Chris: I got this idea from a really, really old game called Kessen. Yeah. This is probably the first large-scale Fire Emblem fic. By large-scale I mean that there's going to be thousands of troops and just a couple of important people.
Once again, there are going to be OCs here. But I really don't feel like making new ones, so you might see ones from other stories. And some that are going to come in those stories later.
But there will be some new OCs in this fic. Hope you enjoy! And yes, I added last names to all of the characters. Why? Cause I'm influenced by Kessen. Because in Kessen, the units are labeled by their leader's last name. (Tokugawa, Shima, Yi, etc.) So I might be doing that. It's doubtful though. But I'm still putting in last names. I just hope they sound okay. And some will sound Japanese, some will sound American, some will sound weird, and some will sound like I stole them from somewhere else. So I give credit to those people who people think I stole names from.
Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem or Kessen, even though I really, really want to.
Chapter 1: Encounter At The Farwind Plains
The continent of Elibe once was governed by the Bern King, Desmond Fareth. His rules, while tolerable, were not what most people wanted. Rulers from all around Elibe showed their dissent through small actions and protests. But Desmond ignored them and tightened his control over the lords. Soldiers poured from his home country of Bern and spread throughout the continent, enforcing his rule to the masses. His commanders, Zephiel Fareth, Brendan Reed, Linus Reed, Lloyd Reed, Jerme Tando, Ursula Caruth, and Vaida Skythrasher supervised the move.
Desmond's rule continued, lasting tens of years until one fateful day…When he died. The word of his death spread throughout the land, spreading cheer across the continent. One day, Lord Eliwood Califex decided that he had enough of a tyrant's rule. He would take control of the continent himself and bring back happiness to his tortured land. So with his faithful soldiers and friends, he left Castle Pherae and headed towards Castle Ostia to reinforce his troops with those of his friend, Lord Hector Gewan.
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Farwind Plains-
Eliwood reined in his horse as he looked at the plains stretching before him. His two commanders, Marcus Sandlin and Lowen Teritsu, rode up next to him, both of them also surveying the scene in front of them. Their troops waited behind them, weapons at the ready.
"How does it look, Lord Califex?" Marcus turned his grizzled face towards Eliwood. His hair and beard were a dark purple and he held a simple, pointed lance in one hand. His armor was colored a bright red and his helmet was fashioned to look like a dragon's mouth.
"Soon we will reach Castle Ostia and rendezvous with my good friend, Hector. It will only take a couple of days." Eliwood looked out and pulled out a spyglass from a pouch hanging from his horse. He extended it and scanned the plains, searching for any enemy forces. "Men, get ready!"
"What do you see, my lord?" Lowen rode up, his bushy, green hair concealing the worry in his eyes. His armor was colored a dull bronze and he wore a sword on each side of the saddle and carried a two-pronged lance where one pointed outwards and the other one pointed to the side and then up. Eliwood looked at Lowen's weaponry and concealed a smile.
"It looks like that bastard Zephiel Fareth is there with his troops. I don't think they've seen us…But this is a perfect chance to get his head! Lowen, Marcus! We fight!" Eliwood pulled out a bugle and sounded a note. His flag bearers raised the standards and the troops rushed into battle.
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"Lord Fareth! The scouts report that Califex's forces are approaching!" A scout stopped before Zephiel, bowing on one leg. Zephiel looked up from his plans and rolled the plans up. Zephiel frowned.
"What is Eliwood thinking? He's going up against a numerically superior force and he expects to win? I will show him the folly of that thinking!" Zephiel grinned at the image of the upcoming battle. The blond-haired prince gripped his sword and turned his horse around. "Lloyd! Linus! Battle is at hand! Destroy their troops who dared to rebel against our authority! Charge!"
"At once, my lord!" Lloyd, a young looking warrior unsheathed his sword.
"Battle! It's time to show them the power of the Mad Dog!" Linus howled and raced towards the enemy troops. "Come on, boys! There's blood to be shed!"
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And so the battle was joined. On one side of the Farwind Plains were Eliwood Califex and his generals, Lowen and Marcus. And on the other were Zephiel and his generals, Linus and Lloyd. As if a silent bell had been struck, their forces moved towards each other, both intending to wipe the other out.
With no set plan in mind, Eliwood and his generals moved into a pincer formation, with Eliwood in the back while Lowen and Marcus looped around from the sides, hoping to catch at least one of the generals unaware. Zephiel and his generals moved in a spear formation, with Zephiel in the head. Zephiel and Eliwood's forces were the first to clash.
"My friends! We cannot die here!" Eliwood waved his sword in the air, rallying his forces. "We will cut a path through their pathetic men!" The lord assembled five ranks of cavalry in front of him. "Charge!" He lowered his sword and spurred his horse forward. The cavalry charged forward, waving their lances about. They cut a bloody swath through Zephiel's forces, using their lances to cut down any unit that foolishly got in their way. Eliwood and his troops emerged on the other side of Zephiel's forces, with only of a few of their number taken. Zephiel, on the other hand, suffered more, with the number of swordsman down by the hundreds.
"Good work, men! Back to the battle!" Eliwood turned his horse and charged back into the fray, swinging his sword wildly in the air.
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Lowen Teritsu turned at the noise and spotted Linus' forces heading for him. "That dog Reed has come! Show them our strength! Archers!" He raised his hand in the air. The three companies of archers in his division stepped forward, bows clutched in their hands.
"Ready!" The archers notched arrows to their bows.
"Fire!" Lowen chopped downwards with his hand. His archers loosed their arrows upon the enemy, hearing screams of pain echo through the plains. Lowen smiled and gripped his lance. "Cavalry! Let's put them into shambles!" His ranks of cavalry charged into Linus' forces, sending the enemy forces into disarray.
Marcus found himself under attack by Lloyd. True to the Reed brother's tactical abilities, Marcus found himself ambushed by Lloyd's forces and forced into a quick retreat before he lost more of forces. The purple-haired cavalier looked dismally at the scene unfolding before him. With his forces caught off guard, Lloyd's swordsmen were getting the drop on Marcus's cavaliers and fighters. Marcus decided to change that and rally his troops.
"I will show you what it means to mess with Marcus Sandlin, one of the Pherae Dragons!" Marcus charged into the battlefield, swinging his lance around his head. "My Zanbato will show you the true meaning of fear!" As Marcus plunged into the melee, he swung his Zanbato in a circle, catching one soldier in the stomach and plunging the head of the polearm into another. Ripping out the lance from the dead body, he caught another soldier across the face with the shaft and jammed the end of the lance into the leg of another, snapping the leg bone.
"Huzzah! Our commander is the greatest!" Marcus's soldiers fought harder, seeing their commander within the thick of battle and dealing the worst end of war to his foes. And Lloyd's forces were dismayed to see their troops get defeated so easily.
Marcus completed another loop into Lloyd's forces and ended back at where he first began. He raised his lance, bloody with victory, and shouted out a battle cry. His soldiers repeated the cry and fought even harder. Marcus smiled. If he was lucky, he might just turn this battle in his favor.
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"Grraagh!" Linus roared angrily as he saw his troops being killed by Lowen's forces. Linus gripped his axe and charged into the field. "I am Linus Reed, the Mad Dog of Bern! Face me if you dare!" Linus pranced on his horse, slaying one of Lowen's cavaliers as he did so.
Lowen squinted as he saw Linus run onto the field. The green-haired commander gripped a sword and charged out to meet him. Lowen roared out his own battle cry. "I am Lowen Teritsu, one of the four Pheraen Dragons! Show me what kind of strength you have!"
The commanders charged each other. Linus swung his axe energetically in the air and Lowen made a few practice strokes as they gradually got closer to each other. And then they met.
Linus' axe clanged against Lowen's sword and the blond-haired commander brought his axe back for another strike. "Hah!"
"You wish!" Lowen moved on the offensive, launching repeated strikes against the hero. However, Linus repelled all of these and swung his axe heavily at Lowen's side. Lowen quickly brought his sword down to parry and grinned as he saw the axe hit his sword. Linus attacked with his axe again, cutting off a couple strands of Lowen's hair. Lowen retaliated by swinging his sword down at Linus' head, only to have his sword be blocked again.
Lowen's eyes widened as he saw that he left himself wide open and Linus grinned as he slashed Lowen across the arm, biting into his armor. Lowen cried out angrily and dropped his sword. Linus mock-saluted the lord before turning and riding off.
"It's amazing that you became a commander! I barely even broke a sweat!" Linus laughed loudly as he left, leaving Lowen behind.
"I can't believe…I-I lost…" Lowen nudged his arm around, nursing a bleeding arm. He rode back to his command post, wincing at his failure. Lowen's forces faltered as they saw their commander get defeated and Linus' forces surged forward, rejoicing over their hero's victory.
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Eliwood grinned as he watched Zephiel's forces get demolished by his cavalry. Their charge from earlier had reduced Zephiel's troops by such a significant number that it felt kind of mean to be beating him this badly. Eliwood's smile became wider as he heard Zephiel's troops sound the retreat. "Time to wipe your face into the ground! All men! Pursue them! Attack!" Eliwood raised his sword in victory and charged down the battlefield, swinging his sword at the nearest Bern soldier.
All around the lord, he could see his troops break from formation and chase down the enemy, something like maniacal joy in their faces. Eliwood turned back to his work. Zephiel was ruined. The red-haired lord raised his sword in victory as he saw the last of Zephiel's troops fall. "Victory! We have won!"
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"Tch…I will give you the field!" Zephiel shouted back at the cheering Eliwood, the blond-haired man's face red with rage. "Everyone, retreat! We are beaten!" Zephiel dashed off on his horse, beckoning Linus and Lloyd to join him. Lloyd sighed angrily and had his bugler sound the retreat. He had more than enough forces to not worry about Marcus…But still…
'…That Marcus Sandlin…I will claim his head at my next battle!' Lloyd nudged his horse around and fled, trying to close his ears to the sounds of Marcus' laughter.
Linus gave a shout when he heard they had to retreat. "Just when I was getting started! Dammit!" Linus signaled to his bugler as well and watched as his brother left the field of battle. Linus gave an angry sighed and turned his horse around. "Until we meet again…" Linus rode off, his soldiers behind him.
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"My lord! We have won a great victory!" Lowen rode up to Eliwood, his arm bandaged.
"Yes, General Califex!" Marcus rode up as well, his face glowing happily.
"I couldn't have done it without you two!" Eliwood smiled at the both of them, then frowned as he saw Lowen's injury. "Lowen! Are you okay?"
"Yes, my lord!" Lowen nodded quickly. "Just a badge of my incompetence…"
Eliwood shook his head. "No, no! You fought a great battle, my friend! I will need loyal commanders like you at my side when we bring the fight back to Bern!"
"Thank you, my lord!" Lowen bowed on his saddle.
"Onward! To Castle Ostia, and future victory!" Eliwood raised his sword again, and his army marched towards Castle Ostia, where they would meet up with Lord Hector Gewan and continue on their mission to conquer all of Elibe.
Battle Statistics
Lord Califex's Forces
Lowen Teritsu - 3000 to 1748
Marcus Sandlin - 2000 to 1329
Eliwood Califex - 5000 to 3273
Lord Fareth's Forces
Linus Reed - 3500 to 2491
Lloyd Reed - 1750 to 947
Zephiel Fareth - 6500 to 2635
Chris: Yes, I realize FE 8 classifies the Zanbato as a sword, but once again, they are wrong. Just like the Halberd. The Halberd isn't an axe; it's an axe-head on a polearm. It is not an axe. Just like the Zanbato isn't a true sword. It's a curved blade fitted on a polearm. It technically qualifies in the lance category, like the halberd.
I hope you enjoy this, and expect a second chapter soon! Unless I get carried away with something else.