so they don't have a choice. But if you do become an officer...well I'll be happy that a commoner was able to become an officer," as Louise chuckled nervously. Of course no one except Suzie and Alexander knew that she was in fact a noble, the third daughter of the Valliere family, she wondered how her mother would react to the fact that her daughter was serving in the military. Would she be proud? Or would she be too worried to allow Louise to fight on the frontlines?

"Thanks Claudia I'll do my best," Louise said throwing the remains of her ice cream in the bin, "I suppose I should go back to the barracks and see if Mason wants me to do anything."

"Yep, I'll just be here enjoying the sun," Claudia replied.

"Lucky you," Louise remarked before she parted ways with Claudia and then began making her way back to the barracks, she thought long and hard about what she had to do next. Perhaps it would be better to be on patrol rather then lose herself thinking about Kirche's situation. It would be better for everyone and she wouldn't worry anyone either, with that in mind she was about to open the door to the barracks when it opened and slammed her backwards as a frantic Alexander came out.

"Oh there you are Louise I was just about to get you," Alexander said as Louise glared at him.

"Ever heard of checking before you open the door?" she asked holding her nose.

"Sorry, sorry. But we have big problems! A contingency of Confederacy troops is coming this way!"

"What! In broad daylight?"

"Exactly! That's why Mason wants us to investigate and see what they're up to."

"Alright I'm ready."

"Here's your rifle," as Louise took it before taking a vehicle that would take them to where they needed to be, "what's the plan then?"

"Everyone else is going to take defensive positions around the city, we've already beginning to take the civilians out to a safe zone, Mason's calling for reinforcements as well."

"What about squad 4? Are they going to help us?"

"Protocol says no, but Mason is calling them on."

"Good...because we need them."

"He's still refusing to let the prisoners go though..."

"That's alright we'll make do with what we have," Louise said as the truck dropped them off at a discreet location before peeling back towards the city. They would have to move fast because the Confederacy was going down on them faster then they expected, they needed to relay back what they saw to Mason so that he could mount a proper defence. Running into the trees they took advantage of the cover that it would provide them as they ran through the forest until they were able to see the Confederacy forces bearing down on them. Preparing the radio Louise relayed back what Alexander said as he began listing off the forces that they were to be expecting and where they were headed, it didn't sound good with at least five tanks and 50 infantry troops heading their way.

Even with two squads they would have a tough time fighting off the enemy forces and that's if they didn't have any other surprises. With their mission completed the two of them began to make their way back to the city, they couldn't risk using a truck since it would be visible to the enemy so they would have to make it on foot, it was a pain but the reason was quite reasonable not to mention that they would be able to spot anything else if they happened to run across them.

"Strange that the Confederacy would attack the town, why couldn't they have just go past it and leave us alone?" Alexander asked.

"Maybe they thought that it would be better to take this town, it is a border town and it would be much better to take this one so that they have a place to fall back to," Louise remarked.

"Maybe...I really wish that they stop hassling us and just start working on the other fronts," Alexander said.

"Then we be bored," Louise replied with a laugh.

"True that, but at least we wouldn't have bullets flying towards it."

The two of them continued to walk towards the city as they kept an eye out for anything suspicious as it seemed to be a straightforward attack, something the Confederacy is well known for because of their belief that a quick battle meant crushing everyone in their path with overwhelming firepower. Something that had cost them in various battles against the more tactically-minded Belfast military. Both of them were hoping that this time they would be able to repel the Confederacy troops as usual, they didn't want another town to be subjugated like Riang was. Finally after what seemed to be hours they arrived at the town as they then saw to their horror that most of the Belfast militia were already fighting.

"They couldn't have breached the walls this quickly could they?" Louise exclaimed.

"No that's not possible!" Alexander agreed. The two of them then went inside the town where sure enough there were Confederacy soldiers inside the town as their squad was fighting them, it was clear that they were ambushed as several of the members were wounded as Louise rushed to Alicia.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Markson is what happened," Alicia said, "bastard betrayed us!"

"Damn it!" Louise exclaimed, "Wait...what about Kirche then?"

"I don't know, we're busy fighting on two fronts now. Mason wants you to take several soldiers and take back the plaza, be careful because there are some Confederacy troops there hunkering down. But if you take them quick enough then you shouldn't have any problem with any of that."

Louise nodded as she grabbed Alexander along with a few other soldiers and coincidentally she also managed to grab Guiche and Tabitha along with her. Naturally Guiche was begging Louise to go save Kirche, but with her location deep in enemy territory she couldn't risk getting everyone killed just to save Kirche, "It's not that far from the prison, we can easily pierce through it!" Guiche argued.

"And get ripped to pieces by the machine gun fire? I don't think so Gramont, I'm sticking to the mission," Louise retorted.

"Damn it Kirche could be captured by the enemy and Founder knows what's being done to her, don't you have any sense of compassion at all?"

"My mission, my goal, is to make sure you all get out of this alive. I'm a Corporal now and I need to stick to what I've been told to do, the plaza is being overrun by enemies and right now that's how we're going to save this town. If we lose that then everything is going to be lost, so which one is more important? Kirche or the town?"

"Kirche is more important of course! Without her we're going to be lost!"

"Damn it Guiche I don't have time to argue with you!"

"Damn yourself Valliere I'm going to save her with or without you," as Guiche then left to go and rescue Kirche as Tabitha looked at Louise.

"Need to make sure both of them survive," she said before following Louise who was close to exploding and would have if it was not for Alexander.

"Deep breaths Louise, don't lose your judgement here, those two are going to be fine. Concentrate on the mission first before focusing on them," he said as she followed his advice and took a deep breath as the cloud in her head cleared up and she was able to concentrate.

"Alright I want half of you go to the sides and try to flank the enemy, the rest of us will draw their attention, when I give the signal throw grenades at their positions. Hopefully that will get them out of there and we can retake the plaza without too much trouble," she ordered as half of them went to the side and through a building as the rest followed Louise. The plaza wasn't that heavily defended yet owing to the fact that they just got there but there was a heavy concentration of machine gun fire forcing them to duck to cover, "Sniper take out those gunners, they'll tear apart our flankers if they catch them."

A sniper popped up and fired his rifle as the first gunner fell, before he took out another gunner, however his head was then blown away as Louise cursed herself, "Damn it we got a sniper," she said as they all ducked down.

"We can't advance with the sniper pinning us down," Alexander said, "we'll need to flank him."

"I know," Louise said as she turned on her radio, "hey do any of you guys got a shot at the sniper? It's the window of the house with the red roof."

"Affirmative Corporal, however we need some distraction so we can draw out the sniper, right now we can't get a bead on him at all," the soldier reported.

"Alright looks like I'm going to need to be bait then," Louise said.

"Why you?" Alexander asked.

"I'm not risking you guys, I'm the fastest remember? I can run around rings with those guys," Louise said.

"No way there's a sniper if you've forgotten, they're trained to take out scouts like us," Alexander said.

"I'll be fine Alexander, if I don't do anything we're going to be sitting here the entire day."

"At least two so the sniper won't know who to hit."

"Can't risk that, I'm going now."

"Please..."

"Alexander don't worry, I won't die," Louise said before she leaned in and kissed Alexander's cheek freezing the boy with shock as she smiled, "I'll be back soon. Alright I'm going to bait the Confederacies, make sure you take out that sniper! Understood?"

"Yes Corporal good luck," as Louise took a deep breath and moved out of her cover and ran to the first one, she ran as fast as she could as she could feel the sniper's scope on her as bullets flew passed her. Slamming into the ruin of a truck she called in as the soldiers reported that they nearly got the sniper, but couldn't take the shot, she then ran to the next cover as the sniper's bullet was getting closer.

"Come on...I can't do this the whole day," Louise said.

"We're working on it," the soldier said as Louise sighed trying to get her breath, there was the chance that Alexander might have the crazy idea of trying to save her and get himself shot; she couldn't bear to see him wounded or worst, it would completely shatter her apart or at the very least send her to guilt trip lane. She moved on to the previous cover as the sniper's bullet could almost be felt as she gritted her teeth, finally there was another bang as she dove to the cover, "Got him!" the soldier reported as Louise sighed in relief.

"Good job now make sure that you flank them now! We're going to do this together," Louise said as she gestured to the other soldiers to fall in as Alexander, now snapping out of his shock, was looking quite upset, "See told you that I would be able to do it," she said with a grin.

"T-that's not funny! You could have been shot! What would I have done then?" Alexander said trying to sound angry but failing as she giggled.

"You know that I'll always live, I'm Louise Valliere after all," Louise said and before Alexander could argue any further, "alright guys grenades on my mark," as she took out a grenade as the others did the same...after having the flanking unit distracting the Confederacy she then stood up, "mark!" as she pulled the pin and threw the grenade unseating all of the Confederacy soldiers out of their cover. They then charged in as the remaining Confederacy soldiers retreated from their position as they had lost any cover that they could use to fight back as the plaza was retaken from enemy hands.

However they would not be able to take any rest, even if they had unseated any of the enemies there were still the chance that enemy reinforcement would come back to take it back, Louise called in some backup as Alicia and several others came in to reinforce them, "What's the situation?"

"Better than before," Alicia said, "we managed to push them back a little, with you taking the plaza they won't be able to flank us while we're able to flank them."

"That is if we can still maintain this position, where's the backup from the military?" Louise asked.

"It'll take at least a day before they arrive," Alicia replied.

"Oh wonderful," Louise replied sarcastically.

"Where's that blonde haired guy and blue haired girl? Weren't they with you?"

"Went off to rescue Kirche."

"What! Alone?"

"Couldn't convince them, and they were just going to keep on harassing me until they got Kirche in their hands," Louise said, "I just hope they didn't do anything crazy..."

"The definition for trying to rescue a friend behind enemy line is crazy kiddo, go."

"Huh?"

"Go and rescue them, help them out, we'll be fine here. I doubt the Confederacy is going to attack this position anytime soon."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Go!" as Louise smiled and nodded.

"Be careful Alicia, I'm counting on you!" she said before running off.

"Shouldn't you go with her too?" Alicia asked Alexander as he shrugged.

"I think it'll be great for her to bond with the others," he said, "besides I'm sure she'll be fine on her own."

"Ah damn it!" Guiche said as he ducked as a barrage of machine gun fire rippled above him, "We're not getting anywhere at this rate!"

Tabitha was forced to move cover as the rubble she was using was turned to dust as she ran to the next one and tried to snipe the gunners, however they were concentrating on her as Guiche wasn't able to draw their fire due to his cowardice, "Guiche...draw their fire," she said.

"Are you crazy? They'll tear me apart!" Guiche said as Tabitha sighed, maybe they had been better off following Louise, at least with her she would be able to have another partner helping her out. By now they were unable to move backwards or forwards as there was no cover to cover their retreat and they were nothing more than sitting ducks as their cover was whittling to nothing. Then a loud explosion echoed behind the gunners as they were killed by a grenade, peeking over to see who it was she was surprised to find Louise there shooting at them as Tabitha didn't waste any time as she began sniping.

"Valliere? What she doing here?" Guiche asked dumbly.

"Be quiet and start shooting," Tabitha said as Guiche whimpered but did as he was told as he began shooting back at the enemy as they began to retreat as Louise kept throwing grenades to throw them off.

When all of them had sufficiently retreated the three of them met up, "When did you get here?" Guiche asked.

"Just now, finished with the plaza already," Louise said tightening her eyepatch, it was already starting to itch but she couldn't afford to go and get it fixed, it'll take too long she just needed to hold out till then. "Come on let's go and rescue Kirche, we'll look in the prison first there's still a chance that she's still there."

"And if she's not?" Guiche asked, "Where do we look then?"

"I...I don't know..." Louise said, she really didn't know where else to look save for the enemy ranks, was there a chance that Markson asked Kirche to join them? She would refuse outright since she still had a demeanor of a noblewoman, but with the war who knows if Kirche had changed, would she take the easy way out of the war and join the other side? She dreaded having to face Kirche and dreaded even more with having to kill her if that happened.

"You don't know?" Guiche exclaimed, "How could you not know?"

"Hey it's not easy trying to figure out what happened alright!"

"But if she got captured by the enemy-"

"Then she's a POW and we'll work from that angle, but for now we have to go with our best lead," as the trio continued to work their way to the prison, it wasn't that much of a fight since they had driven the Confederacy back and with the plaza gone they would be stretched thin fighting two fronts with the other part of the Belfast military engaging them on the main streets. The prison was empty when they got there, there was no sign of anyone, the guards were also dead as Louise hoped that Kirche was still in there, "Kirche! Kirche are you here?" Louise shouted.

"Here," a small voice said as Louise followed the voice until she arrived in some sort of storage room as there were barrels all around the place as she found Kirche hiding away in the corner, "oh thank Brimir it's you Valliere, I thought it was one of Markson's men," Kirche said hugging the pink-haired girl.

"So he really did betray us?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, bastard been working with the Confederacy for some time now, he was going to give the town to them in exchange for money and protection. Tried to rope me in as well, but I got my pride as a Zerbst!"

"That's the only saving grace for you it seems," Louise said as Kirche bopped her on the head, "ouch that hurt!"

"A-anyways what's going on? Has the Confederacy taken over the town?"

"We wouldn't be here if that happened, no we're fighting back but it'll take at least a day for reinforcements to arrive."

"A day? We'll be overrun by then!"

"No choice, it's do or die, now come on I'm taking you back."

"A-alright," Kirche said as she met up with Guiche and Tabitha with the latter looking quite glad to see her while Tabitha merely smiled.

"Thanks Valliere...I owe you," Kirche said.

"Yeah your welcome," Louise said as a booming echo alerted her to the fact that there was still a battle going on, "now come on we still have a fight to win."