Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to update, but that's what happens when your monitor blows up and you can't write stories on a PS3~.~
Chapter 10-The Naggiar Campaign – part 3 Surprises Come in all Sizes
As the first day's fighting drew to a close, Squad 7 had successfully captured the central Imperial main base along with the successful disabling of the Imperial radio communications. Unfortunately the victory by the Sevens was essentially the only ground gained at all by the Gallians, mostly due to the Empire's numerical superiority as well as the power that was the Imperial Valkyria, General Selvaria Bles. Though the battle thus far could technically be considered a stalemate, it didn't take a strategist to see that the Empire had more or less come out on top by the day's end. The mood of Squad 7 wasn't very good either as Welkin and Zaka arrived in the new camp in their tanks.
"Jeez look at that," said Rosie as she surveyed the battleground. The remains of destroyed tanks and dead soldiers littered the area as far as the eye could see, and there were far more that were Gallian than Imperial.
"That's the true power of the Valkyria..." trailed Largo as the dusk sky began to turn orange.
Atop the Edelweiss, Welkin couldn't help but agree, yet there was a more pressing issue at hand. Looking down at Alicia he let out a worried sigh.
"Well we managed to take their main camp, but took heavy losses in the process," he said. "We can't hold it the way things are now; we need to call for additional troops."
Alicia looked up at Welkin and nodded. "I'll go gather the rest of the Squad then..."
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Welkin, forgive me...
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As Alicia was about to turn to leave, a shot rang out from the distance and Alicia seemed to freeze in place for a moment. A few seconds later, she fell to her knees as a large patch of red formed on the upper left corner of her BDU jacket.
"Alicia!" screamed Welkin as she fell to ground. Jumping off his tank he rushed to her side.
"But we got em all!" said Rosie as she and Zaka looked around in vain for the shooter.
"We don't have time to search right now," said Largo as he examined Alicia with Welkin. "We need to get Alicia to safety right now!"
It was all Welkin could do to keep himself from panicking. Still, Largo's words registered to him and he picked Alicia up and rushed her to the far side of the camp where the recently set up medical tent was located.
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Edy was already at the medical tent, receiving treatment for a cut on her forehead by Homer when she saw Welkin rush by with Alicia in his arms, followed a moment later by Largo and Rosie.
"Huh, what happened?" asked Edy when Rosie stopped to talk to her.
"Alicia's been shot," sighed Rosie as she cast a worried glance at the medical tent. "A sniper's the most likely culprit, but there's no way for us to know until Fina can do her thing."
"Poor Fina," said Homer as he put a bandage on Edy. "She's already got her hands full with Catherine and now Miss Alicia..."
"Homer, show some consideration!" fumed Edy as she slugged her boyfriend in the stomach. "Alicia could die you know!"
"S-sorry..." groaned Homer as he fell to his knees.
Edy sighed and looked at the ground. "Poor Alicia... If we lose her, we're totally sunk..."
"Yeah," said Rosie as she watched Karl approach them. "I'm not sure if we can take any more bad news right now..."
"H-hey guys..." said Karl as he nervously fidgeted with his glasses.
"Oh, hey Karl what's up?" Asked Edy.
"It's about Lynn... Have you guys seen her around?"
"She's not with you?" asked Homer as he finally got back to his feet. "Odd...Welkin told us that she was sent over here with Cezary during our attack."
"That's what he told me, so I went and asked Cezary and he said that they had gotten separated in the trenches and hasn't seen her since..."
Edy cast a worried glance at Rosie, who was trying to come up with an explanation.
"Well she hasn't been reported dead," offered Homer. "So at the very worst maybe she was captured."
"What?!" shouted Karl. "If the Imperials got her, she may as well be dead!"
"Way to go Homer!" shouted Edy as she gave him a swift kick to the groin. "Do you seriously think about what you say before you spout off like that?!"
"C-critical hit..." gasped Homer as he collapsed to the ground once again.
Rosie walked up to Karl and put a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't say she's dead. She probably just got separated is all. I bet another squad found her so just wait and see."
Karl seemed to gain a little composure from Rosie's reassurance. "Yeah, I bet that's what happened...Sorry to bother you guys...I think I'll go work on the Shamrock for a bit to clear my head."
Edy and Rosie watched as the engineer walked away to begin his task.
"Do you really think she's okay?" Edy asked her counterpart.
"..." Rosie looked at the ground, unable to give an answer. "I'm going to check on Alicia..."
"C-can I get some help down here?" moaned Homer as Rosie left.
"No!" shouted Edy. She was about to add another insult when the sound of a horn beeping caught her attention. Looking up she saw a Gallian jeep drive up to her. Nothing could have prepared her for who she saw in the driver's seat. A female scout, strawberry blonde hair pinned in a side upward spiral...It couldn't be...
"Ramona?!"
"Hey I finally found you guys!" announced Ramona Linton as she hopped out of the jeep.
"What are you doing here?" asked Edy as hugged her best friend. "I thought..."
"I woke up a few hours after the Militia left," explained Ramona. "When I heard about an epic battle that was going to take place here from the doctors, I had to come!"
"The doctors cleared you so soon?" asked Homer, still writhing on the ground.
"Um...about that," Ramona gave a nervous laugh. "They wouldn't give me clearance to leave the infirmary so I kinda snuck out and 'borrowed' this jeep. Um is he gunna be okay?"
"He'll live," huffed Edy. "So you're okay now?"
"I'm a little stiff from being out for so long and..." Ramona put an hand over her stomach. "Really, really hungry."
"I'm sure we can find you something," replied Edy. "We've got a lot of catching up to do!"
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Nighttime came quickly over the Naggiar Plains, and for Marina, the dark sky complemented her mood perfectly. With Catherine and Alicia seriously injured and the news of Lynn's disappearance, there wasn't much for her to be happy about. After four hours of fruitless scanning of the surrounding area for the sniper that shot Alicia, she conceded to the night sky. It wouldn't do any good to run herself ragged with only the first day of battle completed, and she was already stressed enough as it is. Target practice was her chief stress reliever, but since that wasn't possible she resorted to her late father's pastime, cigar smoking. Even though she enjoyed it, Marina didn't smoke them very often, mainly because Catherine would always complain that it was extremely unladylike to do so. But Catherine was incapacitated at the moment, and even though it was a bit cruel, Marina was somewhat glad for this, as it meant she would not have any unwanted interruptions. Or so she thought. With half of her cigar finished, she had begun taking a few puffs when she saw Ted approaching her. She tried to pretend to not notice him, but it was too late.
"Whoa hey 'Rina," said Ted as he flashed her his best smile. "I didn't know you smoked those! That's...really cool actually."
Marina responded by blowing a cloud of smoke in his face, causing him to cough.
"Agh hey that wasn't funny!" complained Ted as he fanned the smoke away.
"Well then, I guess there is something we have in common..." trailed Marina, expecting Ted to take the hint and leave.
"Ouch you wound me fair lady!" cried Ted, doing his best Shakespearian impression. "Is there no warmth in thine heart for me?"
"Want me to wound you for real?" growled Marina as she gave him an icy glare from her right eye.
Ted let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm gunna get a laugh out of you one of these days, trust me."
"That'll be the day..." said Marina as she took a few more puffs from her cigar.
"You owe me a date if I do!" announced Ted. "I'm gunna find a way!"
"Fine," agreed Marina, even though the bet seemed inherently unfair. "If it will make you go away."
"All right!" cheered Ted as he pumped his fists in the air. "Time to put together my best material! Hehe, I got this one in the bag for sure!"
Marina sighed as she watched an excited Ted run back to his best friend Melville. What did I get myself dragged into, she wondered as she tossed the remains of her cigar into a nearby campfire. Oh well, it's not like he's got a fighting chance.
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In an unknown area of the battlefield Lynn awoke to find herself near a small campfire, very much alive and very sore. Noticing her BDU jacket was removed and that her legs and chest had several bandages applied to them, she tried to sit up, only to gasp when a sharp pain tore through her body forcing her to lie back down.
"You're awake I see," said a nearby unfamiliar female voice. "Don't try to move, otherwise you'll reopen your injuries."
"Where am I?" groaned Lynn as she heard the person walking toward her. "The last thing I remember I was shot up and bleeding to death in a trench..."
"Lucky for you I found you then," replied her rescuer. Kneeling down next to her, the person jammed a syringe filled with liquid Ragnaid into Lynn's neck and applied the medicine. "Sorry about the pain, but you lost a lot of blood and you need a fairly large amount of Ragnaid to sustain you for the time being."
Lynn looked up to see who this mystery person was and saw only the bottom part of a face, the top half obscured by the hood of a cloak that had the Gallian camouflage color scheme. She appeared to be in her mid thirties, and in good shape at that. She wore the standard Gallian female uniform from what Lynn could tell, but there was no rank patch, class markings, or name patch and the squad patch appeared to be a black version of the unicorn emblem on a red background. Lynn had never seen such a patch before, and thus became suspicious.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Gallia's dark little secret," replied the woman as she put a cigarette to her lips. "Nothing that concerns you. Not at the moment at least."
"Huh?" Lynn was even more confused. "I don't get it. What do you want with me? Where are we?!"
"You're in Naggiar, obviously," said the woman as she lit her cigarette. "Just not in a Gallian camp. Yet. As for why I bothered to rescue you, it's not because I like Darcsens, believe me."
"Then why?" groaned Lynn, her injuries giving her a painful reminder to not make any sudden movements.
"You're affiliated with a young lady named Edy Nelson are you not?" asked the woman as she took a drag of her cigarette.
"Yeah she's my group leader, so?"
"You will tell me what you know about her," replied the woman. "Do this and you'll wake up tomorrow in a far more pleasant camp than the one you're in now."
"What makes you think I'll cooperate with you?!" demanded Lynn. "You could be a spy for all I know!"
"Because if you don't I will finish the job that your sniper 'friend' intended to do," replied the woman as she drew a sword and held it at Lynn's throat. "I'd rather not stain my blade with the blood of my own countrymen, so I think the correct answer should be obvious."
"All right," coughed Lynn, recognizing the blade to be of Japanese descent. "Just put that thing away."
"Good answer," a cold smile appeared on the woman's lips as she put the blade away. "Now then, start talking."
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"Wow so you've moved up I see," said Ramona as she gobbled more of Largo's freshly made vegetable soup. "I really have missed out on a lot sis."
Edy blushed slightly at Ramona's 'sis' reference. Even though Ramona was barely a year older than her, she often said that Edy was the little sister she never had and generally referred to her as such.
"It's not been all fun and games that's for sure," sighed Edy. "But hey that's a story for another time! You don't know how happy I am just having you with me again!"
Ramona laughed. "I'm glad to hear that. Oh, by the way um, are you and Homer..."
"Yeah that's a long story too," giggled Edy.
"I'm sure it is," smiled Ramona as she finished her food. "But it's getting late..."
Edy nodded. "Yeah let's called it a night. I'm sure we've got a busy day tomorrow."
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The Chapter's a bit short I know, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter I promise! As for who the mystery woman that Lynn is with, well...