[ Belkan Autonomous Area airspace / October 1, 0078 13:52 ]

"…and we are back, dear viewers. This is Serena Earls of the Bureau Public Relations office, reporting live from the Belkan Autonomous Area, where 'The Last Battle of the Belkan War' has just come to an astonishing conclusion that can only be described as 'miraculous'!"

A small news helicopter had just entered the airspace above the evacuated area, maneuvering between pillars of smoke and dust from where the fighting between the Bureau troops and the Gadgets was particularly fierce. The inert husks of deactivated Gadgets now lay scattered across the streets below.

"As you can see right now, dear viewers, the ceasefire negotiated by Admiral Harlaown and a person who appears to be the late Lieutenant General Hayate Yagami is being kept… Mike, can't we go faster?! We must capture the strike team as they come out! …kept by both sides. That's right, dear viewers, General Yagami apparently came back from the dead to take control of the very starship she died on! As part of the ceasefire, she agreed to release the Bureau strike team that… Oh, there they are! Mike, give me a close-up!"

Six women, one man, and a dragon were standing at the edge of nothingness, looking exhaustedly at the city down below. Teana leaned on Subaru's shoulder; Caro, Erio, and Friedrich stood close; and Fate, still having trouble standing up, was supported from both sides by Ginga and a scrawny blonde teenage girl wearing a tattered medical gown.

Holding tightly to her daughter she had fought so long to get back, Fate was crying quietly, as Vivio whispered soothingly into her ear.

END OF PART III – CONSEQUENCES