{ === + === }

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[Skies over Valm]

.

Three figures sit on a slightly blobby dragon. And then goes into a bar. They hit their teeth. Joke over.

"Hmm." Aversa mutters after checking Robin's eyes like an optometrist. "Doesn't look like there're any major issues."

Validar was not exactly pleased by her musing. "You expected there to be problems?"

"Well." Aversa waves at Robin, and Robin takes a far more comfortable-looking sitting position (compared to sitting up rigidly-straight). "We're using a marionette type spell that we've only theorized, so I expected some complications."

Validar fires a small wisp of wind at Robin's hair, eliciting no response. "I imagine removing her ability to reason decreased those complications." He smirks.

"Greatly." Aversa opened her hand for Robin, who dutifully placed hers in the open palm. "Of course, if she can't reason, then she can't talk freely…but it's not like that has stopped us before." She moves her mouth as if exercising it and Robin mimics each action like a mirror.

Validar had a sudden thought. "I imagine the loss of her cognition will not impact her duties as the vessel." He did not pose a question.

"The role of the vessel relies upon her blood, not her mind." Aversa shrugs. "The biggest loss with Robin as a marionette is her superior tactical abilities…though her strength itself should prove to be viable regardless of the situation."

"So she's a thug instead of a supercombatant, huh?" Validar said in a low tone. Aversa didn't catch that.

Instead, she messes with Robin's hair in a manner resembling an older sister teasing a younger one. "If we ever find it appropriate to send her out as a fighter, then our plans would have gone terribly awry." She says with a small laugh.

Validar notes a Risen serpent stray close to their dragon and blast it out of the sky with a well-aimed Nosferatu. "I would imagine so. Do you know anything about these serpents?" He idly examines the purple smoke swirling about his hand.

"It was quite a surprise when they came out." Aversa shakes her head. "They've been superceding the instantiation for those impressively durable Risen Generals, and they've been rather difficult to control. Perhaps the rules were changed at some point?"

Validar strokes his chin in thought. "Is that even possible?"

"We never believed in a solid body constructed out of magic before we started." Aversa reminds him. "Nothing is impossible within the eyes of Grima."

Even so. Validar's mind wanders off as Aversa fusses over Robin's robes. For a law that we considered fundamental to have changed so suddenly…perhaps it's a sign that we need to beware of our step.

[Akatsuki, Deck]

It took the Akatsuki two days to sail from the pickup point in Valm back to the Port City. They were chased by Risen fliers the whole way.

Lissa hit her breaking point about three hours into the first day. In retaliation, she brought down a Risen Wyvern Lord with her hammer and had pounded it into smithereens while puncturing each hammer stroke with a very loud "Stop! Coming! After! Us!"

She freaked a lot of people out.

"Alright." The Captain of the Ship decided to ask some much needed questions during their first night. "Can somebody tell me how we lost both the Lord of the Coasts and the Prince of Ylisse within the timespan of five minutes?"

"He's not dead though." Vaike said. "Chrom, I mean."

The Captain gave him a withering look. "You had to bring him in on a goddamn stretcher. The fact that he's not dead is a blessing upon blessings."

"We do not conclusively know if the Lord of the Coasts has died, either." Laurent chips in.

"Robin shot Chrom in the chest." Fredrick snaps. "If that isn't proof I don't know what is."

Technically that doesn't qualify as proof… Laurent chose not to voice that thought.

"Why did Robin betray the lot of you?" The captain demands. "From what I heard, Chrom and the Boss valued her quite highly."

"On that, we haven't the faintest idea." Miriel sighs. "Some event occurred while the two of them were alone that caused Robin to drastically alter her allegiance."

"Maybe the boss made a fat joke?" Cynthia wonders, earning herself a smack on the back of the head from Severa. "Owie."

"Read the mood." Severa growls.

"It is more likely that the two accompanying Robin were the culprit to her switch." Miriel says, ignoring Cynthia's little quip. "With that in mind, it's also entirely possible that Robin has been placed under a form of control."

"I'm well aware of what control looks like, Miriel." Fredrick replies harshly. "Robin's movements were far too fluid for her to be under some form of control. She's doing this out of her own will."

"Darling." Cordelia says as a warning.

Fredrick blinks quickly then lets out a soft sigh. "My apologies, Miriel. I do not mean to use you as a scapegoat for my own shortcomings."

"It is a trying time for all of us." Miriel doesn't take offense. "Let us then discuss the future, now that the situation has changed so drastically."

"The Future…" Laurent repeats slowly. Then has an epiphany. "Oh. Shit."

That little outburst got everyone's attention.

"Something we should know about?" Brady asks cautiously.

"Grima." Laurent breathes.

Everyone in attendance meets his response with blank looks. Eventually some of them (namely, the future kids) understood what Laurent meant.

"Ah, fuck." Brady was first in line. Maribelle bopped him on the head for language, but he ignored it. "You really think Chrom won't recover in time?"

"Wait. What do you mean, 'in time'?" Fredrick scowls.

Laurent adjusts his glasses. "It depends highly on how much time we have." He says to Brady, then addresses Fredrick. "Sir Fredrick, I believe you have been briefed on the eventual goal of the Grimleal."

"That we have." Fredrick nods, then glances at the ship captain, as if questioning his security clearance.

"Grimleals are after the restoration of Grima." The captain said matter-of-factly. "The boss briefed all of the ship captains just in case we needed to take independent action."

"As expected of the Boss." Laurent nods. "For Grima to be defeated, two conditions must be met."

"Excuse me." Cordelia held up a hand. "What do you mean, 'defeated'?" She looks around to see her shock being shared by many of the Shepherds. "It's a given we're going to fight…whatever form Grima takes?"

Laurent falls silent, thinking furiously.

"Within our timeline, it was a given." Laurent finally replied. "I'm simply extrapolating from that data."

Most in attendance read that to mean 'I'm trying to be civil but yes he's coming.'

"So be it." Cordelia pinches the bridge of her nose. "Good lord…ok, so how do we kill a god dragon?"

"You guy seem oddly ok with this." The captain grumbles.

"We had two options." Laurent says and immediately notes Cordelia's face going sour. "That's correct. Our two options were Robin and Chrom."

"Not Ash?" Miriel can't help but ask.

Laurent shakes his head. "In our timeline…boss was capable of many things. Killing a god was not one of them, despite his best efforts."

"Then again, it's not like he had the time or resources to try." Brady adds with a sad laugh. "He had…what, one shot at taking it down? And that was after we'd lost most of the two continents already."

Fredrick felt cold to his stomach. "How would Robin and his highness factor into this?"

"Robin is…similar, to Grima." Laurent said hesitatingly, realizing a touch too late that he may have obliterated any possibility of Robin being reconciled with the Shepherds, if such an event ever came to pass in the first place. "Boss…er, the Future's Boss…explained it as a '1 minus 1 equals zero' phenomenon."

"Cancel each other out, eh?" Vaike nods. "Makes sense."

No less than eight people went 'really?' at Vaike's statement. Not that his statement had logical errors, but more at the fact that, y'know, it was Vaike.

"Though as we can see, with Robin's current allegiance there are problems with that plan." Laurent politely understates.

"So what's the deal with Chrom? His blood?" Lissa asks. "Because if that's the case, then…" She gestures to herself.

Laurent frowns. "It's…as I am speaking in the past tense, I simply do not have enough data on hand to make a calculated judgment." He bows slightly. "However, it is our belief that Chrom has major blood, which is indicated by the presence of the Brand, and is required."

Lissa makes a face. "Bleh." Her lack of a brand being no secret.

"So…is Chrom being injured damaging to his blood or something?" Vaike asks. "Y'know, apart from it coming out of him."

Brady jumps in. "I can answer that." He says as he absentmindedly tosses a heal orb with his hand. "When we did our work on Chrom, I ran some tests for status effects…y'know, poison, silence, that kind of stuff. Whatever Robin shot him with, it was tainted."

"Tain…ted?" Maribelle repeats as she scans her brain for some similar affliction. "I'm not quite sure I understand. Did she poison his blood?"

"I don't think that's possible with a magical attack." Laurent shakes his head. "Robin's attack against Chrom was simply too powerful and too coarse."

"Yet another sign that Robin may have not been in full control of her abilities." Brady adds. "I can't imagine Robin of all people overloading a cast."

Miriel understood, but the looks of confusion among the Shepherds who don't use magic all that often prodded her to explain. "Spell overloading occurs when the caster places too much power into a spell without properly utilizing it." She says. "It occurs most often during a mage's formative years, but is quite rare nevertheless; it's not often a budding mage has the excess power to cause such an effect to occur…in addition, the excess magic is often bled out into the surrounding air before reaching a target, regardless of distance."

"That was why I was a bad mage when I first started." Ricken notes.

Brady nods. "Whatever Robin shot, it was messy. The remaining magic of her shot definitely went into our prince there."

"Going by the amount swirling in his body, I'm gonna say it wasn't an accident." Brady adds. "And as dumb as it sounds, to fuck up a cast that badly takes skill."

"Really?" Three different people ask at the same time.

"Yeah." Brady nods. "And mages with more skill are less likely to screw up in the first place. I'm betting Robin can cast the entire thunder line of spells in her sleep…that kind of mastery can't be undone just by losing focus."

"Then we can theorize with reason that the two accompanying Robin were pulling the strings." Miriel muses. "Regardless, how does this factor into Chrom's…state?"

Laurent figured that explaining Chrom's victory as 'sealing Grima' would take too much additional explanation with no real gain. "In order for Chrom to destroy Grima he needs to undergo an Awakening Ritual."

"And he can't do the Awakening Ritual with Robin's magic running in his veins. It'll kill him, no questions asked." Brady grunts. "Eventually it'll bleed out, but…"

Miriel understood. "…We may not have that long."

Lissa pouts. "And I guess I don't qualify? What about Emm?"

"Not in a million years." Brady said sadly. "Her Eminence might work, though."

As a last ditch effort, Princess Lissa of our timeline underwent the Awakening. Laurent remembers. It was an abject failure. As for Emmeryn…"The goal of the ritual is to strengthen the bond between the Falchion and the wielder. Though her eminence may be able to complete the ritual, she lacks the required close combat skills that a battle against Grima would entail."

"Grr." Lissa pouts. "I hate having minor blood."

"Major? Minor?" Donnel isn't following. "Uh…"

"It's a bit of a long story." Miriel says and pulls Donnel off to explain it at length, much to Donnel's alarm. Miriel could be quite longwinded at times.

"Regardless, with one move they took out two, likely three of our possible avenues of approach against Grima." Laurent rubs his temples. "What a disaster."

"Can't we just shoot it until it stops moving?" The captain of the ship asks.

His question earned a sad, knowing smile from all of the future children in attendance.

After the two days of travel, the Akatsuki pulled into port. The Shepherds could see that the city had seen better days: many houses seemed to have mysteriously burned down, there was noise of a combative nature coming from the walls, and supplies, mainly ammunition, were being moved constantly through the streets. The sight that attracted most attention was, of course, the Hibiki being dry-docked with wood and metal being constantly shipped into it.

"Whoa." Was Cynthia's first response upon disembarking. "Who died this time?"

SMACK from Severa.

"I was kidding." Cynthia rubs the back of her head. "Hey! Hey!" She caught a familiar face on the docks. "Morgan! Mooorgan!" She yells while running full tilt towards said familiar face.

'Morgan' turns around. "Um…?"

"Ah." Cynthia gasps while skidding to a halt. "Wrong person. Uh…?" She had forgotten names.

"Kite." Kite waves. "Did you need Morgan for something?"

"Yes!" Cynthia yells, attracting a lot of attention. "We need to do the talky talky."

Weird girl. Kite thinks (perhaps hypocritically). "Sure." She flips her radio. "Morgan? Cynthia's home."

"The way you said that makes me worry." Morgan replies with a sigh. "Understood, I'll be there as soon as I'm done here." Morgan returns to his duties of reinforcing a massive gap in the city's wall with barriers made of wood.

"Is she always like this?" Cordelia asks Severa as they watch Cynthia bounce off to find Morgan per Hawk's directions.

"She's more fragile than she lets on." Severa replies in a huff. "It's just how she deals with it."

"And you…?" Cordelia can't help but ask.

Severa doesn't answer and instead watches Sumia stubbornly carry Chrom off the boat (with Fredrick's help) despite his protests.

"I don't know how I should feel about this." Chrom says confusedly as Sumia princess-cradles him out of sight. He is bigger than she is.

"You should feel blessed, milord." Fredrick consoles him.

"I have my ways." Severa says after that weird procession leaves her line of sight.

Cordelia couldn't help but pat Severa's head, much to the tsundere's annoyance. "Shopping?"

Severa huffs and switches her focus to the Hibiki under repair.

Was there a place for her to shop during her timeline, though? Cordelia wondered.

"What happened to the Hibiki?" Severa asks Hawk.

"It got beaten up." Kite replies tersely, already busying herself with a long list of tasks. "Ask the captain if you're that interested."

Severa raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you friendly today." She was slightly looking for a fight.

Kite is immensely distracted and does not answer.

Severa then homes in on the sound of combat outside the walls. "Why is this city under siege? Who's sieging?"

"Risen." Kite replies. "They've been hitting us next to nonstop. Thanks to the guns, we're keeping them at bay, but…"

"…But if what's happening is what I think is happening, then the situation's far from bright." Severa mutters. "Who's the current garrison commander?"

Kite's reply was a very distracted "Now that you guys are back the commander of city defense would be Ash."

Severa froze.

"So…" Kite noticed her freeze. "…where is he?"

"Welcome back…" Emmeryn says to Chrom, then trails off as she watch Sumia awkwardly maneuver him through the door. "…did something happen?"

Chrom laughs. "My dear Sumia is being very stubborn."

Sumia pouts. "My dear Chrom got himself badly injured."

Emmeryn, a diplomat, is able to pick out the slightest abnormalities in a person's manner of speech. "What happened in Valm?" She asks calmly. "And why do we seem to be missing some key members of the expedition?"

"Yeah." Chrom sighs heavily and Sumia lets him stand on his own. "About that."

One quick debrief later.

"At the very least, it would seem that Walhart's goals are aligned with ours." Emmeryn says, looking for the silver lining. "Fortunate."

"It is a very small respite in a desert of miseries." Fredrick sighs. "And I see this city has had its own share of issues."

Emmeryn nods sadly. "Issues that will undoubtedly compound in the future."

Chrom picks an empty chair. "Sister, has this city been under attack the whole time we were gone?"

Emmeryn notes that Chrom's move to sit was rather wobbly, as if his knees couldn't withstand his own weight. "First by a Valmese army, and now by the Risen, yes." She replies. "The technologies the Phoenix provides have proven themselves to be a very welcome equalizer against the Risen's unrelenting numbers."

"And now the Risen have swarmed the Valmese capital as well." Fredrick says. "I cannot shake the feeling that we're at the edge of a precipice, and there's no means for us to stop our fall."

"Maybe if you lightened up a little things will get better." Lissa mumbles.

Emmeryn saw Fredrick's point. "We've already started to receive refugees from nearby villages." She says. "I fear it may be as you say, Sir Fredrick."

They're not going to give us time to rest. Chrom scowls inwardly. "Is there a plan for this? I'm worried about Ylisse if Risen are appearing in such numbers."

"I believe our plan called for a withdrawal from Valm at the end of the campaign." Emmeryn says. "If events unfold as I expect, then we'll need to wait for the transport ships to arrive with new supplies before arranging a convoy to retreat."

"Can't we just get some Valm ships and call it a day?" Lissa asks.

Chrom smiles slightly. "If I'm reading my sister correctly, she's worried that the Valmese transport ships will not be enough."

"I'm worried that, without the Phoenix's Destroyers at their full strength, we will not be able to protect the transports." Emmeryn says with a small nod. "I've no desire to send our troops home in coffins."

"We will also assist with the defense effort, naturally." Chrom says, before catching a very dubious look from Sumia. "What?"

"Dear, can you really fight in your current state?" Sumia asks him.

"No problem." Chrom says with a confident grin.

The confident grin very quickly melts under Emmeryn's knowing smile.

"Please ensure that my dear little brother doesn't do anything he will come to regret in the future." Emmeryn says to Sumia with a polite bow.

"Yes, your eminence." Sumia replies with an equally polite bow. "I shall ensure that my dear husband takes good care of himself as he recovers."

"I can see I don't get a say in this." Chrom sighs. "How long until I 'recover', Lisse?"

"You're better off asking Miriel or Brady." Lisse sighs along with him. "But my guess is…three weeks, at the earliest. She gave us one hell of a going away present." Lissa then adds in a very low voice. "That bitch."

Unforunately for her Emmeryn heard.

"What's with the noise at this hour?" A somewhat angry Ninya demands, looking for all the world like she just crawled out of bed.

Spoilers: she did. Plus, given that the small inn they're commandeered is comfortable and the only other occupants include Emmeryn and a handful of serving maids (aka no men in sight), she is now basically stumbling out of bed in only her undies.

It seems that being in a position of command has changed her personality somewhat. Chrom has an embarrassed smile on his face as he averts his eyes. Or is this how she truly is?

"Hey, Emm." Ninya waves sleepily. "Is Yen back yet?"

Emmeryn smiles and shakes her head. "Yen'fay is still on post. You're a little late, Commander Nina."

"It's fine, ain't it?" Ninya yawns harder. "Not like there was critical need for me to be active anyways."

"Erm. Post?" Lissa raises her hand. "What?"

"Oh…welcome back, Lisse. Me and Yen" Ninya woke up long enough to realize that, yes, Chrom was in attendance and yes, she was not properly dressed. She paused for a good three seconds before giving a very Ash-like 'eh, fuck it' shrug. "Me and Yen'Fay are acting as garrison commanders. I watch the day shift, Yen watch the night shift. Blame the Risen for it, I guess."

"Uh, that's…" Chrom thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't quite put a finger on it. "Who's Yen'Fay, if I may be so bold to ask?"

"Huh? Oh." Ninya figured now would be a good time to start getting dressed. "Yen'Fay's the prince of Chon'Sin. He tried to siege us down and then we beat his ass so hard he became a good guy."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not what happened?" Lissa laughs.

Ninya grins. "Truthfully, Her Eminence managed to talk him down after the siege came to a standstill, and then the Risen showed up, so we formed an ad-hoc alliance. The remnants of his troops are helping us man the walls and run patrols."

"Ah…wait, how long has this city been under attack by Risen?" Chrom's hand flies to his Falchion by instinct.

"Um." Ninya counts her fingers. "Eight days so far?"

It took the Akatsuki five days to reach Valm (following the coast while being careful against natural obstacles) and two to come back (run from the Risen at full power). That second reason is also why the Akatsuki's being pulled into docks for maintenance despite having sustained superficial combat damage.

"Either way, it's working out well, though our outer defense line is in shambles." Ninya says lightly. "By the way, Chrom…er, Lord Chrom. If you're back from Valm, then that means Boss is back too. Is he on the Enterprise already? He's obviously not here."

"Erm." Chrom and Lissa share an uncomfortable glance.

Ninya absentmindedly fixes her hair. "I can't imagine him being anything but brash and loud after he gets home. I also have letters of complaint from the Holloween girls…something about the world being unfair." She shrugs. "Plus there's the issue of the chain of command…ugh. So many things."

She's finally wake enough to catch the body language of the Ylissean royalty, and there was a brief, tense war of attempted and evaded eye contact.

"I see." She says after that minute of cold silence. "Excuse me."

Lissa follows Ninya's forcibly calm exit with her eyes. "Maybe it would've been better if we said something?" She says, sounding doubtful.

"Given how long she knew him, was there anything we could have said that she would have believed?" Chrom sighs.

[Skies outside of Port City Boundaries, 2 Hours Later]

"This is neverending~" Fulcrum One sings. "This whole thing is neverending~"

"Captain, if you have the time to sing about your troubles you should take that time and shoot your gun more." Fulcrum Two replies conversationally while putting three rounds into a Risen Wyvern.

"Doesn't make it any less neverending." Fulcrum One insists. "This is plain stupid, too."

"I guess the captain didn't listen to the briefing." Ful Four sighs.

"Not that." Fulcrum One replies hurriedly (because she actually didn't listen to said briefing). "It's just…things are going to hell in a handbasket, so we should be taking care of our own house."

"That may be, but…" Ful Two saw some a wagon on the ground being chased by Risen. "Runners on the ground. We gonna abandon them?"

Ful One sighs. "Point taken. Squadron, move for sweep." She fires a flare into the air, alerting the nearby Valm squadrons to provide support against the Risen Wyverns still attempting to eat them alive.

"This would be so much easier if they had riders we could unseat." Ful Two laments while the ten Valmese Riders skewer the Risen Wyvern diving in.

The squadron takes itself down to low altitude—to the point of almost skimming the ground—and approach the wagon head-on at high speed.

"I see six Cavaliers chasing." Ful Three says. "I'll get the back ones."

"I'll get the front ones then." Ful Four levels her rifle. "Arranging for run."

Fulcrums one and two pull up slightly and slow down, allowing Three and Four to take the lead. The flight of four Pegasus Knights zoomed over the wagon and its occupants, drawing the eyes of the wagon's occupants with their engine's roars. The instant they were past the wagon, Fulcrums Three and Four opened fire on the chasing Risen cavalry and tore them to shreds.

Well, almost.

"Dammit, I missed one." Ful Three seethes as the missed cavalier continues to chase after the wagon.

"Seriously?" Ful One takes the tightest turn possible and wheel around. "Work on your damn marksmanship!"

She notices the cavalier toss a Javelin and snipe both it and the rider down with some well-placed shots from her rifle.

"Not all of us were born Snipers, captain." Fulcrum Three grumbles while the flight reorganizes. They make an extra ceremonial pass over the wagon (and do a little waving to the children aboard it).

"And not all of us were born fliers." Fulcrum One replies snidely. "So at least shoot straight."

"You're never gonna stop holding that against me, are you?" Ful Three sighs. "Also, how many refugees is that now?"

"This makes the tenth wagon we've seen this morning." Ful Four reports. "Though this is the first one that wasn't burned."

"Yay." Ful Three deadpans. "So that makes…" she counts the wagon's occupants quickly. "Fifteen? We saved today."

"Four families, by the looks of things." Ful Four adds. "The Risen aren't letting up either. What's Ninya thinking, telling us to patrol out this far?"

"The less they're throwing at our wall, the better." Ful One says. ""sides, the Akatsuki's back today, so we'll probably get new orders."

"You think?" Ful Two sounds doubtful. "Did you not see Magna's reaction when the boat came back?"

Ful One's reply was just a bit morose. "More like the lack of one."

Magna (Ash's Wyvern) had spared the Akatsuki one glance before going back into the depressed torpor it's had for the past two days. Most of the Wyvern Riders had a good idea of what this meant, and most of the Pegasus Knights could infer well enough.

"If…erm." Ful Two found the subject matter a little touchy. "If Magna's intuition is right, what do we do?"

Fulcrum One was a bit more professional. "If the Boss is actually dead, then technically we'd be obligated to return to Ferox, as we're knights under his command, not the Phoenix's."

"Raise of hands, who's actually going to transfer out if that happens?" Ful Two says.

"Nope." Said all four (in some fashion or another).

"Though it won't really be up to us." Ful One continues. "If Basilio or Flavia demands that we return would we really be in a position to refuse?"

"Without the boss leading it, the Phoenix's primary attraction—and political guardian—is gone." Ful Two agrees. "And I don't think anybody's gonna pass on the chance of getting their hands on our gear."

"I'm pretty sure Ninya's learned enough from the Boss, though?" Ful Three says. "At the very least, she's going to guard the military secrets with an iron fist."

"Remember that the entire reason the Boss was able to build up the Phoenix in the first place is because of him leveraging his Plegia Victory Spoils with Basilio." Fulcrum One reminds them.

"I know, I know." Ful Four sighs. "Father called him a glory-stealing dimwit when I got the transfer note… didn't stop him from telling me to get into his pants, though."

"Hey, that sounds familiar." Ful Two laughs. "Big sis did too. She gave me her transfer note, actually."

"That explains more than I care to hear about." Ful One snarks.

Fulcrum two goes "hey!"

"Either way, if the Boss really bit it, the Phoenix will go down." Ful One grumbles. "It's just a matter of months at that point."

"Doesn't sound like you're happy about that." Ful Three notes.

"Of course not." Fulcrum One replies defiantly. "I love getting preferential treatment."

"Our spoiled captain, ladies and gentlemen." Ful Two snickers.

"The hell are you guys discussing down there?" The entire squadron hears someone yelling into their ears.

The Fulcrum flight has done nothing but coast at low altitude and chat for a while now.

"Sorry, sorry." Fulcrum One apologizes. "We'll go back to the party in a second." Her squadron engages their engines and begins climbing.

"Sheesh." Rafale Leader grouses, while doing her job of fighting the airborne Risen.

The conversation between the Fulcrum squadron was echoed (in content if not format) between all troops within the Port City as it became more and more obvious that a certain loudmouthed leader of the army did not return on the boat sent to recover said loudmouthed leader.

The leaders of the Alliance thus issued the statement that "Phoenix Company leader Ash is currently missing in action." Which understandably didn't help morale much, but at least it stopped the rumor mill from generating any more unnecessary panic.

"Better question is: where do we go from here?" Basilio asks at the general staff meeting. "I think it's a given that we pack up our things and go home, though."

"That much is certain." Fredrick (acting as Chrom's representative) nods. "However, I imagine there will be outcry if we were to leave without some key players in our party."

"Like the Speaker." Basilio grunts. "What is that girl thinking?"

"What we need right now is more information." Emmeryn says. "While it is certain that our army will return to our homeland, the state of Valm is currently uncertain."

"So we need to find out, right?" Ninya, already in a poor mood, replies with an edge in her voice.

"If the worst case scenario occurs and we must retreat, then I wish to leave none behind." Emmeryn nods.

"Done." Ninya leaps to her feet and leaves the meeting room.

Flavia waits until Ninya's footsteps can no longer be heard. "My, she's touchy today."

"Can you blame her?" Basilio laughs. "Her boss boyfriend isn't here anymore."

Flavia bops Basilio on the head. "You insensitive buffoon. Either way, let her worry about recon. We can worry about what to do with the information once it gets here."

"So I guess we're heading out?" Gripen One grins. "Right? New boss?"

Ninya threw a punch.

Given that she had only basic combat training and Gripen Leader is now (just by counting kills alone) a Falco Knight promoted several times over, it wasn't that dangerous for her.

"Hey." Gripen One doesn't drop her grin after catching Ninya's fist. "If you're going to be this stressed out just because we lack info, then the next few months are gonna break you."

Ninya just scowls and seethes. "Whatever." She does retract her fist, though. "Gripen squadron is hereby tasked for long range recon."

"Ick." Gripen One made a face. "Would it have been better if I let you hit me?"

"No." Ninya replies tersely. "Use the spare blackbird engines and pack light. Your objectives are the Mila Tree, the Valmese Capital…as well as Chon'Sin and any major cities if you can fit it into your flight plan."

"So we need to split into two, huh?" Gripen One now made a disgusted face. "Are we that shorthanded?"

Ninya may be holding a grudge. "If the worst case scenario comes to pass, then yes."

"And why us and not the Blackbirds?" Gripen One asked with a small smile.

"I need them for theatre support." Ninya replied with a small creepy smile of her own. "You guys, on the other hand…"

"Oh, so harsh." Gripen One theatrically clasps her hands over her heart. "We'll be back before you know it. Though…" Her cheerful grin faded. "Might be good to be mentally prepared, just in case."

At dawn of the next day, the Gripen Squadron—lightly armed, unarmored, and equipped with engines retooled to go fast and nothing else—launch from the Enterprise into the sky.

"Alright, girls, you know your jobs." Gripen One says after making her final checks. "When you're done with your flight plan, head straight back here."

"I'm really glad they decided to strip us of all of our armor." Gripen Two sulks. She, like the rest of the squadron, wore a simple (if thick) dress. "Really helps to prepare us against the Risen we're bound to fly into."

"Would armor even help if we get caught?" Gripen Three wonders. "I just like how they fitted a second seat, y'know, because obviously we're going to get somebody."

"Here's to hoping we use it." Gripen One laughs. "Alright, let's get this show on the road!"

The four of them separated into their two squadrons and climbed high…high to the point where the Risen could not reach them.

"This would be so much better if it wasn't so cold up here." Gripen One shivers. "Well, whatever. Full power."

A few fliers though they heard a scream of surprise (or four of them) as the Gripen Squadron zipped off into the horizon.

[Mila Tree, 1600]

Gripen 3 and 4 arrived at the Mila Tree and immediately found a problem.

"For someplace sacred, I really thought there would be less Risen." Gripen 4 comments. "Was I too naïve?"

The Tree was under attack by an ocean of Risen.

"Maybe they despise the place?" Gripen Three wonders. "They seem to have a penchant for setting things on fire, so maybe they're really looking forward to burning down that tree." She scans the ground with her spyglass.

They're very high up still.

As they watched, a small group exited the Tree and engaged the Risen in battle.

"Whoa, Manaketes." Gripen Four comments, also observing the battle. Each member of the small group had transformed into a Dragon and was dedicated in blasting the hell out of the Risen with their breath attacks. "This entire tree is populated by Manaketes?"

"I wonder if this group is the entire tree's population, though." Gripen 3 shivers. "Oof. We better find a way to land fast or we're gonna freeze up here."

"We have it better than the other two." Gripen 4 notes with a little bit of smugness. "I don't see any Risen fliers around. We can probably land in the water around the Tree."

"Do you actually want to freeze to death?" Gripen 3 can't help but ask.

"I'm Northern Feroxi, born and bred." Gripen 4 laughs.

"Oh, right." Gripen 3 grumbles. "So how does it feel seeing a real tree for once?"

"It makes me want to take a closer look." Gripen 4 says, still in her good mood, though she does stop joking around. "I don't think we're going to have much chance in landing unless we hit the water, though."

"Yeah, I don't see anything resembling a good landing point." Gripen 3 agrees…albeit reluctantly. "Oh I'm going to hate this. If I catch a cold you're taking care of me."

"Good thing it's not the other way around, then." Gripen 4 dives down.

Gripen 3, voted the worst chef in the Phoenix by a mile and a half, just grumbles some more and follows her wingman down to the ground.

The only reason she's the worst is because the contest involved only the Pegasus Knights.

The Manaketes on the ground felt, then saw the two Pegasus Knights descend in a wide spiral around the tree, before making a glorified crash landing into the waters around the tree's roots.

"Hello!" Gripen 3 says cheerily as she and her Pegasus floats pathetically on the water surface. "Can someone help fish us out?"

"Friends of yours?" Nagi (leading the assault squadron) asks Tiki.

"Yes…in a slightly roundabout way." Tiki replies and transforms into her dragon form. She then scoops out the two knight-pegasus pairs and set them down gently on the roots before transforming back. "What brings you two here?" She asks politely.

"Gripen Squadron, units 3 and 4, ma'am." Gripen 3 says with a snappy salute, intent on showing professionalism to Literally Dragon Jesus. "The Allied Forces have completed their goal of attaining peace with Valm, however roundabout the solution may have been. We are thus here as an envoy for—"

"As you can see," Tiki interrupts. "We are currently not in a position to leave."

"Figured." Gripen 4 sighs. "So what's the game plan?"

"It doesn't look like there's any place safe to hide around here, either." Gripen 3 adds. Then, on a whim, she unhooks her rifle and start firing randomly into the Risen surrounding the Tree. "And it doesn't look like anybody non-Risen's capable of entering the temple from the outside."

Gripen 4's curiosity got the better of her. "Also…where'd all these Manaketes come from?"

Said Manaketes were currently burning every Risen in sight. It's not making a dent, but the effort is appreciated.

"The Mila Tree has always been a shelter for Manaketes during times of strife." An old man, standing in the back of the combat line, replies steadily. "That has never changed."

"It is as Bantu says." Tiki agrees. "Though it looks like this time may be a little more troublesome than most."

Just a little bit. Gripen 3 agreed with the understatement, seeing the writhing mass of Risen beyond the Mila Tree. "If I may: why can't they attack the tree?"

"We do not know." Tiki replies calmly. "However, they seem to be unwilling to approach, rather than unable to."

"…Implying that they're waiting for something." Gripen 4 sighs. "Ain't that a laugh…so what do you plan to do eventually? Should our fleet wait for you?"

"That…" Tiki actually thinks it over for a good while. "I believe it to be an unfortunate necessity…however, I have my duties to the Valmese people."

"That's nice and all, but duty means nothing if everyone dies." Gripen 4 says.

Sounds like it's a line she's used to hearing. Tiki thought upon hearing 4's delivery. "I certainly agree, but to run when there are lives that could be saved would be inexcusable."

"Is it even possible to leave like this?" Gripen 3 glared at the swarm of Risen again. "Ever?"

"We can break through with sheer firepower." Tiki said with uncharacteristic finality. "That won't be a problem. It's what happens afterwards that worries me."

"Ok…yeah." Gripen 4 had a moment of confusion but then understood. "It takes at least two days to reach the Port City by foot if you're not rushing, and with this amount of Risen between the city and the tree…"

"Then…" Gripen 3 hit upon a good(?) idea. "We can airlift people."

"That we could, but we can't carry their stuff…" Gripen 4 cocks her head when she realizes something else. "Speaker, are there normal civilians within the Mila Tree at the moment?"

"Ah, you're quite perceptive." Nagi butts in (while scooping up the smaller girl into an unwarranted hug). "It is as you expect. We have around two hundred civilians currently sheltered within the Tree."

"Let me go please." Gripen 4 wheezes.

Gripen 3 rubs her temples. "Oh dear me…we can evacuate them, though." She says firmly. "It'll just take a little while longer."

Gripen 4, now free, had another thought. "I'm not sure about that. How long would it take for just the two of us to evacuate a hundred people?"

"Uh." Gripen 3 realized the problem. "Well, erm…then let's organize a convoy. We can probably strip some fliers from the garrison or so…" She did sound like she believed in the plan she was proposing.

"In any event, that is currently our situation." Tiki says with a slightly apologetic note. "Please alert Ninya the first opportunity you have."

"Might take us a while though." Gripen 4 grins. "Until our birds are dry we don't get to go anywhere."

And whose fault is that? Gripen 3 thought while stuck in Nagi's hug.

It took Gripen 1 and 2 a good day and a half to reach Valm. Mercifully (or worryingly, depending on your viewpoint) the Risen were only interested in assaulting populated locations, so the girls made do with camping underneath a bridge while nearly freezing to death.

"So glad we packed blankets. So very glad." Gripen 2 had commented while wrapped snug in the heated blankets carried back from the Valm Campaign. "We need to have this stuff sewn into our armor."

Their trip back into the air was less calm, as they came uncomfortably close to being sniped from the air during their takeoff and climb routines. Regardless, they were now soaring over the Valmese Capital.

"Ho-Lee Shit." Gripen 1 summed up quite nicely.

"There used to be a city here, right?" Gripen Two scanned the ground. "All I can see is the castle."

Within four days, the sheer amount of Risen manically attacking everything they see (while mysteriously burning everything else to the ground) had reduced the castle town of Valm to a uniform bed of rubble. The Valm Castle itself, by virtue of being built from stone, was still standing. However, the castle now had multiple breaches in its walls, and one of its towers had collapsed entirely.

"The castle's still smoking, too." Gripen 1 mutters. "So there was a fire inside it until recently."

"If nothing else…" Gripen 2 gulps. "At least we can investigate without too much hassle."

The Risen numbers on the ground was fairly light, and the aerial presence could be counted on one hand.

"So what are we going after first?" 2 asks.

"Let's investigate the town area first." 1 replies. "Be ready to fire at any time."

The two of them bank and drop down to observation height and scan the ground for potentially interesting sites. Gripen 1 finds a site after a fashion and then takes out her spyglass for a closer look.

"Site of battle." Gripen 1 reports, for consistency's sake. "Looks like there was a defensive one…11 o'clock down." She takes off her spyglass to act as the watch while 2 uses her own spyglass to confirm.

11 o'clock down – From their current facing, turn to the 11 o'clock direction and then move field of vision downwards from the horizon.

"Agreed." Gripen 2 says after observing the site. "From the way the bodies are arranged…they were trying to guard against targets. Probably Risen…looks like they knocked down the walls, too."

The site is a battlefield between two sets of rubble. In what used to be a tight hallway between two structures (likely houses), small numbers of badly armored corpses lead into a highly dense line of rock-crushed corpses, followed by more corpses in simple civilian clothing.

Looks like some militia formed a defensive line and fell back step by step during combat while taking losses. Gripen 1 imagines. And then the Risen broke through the walls around them? But those are stone structures…yikes. And…those last corpses look like civilians who couldn't get away fast enough.

"I'm seeing a similar site at 9 down, lead." Gripen 2 says, still scanning. "Similar story…but it looks like this defensive line just got overrun."

"Shit." Gripen One spat. "How many do you think died here?"

"If I had to guess?" Gripen Two took a risk and flew lower. "Maybe 15%? It looks like a vast majority of the deaths were the militia, though."

"15% of a city this size is a lot of people." 1 notes, then turns south to the Valm Gate. "I'm not looking forward to this part."

"Yuck."

Safe to say that the vast majority of the population died here. Gripen One felt queasy. What are we up against? Why is the Risen doing this? Is there even a Why in the first place?

The amount of corpses leading to the Valm Gate had steadily increased as they flew towards the massive barrier between Valm and the continent proper…until they got to the gate itself.

Both zones (beyond and within the Valm Gate) were carpeted with corpses.

Gripen two, her spyglass fixed firmly to her eye, muttered a prayer to Naga. "I can't see who died." She says after finishing.

"Going by the general equipment levels…" Gripen One says shakily. "We're looking at a casualty breakdown of about 90% civilians, 10% otherwise."

"Going by the corpse orientation outside the walls, civvies were trying to get into the city, too." Gripen Two's shivering hard enough to nearly fumble and drop her spyglass. "This…might be the bulk of the Valmese population."

"It's likely the bulk of the Valmese population who lives around here." Gripen One scans the horizon and sees some dots in the distance. "Follow me; we're going to do a fast sweep."

"Thank Naga." Gripen Two definitely felt dizzy. "I don't think I can stand being here much longer."

The two of them made a fast sweep through the immediate countryside surrounding the Valm Gate and confirmed their suspicions: every nearby village was torn to the ground with trails of corpses and upturned wagons forming a loose line towards the Valm Gate.

"I think we've seen enough." Gripen Two says in disgust. "Should we turn to Chon'Sin at this point? It's closer to us than the Tree."

"Yeah, probably." Gripen One nods to herself. "Let's swing by the castle before we leave. I wanna see if Walhart bit it too."

"Given by how our guys described him, that seems unlikely." Gripen Two banks along with her flight lead.

The two of them take an exaggerated detour around the Valm Gate to return to the airspace around the Valm Castle, where they pick off some of the Risen Wyverns circling it before doing a little circling of their own.

"As expected, we can't see much from out here." Gripen Two comments. "Except for those two very obvious holes in the walls."

"Both made by Robin, too." Gripen One said, regaining a little of her cheer. "Let's get a bit closer to the hole in the glass."

So they do.

"Robin has a godly kick if she could do that." Gripen Two says about the massive hole.

"Robin has a godly everything." Gripen One said (slightly sulkily). "It's what's good about her."

"And now she's turned traitor." 2 shakes her head. "We got a lot of work cut out for us."

"I mean…" Gripen One scans the castle as they make another circle. "At this point I'm wondering just how much of the damage is done by Robin alone."

The two of them makes one more pass, and then, without warning, Gripen Two peeled off and made an immediate about turn.

"What's up?" One asks, following the turn.

"Below us." Gripen Two circled one particular spot on the ground despite being very high up.

Gripen One, now a bit curious, followed the directions with her spyglass until she came across a singular corpse in a rather impressive splotch of blood.

Looks like he fell from someplace high. Gripen One thought, following the bloodsmear. Might have bounced on impact, too…would've loved to see that.

Fortunately (for a coroner) the body's final resting position was face-up.

Gripen One took a closer look at the face of the corpse. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Uh…" Gripen One now felt guilty. "I…guess this is what we came for?" She said in a highly hesitant way.

"You think we'll be forgiven for lying about it?" Gripen Two asks hopefully.

"Doubt it." Gripen One, looking for something to do, tries to shake the cold out of her hand. "I guess I have to call it." She takes several deep breaths to steel herself while Gripen Two used a snapshot tome to take pictures of the corpse on the ground.

Just gotta do it. "At 1636, The Gripen Squadron has located the missing Head of the Phoenix Company, Sir Ash. He is now confirmed as Killed in Action."

"Think we can haul him back to the Port?" Gripen Two wonders. "If nothing else, the boss deserves a marked grave."

"…I don't think we have the luxury of landing." Gripen One scans the ground for the occasional Risen milling about. "We've gotten what we came here for, so let's move on to Chon'Sin…" She sighs, then adds in an undertone. "Never thought the first person I'd have to confirm as dead would be the boss himself."

The Gripen Squadron's foray into Chon'Sin was very similar to what they found in Valm. As in, anything not built rock solid was completely destroyed. Say'ri was nowhere to be seen.

"At least they didn't have a chokepoint overflowing with corpses." Gripen Two commented optimistically.

The Gripen Squadron's entire scouting trip took them five days. During which, news from Ferox reported that the Allied Force's main continent was starting to come under attack by the Risen as well.

"But by the sounds of things, it isn't nearly as bad as it is over here." Basilio grunts. "Could be because our guys are more capable of dealing with batches of Risen on their own."

"The Coast Town and its sister city are seeing a major refugee influx. The mutual defense pact coupled with the Phoenix's static defenses makes them the strongest defensive positions on the continent." Rafale One reports while shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She lamented the fact that everybody above her within the Phoenix's Chain of Command took the news of Ash's death poorly and opted out of this particular meeting.

Ninya in particular had shut herself away within the captain's quarters on the Enterprise. To everybody's surprise, Kite did something similar. Nobody knows why.

"It's good that we at least won't be attacked immediately upon landing." Chrom says. "But how long do we have to wait before we return to the mainland?"

"We could just have the leaders return." Rafale One offers.

"Not an option." Chrom and Emmeryn said in sync. "Besides, it would be safer for all involved if we were to travel as a convoy." Emmeryn adds.

"Just a thought." Rafale One shrugs.

Chrom clears his throat. "At this rate, we are still going with the original plan, yes?"

"Yep. Stick around for another five days or until the other shoe drops." Basilio says.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Rafale One sighs softly.

Three days later, the other shoe drops.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

This chapter was brought to you by "wait nobody actually saw Ash die".