Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story so far, just a heads up I think instead of pming my answers to reviews to the user I'll just post my answer with the name of the asker in the next chapter if its' fine with you guys.
Militia HQ
Welkin had been given the rank of Lieutenant commanding squad 7 upon his arrival in the capital, he decided to keep his father's tank the Edelweiss rather than use more common militia models. Looking at the roster of eligible recruits he began to run down the list of names to pick those he thought he could use in his unit. He'd already been assigned Alicia, Rosie, and Largo who were all good at their jobs, Alicia being a scout while Largo was a veteran lancer from EW1 and Rosie was an adamant, albeit hot headed shock trooper. He'd already recruited most of the people he needed, including freesia and cherry; two very flirty scouts although one was a free spirit and the other being more of a materialistic air head respectively. Noting how many recruits he had left to choose from, Welkin noticed he didn't have any snipers since most normal people wouldn't have any experience in sniping. Realizing he'd need a sharpshooter to support infantry his eyes scanned the list for any sniper applicants and it only came down to one name Marina Wulfstan. Going through her background she was quite the accomplished hunter, learning marksmanship from her father at a very young age and gained a reputation for never letting her prey escape, ironic sense according to her profile she had a soft spot for small animals owning a pet fox she found in the woods and nursed it back to health. Her main drawback was though she was a loner, overall despising the company of others and didn't work well in a team unless she was somewhere off on her own doing things "her way" as she put it. While he'd hoped for a more team oriented member Welkin couldn't argue with her skillset and signed for her to be drafted into squad 7. Several hours later he'd mostly wrapped up the recruiting process, he preferred to meet his new squad members face to face to get to know them better. Night had fallen and checked his list to make sure he'd gotten everyone, noticing the last name on the list to yet be crossed off.
"Well time to meet our lone wolf it seems, Sergeant could you bring Ms. Wulfstan please?" The soldier simply nodded and exited the room, moments later the door opened and his final recruit entered the room.
The twenty four year old marksman quietly entered the room, she was considered to actually be quite beautiful by many, her dark black hair covering her left half of her face coupled with shining brown eyes and flawless skin would have many seek to gain her affection yet the aloof beauty would always return any attempts with a death glare that sent all scurrying away. She had a slim frame and sat attentively in front of her new CO, her face showed no signs of emotion only a calm demeanor.
"Private Wulfstan reporting sir." Her voice was quite monotone, not in a bored or disrespectful manner but one with a sense of obedience and yet fierce independence.
Welkin already felt a bit awkward being in the same room as her, but decided to try to break the ice "Your profile is quite promising Marina, if you don't mind me calling you that I think you'll be an excellent addition to the squad." He tried to sound as cheery as he could to help brighten the mood.
She responded with a simple nod "I never let my prey escape sir, what you wish to call me is of no concern to me sir" Her answer being straight and to the point, obviously not a fan of talking with other people except when necessary.
"Ah I see well, I understand you're mostly a loner, I do expect you to work with the team all of us need to work together to get through this." Welkin didn't want to come off as too harsh but needed to make sure she was teamwork material, he couldn't risk a liability that may or may not help when the time came.
"I understand sir, I have no qualms about providing long range support to friendly forces just if at all possible; keep them away from me, it's a distraction I'd rather not have." She was polite but to the point, Welkin could respect that.
"Very well, you're dismissed then" The two saluted one another and left the room, Welkin headed to the mess hall to talk with the rest of the squad, while Marina simply headed off someplace else, no one daring to ask her where or why.
The town of Endon Several miles northeast of Vasel Bridge
Yasuo had done his best to keep a low profile since his visit to the Imperial camp, taking a full black cloak and some provisions from an abandoned home he found while sticking to dirt roads or simply the woods to keep out of sight whenever possible. He knew he was getting close to the frontline as more and more convoys of soldiers and tanks lined the main roads, forcing him to keep to the woodlands, upon reaching a town by the name of Endon as the sign read he decided to see if he could grab any supplies before heading forward. Upon entering the town he noticed not everyone had time to evacuate as soldiers were rounding up civilians. After some observation it was obvious that a particular sect of people were being singled out for some reason, all he could make out was a prominent insult "dark hairs". Yasuo knew firsthand how the prejudice felt, when Noxus invaded his homeland they heard stories about what happened to the southern providences and he refused to allow the same thing to happen here. Sticking to the shadows, he bided his time until the group being escorted had become separated from the main force bringing their captives to an isolated are just outside the town.
"Shouldn't we be sending this batch to Fouzen? I hear we're gonna need the manpower to work the mines." One soldier spoke to his comrade.
"They have enough stinking dark hairs to do the dirty work, these wretches are worthless to the empire" the officer behind the two stated.
The civilians were put into a straight line with the soldiers forming a firing squad, carless of the kids crying for their mothers and the adults trying to console their children as the hour of death drew near. The officer simply raised his hand, a silent order followed by all as the soldiers raised their guns to chest level, preparing to mow down the defenseless people put in front of them.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" the metallic voice rang out from the shade of the trees sending all the soldiers into shock, as they were completely caught off guard.
"Who goes there!? And how dare you to presume you can command men of the Empire!" the officer was obviously infuriated someone dared question his authority. In response a figure covered in black emerged from the brush, facing the bristling guns of the firing squad trained on him.
"You have two options, you can either leave these people alone and leave with your lives, or I'll cut you down without a second thought." His tone was cold as the cloak lifted only enough to reveal his ornate scabbard with a metallic hand on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw.
"You insolent wretch! What fool thinks he can take on the mighty empire with such outdated weaponry as a sword!? Kill him!" the troops never had a chance. As the first finger pulled on the trigger the swordsman was upon them, such lightning speed had never been seen before. Charging into the fray, Yasuo dashed past the centermost soldier, quickly performing a slash in a circle around him, with the man In the center sliced in half and his comrades suffering from gashes in their chests he quickly made a lightning fast jab forward into the neck of the officer who hid behind his men, only gurgles of blood escaping his throat as he collapsed. The remaining two soldiers attempted to retaliate only for one of them to suffer decapitation before he could even grasp the trigger. Kicking the now headless corpse into the surviving trooper, the man was too busy trying to get the body off of him to have time to react to the blade master charging him. Yasuo simply jumped over him kicking his head down as he came to the ground, and finished the skirmish with a backwards stab through the chest, the soldier staring into the blood soaked blade that would end his life.
"b…b...blade" was all he was able to stutter out before it was yanked from his chest causing him to collapse to the dirt where the rest of his comrades lay. Returning his sword to its holder, he simply glanced at the civilians he saved, all of them shocked at the sight they had witnessed.
"Who are you?" One of the men worked up the courage to speak, the group still terrified of their savior.
"I wouldn't worry about me, you should find someplace safe before more arrive" Was his only answer as he grabbed his cloak and headed out back into the brush.
"So it seems there's some prejudice around here, should've known people will always find a reason to hate different people." He thought out loud as he continued his trek to the capital city of Randgriz, thankfully he wouldn't get lost thanks to his suits' databanks memorizing the maps he'd seen. Several hours later, he decided it wouldn't be too much farther to a town named Vasel, where a giant bridge named after the city lay that could lead him to the capital; so he retired for the night resting against a nearby tree under the stars.
Being so far from the main roads, he wasn't disturbed from his slumber, only the light of the sun rudely awakened him from what was otherwise a peaceful slumber. Grunting with annoyance, the wanderer begrudgingly forced himself awake and returned to his trek. Things were quiet for a while since everyone who was leaving for the capital is either there by now or was captured by the Empire, Yasuo found himself walking in silence for miles on end. Checking his suit for anything of use, he found his flute that he'd had since his time in Ionia "Well damn, Heimer did something useful after all!" glad to have something of his past with him once more. Playing his old instrument as he walked, the metallic tune it played thanks to some amplifiers built into it from the suit was soothing as he cleared his mind of his troubles and continued his journey onwards.
Militia HQ
Since the invasion, more and more civilians found themselves being conscripted as was national law; the militia was trying to organize as quickly as possible to join the regular army in military operations. Since orders hadn't been sent to the militia on where to go yet, most squads simply found themselves preparing for the coming storm especially in light of information that the Empire was preparing to assault the town of Vasel to secure its strategic bridge. General Damon didn't think the militia prepared to deal with "real combat operations" and as such kept them back from the front lines to allow the military to deal with most of the fighting. This strategy severely hindered the Gallian military, as their army wasn't very large being a mostly peaceful nation, so they relied heavily on conscripts to bolster their forces. With so little manpower at the front, most of Gallia had already fallen to the Imperial blitz, causing morale to plummet as well as resources to dwindle. Welkin was looking over war maps showing the front lines as well as known enemy force locations and troop movements.
"This is bad, our forces are outnumbered severely and the enemy is closing on Randgriz the military needs to mobilize the militia soon or its all over." He thought out loud to himself. Predicting their next operation would probably be in Vasel, Welkin began piecing together a team for urban combat in his head. Alicia was an obvious choice as well as Cherry for scouting purposes, Rosie, Vyse, and Hannes would be his shock troopers for the close urban streets, he lastly decided Largo and Lynn as lancers to combat any armored forces the enemy brought into the fray. Keeping his mental roster he noticed he had one open spot and decided to put Marina to the test, he thought it was quite fitting as urban combat was the snipers playground. Welkin had taken note most of his troops, especially Largo and Rosie didn't care much for his appointed status as Lieutenant, considering him inexperienced and cocky most likely because of his age. He hoped he could earn their respect and obedience through time and fighting alongside them on the front. Hearing that captain Varrot had been besieging the higher ups for orders, Welkin knew it was only a matter of time before they got deployed in earnest; hopefully in time to change the tide of the war.
Gallian Militia Mess Hall
The members of squad 7 had decided to get better acquainted before being deployed, most getting along quite well. Isara and Naudine, an engineer in the squad along with other Darcsen soldiers mostly kept to themselves in their own section of the mess hall that the other troops steered clear from. Cherry and Freesia were almost always seen flirting with their male counterparts, much to the annoyance of their female compatriots. Rosie and Largo enjoyed a stand fast friendship and most of the squad except Marina, who sat at her own private table alone in the corner as none dared attempt to approach her besides Ted who was always sent scurrying away with one of her famous death glares. With the militia growing restless and the Empire closing in, many were questioning when if ever they were going to be deployed and if it was already too late to save Gallia.
"We shouldn't be sitting here while the Imps are knocking on our door! And on top of that they got some kid who thinks he's all that in command!? What are the higher ups thinking?" Rosie's frustration was evident and she wasn't afraid to voice it.
"Damn beaurocrats you think they'd have gotten their shit together after the last war, I don't presume to get their thinkin, but I gotta agree that someone who knows how to lead should be put at the front not some kid." Largo shared Rosie's annoyance and was apprehensive about the leadership they were entrusted to.
"Well grandpa you've got quite the record and have been offered promotions several times I hear, maybe you should've taken them eh?" Rosie laughed as she sniped at her senior squadmate.
"I'm not that old damn it! And I believe on fighting on the front with my fellow soldiers, not some desk job." He angrily retorted, everyone knew he hated being reminded how old he was compared to his teammates.
Rosie simply broke out into a laugh at her teammate's expense, the veteran lancer simply grunted in response. The squad seemed to be coming together quite nicely, many enjoying drinks and trading stories with their comrades. Rumor spread quickly that the Empire was going to assault the town of Vasel by the end of the day, and the militia would most likely be deployed to counterattack, most thanking the chance of combat to captain Varrot who had been demanding the militia be mobilized by the higher ups for what seemed like ages now. Predicting tomorrow would most likely be the day they get thrown into the frying pan, most of the troops simply enjoyed the time they had before being sent into the fires of war.
A small woodland area overlooking Vasel
Yasuo overlooked the town that the army he spotted was marching on, it seemed the first skirmishes had already begun. The defenders were heavily outmatched by what he'd seen,so he decided to bide his time until the Gallians made a serious attempt at reclaiming their town before he made his move.
"If only this damn thing came with a stealth system, it'll be much harder to hide in broad daylight and in the open streets of a city" He mumbled. Seemingly activating on the word stealth, his visor lit up with his evidently built in cloaking system, although it was experimental and never fully completed it should work fine. The drawback to this was that it drained the other systems of the suit heavily and couldn't be kept active for very long, minutes were recommended with an hour pushing it, once the cloak was deactivated it would take the other systems time to recharge leaving him somewhat vulnerable. "You have got to be shitting me" the swordsman groaned in annoyance, wishing he knew about this a long time ago. Turning his sights to the nearby road leading into the town, he could see an endless tide of tanks and men marching to the city, if the war was going to turn in the defenders favor it had to be here. "Well it seems things are going to get interesting really quick".
Hope you enjoyed the chapter everyone, just a FYI I haven't done any of the skirmishes in my playthrough and only played the "behind her blue flame" DLC so I don't know if i'll include skirmish missions or the Edy detachment stuff in the story. Hope you enjoy the read so far! Reviews and comments are always appreciated!