There will never be such a thing as a quick update... just like there will never be an Advance Wars 5. This is what happens when you keep starting stories before you finish one...

There was no such thing as a real victory in war. Even as the Black Hole factory that had gripped the country fell silent, the battlefield was littered with the corpses and wreckage of Yellow Comet men and their vehicles. There was joy in finally pushing out the invaders, but no celebration to be had. To celebrate when so many had fallen would have dishonored their sacrifice.

The sheer cost of the battle was most evident for the men that had to clear the field of their comrade's corpses. While many countries would think that recovering the bodies of the fallen was too time consuming to perform immediately after a conflict, especially with the Black Hole threat still looming, Yellow Comet would not allow soldiers that had given their lives to pass without honor.

Besides, the only way to know which bodies were lifeless and which were merely wounded was to check them all.

If they had been fighting a conventional war, the battle on the coast that day would have been considered a major victory. Black Hole forces had been completely demolished, the numbers of their fallen easily climbing into the thousands, while Yellow Comet had suffered significantly fewer casualties. But because this was not a conventional war, this was not the case. While it was impossible for Black Hole to have limitless resources and troops, the fact that their army was large enough to assault the entirety of the world simultaneously spoke volumes about the forces at their disposal. The vast number of personnel and equipment they had lost here today was likely only a dent in their overall strength.

On the other hand, even though Yellow Comet had suffered less casualties on a technicality, they had suffered a greater loss of things that mattered. The Army was not limitless. The number of troops they had available was finite. Needless to say almost everyone who was capable of being conscripted had been long before now, so the number of troops Yellow Comet had available was pretty much set in stone. And of course, aside from soldiers themselves, it took time and resources to build tanks, bombers, and battleships. Every vehicle that was lost in battle was a blow to the nation's fighting strength, which was needed now more than ever with how things were going in Green Earth.

All things considered, it would not be long before Yellow Comet deployed to assist the last allied power that was still under siege. Even though both Orange Star and Blue Moon had more troops to spare, the Emperor would not very well sit on his laurels while his allies faced danger.

And so, it was very important that all of the wounded were recovered and treated as soon as possible, so they could march into battle again as quickly as their bodies would allow. Naturally, this was a very logistic scenario. And naturally, that meant Sonja was in charge of it. Logistics was always her domain.

Not that she really did much herself. Other than keeping track of numbers so she could give an accurate report on casualties and loss in combat strength to her father, all of the actual work was left to the medics and the regular soldiers that brought the wounded to them. Unfortunately most of the heavy fighting had been vehicular in nature, and few people survived when a tank was blown to smithereens.

Standing within one of the many mustard colored medical tents that had been set up on the field, Sonja inwardly winced at her extremely poor choice of thoughts. She knew why such an example had come to mind, but she felt inherently guilty for thinking it.

That guilt was nothing however, compared to the shame she felt for a certain degree of relief that she had in a different thought. Despite the hundreds of men that had been killed or wounded today, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that a certain someone was not among them, and that filled her with comfort she herself did not understand all that well. She did however feel terrible, to feel any relief or comfort at all while so many of her countrymen were in agony or even the throes of death. It felt wrong to feel anything other than empathy in this situation, but she couldn't help herself. Besides, wasn't everyone prone to have more concern for people they knew personally? That Sonja knew Ryu beyond the level of a mere subordinate was just a fact. There was nothing she could do to change it, and she wouldn't apologize for it either.

In a moment of clarity Sonja realized that she was getting defensive over something questionable and to no one in particular. She had not forgotten the liberties the soldier in question had almost taken with her. And she still felt that she should have been more indignant about it than she was. She just found it difficult to be angry, knowing everything she did. Really she just felt sorry for him. If she really thought about what he had become and why, he was truly pitiful.

Something told her that maybe it was wrong to think along such lines, as she was certain that Ryu would not have been happy to learn of her opinion of him. But she was honest to a fault simply because she said things as they were. That there was a lot to pity about Ryu was also a fact. And of course the fact that she had turned him into that was never lost on her.

Two soldiers brought in a comrade with his leg missing on a stretcher, and for a moment Sonja's thoughts were overridden with the urge to gag or even throw up. While no stranger to the art of war, the gruesome details had always been foreign to Sonja. Her father had never allowed her to be on the battlefield before; now it was just a matter of her refusing to be off of it. There was no better way to understand the true gravity of war than to witness it yourself. Even though she was so unused to the violence and the gore, Sonja believed it was her duty to see things with her own eyes and truly understand the weight of her decisions. This was something she owed Ryu thanks for.

If she told him that she was grateful for the new perspective his injury had provided to her, would he be insulted or happy? Would he have been glad to know that his sacrifice had at least allowed her to realize the true nature of her command? Perhaps, but she doubted even that realization would make him feel too much better about his friends and his face. What could ever fix those wounds?

"Commander."

Drawn from her innermost thoughts by the voice of one of her lieutenants, Sonja turned her full attention on the soldier in his dirty yellow cap. She was curious as to what he possibly had to say to her, since there was no way all of the numbers had been tallied yet. "Yes?"

"Forgive me ma'am, but there's uh... a scenario that I'm not sure how to write down for the report. Does the nature of the wounded soldier matter? I wouldn't think so, but..."

For the life of her, Sonja wasn't sure what the man was trying to say. "The nature of the soldier? How do you mean?"

"W-well, it could just be an error in the records, but one of the soldiers we dragged off the battlefield a little while ago... well, he wasn't supposed to be there."

Sonja got a distinctly bad feeling upon hearing this, but she refused to jump to any conclusions. "Soldier, I need you to be more specific. What are you saying?"

"The soldier in question was pulled from active duty some time before the battle ma'am. He was declared unfit for combat by... well, you. We're not sure how he got onto the battlefield to be injured in the first place."

Despite her own desire to believe that she was being informed of someone else, Sonja knew who was being discussed here. The only person she had personally pulled from active duty in her entire career was Ryu. It didn't take a genius to connect those dots.

And with the realization of the obvious, Sonja was overwhelmed with dread. The Lieutenant had not been very specific. An injury could range anywhere from a sprained ankle to a ruptured organ. An injured soldier could have had the potential for an easy recovery, or been fatally wounded and doomed to die. And the possibility of that last one twisted her gut with unparalleled fervor.

Was he dying? Was he already dead as it was? If either of those were true...

Sonja was certain she was not supposed to be feeling so strongly about the person in question, but for now she did not care to apply any logic to the situation at hand. She was scared, for someone she knew, and she had all the time in the world to question the nature of her relationship with that person after she ascertained that they were still alive.

If they were still alive.

Trying to maintain a semblance of control despite her inner turmoil, Sonja addressed the soldier before her. "And this soldier, how grave are his wounds? What...what has become of him?"

The Lieutenant clearly struggled to recall the exact nature of the wounds, as he had dealt with a great many injuries that day. "I believe he took several gunshot wounds to the torso ma'am. I didn't stick around to hear if the medics thought they could save him though. He'd already lost a lot of blood before we recovered him..."

Sonja inwardly cursed at the lack of clarification this response provided her with. It certainly didn't comfort her in the slightest, especially since it sounded like things were already looking bad.

"I-I see. Thank you for your report soldier, I will handle the issue myself. Which tent did you leave him in?"

The Lieutenant led his commanding officer outside, wasting no time in pointing out another medical tent on the field that looked just like the one they were already in. With similar haste, Sonja wasted no time in making her way towards it, not sure what she was going to do or how she would react to any one particular piece of news.

It didn't help that her feelings on the man in question were so confused. At the moral level, she of course didn't want him to die even if she were angry with him, but she didn't believe her desire for him to live was based purely on logic or standard ethics. Still though, she wasn't going to waste time right now taking self-inventory.

Stepping into the medical tent in question, there was nothing to really distinguish it from the one Sonja had been in just moments prior. The mixed stench of blood and sterility was one that was disgusting in two very different ways. Bloody rags and cloth were strewn about everywhere, the sheer number of the injured too high for anyone to bother with proper disposal right this instant. Medics moved to and fro with urgency that proved lives hanged in the balance, and it was a wonder that any one person could pick out the call for assistance from one medic or another in the cacophony of the place. The chaos of war existed off of the battlefield all the same as it did on it.

Sonja wondered if she should have felt guilty about showing more concern for one soldier than all of the others, but she knew it was pointless. She already knew the answer was yes. That didn't stop her from doing it.

Looking for someone that had any semblance of being in charge, Sonja quickly picked out someone that looked like he kept lists. He didn't look any different from any of the other soldiers, but he didn't have blood all over his hands and he wasn't making any effort to leave the tent with any urgency, meaning he probably wasn't tending to the wounded or bringing more in. After quickly determining his rank, Sonja made to ask for the soldier she was looking for.

"Corporal, it's my understanding that a certain Ryugeki Suzukai was brought in wounded from the battlefield. Can you direct me to him?"

To her deductive credit, the soldier actually did bring forth a list from his back pocket. Clearly he was the record keeper for this particular tent. "Yes ma'am. He's uh..."

The soldier took a quick glance around, no doubt looking for a particular mat on the dirt of the floor. Honestly Sonja could have probably just looked around for a minute and found Ryu herself, but this way was faster, more efficient, and it made it seem like she was only concerned for official reasons.

"Right there."

Sonja followed the man's outstretched finger, tracking its trajectory to the very man she was looking for, his body both still and covered in bloodied bandages. She felt her breath hitch at the sight of what could have been a dead man, but somehow her logic prevailed enough to at least calm her down. There was no point in losing her cool until she got the facts. Last time she had heard he was still alive.

So Sonja nodded her thanks to the Corporal that had aided her, and walked towards the person she was actually interested in. Despite all of the other things she should have noticed first, ironically it was still the scar across his face. It drew attention to itself of course, but for Sonja she couldn't help but identify it as a personal sin she had to atone for.

Besides, there wasn't that much more to notice. She couldn't discern the nature of his wounds just by looking at him. She had been informed that he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, but the only evidence of that was the bloodied bandages around his body. Thankfully, she could at least see that he was breathing at this close distance, though it was very shallow.

What she noticed more than anything however, was the lack of medical personnel tending to him. There was a brief flare of anger that she had to push down before speaking, but she quickly managed that so she could fix the problem at hand. The first step to doing that was stopping someone that was obviously a medic, thanks to the red cross on his arm.

"Soldier, why is this man not being tended to? Has he already been stabilized?"

Able to recognize the soldier thanks to his very obvious facial feature, the medic recalled what his particular situation was with little trouble. "His wounds are severe Commander. With the amount of plasma we'd need to keep him alive we could save three other men, so we're doing triage. He's on painkillers, so he should pass comfortably."

Sonja's mind went uncharacteristically blank for a moment as she attempted to process the situation. He was dying. But he wasn't dead yet. And according to this man, he didn't have to be at all. He had said that he would die as is, but that they could save him, only at the expense of multiple other men.

That was the dilemma of course. She was the Emperor's daughter. If she wanted to she could order the medics here to ensure that Ryu survived, regardless of the cost. Even if it meant letting several other soldiers die. The question was, should she?

Obviously the answer was no. Ethically speaking it would be wrong to let several people die just to fulfill her own selfish desires. Tactically speaking there was no reason to save one soldier unfit for duty at the cost of three soldiers that could still go into battle with mental stability. There was no reason whatsoever to bring the medic's decision into question. They had made the right call.

"Tell whoever's in charge that I want this man to survive no matter what."

The medic in question had been halfway to moving on to work when Sonja said this, earning her an incredulous look of disbelief. "B-but ma'am, I just said-"

"I'm fully aware of what you said. My order still stands. Make it so, now."

While still fumbling from what he thought was a morally unsound choice, the soldier nevertheless bowed to his superior officer and the Emperor's daughter before running off to find whoever needed to be informed of this decision.

As for Sonja, she knew she would have to answer for this. To who, she didn't know. Her father, perhaps. God, maybe. But most of all she knew she would have to answer to herself, because the decision she had made just now would sacrifice the lives of many just to fulfill her own selfish desires. There was no way to reconcile that fact. She told herself now that she could withdraw her order now and still save those other men, but she knew she wouldn't. Moreover, she knew that she couldn't.

Waking from deep sleep and near death was an oddly similar experience. Ryu got to experience this truth when he had the opportunity to do it himself, and there was a lot less pain involved in the process than he had been expecting. That groggy feeling of only being half aware of his surroundings was there, but not the great deal of pain he should have been experiencing.

His memory was not foggy in the slightest, after all. He knew damn good and well that he'd been shot full of holes the last time he was awake. And that was why staring at the ceiling of steel above him was confusing him so much. He was not sure what to expect out of the afterlife, but he had been hoping to leave the poor materials of the afterlife behind at least.

Yet it did not take long for him to discern the truth. For one, even though he was devoid of any extremely sharp pain, he felt the soreness of injury about him overall. He also couldn't sit up without testing the strength of whatever bound his torso, which he was certain were probably bandages of a sort. Taking that into account alongside the IV in his arm, and it was obvious that he had cheated death once again.

Only this time, he had done it on the saber's edge. Death had actually laid a finger on him, yet he had managed to escape its grasp regardless. He would have laughed at his monumental success, if only he knew whether or not laughing would exacerbate his injuries.

Still, he was confused about where he was, so he needed to figure that out at least. The ceiling didn't match the barracks or the medical tents he knew of, and that had the potential for something worrisome. After all, nothing on the forward operating base was made of steel that came to mind. What if he had been captured? He couldn't imagine why he would be, but the fact remained that he could be.

A quick glance around was enough to allay his fears. The room he was in was steel, yes, but only because it was part of the actual FOB command center. This was the place the Commanding Officer managed the affairs of their troops when no suitable HQ was readily available. It was harder to set up than the rest of the buildings and tents that comprised these nomadic military camps, but they were a tactical necessity. The commander always needed somewhere safe that they could manage the battlefield from. While an HQ type building was always nice, there wasn't always a suitable structure around to commandeer.

That said, it didn't really answer the question of why Ryu was here. For one, he didn't know that the command center had beds at all. Secondly, he was clearly not in the main part of the building, where all of the actual work was done. There was no one around. No large table with a map in the center of it, no group of aides to assist the CO in whatever they needed, nothing. What was around was this bed and a small desk to his right. A desk which was occupied.

He was not really surprised to see Sonja there. It wasn't hard to deduce that he was in a room for personal use right this moment. He hadn't actually known that the CO had a room for personal use in these mobile command buildings, but apparently they did. Maybe this was where they stayed during extended deployment away from anywhere more suitable?

No, he was not surprised that Sonja was there, but he was surprised that he was in the same room as her. Assuming this was essentially her private quarters for the time being, there was no reason he should have been there. After all, the only way he would be was by her command.

Under normal circumstances he might have been pleased by the notion, but based on Sonja's visage right now, he could tell that any encounter they shared after she realized he was awake would not be pleasant.

She was visibly angrier than Ryu ever would have thought possible for her. She was half facing away from him, sitting at her desk which faced the wall, but even with only half of her face to go by it was obvious to what lengths her displeasure reached.

Unlike the usual calm concentration she had to offer whenever doing something that required any degree of focus, her expression was entirely furious. She scowled down at whatever she was writing, glaring at it with enough intensity to both set the page alight and seemingly leave immediate wrinkles on her forehead. It was a wonder that she had not snapped the pencil she was writing with in two. She was certainly gripping it with enough strength.

Ryu's observation of her did not last long however, as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye for seemingly no reason at all. Unbeknownst to the soldier in question, she had been doing so every few minutes, each time hoping to find him awake, for reasons known only to her.

Most people would assume that she would be relieved to find him awake. This would have been the case if only she had not already known that he would survive. After all, she was currently writing letters of condolence to three families that had not needed them earlier that day.

So no, she was not relieved to see that Ryu was awake. She was angry. Furious. He had forced her to make a call that cost three men their lives, despite the fact that they could have survived. Naturally, she knew that the weight of that decision rested solely on her, but looking at the man that had forced that decision upon her, she could not see it as fair if he did not share some of the blame.

Just how much did he think he could force on her without her consent? Was there no end to his depravity? He did not even look remorseful. Then again, there was no way for him to know just yet.

In fact, there was no way for him to know anything yet, which was why the first question out of his mouth was what it was. "Did we win?"

For reasons she couldn't discern, Sonja felt like hitting him in that instant. 'Did we win?' What kind of asinine question was that at a time like this? They damn well better have won, considering all of the loss they had to endure to earn it.

Still, she pushed down her irrational misgivings so she could give an answer, though her inability to control her anger was evident in the tight nature of her voice. "We achieved victory, at great cost."

Ryu frowned, no doubt displeased by the news. He did not seem to find the victory worth celebrating considering the sacrifice. "How many?"

"Approximately four hundred. And counting."

"Yet Yellow Comet is now liberated?"

"It is."

There were other questions Ryu could have asked, but he felt like there was one that needed to be answered above all. "Why am I here?"

He could see Sonja's grip on the pencil she carried tighten. It really was a wonder that it had not broken just yet. "Officially you are here to be questioned on the nature of your blatant disobedience to higher command."

"And unofficially?"

"The exact same thing."

Ryu was obviously confused by this, as he believed that everything was obvious by now. What was there to even question? "I find that hard to believe. I went into battle because I wanted to."

Sonja's expression actually lightened a little bit, but clearly not because she was any less angry. More like a transformation into cold fury as she took a logical approach to the situation at hand. "Is that all? You're certain that it had nothing to do with some asinine, misguided attempt to find a thrill on the battlefield? Hm?"

"Normally I would say yes, but..."

"I see. Part of your game then. Is that what you think this is? Is that what you think everyone is out there dying for? For fun? Thrills? Living on the edge? I thought you of all people would understand the true gravity of war! Do you think your crew-"

In an instant Ryu had rage to match Sonja's own. Somewhere deep inside of him he was worried that he was splitting into two people like this, but at the moment he did not care to analyze his own psychological weaknesses.

"Shut up! Who do you think you are, talking to me about war and games?! Until you got my crew killed and scarred me for life it was just a game to you! Yet you have the gall to lecture me?!"

While Sonja knew he had a good point, she was not going to concede that easily. "All the more reason why this nonsense should never have taken place! I have learned from my mistakes; because of you I now understand how truly awful of a leader I have been! But then how can you treat war like I used to? Like some sort of game? This is life and death for thousands we are talking about!"

"What does that have to do with anything? The last time I checked, the only person I've endangered by doing this is myself! So what does it matter anyway?"

Most of Sonja's anger dwindled away upon hearing this. "Is that how it is for you? You are willing to engage in this madness because your own life has no value?"

"...more or less."

"And it is my fault, isn't it? You weren't like this before the battle that day."

At this point Ryu averted his eyes, though for what explicit purpose he wasn't sure. It was Sonja's fault, in many ways, but in this one instance it had not been in the light she was no doubt imagining. Besides, if he wanted to get really technical it was actually his fault.

"No... it wasn't your fault Sonja. I... I threw myself into battle because I needed something to latch on to. Something to care about, even if it was playing with my own demise..."

"But you had me. You said before that you did not need the battlefield if you had someone-"

"I thought I had scared you away! I thought... I thought you would hate me for what I did to you..."

Learning that Ryu had almost successfully committed suicide in the most roundabout way possible all because he thought he had made her mad was more than a little troubling for Sonja. How was one supposed to react to that? On one hand, she almost felt happy that she was so important to him. On the other, she realized that it was very dangerous for him to feel so strongly.

"That... I... would the loss of my companionship really wound you so deeply?"

Ryu said nothing in reply, but his silence was answer enough. But if that were the case, Sonja believed the solution was easy.

"T-then there's nothing you need fear. It would take far more than a mere misunderstanding to destroy our... 'relationship.' You just... have to understand that it is platonic-"

"That won't work."

Not sure how to respond to that, even though it was unclear as to what he meant anyway, Sonja simply graced him with a look of confusion, allowing the currently bedridden soldier to continue.

"That's not enough for me. I... can't stop thinking about you. In ways I'm sure that you would not like. I've told myself that it's wrong, foolish, even impossible. It doesn't matter. The thought of you being out of my reach is just as painful as the thought of not even having your friendship. I know there is many reasons that it is all insane, but... I feel as though I haven't been quite sane for some time now anyway. I'm sorry, but... there is no real compromise for me."

Sonja still wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. Was there a right answer at all in this situation? "You... will play this game again, won't you?"

"...probably. There is nothing else for me."

"And if there was?"

Surprised to hear anything along the lines of the hypothetical at this point, Ryu turned his shocked gaze onto his commanding officer. "I-if there was...?"

Honestly Sonja wasn't sure what she was saying, or even what she was thinking. As Ryu himself had said, there were many reasons why everything about this was wrong, and why it should be avoided at all costs. More reasons than she could even list, really. The political repercussions alone were astronomical. Morally there was probably an issue to be had as well. Even looking at a purely relational standpoint, Sonja was positive there was a certain disparity between the two of them that dictated that they should not even think of anything beyond friendship.

For one, Sonja had no idea how Ryu felt about her truly, but she doubted it was entirely pure. He had made that rather clear himself. And furthermore, she did not think she felt for him to that degree. She hadn't known him nearly long enough, and she was certain that one was not supposed to enter relationships with the mentally unstable so readily.

This was not to say she wasn't interested at all. Emotionally, she wouldn't have minded the more base implications of a romantic relationship. She had never had one before, and she was certainly curious. Admittedly, she found Ryu handsome and, when he wasn't going off the rails in a bout of near insanity, he was quite charming. Logically none of that changed the fact that he wasn't entirely sound and that their positions in life didn't mesh very well together.

But there was a chance that she could help him get better. He had said himself that there was no compromise for him, so there were only two options, and Sonja refused to accept the first, where he danced with death just for some semblance of meaning, in which he was sure to die sooner than later. In fact, he would have been dead right now if not for a decision Sonja had made, and to let him run off and die of his own accord was simply unacceptable now that she had sacrificed the lives of others so that he might live. Though it would not validate her greed, she at least owed those other men, whoever they may be, that much.

Taking all of this into account, Sonja made her decision, the only one she really could at this point. She had gotten herself into this mess, and if there was one thing she hated, it was requiring other people to fix her mistakes. What Ryu had become was entirely on her. She could not pass the blame onto anyone else, and therefore she could not pass off the responsibility of helping him either. Even if she wasn't sure if it was safe. Even if she wasn't sure if it was what she really wanted. Even if it meant she gave up something important without planning to.

"If... if you promise me that you'll forsake the battlefield for good, then I..."

She had to swallow an anxious lump in her throat before she could continue, but either way she managed, and she couldn't tell what strange blend of emotions colored her words.

"I'm yours."

So nothing questionable... this time. But as I'm sure we can all see, the basis for this relationship is far from healthy and things will get kind of twisted very soon. That doesn't mean this whole story ends badly of course, just that it will have a notably dark section. Arguably the most important section too.

Anyway, just for fun since the AW community is so small, but who is everyone's favorite CO? Personality, tactically speaking, whatever your reason. Eagle was always my guy in AW 1-3. Then in Days of Ruin CO effects weren't as prominent so Lin won for kickass character.