Chapter 12 -The Naggiar Campaign - Part 5 A House Divided

"How many incoming?!" gasped Edy, not believing Marina's report after the sniper's initial reaction.

"Thirty, at the very least," replied Marina as she scanned the large group of incoming Imperials. "E.T.A. is about twenty minutes, twenty-five if we're really lucky."

Ramona glared at the cloaked woman, who seemed completely unsurprised by the report. "You knew about this?!"

The woman nodded and continued to smoke her cigarette as if being overrun by Imperials was no big deal to her.

"What do we do Edy?" asked Homer as he glanced nervously around at the others. "That's a lot of Imperials..."

Why is this happening to me?! Edy began to think of the different options for her group, but the only two that were viable were quickly pointed out by the still-unknown woman.

"You all can either stay and fight, or retreat. That is my opinion."

"Which we didn't ask you for," grumbled Ramona. Despite her dislike for the woman, even she knew she was right.

"If we retreat, we lose the supply camp," muttered Edy as she put a hand on her forehead. "We can't let that happen."

"But if Marina is right that's at least five to one in the enemy's favor..." trailed Elysse. "Not good odds."

"More like four and a half to one," corrected the stranger as she waved a hand in the air. "Don't forget I'm here too."

Ramona snorted. "Yeah right. You're probably an Imperial in disguise, ready to kill us when our backs are turned."

"Just because you don't check your surroundings doesn't make this my fault Rinoa," sighed the woman as she tossed the remains of her cigarette one the ground.

"Stop calling me that!" fumed the model. "It's Ramona! .na."

"C'mon, quit arguing guys," pleaded Ted. "This isn't the time for that."

Edy nodded. "We can't afford to turn down her help right now Ramona." She didn't like the idea any more than the rest of her group, but they needed the woman's assistance if there was any hope to win the upcoming battle.

"Alright, fine," sighed Ramona. "So what's the plan then Sis?"

"I, uh..." Edy wasn't exactly a strategist; a capable leader and a noteworthy soldier yes, but actual planning was something she usually didn't have to deal with. The situation was quickly beginning to overwhelm her and it was written clearly on her face. Homer sensed this and tried to offer her some advice.

"Um, could we use the element of surprise? The place was empty when we got here so I don't think the enemy knows we're here yet."

"Hey that's right!" realized Ted as he looked around the camp. "There's some machine gun turrets set up already in a few places. I bet if we catch them with their pants down, we'll give em one hell of a punchline!"

"And then when they figure out what's going on, they shoot us or blow us up," sighed Elysse. "Real funny."

"Plus I'm sure they'll anticipate a tactic like that," added the mystery woman as she produced another cigarette. "Unless of course you give them something else to worry about."

"You got some kinda plan then?" asked Ramona sarcastically, eying the woman. "Cause if you do, fill us in."

"You know how they say the best defense is a good offense?" asked the woman as she lit her cigarette. "Well in this case the best defense actually is a good defense."

"Um, how does that help exactly?" asked Edy, scratching her head.

"This camp is situated on a cliff, so there's only one way in, or out of here," said the woman as she gestured toward the camp entrance. "That means we won't have to worry about being flanked. That being said your best bet would be to dig in behind the sandbags on either side of this camp."

Ramona gave a very loud groan indicating her displeasure over the plan. "We'll still be sitting ducks doing that. I was hoping you'd have something useful in mind..."

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, the...ducks won't be us I assure you."

__

Hidden behind the Imperial force that was bearing down on the supply base were two figures, an Imperial officer and a Gallian militia soldier.

"It seems your information was correct, Gallian," said the Imperial officer. "The militia's supply base is quite vulnerable."

"I told you so," replied the soldier. "There should only be the Edy Detachment stationed there at this time."

The officer stroked his chin. "Edy Detachment? Sounds like an ice cream store..."

The Gallian soldier chuckled at the comment. "They're a small group within my squad...And they're lead by a girl with a bit of a superiority complex. They've gotten as far as they have by sheer luck it seems. You know, I still wonder how they even survived Presentwell let alone fend off an entire Imperial company..."

"So they were the ones who spoiled that operation," said the officer as he grabbed his radio. "Well then, it seems there is some payback in order. No one messes with Joseph Nonnenkof and gets away with it! Report the current situation Kanazar. "

"We're near the Gallian base now Sir," responded a voice over the radio. "We're ready for your command."

"Begin."

__

The Imperial soldier known as Kanazar the Lion stood just ten yards away from the entrance of the supply base, with twenty-nine other Imperial soldiers standing behind him.

"Alright boys, you know the drill," he said to the others. "Secure the area, neutralize any enemies we encounter."

"What if they surrender?" asked a nearby soldier. "We taking prisoners?"

Kanazar thought for a moment before giving an answer. "I suppose we could. It would make our jobs easier after all. Any other questions?" When there were none he gave the order to move in.

Upon entering the base, he saw that it seemed to be devoid of any Gallians save for a single cloaked female soldier standing in front of a watchtower in the center of the base, an unlit cigarette in her mouth. Kanazar surrounded her with half the troops that were with him and pointed their guns at her.

"You're surrounded, so give up quietly now or else," he ordered. The woman responded by igniting a match and lighting her cigarette. Unamused, Kanazar walked up to the woman and pressed the barrel of his rifle against the woman's head. "This is your last warning lady."

The woman simply smiled, raised her hands above her head, and said rather loudly, "I surrender." And then, all hell broke loose.

A series of explosions suddenly went off around the various nearby watchtowers as well as the two that were at the entrance of the base. The woman immediately dropped to the ground as the Imperials scattered about as the watchtowers began to collapse around them. A moment later, gunfire erupted toward the Imperials from behind sandbags on either side of the base. Edy's group had hidden themselves under tarps to hide their presence until they had heard the woman 'surrender', which had turned out be the signal to attack.

A trap...How foolish of me! thought Kanazar as he rushed behind one of the toppled watchtowers for cover. "Take cover you idiots!" he ordered to his troops as he watched as many of them had been shot down from the ambush. He attempted to fire back at one of the groups that were hiding behind the sandbags on the eastern side of the base, but with the amount of gunfire coming from whoever it was behind the machine gun turret that was placed with them, it proved nearly impossible to do so. Further adding to his problems was the cloaked woman who was now tearing through his troops with some type of foreign-looking sword that he had never seen before. Kanazar watched as the woman moved effortlessly from soldier to soldier, slashing about as she did. Anything shot at her seemed to miss, no matter how close she seemed to be to whomever was shooting at her. The Lion himself was one of the Empire's better shots, but even possessing the powerful ZM Kar 7 series rifle, he couldn't come close to hitting the lighting-fast woman as she dashed and flipped her way around the base, taking out more Imperial troops at an alarming rate. He could only watch as the woman dashed toward a group of three troopers firing at her, heedless of the bullets that would surely hit her. She struck the first one with an upward swing as she ran by him, rushed past the second one with downward strike, and blew past the third with horizontal attack. She stopped and removed the cigarette from her mouth and blew out a small amount of smoke as the soldiers fell to the ground. Somewhat puzzled by an obviously stupid move, Kanazar raised his rifle and aimed at her... Only to find the barrel of a Mags machine gun pressed against the back of his head.

"What..." Kanazar froze in place, suddenly realizing he was the only one remaining from the attack team.

"Drop it~" sang Edy as she applied a bit more pressure with her gun. Kanazar complied after letting out a frustrated grumble.

"What do we do with him?" asked Homer as he watched Kanazar put his hands over his head.

"...Let him go," said the unknown woman as she crushed the remains of her cigarette under her right boot.

"Are you crazy?" demanded Ramona as the rest of the group gathered. "This guy was about to shoot you!"

The woman shook her head. "We aren't in much of a position to take prisoners right now. Besides, when did you start caring about me?"

"I don't..." trailed Ramona, looking away.

Kanazar sighed to himself. How could he have let himself be defeated by these people? Mere children by the looks of most of them.

"Go on then Imperial," said Edy as she shouldered her weapon. "Get out of here."

Kanazar stood up and walked away toward the entrance. "This isn't over yet," he said as he left. "We'll meet again!"

"So it seems the stories about you guys isn't all talk," said the woman as Edy and the others watched the soldier run away from the base.

"Well, of course," huffed Edy. "Did you think we were just some random group of amateurs?"

"Yes," replied the woman as she sat down on a nearby crate. Upon doing so she began wiping her sword off with a cloth. "But I'm glad I was wrong."

"Hey, you know that you're um, hurt right?" asked Elysse as she pointed out the trail of blood that was running down the woman's left leg.

"Hmm?" The woman looked down and pulled up her uniform's skirt to reveal a large gash on her thigh that had been created by a close call from a bullet. "Oh, my."

"That's pretty serious," noted Ted. "Though to be honest I'm surprised that's the only injury you have. You know, with all those guys shooting at you."

The woman laughed as Homer took out the first aid kit that he carried with him. "I'm hardly invincible. I'm just used to it is all."

"Um, this is going to need stitches," said Homer as he examined the injury. "But I don't have any type of anesthesia."

"That's fine," said the woman as she continued to clean her blade.

"O-okay then," said Homer as he began to treat the injury. He wondered if the woman would hit him from the pain that would come from the task, but he received no such treatment from her, to his disappointment.

Edy watched as Homer treated the woman with with a close eye. Although she was still wary of her, it had more to do with the fact that Homer was touching another woman, even if it was for a medical purpose. After a few minutes Homer had completed his task and the woman had finished cleaning her weapon at the same time.

"Well that should do it," said Homer as he put away the medical kit. "I'm apologize that I'm not as good a real medic. But you should take it easy just in case Miss...um..."

"Eratria," said the woman as she examined her blade. "And thanks."

"So Eratria...if that's your real name," said Ramona. "Why are you here? What's the deal?"

"Her," answered Eratria, pointing at Edy with her sword.

"What does a member of the Shadow of Randgriz want with Edy?" Asked Marina. The sniper had earlier recognized the squad patch that was on the woman's uniform, and finally decided to question her about it.

"Shadow of Randgriz?" asked Ted scratching his head. "Wuzzat?"

"The military's code for members of its Special Forces," explained Marina as she glared at Eratria with her right eye. "Catherine and my father were members of it during the first war. But it was supposed to have been disbanded at the war's end..."

"It was," said Eratria as she sheathed her weapon. "But circumstances have deemed that my skills are to be used once again."

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Ramona. "So what does that have to do with Edy?"

"I can not say now," said Eratria as she stood up. "At any rate, the situation at hand has been resolved, so I'll be going now."

"Hey wait, you can't leave after saying all that stuff!" said Edy as the woman began walking toward a motorbike near the entrance.

"Yeah I can," replied Eratria as she hopped on the vehicle and started it. "See you around."

The Edy Detachment watched as the cloaked woman sped away, more confused than ever.

"She could have at least helped us clean up," sighed Elysse as she looked around the battered base.

__

Joseph Nonnenkof threw his binoculars down in disgust as Kanazar report his failure.

"You had three squads at your disposal and you couldn't kill a single one of them?!"

Kanazar hung his head down in shame. "Forgive me Sir, I failed to detect the ambush. There was also a powerful warrior woman among them; bullets could not touch her it seems..."

Nonnenkof turned to the Gallian soldier. "Do you know anything about this?"

The soldier shrugged. "Beats me, I just told you about the base. It's not my fault you have incompetent soldiers. Now if you'll excuse me I must return to my squad before I start to be missed."

As the Gallian soldier left, two more Imperial soldiers, a female sniper and a large burly shocktrooper, approached Nonnenkof and Kanazar.

"So it seems the Lion has gotten soft eh?" spoke the sniper, her green eyes fixated on Kanazar.

"Silence, Sytreet," growled Kanazar, glaring at her through his helmet.

"But my sister speaks the truth," spoke the other soldier. "If you had sent us, the base would have been ours already Sir."

"That's enough Ty," said Nonnenkof. "What's done is done. Besides, I hear that you two failed in your mission to raid the refugee camps."

"We were ambushed," trailed Sytreet "The Lynx" Mauser, lowering her head. "Ty and I were lucky to escape ourselves."

"Now who's the soft one?" smirked Kanazar. "I thought you two were supposed to be unbeatable."

"Watch it," growled Ty "The Immortal" Mauser as he stepped toward Kanazar. "I've no problem beating the crap out of you right here you know."

Nonnenkof angrily cleared his throat, grabbing the other three's attention. "Let us return to base for now. There's a certain group of individuals I want disposed of, and we must plan accordingly."

"Oooh some new prey for the Lynx," purred Sytreet, stroking her rifle. "I can hardly wait."

"Hmph, whatever," said Ty as the four began heading toward the Imperial main camp. "Gives me something to do I guess. Just don't get too excited my dear sister."

__

Three hours after the Edy Detachment had fended off the Imperial attack, another squad had arrived to relieve the group, allowing Edy and the others to return to Squad 7's base camp. While most of them had left to get some well deserved rest, Edy did not get that luxury- having to report to Captain Varrot for a sudden strategy meeting; a surprise to her since there wasn't supposed to be any large scale operations scheduled for Squad 7 for the following day.

Upon arriving in the command tent she saw that the other officers of the squad, sans Alicia, had already gathered along with Faldio. Captain Varrot stood behind a table with the battlefield map spread across it, a distressed look on her face.

"Nice hair..." said Rosie, noting Ramona's handiwork.

"Alright now that she's here, can you tell us what this is all about?" asked Largo. "It ain't like you to be all quiet on us."

Varrot gave a heavy sigh before responding. "The entire militia has been ordered to mount a full scale offensive against the enemy tomorrow..."

"Are you serious?!" gasped Rosie. "We're gunna get slaughtered out there! Who's the idiot that came up with that idea?"

"Do you have to ask?" sighed Edy. Everyone in the room knew that it was General Damon who had ordered Varrot to have the militia attack.

Welkin looked down at the map of the battlefield, his face still sullen from what had happened to Alicia.

"So what strategy do you have for us Captain?" asked Faldio. "It doesn't look like it's possible to break their lines at all."

"Not to mention their Valkyria," grumbled Largo. "How are we supposed to deal with her? She practically annihilated Squad 1by herself. I don't think y'all need Faldio here to tell us about how powerful she is."

Faldio went silent as he stared at the battlefield map. For some reason, it seemed to Edy that he seemed preoccupied with something else on his mind. Then again Faldio probably had a lot to deal with, being a squad leader himself, something Edy could identify with somewhat.

"The plan is to attack their primary base camp here," said Varrot as she pointed to a marker indicating an Imperial camp on the map that was situated behind a cliff. "Doing so should break their lines."

"Uh, and how are we supposed to do that?" asked Rosie as she scratched her head. "You make it sound so simple, but there's the small problem of their Valkyria. Oh and the fact there's more of them than us."

"The plan is to have Edy's group strike the center of the Imperial line, drawing the Valkyria's attention to them. This should hopefully give us enough of an opening to strike at the base."

"Wait, what?!" shouted Rosie. "That's suicide, and you know it! You're just sending those kids to their deaths and you know it!"

"The objective for Edy's group is only to occupy the Valkyria's attention long enough for the Imperial base to be effectively attacked," explained Varrot as she put a hand to her forehead. "Her group will be supported by Squad 3, so they won't be alone. To be honest, I'm not too crazy about the plan myself, but it's the only viable plan that I can come up with. If you have a better one, please share it."

Edy sighed and looked toward the ground. Things just keep getting worse for me don't they?

Rosie still looked furious but remained silent, her fists tightly clenched at her sides. She knew it would do her no good to continue arguing considering it wasn't the Captain's fault to begin with.

"You've been silent this whole time Lieutenant Gunther," noted Varrot. "Are you alright?"

Welkin looked up at Varrot and nodded. "Sorry Captain, I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in is all."

"...I see. Well if there are no questions, you are all dismissed." Varrot turned away from the group. While the others left the command tent, Edy approached the Captain.

"Um, I still need to give you a report from my mission at the supply base," said Edy.

Varrot shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I already know the details."

"Huh? How?" asked Edy, confused.

"Don't worry about that right now," replied Varrot. "Just concentrate on your task for tomorrow."

The Corporal gave a weak salute and replied, "Yes, Ma'am..."

Edy left the command tent with a sigh and began wondering how she was going to break the news to her group when she suddenly found herself standing in front of them.

"Huh, what are you guys doing here?" asked Edy.

Ramona shrugged. "I guess curiosity got the best of us. So...is it true? We gotta face their Valkyria tomorrow?"

Edy nodded. "That's our orders."

Ted gave a loud sigh. "There's just no rest for the weary huh? Maybe we're just doing our jobs too well."

"If we didn't we'd be dead by now," replied Marina, shaking her head.

"Still, I'm not all that excited about having to face her..." trailed Elysse. "I mean how do we deal with someone like that?"

Edy shook her head. "I don't know. This goes beyond anything we've done so far."

"Don't forget about Miss Eratria," added Homer. "I wonder what her deal with Edy is..."

"About that," said Marina. "Why don't we go talk to Catherine? I think she might know her from the first war..."

With no other ideas in mind, the others agreed and headed toward the medical tent where Catherine was laying down at. Upon seeing the Edy Detachment, she sat up.

"Hmm? What do I owe the pleasure of this visit for?" she asked with a smile.

"Do you know someone by the name of Eratria?" asked Marina.

"..." Catherine became silent at the mention of the name, her smile disappearing.

"Please, if you know something Miss Catherine tell us," begged Homer. "She seems to be after Edy for some reason."

"Not to mention being a total bitch," added Ramona.

"That name..." trailed Catherine. "I hoped I'd never have to hear it again."

"So you do know her!" said Edy. "Please, tell us who she is!"

"I served with her in the first war as a member of the special forces," explained Catherine. "She was an incredibly skilled fighter, but extremely reckless and hot-headed at the same time. Frankly she was as likely to fight us as well the Imperials."

"Sounds like she was more of a liability," mused Ramona. "How'd someone like her get to be in the special forces?"

"Gallia took what it could get back then, give the situation of the war" explained Catherine. "Much like now."

"But...why would she be interested in me?" asked Edy. "It's not like she knows me..."

"I cannot say," trailed Catherine. "That's something..." Her sentence was interrupted by the sounds of shouting voices, which seemed to belong to Welkin and Juno.

"What in blazes?" asked Catherine. "Marina, dear help me up." The younger sniper complied and helped Catherine out of her bed. Edy and the others followed the pair outside the medical tent where they discovered Welkin and Juno in a heated argument while Faldio and Largo looked on.

"You were patrolling the area where the shot came from weren't you?" said Welkin, his voice full of anger.

"Well, yes but that doesn't mean I shot her!" replied Juno, a look of disbelief on her face. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Then explain this," said Welkin as Faldio walked up and handed him a sniper rifle. "The bullet that was extracted from Alicia came from this type of rifle and you just so happened to have this one in your tent."

Juno's face went white as she saw the weapon. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I never had that on me!"

"Don't lie to me Juno!" shouted Welkin.

"I'm not Welkin! You have to believe me!" pleaded Juno, who looked as if she were about to cry.

Edy noticed that Faldio was now looking at the ground, a pained look on his face. It must be hard for him to see this, as she is his friend as well...

"Largo, detain her," said Welkin as he turned away from Juno. "I don't want to see her anymore..."

"Whoa, you sure boss?" asked Largo. "I think that's going a bit far."

"Don't make me repeat myself," answered Welkin as he began to walk away.

Catherine suddenly stumbled forward and blocked his path, with Marina quickly following her. "Have you gone completely daft Welkin?! This is Juno you're talking about!"

"Out of the way O'Hara, unless you want to join her," muttered Welkin.

Faldio suddenly stepped in between them, attempting to diffuse the situation. "Let him be Catherine. You'll only make it worse."

"..." Catherine went silent as Welkin stormed past her and as Largo led a weeping Juno away.

"She...didn't really do it did she?" asked Homer nervously.

"Of course not," said Catherine as Marina began to lead her back to the medical tent. "The Lieutenant's mind is still on Alicia. Hopefully this will all pass in due time...Otherwise I'll straighten him out myself."

Edy watched as the pair left and then turned back to Faldio who seemed to be staring off into the distance for some reason. He sure has been in his own world lately...

"Ugh... Now the Squad's tearing itself apart," sighed Ramona. "Can things get any worse?"

"Let's see," said Ted as began counting on his fingers. "We faced off against a whole bunch of Imperials earlier, some bloodthirsty crazy chick wants Edy for some reason, aaaand now we get to fight a Valkyria tomorrow."

"Don't forget that Welkin's totally flipped his lid," pointed out Elysse.

"Ugh maybe I shoulda stayed at the infirmary," groaned Ramona. "Cuz at this rate, we'll all be heading there come tomorrow."

"Or six feet under," added Ted. "Agh forget it! I'm gunna go see if Marina and Catherine need help with anything. See you guys later."

"My head hurts... I think I'm going to turn in early," said Elysse as Ted disappeared. "Catch you guys later."

"I guess I'll get our equipment ready for tomorrow," sighed Homer. "See you later Edy."

Edy nodded and watched Homer walk away. Ramona tugged on Edy's left arm to get her attention.

"Hey now Sis, don't look so glum," she said. "We aren't dead yet, right?...Haha..ha..ha...ugh."

Edy didn't respond, and instead began walking away toward the watchtower at the eastern end of the camp with an almost lethargic look to her.

"Hey, Sis?" Ramona called as Edy walked away. "Edy?..." She had never seen Edy look this bad since the Marberry battle when she carried Ramona away to safety.

"Leave me alone for a little while please..." said Edy, as she continued to walk away. "I need to think."

Ramona watched in silence as Edy climbed up the watchtower and sat down atop its platform. She angrily kicked at the ground in frustration.

"Problems?" asked an all too familiar voice from behind.

Anyone but her... thought Ramona as she slowly turned around. Please, anyone but her... Sure enough it was Eratria, an unlit cigarette in her mouth.

"You again? Maybe you haven't noticed but Edy doesn't need you bothering her right now."

"Oh, is that so?" asked the woman as she struck a match. "I wonder why?"

"Catherine told us about you," said Ramona as Eratria lit her cigarette. "Needless to say it wasn't at all flattering."

"Oh is that it? I thought there was a better reason, like the fact you guys are going to have to fight a Valkyria tomorrow."

Ramona glared at the woman as she took a drag of her cigarette. "How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot," replied Eratria as she exhaled a fair amount of smoke. "I thought perhaps you and I should try to get along a bit better seeing as how we will be fighting the enemy Valkyria together tomorrow."

"No way," groaned Ramona. "Now things have gotten worse..."

Eratria chuckled to herself. "No doubt your friend over there is struggling to cope with the scale of the events yet to come; as well as those that have come to pass."

Ramona looked over at the watchtower that Edy was sitting on and noticed that her friend had curled up along one side of the platform, crying to herself.

"Sis..."

"She's had a tough time lately," said Eratria. "She will need your help soon enough. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Ramona turned around to face Eratria again, only to find the woman had disappeared. "Ugh, dammit." Deciding to heed the woman's advice, Ramona went to the watchtower and joined Edy at the top.

"I said I wanted to be alone," sniffled Edy, her head buried in her arms.

"All the more reason to be here," said Ramona as she sat next to her friend. "So talk to me."

"I'm scared," sobbed Edy as she suddenly clutched Ramona's arm. "I...I know I'm supposed to be all leader like and say that everything's gunna be fine but...how can I? We've both seen what that Valkyria is capable of. You remember Barious right? When I think about what she did to us there, it..."

"It's hard to think about," replied Ramona as she held her friend. "But, that doesn't mean tomorrow will turn out the same way. Hell, our squad wasn't supposed to survive most of the missions we were sent on. But we just have to keep doing what we've been doing, and we'll come out on top."

"Y-yeah, you're right," said Edy as she wiped her eyes. "I've been through so much lately, it's almost driving me crazy you know?"

Ramona nodded as she looked out at the setting sun. "Well that's why I'm here, to keep your head straight. Well, when Homer's not around at least."

__

Eratria watched on from a nearby stack of boxes as the two friends continued to talk atop the watchtower. A few moments later she was joined by another person.

"Ah Eleanor, what brings you to me this time?"

Captain Varrot glared at Eratria through her glasses. "I hope you realize the great risk I've taken by trusting you."

"Yeah yeah," sighed Eratria as she continued to smoke her cigarette. "Oh and by the way the attack on the supply base earlier wasn't my fault you know...I think you've got a spy amongst you..."

"So I gathered," replied Varrot. "I will deal with that myself. You should concentrate on your task,or else you know what will happen..."

"You need not remind me," growled Eratria. "I'm not one to repeat mistakes like someone I know. You're partly responsible for the fate of her family anyway you know."

"...I have nothing else to say to you," said Varrot as she turned to leave.

"Whatever," Eratria watched as Captain Varrot left to return to the command tent. Edy Nelson is ultimately my responsibility and I will see to it that she fulfills her role in the scheme of things to come. But first I must defeat the enemy Valkyria to ensure this...Hmph how ironic... Eratria sighed and looked up at the stars as she tossed the remains of her cigarette away. This plan had better work or there won't be a Gallia left to defend...