Five panzer soldats stood in line in front of Aurochs Fort, two Hectors flanking either side while three Drakkhens filled in the middle. They were among what was left of Kreuzen's Provincial Army after deserters turned their backs to their lord in favor of the traitorous Rufus Albarea stabbed his father in the back. But that was fine, they were still the finest provincial army in the country and soon Duke Albarea would devise a plan that would teach his snake of a son a lesson. Despite all of those setbacks, the soldiers were still confident in their victory and stood defiantly against any threats to the lord.

Then the soldat standing in the middle was cut almost in half as Valimar fell from the skies.

The impact produced a cloud of dust and shrapnel and the booming sound startled and confused the other soldat pilots, who had no time to react to the assault. The one to Rean's right was the first to fall as he rushed it and reproduced the precise movements of the Autumn Leaf form with Valimar, delivering fast blows that immobilized the suit of armor, and then moved straight to the Hector. Its pilot attempted to defend himself but Valimar and Rean were too quick and the Helix Form cut through the bulky soldat.

The other two panzer soldats didn't fare any better despite having more time to react to the incoming assault. The Ashen Knight was too fast and his movements too precise, too human, for them to react to. In the end, they all fell and soon forces of the RMP led by Captain Claire would arrive, ready to arrest the soldat pilots while she and Class VII raided the military fortress.

After tearing open the steel door that barred their entrance, Rean left Valimar and joined his friends with Jusis taking the leading position, which nobody questioned.

The interior of Aurochs Fort was an unknown factor for them as the military base had gone through extensive modifications in preparation for the war. When Rean and Emma had visited the infirmary they were closely guided by guards and had no way of knowing much of their way through the fortress while Millium had managed only a glimpse of the outside before being caught during her espionage mission.

"As soon as we begin, father will hide in the panic room, which could be anywhere," Jusis said back during their briefing before the mission.

"We'll have to split into teams in order to search the fortress. I'd say three is best although things can always change once we get inside," was suggested by Sara with everyone else's approval. "Meanwhile, the Courageous will stay in the air just in case the duke tries to fly away."

While the Crimson Wings occupied themselves with those tasks, the 4th Armored Division established a perimeter around the fortress to cut off any escape attempts by land or any surprise attacks from the Noble Alliance. That was the scenario in which they found themselves at the moment, rushing through the hallways of Aurochs Fort. A meager defense had been established at the entrance hallway but they were all quickly defeated and left for the RMP officers who would follow the strike team to arrest.

Past that, however, things started to get complicated. The hallway stretched itself within the fortress, silent and ominous and they proceeded with caution as the most sensitive members of the team felt the hair on the back of their necks rise.

But without being sure what would happen nobody could do anything as the faint sound of gears coming to life began. Protective Arts were cast and weapons raised in defense and none of that mattered when walls on both ends of the corridor descended from the ceiling, boxing in the invaders. And they had barely any time to come to terms with that fact when more walls sprout from the ground between them, separating their group.

"Well, this is annoying but I can just teleport us-" Emma started to say but the set of mechanisms in motion weren't done with them just yet. If the loud noise of gears, pulleys and chains wasn't enough of an indicator, the witch felt the room itself move, almost throwing her and her friends off balance.

Left, right, a spin, left up, down, right, up again. They couldn't keep track of what was happening and by the time it was over, everyone had completely lost their bearings. Only after a tense moment as they waited just to be sure nothing else would happen that they started calling each other on their ARCUS units.

"I just had to say we should get separated. Anyway, first things first. Roll call, who is with who?" Asked Sara while looking around. "I've got Rean, Laura, Gaius and Elliot."

"Claire here. I'm with Jusis, Millium and Machias."

"Fie here. Everyone else's with me. What's the plan?"

"Can Emma teleport us?" Rean asked but the witch stated that without knowing anyone's exact position she could end up teleporting them within the walls of the fortress.

"And we're far away from each other and the walls are thick enough that they're blocking us from forming combat-links between the other teams so she can't easily pin-point our locations," said Sara with a frustrated sigh. "Even communication sounds a little spotty. There's a doorway where we are, what about you guys?"

The instructor received confirmations from both other teams and with that it was clear what their next move should be. She would rather have divided them more evenly but they would have to work with what they had and so, each group began their infiltration into shifting the fortress.

The corridor Sara's team followed descended downward through a spiral staircase. It didn't go too deep, only three arges at most, but it was featureless, narrow and dimly lit and continued so onwards. They also took note of how relatively new the concrete walls seemed, meaning this whole area was a new addition to the fortress.

The passageway was so narrow they were forced to walk in a single file. It was far from an ideal situation, if they were to be ambushed there would be no way for them to properly defend themselves, swinging swords and spears was out of question and even casting Arts could be dangerous, so Sara took the lead since at least she only needed to aim her gun forward.

And good thing she did so because it didn't take long for a threat to appear. They heard it first, starting with the sound of agile steps getting closer, paws slapping against the concrete floor, followed by the ragged breath and snarling of vicious dogs darting towards them, mouths slobbering with hunger. While not a hulking beast like so many war monsters used by jaegers, those mangy mutts were still dangerous, being underfed just so they'd be more eager to rip into a person in no time, foregoing any survival instincts they might have. Either you put them down or they would put you down.

The bracer fired her gun and four loud bangs cracked through the corridor and the first dog tumbled onto the floor but that did not discourage its companions following behind it. Sara fired again and killed the next one just for it to be replaced by another that was even closer to her, too close. The third dog lunged at her, its fangs shining in the light of the dim corridor, aiming for her throat, but Sara was already accounting for that; she cracked the mutt's skull with a fierce kick that sent it flying backwards and hit the fourth dog behind it, knocking it down long enough for her to take aim and shoot.

"You okay, instructor?" Rean asked once it seemed the coast was clear, more out of courtesy than anything as Sara wasn't even winded by the action.

"Oh, aside from how much I hate killing dogs? Just peachy. I might just have to hug that fluffy dog of yours next time we're in Ymir to make myself feel better though," she tried to ease the tension with a joke. "Now, come on, let's keep going."

Stepping over the dead hounds, the team went on along the narrow passage for a couple of arges more before it opened into a wider room that allowed them to move about freely. They spread out and took defensive positions but aside from cages where the dogs had presumably come from, there was nothing of note.

"Would the person who let the dogs out be close?" Asked Elliot.

"Nah, look," Rean pointed his tachi at the lock of one of the cages, which had a device with a lit up green light. "This was automated, probably set up for when the other trap separated everyone."

"That was just the greeting committee. We should be expecting even nastier surprises from here on out," said Sara, causing Gaius to shudder at the thought.

"I hope our friends are okay," he said.

As they continued along, they could tell that the reforms Aurochs Fort went through were no joke. The elaborate mechanism that separated the strike team was an obvious indicator of that, but the group also passed by storage room after storage room filled with all manner of goods, mainly food, medical provisions and weapons, as if it had been built to withstand a siege for many months. There were also no threats in their way, at least not obvious ones, which only served to put them even more on the edge.

Sara and the others rounded a corner and came across a set of doors halfway open, an obvious invite for them to enter and also the sign that danger awaited on the other side. Edging closer, they realized what was waiting for them and Sara knew exactly who they were. The bracer tightened the grip on her weapons and looked around to her students, certifying her anxiety hadn't passed through their combat-links, then kicked the doors wide open.

"Alright, let's get this over with!"

Weapons at the ready, they stormed inside a vast, circular room, seemingly a general purpose depot of sorts filled with crates, barrels, sandbags and other assorted goods with two forklifts parked in a corner. That wasn't the main attraction however, what the Crimson Wings' members had their eyes on was the group of seven jaegers in the middle of the room. Only two had their weapons raised at them, others held themselves more casually, sitting on top of barrels or leaning against crates. At the center was who they assumed was their leader, a tall, pale woman with short, dirty blonde hair, a battle ax in her right hand and her helmet in the other.

"You have one chance to stand down!" Rean barked out fiercely, the grip on his tachi tight and his legs ready to spring to action.

The jaegers showed no reaction at first and simply stared down at the new arrivals, analyzing their enemies.

"Hmph, so that is the pilot of the Ashen Knight," the leader's unimpressed gaze fell onto Rean before drifting towards Sara. "Accompanied by none other than the… famous Purple Lightning. Well, lads, ain't that just our luck?"

The woman's words were filled with a specific, targeted sarcasm directed straight at Sara, making her glare back. Rean and the others wondered if there was some history between them, maybe an encounter with the Northern Jaegers back in her bracer days, and while that wasn't enough to concern them, what their instructor said next greatly unsettled them.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll take care of this."

"What?!"

"Absolutely not."

"Instructor?"

"Huh!?"

The rest of the jaegers snorted at their reactions.

"Fine by me," the leader said with a shrug. "You kiddos can get through, not like we're the only ones waiting for you."

"There's no way we're leaving her alone to fight all of you," Rean said with a bite on his voice, glaring back at the threat, but turned to Sara when she put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's very sweet that you guys care so much but I can take care of myself," the bracer smiled her usual carefree smile at her students. "Besides, we can't waste time here. The others are still somewhere around the fortress and we need to arrest Duke Albarea. So, get a move on," she said, patting Rean on the shoulder.

"Instructor, aren't we risking running at more of the Northern Jaegers along the way with our forces diminished?"

"Don't think so, Laura. See, they still need to get their payment back to North Ambria and they can't really do that if every single one of them stays behind to be captured by the enemy, isn't that right?"

"Right you are, Purple Lightning. After the Celdic job was done, the rest of the crew hauled ass back home with the payment."

"See? It's gonna be fine. Don't worry, I'll catch up to you guys in no time!" Sara playfully winked at them and they could see how strained the act was.

The Class VII students were befuddled by her behavior, exchanging confused looks between each other, unsure on what to do. Looking at the Northern Jaegers, their leader smirked and waved with her hand to the door behind her. They turned back to Sara, she nodded and they decided that they should trust her judgment. So, cautiously, Rean and the others went around the jaegers and towards the exit.

"You better! There's no Class VII without the best instructor in Thors!" Rean yelled out before him and the rest of the team left and Sara couldn't help but chuckle.

Only when their footsteps faded deep past the doorway did Sara allow herself to drop her façade. With a sigh, she rolled her shoulders and assumed a combat stance.

"I suppose I should thank you for not spilling everything out right then and there."

"Well, I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your students by revealing you used to be a dirty jaeger," the leader replied with a sneer. "I mean, what would those children think if they learned that their precious teacher and illustrious A-ranked bracer Sara Valestein used to be a Northern Jaeger?"

And just like that, Sara had that woman all figured out. "You seem to care a lot about me but I don't believe we've met."

"I'm Johanna Albion, squad leader of the Northern Jaegers."

She couldn't be much older than Sara herself, give it 5 years at maximum, she thought, and was one who saw her fair share of battles. "Well, Johanna, surely you understand why I'd rather keep my previous associations in private for the moment. Or did you somehow miss the show your boys did at Celdic?'

"Miss? I've led that party and have no shame to admit it," Johanna spoke truthfully, raising her chin and puffing up her chest as her subordinates nodded in approval. "Unlike you."

"Oh please, you think that gets to me?"

"My mistake then, I suppose a coward who ran away and abandoned her homeland can't be expected to feel any shame."

"I didn't run away," Sara shook her head, keeping control of her emotions with the discussion. "I was through with that life, seen and done enough. It would've been the end of me if I stayed any longer, one way or another."

Johanna visibly disliked the answer, and was especially miffed at how calm Sara sounded, and let out a displeased grunt in response. "That's all? Colonel Valestein dies so you get scared and abandon everyone back home to play hero in Erebonia!?"

"I didn't abandon anyone," Sara had to hold herself from grinding her teeth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, those checks you send from your bracer and teaching jobs surely make a difference, those children are going to starve to death just a little slower all thanks to you!"

Oh what a miserable woman.

"And you think you do!?" The bracer rebuked the sarcasm with a shout but not one of anger, just frustrated. Frustrated that that line of thought was present within the corps. "Over 20 years since the corps was established and all that was accomplished was keeping North Ambria barely holding itself together, little more than a dying animal waiting to be put out of its misery. The Northern Jaegers were never meant to be a permanent solution, my father knew that."

Johanna narrowed her eyes but as soon as she opened her mouth with a retort Sara interrupted her. "I won't pretend I know how to help our home or that I'm the right person to do it or, hell, that I'm even trying to. Call me selfish, a coward, I don't care, I left the corps because I couldn't stand a life of peddling death anymore. That is as much justification you deserve from me."

Johanna grew visibly tense and gripped her weapon tightly, her eyes boring a hole through Sara. "Don't act like you're any better, you were a jaeger too, the shit you did-"

"Will always stay with me and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for the stuff I did. At least I can say I don't speak proudly of burning down people's livelihoods."

"Psh, it happens, that's just the world we live in. One day life is all sunshine and rainbows then suddenly everything gets wiped out, maybe by some random accident, a robbery gone wrong, war or…" The woman's expression darkened. "Aidios decides to give your country a little gift."

"And that justifies burning down towns and killing innocents in other countries?"

"It means shit happens. Honestly, Erebonia had it too good for a while, about time people over here got a reality check."

Sara's scowl grew deeper. That woman was beyond bitter and filled with a misguided sense of pride, she was deep in the whole "hero of North Ambria" idea that was propagated by their people. If her math was right, Johanna Albion was probably alive when the Salt Pale laid waste to their country, maybe just old enough to internalize the horror of seeing her parents turning to salt. A dangerous combination, she wasn't the kind of person who could let go.

"My student wasn't lying, you do have a chance to surrender and all of you have my guarantee you will be treated humanely as prisoners," Sara said although she knew it was pointless. "But only one chance."

"Tired of flapping your gums, Purple Lightning? Good, so am I," Johanna banged her helmet and ax together before fitting the headgear onto her head and her subordinates assumed combat stances along with her, shouting in fervor. "Boys, let's show miss bracer over here what true heroes of North Ambria are made of!"

With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, Sara gripped her gun tightly and fired the first shot.

Apprehensively, Rean and the rest of the group had left their instructor to fend for herself. They weren't stupid, there was some history there although they failed to grasp the intricacies of and the occasion didn't lend itself for them to think it over.

They rushed past hallways and climbed up another stairwell, hopefully returning to the ground floor of the fortress, where they found a couple of archaisms lingering around that were quickly dispatched. But the presence of enemies made them slow down their advance, moving with caution into a narrower corridor that forced them to walk in two files, with Rean and Laura taking the front.

"This place is like a maze, why would Duke Albarea order for it to be built like this?"

"Most likely to delay enemy forces, Gaius," responded Laura. "Along with the traps that displaced us, it seems that the duke commissioned for the renovations to the fort to be made so they would disorient incoming invaders. He's stalling us from capturing him, either planning his escape or counting with reinforcements."

"Well, if he's counting on reinforcements I don't think-" Elliot started but stopped once he felt the sense of alarm coming off the combat-link with Rean.

They didn't have any time to question him before Rean shoved Laura back, right before a wall descended from the ceiling, almost crushing her and separating the swordsman from the rest of the group.

"Rean!" He heard Laura's voice scream from behind the concrete wall followed by a loud clang and the impact of her greatsword reverberating through it. "Damnit, Rean!"

"I'm alright, Laura," he responded.

"You better be!"

Why is she so upset? "Can you guys… Wait a sec," he picked up his ARCUS and called Laura instead of yelling over the wall. "Can you guys go back the way we came?"

"Yes, we can. It seems only this end of the hallway has been closed off," said Laura. "What's the status on your side?"

Rean paused to scan his surroundings and it was still the same corridor that turned to the right a few arge ahead. "All clear here, nothing's changed. I think we should keep on moving and hopefully meet up."

Laura bit her lip and held herself from protesting because she knew it would be pointless, it was the better course of action for them to take since they still weren't sure what was the right way to go. Also, if she herself were in his position she wouldn't be able to stand still either and this wasn't the time or place to argue.

"Understood. We'll try to find a way to you or maybe the control room from where these traps are being activated, unlike the one at the entrance this one felt too deliberate for my tastes."

"Agreed. Let's get going then, see you on the other side."

"Right. Oh and one more thing," Laura lowered her voice, turning away from Elliot and Gaius. "We'll talk about this later."

Talk about what? "Sure?" The way Laura ended the call made him flinch as he could picture the smoldering look on her face but for the life of him he could not figure out what was up with her.

Well, it wasn't the time to be wondering how he made his girlfriend angry (although he was sure it was deserved), so Rean pocketed his ARCUS and with sword in hand, continued to venture into the fortress.

"Stop, we are going around in circles," said Claire to the rest of the group, causing them to halt.

"Are you sure, captain? I haven't noticed any odd turns that would take us back where we came from," said Jusis, looking around to see if he could identify anything. After being separated at the ground floor, their group followed a path that led to a staircase up where they encountered a locked steel door that stopped their access to the second floor before reaching their current location, presumably the third floor. Shutters stopped them from looking out the windows.

"That's ridiculous, we would have noticed if the rooms we passed by were repeating," Machias was slightly upset at the implication he couldn't tell something so simple.

Claire ignored his indignant huffing and closed in on the wall to their right, removing her glove and running her finger nail along it in a horizontal line until she hit a snag on it. There was a thin, almost imperceptible divide that ran all the way from the floor towards the ceiling.

"The walls are segmented. Whatever mechanism that separated us at the entrance is also present here, guiding us to where we are supposed to go while entire partitions of the fortress shuffle around to create the illusion we are making some sort of progress," she put on her glove back while pointing at the office next to her. "I noticed because of this instance in particular, the desk with a Mishy-themed vase holding a cactus. Not something you'd expect to see more than once in a military installation."

Millium commented on how smart Claire was while Jusis palmed his face that such a complex trap could be foiled by garish office decor.

"An entire building that can have its internal structure shifted around. Impressive what money and no oversight can get you," Machias stroked his chin, holding in his impulse to add a scathing comment about the nobility. "Was the Society responsible for this?"

"Most likely," replied Claire. "But now that we're aware of it we can find a way out. Millium, try calling the other teams, maybe they're in a similar situation."

"Okie, dokie." The tiny girl called up Rean, Sara and Laura in sequence but didn't get an answer, then she moved on to Alisa, who picked up.

Alisa explained that they were just finishing subduing a handful of provincial soldiers that had stayed behind, guarding a seemingly important room. With the use of powerful Arts, Emma's magic and Fie's prowess in combat it was a quick affair and the former jaeger was in the process of tying them up. They hadn't noticed anything that indicated they were in the same predicament.

"The fact we can still talk means we're close, maybe you guys are one floor above us, while Instructor Sara's team is underground," said Alisa.

"Resistance seems smaller than expected," Claire muttered to herself as Millium relayed the information. Her own team had found no enemies and while those girls were good, if they could casually take down soldiers like it was nothing that meant things were truly grim for Duke Albarea.

"Unsurprisingly, my father possesses very little loyalty among his troops and most of them were more than eager to jump to my brother's side," Jusis scoffed. "The best he can hope for is to delay our advances."

"I think I should be able to get us back to our starting point even if the floor changes once again. Millium, tell Alisa's team to check that room and that our priority should be to find the control room, with any luck that is where Duke Albarea has taken shelter or it should at least lead us to him."

"Roger."

The light was dim where Rean found himself. After getting separated from his group there had been no more surprises but that didn't ease the tension he felt, navigating the concrete tunnel stretching itself before him with only a couple of steel doors in his way. All had been locked, of course.

He could only hope the others were still okay and close to completing their objective, at the moment that was more important than him being lost down there. It would be disappointing to not be present at Duke Albarea's arrest since he had some words for the man but that would be Jusis' moment, not his.

Rean was being guided, he figured as much, like Laura had said, the trap that separated them had been too obvious and was clearly aiming for him (although it almost caught Laura as well). Who could be gunning for him at that moment? Could it be Crow? No, not his style, not inside a fortress where they couldn't fight with their Divine Knights. Speaking of which…

"How is the situation outside?"

[The Railway Military Police and 4th Armored Division have completely surrounded the fortress. No enemy forces have been spotted. A group of soldiers struck poses and took a photo in front of me and is now being berated by Major Neithardt.]

Rean chuckled at the last one. "Alright, keep up the watch. See ya later."

[Acknowledged.]

The tunnel ended in a large open room that was being used as storage as well. One row of shelves lined up each wall, while two more were arranged in the middle, all of them filled with non-perishable food, medicine and all sorts of tools lined up the walls.

Well, at least once we arrest Jusis' father we can send these to the people of Celdic.

His footsteps barely echoed throughout the room, he knew how to move while making as little noise as possible, and that was what allowed him to listen to the sounds of danger: a click and steel scraping against steel.

Quickly, Rean pivoted around with his sword raised and blocked… something, clearly a threat of course but he barely could make heads or tails of it at first. A blade, or better, the piece of a blade hit his tachi before retreating back, his eyes following it as that piece, along with many others interlinked by a steel wire, returned to form the blade of a sword. Its wielder looked back at Rean with a sense of smug superiority.

"Like it?" Scarlet chuckled. "It's not everyday one gets on the wrong end of a templar sword."

A templar sword? Like from the Church? "What do you want?"

"What do you think?" The woman responded with none of the mirth she displayed previously, just a dark expression taking over her face as she prepared herself for combat.

Rean closed the distance between them in a flash and Scarlet quickly used her own sword to block his tachi. That allowed a closer look that confirmed that he wasn't seeing things, her blade really was segmented with each piece connected by that wire that could turn it into a deadly whip and letting Scarlet put distance between them would only serve to her advantage.

The terrorist tried to jump back but Rean didn't allow her to, noticing her initial movements he sent a kick to her left leg that made her lose balance and fall to her knee. His blade a mere rege away from her neck stopped her from immediately getting up.

"It's over. Drop your sword," he said.

"Hmm? Is it really over?" She looked at him mockingly and craned her neck up, allowing the edge of the tachi to touch her skin. "It doesn't feel like it!" She screamed and a clicking sound came from her sword, its blade shooting up to the right and hitting one of the shelves, embedding itself on its steel frame, and when she pulled the whole thing came crashing down on them.

Both had to jump away to escape being crushed under it, the loud banging of objects stored on it reverberating across the depot with a thin cloud of dust lifting up between them. Rean stared back at the woman and he could not figure out her intentions, seeing raw fury in her eyes but on her lips a mocking grin.

"What's your deal, anyway? Crow had Jurai, Vulcan his jaeger corps, Gideon was an ideologue, and you?"

Scarlet twirled her weapon then with a swift motion of her wrist, sent the segmented blades flying at Rean once again. He easily deflected it as it was more of a taunt than a real attempt at attacking him.

"Aren't you curious?"

"I'd like to know who I am fighting."

"That's fair, I suppose," Scarlet retracted the blades of her sword and assumed a seemingly relaxed stance, though Rean wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down. "My family used to own a farm in the midwest of Erebonia, Sutherland Province. We were pretty well off for commoners, popular with the local community, our employees respected us and we had this big stretch of land that was ours and ours alone to take care of. It was an idyllic life really," as she spoke, Scarlet's expression changed to one of fond nostalgia and it made Rean fear for what was to come.

"We were pretty pious too and had a great relationship with the local church. I was there almost every day, not just to pray and for Sunday school, I also assisted with events, chatting with the father and sisters and sometimes just for the sake of being there. Eventually I was invited to join the Church of Aidios and I was more than eager to accept, first as a sister then as a squire of the Congregation of the Sacraments."

"A squire as in…?"

"As in a soldier working under a knight of the Gralsritter, the Church's armed force," she watched Rean's eyes go wide at the information. "It's okay to be shocked, nobody expects the peaceful Church of Aidios to have soldiers under its command. It's also where I learned to use this!" Scarlet's weapon shot up at Rean's direction again, whipping in wide arcs that the swordsman ducked under and blocked with his own weapon. As she brought back her blade, Rean used the opportunity to dive behind the row of shelves in the middle of the room to put a barrier between himself and the templar sword and started circling around it.

Scarlet simply followed his movements, walking over and past the fallen shelf, as she continued to speak.

"It's not exactly meant to be top secret but at the same time not something they freely divulge either. Anyway, I trained myself ragged in order to keep up with those around me but, of course, most of all to properly serve the Goddess. Nothing but the best for She Who Dwells Above, after all. It didn't matter though, before I'd seen my first mission I received a letter from my family."

A ragged sigh escaped Scarlet's throat, her semblance sagging from behind the shelf.

"We had lost the farm, our home, our land. The entire area had been requisitioned as part of the national railway expansion program headed by Chancellor Osborne. The Imperial Government dropped a fat bag of mira at our feet and told us to leave all we had behind."

Rean dodged as the tip of the blade shot up from between the shelves, piercing through a sack of flour before returning to its master. Scarlet repeated the attack three more times, spilling the contents on the shelves and Rean striked back with a burst of wind Art that sent clouds of dust, flour and dirt flying that blinded Scarlet.

As the terrorist hacked and rubbed her eyes, Rean took the opportunity to circle around and approach her again, rushing at the woman with an upward swing of his tachi aimed at her templar sword to disarm her, but Scarlet recovered fast and blocked his assault and both locked blades once again.

"Everything my family built for generations gone like that, all for the sake of 'national progress,'" Scarlet growled with red and teary eyes. "More like Osborne's career than anything else. It didn't matter that we got compensated, it was never about the money. It was my family's home, our lives!"

With a howl of fury, she pushed him back, kneeling Rean in the stomach then hitting him in the forehead with the hilt of her sword. Ignoring the pain and trickle of blood coming from the cut above his eyebrow, Rean dove in with a series of quick attacks that forced Scarlet to back away until she slipped and fell on her back. Rean's sword was promptly pointed right at her face before she could move.

"That's all!?" Rean growled. "You did all of this, killed all of those people just because-"

"With the work of their lives taken away from him, my father drank himself to death while my mother slowly fades away while living with her sister's family. She barely eats, doesn't get out of bed, doesn't talk, she's just waiting to die," the woman choked in a sob. "My brother moved to Calvard because he couldn't handle seeing our parents like that and I don't blame him. And without the farm, the rest of the community around it just disappeared, with no jobs the people moved away, even the church I spent so much time on got demolished so they could run a railway through it. My family, the place I grew up in, there's nothing left. What would you have done if the Northern Jaegers had burned down your home?"

"You shot my father and you think you get to surrender!?"

The haunting memory came back in full force to Rean and that moment's hesitation was all that Scarlet needed to cast an explosive space Art that knocked Rean back, although he still fell on his feet.

"You asked me if that was all. To me that was more than enough!" Getting up on her feet, Scarlet rushed at Rean with a helmbreaker he narrowly blocked. "More than enough to want to destroy everything Osborne built and kill the man who ruined my family, no matter who is in my way!"

They exchanged more blows and Rean could feel that Scarlet's movements were erratic, sloppy. Parrying a strike from hers, he managed to get the upper hand and once against the blade of his tachi stopped moments before touching her neck.

"Drop your weapon!"

"Make me."

The way she was challenging yet again to follow through made Rean pale as he realized her true intentions. Once again the swordsman hesitated and he stepped back as Scarlet took a step forward.

"And now that the bastard is dead…"

"Stop it."

"I just gotta go in a blaze of glory to meet dad in Aidios' arms," she finished with glee despite Rean's protests.

"I'm not going to kill you!"

"Why not?" She rushed at him, swinging her sword wildly. "Like hell I'm rotting away in prison or, Goddess forbid it, getting dragged to Arteria for a trial for desertion, I don't deserve to set foot there anymore after all I've done, I know that for a fact. So it rests upon you, as Crow's equal, to send me to Aidios' arms with some dignity."

Rean swallowed thickly like he was about to puke. "You're crazy."

"Heh, probably."

There was another exchange of blows and their swords sang in the air with each swing but Scarlet's attacks were too wild, too careless, and it didn't take long for the terrorist to find herself once again with Rean blade reges from her throat.

"Quit it, we don't have to do this!"

"You killed Vulcan, why can't you do the same for me, huh?" With maddened eyes, Scarlet gripped the blade of his tachi and pressed the tip against her throat.

Rean pulled back his sword as quickly as possible with a disturbed cry escaping his mouth. He bloodied her hand but nothing else.

"Aren't you motivated enough, Ashen Awakener!?"

Scarlet renewed her assault more aggressively, trying to push Rean further as he went on the defensive and once again gained the upper hand and settled his sword against her stomach. His breath was more ragged than it should be and the sweat on his brow made the cut from earlier sting, and one more time he tried to plead to her.

"Sto-"

"RAGH!" Scarlet roared and lunged at him, uncaring about the sword right in front of her, and forced Rean to step aside lest she impaled herself on his blade.

He barely had any time to recover as she came at him again, whipping up her templar sword upwards and almost slashing at his stomach as Rean jumped back to avoid it. Scarlet continued to come at him like a tornado made of razor wires and maybe if he had been a stable head space, Rean would have had an easier time dealing with her.

"Come on, kid, if you don't kill me you'll end up dead!"

If only she'd stop taunting him like that, then maybe he could get his head in the game and figure out a way to immobilize her. It was all just too crazy, this wasn't a real fight, it wasn't like anything else he had ever dealt with, she was just throwing herself at him and trying to force his hand. And why him, of all people?

The ogre rattled its cage, banging furiously at its door while flashes of the people he had killed appeared in Rean's mind.

The Northern Jaegers that shot his father.

The provincial soldier that almost killed Elliot and Fiona.

Vulcan.

And what about Crow?

Rean faltered, mistiming his movements and allowing the templar sword to go through his defenses and stab him in the left shoulder. He screamed and tripped and fell on his back and Scarlet didn't waste any time as she pounced on top of him, her sword stabbing the ground next to his head.

Holding the wound on his shoulder while his left hand weakly gripped his tachi, Rean didn't respond, instead he just gasped for air as his wide shocked eyes watched the woman raised her sword against him once again.

"If you can't kill me, I'll just find someone who-"

Scarlet stopped and choked as she coughed blood out of her mouth, all of her strength quickly being drained off her body as her vision started to blur. Looking down, she saw protruding out of her chest the thick blade of a greatsword of azure steel painted crimson with her blood.

"You won't lay one more finger on him," snarled Laura Arseid with her voice emanating a cold fury, raising the woman off her feet before flinging her body off her blade and sending her crashing against a shelf.

Despite the violence of the action, Scarlet only felt a numb coldness take over her body. With her life quickly fading away from her, she turned herself over and looked at the cause of her demise, coming to face the Arseid girl's smoldering eyes as the last thing she saw before her life faded away.

This one's fine too… I suppose…

Once she was sure that the terrorist was dead, Laura turned to Rean, whose expression could easily be described as shell-shocked.

"Oh goodness, Rean," with the cause of her anger gone, Lauras' voice was filled with concern and care. She dropped to her knees and let go of her sword, first brushing away the strands of hair wet with blood from his forehead to analyze the first injury, then her eyes darted to his shoulder. "We need to get you to a doctor."

Rean clenched his panic stricken eyes, shaking his head as he quickly got a grip on himself. "Just… a little dizzy from the blow to the head. I'm ok-" He gasped as a wave of orbal healing Art from Laura coursed through his body.

"The others can take care of apprehending Duke Albarea, I'm taking you outside."

But before that, Laura took notice of the medical supplies on the shelves and swiftly wrapped a bandage over Rean's shoulder and another on his head to stop the bleeding. She then grabbed his sword and put it back on its sheath then helped him stand up and slung his good arm around her shoulders as the two started their way back.

A little after they had taken down the provincial soldiers, Fie's group had come across the room where the fortress' internal security was located: an orbal computer connected to the wall where dozens of screens were located. Apparently one of the members of the ILF had been there just moments ago and ordered the provincials to guard the place.

It didn't take much fiddling with the orbal computer for Alisa to understand the controls and find their friends on the security feed.

On one screen was Instructor Sara alone fighting three of the Northern Jaegers, one of them wielding a large ax, while around them others lay down on the ground, unconscious or… Something else. They wondered if she had gotten separated from the rest too but they didn't have to worry as she seemed to be unharmed and thoroughly beating her opponents.

While trying to locate the others, Alisa came across Rean on the camera feed and they watched him walking along a dimly lit tunnel, at which point Laura, Gaius and Elliot showed up at their location. The Arseid girl's eyes widened as she watched her partner's image on the screen and she quickly explained how they had gotten separated.

"I'll work on trying to figure out how those trap doors work, you go back and get Rean," the blonde had said.

For a moment, Laura hesitated. Their mission was important as well and they still needed her to get past whatever other barriers Duke Albarea had placed to protect himself, and surely Rean was capable of defending himself. But at the same time, she felt an urge to throw it all away to go to his side. The look in the eyes of her friends, urging her to get a move on was all she needed to rush back.

After some more fiddling with command prompts and trying to figure the fort's tri-dimensional map displayed on the computer's screen with Emma's help, Alisa had located exactly where Rean was and knew which buttons to press to open the way for Laura to get to him once she arrived.

Immediately after she was done with that task, Alisa proceeded to look where Duke Albarea might be hiding. Meanwhile, Millium called up Fie once again and she explained their situation. From then on, they located the fort's panic room and all the security measures were disengaged and they headed to meet with Captain Claire.

With only Rean, Laura and Sara missing, Class VII and Captain Claire regrouped and moved straight to Aurochs Fort's panic room, previously hidden behind a fake wall before Alisa disengaged the security mechanisms. They approached the set of doors slowly with Claire and Jusis taking the lead as the policewoman grabbed the door handle with one hand while the other held her pistol and exchanged a final look with Jusis, who took one second to steel himself before nodding back to her.

The doors were flung wide open and they took cover, expecting any sort of attempt from Duke Albarea to defend himself, from his last loyal soldiers guarding him to the man himself firing at them. Instead, Duvalie the Swift stood in the middle of the room while the ruler of the Kreuzen Province hid in the back behind his desk.

"Right on time," knight said as she scanned their group, narrowing her eyes as she did so. "Where are the Arseid girl and the Ashen Awakener? Don't tell the miserable rabble that remained here took them down."

"They're occupied with the traps set here but I'll be sure to let you talk to them once you're in cuffs," Claire said, to which Duvalie laughed. Laughed heartily, puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips in an almost childish display of superiority.

"I'm sure you're very skilled, Icy Maiden, but not enough to take me down even with all these brats helping you. Not that I wanted to waste time with those two either, I was just leaving."

"What!?" Duke Albarea popped his head from behind his desk, baffled by what he had just heard, as were the others. "What is the meaning of this? You're supposed to be protecting me!"

"I was tasked to gauge how fast the Crimson Wings' crew would reach here. You just assumed I was sent to protect you," in a show of supreme confidence, Duvalie turned her back to her enemies and their weapons aimed at her to stare down at the duke, who looked diminished under her withering glare. "If it were up to me I would strip you bare and throw you to the people of Celdic to deal with."

"For what purpose would you need to know that piece of information?" Jusis demanded, and although he stepped forward, he held no illusion that he could attack the woman from behind.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you, but you'll see soon enough," Duvalie turned back to them, her expression reverting to one of annoyance as she searched pockets and produced a blue feather from one of them. The whole time she muttered how ridiculous it was for someone like her to be assigned such a menial task so soon after returning from Crossbell and how she had to deal with Duke Albarea's complaining the whole time; "Anyway, with that out of the way, I bid you all farewell. Don't expect things to be this easy the next time we meet."

The feather in Duvalie's hand glowed briefly and a magical circle appeared under her feet before she was teleported away, leaving behind her the befuddled face of the duke.

"Damn woman, get back here!" Helmut Albarea yelled before turning his gaze to his captors, including his son, who strode towards him with sword in hand and a purposeful look in his eyes. With hesitation, he picked up an orbal pistol that lay on top of his desk and moved to point it at Jusis, just for his son to knock it out of his hand with a swing of his sword.

"Every single ally you had has either been defeated or abandoned you, father. Have the decency of surrendering with grace before you tarnish whatever honor you have left," the younger Albarea said coldly with a piercing glare, walking around the desk to confront his father face to face. The rest of his group didn't dare interrupt his moment.

"You dare speak with me, the Duke of Kreuzen, in this manner you insolent-"

"And you dare raise your hand against the people of Celdic?" Jusis retorted with his commanding voice and his father flinched, shocked that his son would dare speak to him like that. Not for the first time in his life, Helmut raised his hand against Jusis but before his hand could strike him, Jusis caught his wrist.

"That pitiful excuse for a town dared to defy House Albarea and not only allowed an enemy to march into my territory, they celebrated their invasion!" The duke growled and tried to pull his hand away, which Jusis let go of. He stepped back and scanned the room, his eyes darting to certain members of the group and his face turning to disgust. "So this is the thanks I receive from you and Rufus, is it? After all I've done for you, you two decided to join my enemies and destroy the Albarea name."

"The Albarea name… Heh," Jusis let out just the smallest, almost inaudible derisive chuckle. "Ever since you- No, ever since Rufus took me in and you've begrudgingly accepted my presence, I've wanted nothing more than to measure up to that name, to the history that it represents, and bafflingly enough, to your standards.

"I've chased and chased after your approval," Jusis took a step forward closer to his father with just the slightest hint of anger in his voice, and the duke stepped back. "Because I believed I should show my gratitude for being accepted into such a prestigious family. I'd do anything to pay it back and show my worth to House Albarea. I bought in completely on the idea of serving our family in a way that not even your actual legitimate son did."

Helmut opened his mouth, letting escape Rufus' name but then seemingly choked on his own words and at the time Jusis couldn't know why.

"I have many things to tell Rufus as well but he at least treated me like a family member should. He at least cared for me like a brother should and tried to teach me I should consider my life beyond the Albarea name, to live it for myself as well. It took until recently for me to come to terms with how foolish I've been, hoping one day you'd be proud of me."

By this point, Duke Albarea had gone beyond incensed, his face red like a ripe tomato. Watching the scene, Fie thought the man's head was about to explode.

"I've had enough of-"

"You're the one who is unworthy of the Albarea name," Jusis declared fiercely, jabbing a finger on his father's chest, and now he was visibly angry. It wasn't the type of anger that everyone was used to when he argued with Machias, no, it was real ire directed at his father after years of dealing with him. And still he wouldn't lose his composure, despite the seething in his voice, Jusis wouldn't scream and curse his father the way other people in his position would.

"You're the one dragging our name through the mud, to the point I'm not sure I even feel any more pride in carrying it anymore. So let me say something not as Jusis Albarea, no, but as Jusis son of Vanessa Rousseau, a commoner. You are a petty, greedy, traitorous and cowardly little man and the Province of Kreuzen would be better served without you in it."

Jusis ended his rant with a powerful shove that made the duke trip and fall on his back, forcing him to look up to his son and the look of disdain in his eyes.

"Duke Helmut Albarea, you are hereby under arrest on suspicion of arson and property damage in Celdic, as well as causing harm to the people of Kreuzen."

Author's notes: 's been weird for me these past couple of weeks so I couldn't upload the latest two chapters to here. Sorry about that, folks.

Jusis' mother never got a name so here's one for her. Also, Johanna Albion is a throwaway OC just for this chapter before anyone who hasn't watched the Northern War anime and thinks she's from there.

Speaking of the anime, as I was writing this chapter the sixth episode of the Northern War went on air and it covered Celdic and the Northern Jaegers. Talk about coincidence, as if Ordis wasn't enough. Anyway, thankfully I didn't need to rewrite anything, Martin taking part in the attack on Celdic doesn't affect how things play out since he was with the group that returned to North Ambria. So far I'm still of the mind of completely ignoring the anime for any future developments for the fic.

Also, yeah, I know Scarlet becomes Wazy's squire in Reverie. RIP to that.