The sudden and unexpected appearance of winter weather threw most of the Edinburgh Army for a loop. The Federation's slogan of "Home before the Winter" hadn't been an idle inspiration, it had been their entire plan. As such, they didn't have any winter equipment at the front and any that the Federation did have was now behind washed-out roads and snowed-out mountain passes.

As September turned into October, Claude walked through the camp to the command centre, there was hope that they would be able to push onto their next objective, but he wasn't holding out much hope of that himself.

When he arrived, he found most of the other squad leaders there with the remainder filtering in soon thereafter. The Commander nodded at them. "I will not mince words." he began, "We're in a difficult spot with no hope of Command being able to send reinforcements or resupply. Worst still is the fact that the Empire has, reportedly, cut us off. We're still trying to confirm our status, but it is unlikely we'll be able to end this war this year."

Most of the other squad leaders' faces fell, except for Minerva's and Claude's for they had expected this. What no one had expected were his next words. "If this camp is attacked, fight a delaying action as we begin to retreat back towards Federation lines. Even if it means surrendering Sigval back to the Imperials."

Before any of them could question him, explosions rained down outside the tent, sending them all into a blind panic except for Minerva and Claude who raced outside to find out what the problem was. They didn't get far though as an explosion sent them to their feet, though Minerva was actually knocked out.

Rushing over to her side and jolting her awake, they observed the scene in seconds and looked at each other. "I've got the North!" she shouted.

Claude gave a brisk nod, "I've got the East. See you on the other side!" he shouted, running to his squad's position.

On the eastern side of the camp, Squad E was putting up one hell of a fight. No orders had come down, but when the Empire started their attack, they had responded quickly and it was thanks to that rapid response that kept so many alive. It was controlled chaos that Claude ran into. "Raz! Kai! Status?" he shouted.

"Messy!" Kai shouted back, firing a shot before ducking down to bring him up to speed. "If not for Riley and the Grenadiers, I doubt we'd still be here!"

Claude nodded. "We're conducting a fighting withdrawal! As soon as Minerva and I get word that the camp has been evacuated, then Squads E and F will retreat!"

Kai nodded as Claude grabbed a fallen rifle and joined the battle. It didn't take long before Jacob came over the radio. "Claude! That weird tank you guys told me about from Sigval is here!"

Claude winced, remembering the pounding Hafen received the last time. "Come on." he murmured under his breath, "Hurry up."

As if she could hear him, Minerva came across the radio. "Claude! Begin retreat! Camp is clear! Squad F will wait for you at the gate."

Claude breathed a sigh of relief and ordered his squad to fall back. By the time they got a ways away from the camp, they stopped running, having caught up with Squad F. Minerva ran an eye over him and his squad, relief flooded her face when she finished. "Good, you all survived." she breathed.

Claude leaned against the Hafen, as did most of his squad. Exhaustion plain to see. "We got lucky," he replied eventually. "That tank from Sigval didn't join the battle until we were about to pull out."

Minerva grimaced, nodding to Dan as he opened his APC's doors to fill with as many people as he could hold. "I just hope we've got enough of a head start to finish the retreat."

Raz stared at them in disbelief. "So that's it? We're giving up?" he cried.

Jacob sighed. "Sergeant, we can fight for every inch of land, but all that will do is hasten the end of the war in the Empire's favour. Preserving our combat effectiveness will mean that we can deliver a critical blow when it will be effective. And if we cause the Empire to expend some of their strength in chasing us across the countryside, so much the better."

Before Raz could retort to that, a dull earth-shaking thud was heard and knocked some of Squad E to the ground. "Well…" Claude began dryly, "I think they found your present, Minerva…"

Minerva grew a small smirk, but before she could comment, Claude's radio crackled to life, as did her's: "The Regiment is ordered to rendezvous with the Northern Front. Squads E and F are ordered to proceed to Grid Reference: W168-041, by October 15."

Claude turned to Minerva, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What is High Command thinking?" he questioned, "That's over a hundred and fifty kilometres away."

Minerva pursed her lips, her mind working overtime. "I do not know, nor could I hazard a guess…" she finally murmured. "My greater concern is the mountains we'll have to traverse in less than a week."

Claude nodded, his mind racing to come up with as many time-saving measures as possible. "We've only got two tanks and one APC between us…" he muttered.

Shaking their heads, they got their squads moving according to their orders. Towards the sea.

Three days into their march, everyone was agreeing with Claude's first thought: What the Hell was High Command thinking? Sending them through snowed-out mountain passes? The only good thing was that their slow progress was also being shared by their Imperial pursuers. Jacob made his way to the front of the column, mindful of everything that had been shouldered on them but also thinking about that question everyone asked. All of the equipment and provisions were loaded into the APC and the two tanks of the squads, but what concerned the former SpecOps soldier most was the stores of fuel and ammunition. Unless there was a resupply at their rendezvous point, they'd have to leave the armour behind. As for the ammunition, Jacob figured they had one battle in them at most.

Jacob pushed his concerns to the side as he came upon Claude and Lieutenant Victor kneeling at the head of the column. "You summoned me, Sir? Ma'am?" he asked.

Claude nodded and handed him his binoculars. "Take a look to the south face of the canyon," he murmured.

Jacob peered in the direction Claude had indicated and let out a low whistle. "I count no less than thirty Imperials," he whispered.

Claude hummed and Minerva grimaced. "Unfortunately, our path passes too close to them to not be seen," she remarked. "Our only way is a fight."

Jacob hummed. "Maybe, maybe not," he replied, lowering the binoculars and looking at Claude. "Go get Riley and tell her to bring one of the training shells."

Claude was curious, but he trusted his cousin-in-law, so he did as was asked. Though Minerva also trusted the ex-SpecOps soldier, her curiosity won out. "What are you thinking of Mister Stewart?"

Jacob smirked. "My folks run a ski chalet back in Vinland," he replied. "As such, I have experience with snow and mountains," he said before he nodded at Riley and Claude approaching. "Look about fifty metres skyward from the southward-facing path," he told Riley.

Riley did as he suggested then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like the Chalet's hill before you and Uncle Joe go blasting. I take it that you want a similar effect?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes, but quietly. We don't want to alert the garrison."

Riley nodded and began setting up her mortar, giving enough time for Raz and Kai to approach. "I don't get it," Raz remarked. "How is snow gonna help us here?"

Jacob leaned back against the rock that they'd used to brace their binoculars before answering Raz. "In Vinland alone, around six thousand people a year die because of snow-caused avalanches. It's why most ski chalets shut down one day during the season at least to undertake blasting to cause controlled avalanches that won't kill anyone," he said before gesturing behind him. "That bunch of snow was always gonna avalanche, we're just accelerating the process."

"Specifically now," Riley remarked, dropping in her round. "Fire in the hole."

The dull thud couldn't be heard by most of the group, and the loud whistling through the air was quickly carried off by the wind. But the low rumbling and the rush of wind as several tons of snow fell could be felt for miles. It went on for several minutes, but finally, Jacob looked over the rock and nodded. "Well, that's better than I expected. It'll be a while before they come up," he said before frowning. "If they come up," he muttered.

No one quite knew how to follow that up, so they just began the march again.

That night, while everyone tried to get whatever sleep they could, Jacob and Karen approached the campfire where Neige sat. Obstinately, it was for guard duty, but no one had any reason to believe that the Empire would be able to catch up for a while anyways. "Hey, Neige," Jacob whispered, drawing the girl's attention. "How are you holding up?"

Neige's lips quivered, whether that was from the cold or her natural skittishness was difficult to determine, but she finally answered. "Cold."

Jacob shivered as he and Karen sat on opposite sides of Neige, trying to get any warmth from the fire. "I can handle the cold, but this wind is deathly," he muttered.

Neige looked at Jacob in surprise. "You're used to this weather?" she asked incredulously.

Jacob huffed. "Snow, yes. Enough snow to cut off a place from town for months on end, naturally. But I never had to deal with these winds or anything like them before." he replied before looking at Neige. "My mum and dad own a ski chalet back in Vinland, before the war, I was a regular helper when I was able to anyhow."

Neige let a small smile grace her face. "Sounds like fun," she murmured.

Jacob smiled and let out a small laugh. "Yes, it was rather fun at times," he replied. "Maybe once the war is over and it's safe to go to Vinland the Squad can join me in visiting the place."

Neige looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean visit? Aren't you going home after this war?"

Jacob shifted on the log to look at Karen and Neige easily. "Well, to be honest, "home" is a bit nebulous at the moment," he said. "I'm from Vinland, Karen's from Edinburgh, yet some of the family is from Gallia," he replied.

Karen hummed. "We were talking some time ago about possibly buying a place in Gallia, but we'd have to see how things end up first before we can make any decisions."

For a while, nothing more was said. It wasn't hard to let the wind cull any attempt at conversation, but eventually, the silence grew unbearable and Karen broke it. "I should go check on the others," she muttered before standing. "Don't stay out too long dear, I wouldn't want either of you to catch a cold."

Jacob smiled. "Yes dear," he replied before kissing her. After she left, the fire went out in a burst of wind. "Well… I guess that is our cue Neige," he said before standing and offering her his hand. "Come on, let's get you into the APC for the night."

Perhaps he should have taken the fact that she accepted his hand without complaint less seriously, she was a shy girl after all. On the other hand, she had all but closed herself off after Seigval so this was a major step. As Jacob turned to look westward, in the direction of their objective, a line he had written for a school project ages ago, came unbidden to his mind: "Neither Mountain, nor Winter pays heed to the desires of Man."