Epilogue
On the bridge of the GMS Behemoth, General Roce lifted his mask to scratch at his forehead. Last time he'd been in this part of the world, he'd been a raw lieutenant who'd watched most of his best friends die, and he'd sworn never to come back. And now he was part of breeding the next generation of embittered, bloody veterans. Total losses so far had come in at 1878 lives, just under half of the command he'd brought. Against any other force but SeeD, that would be an utter disaster, but while it was more than he'd hoped, the figure was less than he'd feared.
The Galbadians had lost the battle. But then, they could never really have beaten SeeD. Which was why they'd never been intended to. Two initial waves, to make the SeeDs angry, then a battle between the Gardens. A serious assault from Galbadia would've involved something more like thirty or so X-ATMs through the main gate. When the Galbadians inevitably lost, they retreated not back into their own Garden where a siege could develop, but away into the forest, splitting the enemy forces long enough to be able to disengage relatively intact. SeeD would naturally prioritise G-Garden over pursuing an already routed army. G-Garden would be lousy with monsters at this point, which would delay SeeD, but the Galbadian army had just shoved two hundred and fifty blood hungry SeeDs down Edea's throat. If she didn't choke on that, nothing could stop her. The military had managed to come up with a plan in which they couldn't possibly lose, so long as they could avoid being killed to the last man. The worst case scenario was that Edea somehow suborned all of SeeD to her will, but even that would only unite the entire world against her, not to mention close the generation gap in the Galbadian army.
The apparent abject failure would hit morale hard, but SeeDs command would eventually realise that the Galbadian army hadn't struck them nearly as hard as they could have chosen to. And SeeD would understand the message.
We're capable of more, and we know where to find you now. Here, chew on the sorceress, and leave us the fuck alone, or be prepared to face the consequences.
Threat, peace offering, show of force, and warning, all rolled up into a neat, bloody little package.
Now I'll find out if it was worth it or not…
There was a flash of white in the trees, and the General tapped his visor to zoom in.
"Looks like Seifer made it." He was in bad shape, basically being carried by that friend with the staff. A nearby engineer sighted down the length of a Gatling gun. "Sir?"
General Roce hesitated, then shook his head. "Not yet."
A rowboat –admittedly low tech, but reliable. Galbadia had never really been a naval power– soon brought Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin aboard. They didn't delay in reporting to him.
"You failed, General."
"Where's Edea? I should apologise in person."
Almasy shook his head slightly, a gash across one cheek tearing with the movement.
Yes! "I'm sorry to hear that her protection was inadequate, Sorceress' Knight." Almasy's face twisted.
"Yes… your army broke like the chickens they always were. Why shouldn't I kill you now?"
"Adel used to do that, as I recall. Not the best way build loyalty. Also, we know where Ellone is. Now, no one ever gave us a description, but a girl the right age in an unknown vessel that was willing to throw herself on the mercy of Esthar to get away from us sounds pretty suggestive."
"Why didn't you engage?"
"Because that would involve starting a war, and the captain refused to go down in history as opening that can of worms again. If Ellone's in Esthar, she's out of reach, Commander. There'll be a mutiny if you even suggest an invasion. I guarantee it."
"When did you grow a spine?"
"Amazing what you can find if you need it."
Seifer scrubbed at his jaw.
"No war. Not after this. I was thinking of doing a construction project. Maybe your armies can handle that."
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In the Galbadian Press Office in Deling City, the department head set down the page in his hand. He looked up at his subordinates.
"Alright, the army's done their part, the next move belongs to us. Print all of the gory detail, the army will take a beating, but anyone can see the smoking crater where the missile base used to be, we're not attacking innocents."
There was more than one way to fight a war.
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Thrustaevis glanced up at the knock. There was nobody expected. Glancing through the porthole, she noted a pair of unfamiliar uniformed soldiers and an envelope.
She took a breath, counted to five, and opened the door.
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Rose Misin put down the newpaper, and picked up a pen.
Dear Headmaster Cid,
When I sent my son to you for a military education, a full scale pitched battle with the Galbadian military was not what I meant. I am henceforth withdrawing him from Garden with immediate effect…
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Several weeks later…
Kersan Kamalian broke off from shooting fireballs into the pond at a footfall behind her.
"Who's there?"
"A friend."
"...All my friends are dead."
"Then a friend of a friend."
Pause.
"You're… Thrustaevis, right?"
"That's right."
"I'm sorry about your brother. When he wasn't depressed or angry, he wasn't a bad guy."
"Yeah." Pause. "I guess I should have got him some better magic."
Kersan stood. "It doesn't work like that. You can't collect a hundred coins and earn an extra life. I've known people who were in my class at G-Garden, training to excel for thirteen years, go down just as easily as people who've been shouted at by a drill sarge for three weeks."
Silence. Then: "You trained at G-Garden?"
"Yep. That's why they didn't trust me to fight in the Clash. Conflicted loyalties or something."
"And were they?"
"No. Killing is killing." Ker finally turned around. "So, did you come to ask me something or did you just need a friend?"
"I've been thinking over the past few weeks… With the border to Esthar open again, Doc Odine is advertising for paid interns."
"You want to be interned at OdiLabs?"
"Internship, not internment. If I can figure out how the tech works, I can buy the rights to introduce it on this continent while everyone else is waiting for the Lunar Cry to die down."
"What does your Dad say?"
"He says it's fine as long as I sabotage every project I'm assigned to. I was born in that lab, so I'm technically an Esthari citizen. They can't keep me out if they want to, and with so many dead in the Cry, they've a labour shortage anyway. B-Garden's over there now doing culls, it should be fairly safe, but I'll still need a bodyguard. So…"
"You want to subcontract me from the army? Do you have a Galbadian birth cert too?"
"Dad made sure of it. He's really a very farsighted man."
"Huh. Okay, well, personal protection shouldn't be a problem for a citizen, it's not like the Paras are overworked anyway. You are aware that I can't guarantee your safety?"
"Of course."
Ker grinned. "…Then I'm in. Let's go change the world."
And that's all, folks! Well, that took a long time, but I think it turned out better for the delay. I'm not quite happy with everything in it, but I still think this isn't a bad work overall. I realise that a fic this long focused on one OC soldier runs the risk of Sueness and maybe that's what happened here, but it wasn't actually my intention. I was trying to write the life of somebody ordinary, not a genius, not an imbecile, not a destroyer of worlds, not a bumbling incompetent. Don't know how well it worked. Anyway, thanks to everyone who read this far, I really do appreciate it. Please review, compliments not compulsory.
