Without wasting any time, Kurt called his troops together and brought them to the frontline along with Bernard's own squad. By now, the Gallian regulars who had been laying siege of the citadel had been scattered by the Calamity Ravens and a resulting Imperial counterattack. They had been pushed back from the second line of ramparts all the way back to the edges of the outer walls which Kurt and Bernard had seized the prior day. As the 117th took up covering positions in front of the main breach in the wall, the Nameless positioned themselves off to the flanking edges inside the walls. Instead, they took cover and camouflaged themselves in order to trick their advancing enemies. Bernard watched the enemy advance closer and radioed Kurt apprehensively, "You're really sure about this plan of yours?"

"Trust me. Dahau won't respect the regular forces. He'll assume they're all cowards and ineffective. All I need you to do is buy some time and lure the enemy into position for us."

"Retreating isn't exactly the way my unit does things... but I guess we can try things your way," Bernard grudgingly conceded as the snow continued to fall gently from above.

"All right. Here goes nothing," Bernard muttered as his unit of commandos faced down the large incoming force of Imperial soldiers and Calamity Ravens. A few Gallian stragglers retreated past the formation of the 117th as the enemy came forward like a wave. Bernard raised his rifle and pulled the trigger, "Open fire! give those Imps hell!"

A hail of intercepting fire erupted from the Gallian lines and battered the incoming Imperials. Several Imperial soldiers fell while the Calamity Ravens behind them took cover and returned fire while some of their smaller APCs churned forward. The vehicles were nimble enough to get around the earthworks and their armor was strong enough to ward off the small arms fire. From inside of the APCs, Zig watched as the Calamity Ravens formed up behind the vehicles to shild them from gunfire as they pushed forward toward the outer walls. "Dahau? What are your orders?"

From the rear line, Dahau supervised the battle and watched with his arms confidently crossed over his chest. So far, they had scattered the Gallian regulars here and the ones holding that breach didn't look to be any significant opposition either. If they could completely repel the Gallians here and break out from the walls, then they would be able to attack the enemy camp. Even more, it would force the overall enemy lines outside the city to buckle and turn inward. "Gather your force and press the attack. We're going to break their line and drive them back outside the outer walls."

Back on the line, the commandos of the 117th engaged in a fighting retreat until they were back outside the outer wall. As a few of his scouts fell back, to safety, Bernard signaled his engineers to carry out the plan he had laid out with Kurt. He could only pray that it would work. Just as the Imperial forces reached the large breach in the wall, several explosive charges were detonated causing confusion and for rubble to rain down on the surprised enemy. Chunks of the wall caved in and crushed two vehicles while the rest of the debris formed a sudden roadblock for the attackers. Now that the Imperials were momentarily trapped behind the debris field, they were caught flat footed when Kurt signaled his own squad to attack.

From behind the flanking positions behind the wall, the Nameless had set up an ambush by hiding in the trenches and other earthworks a short distance away. Even the Calamity Ravens there were thrown into a minor panic as their familiar black clad Gallian enemies came out of nowhere and attacked from both sides. Several of the Ravens were hit by gunfire from the advancing Nameless while the Gallian lancers took out two more APCs with well placed shots. In the midst of the crossfire, Zig jumped out of his armored vehicle and began firing his weapon while trying to rally his troops.

"Hold your ground! We aren't going to let these worms beat us here!"

The fire and courage of their commander seemed to lift up the spirits of the Ravens as they regrouped and began to form a tight defensive formation to halt the Nameless ambush. As they focused their aim, both sides found themselves at a stalemate as they pummeled each other with volleys of heavy fire and return fire. The Nameless were unable to push forward and the Calamity Ravens had dug in, refusing to be dislodged. From the other side of the rubble at the wall, Bernard watched as Kurt's squad stalled. Although they couldn't break the Raven's position, they were at least holding them in place. At this point, it would be decided by attrition, or whichever side ran out of ammunition first.

Bernard picked up his rifle and hurled a stick grenade over the mound of rubble where the Imperials were on the other side, "Come on Squad! Let's break that line!"

The 117th regrouped and rushed over the hill of rubble just as the grenade went off in the ranks of the Calamity Ravens and caused them to turn around. Now they were being attacked on three sides as the Gallian unit they had pushed back had returned for a renewed attack. Kurt blinked in surprise and grinned as he continued firing and watched the 117th smash into the other flank of the Calamity Ravens. He was not expecting Bernard to lead another counter-charge, but it was working. Kurt decided to follow the captain's lead and urged his own troops to rise up and press the attack. "Let's go everyone! Don't let up!"

As they rushed the Ravens and began to beat them back, Kurt felt a few enemy shots glance off his armored shoulder plates. That might leave a few bruises, but the adrenaline was carrying him now and driving the Gallians on. Amid the chaos and the gunfire flying everywhere, the Ravens fell back to join a company of reserve troops who had been pulled from the citadel to try and reinforce their comrades. Kurt saw the flow of battle moving again and that the Gallians still had some momentum left as he rejoined Bernard in the middle of the firefight. Both officers gave nods to each other as Kurt called out, "Now's our chance. Are you with me?"

Bernard gave a thumbs up before Kurt called out to some of his own squadmates giving a direct command, "Cedric! Imca! On me! Let's clear a path!"

The shocktrooper and Lancer joined their commander and pushed ahead first over the icy grounds unloading a withering barrage of fire as the 422nd and the 117th joined together and moved forward in tandem. The ferocity and unity of the two Gallian squads surprised the Imperials as Zig struggled to keep his line steady as they collided in a messy fight over the trenches.

From his ridge, Dahau watched as the Imperial line faltered and began to fall back against the spirited Gallian counterattack. He frowned slightly at the outcome before he heard his lieutenant radio him directly, "Sir! The Gallians are pushing us back again! What should we do? Should we stand and fight?"

"No Zig. Fall back and withdraw the rest of the company. We were overconfident today and underestimated the Gallians, but we wont make the same mistake again."

As the Imperials began a hasty retreat from the lines of Walencourt, Dahau gave a scoff while pulling his cloak around his shoulders to ward off the snow. Even as he walked off, he wore a small smile on his face, "Well played today Nameless. This was is far from over and we'll have many more battles left to fight. Another time perhaps."

Back in the battle line, Kurt gave a relieved cheer and lowered his rifle as he spotted the Imperial forces retreating from the field while those defenders still in the citadel began to signal a surrender. One of his squadmates Amy grabbed Kurt's arm excitedly, "I can't believe we did it sir! That was a miracle!"

Kurt smiled and patted her hand, "Yeah. I was... wasn't it?"

In a strange way, perhaps Bernard was right about some things. Maybe there was something to taking some risks and throwing caution to the winds. Granted, they had compromised a little and adopted each other's approaches but in the end it worked out. They had worked well together after all and complimented each other's talents in the field. Kurt let his squadmates cheer and celebrate their hard earned victory with those of the 117th as he stepped aside and found Bernard standing off to the side facing the citadel. He watched as white flags were raised one by one along the wall until the Imperial garrison there finally surrendered. As Kurt approached, he gave a happy smile.

"Bernard! There you are! I wanted to congratulate you. We did it!"

Captain Fontaine turned his head slightly and gave a thin smile, "Yeah, we did. Didn't we?"

"What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be with your troops celebrating?" Kurt asked curiously.

"I just wanted to make sure the job here was done completely," Bernard answered, "I have to hand it to you Kurt. I should be the one congratulating you. Your strategies were key in helping us drive off those Calamity Ravens."

Kurt shrugged, "Well... maybe. But you were also right about exploiting that weakness in the enemy line and counterattacking. That's what helped break the enemy's back today."

Bernard winced and stifled a laugh, "I suppose so. Does this mean we're okay with each other?"

"What kind of a silly question is that? Of course it does."

Bernard nodded with another grim laugh, "Good. Then I can die a happy man."

Kurt frowned and looked to his colleague, "What are you..."

He paused when he saw a large red stain forming from the side of Bernard as he stumbled forward and collapsed into the snow. It looked like Bernard had been hit in the battle and the bullet had tagged him in between the plates of his shocktrooper armor. Kurt immediately dropped to his comrade's side and suddenly noticed that Bernard's face had paled and that had been persevering through his injury just to get through the fight.

"Bernard! Hold on! I'm going to get you help!" Kurt gasped in alarm as he pressed his hands over his classmate's side to try and apply some pressure to the wound, "Medic! Anybody! Come quick!"

The other members of the squads who were nearby heard the alarmed cry and they scrambled to fetch the medic while others fumbled for their first aid kits. Kurt did likewise and pulled out a canister of ragnaid with some bandages, "Sit tight Bernard. You're going be okay."

Bernard gave a small smile as shook his head and pushed Kurt's hand away, "No Kurt. It's too late for that. We both know it."

Kurt looked down and knew it was true. The wound was too deep and the snow underneath Bernard was already turning red from the pooling blood. He decided to make his friend comfortable and administered the ragnaid anyway, if only to numb the pain. Bernard gave a grim smile, "Thanks. Seems like I owe you one more time. You're still trying to be a hero here."

"No," Kurt said shaking his head quietly, 'You don't owe me anything. This was your victory today."

"It was. The battle is over and Giuliana doesn't have to be put in danger here," Captain Fontaine said as he removed the enameled rose pin from his coat lapel and handed it off to Kurt with a bloodied glove, "Do me a favor? Make sure she gets this back?"

Kurt took it clasping his old classmate's hand around it, "I will."

"And another thing... remember what I said before about taking chances," Bernard said in a weaker voice, "Time is short. Even if there's a war, we still need to remember to live a little, to enjoy the time we have together with the people we care about."

Kurt answered quietly, "I'll tell Giuliana that."

"Don't forget to tell the people you care about most too," Bernard said before Kurt nodded in understanding.

Captain Fontaine gave a satisfied smile and lay back as his breathing relaxed and he lay still in the snow. Kurt continued to clasp his comrade's hand which held the pin, even as other squad members came rushing over with a medic in tow. Eve if it was too late, Kurt continued to kneel in the bloodstained snow and watch the scene unfold. Gallia had won a victory today, but also suffered the loss of a good officer as well. At the moment, Kurt could only wonder which road he would take next and which direction he would go from there.

A/N:
To be concluded in the next chapter.