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28th of the Blue Sea Moon, Year 1180 Month 7
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Sylvain had felt wary about this whole mission. True, part of it must've been that he was barred from even participating, but there was something else, some nagging in the back of his head; this was wrong. Something was going to happen, and he knew that he should be doing something about it, yet what was there do to?
Ride off and show up unannounced? How much would Byleth hate him if he pulled something like that? Instead, he tried to force this feeling down and distract himself as best he could.
The Blue Lions' mission was comparatively small-scale, even with his own house just going after bandits. They were to act as tax collectors for the town just outside of the Monastery, not even a combat mission, apparently Manuela's way of giving the students an easy last month before their break.
Sylvain could see it in his old housemates' eyes, though. After last month—and presumably the one before that though Sylvain wouldn't know—things were different. The word 'mission' put them on edge, and for some, it instilled a kind of giddy determination. They were going on a mission, where they would have to fight for their lives. There was a certain allure to that kind of life, especially for noblemen and noblewomen who've spent their whole lives learning fine arts and logistics.
Goddess, but this nagging just wouldn't stop! Without the assignment, Dorothea's incessant teasing, watching Hubert get humiliated or the whole of whatever Caspar was, Sylvain had nothing!
Until today, when his bad feeling was proven right.
He was eating lunch in the mess hall with Dimitri and Ingrid, as usual. Their assignment had only taken part of a single day, so they essentially had the rest of this month to themselves within the monastery, where they could then leave to go back to their respective homes come the first of the Verdant Rain Moon, though Sylvain learned that many were holding off their journeys for at least a few days to everything sorted.
Giving a half-hearted laugh to one of Dimitri's bad jokes, Sylvain's gaze went back down to his food. Even that tasted strange. Then, as usual, the messenger came in with all of their letters. Sylvain usually had a stack of equal parts love and hate letters from his adoring 'fans,' and today was no different. Ingrid rightfully rolled her eyes at the pile, and Sylvain started going through them.
Most contained contents that he expected, and so he hastily discarded them. But near the bottom of the pile, he saw a letter that was clearly written by a nobleman, if the fancy handwriting was anything to go by. When he looked inside, he instantly recognized the crest of Gautier stamped onto the corner of the letter.
"From your father?" Dimitri wondered as he pulled it out and started reading. "About the attack, perhaps?"
Oh yeah, it was about the attack, alright.
Sylvain burst from his chair—nearly causing Ingrid to fall out of hers in surprise—and broke into a run north, going all of the way to the Cathedral. He ascended the stairs to the upper escalons of the Church and shoved his way through the massive doors that led to Lady Rhea's chamber.
Both she and Seteth were there in their usual casual/posche modes, but Seteth instantly got a scrunched-up face at the sight of Sylvain. "Sir Guatier," he greeted the Black Eagle courteously enough, but he quickly barred Sylvain from coming any closer to the Archbishop. Catherine, who had been against the wall with the door, roughly grabbed his shoulder and made sure he stayed put. "I would remind you that students require a prior appointment to receive audience with Lady Rhea."
"I-it's important!" Sylvain insisted, holding up his letter. "I have news, Lady Rhea, bad news!"
"What's so bad that you felt the need to abandon all protocol?"
"It's Miklan! He has the Lance of Ruin!"
All present fell silent at the weapon's name. Rhea took a breath. "That is bad news," she conceded. "Seteth, how quickly can we call back the Black Eagles?"
"I'm afraid it's too late to stop them from engaging the Gautier Horde, Lady Rhea," Seteth lamented.
"Well, we have to do something!" Catherine shoved Sylvain away from them, and then the three proceed to act like he wasn't even there. "We have Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Riders, right? They can-"
"They'd be slaughtered by the Lance of Ruin," Seteth said.
"I could ride out," Sylvain offered. "I know the best route to-"
"I will not send a student to deal with our problem," Rhea claimed. Sylvain bit back a remark about last month's mission, though his anger at his rejection made it hard. "...Seteth. Take the Spear of Assal, and may the goddess grant you haste. Whoever is left when you arrive, you will save."
"I'll go too," Catherine said, and Rhea made no argument. They didn't waste any time in leaving, and Sylvain was left in their dust. By the time he made it outside, rushing outside even, they were already just a speck in the sky.
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30th of the Blue Sea Moon, Year 1180 Month 7
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An 'old fort,' Seteth had called it. Aster had done her research on the Daphnel territory before they left.
Daphnel was one of the Ten Elites, and his descendants formed House Daphnel in what would become Alliance land. They used to be a powerful house within the region, exorbitantly wealthy and influential, even becoming one of the Five Great Lords of the Leicester Alliance, but after a few generations of in-fighting, the house was split down the middle, half retaining the name, and the other half defecting to Faerghus under the name, 'Galatea.'
Exorbitant was the key word there, and Aster could've easily told them that excessive spending of their gold would put them in the rutter, even apart from the in-fighting.
This 'old fort' was actually titled the Tower of Black Winds. Settled within a valley, its height was perhaps unmatched for its time. Even from the top of the hills that surrounded it, Aster couldn't see its top. As well, there were no doors, at least not anywhere near the ground level. The closest thing near the ground that was distinctive were two rounded bulges that jutted out from its base, though they too had no visible entryway. No, this tower was made specifically to be a supply point for Daphnel's once renowned Pegasus Knight Corps, and all entrances could only be accessed by a pegasus rider.
At least, before the split between Daphnel and Galatea. After, House Daphnel became paranoid of their once-family, and ordered pathways to be built so that this could be a base for the house's entire military, rather than just their Pegasus Knights.
Aster laid out a complete map of the structure and all of its floors, which had to have its own chest since there were just so many. It almost felt comical how many pages she had to place onto the ground. Once she was done, a circle with a six-foot radius was made entirely out of pages of a map.
Aster began pouring over it, and immediately came to the conclusion that there was simply too much to consider with how many unknowns there still were.
Edelgard soon joined her. "I hope you have a plan, Professor. Just looking at the size of this structure makes me doubt our chances."
"I don't," Aster said. Her hand went to her chin to think. Her gaze drifted up from the map and to the walkway leading into the entrance. It was made of packed stone, so it seemed relatively stable, though it was only wide enough for a line of three at the most, and that was pushing it. Some of the Gautier Horde was posted to keep watch, patrolling the area up and down. Once they started up the path, Aster saw no cover to keep them concealed. This place would be difficult to get into even for the Blade Breakers' best.
On one hand, this was good; an excellent challenge for the students. On the other, it risked their safety more than just facing an enemy head-on. Once they were inside, there was no way to tell whether they'd be trapped in there or not. Seteth had said 'several dozen' of the Gautier Horde was here, but how could they tell? They presumably counted their number from Margrave Gautier's report of the attack, but who knows how many of Miklan's troupe joined him on the journey here?
Aster took a deep breath, calming her racing thoughts. There was too much left to ponder about, too many variables that she couldn't account for without more information. Standing here and worrying about it wasn't helpful.
"Edelgard," she said to the girl, and her tone drew the attention of the others. "Organize scouts. The rest, we get everything ready within an hour. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor!" they all snapped to attention and shuffled off to do their tasks. Ferdinand had already organized the boys into unloading supplies and making camp, while the girls were set to gather firewood and secure the area. Edelgard picked Petra and Lysithea to scout; Petra for obvious reasons, and Lysithea because she had a Libra spell. The two set off, promising to be back before the hour was up.
That left only one person not doing anything useful. Hubert sat in the back of the last carriage. Aster considered going over to give him a job, but refrained. She'd done all she could on her own. If he wanted to come to her for guidance, even if through an insult or threat, then fine. But if not, and he got killed, she would count that as his problem.
She joined Bernadetta in tracing a perimeter around their camp, her designated job. It was only for safety, really, but it never hurt to be entirely aware of one's surroundings. They checked for nooks that enemies could ambush from, places to hide, and other notable landmarks within their small sphere of influence.
When they returned, most of the camp was set up, and a fireplace was made. Thankfully her students were smart enough that no fire was currently in it, lest they alert the Gautier Horde of their location.
Aster kept herself busy with Edelgard, going over the different floors and potential escape points. For example, if they got stuck on the fifth floor, they could blow the wall at a specific point and fairly safely jump out onto a particularly outstretched outcropping of stone.
Too soon, the hour of waiting had ended, and their scouts returned.
Lysithea incanted a 'Display Area' spell, and a gray facsimile of the tower appeared, slightly transparent and able to be manipulated to show more or less detail with a mental command from the mage. The two then systematically pointed out their targets. Aster counted seven to get through on their way to the entrance. What surprised her was when Lysithea began noting enemies within the tower. Apparently, her Libra spell was able to project through stone.
This showed them that at least a dozen were stationed on floors above the entrance, while around two dozen more were stationed below the entrance, and some even below ground-level, telling the Black Eagles that there was more to the tower than they could even see; basement floors. Given that these were the areas with the most heavily concentrated enemies, Aster had to assume that Miklan would be in the lowest basement.
Aster breathed a mental sigh of relief now that she had the entirety of her enemy mapped out in her head. Thus, this mission should now play out as the group systematically working through the tower, picking off bandits as they went.
The only issue that could arise from this simple strategy would be if more of the Gautier Horde noticed them than they could handle, but Aster was confident, with the full layout and placement of enemies, that she could figure out a workable plan. But on the other hand...
"Impress me," Aster said to the students. They all stared at her. Half realized the implication of the words immediately, others gave her cocked brows. "I've trained you in tactics. I've trained you in combat. I follow your lead unless you are at risk of dying."
"But...Professor…" Edelgard shook her head. "Very well."
"Then we must plan," Ferdinand pointed out. Edelgard shot him a glare, but said nothing. "We must have every mind for this task. Everyone, please gather."
Aster stood away from the group of teenagers, not wanting to influence them with any looks she may give to their ideas. Some, she overheard, were good. Most ideas were shot down by the group fairly quickly. Either they involved too many risks, or they were outright impossible. Edelgard, Aster noticed, barely contributed.
In the end, they decided on something of a bait-and-ambush strategy. The first bandit on the edge of the walkway would be easy; Dorothea would act as the bait, while everyone else lay in wait. When the man drew close to steal her away, they would strike. The others would be a mixture of archery, binding spells, and Petra climbing around them where appropriate. In truth, they could have just used magic for all of it, but they wisely opted to conserve the mages' stamina for the true battle.
"Do you trust them?" Aster received her plea for guidance.
She didn't turn to face Hubert as he stalked over to her. "With my life," Aster said.
"How?" he asked hastily, before he added, "Why?"
"Because I trained them."
"Don't give me that, commoner," Hubert spat. "Is this another of your games? Are you toying with them as you've toyed with me? Perhaps a ploy to make you come off as the hero when they need rescuing?"
"That you think I was 'toying' with you says more about you than it does about me," Aster returned. Hubert growled, but flinched when she turned to him. "You're a twisted man, Hubert; an obsessed, violent, sycophantic freak."
"I-I see no problem."
"These people can help you," Aster argued. "Together, they could stop me from killing Edelgard, should I choose to do so. Would you say the same for yourself?"
"I…" the dark mage's eyes became fixated on the princess. "...I…"
"You what?"
His gaze snapped to Aster. "I will protect her. At any cost."
She searched his eyes, which betrayed far more doubt than his form would indicate. He was certainly good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. If Aster only saw this moment, poised, dutiful, exuding confidence, she might have been convinced. He just needed to work on his eyes, which revealed with such starkness the one truth that Hubert would never admit:
He was terrified of his own inability.
Aster pushed off of the tree she'd been leaning on and left Hubert without a word. Immediately upon reaching them, she took a place next to Lysithea, discreetly leaning to her. "I assume you eavesdropped?"
"Again," the young dark mage confirmed. "He's quite stubborn."
"He takes after his lord," Aster said, getting a giggle from the girl. Edelgard glanced their way at the disturbance, but said nothing of it.
It didn't take much longer for everyone to learn their roles for the initial phase of the assault.
"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Edelgard asked, to which everyone nodded. "Then we set out soon. Everyone-"
"How soon?" Aster asked. Edelgard stuttered a bit at the question.
"Erm, t-ten minutes, I suppose…" she muttered, looking to Aster for her approval. The mercenary pointedly didn't look her way. "T-ten minutes. Please be ready in that time."
With a collective nod, the group went to do just that. Aster went past Edelgard on her way to her own things. "A commander gives specifics when possible," she said to the princess. Her gaze went distant for a moment as she considered the words, before nodding and returning to her preparation.
Aster went to gather her blade, and did a second check to ensure she had her sword whip with her. She'd been hesitant to bring it. Whether she did usually came from her forgetting to remove it from her armor, but when she did have to make the conscious choice, it was always a question of whether she would need it or not.
Metal wears and tears, and the sword whip would eventually break if she used it carelessly. Given where she got it, and moreover how expensive it was, she would rather not have to. Her base sword skills were, thankfully, refined enough to compensate most of the time.
But before she left, Aster had gotten a bad feeling. True, aside from the brutal location, this would be a standard routing of bandits, but...something was wrong, and Sothis agreed when Aster brought it up to her. In the end, Aster would rather be prepared, on the off-chance her bad feeling was accurate.
She joined the other Black Eagles, who stood in their line, stalwart and silent. Aster frowned at them. "Are you waiting on something?" she asked.
Ferdinand cleared his throat. "You…usually give the order to-"
"I follow your lead," she repeated. "Who will lead this operation?"
Ferdinand started to step forward, ever eager, though he ultimately refrained. Instead, all eyes fell to Edelgard. Aster thought she saw some small bit of annoyance in her eyes at the group gesture, but she stepped out of the line anyway. "I will lead, as is my birthright," the heir announced.
"Who will serve as your retainer?" Aster asked. She received a few more blank stares from Dorothea, Caspar, and Petra, those who wouldn't have studied Fódlan knightly battlefield procedures as extensively. "All generals have retainers; their right hand, their guard."
"For that, I would choose Hubert," Edelgard said hastily. Aster stared at her, waiting for a continuation. She might as well have seen steam puff out of the snow princess' ears as she tried to figure out what Aster wanted. Finally, she turned to the others. "I will give the signals, so listen out for me. If I become incapacitated or otherwise preoccupied, the order will fall to Hubert. Please listen for us both as much as you can."
"Good," Aster said, nodding. "Before you give the order, I would say something. I will remain silent during this operation, and I will be watching all of you. If I determine that the plan has gone awry, or if one of you is in danger, I will take command, and there will be no complaints. If I say one word, you will all listen. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor!" all but Edelgard snapped to attention. Aster nodded to her, and when the princess gave the order to begin, Aster joined Caspar at the front of the formation.
To keep from complicating and potentially endangering themselves, the trek up the pathway would be helmed by Aster and Caspar, the former for her precision which would allow her to keep from running into her companions, and Caspar, for his gauntlets' short reach which would accomplish the same effect. Behind them would be the mages, specifically Linhardt and Lysithea, who had the dark and light versions of the 'Bind Human' spell, which they would use to subdue their opponents to allow for easy killing—and in Lysithea's case, could do a much better job of it than Hubert's 'Banshee' spell did. Behind them were Hubert and Bernadetta, followed by Dorothea and Edelgard, with Ferdinand bringing up the rear.
Petra, as usual, was on her own. Her unmatched climbing ability would be more than enough to keep pace with the group from the side, where she could easily spring up and assassinate those who might give the group trouble.
It was a solid-enough entrance strategy, but it all began with Dorothea acting as the damsel in distress. Goddess, but if Aster had been told to wail and cry out as Dorothea did, she didn't know if she could live with herself. It was so degrading, yet Dorothea didn't seem to mind.
The first man came eagerly toward her as she acted the scared little girl, lost in the woods. All eyes were on Edelgard, save for one set, Ferdinand's, who would likely never have allowed anything like what the bandit wanted to happen, to happen. At just the right moment, Edelgard gave the signal. Bernadetta loosed her arrow, and it struck right into the brigand's temple.
Dorothea let out a squeak of fright as blood spattered onto her face. She wiped it off quickly as everyone got into formation now that the initial barrier was dealt with.
It was disturbingly easy to make their way up the pathway, and that always spelled trouble. Six bandits, discounting the one they already killed, were their targets, and they all spotted the students at roughly the same time. Their disparate positions on said pathway should've made picking them off one at a time easy.
Unfortunately, this plan grossly underestimated the mind of the bandits. Instead of charging this formation individually, the first five of them formed a formation of their own, complete with wide metal shields which effectively blocked out attempts to fight them on this terrain, and the last one darted into the structure, presumably to warn Miklan of their arrival.
Aster struggled to find an opening in the wall shields that they had to get through. It was a foregone conclusion that the entire horde knew that the Knights had sent people to take them out, so they lost their element of surprise. At this point, this push into the structure was more to prevent a prolonged engagement on this narrow path. It was dangerous enough already, let alone with mages and archers harrowing them from afar.
Thankfully, though, the students had mages of their own, and binding spells went through shields.
Despite that the plan had already derailed itself, Aster chose to stay silent. This would be a good test to see how they adapted.
The binding spell made one shield drop, on Caspar's side. The boy rushed in, exposing both himself and the formation, yet he successfully took their other shield, kicking the man off.
Aster rushed in and parried an axe strike aimed for the boy's head, and they both retreated back to the formation, now at a better vantage point than before.
Annoyed, Aster would admit that while Caspar was still reckless, he was figuring out priorities at least. It was a start, and could be tempered into something truly dangerous.
"Petra, pincer!" Edelgard called at the exact same second that Bernadetta loosed an arrow, which again hit its mark. Caspar had knocked off one, Bernadetta killed another, which left three to deal with in a final push.
Two of the remaining men whirled around to face Petra just fast enough to where she couldn't pick one of them off. Aster and Caspar both recognized this and rushed into the thick of it at the same time, though Aster was faster.
She stabbed through the back of the man's neck while Petra lunged at another, slicing his throat with her knife. Meanwhile, Caspar seems to have shattered the sternum of the final one, and then caved the man's skull in with a final blow.
Thankfully, none of the students seemed particularly shaken by the corpses and bloodshed. True, they hadn't complained about killing people since the first mission, but Aster could easily pick up on the haunted looks in their eyes, with the exceptions of Hubert and Edelgard.
It seemed the Lonato excursion had sapped away any leftover softness, as they all simply stepped over their marks and continued on their way.
Even before they reached the entrance, Aster heard a lot of noise coming from inside. Clanking weapons, jostling armor, the crackling of magic. Then, from the darkness of the interior, they suddenly saw a half dozen arrow heads aimed directly toward them.
The Gautier Horde was ready for them, which meant that this mission just got a whole lot harder.