Chapter 1

While peace has not been restored, the Empire gained a period of respite after the declaration of Pina's ascension to heir to the throne. The JSDF was able to enjoy their well deserved break as Zorzal licked his wounds in Telta. A large festival was thrown in honour of the JSDF and the knights who fought for the emperor. Streets crowded with festive souls, throwing flower pedals at the feet of all who passed. The city boomed with livelihood not seen in a long time.

Two Falmart legionaries patrolling around the walls of the city grumbled, listening to the festival from afar. Armed with a spear and shield, the legions slowly walked around their sector in circles. One of the patrolling legionary heard his stomach growl and cringed his face.

"Say..." he said to his companion in an irked voice, "Why is it always me that gets chosen for such task."

His companion simply shook his head in agreement.

"Pfff, you? I think this is the fifth time this month that I got put on patrol, while the rest of them get fatten off roast beef and wine. Curses..."

The two legionaries continued their patrol when they saw meteors flying across the sky. Few of them landed in the woods not far from where they were.

"What was that?"

One of the guards yelled as they sprinted towards the smoke trail. They ran through the woods and chased the mysterious object.

At the end of the trail, there was a wrecked device that looked out of the world. The legionaries have seen their share of JSDF equipment, and nothing that they have seen appeared to match the device currently burning in front of them. The device was made of a bone like white material, emitting a strange aura. The two guards watched with their jaw dropped when, suddenly, the device moved. With a hiss of escaping air, the glass like piece lifted upwards, revealing a figure of a pale woman inside. She was of tall and slim figure with beauty contending even those of the Rose Knights. She wore a reddish purple and black robe and had long orange hair. Most noticeably, her ears were pointy, just like the elves. She was bleeding from the small gash on her forehead but still conscious. She held out her blade towards the guards.

"Take me to your leader!" she grunted, "Great danger approaches..."

Far away from Aralith's crash site, another escape pod crashed in the land of Falmart. Unlike the seer, Altien managed to exit his escape pods with minimal difficulty, but he soon caught himself amongst a patrol of human armed forces. The combatants wore green vest like armour and helmet, carrying black firearms. These were no doubt warriors of the human empire, possibly Imperial forces.

"Mon-Keigh forces... Asurmen has blessed me with the gift of combat sooner than I had expected," Altien laughed to himself.

Surrounded by a patrolling JSDF, the Dire Avenger gripped his shuriken catapult and waited for an openning.

"Sir! Is that an elf? He looks... different," cried one of the JSDF soldier, pointing his Type 64 rifle at the stranger in reddish-purple bodysuit.

"We are the JSDF! Lower your weapon, or we will open fire!" the lieutenant shouted in the language of the Special Region. Altien raised his pointy ear.

"Your language seems broken, Mon-Keigh. I am not unfamiliar with your language. It is you who fail to speak fluently."

The JSDF looked at each other in confusion. The elf seemed to speak similarly to the denizens of the Special Region, yet slightly different.

"Lower your weapon, elf!" the officer shouted once more, this time more aggressively.

"You leave me no choice, foolish creatures..." Altien murmured. But before he can act, a white figure swept across the JSDF formation with a ear wrenching scream. Confused, the JSDF looked around. In a flash, their members began to lose limbs, and one by one, they began to fall like flies.

"AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!" screamed one of the JSDF as he stared at his missing hands. Before he let out another scream, his head separated from his shoulders. With the spray of blood, the soldier fell to the ground.

"Who are you?" the lieutenant screamed as he hysterically discharged his pistol in the air. One moment, their were eight infantry men by his side. Now, he was surrounded by eight dismembered corpses on a pool of blood. The figure then appeared before him, letting out a howling scream that rattled his brain. Before the officer can act, his head fell to the floor. The field became a sudden mess of blood and dismembered corpses of the unfortunate patrol, yet not a single drop of blood stained the white armour of the Aspect Warrior.

The figure then removed her terrifying mask, revealing a humanoid face and pointy ears. The Howling Banshee Kalaital sheathed her power sword and faced her kin.

"Kalaital. What a pleasant face in such dire times. Have you seen the others?" asked Altien. The banshee shook her head.

"I found Iryath, but he was burned up in his pod. He must have entered a damaged pod."

She revealed a spirit stone. Altien nodded solemnly.

"May we be unite in the Infinity Circuit," he mourned, "Do you know the whereabouts of the Seer Aralith?"

Kalaital regrettably shook her head.

"We must find her with haste, before the Mon-Keigh discovers that she holds the artifact."

Kalaital agreed. She pointed at the sky, where the smoke trails still remained.

"Perhaps, if we follow the trails, we may join the others as well," said the banshee. The Dire Avenger put on his helmet, as did the Howling Banshee.

"Then we must hurry," said Altien, through the speaker of his helmet.

The JSDF headquarters were met with heavy news the following day. Their 12th recon team of the 1st Combat Unit has been lost for 24 hours until another recon team discovered the remains of what used to be the 12th.

"Sir, the 12th Recon Team has been found. You won't like it," reported a JSDF captain, handing over a folder to his superior officer. Colonel Kamo received the file and flipped through it, his expression getting darker with every page.

"What savages is capable of such atrocity?" the colonel raged, his face turning red with anger.

"We aren't sure, sir. Their last radio transmission reported spotting a crashed pod."

Colonel Kamo slammed the desk.

"I want the units on the move, immediately! Devise a task force to investigate. Whoever did this, I want those savages found, and I want their heads!"

"Roger, sir!" the captain saluted.