Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyria Chronicles or its characters as they belong to SEGA, but I do own my Original Character in this story, Emery Declark.

EPISODE ONE: Desert Adventures

I hadn't been with squad seven that long before my first assignment. We were headed to the Barious Desert. I was so excited! Well, not because I wanted to go to the desert. I was just excited to finally be heading into battle! However, things were moving so slow.

As we hiked our way through the badlands, I began to lose some of my previous excitement. The other members of squad seven weren't that thrilled, too. I noticed that Salinas and Rosie were coughing a lot. Apparently they had dust allergies. Not the best thing to have when wandering through the desert.

Ted, usually being full of energy and vigor, was a bit subdued. I looked over at him and could see he was visibly sweating. Most of us scouts didn't care too much for the scorching heat and sand that filled the badlands. A good portion of the shocktroopers looked miserable, too. I did, however, notice that there were two people who actually enjoyed the desert air – Herbert and Cezary. They were both accustomed to it.

"Hey, Boss-man! Can we pull over for a bite or maybe something to drink? The guys seem to be draggin' behind. Seems like they need to recuperate before we continue!" Vyse spoke up to the Lieutenant. It's a lucky thing that we have someone like Vyse who isn't afraid of voicing his opinion even to Lieutenant Gunther.

The Lieutenant paused his tank, popping out of the top of it, "Oh, I didn't notice, Vyse, but I agree. If my men aren't up to fighting and a battle breaks out, we'd only be at a disadvantage."

Welkin brought out his map of the badlands as he looked at the rest of us sevens, "Squad seven, we will be taking a short break here. Alicia, Musaad and Wavy, use binoculars to keep lookout for any Imperials in the distance. Largo and Rosie, we brought a Watermelon here – dispense portions of it to the squad. This will be a short break, sevens, so remember to stay on guard."

His orders were met with a unison, "Yes, sir!"

As Largo and Rosie began to dispense watermelon to each of us squad members, I noticed Ted get his piece to which he responded, "Thank you, Thank you! Man, it's so hot here!'

I noticed how he implied the word "so" meaning he was trying to make a joke. I sighed, "...How hot is it, Ted?"

He turned, watermelon in his hands, to look at me, "It's so hot, my thermometer asked for a raise!"

The response? One laugh. Who laughed, you ask? Lieutenant Gunther, of course. Ted's biggest fan.

I sighed again and moved forward in line to get my piece of watermelon. As soon as it was in my hand, I said a simple thanks and turned around. I looked at who I could sit near. Cezary was sitting with Herbert, Mica, Homer and Noce. I didn't really want to go over there. Wendy and Marina positioned themselves almost out of sight. Both of them weren't eating. Hector, Vyse, Alex and Ted were laughing and looked to be having a good time. It was sort of unsettling, actually, how they were even having such a fun time in the desert under such circumstances.

I then found exactly who I wanted to sit next to. Nils. He was sitting there. He wasn't eating so one would assume that he already finished his watermelon.

"Um, Nils? Mind if I sit next to you?" I spoke. He looked at me and I could notice his apparent sigh.

"Sure. I don't mind." He spoke a total of four words. Better than last time I talked to him, I noticed. At least I was making some progress.

I sat down, smiling at him and then looking at my watermelon. I raised the watermelon to take a bite then looked back at him, "Did you finish yours already? It looks really good!"

"...I didn't get any." Nils spoke.

And as soon as he said that, I suddenly didn't want my watermelon anymore and instead wanted to give it to him, "Why? I though there was a lot."

He shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, "I was in line. They were slowly running out. I figured the rest of the squad needs it more than me. I'm fine. Don't worry."

I bit my lip gently then looked at him. What a selfless thing to do. I positioned myself near him and held out my piece of watermelon. As he opened his eyes, he stared at it, "I don't want it. You eat it."

"No, you eat it! I'm not hungry anymore!" I gave a small pout and held it out for him again. He sighed.

"I don't want it. Scouts need their energy more than Lancers and you're a growing boy. Eat it," Nils spoke harshly. I glared at him. I was accustomed dealing with stubborn men.

I took out a small pocket knife and cut the piece in half, handing one piece to him. He looked at it, "If it's like this, you'll eat it, right? This way, we both get pieces!"

I think he thought I was a bit annoying, but he looked at the piece and smirked. He took it, "You took the bigger half."

I smiled and took a bite from my watermelon, "I'm a growing boy, just like you said. Of course I took the bigger half!"

As soon as I took another bite, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I almost jumped upon feeling the contact. It was Salinas, "Emery, I saw what you just did when you offered half of your piece to Nils. If you want, you can have half of my piece to make up for it."

Something about this wasn't right at all. Why was he being so nice to me? It didn't fit, but I smiled, "N-No thanks, Salinas. I'm fine. Y-You should eat it. The moisture in it might help clear some of the dust from your throat."

Salinas always made me feel uncomfortable. Something about him made me feel on edge. I felt like out of everyone in the squad, he was the most likely to figure out I'm a girl. He looked like a womanizer and judging from some of his behavior around Rosie, I think he is one.

"I talked to the lieutenant, though. He plans to put you on the front lines next battle. You should eat it so you're ready for the next fight. We wouldn't want our new recruit fainting out there, after all..." He smiled and handed me the piece. I took it and looked at him.

"Well, if I'm going to be out there, I don't want to get dehydrated so I guess I'll take it. Thank you, Salinas. I appreciate it," I spoke. Salinas smiled and walked over to Cezary's group. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your name's Emery?" Nils looked at me and said. I looked at the new piece of Watermelon in my hand and then back at him.

I took a bite of watermelon, spitting out a seed, "I thought you knew that? I did introduce myself to you..."

I was saddened by the fact that the incredibly handsome Nils didn't even remember my name. However, I bounced back and was able to finish both my pieces of watermelon.

"Sorry. I probably wasn't paying attention. Thank you for the watermelon, Emery. I'm going to go talk to Largo about plans for the Lancers. Excuse me," and with that, Nils left. I sat there – all alone. I could feel Cezary's eyes glaring into me as he made another snide comment. I could hear the feint laughs of Vyse and Alex in the distance as Vyse began to tell a story about being an air pirate. I could even hear the clicking of Marina loading her sniper rifle and Wendy's creepy snickering as she examined a grenade.

I felt more lonely than usual. Perhaps I was nervous about my first battle with the Gallian Militia?

I wish Ted had been sitting next to me. I needed a corny joke to appreciate, but not laugh at.

It wasn't long after we took our break that we were pulled into combat. Miss Melchiott had been the one to discover Imperial activity and Lieutenant Gunther was quick to call combat formation. There would be two main teams for the upcoming battle. One team was Herbert and Cezary. They would be on a ledge where Cezary could do some sniping and Herbert could refill his ammo. The other team was Lieutenant Gunther in his Edelweiss, Miss Melchiott, Rosie, Largo, Salinas, Musaad and me. Salinas was right – the Lieutenant did want me on the front lines. I was placed in charge of infiltrating the enemy base. That was the main objective of the operation. Thanks, Lieutenant. What an initiation.

I took a deep breath. We were all to wait at camp until Cezary had taken out most all of the surrounding forces he could see. As soon as he made it back down to our camp would be when our portion of the operation would begin.

It surprisingly did not take that long. I could hear a good eight or nine shots in the vicinity before there was silence and Herbert and Cezary came running down the ledge. Cezary took a minute to confirm how many enemies he had taken out and where there were a few more he was aware of, but couldn't see. As soon as he was done talking to Lieutenant Gunther, he and Herbert retreated back to camp.

Salinas and Rosie were then up. They were assigned with charging into battle and clearing a path for me so I could safely make it to the base. Miss Melchiott and Musaad would be my back-up.

I took a deep breath and watched as Salinas and Rosie charged into the field. We were supposed to wait until Rosie contacted the Lieutenant telling us it was clear. Eventually, Rosie contacted him and I set out to take the camp.

While running, I ran into a shocktrooper who I took out in a good two shots to the head. However, I eventually ran into a problem – a sandstorm. I heard the Lieutenant's voice on my radio as soon as it proceeded to get worse. "Emery, this sandstorm is good cover. Try and get as close to the enemy as you can."

I proceeded to run a bit further until I noticed another shocktrooper crouching in a trench. He couldn't see me too well, but I could see him. I used a grenade to take him out and then ran further along my path.

I noticed a tank to the side. Salinas was following me and the sandstorm was becoming weaker. I was scared the tank would see me.

The sandstorm died down. I looked over at Salinas, "Salinas, can you take out that tank? A few machine gun rounds to the radiator could do it and I won't be able to get far if that thing's guns spot me!"

He looked at me, horrified by what I just said, "Me take out a tank? But they're just so...so beautiful. I couldn't do that!"

"Fine then. I'll just try and sneak past it then!" I ran around it, trying to avoid it's guns – this plan didn't work. It noticed me and proceeded to shoot at me. I felt a shot at my leg and tripped.

It was at this moment, I heard the sound of the tank exploding and I looked. Salinas had destroyed the tank, "Sorry, Emery, because of my reluctance – you were hurt. Go now and take the enemy base. You can do that, right?"

I nodded and got up. The shot was nothing, but a scratch. I looked to see a lone scout protecting the base. I fired a grenade at him, taking him out. I looked behind me to see both Musaad and Miss Melchiott following behind. I ran to the Imperial flag and replaced it with our own.

Mission complete.

As soon as we took the base, Lieutenant Gunther, Miss Melchiott, and the leader of squad one, Faldio, went to survey a large ruin structure nearby. They were gone for a good while. Things were pretty rocky at camp. Rosie and Isara, Lieutenant Gunther's sister and the Edelweiss' driver, got into a pretty bad fight. Largo had to interrupt them. I went over to Isara and Wavy who stood next to the Edelweiss.

"I don't understand why people oppress you guys so much. You guys are just as human as we are," I spoke, looking at Isara as she made some repairs on the Edelweiss. Wavy sighed and nodded.

It was at this moment that Cezary walked by us, "Emery, maybe you should get away from those dark hairs. Or do you want them to burn you like they did all of Barious? What do you say, dark hair lover?"

I took a deep breath and looked at him, "Shut the hell up, Cezary. Leave us alone. You don't know what you're talking about. Go clean your rifle or something. I'd rather not see your disgusting face, at the moment. I'm not in the mood to throw up."

"What did you say, you little–" He looked as if he was going to lunge at me and hit me in the face, but this was avoided. Largo stepped in between us.

"Not you guys, too. I'm tired of this crap. I think both of ya just need to shut up. You, Cezary, don't need to be tryin' to instigate trouble. And, you, Emery, don't need to be firin' off at the mouth. Now, separate yourselves. Ya got it?" Largo looked at each of us, an annoyed look on his face. I felt like rolling my eyes and would have if Largo wasn't my superior.

Both me and Cezary sighed, "Yes, sir..."

Cezary walked away from Isara, Wavy, and I to his group of friends close by. I noticed that he did begin to clean his rifle and I smiled.

"I'm sorry, Emery. All you do is talk to us and they persecute you as well," Isara stopped her repairs to look at me. I looked back at her. She didn't have to look so sad.

"I've faced much worse than a few bad words thrown my way. Heck, I've faced worse than a punch or two thrown my way, too. It isn't a big deal. And besides, I like sticking up for what I believe is right and what I believe is right is that Darcsens deserve better treatment," I said, rubbing Isara's head playfully. I got a smile out of her. I looked over at Wavy, who looked a little happier than normal, too.

"I'm gonna go switch out guard roles with Noce. See ya guys later," I smiled and waved goodbye.

Sometimes, I just don't get society and how it works.

I looked around. Guard duty was such a bore, but I needed to keep on alert. The sun was setting slowly. Night was falling and before I knew it, the Lieutenant and Miss Melchiott burst out of the ruin structure and came running toward our camp. Apparently, the Empire's Prince and commander of the Imperial forces that were invading Gallia, Maximilian, was inside the same structure. One of his generals, Selvaria Bles, was with him, too. Squad seven was in charge of destroying Maximilian's tank, while squads three and one were facing off against Selvaria.

We were split into two teams. The Edelweiss was on one side with Largo, Jann, and Hector. The other team was me, Miss Melchiott, Nils, Rosie, and Homer. Our Lancers were going to be the main force that would take out Maximilian's tank, Batomys. Homer was in charge of refilling the Lancer's ammunition. Rosie, Miss Melchiott and I were the main infantry. We were assigned to take out most of the enemies on land and then provide the main line of defense for our main base.

The first move of our operation was to take out all of the guns on the Batomys – all six of them. Our Lancers were easily able to do that. And as soon as they did, Miss Melchiott, Rosie and I headed for higher ground to take out the Imperial infantry. It was a rather easy task and we took out a good portion of them.

Our Lancers, however, could not touch the radiators of the Batomys and Lieutenant Gunther ordered them to strike the large pieces of ragnite all around the desert. They would strike it so the Batomys could easily blow it out of the way and would reveal its radiators after using it's large cannon. I noticed Nils move to strike one of the pieces of ragnite and as soon as he took a few steps, he was shot at – a sniper hit him.

I quickly rounded a corner and found exactly who shot at him and fired a few shots of my own to finish him off. I then turned to Nils, who wasn't too far way and yelled "Nils, don't worry! I took the sniper that just shot at you out! You're in the clear!"

He looked at me and then ran toward the next piece of ragnite, yelling a simple, "Thanks!"

Still, I was happy I helped him out and I made my way toward the main camp. Miss Melchiott and Rosie were already there and it was good that they were. It wasn't too long before Selvaria and some reinforcements showed up. Apparently, squads three and one were no match for her.

Selvaria's main goal was not capturing our base, though. She was more concerned with the Batomys and instead sent her men toward our camp instead of herself. Most all of her men were dead before they even reached our camp – our firing line was long and hit them as they ran toward us.

And eventually, we got word that by a group effort, our Lancers had taken out all three radiators of the Batomys and successfully destroyed the tank. Selvaria was escorting Maximilian out of the desert. He hadn't been damaged.

Mission complete. The Imperial forces were retreating.

Night fell. We had two operations in one day. I was tired as hell. As I sat back in camp around a small fire, I noticed Nils sit next to me.

"Thanks, again. For helping me out there. I appreciate it," Nils spoke. He didn't look directly at me, but I could tell he was sincere. He seemed like a guy who hated saying thank you to anybody.

I smiled and looked at him, "I should be the one thanking you. Without you Lancers, we wouldn't have destroyed the Batomys. You guys deserve most of the credit."

He gave a very, very small chuckle. It was pretty much microscopic, but I noticed it, "Yeah. We pretty much do."

Were all men full of themselves or was it just the men I associated myself with? I really do wonder that sometimes.

I was getting really tired and a bit hungry, too, so I got up. Nils didn't say anything as I begun to walk away and instead just stared at the campfire. I walked toward where Miss Melchiott and Jann were preparing our dinner, "Um, do you need any help with dinner?"

Miss Melchiott and Jann stared at me. I hadn't ever really introduced myself to either of them.

"Can you cook, honey?" Jann asked me. I could barely contain a laugh from staring at him in a hot pink apron.

"My mother owned a small restaurant. Since she, uh, had no daughters – she always asked me to help her with the cooking. I know how to do a lot of..." I didn't even have to finish my sentence before Miss Melchiott and Jann dragged me into the kitchen and stuck an apron on me.

The three of us were now cooking for all of squad seven. I could tell both Jann and Miss Melchiott were ecstatic to have someone else help them.

"Your name's Emery, right? You're a scout?" Miss Melchiott commented while rolling some dough for a batch of her homemade bread.

I smiled as I began to chop some carrots, "Yes, Miss Melchiott. Sorry I never introduced myself to you."

She paused and stared at me for a long time, "Just call me Alicia. You don't need to show me that much respect. I'm not Welkin..."

"Alright then. Alicia. I got it." I nodded repeatedly.

Alicia smiled and held her rolling pin in the air, "Emery, Jann, let's prepare the best victory meal squad seven's ever going to eat!"

Cooking was such a comforting, fun thing to do. I almost forgot how much I missed it. It reminded me of home and my mother. It reminded me of all the fun times I had with my mother in her little shop, serving customers. It made me remember the reason why I was fighting. I was so thankful that the smell of Alicia's baking and the incessant chattering of Jann pulled me into the kitchen.

I was fighting to avenge my mother and I was fighting to preserve what little I had left of a home. I had almost lost hold of that and thankfully I didn't.

End EPISODE ONE.

A/N: Hmm, I revealed a little bit more of Em's past. Don't want to reveal it all yet. It's quite interesting. I enjoyed that chapter a lot. I lovelovelove the Watermelon scene. Nils and Salinas are getting to Emery and she met Jann! Yay! Let's see, I originally wanted to start this story in chapter eight, but I was like, "Crap. In order to start in chapter eight, she needs to be in six and seven. Oh well. Barious, here we come!" Ohoho, Cezary and Em got into a fight? Will that happen again? Maybe. I'm having too much fun with Cezary's "Darcsen Hater" potential. Okay, and as for Emery calling Alicia "Miss Melchiott" - she calls her this after Wavy addresses her as this and it sticks because Em respects her a lot for being a strong woman and all. I suppose that Em doesn't respect Rosie in the same way because Rosie hates Darcsens. BTW, when I write this I am assuming all of my men are Lv 20 Elites. Don't ask why, I just do. Musaad's there so obviously this is some new game plus and when going back to play these battles for research, my units are that level so I can only write the battles assuming my units are level 20. But yeah. The strategies I'm writing for each battle are the strategies I use. Reviews please? And for a special treat, if you played the game, you should be familiar with potentials. I listed Emery's potentials and stats below! Enjoy and review! I'll have a special treat next chapter, too!

Emery Declark

Scout Elite Lv 20 Hp 300

Emery's Personal Potentials:
Child of Nature
(Paved roads feel strange and cold, leading to discomfort and lowered defense.)

Imp Hater
(Pure hatred for the Empire yields a boost in accuracy.)

Born Leader
(Having allies nearby sparks a sense of responsibility that leads to a natural boost in defensive ability.)

Secretive
(Having a large group of allies nearby puts them on edge, leading to decreased accuracy.)

Emery's Battle Potentials:
Sighting
(Accuracy is improved after sighting an enemy.)

Power Scout
(Sighting five or more enemy units grants a boost in both evasion and attack power.)

Dud Mine
(Land mines have a set chance of not exploding when tripped.)

Double Movement
(They have a chance of being able to move twice consecutively.)

Likes: Nils, Jann, Salinas