Thanks for the R&R once again. Now on to operation Maiden's Shield!
I would also like to say that I'll be altering the game's events a bit. By that I mean take a few scenes that happen earlier and stick them in somewhere later.
X00001&Military Brat: Thanks for the info!
Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and its characters are property of SEGA.
---------
Everyone was silent as Varrot took out a stick and pointed it at the map on the wall.
"Our objective is to stop the Marmota. Due to some information from a captured Imperial soldier, we have learned that the Marmota's hull is impervious to nearly all kinds of weaponry. The only way we can damage it is if we use a lot of explosives. The Royal Guard has set up a huge minefield in a valley southeast of here and has lined it with tanks. Our hope is that the mines will damage the Marmota's engines and the tanks will be able to bombard it until its hull breaks," Varrot explained, pointing the stick at a valley near the bottom of the map.
"To that end we'll need to get the Marmota to come to that valley. Scattered around this area are ragnite bombs. Lieutenant Gunther has volunteered to lead a small group through the valley and detonate these bombs. If anyone would like to volunteer then they'll be part of the detonation squad. Everyone else will be waiting on a hill nearby the Royal Guard to provide support," she continued and pointed at the hill. "Please see Welkin if you want to volunteer. Only a few can go, so please volunteer quickly. The Marmota will be here in less than five minutes. All forces not volunteering for the detonation squad are to move south to the hill immediately," she concluded and put the stick away. Selvaria was about to get up when Varrot approached her.
"Can I talk to you two in private?" she asked. Selvaria nodded and got up, with Jaeger following. Varrot led them to an empty tent and shifted her glasses a bit.
"I have told the higher ups what you accomplished. They were impressed by your achievements. Selvaria, your new orders are to accompany Welkin as part of the detonation squad. Jaeger, you will be stationed on the hill. We already have two tanks in the detonation squad, so you'll be better suited to provide cover," Varrot said.
"Yes Commander," Selvaria responded while Jaeger simply nodded, turned around and left the tent to get the Lupus. Once he left, Varrot spoke again.
"Jaeger told me that the Marmota can be damaged by a Valkyrur's power. The higher ups have given you and Alicia secret orders. If Maiden's Shield fails, then you'll get your Valkyrian weapons and use them to destroy the Marmota. Welkin has them in the Edelweiss. Now get yourself ready for battle," she concluded.
Selvaria nodded and left the tent and ran off to get ready.
***
The ground shook as the Marmota turned a corner, its engines roaring as it stopped abruptly.
"Why have we stopped?" Maximilian demanded as he came into the bridge and sat in his throne.
"Sir, Gallia's militia has been spotted ahead!" a soldier shouted. Maximilian's expression turned sour.
"What? I thought the soldiers We sent out earlier eradicated those peasants?" he declared furiously. One of the soldiers noticed something and pointed through the window.
"Isn't that General Bles your grace?" he asked. Maximilian's eyes opened wide when he heard that name. He got up and walked over to the window. His face became a scowl as he saw Selvaria in the ranks of the Gallian militia.
"So, that witch has betrayed Us. Now Gallia possesses two Valkyrur witches. However, even they are powerless against the Marmota. Full speed ahead! Crush those pathetic Gallian peasants beneath Our feet!" he commanded.
***
Welkin could only look in awe at the monstrous dreadnaught that towered above him.
"That thing is the Marmota?" he asked, shocked at its size.
"Now I see why they call it a 'battleship on legs,'" Largo mentioned.
"As if the Batomys wasn't big enough," Rosie said.
Selvaria gazed at the Marmota while the other members of the detonation squad were talking.
Jaeger said the Marmota would be huge, but I never thought it would be this huge!
Amazing isn't it? The horrors that man is capable of creating?
The ground suddenly shook as the Marmota began to slowly move towards them, threatening to flatten them. Welkin turned on his microphone and shouted:
"Squad 7, move out!" He closed the hatch of the Edelweiss and Kreiss started the engine. Selvaria checked the Ruhm to make sure it was properly armed and began running forward with the other members of Squad 7. She felt a bullet fly by her face and looked back to see the Marmota has begun to fire its machine guns on them.
Welkin's voice echoed over the squad's radios. "We need two fast runners to go on ahead and detonate the two bombs that will block the main road to Randgriz. Also, our scouts have reported that an old minefield from the first Europan war is close by. Zaka and I will take the lead since the mines are anti-personnel. If anybody sees a ragnite bomb, wait for everyone to get by it, then detonate it. Let's get going!"
Selvaria picked up her radio. "I will go on ahead. I've been trained for this kind of thing."
"I will go as well Lieutenant," Juno said after Selvaria finished. Selvaria began to run as fast as she could. She arrived to where the two bombs were and waited for Juno to catch up.
"Good to see you Selvaria. We should shoot these bombs at the same time so we'll have plenty of time to escape." Juno said. Selvaria nodded and aimed her gun at the bomb to her left. The pair looked at each other and nodded.
"One…two…three!" Selvaria shouted. She pulled the trigger of the Ruhm and a barrage of bullets hit the ragnite bomb, causing it to glow with blue light. Both of them turned and ran as it exploded, causing a large rockslide to roll into the valley. Two more explosions were heard behind them, the rockslides forming a massive wall of stone, forcing the Marmota to stop.
Selvaria and Juno caught up to the others and stopped for a minute to catch their breath since everyone else was taking a break.
"The main road to Randgriz has been blocked Lieutenant," Selvaria said. Welkin smiled and nodded.
"Great! Now we don't have to worry…" He was cut off as the Marmota's engines roared and it forced itself through the landslide, completely unharmed. Welkin looked surprised at the Marmota's show of force.
"I wonder why they called it the Marmota. It looks nothing like a Marmot," he commented.
"What?" Selvaria asked.
"A Marmot is an animal that belong to the Sciuridae family, or as they're better known as, squirrels. Their genus is called 'Marmota,' which is why I'm wondering why they picked that of all names," he explained. Alicia walked over to him.
"Now is not the time to be talking about that Welkin!" she shouted. Welkin got back into the Edelweiss, knowing he couldn't argue with Alicia. Both of the tanks moved forward into the small base where the minefield was located. Sure enough, a lot of small explosions occurred beneath the tanks as the mines exploded harmlessly.
"All right, we've cleared a straight path through. Whoever is last through, detonate the ragnite bomb near the base, then run!" he commanded over the radio. The other squad members ran through the cleared path, with Selvaria being second last. Before she had passed through the minefield, she tripped on a root. She was grabbed before she hit the ground and turned around to see it was Largo.
"Watch where you're going! You nearly hit that damn landmine!" he shouted, pointing at a shiny object on the ground. Selvaria recognized it as the motion sensor device the Imperials place on top of their landmines.
"Thank you Largo," she said.
Largo just patted her on the shoulder before turning around and firing a rocket at the ragnite bomb near the base. Both of them ran through the rest of the minefield as the bomb exploded and a wall of rocks rolled into the valley.
***
"What is wrong now? Why have we stopped again?" Maximilian shouted, his voice extremely irritated.
"Your grace, we cannot go along the main road to Randgriz. There's simply to many boulders for the Marmota to break through!" a soldier shouted. Maximilian began to tap his fingers.
"Then turn left you imbeciles!" he shouted in response.
***
The ground shook as the Marmota turned down the valley to its left and stopped again in front of the next rockslide.
"No time to rest guys. Alicia has just reported that there are several Imperials that have set up camp near the last ragnite bombs, so we'll have to get rid of them first. Marina! Catherine! Zaka and I will go on ahead, snipe all the Imperials and use our tank as cover!" Welkin commanded. The two snipers followed behind the tanks as the Imperials came into view.
"Jann! Once the imps have been taken care of, detonate the bomb next to you and then follow us to the final bombs!" Welkin ordered.
Marina looked through the scope of her sniper rifle and focused the center on the forehead of one of the Imps.
"So what are you going to do with your payche…" The Imperial who had been talking was blown backward as Marina's bullet pierced him in the brain, killing him instantly. The other Imperial soldiers quickly took out their weapons and began to aim at the Edelweiss.
"Sweet dreams," Marina said, looking down her scope again and sniping an Imperial lancer. The lancer fell backwards, his hand activating the lance, a rocket flying off and blowing up on the ground. The explosion sent several Imperial soldiers flying. Catherine quickly dispatched two of them before they could get up and Marina finished of the last one.
Jann aimed his lance at the ragnite bomb once everyone ran on ahead to catch up with Welkin.
"Hit please!" he shouted as his rocket flew forward and collided with the ragnite bomb. Jann turned around and ran off to catch up with his comrades. Once he caught up with them, he went over to Largo.
"Did you see how accurate that shot was, honey?" he asked. Largo looked like he was going to say something but just walked away. Three explosions were heard as massive rockslides blocked off the other main road to Randgriz and the road they came from, creating massive rock walls.
"Now, prepare for the Marmota. Once it gets here, everyone is to get behind either of the tanks for cover from the Marmota's bullets," Welkin said.
***
The Marmota charged through the rock wall in front of it and continued forward. It quickly reached the abandoned base, crushing whatever was left. It continued to gain speed and smashed through the rock wall Jann had made.
"Finally, We can get to Randgriz!" Maximilian shouted confidently. However, a soldier told him the bad news.
"Your Grace, we'll have to take a detour. The other main road to Randgriz has been blocked like the first one."
Maximilian remained silent for a minute. "No matter. The fact that these Gallians have to resort to such pathetic traps makes it obvious they can't stop us. Take the detour immediately," he commanded.
***
"The Marmota is turning! We've done it guys! Now let's get back to the hill to help out the Royal Guard!" Welkin said. Everyone began to shout out in victory, but it was not to last.
Squad 7 reached the hill just as the Marmota arrived at the ambush. The commander of the royal forces for this mission raised his hand into the air, and pointed at the Marmota.
"Fire!" he shouted. All of the royal guard tanks opened fire on the Marmota, explosions ravaging every inch of its bow. The mines began to go off as the Marmota charged forward. A massive cloud of smoke had formed, preventing anyone from seeing if the operation worked.
Within a few seconds, the Marmota charged out of the smoke cloud and trampled the Royal Guard's forces, leaving behind a trail of tanks parts and blood stains as it continued forward, unharmed.
"This can't be. It's not even damaged one bit?" Varrot said, shocked at what just happened.
"So, what Maximilian said is true. Only a Valkyrur could hope to stop the Marmota," Jaeger whispered to himself, viewing the carnage that the colossal tank had created.
Selvaria knew what she had to do. She and Alicia looked at each other for a second before running over to Welkin.
"It looks like we have to resort to this," Alicia said nervously. Welkin's expression became frustrated.
"As much as I would prefer not to use your powers, the higher-ups commanded that you use it," he said as he handed Alicia her spear and shield. He turned and handed Selvaria her lance and shield as well. "If you can stop the Marmota, then this war will be over. So don't fail you two."
Both Selvaria and Alicia nodded. They noticed that Varrot was standing right next to them.
"It's just as Lieutenant Gunther said. They ordered it, and they threatened to execute you Selvaria if I didn't comply," Varrot explained. "There is a shortcut nearby that will get you in front of the Marmota. Jaeger will escort there while the rest of the squads follow the Marmota."
They both got into the Lupus and sat down. As the Lupus was moving, Selvaria looked down at her weaponry.
I always hated how these felt in my hands. Every time I touch them, it feels as though they're alive and feeding off my azure flames, like a parasite.
That is because they call out to you, begging you to unleash their ultimate power upon all that dare to stand before you. Now that you have them back, use them! Annihilate these Gallian mortals and go back to His Majesty!
Selvaria shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to purge the voice. It soon faded and she opened her eyes again.
"The last thing Maximilian sees will be the azure flame tearing the Marmota to shreds." Jaeger said confidently. Selvaria and Alicia got out of the Lupus and stood in the middle of the Marmota's path.
Selvaria took a deep breath in, concentrating on the lance and shield. Within a few seconds, her body began to glow blue, her hair beginning to levitate in mid air by some supernatural force. The lance and shield transformed quickly, doubling in size. Selvaria opened her eyes, a red glow radiating from them like a demon.
Selvaria looked over at Alicia, who had begun to concentrate. The same transformation happened, dulling Alicia's hair to a gray tone. The ground began to rumble as the Marmota turned into the open plains that the two Valkyria stood upon.
***
"Maximilian sir! We have an omega red emergency! Gallia's Valkyrur and Selvaria Bles are in front of the Marmota and armed!" a soldier shouted.
"What?" Maximilian shouted as he stormed to the front of the bridge and looked out the window. Sure enough, two Valkyria stood before them. Maximilian grabbed a soldier's binoculars and spied at them.
"How dare you betray me Selvaria!" he shouted as he noticed Gallia's 'scout' badge attached to her left sleeve. "Turn the Marmota ninety degrees to the right and move full speed! If those witches catch up, we won't stand a chance!"
***
"Follow me!" Selvaria shouted as she ran forward at incredible speed, leaving several after-images in her wake. Alicia charged forward as well, her thoughts encouraging her.
This is it. If we can do this, then this war will be over! Peace will come back to Gallia!
The two Valkyria quickly got to the Marmota's side. Selvaria channeled her power into the lance and jumped up into the air and cut one of the cannons in half, a massive explosion engulfing the area. Alicia fired a massive beam of azure energy, severely damaging the plating around the engines. Several fires broke out near the engine area and the tank began to lose speed.
"We're losing speed Your Grace!" a soldier shouted as sirens rang throughout the Marmota.
The battle raged on for a few minutes, the two Valkyria had destroyed many of the Marmota's cannons and damaged different areas of the Marmota. Alicia looked up and saw the bridge. She channeled all the energy she could into her lance and jumped up the Marmota's side.
Maximilian had an expression of murder on his face when he looked up and saw Alicia standing on the window.
"This is for all those innocent people you killed, Maximilian!" she shouted as she jumped up and lunged forward, smashing through the glass, bent on ending Maximilian.
No! I cannot have you kill His Majesty!
In that moment, everything seemed to stop. Selvaria began to feel incredible pain coming from her head as everything blacked out around her.
Maximilian closed his eyes for the inevitable but it never came. He opened his eyes to a shocking sight. Alicia's eyes grew wide as she realized what had blocked her lance.
Standing between Maximilian and Alicia was none other than Selvaria. However, Alicia knew something was wrong. Instead of the normal azure flame that covered a Valkyria, Selvaria's body was glowing blood red, her eyes had become red with black pupils and her lance and shield were dyed blood red. 'Selvaria' looked up at Alicia and whispered:
"Once I kill you, Gallia's annihilation will come."
-------------------
What will happen next chapter? You will find out…