With Karl more than happy to vacate the driver's seat of the Edelweiss, they made good time towards the Kloden woodlands. They didn't stop until they reached the base that Ekkehard and his forces had been attacking, finding them loading supplies which the Gallians could use. Ekkehard was the first to notice them, "Afternoon Lieutenant, by our count, we have liberated about thirty thousand rounds of ammunition, four thousand persons worth of daily rations and several barrels of Ragnoline for your tanks and trucks. Medical supplies were sparse but that could very well have been down to the speed which they were defeated allowed them to use some."

Welkin raised an eyebrow, "I feel like if we hadn't fought a massive battle with a Valkyria, and convinced a chunk of the Imperial Army to surrender, that might have been the best that anyone had done. Now, it just feels like icing on the cake."

Ekkehard cocked his head to the side, confused on what Welkin was talking about, but choosing not to say anything. Welkin and Alicia looked over the nearby cliff, trying to determine their next move when all of a sudden, a massive explosion rocked their world and suddenly, when Joseph looked for them where he last saw them, they weren't there anymore. Memories from another war flashed in his mind and without even thinking, he ran towards the cliff and, seeing the drop, quickly found an alternate route and took off at a sprint before anyone could stop him.

Ekkehard watched as all of this unfolded. Just as quickly as Joseph, he had analysed the situation and come to his own conclusion, "Everyone!" he shouted, "Prepare for the trip back to Randgriz!"

Largo couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Now hold up!" he growled, "We can't just leave them!"

Ekkehard slowly turned to face Largo, his face bore little patience for what Largo had done, "In my experience, you will lose more men then you rescue, after all, the enemy is near enough to rain artillery down on this position." he replied before shrugging, "If you want to stay and be shelled to pieces, then so be it, me and my men will be heading back to the capital."

With that, the Germans left. The rest of Squad 7 looked at Largo, the man stood still, fists clenched with a look of pure anger on his face. Finally after a few moments, Largo spoke, "Squad 7!" he shouted, "Spread out. Find Lieutenant Gunther, Sergeant Melchiott and Commander Hernandez. Regroup here at dark, we'll pick up the search in the morning, but after that, we've got to go."

With that, the squad rushed off to find their commanders.


That evening, Welkin woke up, he had no clue how long he had been out for, but that wasn't important right now. Right now, he only thought about finding Alicia and getting back to the squad.

Thankfully for him, his first task was completed when he opened his eyes. Alicia was just starting to stir as he opened his eyes, "Alicia! Anything broken?" he asked.

Alicia slowly stood up, testing her joints before finding something wrong, "My right ankle hurts, but I don't think it's broken."

Welkin managed to stand and was pleased that he was in good working order. Walking over to Alicia, he looked at her ankle, "I think you're right, it's probably just sprained." he remarked before looking up, "We need to find shelter quickly then rejoin with the squad."

Alicia looked at him, "Welkin, what makes you sure that they'll be there?" she asked.

Welkin grimaced, "Between Largo and Isara, they're probably going nuts with concern, though I doubt our German friends will be there."

Before either of them could say another word, the bushes rustled. Spinning around to the noise, they were both relieved to see Joseph walk out of the bush, "You two okay?" he asked.

Nodding, Welkin looked at him, "How far to the squad?"

Joseph sighed, "Too far for one night, and with that ankle Alicia's sporting we need to rest." thinking for a moment, Joseph rubbed his chin, "I saw an abandoned cabin not too far away from here, we could make it since I cleared out the Imperial patrol between us and it."

A small smile graced Alicia's lips, her weight being supported almost fully by Welkin, "Cabin in the woods, if the situation wasn't so dire, it would be quite romantic." she mused.

Welkin smirked, but Joseph stopped his hopes with a bucket of ice water, "Sorry to foil your plans kids, but it's a one-room cabin." he said before turning to them, "No funny business while I'm in the building."

Welkin raised an eyebrow, "Oh, that implies you'll be out of the building at some point."

Joseph rolled his eyes, "Well, someone has to make sure no Imps sneak up on us and Alicia's got a bad ankle so I can assume that as the resident botanist, you'll be able to get the herbs to help with that."

Welkin chuckled, "I always have anti-inflammatory herbs with me, just in case I roll my ankle or something like that."

Joseph shook his head, "In any case, I'll make sure to make a lot of noise, just be ready to get dressed quickly."

Both Welkin and Alicia blushed so red, Joseph was surprised they weren't illuminating their surroundings. However, he quickly realized that while they were both blushing, they were both eyeing each other lustfully. Internally groaning that his teasing might not have been that far off the mark, they quickly came upon the cabin in question. While Joseph found a good point to be hidden, but close enough to intercept anyone coming to the cabin, Welkin and Alicia entered the cabin.

Welkin quickly set to work on applying the herbs to Alicia's ankle, a salve of Witch Hazel, Arnica and Lavender handled the swelling and the pain. Looking at her, Welkin asked, "How's that? Any pain?"

Alicia rotated her ankle a bit stiffly at first, but then more naturally, "Not really, those herbs really do help."

Welkin chuckled, "My professor of natural biology said that this particular salve was very useful when his wife was pregnant, helped with the swelling ankles and the pain in her feet."

Alicia blushed at the implication but didn't say anything as they sat on the only bed in the room. Looking at Welkin, she asked a question that had been on her mind a while, "Do you think we'll make it out of this war in one piece?"

Welkin considered his answer carefully. "I want to say that we will without a doubt…" he began.

Alicia interrupted him, "But it's that bad isn't it?"

Welkin nodded, "And it may not even be that we don't survive," he remarked, drawing a look from Alicia, "I'm worried about whether we will suffer some traumatic event that leaves us scarred and changed, and not in a good way…" he finished.

Alicia frowned, "Like with what happened to Crìsdean?" she asked.

Welkin nodded, "That's precisely my concern, who's to say that something doesn't happen that affects us just as badly!" he exclaimed before shuttering, "Or even worse than that."

Alicia shuttered as well; though she couldn't imagine what would be worse then what Crìsdean had endured, she didn't want to even think about the worst of worst-case scenarios. Coming to a decision that she would rather live for the present and the future, but worry about it when it came, she spun so that she was sitting on his lap, "Well, why worry about tomorrow when we still need to get through tonight." she replied before beginning to unbutton her jacket.

Welkin was surprised with her positioning and even more so with her actions. When his brain finally caught up, their jackets laid on the ground and they began a spirited assault on each other's lips in particular, but their faces in general, causing him to surrender to the bliss that he was feeling. Without their responsibilities weighing on them, they quickly discovered that they had quite a bit of stamina, something they would be grateful for later. Soon, they were looking over each other with nary a stitch of clothing on either of them, and they quickly decided that they like what they saw.

Soon, primal instinct took over and neither of them said another word as they became one. At first, Welkin was afraid that he had hurt Alicia as he felt her rather sharp nails dig into his backside. However, she soon urged him onwards, moving in time with him. Neither wanted the moment to end, but neither could they go on forever and, in muffled gasps, they reached their peaks simultaneously. Somehow, they felt that this time was even more special, not just because it was their first time, but for some other reason, though neither could pin it down. Yet, anyways.

Collapsing breathlessly beside Alicia, Welkin took in the sight before him, part of him wondering just how he had gotten so lucky, perhaps Fate played a role, he wasn't sure, but all he did know was that he wanted to spend every waking moment of the rest of his life with the woman beside him.

Laying beside and sort of under Welkin, Alicia knew for certain that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. In the fog that was her brain at that moment, she idly remembered that Joseph had said that they had better be fast dressers, but for that moment, the outside world ceased to exist for her, for all that she cared about was the man she was laying with.


From outside the cabin, Joseph sighed. Though they had tried to be quiet, Welkin and Alicia hadn't quite managed to keep their activities completely a secret. "Don't act all innocent Mr Hernandez." a female voice said from the night, "You want to do the same activities with Isara."

Spinning around, rifle at the ready, Joseph saw a young woman in a flowing dress hovering above the ground, though the odd part about her beyond that was that her hair was green. "Who the blazes are you?" he exclaimed.

The woman smirked, "Your officers met me before you came to this universe young Joseph and I introduced myself as Lady to them." she replied.

Joseph merely raised a brow, "All Crìs told me was that they met with a very powerful Goddess who brought us here, floating in the air wasn't mentioned."

Lady smirked before letting out a sneeze and setting foot on Gallian soil. Joseph lowered his rifle slightly. "Worry not Joseph, time will not pass so long as I am speaking with you, though I'd appreciate if Welkin would stop mentioning me, it's getting ridiculous having a sneezing fit every morning." she said, putting him slightly more at ease with her actions and confusing him with her words, "You and your friends have done well in the short amount of time you have been here," she remarked before turning her attention to the cabin, "Though that is happening a bit ahead of schedule and will be quite interesting to watch unfold…"

Joseph rolled his eyes but looked at the goddess, "I suspect that you're not here for a social call," he replied.

Lady lowered her head, "The Laws of Nature forbid me from giving all the information, but I assure you, the remainder of the war will be hard, not only physically, but psychically as well, even Crìsdean will be hard-pressed to keep it together."

Joseph frowned, he didn't like the vague omen of ill-tidings, however, before he could question her any further, Lady spoke again, "It's the best I can do I'm afraid." she remarked before looking Joseph dead in the eyes, "You will need to have faith in the next few weeks, and trust those around you."

If the previous warning was bad, this just screamed ominous, but Lady faded completely from view before he could ask any questions. Joseph looked around, the breeze rustling the leaves letting him know that time had restarted.

It didn't take long before Joseph heard a twig snap and a few voices, "Come on Ted, only a little further until we get to that cabin I saw, then we can patch that wound up." a female voice said.

Joseph furrowed his brow, the desperation in the woman's voice made it clear that this wasn't a romantic rendezvous, but it was the pain in the man's voice that clued him in, "No Marina, leave me and hurry to the Gallian lines, they'll help you, I'll just slow you down."

While these two had been talking, Joseph began slowly walking to their location and what he found shocked him, two Imperial scouts, the man badly wounded, with no weapons and the woman had shed her armour. Quickly coming to a decision, Joseph readied his rifle, "Hold it right there!" he ordered.

The two Imperials stiffened, since Joseph was to their backs, they were worried that one of their comrades had caught up with them. Joseph, however, had other ideas than to terrorise Imperial deserters, "Are you armed?"

The woman shook her head, "No sir." she whispered, still thinking that it was an Imperial who stopped them. She was hoping that he would at least make it quick.

Joseph nodded to himself, "Then, in that case, you'll have to let me lead the way to that cabin," he replied, "If only so that the occupants are fully clothed when we enter."

Both the Imperials dared a look at him and their shock was palpable, but Joseph kept them moving, "Quickly now, your friend is badly hurt, I'm surprised that he's made it this far."

They soon came upon the cabin, Joseph banged on the door "Oi! Lovebirds! Put your clothes on! Got wounded out here!"

There was a mad shuffling sound that came from inside the cabin. Joseph, for his part, simply rocked on his heels patiently waiting while the Imperials looked at him incredulously. Seeing their expression, Joseph elaborated, "I figured these two would have spent the night pining for each other if I had been in the room, therefore I gave them some space so they would be able to have their first time without intruders."

Before either of the Imperials could remark, the door opened and Welkin guided the injured Imperial to the bed, which was without its sheets for whatever reason, though Joseph had a good guess as to why that was, and began treating his wounds. In the meanwhile, Joseph and Alicia began talking to the female, "So miss, what caused you and your friend to desert from the Imperial Army?" Joseph asked, starting the conversation.

The woman looked down slightly, "Ted and I are… were two of the more tolerant people in the Empire, and when we found out what was going on behind the lines, we were disgusted."

Alicia frowned and asked the obvious question, "And what was that?"

The woman shuttered, "Darcsen Hunts. The Nobles would release Darcsens that had been in lands that the Army had captured into a forest, and hunt them like deer, weapons and all." she replied.

Joseph bit his lips to hold back hit outburst. The woman before him wasn't to blame. As soon as she found out, she tried to run away after all. But the woman didn't stop there, "You need to liberate Fouzen as quickly as possible, General Gregor is in the area and might be there, doing God knows what to the Darcsens that the Empire uses as slave labour."

This infuriated Joseph and he barely kept a lid on his anger, the parallels quite similar to his own situation back home made it difficult to do so, however, and the thunderous expression on his face only served to scare the woman. However, they were saved from continuing the conversation by Welkin, "That should be good for the night, though I'd feel better if we had access to a regulation medkit."

The woman rushed over to his side, thanking Welkin along the way. This allowed Welkin to sit with Joseph and Alicia, but before he could say anything, Joseph spoke up, "You know, be thankful that it was me who found you two, I can only imagine what Largo or, heaven forbid, Isara would have done if they had heard what I heard."

This turned both Alicia and Welkin bright red. Joseph let them stew for a few moments before speaking again, "Don't worry, I won't say anything about this to anyone."

Both Welkin and Alicia let out a sigh of relief. Joseph shook his head but didn't say anything, thinking about Isara and his conversation with Lady. However, they soon settled in for the night, knowing that they would have to fight their way to Squad Seven in the morning.


With Squad Seven, Largo looked over the camp, starting to be roused from their sleep. He wasn't sure how long they would be able to search for Welkin, Alicia and Joseph, but he figured that they would make their way to them. Juno approached him, "Nothing over the course of the night Sir, though I suspect you already knew that."

Largo nodded, "I know Welkin is a resourceful lad, so he probably hunkered down for the night," he remarked, "Besides, we don't know how injured Melchiott was."

Juno nodded before looking at Edelweiss. Isara sat on top of the tank hull using the gun to keep from falling over, asleep only after Largo had reminded her of her importance to the squad. However, before she could say anything, a sharp whistling could be heard. Largo looked up and saw the tracers, "Artillery fire! Scatter!"

This had the knock-on effect of waking the squad and getting them ready for battle, which was good since after the first shells hit the ground, Imperial troops began their attack. Isara had the Edelweiss engaged with the enemy quickly and the rest of the squad marvelled at how efficiently it could work with only one person manning it.

On the other side of the ravine, Welkin, Alicia, Joseph and their two ex-Imperial friends came upon the artillery emplacement. There were a few soldiers guarding the place and Welkin looked through his binoculars, "Damn, that firebase blocks our access to the other side." he muttered before looking at Joseph, "Thoughts?"

Joseph slid the slide on his rifle forward and brought it up, "Take them down and cross, if we spread out, we should confuse them." he said before looking at the ex-Imperials, "How do you feel about shooting your former comrades?"

Marina looked at Ted and shrugged, "I'll do it, but Ted shouldn't fight yet."

Ted's protests went ignored as Joseph handed Marina a pistol and they split up. Quickly neutralising the firebase with only two shots each, they reconvened and crossed the river.

The battle was fierce and Largo wasn't sure how much longer they could last, wounded were starting to add up, as Gina, Fina and Mina were starting to run low on Ragnaid. He was resorting to using strips of torn uniforms to bind wounds when a group of Imperials fell and no one had fired. Daring a peek, Largo grew a large smile, "Squad Seven! Begin clearing a path for Welkin!"

The squad cheered, glad that Welkin had survived. Soon Joseph, Alicia and their Imperial defectors regrouped with the Squad. "Good to see the squad hasn't imploded during my absence," Welkin remarked before turning to Ted and Marina, "Meet Ted Ustinov and Marina Wulfstan, former Imperials who are defecting to Gallia."

Largo nodded to them before turning his attention back to the forces in front of them. "Too many Imps for a retreat, we're going to have to fight our way out!" he shouted.

Welkin nodded and looked around, "Let's do this Sevens!" he called before running to Edelweiss and slipping in.

The rest of the battle was short in spite of the numbers facing them. The Gallians quickly regrouped and began a quick withdrawal to Randgriz, catching up to Ekkehard and the Germans in short order. Upon their return, many things would happen to them, some welcome, others not so much…


Wulfstan and Ustinov would quickly acclimatise with their status as former Imperials, leading to a great deal of intelligence being given to the Gallian High Command. Though many of the Germans wouldn't interact with them at best and with open contempt at worse, General Rommel would personally oversee their questioning and their integration with Squad 7. However, as they would soon discover, the Empire had not been sitting idle while they had been losing battle after battle, and the results of this would leave far-reaching scars on many people, Gallian, German, British and indeed, the rest of the world…

(Excerpt from "EWII: Gallian Front; Squad 7 and Allies" Irene Koller)


Well, Chapter 10 finally done. Between life and school, I had suspected that I would have a few updates that would be slower to get out, but life threw a wrench in my plans and I was often unable to work on things.

Regarding the reviews: both reviews brought up the issue of Imperial Planes, or this "Nation in the far east with an Air Force that the Empire conquered" and while I'm not an expert on the VC Lore, and also do not know what their equivalent of Japan is, it was actually a callback to the first chapter where Captain Lindemann claimed that they had come from the Far East of Imperial territory and was a bit of world-building so the Gallians wouldn't discover the truth. As for Alicia's Valkyria Powers, I can't say one way or the other for plot reasons, but I can say that certain scenes will be modified.

With that out of the way, I must inform you that I am now also on Archive of Our Own. Earlier this month, one of the users on my Discord channel for Fanfiction Readers and Writers brought a case of one of their stories being flagged for inappropriate content by a user on this site, which considering some of the entries in the Harry Potter Fandom was laughable. This led me to decide that I will be posting stories in tandem on AO3 and in future. After completing this story, I will post new stories on both sites, just because I've been keeping all of my eggs in one basket and I'd rather not have issues of similar or worst proportions happen and I am either unable to post new things to this site under this name, or stories get deleted, despite the last purge being many years ago. Paranoia reigns. My Profile on AO3 is LordPerkins and I currently have no stories on it yet, though that will change in the next few weeks.

Until next time!