Decided to gift all my loyal readers with a bonus chapter to celebrate the holidays. Admittedly it is a day late, but dealing with family was exhausting and I was kinda worried that releasing this chapter one day after the last one would generate some confusion, so I hope you all forgive me for being late. As always, I hope you enjoy, and I will see you at the start of 2022 with the next scheduled chapter (which is going to be an absolute juggernaut of a chapter!).


The conversations between the two generations of Class VII graduates continued for some time, as it had been five months since Rean's students graduated, and for the original Class VII it had often been even longer since their last face to face meeting. Despite that, there was a clearly obvious tension in the room, and only Sara's assurances that the real business would start as soon as a few more people arrived kept some of the more impatient heroes from getting agitated.

Eventually, those missing members did arrive, which garnered some unhappy looks from those in the rooms. Well, one person did. Nobody batted an eye at the expected arrival of Toval. It was the other young man that arrived alongside him that led to the negativity.

"Yikes. Tough crowd today. Although I guess I did drop the ball a teeny tiny bit by not noticing everything that was happening..." Muttered one Major Lechter Arundel as he visibly wilted under the many many glares sent in his direction.

"Why are we letting scarecrows in here?" Complained Ash, being the one to say what most of them were thinking.

"Like him or not, he's the one who has the intel that's gonna help us get Rean back." That stark reminder of what was at stake from Toval was enough to shut everyone up. Seeing that he now had the attention of the entire room, the arts bracer continued. "First of all, I guess I should mention just how big this operation truly is. Although the Imperial Army is a complete mess right now while they try to purge all the traitors from their ranks, they have still promised to support us... in other ways. Beyond them all four Provincial Armies have vowed their full support for this." A few sets of eyes turned towards the Duke and Duchess in the room, and they responded by nodding their assent. "There have also been dozens of unaffiliated volunteers who offered their support, mostly your fellow Thors alumni.

Needless to say, something this big requires a unified command structure, and since everyone else still kinda hates each other, it was decided that this is now under the jurisdiction of the Bracer Guild. Technically this means that as the senior Erebonian bracer Sara is in charge..."

"Well, we're screwed."

"Mission failed..."

"I don't want to die!"

"HEY!" Said bracer yelled, flushed red in embarrassment. Those weren't the only comments muttered either. She might have expected something like that from Fie, but instead they came from quite a few people. Even the junior Class VII members had gotten in on the act when they should still see her as the cool and awesome experienced ass kicker. Really Fie might have been the only one to not say anything, as she continued to intently listen to Toval.

"...But I'm sure Sara would much rather be on the front lines so I decided to take the role for myself." That served to calm down the former students, which only upset the Purple Lightning even further. "Also, since we couldn't get any bracers from out of the country on such short notice I had you all registered as honorary bracers, so expect to receive some mission pay when we pull this off. For now, we just need to figure out how we're going to do this."

Taking that as his cue, the intelligence division's major stepped forward, drawing all eyes to himself. "Well, I won't lie, the Intelligence Division got hit especially hard when all this went down, but a few of our agents had the foresight to pretend to join the insurrection so they could feed intel back to us. But I guess I haven't used up all my luck, cause just this morning we received a message from a member of Ouroboros that detailed pretty much everything we needed to know."

"Umm... Should we be trusting anything a member of Ouroboros says?" Elliot's comment earned many nods from the confused group.

Lechter just waved off their concern. "Don't worry about it. There's a good reason to believe this information is valid, and that reason is... something you guys will probably figure out in a minute."

"You would think after all the stuff he was responsible for he would choose to be a little less annoying, but what do I know?" Machias had only meant to whisper that to those closest to him, but with the room as quiet as it was everyone heard the inspector.

Lechter just appeared amused by their collective annoyance. "Aaaaanyways, with the intel we got, we now have a rough idea of how many people we're facing, which Ouroboros members are present, and most importantly, the exact location of Rean Schwarzer.

Now that he had their undivided attention, the intelligence officer unfurled a large map across a table. "This is the Vestia Training Ground, located, as you probably guessed, in the Vestia Forest. Near the northern end, to be exact. It was established three years ago to facilitated advantaged Soldat training and combined arms tactics, but was shut down two years ago after... well, you know. Pretty good place to base their operations from, if you ask me.

Sounds like they have around four thousand soldiers in total, plus a few hundred archaisms provided by the society. More importantly, it appears they've managed to acquire a few dozen soldats, a handful of tanks and armored cars, and even a couple patrol airships. Maybe enough to give one of our armored divisions a run for their mira.

And lastly, we know of five powerhouses in the facility itself. There are two enforcers, one is the Direwolf and the other... is Prince Cedric." That caused some eyebrows to raise in surprise, a young swordsman especially. "There are also three more. In the words of the one who sent us this information, 'The mighty and honorable warriors of the Stahlritter, proudly carrying out their Lord's will.'"

"It was totally Duvalie, wasn't it?"

"Yup, that would explain it."

"So I guess this information isn't a trap."

"Kinda surprised she managed to figure anything out on her own."

"So why did she send all this anyways?"

That final question actually caused the carefree major to wince, knowing the group wasn't going to like his answer. "Apparently the prince is kinda bitter about the end result of the Great Twilight and has decided to take it out on Rean. He also ordered his immediate execution should anyone make a move to assault that facility."

Lechter knew he was right in his opinion as the temperature in the room dropped significantly. Many of the Class VII members let their feelings be known verbally as the room was filled with angry shouts, slammed tables, and other signs of barely repressed rage. Eventually, they calmed down enough to regain their focus, and more than one head turned in the direction of a specific member, who had thus far remained completely silent throughout everything.

Outside of clenched fists and narrowed eyes, there were no visible signs that Fie was even paying attention to anything around her. Her focus had remained focused solely on the map ever since Lechter laid it out, eyes roaming the contents with an intense focus that few could remember seeing from the normally relaxed girl.

"So we can't attack without risking Rean, but not attacking means..." Gaius summed the situation up for them, his normally kind smile looking especially strained given the current situation.

"Right." Responded Toval. "It's a bad situation, but I'm hoping that one of you might have a solution."

There was silence for a minute, but one which was eventually broken by one of the youngest members of their group. "Can't we just have Emma and the other witches magic us in like at the Black Workshop? Get in, get Rean, bust up some bad guys, and get out." Millium suggested.

Said witch shook her head sadly. "That won't work, I'm afraid. Back then we had Valimar to serve as a signal for the teleportation magics. Even with grandmother and Vita there's no way we could control the spell with enough degree of certainty to be safe."

"What about stealth technology? We have Gaius's Merkabah and Altina's Claiomh Solais, right? Can't we just use them to get to Rean undetected?"

"Sorry, that won't work either." Lechter shot down Juna's suggestion. "The newer model archaisms have been built with anti-stealth technology integrated. It would be too risky." That caused Altina to slump, saddened that she wouldn't be able to save her instructor.

"I don't suppose there are any secret entrances or anything we could use?" Elliot asked, but only received negative shakes of the head for his efforts. "Didn't think so..."

On and on they went, with someone suggesting an increasingly desperate idea only for it to be shot down soon after. Nothing they came up with worked and morale started to drop as they failed to come up with anything.

But amidst all that chaos one person remained silent. She heard all the ideas suggested, but her focus remained solely on the provided map, as lime-green eyes took in every possible detail. Once finished she went over it again in her mind, committing every little piece of information to memory as she worked to create a plan. Just as everyone ran out of ideas to suggest her eyes hardened in determination as a decision was made.

"Let me handle it." Her voice was soft, but rang loudly through the room and immediately drew all attention to herself.

"Fie?"

"You have an idea?"

She nodded her head. "Like you said, stealth technology won't work, but I don't need it. Let me handle it. I can get to Rean."

It was an idea, but... "There's no way you'll be able to get Rean out, especially if he's in bad shape."

"I know." She responded. "But if I can just get to him, I can protect him while the rest of you launch your attack."

"Even if you get to him you'll be all alone against hundreds, maybe even thousands of soldiers!"

"The Provincial Armies can't even get close with their airships in the sky. It might be hours before we can get to you!"

"...Wait." One word cut through all the denials, causing everyone to look at the speaker, Kurt. "We can't use Altina's stealth technology to rescue Instructor Rean, but we can use it to get close. Close enough to create a diversion."

"Oh, like when we were searching for pleroma grass, right?" The swordsman nodded at his pink-haired classmate.

"I see... If you guys can draw away their heavy defenses with your soldats I should be able to land the Merkabah long enough to drop off the rest of Class VII right outside the base."

The deadly grin on Ash's face hinted at his approval. "Woulda liked to smash those idiots myself, but getting to pilot the Hector again should be fun. The five of us against all those idiots in their soldats? Count me in!"

"Four, actually." Musse shot her classmates an apologetic look. "My place, unfortunately, will be at the head of the Lamarre army." Near her, Jusis nodded in reluctant agreement, as he too would be stuck leading his forces instead of fighting alongside his dear comrades.

"In that case, allow me to tag in for you."

"Crow?"

"They're no Ordine, but I can still pilot a soldat as well as anyone here. Can probably teach these kiddos a thing or two."

His words caused Juna to growl in annoyance. "You sure you can keep up, old man? Wouldn't want you having a heart attack and dying... again."

"I think it's a sound plan." Laura agreed, as she and the rest of the combined Class VII did their best to ignore the ongoing squabbling between Crow and Juna.

"I agree, although I would have liked the chance to confront Prince Cedric myself..." Agreed the Vander practitioner.

That comment caused Emma to perk up. "You only need to keep their attention until the provincial armies arrive, correct?" Seeing affirmative nods, the young witch continued. "In that case, why don't I have Celine stay with you? With our link we should be able to bring you to my location with our magic so you can help us."

"That should work." Musse agreed happily, but the smile faded somewhat as she had a concern of her own. "I am worried about the number of soldats and tanks they have. I still believe we'll prevail, but even the entirety of the Weissland Army cannot match up to what they possess. Any battle will be... costly."

The heir of the Albarea family actually chuckled at that, relishing in the fact that he knew something the genius Duchess did not. Not wanting to subject himself to her fierce glare any longer, he calmed himself down. "Actually, I had an interesting conversation with Patrick this morning. Apparently General Craig complained to the Marquis that with all the chaos going on in the Imperial Army that they won't have time to do proper inventory or maintenance on their soldats. Hypothetically, he said, if a train filled to the brim with soldats en route to the fortress were to break down in the middle of Sutherland that he wouldn't actually find out for a few days. And you wouldn't believe what the Sutherland army discovered at the location the Branch Campus used for their field study..."

"Hehe, that's my dad." The young musician of the group happily exclaimed, proud that his father still managed to find a way to help, even if it meant circumventing orders.

"And we can draw the pilots from all the Thor's graduates who are volunteering to help!" Millium cheered happily.

And just like that, they found themselves with the basic outline of a plan. The next couple hours were spent refining that into something complete. Despite the prospect of an imminent battle, the earlier frustration had been replaced with confident enthusiasm as everyone did their best to contribute to the mission's success.

Eventually, they found themselves with a working plan: First, Fie would infiltrate the facility and get to Rean. Once she got to him, she would signal the others with her ARCUS, and the attack would begin. New Class VII, plus Crow, would launch a surprise attack in their Panzer Soldats thanks to Altina's Ebon Shade. With the defenders in disarray, Gaius would land his Merkabah inside the base and the rest of Class VII would make their way to Fie and Rean. While this was going on, the Provincial Armies, with Jusis and Musse at their heads, and with support from myriad volunteers, were to begin advancing and subdue the rebels. Thanks to her connection with Celine, Emma would be ready to teleport New Class VII to assist the assault team in their push to rescue their leader.

"So that just leaves us with one final decision... When should we attack?"

"Well it will take at least a day to assemble the entire army..."

"We probably should scout the area first."

"Tomorrow? Or perhaps the day after?"

"...It has to be tonight."

For the second time that day, Fie's words drew all attention to the young bracer. Sara, who was standing next to the girl, shook her head. "I know you're worried about Rean. We all are, but you know we can't just rush in unprepared."

"It's not that." It actually was, but they didn't need to know that. Fortunately she had an actually rational reason for her opinion. "We can't let them figure out what we're doing. If they have any idea of our plans then..." She couldn't bring herself to finish that line of thought. "Even if we don't have anything ready we have to strike while we still can."

It was silent for a minute as everyone processed her words. "Sylphid does have a point." Surprisingly, it was Major Lechter who first spoke up in defense of her. "Claire and I have some ideas on how to keep everything a secret, but we can only do so much, especially when we aren't even sure who we can trust right now..."

And with that comment, the floodgates opened and everyone voiced their assent to the idea. Perhaps they agreed with Fie's idea, or maybe they just didn't like the idea of Lechter of all people being the one giving approval, but soon a consensus was reached. Toval allowed himself a long sigh, but couldn't quite hide the accompanying grin. "Alright, alright. Tonight it is. In that case, I should probably end this meeting so everyone can prepare what they can in the time allowed. Make sure to keep your ARCUS's on hand in case something comes up."

One by one the people in the room began leaving it. Some looked towards their orbments and any potential adjustments they could make and a few mentioned wanting to get their weapons upgraded. Some of the members who hadn't seen actual combat in a while looked to each other for spars, wanting to hone their skills before the main event. Those in charge, specifically Toval, Lechter, Jusis, and Musse, all were frantically contacting people with their ARCUS units in an attempt to prepare as much as possible in such a short time.

Those whose professions involved a lot of combat didn't need to do any extra preparation, so some of this smaller group chose to stick around. "I'm surprised the church let you bring your Merkabah and crew to our little mission, Gaius. Is that going to be alright?" Asked Kurt with some concern.

The tall Nord smiled and nodded his head. "It's fine. Opposing Ouroboros has become one of our primary missions these last two years, so I doubt anybody will mind me doing this. Father Lysander and Father Hemisphere promised to cover for me until I returned."

"So, Laura." Sara piped in. "Any chance your dad is coming to help? Wouldn't mind fighting alongside him again." That innocent sounding comment caused numerous members of the group to groan, knowing exactly what Sara was aiming for.

Laura, having the patience of a saint, did not allow herself to join the others in groaning. Her smile, however, was visibly strained. "I don't believe he will be fighting alongside us, however I do think he will be helping. His words to me before I departed were cryptic, but after thinking about it I suspect he intends to captain the Courageous II again."

"Wait, really? Sorry guys, I need to go find Toval. I am the ranking bracer, so I should be the one coordinating all the plans on board the Courageous, not him!"

"Sara, just stop. Please." Although Fie shook her head in disappointment, there was mirth in her eyes, which was encouraging after the last couple days.

"Let the granny dream." Ash's comment earned him an annoyed shout from said granny, but everyone was doing their best to ignore the former instructor at this point. He focused his attention back on Fie. "So, you think you're gonna be able to back all those words up? Gonna suck for all of us if you screw it up."

Juna responded by kicking the man in his shins, eliciting a cry of pain and annoyance from him. "Ignore him Fie, we've tried to housebreak him and it just never sticks."

"It's fine. We all know the smallest dogs bark the loudest." Fie teased. "But don't worry about it. I got this. I'll rescue Rean, and you guys will rescue me. And afterwords we can all take turns scolding him for being an absolute idiot, like always."

Kurt nodded in agreement. "Of course. On the honor of the Vander school I will cut us a path to you."

"That goes for the Arseid school as well, of course." Laura added unnecessarily. "Although, I recently heard a rumor that the Vander school recently welcomed a new young master into its ranks. Perhaps after we've rescued Rean you would honor me with a duel?"

"I am looking forward to it."

Further conversation was halted due to the ringing of an ARCUS unit. Instinctively everyone looked to see if it was for them, but only one of them would prove the winner, and in this case it was Laura. After excusing herself from the group and communicating on the device for a minute, she returned. "Father asked me to meet him at the airport for some reason. Would you like to accompany me, Fie?"

"Sure, why not?" They had plenty of time to kill and despite her important role in the upcoming operation there really wasn't much she needed to do to prepare. Better to keep herself occupied until the evening.

With that, the two friends left the rest of the group and traveled across the city. It wasn't hard to notice the air of tension around the city as the news had spread throughout the day. For the two girls, the hardest part was trying to ignore the stares and whispers, as their status as members of the Original Class VII was well-known at this point.

Arriving at the airport, neither were at all surprised when one of the attendants informed them that Victor S. Arseid could be found aboard a very familiar red airship, so the two made their way there. Security was unusually tight, but they passed through without issue and soon found themselves aboard the Courageous II. As expected, the Radiant Blademaster was there, and almost equally as expected, so was Prince Olivert. Less expected, however, were Princess Alfin and Elise.

"Fie, Laura. It's good to see the two of you again." Elise said with a smile. Despite that, Fie could easily tell that the youngest Schwarzer wasn't at her best, but was carrying on regardless. She knew it because the same signs could be spotted if she looked in a mirror. Thankfully, like her, Elise had been blessed by the presence of her best friend and that was allowing the younger girl to continue onward in spite of everything.

"Glad you could make it Laura, and nice to see you again Fie." Victor greeted the two. "Toval told us about the plan. Sounds like you are going to be pretty busy very soon."

Fie hummed in agreement. "Are you and the Courageous participating too?"

"We are indeed." Came the reply from the Prince. "We'll keep those pesky airships away. And I am hoping that the presence of my dear sister and myself will convince some of those soldiers down there to abandon their wicked ways. But..."

Alfin let out a sad sigh before continuing where her brother left off. "With Cedric on the other side it probably won't do much good. I can't believe he would do something like this..."

Seeking to fill the silent void to keep her best friend's spirits up, Elise chimed in. "Prince Olivert was gracious enough to let Alfin and I assist on board the Courageous. This way we can still help out, even if we can't fight directly."

"That's good to hear. Your support has always been invaluable to us." Laura turned back to her father. "Might I inquire as to why you called for me, father?"

"Indeed. I have a gift for you. It is something I should have given you earlier, but now is as good a time as any." With his remaining arm the legendary swordmaster drew his blade and presented it to his daughter.

"F-father? T-that's Galland-Sharl..." It was a rare treat to see Laura stutter so, but stutter she did as her eyes looked upon the legendary greatsword being placed in front of her.

The Viscount couldn't quite hide his grin at his daughter's reaction. "It is. The heirloom that has been passed down through the Arseid family for hundreds of years. And now it belongs to you."

"But... That is your sword! You can still fight! I still have so much to learn..."

Her father just shook his head. "I can still swing a sword, aye, but my days on the battlefield are over." A pointed glance towards the stump where his arm used to be ensued. "You, however, are just entering your prime and have many many good years ahead of you. You might still have more to learn, but so does everybody who has ever taken up the blade. The soul of Arseid burns brighter in you than any practitioner alive. So take this sword, and use it to carve a path through to your dear friends!"

Hesitantly, the blue-haired woman stretched her arms out and grasped the hilt of the greatsword. Once she had hold of it, the Radiant Blademaster let go and watched as his daughter took a few practice swings with her new weapon.

"Looking good." Fie cheered with a smile as she witnessed the exchange. "Almost gonna feel sorry for those idiots when they see you charging in with that big hunk of metal. Almost"

"Thanks..." Laura muttered breathlessly as she examined her new weapon in great detail. It was hard to tell if she even noticed how irreverently her best friend referred to her family's legendary weapon.

"Haha, how wonderful. I've said it many times already, but it never ceases to amaze me just how much Class VII keeps exceeding my wildest expectations." Laura almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the prince, and Fie made a mental note to relentlessly tease her for completely forgetting about the presence of the royal family at a later time.

"They truly are remarkable, aren't they?" Alfin teased with a giggle.

With their business concluded, the two girls made to exit the ship since it was obvious the crew of the Courageous still had a lot of work to do before departure, but a voice called out to them before they left. "Please... Save my brother. Save Rean."

"We will, don't worry." Fie reassured with a smile.

Elise wasn't finished, however, as she ran forward and tackled the bracer into a hug. "And take care of yourself too." She whispered, but loud enough for all to hear. "I couldn't bear it if I were to lose my brother, but I don't want to lose my sister either."

Fie's eyes widened in surprise at that final comment, but after a second reverted back to normal. She did, however, return the hug. "I promise. We'll all return home, safe and sound." Promise made, she continued to hold Rean's sis- no, she continued to hold her sister.


The afternoon passed painfully slowly for Fie, who really had nothing to do. She took the time to look over all of her equipment, but that was a pointless exercise as she was always one to keep all of her weapons in immaculate condition and always made sure to have tools to spare. She didn't want to do anything mundane in the city because she wasn't really up for dealing with the well-intentioned, but quite annoying pity from all the people who would recognize her. She considered going home, but the situation wouldn't be much better there and she would still need to return to the capital for her trip later on. Thus, she ended up accomplishing a whole lot of nothing.

Eventually, mercifully, afternoon turned into evening and she could finally start taking action. The closest train stop to their target was the Schwarz Drache Barrier, so that was where the members of Class VII and their allies were to gather, which meant that that was her destination as well. The train ride was pleasant, as many friends were also on board for that ride, and everything passed smoothly. She did, however, feel a chill when they passed by the spot where Rean's train had been attacked.

Unsurprisingly, the fortress was a very lively place with activity taking place in every corner. She and the others spotted the rest of their friends and hurried over to the large gathering.

"-Was lucky that Principal Aurelia let us burrow our original soldats for this. When I asked she looked ready to come down here herself, but eventually relented and claimed it was our responsibility to handle it." Were the first words she heard as she arrived.

Gaius, who had been talking with an unknown squire, was the first to notice the last arrivals. "There you are. I was starting to think you might be late."

His words drew the attention of everyone else and soon the group of heroes were chatting among themselves. After a few minutes Fie noticed a couple of absences from the combined Class VII. "I take it our noble classmates aren't joining us?"

"Yup." Millium replied. "Jusis has been super busy getting his army ready. Sounds like he did a pretty good job, too. He should be at the nature park waiting for the signal to attack. Oh, but he did ask me to pass on a message to you. He said that you're a total pain to deal with and he is never listening to your ideas again. Kinda rude, but he says the same thing to me all the time so I know he doesn't mean anything by it."

"Kinda rude indeed." Really, Jusis made it sound like she was expecting a lot from him. Simply that he deploy the majority of his army on the far end of the Kreuzen Province, prepared for battle, in complete secrecy. Simple.

She might have said more, but spotted some unexpected faces a short distance away, and excused herself to see them. "Edel, Vivi!"

"Oh, hello Fie." The gardener greeted as the mischievous twin waved happily.

"You guys are here too?" It was a redundant question considering they were standing right there, but both girls understood the true meaning well enough.

"Yup!" Vivi nodded happily. "Thanks to my connection with you guys I got permission to come up here and cover the story live. Rex is around here snapping pictures, but I'm the one who gets to write the article about how awesome and cool you are gonna be when you rescue Rean!"

The confidence was infectious, and Fie couldn't help but grin in return. Thanks." She turned to the second year student. "And what about you? Are you helping to coordinate the efforts like in the Twilight?"

"Not this time." Edel reached behind her back and pulled out her orbal staff. "I have volunteered to fight on the front alongside the Lamarre Provincial Army."

Both of her club juniors gaped in shock. "But I thought you disliked fighting?"

"I do. But I also dislike it when miscreants threaten to smother one of my beautiful flowers and deny it the light it need to thrive. In situations like that, there is no other choice but to use force to teach them a lesson."

"...Thanks." Was all the beautiful flower could say in response.

A quick glance towards the sky told her what she already knew. "It's time." She muttered as she witnessed the sun starting to dip below the horizon, signifying the end of the long summer daylight. Somehow, her quiet words managed to gain the attention of everybody, as all of her friends reconvened to wish her well on her mission.

"Oh, wait! Before you leave." Elliot called out to her before she could make her departure. The young musician handed her a water quartz. "Take this. I know you aren't one for arts, but I think you'll get more use of this Tearal than I will. Please, take care of Rean for us, alright?"

She readily accepted the gift and found a slot in her ARCUS for it. "Thanks. And don't worry, I got this." With one final wave, the bracer departed from her friends as she stepped forth into the encroaching darkness in search of her brightest light.