Shadows of Alrest

by kiben007

It had taken unthinkable sacrifice, but with Malos dead and a new Elysium to call home, it seemed like the world had been given a second chance. But old habits die hard, and not everyone is willing to see the world change for the better. Even with the Aegis gone, the work of her companions is far from over. Sequel to my previous work, "Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Atonement"

4. The Shadow of Osiria, Part 1

Zuo hunkered down between two tree roots as the Ardainian military unleashed another round of artillery. The impacts shook him to the bone, and every blast covered him in a wave of dirt and splinters, but otherwise, he was unharmed. That was more than could be said for the squad he was running with. Most of them hadn't been so quick to take cover, and Zuo watched as the bombardment tore them to pieces. It was the worst kind of death he could imagine, but he couldn't afford to look away, because the moment this bombardment stopped, he had to get moving again. Someone needed to make it into that city.

The moment the world stopped shaking, he started moving again, leaving his comrades behind, until he reached where the fighting was. The squad ahead of them had reached Saihate's main gate relatively intact. They'd even managed to blow a hole clean through it. But the Ardainians weren't giving it up that easily, and the two groups were locked in a stalemate now, exchanging fire across the rubble.

He hated being the youngest in the whole company, but in times like these, it had its advantages. He was a much smaller target than most of the soldiers on their side. And faster, too. Hopefully, he would be fast enough to make it to the gates before a bullet made it to him.

The Ardainians started another round of bombardment, hitting somewhere further back in the forest. Probably trying to cut off their reinforcements. But at this point, that wasn't his problem. The instant he saw the first flash of cannon fire, he began running. The plan had been to use the bombardment as a distraction, but apparently the Ardainians weren't as stupid as everyone said. The moment he broke from cover, bullets struck the ground all around him. But he was committed now. Rather than turn back, he sped up, nearly tripping over his own feet as he raced to join the others.

Just before he reached the other squad's position, however, a grenade hit where they'd been taking cover. Fragments of wood, stone, and soldier flew in every direction, and Zuo had to throw himself to the ground to keep from being perforated. But the explosion cut both ways, forcing the Ardainians to take cover as well.

Before they could resume shooting, Zuo unhooked a gas canister from his belt and tossed it at the gate. If the Ardainians were going to blow up their cover, then they just needed to make their own.

Gas crept over the battlefield in moments, and in response, the Ardainians began firing blind. A saturation attack, to keep anyone from trying to slip through. If Zuo was an adult, it probably would've worked. But he wasn't. As much as he hated to admit it, he was only fourteen, and he hadn't exactly hit his growth spurt yet. He kept his head low, moving in a semi-crouched position until he reached the Ardainians' position. Then he unleashed hell.

By the time the Ardainians noticed him, it was too late. He'd already shouldered his ether rifle and taken aim. One shot, one kill, just like the Captain had always taught him. He dropped the two nearest to him before taking off into the city proper, forcing the Ardainians to choose between going after him and holding the line. Every soldier chose differently, and it threw their whole defense into disarray. The squad they were fighting found their second wind, and Zuo left the fight behind, confident his side would come out on top.

He would've stuck with them, but two of the Ardainians broke ranks and ran after him, and he didn't fancy his chances two-on-one without the element of surprise. So instead, he ran and ducked through some alleys until the soldiers were out of sight. He could still hear them, though. They wouldn't be close behind. He needed to get off the streets. Regain the element of surprise.

No time to be fancy about it, though. He just picked the first door he laid eyes on and used his ether rifle to blow the lock off. He knew it would draw the soldiers, so before they could catch up, he crashed through the door, sweeping his rifle around just in case there was anyone waiting on the other side. Luckily for him, the building was empty, and instantly he scrambled up the stairs, moving almost on all fours. A moment later, the two Ardainian soldiers came in after him.

The moment he reached the top of the stairs, he whipped his rifle around and fired a burst of ether. It struck the first soldier in the chest and threw her into the far wall. But before he could get her partner, the man returned fire. He scrambled around the corner, and bullets whizzed through the space where his head had been a moment before. The man charged up the stairs, and Zuo turned his rifle around, gripping it by the stock. When the sound of footsteps was close enough, he swung his weapon around the corner, aiming the bayonet for where the man's chest should have been. The only thing he struck was thin air.

The man sprung up from a crouch, pinning Zuo's rifle against the wall and thrusting his own weapon around the corner. Zuo desperately knocked the barrel of the rifle away with his free hand, and the sound of the bullets leaving the barrel nearly blew out his eardrums. But at least he was alive. He was going to make this guy regret that.

He let go of his own weapon and lunged, tackling the soldier head on. They tumbled down the stairs, grabbing hold of one another. But while the man grabbed Zuo's shoulders, Zuo went for the guy's belt. As they hit the ground, he managed to get a hand on the soldier's knife, and desperately, he wrenched it up. Before the man could stop him, he plunged the blade straight through the soldiers' neck.

He expected a shower of blood or something, but it wasn't anything so dramatic as that. The fight simply went out of the man, and his limbs went limp. Zuo sat there, watching the blood flow and the man's breathing grow shallower and shallower until it finally stopped.

Zuo sat over the soldier's body for a moment, trying to catch his breath, but the sound of more boots outside snapped him back to reality. He scrambled back up the stairs, grabbed his rifle, and threw himself into the first room he could find. It looked like a kid's bedroom, which meant there was a bed he could hide under. Not ideal, if they managed to find him, but his only other option was jumping out the window, so he took it.

The soldiers entered the house moments later, and he did his best to control his breathing and hide his presence as much as possible. But before they could make it to the top of the stairs, something in another part of the city exploded. It shook the building's foundations, and the soldiers paused, speaking to one another in an angry whisper. He couldn't make out the words, exactly, but it sounded heated. Then, after a moment of arguing, they retreated as quickly as they'd came. Whatever had caused that explosion must've been more important than tracking down one lone Urayan soldier. For a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The relief didn't last.

As the soldiers left, they threw something behind them. He heard an object shatter, and a moment later he could make out the crackling of fire. An incendiary bomb. They were smoking him out. As quietly as he could, he crawled out from underneath the bed. The smell of smoke was already starting to fill his nostrils. He had to move quickly if—

Something struck him in the back of the head, and he hit the ground. Then, before he could get up, someone jammed a foot into his back and wrenched his rifle away from him. He tried to grab at the person's legs but stopped when he felt the press of the bayonet against his helmet.

"Don't move," the person holding his rifle said. It was a boy, he was pretty sure. The kid couldn't have been much older than eleven, judging by the voice alone. Even so… It probably wasn't a great idea to test whether he knew how to fire a gun.

"There's a fire," Zuo noted, doing his best to remain as still as possible. "I give us about a minute until—"

"Shut up!" the boy growled. "And on your feet!"

Zuo did as he was told, slowly rising to his feet. He stood a head and a half taller than the Ardainian kid holding his rifle, but he couldn't see a way to get it back without getting shot.

"What now?" he asked, keeping his gaze trained on the rifle.

"I should kill you where you stand," the boy spat. But for whatever reason, he didn't.

He was wearing a bright red waistcoat over a white shirt. A fancy button-up ordeal that wrapped way too tightly around his neck. Impeccable dress, for someone in the middle of a warzone. Zuo had never seen an Ardainian noble in person, but he imagined they dressed their kids like this. That knowledge gave him the tiniest kernel of satisfaction when he noticed the boy had been crying. If nothing else, he'd made those bastards suffer.

"You're a little young to be hanging around here," Zuo noted, slowly reaching around to grab a knife on his belt. "Do your parents you're—"

"Hands up," the kid said, jabbing him with the rifle again. "And I didn't say you could talk."

Zuo only had a moment to slip the knife down his sleeve. He thought the kid would notice, but he got his hands above his head fast enough that the kid didn't off him right away.

"They've got to be worried sick about you," Zuo continued. "Did the empire even bother with an evacuation?"

"This is our home. We aren't going to let murderers like you take it from us."

"You're not a soldier, kid." Zuo took a step forward, and the kid took a step back. "Put the rifle down and walk away. Uraya doesn't kill civilians."

"I'm not letting you get away with this. I wouldn't be able to face my mother again if I did."

"What are you waiting for, then?" Zuo asked, spreading his arms. "Get it over with." He watched as the boy tensed up, unsure of what to do. He didn't know how to use the gun, that much was clear, but one lucky shot and that wouldn't matter. Zuo waited for the boy to make up his mind, tracking where the gun was aiming and preparing to lurch out of the way. But before the kid could, smoke began pouring in from underneath the door.

"They really must want to get at me," Zuo chuckled. "Burning down a house with a kid still inside? One of their kids?"

"Stop talking," the boy said again. "We're leaving."

"We?"

"I'm taking you to the Colonel. He'll know what to do with you." The boy lowered the gun a fraction.

"Lead the way, then," Zuo motioned at the door.

"I'm not stupid," the boy shook his head. He raised the gun again. "You first. If I see you doing anything suspicious, I fire."

"Have it your way." Zuo walked up to the door. The kid moved to the side as he did, rifle still aimed at his head. Zuo checked the door, making sure there wasn't a fire on the other side. Then he took a deep breath and creaked it open. The fire was raging downstairs, but it hadn't spread to the second floor yet. Lucky for him, the smoke had, and it rushed in to fill the room behind him.

He coughed and ducked low, pretending that the smoke had gotten to him. With a stumble forward, he threw the door close behind him and took off running. The kid came after him instantly, but by the time he got the door open, Zuo was already gone. He leapt headfirst through the window on the far side of the wall, then quickly tucked into a roll. The impact did a number on his shoulder, but at least he was alive.

Before he could get to his feet, however, an ether bolt struck the ground only a few peds to his right. He looked up to see the kid leaning out the window, coughing as he trained the rifle on Zuo's head. Slowly, he swung his feet out the window and let himself drop to the ground, moving with enough technique that he didn't break his ankles. Silently, Zuo raised his estimation of the kid's skills.

"Don't try that again," the kid said, breathing hard. Despite that, he kept the weapon trained on him.

"Alright," Zuo said, slowly getting to his feet. Getting out of this was going to take more work than he'd originally thought. Best to bide his time for the moment, wait for an opportunity. "Where are we going?"

"To your right. Head straight down the road. Stop when I say."

"Alright…" Zuo sighed. He did as he was told, and as the two of them got moving, he noticed that the artillery barrage had stopped.

"Did you guys run out of ammo already?" he asked.

"What are you blathering about?"

"The artillery. You had to have heard it from where you were hiding."

"I wasn't hiding," the kid spat.

"Whatever. You really didn't notice the silence?"

"I assumed Urayan cowardice had finally run its course."

"Uraya never retreats. And these streets are awful quiet for a military port in the middle of a war zone."

"Do you seriously think your friends could have broken through our defensive line? You're delusional."

"I got in." Zuo shrugged. "But if my company was here, we'd be able to hear the fighting. Something's happened. This doesn't feel right."

"Of course it doesn't. You're in the middle of a civilized city, for a change. I imagine that must be quite the jarring experience."

"Think whatever you want. But that doesn't—" Zuo heard something move to his right, and immediately he stopped walking, instinctually holding up a hand to alert the rest of the squad to the danger. But he didn't have a squad anymore. Now, he just had this kid, who apparently didn't know enough to keep quiet.

"What do you think you're—"

"Quiet," he hissed. He glanced around, straining his ears to pick up more sounds. After a moment, there was a scuff of a boot striking the cobblestone just around the corner. Whoever was there was on the move.

"If you don't get moving, I will shoot."

"We've got company," Zuo said, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. He pressed his back against the wall of the building to his right and began to inch forward.

"I'm not falling for another one of your tricks." The boy took a step forward and pressed the rifle into Zuo's helmet. "If you don't keep walking, I'll blow your—"

A man sprang out of the alley, dressed in gray, scale-like armor. Titan hide, covering his chest and head, with cloth wraps around his neck and goggles over his eyes. Immediately, he threw a knife for Zuo's head, but Zuo managed to catch it dead on, the blade biting into the padding on his palm. He charged the man shoulder first before he could throw a second.

The two of them crashed to the ground, and as he fell, he saw a second attacker drop from the rooftop, landing behind the kid.

"Behind y—" He tried to alert the kid, hoping he'd put up enough of a fight to keep the second one occupied, but his opponent slammed an elbow into his throat, cutting him off. Winded, he could barely fight back as the man forced him onto his back and pressed a knee against his injured hand.

The man drew a pistol, placing it against Zuo's helmet. But before he could pull the trigger, Zuo lunged, flicking the knife out from his sleeve and drove it into the man's neck. Unfortunately, it didn't manage to penetrate the wrappings. Even if they looked like cloth, they were made from Titan hide as well. Thorough bastards.

The attack did manage to startle the man, however, and rather than pull the trigger, he instinctually lurched away from the knife. The pistol left his helmet, and immediately Zuo attempted to bring the knife down into the crook of his attacker's elbow. But the man managed to recover his senses just in time, catching the knife with his free hand. For a moment, the two struggled over the knife, but only for a moment. Then he realized he was still holding a gun and brought it back around toward Zuo's head. But before the man could properly aim it, Zuo lurched up and slammed his helmet into it, knocking it to the side.

It only bought him another second or two of life, but before his attacker could recover, an ether rifle shot interrupted their struggle. From where Zuo lay, he could just about make out the Ardainian boy's feet, standing over the corpse of his attacker. That was the second time now that this kid had surprised him. Whoever he was, he definitely had training. But Zuo couldn't afford to dwell on that. He had bigger priorities at the moment.

Fortunately, his attacker didn't agree. The man's focus shifted to the kid, and momentarily, his grip on Zuo's knife-hand weakened. Immediately, he wrenched it from the man's grip and shoved it upward, aiming for the one thing that wasn't covered in Titan hide. The goggles. Those, at least had to be glass.

The sound of the goggles shattering beneath his blade was immensely cathartic.

Slowly, he pushed the man off him and wrenched his knife back out. He took a moment to wipe it off on the man's scarf before sheathing it. Then he retrieved the pistol, taking a moment to look it over. Ardainian make, with a few shots left in the chamber. It'd do.

He was halfway to rummaging through his attacker's pockets when he realized the kid hadn't told him to stop. He glanced back to see him doubled over, on his hands and knees. He'd thrown up, and now he sat there in shock, tears streaming down his face. And despite how he might have wanted to feel, the sight of a crying Ardainian child did not fill him with pride or satisfaction. He just felt sick, and for a moment, he was sorry that it had come to this.

Fuck it. He wasn't here to kill civilians. They deserved better than this, at least. He took a moment to unwrap the corpse's scarf, then walked over to the kid and crouched down next to him.

"Here," he said, offering him the cloth. "It's a little coarse, but it's the best I've got."

The kid leaned back and took the cloth from him, not bothering to look up. He wiped off his face and sat on his knees for a few more moments.

"Who were they?" he asked as he forced himself to his feet. He tightened his grip on Zuo's rifle but didn't raise it.

"Spessians," Zuo said, getting to his feet. "Or very, very well-connected mercenaries. Spessia's the only country that knows how to manufacture Titan armor like that, and they don't share their secrets with just anybody."

"What are they doing here?"

"Good question. Fighting spilled over into Vastrix a few days ago, so they might be here for revenge, but…" He shrugged. "This is all above my pay grade."

"I need to find mother," the kid said. He took a few steps down the road before remembering he was supposed to be keeping a hostage. But he wasn't fast enough, and as he turned around, Zuo cocked the hammer back on his new pistol.

"Sorry," he said, aiming the gun at the kid's chest.

"What happened to not hurting civilians?" the kid asked.

"Uraya doesn't kill civilians," Zuo said. "But I don't need to kill you to keep you in line. Call this payback for all the trouble you caused me."

"So what happens now?" the kid asked.

It was a good question. Zuo had half a mind to just let him go. After all, he wasn't exactly a threat without the gun. But Zuo was here to cause as much damage as possible, and this kid seemed to know exactly how to get where he needed to go.

"I'm going to go pay a visit to that Colonel you mentioned. And you're going to show me the way."

---

"Coming up on the drop," Yew announced, glancing back at the rest of the advanced team. They'd spread out across Azurda's back to do their final equipment check, but as per usual, they were all busy with other nonsense instead.

Zuo was sitting in between Gorg and Wulfric, trying to cram the last of their "rations" into his mouth. Calling them rations almost felt insulting, both to the concept of field rations and to Gorg's baking skills. With a grunt, he reached over to offer one to Dolmes, but the man politely declined. He sat by himself, like he always did. Even if he was Yew's Blade, he was still technically a client of theirs. Or, his past self had been, anyway. They had a very strict contract with him to prevent them from giving him any direct orders, which made fighting alongside him a bit of a hassle at times. Still, it was a small price to pay to assuage his concerns.

The new guy, Rhys, rounded out their roster, but he wasn't goofing off so much as he was simply too green to know any better. Despite his age, he and his Blade Kasandra certainly packed a punch. But he still had a lot to learn. Yew had left it up to him to determine his own gear for this sortie, but other than his weapon, he'd barely packed a thing. They'd probably need to have another lesson on battlefield preparation when they got back home.

"Yew!" Finch shouted, her voice carrying over the horizon. She'd gone ahead to scout out the enemy's position, but now he could see her rocketing back on a stream of wind ether, flapping her arms wildly. This wasn't the plan.

"Oh dear," Azurda sighed.

"They're moving!" Finch shouted, touching down on Azurda's head crest. "They must have spotted us flying in!"

"We'd better step it up then," Gorg said, brushing the last of the crumbs off his face. "Azurda, do you think—"

"Already on it," he huffed. He began flapping his wings harder, rocketing toward the Temperantian-Urayan border, and as they closed in, Yew spotted their targets on the move up ahead.

The group they were after had been camped in one of the forests the Gardens had been seeding in the area. Copious ether accelerated their growth, but the trees were still too young to provide any real cover. They must've realized that, too, because they were rapidly retreating toward one of the chasms Uraya's fins had carved when it had crashed. It was a gamble, to say the least. Good odds that they would just get themselves trapped in there with no way out. But the Garfont Mercenaires didn't even afford them the chance to find out.

They dropped from Azurda's back as they flew over the bulk of the poachers. Zuo hit the ground in front of them, his Blades to either side, while Yew and Finch floated down behind them. Dolmes crashed into their middle, hammer striking down one of the two Blades in their midst before the fight could even start. Azurda looped around as the group scattered, dropping off Rhys and Kasandra in the path of the ones who'd managed to get around Zuo.

Kasandra's mask flipped forward as she slammed her hammer into the ground, throwing out a wave of dark ether toward the targets. It took a good chunk of them down instantly, but a few managed to stay on their feet, trying to weave around Kasandra. Before they could get far, Rhys chased them down, slamming a smaller copy of her hammer into one mand and sending him flying into a nearby tree. The two of them continued like that, Kasandra unleashing ether over an area while Rhys cleaned up the stragglers.

"We can't let the new kid have all the fun," Yew said, smiling to himself. He pulled back his own hammer, and Finch formed a ball of wind ether at its head. With a swing, he sent the ball flying out, slamming into the head of the nearest poacher. It bounced off the man's helmet, knocking him to the ground, and struck another poacher in the back. Finch directed its motion with small bursts of ether, and under her guidance, it tore through the poachers with ease, dissipating slightly with each target it took down.

While Finch had her fun, Yew turned his attention to the ones who had chosen to stand and fight. He slammed his hammer into the ground, unleashing a burst of ether that launched him into the air, and he came down hard on the nearest target. The man didn't even have time to aim his weapon before Yew struck him in the head. Then, with a twirl of his hammer, he knocked the man's body to the side, slamming him into one of his companions.

Dolmes flew overhead, a red-stripped wolf-like Blade scrabbling at his armor. The two crashed into a tree, and as they hit the ground, the Blade drove a claw into Dolmes's shoulder. He screamed and threw himself forward, pinning the Blade to the ground, but immediately, the Blade put up an ether shield around the pair. Quickly, the interior of the shield began to fill with light, and Dolmes slammed back into the shield as he attempted to get away.

It took a few more tried, but he eventually managed to break through, leaping into the air. But despite his best efforts, the Blade still clung to his shoulder, and the light they emitted seemed to increase in intensity. It scattered across the forest, and everything it touched began to catch fire.

Gorg grabbed his axe from Zuo and unleashed a wave of water, trying to put the flames out, but rather than douse the flames, the water simply began to boil. Even Dolmes's armor was starting to burn. Fortunately, Kasandra leapt up and struck the glowing Blade with her hammer, knocking both them and Dolmes to the ground with a burst of dark ether. Immediately, she spread her darkness out, smothering the light and momentarily pinning the Blade.

Before any of the poachers that had been caught in the attack could recover, Wulfric drove his fists into the ground, and spikes of stone tore up around the downed poachers, pinning them all to the ground. The Blade's Driver broke away from fighting Zuo, attempting to rescue his men, but the moment he looked away, Gorg struck him with a wave of water. The man flew back, throwing out a wave of light to keep them at bay, but Gorg pushed through it, using the water as a shield until he was right up next to the man. Then, with the distance closed, he pressed his axe into his neck.

That seemed to take the fight out of the remaining poachers, and everyone left standing either surrendered or fled. Immediately, Rhys and Dolmes went after the stragglers, and Yew motioned for Wulfric to follow them. Then, hammer slung over his shoulder, he strolled up to the Driver.

"Walraig," he said. "It's been entirely too long."

The man was still wearing most of his military outfit, albeit without any of the imperial insignias. Instead, he proudly displayed the emblem of Brionac. Finch dragged his unconscious Blade over to them, and Zuo began relieving the man of his ring-blades. He had eight on him, in total.

"Fuck you," the man spat. "Vandham was an insufferable fence-sitter, but at least he had the sense not to get involved with the Ardainian military. You two are nothing but Coalition dogs."

"Help the others," Yew said, handing Finch the hammer. She took to the air and began knocking wind ether into the ranks of the stragglers.

"Spessians," Zuo said, bending down to examine the armor of one of the nearby unconscious poachers. "It had to be Spessians."

"The Spessian Federation shares my vision for a free world," Walraig said. "Unmarred by—" Gorg kicked him in the stomach.

"That's enough out of you," he said. "You don't get to moralize about how much you care about freedom after throwing your lot in with lowlifes like them. There's no freedom for those Titans you captured."

"I wouldn't expect a dog like you to understand," Walraig spat. "You're too busy enforcing the emperor's will to see the world for what it truly is."

"Get over yourself," Zuo groaned. "The Coalition doesn't answer to the emperor. Council members are going to be directly elected soon, once they've got the parliament set up."

"Can we focus?" Yew asked. "Shouldn't this guy be in prison?"

"I…" Zuo paused. "Yeah. Yeah, after he fucked up that attack on the emperor."

"You make it sound so undignified," Walraig muttered. "The emperor and I had come to an agreement, before the Cataclysm. In exchange for my help, he would step down. But he reneged on his word, so I took matters into my own hands."

"That's a cute way to say you tripped over the first hurdle and got your ass handed to you by the Flamebringer. What the hell are you doing out of prison?"

"Bradly broke him and Akatsuki out when he defected," Perun said, walking up behind Yew. He jumped back and turned around to see the other members of Ardent squad gathering up the unconscious poachers. If the reinforcements were here, then it was prettymuch over.

"Don't do that," he hissed.

"Pay more attention, then," Zuo said, smirking. He turned to Perun as Yew shot him a glare. "You guys sure got here quick."

"Our previous mission proved easier than expected," she replied. "I won't discuss details in front of the enemy."

"Sure." Zuo shrugged. "Still, I hope you guys can handle the mess that's about to come down on you."

"How do you mean?"

"They're Spessian. If you take them into custody, it's liable to start something."

"The council were aware of this possibility when they assigned us as your cleanup crew."

"If you're sure," he sighed. "Well, they're in your hands now."

"You bastards won't take me alive," Walraig spat. He whistled, and light burst out of the mass of darkness that had been confining his Blade, Akatsuki. When the light abated several seconds later, both Akatsuki and Walraig were gone.

"Shit," Perun muttered. It took her a moment to pick out Walraig's trail through the underbrush. "Ardent Squad on me!"

She took off, and Yew ran after her, whistling to get Finch's attention. Wulfric and Dolmes came running as well, and the four of them followed Adrent Squad into the brush.

"Boss!" Rhys shouted, rushing back over to Zuo. "What's going on?"

"Walraig gave us the slip," he replied. "Stay here and look after the prisoners."

"Where are you going?"

"We're backing up Ardent Squad. Try to flag down Azurda before we get back."

"We're not going back to the Coalition?"

"The prisoners are, but we aren't. These were Temperantian Titans. Nia deserves to know what's been happening to her people."

---

Yew risked a glance back at the Urayan soldier holding him hostage. He'd made Yew toss him the rifle before they got moving again, and now had it slung over one shoulder. But for whatever reason, he was still using the pistol to hold him hostage.

The two of them did their best to make as little noise as possible as they made for the garrison. Yew didn't want to lead the soldier there, but he didn't have much of a choice. They kept to the middle of the street, away from any alleyways he might be able to duck into. At the moment, it seemed as if his best shot was to just keep going and trust the soldiers at the garrison to take care of the problem.

When they passed an abandoned barricade, however, Yew stopped. The street to their left was a mess of dead Ardainians and Spessians. If he could get to one of the bodies, he might be able to get his hands on a weapon. Even the playing field a little. But as he stepped toward the carnage, the Urayan raised his voice.

"Kid," the soldier said, forcing Yew to stop. That word, more than anything, infuriated him. The soldier wasn't much older than him, but he'd been calling him kid even back when Yew was the one holding the gun. Getting the upper hand had only made him more smug about it.

"The garrison's this way," Yew said. It wasn't, and he wasn't keen on getting up close and personal with more corpses, but he didn't see things ending well if they stuck to the current course.

"You're lying."

"And why would I do that?"

"That's a stupid question," the soldier huffed. "You're trying to draw me into a trap."

"You're paranoid. Understandable, given our situation, but I'm just trying to not get shot."

"You're doing a piss poor job, then. You hesitated when you looked down the street. Buying time for the soldiers to get into position?"

"There's bodies," Yew said. "They caught me off guard, I paused, then I thought about what you'd do if I suddenly moved down the street… I froze. You pointing a gun at me isn't helping matters."

"Stay put then. Don't talk, don't move, don't do anything. I'm going to swing around and check. If I don't like what I see…" He didn't finish the thought.

Yew did his best not to move a muscle as the soldier walked around the corner. He kept the gun trained on Yew, but his eyes were focused on the side street. It took him a minute to inch within view of the slaughter around the barricade. Yew glanced over his shoulder to see the soldier's expression falter.

"Like what you see?" he asked, trying his best to put as much venom in his words as possible.

"Good enough," the soldier said. He muttered something else under his breath, but Yew didn't catch it. The soldier motioned for him to walk down the street, and he moved, doing his best to act as naturally as possible. He did his best to take in the scene and decided his best option was a barricade a few dozen peds down the street. It was only chest high, but it was a gamble he'd have to take.

He passed it a few steps before the soldiers did, and immediately flung himself to the side, landing face-to-face with a dead soldier. An ether blast whizzed overhead, and the soldier began cursing up a storm as he came after Yew. He only had a second or two to act.

Luckily, this soldier still had a few canisters on him. Yew grabbed one and pulled the pin, blanketing the whole area in a rapidly expanding cloud of smoke. A moment later, the soldier rounded the barricade, but with the smoke in his eyes, it took him a moment to get his bearings. In that moment, Yew ripped the canister belt from the soldier's corpse and took off running through the smoke.

He had to rely largely on his memory as he navigated the barricades. The soldier fired after him, managing to land a shot only a few peds from his head, but he did his best to keep silent. At least until he reached an alley, anyway. Then he took off running. He knew the noise would draw the soldier's attention, but the smoke was already starting to thin, so he wouldn't be able to maintain his cover much longer anyway. Right now, he just needed to get some distance between them.

Eventually, he reached a fork in the path and decided to gamble. The soldier wasn't in sight quite yet, but Yew could hear his footsteps echoing off the stone behind him. He only had a few second, so before he could second-guess himself, he pulled the pin on another canister and tossed it down one of the paths. Then, as quietly as he could, he crept down the other, taking cover behind an overturned wagon.

As he hunkered down behind it, he took the opportunity to inventory his gear. Two gas canisters left on the belt, plus a knife strapped to the end. He could make another escape if it came down to it, and if he could get in close, he had a weapon he could fight back with. Though he didn't fancy his chances in an exchange like that. Better to lose the Urayan and make his way to the garrison on his own.

After a moment, the soldier came to a halt at the fork. Yew waited, refusing to breathe as he listened for which direction the soldier would move. But after a few seconds of silence, fear crept into his stomach. Where had the soldier gone? Had he seen through the ruse? Just as Yew prepared to make a run for it, something landed on top of the cart.

He scrambled forward and primed another canister, preparing to give himself more cover, but as he threw it behind him, the soldier leapt from the top of the car and grabbed it. Instantly, he tossed it back the way they'd came, and before Yew could draw the remaining one, he charged forward and slammed his shoulder into Yew's chest.

The two tumbled across the ground, and in the chaos, Yew drew his knife. But the soldier had already drawn his, and as they came to a halt, they brought them to each other's necks.

"A bit of advice," the soldier spat. "Don't make it so obvious where you're trying to lead your pursuer. And don't pick the one obvious hiding spot."

"Screw you," Yew spat back. He turned, eyes focusing on the belt that had landed a few peds away. It still had one grenade left. If he could get to it, he might be able to blind the soldier. He'd be blind as well, and he didn't know how the soldier would react, but he couldn't win a battle of strength against the older boy, not when he was the one lying on the ground. But before he could, the soldier kicked a leg out and knocked the canister back out of reach.

"Sorry," the soldier said. "I'm done playing around. Now are you going to cooperate, or—"

"What's going on over there?" a man called out from within the smoke. For a moment, Yew thought he was saved, but then he processed the man's accent. Urayan. Yew's heart sank.

"Civilian giving me trouble," the soldier replied. "He's slipperier than he looks, and he knows his way around a gun."

"Takin' crap from an Ardainian civilian," the other Urayan man huffed, stepping out into view. He was heavyset, but at a glance Yew could tell it was all muscle. He wore green armor covered in pouches and had a silver pompadour. There was a humanoid bird that accompanied him, too. Yew could see a Core Crystal glowing on its chest.

"Like I said, he's slippery," the soldier replied.

"What outfit are you?" the bird asked.

"Hired out to Duke Vaerin's company," the soldier said. "We were preparing to sortie out to reinforce the vanguard when the Ardainians hit our camp with artillery fire. I decided to hit back."

"You're hitting a kid, from the looks of it," the older soldier noted. "Hell, you are a kid. The Duke's that hard up on men that he had to conscript shrimps like you?"

"I volunteered, actually. I work for Captain Rinder."

"That'd explain it," the man sighed. "Now are you gonna let the brat up, or are we gonna have a problem?"

"If he behaves himself." The soldier shrugged. He locked eyes with Yew.

"I'll behave," Yew said. He lowered the knife from the soldier's throat, and his assailant responded in kind. Slowly, the soldier got up and drew his rifle again.

"It's just to keep him in line," he said, putting out a hand to assuage his new companions.

"Won't be necessary," the bird said, floating over to them. His Driver nodded, and the Blade struck the soldier in the back of the head with a blast of wind. It rendered him unconscious in an instant, and he collapsed to the ground. Yew didn't know how to react as he watched the pair strip the soldier of his weapons.

"Sorry 'bout him," the man said, stretching out a hand toward Yew. "My name's Vandham."

"He doesn't want to shake your hand," another voice said. As the smoke cleared, Yew could see a second, much older man standing a short distance away from Vandham. He couldn't place the man's accent, or his nationality. He was old, though. And even though his daggers looked like Blade weapons, Yew couldn't see his companion anywhere. The cores had a strange coloration to them, too.

"Right." Vandham withdrew his hand. "A strange Urayan coming out of the smoke and saving you must be a hell of an experience. We're not with the military, though, so you don't have to worry on that front."

"Not anymore," the old man snorted. "Someone got us kicked off Selosia's short list."

"They were a buncha pricks anyhow," Vandahm said, waving him off. "Anyway, kid. You got somewhere you can hunker down until this whole thing blows over?"

"What whole thing?" Yew ventured to ask.

"He can speak!" the bird announced.

"This city's caught the attention of a lot of people," Vandham said. "Uraya's taken most of the markets, but the fighting's died down for now. Both sides took heavy casualties. Then the Spessians decided to hop into the mix. No one knows why, but they've assaulted the garrison. They—"

"Mother!" Yew shouted, immediately pushing everything about this situation from his mind. If the garrison was compromised, then she was in danger. He had to find her.

He tried to run off, but Vandham grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him to a halt.

"There was a skeleton crew at the garrison, nothing more. The Colonel's ordered most of the soldiers to assist in an evacuation. If your mom's still out there, she'll be at the docks. There's where Mor Ardain's making their last stand while they get the civilians out."

"She wouldn't be evacuating."

"If she's a fighter, there's a good chance she'd be there regardless. The Spessians are going to make another move sooner or later, and we think that's likely their next target. We're headed that way, if you wanna join us for the journey."

"I'm a citizen of Mor Ardain," Yew said. "If you think I'd willingly help the enemy, you're—"

"Oh get over yourself," the old man sighed. He grabbed the unconscious soldier's gun from Vandham and tossed it to Yew. "If you want to head for the docks, you can go alone for all I care. But you're not going to last ten minutes out there, with or without that gun. We're not here to hurt you."

"I'll grab soldier boy, then," Vandham said. He gave the kid a shrug and picked up the soldier's unconscious body. "Roc, if you could keep an eye out?"

"Right," the bird Blade nodded. He shot into the air with a burst of wind ether.

"You coming?" the old man asked, looking back at Yew.

"Yeah," he said, falling into step behind Vandham. They'd given him the rifle, so if worst came to worst, he could use it. He wasn't confident he could kill either of them. Not just because they were Drivers, but… He didn't feel confident kill anyone, after what had happened with those Spessians. But he could at least use it to make his escape. Probably.

"Never thought I'd see you like this," Vandham remarked, punching the old man in the arm. "You getting soft on me?"

"Piss off," the old man scoffed. "The kid's not going to last out here without our help."

"I can take care of myself," Yew said.

"You'd screw up sooner or later. That tussle with soldier boy might have been the end for you if we hadn't shown up."

"What are you doing here, exactly? You don't act like Urayan mercenaries."

"We're mercenaries, and we're from Uraya," Vandham said. "But Cole and I ain't exactly on the best of terms with the nobility."

"That's putting it lightly," the old man huffed. By process of elimination, his name must have been Cole. Either that, or Cole was the Blade, but in Yew's experience, Blades tended to have cooler names than that. "Our client wants to keep quiet about their involvement, but we're not with the Urayan military. And before you ask, we're not with the Spessians either."

From above, Roc let out a whistle.

"Speaking of whom," Vandham said. He stopped, set the soldier's body down, and flashed Roc a series of hand signs. Yew couldn't make out the Blade's response before he disappeared over the tops of the surrounding buildings. Cole spun a knife in his palm as he and Vandham strode forward.

"Stay put," he said. "Guard soldier boy. This'll only take a second."

A blast of wind ripped through the building to their right, and a pair of Spessians came tumbling out of the third story windows. As they fell, Cole leapt into the air, purple ether gathering along the edge of his knives. He drove one through the neck of the closest Spessian, sliding it through the folds of the man's scarf. But before he could get to the other one, she managed to kick off the side of the building, putting enough distance between herself and Cole that he couldn't take a swing.

Vandham tossed one of his scythes at the woman, and she caught the attack on her arm guard, and the weapon stuck itself partway into the Titan hide. It was more than normal weapons could manage, but his attack failing to connect seemed to bother Vandham. He struck the ground with the hilt of his free scythe and unleashed a burst of wind ether, launching himself at the woman and slamming his shoulder into her stomach. She drew a pair of knives, but an ether shield went up around him before she could drive them in.

Another Spessian flew out of the building's second floor, Roc's talon clamped firmly onto his shoulder. The Spessian was trying to hack his foot off with an axe, but he didn't seem bothered. As he came around, he dropped the man onto the woman scrambling away from Vandham, and immediately the Driver shot forward. His scythe found the man's stomach before he could recover, and even if it didn't cut through the armor, it did drive him back. He doubled over, and Vandham brought a knee up into his face, knocking him to the ground.

As the man sprawled out, barely clinging to consciousness, the woman did something to her knives. They let out a low, mechanical hum, and even though they didn't have Blade cores, the telltale glow of ether lit up along the edges.

"Weird," Vandham said, taking a step back. "Cole, you take this one."

"Fine," the old man sighed. He'd found and killed a fourth Spessian while Yew wasn't watching. Pulled from inside? He couldn't tell.

He watched as Cole advanced on the woman while Vandham grabbed the man Roc had dropped off. The man tried to swing his axe at him, but Vandham drove a scythe through the folds of his armor, impaling his arm to the wall. Then he drove the other into the man's exposed face, and Yew had to look away to avoid throwing up again.

Cole, meanwhile, ducked and weaved around the woman's strikes. She tried to pin him down, but after a moment, she got frustrated and lunged forward, aiming for his stomach. Immediately, Cole jumped, rolling over her strike and bringing one of his knives up into her eye.

"Any more?" Vandham asked. As Roc looked around, Yew thought he could see the bird frown. Or as close as he could approximate, given his beak. Then he raised his hand and unleashed a blast of wind through a nearby window.

Immediately, a Spessian leapt from the building opposite, drawing a sword as she descended on Vandham. He brought his scythes up to defend himself, but he wasn't fast enough.

Fortunately, Yew was. Without even thinking, he fired, striking her in the shoulder and knocking her off course. As she fell past him, he brought his scythe up into her stomach, and Roc struck her from behind with a blast of ether. The combined force managed to drive his scythe through her armor, and she let out a small noise as the weapon hit home.

"Missed one," Vandham said, rather casual for someone who'd been moments from death. Yew wondered whether he hadn't been aware, or if he simply wasn't concerned.

"Some of their equipment was generating ether waves," Roc replied. "Core Chips in their weapons, I think. It threw off my read."

"Weird tech, these knives," Cole said, wiping off his own. "I haven't seen anything like this in a long, long time. Didn't think there were any left."

"More stuff they've been keeping up their sleeves," Vandham sighed. He glanced over at Yew. "Holding up alright?"

"You know I saved you, right?" Yew asked.

"I'd have made do." Vandham shrugged.

"Right…"

"How's soldier boy?" Cole asked. "Still sleeping like a baby?"

"More or less. I take it that was the last of them?"

"For now," Roc said. "They're roaming all over the city. We're bound to run into more eventually."

"At least we've got the kid here watching our backs," Vandham said, letting out a laugh. Cole shook his head, letting a small smile slip out, and they all got to walking again.

"Wait," Roc said, craning his head toward the sky. "There's a Titan ship approaching the city."

"Can you tell whose?" Vandham asked.

"We're about to see in a second." Roc pointed, and a moment later, a large dragon-like Titan ship passed over the city.

"Indol," Cole said. There was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before. "Of all the places and all the times… Is it just one ship?"

"Yeah," Roc confirmed. "It's alone."

"It's heading for the docks too, looks like," Vandham said. "This just got a whole lot more interesting."

"If the Praetor sent an envoy here, he's after something," Cole said. "Things are about to get much worse for this city. We need to move." With that, he took off running.

"If you say so." Vandham shrugged. He motioned over his shoulder, and Roc flew to grab the unconscious soldier's body. The two began moving after Cole.

"Why are you bringing him?" Yew asked, running to catch up.

"He's with Captain Rinder. If we run into the bastard, I'd rather have some insurance."

"You think we'll run into more Urayan mercenaries?"

"They're in the city, somewhere. And if we saw the Indoline ship on approach, they might have too. The Colonel's liable to have a fight on his hands soon, and that means we're about to be in the thick of it too. Can't be too careful."

They made the rest of the journey to the docks in silence, with Roc giving the occasional whistle to direct their attention. And as they drew close, Yew picked up the sound of gunfire in the distance. They took cover behind a barricade at the entrance to the square just in front of the docks, between a pair of buildings. The scene unfolding stunned all of them, for a moment.

There was something of a three-way battle taking place in the square. The Colonel led a line of Ardainian soldiers at the far end of the square, defending a mass of Ardainian citizens fleeing onto a series of smaller Titan ships. The Indoline Titan had also docked, and a delegation was making their way through the crowd. At the near end of the square, more than a dozen Spessian assassins had gathered, and more were emerging from the surrounding buildings. They were attempting to overrun a group of Urayan mercenaries that had set up inside and around the fountain in the middle of the square. The Urayans had taken an Ardainian man captive and were attempting to beat a fighting retreat with him in tow.

Yew took all this in stride, prepared to make the perilous journey over to the Ardainian forces, until he saw someone break from their ranks. A middle-aged woman with long, auburn hair. His mother. She had her hammer, but her Blade was nowhere in sight.

She ran across the no man's land between the Ardainian and Urayan forces, making a beeline for the captured Ardainian. The Colonel shouted something, aiming a gun at a wolf-form Blade next to him, and the men near him changed targets. Without even a moment's hesitation, they gunned her down before she made it halfway to the Urayans.

From his hiding place, Yew screamed.

---

"Here we are," Azurda said, touching down just inside the Garden's central courtyard. "Home sweet home. Nia should be out to meet us shortly."

"Thanks," Zuo said, swinging off Azurda's back. He began to wander the courtyard, and the others spread out behind him. He'd only visited once before, and like last time he found himself in front of the shrine to Jin. It bothered him. Jin had been a murderer, before his death, and in a roundabout way he'd been involved in killing Vandham. But the Blades of the Gardens seemed to respect him deeply, and it wasn't his place to judge.

"He was a savior, to a lot of Blades," Dolmes said, walking up behind Zuo. "According to my diary, I used to look up to him. Hearing about him taking Blades from the Empire helped me find the courage to hire Vandham in the first place."

"He killed Blades, too, from what I hear," Zuo replied. Fan La Norne. He'd spoken about it with Rex once, when he'd come by the playhouse to catch up.

"True," Dolmes said. "He was far from perfect. But, if this place only exists because of him, then maybe it was worth it."

"If that kind of bloodshed is the only path to peace, then maybe it's a peace we don't deserve."

"Tell that to all the Blades who have found sanctuary here."

"I'm just saying this place didn't need Jin to exist." Zuo shrugged. "I never would have joined up with Vandham if bloodshed was our only option."

"We can't change the past."

"We can change the future, though," Nia said, walking up beside Dolmes. "And for the record, the shrine was Mikhail's idea, not mine. I built this place to prove Jin wrong, not to follow in his footsteps."

"Makes sense," Dolmes said, nodding. He started to walk away as Yew approached, joining Rhys, Kassandra, and Wulfric by one of the fountains.

"We should talk more often," Zuo said. Dolmes paused for a moment, then nodded.

"He's your Blade?" Nia asked.

"No." Zuo sighed. "But I want him to open up more. He spends too much time by himself."

"It's good you care, but you should let him integrate with your group on his own terms."

"Thank you," Gorg said. "See? I'm not the only one."

"We're on a mission, bozos," Finch said. "Let's focus, yeah?"

"Sure," Zuo said. "Yew? This is your show."

"Right," Yew nodded. Zuo appreciated him taking the lead on their recent missions. Zuo had learned after the Cataclysm that he wasn't much good at the after-action side of things.

"Ardent squad took the poachers into custody," Yew said. "Our intel suggested they had backing from a foreign power, and we didn't want it to come down on your head if we were right, so we roped the rest of the Coalition in. I hope—"

"We came to the Coalition with this in the first place," Nia said. "It's fine. Continue."

"They were Spessians, being led by former Brionac commander Walraig."

"That's…" Nia frowned. "Not a good sign."

"It could mean war, if they decide to retaliate."

"I've got a feeling their minds are already made up on that front," Nia said. "From what the other Titans have told us, the Spessians manufacture their armor by stripping it from living Titans they keep in suspended animation. Poaching Titans means they're ramping up production."

"Shit," Gorg said.

"We'll make sure to relay that to the Coalition," Yew said. "But… Our concern was a little more pressing than a rearmament campaign."

"How so?" Nia asked.

"Zuo can explain better than I can," Yew said, motioning over to Zuo. Reluctantly, he stepped forward. He hated taking over like this.

"We've encountered Spessian forces before," he said. "In Osiria."

"Aren't you two a little young to have fought in the Osirian War?" Nia asked.

"Yew grew up in Saihate, and Uraya didn't always have restrictions on signing up children."

"Ah. I'm sorry, that must've been—"

"It is what it is." He shrugged. "The important thing is that Spessia sent forces to Saihate. Their retaliation for the destruction of Vastrix, among other things. But since the war ended, they've been quiet. No trade, no contact, nothing. I can't help but feel they've been preparing for whatever they've going to do since long before the Cataclysm struck."

"Jin and I went to Spessia once," Nia said. "The whole country felt like an old wound refusing to heal. Bitter people clinging on to life, more out of spite than anything else."

"But there's something past all that that's bothering me," Zuo said, shaking his head. "I can't help but feel like we're missing something. They're smart enough not to go looking for a fight unless they've got the power to back that up. What's made them so confident they can take on the whole Coalition at once?"

"We'll probably be finding out soon," Yew said. "The only thing we can do is trust the Coalition military to see the fight through."

"I don't want another war. I'm tired of wars."

"Everyone is," Nia said. "Even the Spessians, I would wager. Open war would be a devastating blow to both sides. My guess is they're using that as leverage. Threatening conflict more than instigating it. So long as things don't come to blows, then we should be able to make it through."

"I hope you're right," Zuo said. "I just…" He shook his head. "It just feels wrong. The Aegis gave us all a second chance. Is this really how they're going to spend it? Falling back into the same old habits that nearly destroyed us?"

"Apparently so," Nia said. "But this is why the Coalition exists. So that none of us have to face the threat of war alone. Even if they do make a move, we'll be ready. We're not going to let them squander things so easily. You have my word on that."

---

Zuo came to with a raging headache, but as he tried to sit up, he felt something sharp press against his throat. The edge of a knife, humming faintly with ether. Immediately he froze, staring up at the old man holding his hostage, and it took him several seconds to calm down enough to take stock of the situation. He'd just recaptured that Ardainian kid when reinforcements had arrived, and then…

He'd let his guard down.

"You're not with the military," Zuo realized.

"We aren't," the old man replied. "But that's not an accusation I want to hear from you."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Zuo growled. Where did this old man get off telling that to a member of Duke Vaerin's mercenaries?

"Let me guess…" the old man smirked. "You're the new one in the group? The Captain did leave you behind at the camp, after all."

"Captain Rinder went out to scout the city," Zuo said. "I stayed behind to coordinate the assault with Selosia's company. We were going to hit the gate from two sides at once, but the Ardainians started shelling the camp before we got the signal."

"Does that look like a scouting party to you?" the old man asked, easing up enough to let Zuo take a peek over the barricade. They stood at one end of a square, with a handful of Spessian corpses strewn around them. The Ardainians had set up at the other end, doing their best to guard their evacuation effort. But what really caught his attention was the group in the middle. A dozen or so Urayan soldiers hunkered down in a fountain, with Captain Rinder perched atop the water fixture. He was shouting something at the merc with the pompadour, who stood off to the side, between the two groups but not directly in the line of fire.

"He went in without me," Zuo muttered. "What's going on?"

"Currently? Negotiations. That bullheaded Colonel gunned down one of his own Drivers a few minutes ago. It gave everyone some pause, and even the Spessians let their guard down. The moment they did, we cleaned house. And thanks to you and the brat, we had enough leverage to convince the other two sides to stop shooting for a moment. We're trying to convince both your Captain and the Colonel that—"

Suddenly, the old man began coughing, and he lost his grip on the knife. Immediately, Zuo kicked out, striking the old man in the knee and forcing him back. Before he could recover, Zuo took off running, straight for the fountain. Before he could get far, however, the Ardainian kid emerged from behind a nearby barricade and aimed the rifle at him.

With no time to think, Zuo lunged and grabbed the barrel, using his strength to wrench it away from the kid. Then he turned and fired on the old man, keeping him at bay while he retreated. The kid drew a pistol and fired a few rounds at him in turn, but the shots all landed around Zuo's feet.

Unfortunately, not everyone in their group had such lousy aim. As fighting began to resume between the Ardainians and the Captain's group, Vandham's Blade swooped down from its perch, unleashing a blast of ether that struck Zuo to the ground. Before it could follow up, however, ether fire from the Captain's unit drove it off, and it circled back around to pick up the old man. The kid followed them, ducking into a nearby building, and in the distance, Vandham did the same. With them out of the way, it only took Zuo a moment to scramble up into the fountain's basin, rejoining his crew.

"Zuo!" Captain Rinder cheered, stepping down from his perch and throwing an arm around him. "Finally back in the land of the living, eh?"

"They took me by surprise," Zuo said. "It won't happen again."

"You're safe," Captain Rinder said. "That's what matters. And we could certainly use your help."

A bullet whizzed over his head, and he took a moment to fire a few shots back in the direction of the Ardainians.

"You seem to be doing just fine on your own," Zuo noted. Before he could say anything else, he saw movement in the window of a nearby building, and he fired a few shots through to keep whoever was in there at bay.

"Only because we've got the egghead." Captain Rinder motioned over his shoulder at a nervous Ardainian man in handcuffs. "If we lose him, they'll just shell this entire square. And we can't move without the Spessians coming down on us again."

"Where're the cannons?"

"The Spessians hit their cannons on the ground when they arrived, but the Empire's still got a Titan battleship offshore. If we could take out its cannons, we'd stand a chance at getting away."

"How many explosives do we have left?"

"You aren't…" Captain Rinder stared at him for a moment. Zuo grinned, and the Captain returned it. "I'll do you one better. Take this." He reached down into the fountain's basin and retrieved a bag filled to the brim with Blade weapon cores.

"So this is what you had Gorg doing all night," Zuo said. He slung the bag over one shoulder and the rifle over the other. "I'll need some covering fire."

"Coming right up." Captain Rinder climbed back up to the top of the fountain and began firing. "Suppressing fire, thirty seconds!"

Immediately, the rest of the squad began laying down a wall of fire toward the Ardainian position, and Zuo wasted no time running off toward the building he'd seen the movement in. Even if it was crawling with Spessians, or whoever else, it was still the best chance he had of making it to the water alive. He grabbed a piece of scattered plate metal from a dead Titan weapon as he ran, holding it up to block fire from anyone brave enough to stick their heads up.

He crashed through the door and lobbed the plate to his left, immediately striking one Spessian square in the chest. He hadn't actually seen anyone on his way over, but he could make some pretty good guesses. And with that side covered, he immediately pivoted and drove the bayonet up and to his right, skewering another Spessian in the eye.

Immediately, footsteps echoed throughout the building, and more Spessians poured into the room from all sides. But he was already running by then, taking the nearby stairs two at a time. As he did, he drew a core from his bag and tossed it backward. Just as it reached the bottom of the stairs, he shot it, and it erupted violently, tearing up everything around it with a wave of pressurized water.

As Zuo made it to the roof, he found himself face-to-face with another pair of Spessians, busy setting up a mounted cannon. Immediately, he tossed another core at them, and they scattered. But he didn't actually care about them. Instead, he ran straight for the edge, leaping off and throwing a third core behind him. Then he blasted it out of the air, and the resulting wave pushed him across the street and over the Cloud Sea.

With a deep breath, he hit the cloud feet first, and immediately he began swimming as hard as he could, given the bag he had slung over one shoulder. After a while, he ran out of breath and had to surface again, but by that time, he was already well past the docks. And now that he was out of sight, it was a straight shot for the Ardainian battleship.

Once he reached it, he waited underwater for a lifeboat to lower from the hangar. As it sped toward the city to pick up another batch of refugees, he grabbed onto the harness, and a moment later, it pulled him up into the belly of the beast. Just as he passed the lip of the hangar floor, he grabbed onto it and rolled to the side, taking cover amidst a disorganized pile of supplies. Once he was sure nobody had seen him, he started stripping off his armor.

Fortunately, his undershirt had a built-in rain hood that he could use to hide his face, but there was nothing he could do about the rifle, so he tossed it back into the Cloud Sea along with the rest of his gear. Then, with the bag slung over his shoulder, he stood up and began crowding in with the rest of the refugees at the far end of the hangar, doing his best to keep his head down. He stuck with them for a minute, until eventually he crossed paths with a stairwell that led up to the deck. The only problem was the guard watching it.

He tossed another core down the hallway, sending the crowd into a panic, and as the guard moved to see what the commotion was, he grabbed the man's gun and wrenched it up, cracking him square on the chin. As he stumbled back, Zuo ripped the gun from his hands and pushed him back into the stairwell, sending him tumbling down a flight or two. Then, before anyone else could notice what had occurred, he sprinted up and got to work.

The lower wing deck was deserted, as far as he could tell, but it likely wouldn't be that way for long. So immediately, he set about dropping cores down the barrel of every cannon he could find, two for each. Just as he was finishing up, the door bust open behind him, and a pack of soldiers poured out. Immediately, they opened fire, forcing him to duck behind the nearest cannon. He hadn't hit the cannons on the other side, but this would still buy the Captain and the others a few minutes while the battleship turned around to realign its guns. That would have to do.

He dumped the remaining cores at the base of the cannon he was hiding behind, then took off running as fast as he could. As he reached the edge of the deck, he turned around to fire, but he wasn't used to Ardainian equipment, and it took him a moment longer than normal to line up the shot. In that moment, a bullet struck him in the shoulder, and he collapsed to the ground, his head and one shoulder leaning over the edge of the deck. As the soldiers advanced on him, however, they seemed intent on taking him prisoner, which gave him enough time to re-aim the shot and fire.

The pile of cores erupted all at once, and the resulting burst of ether set off a catastrophic chain reaction. Water exploded in every direction, tearing the cannons to pieces, and as the cannons exploded, so did their central batteries. The resulting fireball tore a hole in the side of the Titan, and the wave of pressure knocked swept everything on the deck violently back toward the docks. Zuo included.

Alarm bells began to blare as he hit the clouds. It took him several long, excruciating seconds to move again, and he barely had time to surface and take a breath before debris began to rain down around him. Frantically, he swam for his life amidst the field of debris, barely managing to avoid being flattened of skewered by the shower of metal. It took him several minutes to make his way back to the docks, but eventually he made it, clawing his way up and onto dry land once again.

A dozen Ardainian guns were waiting for him as he pulled himself up, but they didn't fire. Instead, their commanding officer stepped forward to glare at him. The Colonel in charge of the local garrison, judging by the insignia on his uniform. While Zuo stared the man down, he took a moment to take stock of his surroundings.

The fighting had largely died down, and Captain Rinder was nowhere to be seen. There was a large force of Spessians gathering at the other end of the square, but their attention was on some fight happening in the streets. Hanging back and waiting for an opening to strike, like they usually did. Most of the civilians were gone as well.

"I hope it was worth it," the Colonel said, shaking his head.

"Just doing my job," Zuo replied. "So is this where you take me prisoner?"

"No," one of the soldiers growled. "This is where you pay for—" The Colonel held up a hand, and the soldier reluctantly quieted down.

"You will be given little quarter, soldier of Uraya," the Colonel continued. "You have nowhere left to go."

"I'll manage."

"I doubt the rest of your company will fare so well. Even if they make it out of the city, which they won't, I doubt Duke Vaerin's power trip will last more than a week. At best, your coup attempt was poorly timed, but—"

"Coup?" Zuo asked. "What are you on about."

"They didn't tell you," the Colonel noted. "I suppose that's why they left you behind. If you're a loyalist, then we might have a common enemy, here. Your Captain has betrayed your people, and—"

"Like I'd fall for that!" Zuo shot back. "More Ardainian lies!"

"So you are loyal," The Colonel mused. "If I let you go, would you go back to your Captain? Would you ask him what he really wants with Dr. Jenal?"

"I'd go back, alright. I'm a soldier of Uraya. Don't think for a second I'd ever willingly help you—"

A storm of wind and water tore through the square, knocking everyone off their feet. Captain Rinder and Gorg stood in the middle of it, driven back by Vandham and his Blade until they crashed into the fountain. The old man and Dr. Jenal followed closely behind.

The doctor tried to run for the Spessian forces, but a wall of wind appeared in front of him, and another Blade descended from the sky. This one was a woman made of paper. Vandham's Blade tackled her out of the air before she could reach the scientist, but her wall of wind didn't dissipate right away.

Before the Ardainians could recover, Zuo snatched up a gun and took off running for Dr. Jenal. The Ardainians held their fire, for risk of hitting their scientist, and for a moment, the man stood in the middle of all the carnage, unsure of where to do. Before he could make up his mind, Zuo crashed into him, grabbing him by the collar and pressing the gun against his head as quickly as he could.

Instantly, the fighting stopped everywhere. Captain Rinder took a step back from the old man, who had collapsed at the base of the fountain, and Vandham backed off Gorg. The Spessians didn't advance, the Ardainians held their fire, and the rest of their unit hung around at the edge of the square. For a moment, nobody moved.

"Zuo!" Captain Rinder shouted, taking a step toward him. "My boy, you've done marvelously! Now come on, let's get out of here before any of these people get stupid enough to attack us!"

"Who is he?" Zuo asked, prodding at the scientist. "What's going on?"

"He's the mission," Captain Rinder said. "I'll tell you all about it later."

"He's an Ardainian scientist," Vandham said. "They asked him to design a weapon that'd put Uraya down for good. Capable of wiping out a whole city in a single shot. He's pretty close to delivering, so every country's scrambling to get their hands on him."

"Please," the man muttered. "I just want to go home."

"The Empire would rather see him dead than in enemy hands," Vandham continued. "And the good Captain here wants to put him to use for the Duke's power play."

"What play?" Zuo asked.

"You're really listening to him?" Captain Rinder asked. "Come on, Zuo, we've got to go."

"What is the Duke planning?"

"Not planning," Vandham said. "It's already in motion. Vaerin hired another group to jump House Selosia while they were travelling. Only the princess survived. Right now, he's in control of Fonsa Myma, but the second Raqura Selosia shows back up, his rebellion's finished. He's scrambling for pieces he can control. Things he can use to cowtow the public and cement his hold on the throne. And Dr. Jenal's weapon would give him more power than any member of the royal family."

"You're planning to overthrow the king?" Zuo asked, turning on Captain Rinder. "Is that why we haven't been making reports to command?"

"The deed's already done," the Captain sighed. "Like Vandham said, the Duke wants to cement his hold on Fonsa Myma. But he's as good as crowned king already. When the war ends, he'll be sitting on the Urayan throne. So if you've got a shred of loyalty for your kingdom, you'll do as I say and bring me the doctor."

"I…" Zuo shook his head. Captain Rinder was his superior. This was the closest thing he had to a family. But… "I am a soldier of Uraya. I signed up to help the kingdom, not the Duke. Giving him a weapon like this will only bring suffering to our people. It will bring suffering to the whole world."

"I'm not asking." Captain Rider raised his axe. "If you don't give him to me, I'll take him, even if it means going through you. Are you going to make me do that?"

"No…" Zuo sighed. "No I won't." His grip on Dr. Jenal's collar relaxed.

"Good boy." Captain Rinder lowered the axe. "Now just lower the gun, and—"

Zuo pulled the trigger. And all at once, the square devolved into chaos.

---

"Mom!" Yew shouted, throwing the door open just as Finch reached the building. She managed to drag Yew's mother into the building without drawing the attention of the Ardainians. They were busy dealing with the Urayan soldier anyway. There was a crash further down the square as Yew shut the door, but he didn't bother looking. That didn't matter right now. Only this did.

"Yew," Finch said, setting his mom down. She collapsed next to her Driver, and all the energy seemed to go out of her at once. "At least you're doing alright."

"What happened?" he asked, crouching down next to his mother. She was still breathing, but a bullet had torn through her stomach.

"I was fighting the Urayan Driver's Blade, trying to keep him away from his team. She was supposed to get Dr. Jenal to Vandham, but—"

"You know Vandham?"

"We hired him," Finch continued. "Dr. Jenal's weapon is too dangerous to let out into the world, so Lady Avetha thought it'd be better to hand him over to a neutral party. We'd planned on having him shipped to Tantal until a more permanent solution could be found, but the Colonel must have caught wind of the plan. I came as soon as I could, but…" Finch began to break down into tears. "If only I'd arrived sooner…"

"You're still here," Yew said. "That means mom's still alive. If we can just—"

"Yew," his mother said. Instantly he fell silent. Her eyes flickered open, and she cracked a smile. "You're alive. Thank goodness."

"Save your strength," he said, gripping her hand in his. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Thank you…" she muttered. "But I've got to finish what I started." She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her whole body, and she collapsed again.

"You're in no shape to fight," Finch said.

"If Dr. Jenal leaves this city, thousands of people will die. I can't let that happen."

"If you go out there, you're going to die," Yew protested. "I can't let that happen either."

"I love you, Yew," she said. "But I have to do this. Please."

"You can barely move," Finch said. "If we can't stop this bleeding, you're not going to be able to do much."

"Block it," Yew's mom grunted, managing to successfully sit up on the second go-around. "Two shield plates."

"If you're sure…" Finch said. She created two ether shield plates, one on each side of the wound, which stemmed the tide of blood for the moment.

"Don't…" Yew said, grabbing his mom's arm. "Please… I can't…"

"I'll be fine," she said, smiling. "I'll be back before you know it. Finch." She turned to her Blade, who wordlessly handed over her hammer. "Keep Yew safe."

Before Yew could stop her, Finch grabbed him and pulled him away from the door. His mother charged through it, hammer hefted over her shoulder.

The scene on the other side was madness. Vandham was trading blows with an Urayan Driver, doing his best to protect Cole's unconscious body and a collapsed Urayan soldier. Another Blade, a woman made of paper, was tearing into the Spessian forces. The Ardainian troops led by Colonel Robalt simply watched.

"Vandham!" The Urayan howled. "You bastard!" His Blade sent out a wave of water, striking the mercenary to the ground. "Who hired you? I'll tear them limb from limb!"

"That'd be me," Yew's mother said, limping forward. "You didn't think I was going to let you get away, did you?"

"The Ardainian noble!" The Captain laughed. "How quaint! I figured you'd grown a conscience, but this? Grown tired of everything you've done to my people, have you? Didn't want to see any more bloodshed?"

"Doctor Jenal's work is too dangerous to see the light of day. You have to know that as much as I do."

"Oh, it was dangerous alright! Dangerous enough to finally wipe Mor Ardain off the map! There's no way I'd turn down that chance, even if it meant turning it over to the Duke! But you ruined that! He's dead, thanks to you and your fucking friends!"

The instant she heard that, the tension went out of her body, and she slumped forward, only barely staying upright by leaning on her hammer.

"Then it's over."

"Nothing's over! I'm going to rip you to pieces for what you did!"

The Captain shot forward at her, and she didn't even try to fight back. Roc did, but before he could move to intercept, the Captain's Blade struck him aside with a wave of water. As he reached her, he grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her into the air.

"No!" Yew shouted, tearing out of Finch's grip. As he ran forward, however, his mother glanced back at him and winked. Then, with a surprising burst of strength, she swung her hammer up, striking the Captain in the head and knocking him back. The two of them fell to the ground, and for a moment, Yew thought the man was dead. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he was getting back to his feet.

"Get away from her!" Yew shouted, sprinting headlong at the man. Before he could straighten up, Yew tackled him and grabbed him by the head and started pounding away. Scratching, punching, kicking, biting, anything he could do to get the Captain to move. But he wasn't phased in the slightest. With a snarl, he struck Yew across the face, knocking him back into the fountain.

"Yew!" his mother shouted. She tried to struggle to her feet, but she couldn't. "Get away from him you bastard!"

"Worried about your kid? That's touching." The Captain took a step forward and placed his axe against Yew's throat. He tried to scramble away, but the Captain planted a foot on his chest. "You get to watch him die first, then."

A horrible feeling of resignation settles in the pit of Yew's stomach as the Captain reared back. His mother scrambled forward, attempting to bring her hammer around to stop him, but she was too slow.

Just before the Captain swung, a gunshot rang out. Normally, Drivers couldn't be taken down by normal gunfire. They had Blades to protect them from that. But the Captain's Blade had been distracted, doing his best to keep Vandham at bay, and he wasn't even watching as the bullet caught Captain Rinder square between his eyes. He slumped to the ground, and his Blade dissolved. A smile on her face, Yew's mother collapsed as well.

The Urayan soldier that Yew had met earlier that day limped over to Captain Rinder's body and put another bullet in him for good measure. Then he stared over at the Colonel and his men, as if daring them to make a move. After a moment, they turned away and began boarding one of the lifeboats. The Indoline monks stayed behind until the paper Blade and another woman returned to them, but they didn't do anything either. And as Yew crawled back over to his mother, he realized the rest of the combatants had fled as well. Only Vandham, Cole, and the Urayan were left.

"Avetha…" Vandham said, setting Cole's unconscious body down and running up to her.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Things were looking bad. I couldn't wait on you to back me up. Thanks for looking after my son, though."

"Any time," Vandham said with a laugh. There was no humor in it.

"I'm sorry, Yew," she said. Her voice was growing smaller by the second. "I wish I could have been there more for you. I'm so proud of you. I love…" She trailed off as she lost consciousness. Slowly, Finch began to fade behind her.

Yew expected to break down into tears again, but after everything that had happened, he just felt tired.

"Kid," the Urayan soldier said, getting Yew's attention. "You alright?"

"Thanks," Yew muttered. "For not letting him kill me, back there."

"There's been enough bloodshed for one day," the soldier said. "Enough for a lifetime, I think. I wasn't about to let a civilian die because of something I did."

"You made the right call," Vandham said, patting the Urayan on the back. Then he walked over to Yew and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more for your mother."

"She did this to herself," he said, shaking his head. "She died fighting for what she believed in. It's what she would have wanted. Not what I wanted, but…" He trailed off. He looked up at the Urayan. "What's your name?"

"Zuo," Zuo said, extending a hand. "And you, kid?"

"Yew." He reached out and shook it. "Like the tree."

"You're a brave kid," Zuo said. "I hope things turn out better tomorrow than they did today."

With that, he started limping away.

"Where are you going?"

"My Captain abandoned me, my sponsor's turned traitor… No matter what happens next, I can't go back to the military. I don't really know what happens next."

"You could stick with us," Vandham offered. "Cole and I have been thinking about setting up a village for war orphans like yourselves. Give them a place to belong."

"Maybe." Zuo stopped, and after a moment, he let himself smile. "Yeah, that does sound nice."

"I'd like that too," Yew said. "After we bury my mom. I don't have any other family to go back to. And… I think I'd like to be a Driver like her."

"We'll see what we can do," Vandham said, smiling. "Welcome to Garfont."