Chapter 19 - Invasion of Trista
10.30.1204 - Saturday
The tensions between Erebonia and its neighbors have started to grow radically in the past few days. After news about what happened to Gaurellia Fortress became public, people across the Empire were filled with a sense of dread. With everything going on with Crossbell, people began to fear an upcoming economic crisis unless the government did something about Crossbell. Not helping matters, rumors had started to spread that Calvard had assisted Crossbell in the attack.
Back at Thors things weren't much different. After the school festival ended prematurely, Principal Vandyke ordered and enforced a stricter schedule on the student body. The new schedule required all students to only go to the main building for classes and then to their dorms after the school day ended. All clubs and activities were cancelled for the foreseeable future. Not that the students minded, with the current political climate everyone found it rather difficult to focus on much else.
Recently, news came in that Chancellor Osborne was preparing to give a national address regarding the current climate. It was so important in fact, that all the instructors brought in radios to listen to it in class.
Unfortunately, Class VII was missing a few members that day. According to Sharon, Crow and Millium had both left the dorm early in the morning and no one had seen them since. It was important that all students listen to Chancellor Osborne's address in their class, so Instructor Sara sent Rean to look for them.
Rean had little to no issue finding Millium. He quickly found her in the old schoolhouse. Considering what was down there he couldn't blame her. After they fought Loa Erebonius some sort of grey giant magical knight appeared in the old schoolhouse. George and Crow had spent the second day of the festival tinkering with the knight, but according to Crow they couldn't figure out anything about it. After a quick chat, Millium agreed to help Rean find Crow.
They decided that he was most likely hiding in his dorm room, but when they checked they were shocked to find it abandoned.
"Hey Rean, do you know if Crow was a frugal spender or something?" Millium asked.
"Not to my knowledge. But the more I think about it, I've never actually seen the inside of Crow's room before. Has he been living the past few months in an empty room?" Rean responded.
"No. I remember he had some boxes when we first moved in. Now that I think about it, he was very insistent that no one else but him could move his boxes when I offered Lammy to help him carry his stuff." Millium answered.
Rean started to question what someone like Crow would try to hide.
With little time to waste, Rean and Millium ran back to the school grounds.
"Say Rean, how about we try asking someone who's more familiar with Crow if they know where he is?" Millium asked.
"Good idea! George might know a thing or two." Rean commented.
"Actually, he was in the old schoolhouse when I got there this morning. He left a few minutes before you showed up to meet with his class. I asked him if he knew where Crow was, but he told me that the last time he saw or spoke to Crow was yesterday when he dropped by his dorm room to return everything he ever borrowed." Millium informed him.
"Really? Crow must have been going around returning things he's borrowed from people. I guess that explains why he returned the 50 mira he stole from me." Rean commented.
"Say Rean, why don't we drop in on President Towa? George said she was in the Student Council room, so if we hurry she might still be there. I'm sure she might know something about Crow's whereabouts." Millium brought up.
Rean froze at the sudden mention of Towa.
Ever since his failed confession Rean hadn't gained the courage to talk to Towa since then. Granted, the new stricter schedule left little to no chance for him to talk to her even if he wanted to.
"President Towa… Maybe I can convince Millium to go see her by herself. I'm not sure I want to see President Towa just yet. If I play my cards right, I never have to speak to President Towa again until she forgets what I was talking about before the school festival ended. Damn it! If I had just kept my mouth shut things wouldn't be so awkward and I could face President Towa like before." Rean thought to himself.
"Oh great, he's sulking again." Millium thought to herself when she noticed that Rean had gone silent.
Class VII easily figured out that something had happened to Rean when the festival ended. Not that their leader was subtle about it. He'd been acting glum for the past few days. No one could really pinpoint exactly what had happened to him. They figured the incident at Gaurellia Fortress left an impact on him like so many other people across the Empire. Although they never really thought of Rean as the patriotic type.
"I'm going to take that as a yes, c'mon Rean let's go!" Millium shouted before running off without Rean towards the Student Union building.
Not wanting to lose sight of Millium, Rean hesitantly followed her.
"Alright, this should be the last one for today. I hope everyone is able to make it back in time." Towa told herself.
Ever since the incident at Gaurellia Fortress the Student Council President was put in charge of overseeing any leave requests made by the students. With growing tensions around the Empire, many students were requesting a temporary leave to be with their families. Thankfully, Principal Vandyke gave Towa full authority to approve any request that made it her way.
Unfortunately, that meant that Towa had to spend the last few days in the Student Council room by herself reviewing the many requests turned in each day. While she was given permission to be inside the Student Union building during school hours, that privilege wasn't given to the other Student Council members who had to comply with the new strict schedule.
Towa got up and walked to her book shelf to grab another stack of papers. "I'll just leave these on my desk for tomorrow."
As Towa walked back back to her desk she heard someone burst into the Student Council room. She assumed it was a student coming to drop off their leave request, but was surprised to see Millium of all people in there.
"Oh Millium, and... Rean." She greeted them.
Towa started to panic. The last person she saw outside of class was Crow, who snuck in yesterday to return a bunch of things he had borrowed. She had been hoping that it would have stayed that way.
Towa especially wasn't sure if she could face Rean again after everything that's happened the last few days. She knew exactly what Rean was going to tell her after they danced together if he'd been given the chance to finish. But he didn't finish, and she didn't get a chance to answer him.
She could tell that Rean didn't want to be there, Millium must've dragged him there with her.
Not that Towa blamed Rean for not wanting to be there. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew exactly how he felt. He was furious with her.
"There Rean was pouring out his heart out to me, and how did I respond? By burying myself in work and doing nothing to meet with him privately to give him an answer. Even though I know that my answer would have been to tell him that I feel the same way, I haven't told him a thing. That still wouldn't justify me ignoring him for the past few days. Who wouldn't be furious? Who would want to be with someone who puts work over them? Even if I try to talk to him now he'd probably take back everything he said, and I don't blame him." Towa thought to herself.
Towa was quickly snapped back into reality by Millium.
"Hey President Towa. You wouldn't happen to know where Crow is, do you?" Millium asked.
"The last time I saw him was yesterday. He snuck in here yesterday to return everything he's borrowed from me, and things he borrowed from Angie for some reason." Towa answered. She made it a point to not make eye contact with Rean.
"That's strange. George also said Crow returned things to him. He also gave me back the 50 mira he stole from me. Why would Crow be going around returning things?" Rean commented. He also did his best to not make eye contact with Towa.
This situation was already awkward for both of them. Making eye contact would only make things worse.
"No clue. He did have a bag with him. He better not be trying to sneak out of Trista." Towa informed them.
"Thanks for the info, but wait President Towa. Not to be rude, but why are you here and not with your class? Gramps- I mean Chancellor Osborne's address is in a few minutes." Millium asked.
"Oh, that's because I was put in charge of overlooking leave requests. With everything going on right now a lot of students are requesting temporary leave to be with their families until things cool down." Towa explained.
"Sounds like President Towa is occupied at the moment. Come on Millium, let's not waste her time. Sorry for the interruption President Towa." Rean said as he left the Student Council room.
After excusing herself, Millium followed suit.
"There he goes. He really is mad, but what can I even do? I can't pull him aside and tell him how I feel right now." Towa lamented to herself as she went back to her desk.
After quickly making their way out of the Student Union building, Rean and Millium ran into Patrick. They asked if he'd seen Crow around, and thankfully he had. Apparently he saw Crow walking towards the station. Apparently Crow wanted to hear Chancellor Osborne's address in person. They thanked Patrick for the update, and all three made their way to their respective classrooms.
Rean informed Instructor Sara of what had happened to Crow. Luckily, he and Millium returned just in time as the radio started playing Chancellor Osborne's address.
As the speech went underway Class VII turned their heads to Millium, who had taken out her Arcus to call someone.
"Wait, now it makes sense. Boy do I feel dumb. Well Lechter, looks like you were right. Turns out he was hiding in plain sight this whole time." Millium said aloud.
"Wait, Captain Lechter? Wait, who's been hiding in plain sight?" Class VII asked in unison.
All Millium could do was put her Arcus in speaker mode and let Captain Lechter explain. "Normally this kind of info would be kept private, but seeing as you all are now connected to the suspect, there's no harm in clueing you in. We've figured out the identity of the Imperial Liberation Front's leader. Turns out the perp wasn't dead like we assumed. Looks like C has been enjoying running from the law for some time now." Lechter explained.
Despite speaking in his usual playful tone, Rean could sense Lechter's rage at falling for C's trick.
"Wait C's alive!? Didn't they die back in the mine? Who even is C?" Jusis asked aloud.
Before Lechter could explain, everyone heard a familiar voice speaking from the radio: Misty.
"Allow me to take it from here. You know what they say: show, don't tell." Misty said over the radio.
"Wait Vita!? What are you doing here!?" Emma screamed as "Misty" cast a spell over the radio.
Before long everyone at Thors, from Class VII to the Student Council room could see Chancellor Osborne give his address. It was as if they were there in person.
Then out of nowhere they saw Chancellor Osborne get shot in the chest. Right where his heart would. For some reason, the sight made Rean clutch his own chest.
They all could hear Chancellor Osborne mutter something in his final breath. "Well played… Armbrust…"
Before anyone could process what had just happened, they saw a large airship release a large number of massive bipedal tanks. They looked similar to the magic knight in the old schoolhouse. Before they knew it, the bipedal tanks were running amok around Heimdallr.
That's when the spell gave everyone a new view. It was Captain Clair pointing her orbal gun at the now unmasked leader of the Imperial Liberation Front: Crow Armbrust. What followed shocked them.
In order to escape, Crow leaped off the building he was on when he shot Chancellor Osborne. In his place a magic knight similar to the one in the old schoolhouse appeared. Except instead of a grey color scheme, it had a blue color scheme.
He explained the Imperial Liberation Front's next move: the invasion of Trista. It was clear he wasn't speaking to Captain Claire, but to everyone at Thors. This was his warning to evacuate or else. With all that said and done, Crow flew off in the direction of Trista.
The clock was ticking.
"I hope you all enjoyed the show. Best be prepared, they're on their way." Vita said as her spell ended.
Everyone was silent. They were all still processing everything that just happened.
Not long after, Principal Vandyke made an emergency announcement. "Attention! All instructors are to meet at the front gate. All students are to remain inside the main building. Under no circumstances are you permitted to leave."
After Instructor Sara ran out, Class VII overheard Captain Lechter from Millium's Arcus. "Millium, your mission is complete. We now know the identity of C. Make your way to the safe zone."
"Sorry Lechter, but as far as I'm concerned my mission isn't over yet. As a member of Class VII, I have to help protect Trista. Talk to you later!" Millium answered before hanging up.
"Looks like we're all on the page." Gaius responded.
"Right. We can't just stand by and let Trista get invaded." Alisa commented.
"I agree. Trista has sort of become like a home. We need to protect it." Fie said.
"Alright then. Class VII, our mission to protect Trista!" Rean informed his classmates.
"Right!" Class VII yelled in unison.
With everyone in agreement, Class VII made their way to the hallway. They quickly bumped into Class I. They informed them of their plan, and Class I agreed to stay back as a defense team in case Class VII failed to keep the Imperial Liberation Front out.
Soon after leaving the main building, they met up with Towa and George by the front gate. The instructors had put them in charge of stopping any students from passing.
Towa and George tried to convince Class VII to stand down and stay inside, but they could see Class VII was determined to help defend Trista. Although hesitant, Towa gave them permission to leave the school grounds on the sole condition they retreat the moment the threat became too much.
George decided to help by inspecting everyone's Arcus and upgrading their orbment to make sure they were best prepared. As Class VII waited for George to finish his inspection in his lab, they all went to the Student Union building to prepare anything else.
Everyone except Rean and Towa, who volunteered to keep watch over the front gate while the others prepared.
There Rean and Towa stood together while the others prepared.
Under any other circumstances one of them would have tried to excuse themselves, but for some reason neither could bring themselves to do it. Maybe it was because they both understood that they had unfinished business.
Towa knew this wasn't the best time to bring it up, afterall, Trista was under threat of attack. But a voice in her head kept on telling her to just talk to Rean about what happened. Even if he was still mad at her over their lack of communication recently, she needed to get it off her chest.
Towa gathered all her courage before speaking to Rean. "Rean… I'm sorry for not speaking to you sooner."
Upon hearing Towa's words Rean froze. He knew what was coming, the conversation he feared the most was upon him: Towa's rejection.
"I know that you're probably mad at me, but I need to get this off my chest." Towa continued.
"W-Why would I be mad? Don't worry President Towa, I-I understand that you're a busy person. I appreciate that you'd try to spare my feelings, but please be as honest as you need to be." Rean interrupted. He had no idea why Towa thought that he would get angry when she rejected him. Sure he was ready to feel sad, but why would he be angry at her?
For the first time since the festival Rean looked Towa in the eyes, and was surprised to see that she was just as confused as he was.
Rean's comment caught Towa by surprise. "Spare his feelings? Wait, what in the world does Rean think I'm trying to tell him? Why does he sound more sad than furious?" Much like Rean, Towa finally turned to look him in the eyes and saw just how confused he also was.
They both suddenly realized that there had been some sort of misunderstanding.
Before they could restart the conversation however, they overheard artillery fire coming from outside of Trista.
The Imperial Liberation Front had arrived and had started to fight the instructors waiting for them.
Class VII quickly finished their preparations and joined Rean and Towa, with George close behind. He handed everyone their upgraded Arcus Units and went to open the front gate.
As the front gate slowly opened, Towa gave Class VII a final warning. "I-I know I'm repeating myself at this point, but don't go doing anything crazy, you hear? Still… I know in my heart how much you want to protect his school… So do what you have to do. Not just for us, but so that, whatever ends up happening, you'll know you gave the best you had to give."
"Right!" Class VII yelled in unison.
With the front gate open, Class VII made their way to defend Trista.
Unsure of what was to come, Towa decided to call out to Rean.
Rean suddenly stopped and turned back to Towa upon hearing her.
"I'll be waiting here when you come back! When this is all over we'll continue our conversation where it left off!" Towa yelled.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on dying. I promise to be back with the others in no time. Please promise to stay safe until then Tow-President Towa!" Rean yelled before running off to join his class.
Towa nervously watched as Rean along with Class VII faded into the distance the farther they ran.
"They'll be all right out there. All we can do now is believe in them." George said in an attempt to console Towa.
"Yeah…" Towa said in agreement.
With no other option, all Towa could do now was pray to Aidios for Class VII's safety.
She hated it.
Every time there was danger around her she was unable to fight alongside the others and simply stand by. It happened in her Field Studies, it happened in Orchis Tower, and now she couldn't even help protect Trista.
She'd had enough. Even if she didn't have a proper weapon, she knew she needed to do something.
Towa turned to George and asked for a favor. "George, how quickly can you upgrade my Arcus? It's currently only equipped with healing orbments, but do you have any spare orbments for combat?"
Class VII defeated one of those "Panzer Soldats" one of Scarlet's lackey's was piloting. Before they could even catch their breath however, Scarlet attacked them with her Panzer Soldat.
Class VII was only able to hold their own for a few minutes before Scarlet overpowered them.
Seeing as there was no alternative, Rean decided he had no choice but to use his ogre powers.
As he tried to awaken his ogre powers however, he found himself inside a dark void.
Before he could even question where he was, a figure appeared out of nowhere. A surprisingly small and furry figure: Emma's cat Celine.
If things couldn't have gotten stranger, Celine spoke to him and instructed him to listen to them.
Suddenly a loud voice echoed around Rean and Celine.
"DOST THOU DESIRE THE POWER? IF THEE AND I ARE OF ONE ACCORD, A COVENANT CAN BE MADE. THOU HAST BUT TO CALL OUT MY NAME. ONE IN WHOM DWELLS THE FLAME… AWAKENER…"
Rean recalled a name he saw appear before him back when Class VII defeated Loa Erebonius.
Instinctively, Rean called out that name. "Heed my call… Valimar, the Ashen Knight!"
As George completed upgrading Towa's Arcus, they both heard a loud engine around them. They both ran outside George's lab and saw an unbelievable sight. Not that any of the previous events that day could be considered ordinary.
They saw a magical knight similar to the one they saw Crow pilot, but instead of a blue color scheme it had a grey color scheme making flying towards where Class were fighting the Imperial Liberation Front.
"Wha!?" Towa yelled in surprise.
"Wh-What the…!?" George also yelled.
"George we need to hurry, something dangerous is about to start. We need to go help Class VII!" Towa yelled as she reached for her Arcus.
"Understood." George said as reached for his standard weapon: his hammer.
The two quickly ran towards where Class VII were fighting the Imperial Liberation Front.
Despite it being his first time piloting a "Divine Knight", Rean made quick work out of Scarlet. All without a sword for Valimar. But as he sensed another large figure approaching, Rean took Scarlet's sword to use himself.
Not long after, Crow descended before Rean and Class VII.
"Crow, what are you doing!?" Jusis yelled.
"Why in the world did you shoot Chancellor Osborne!?" Machias screamed.
"So this is what Vita was doing this whole time." Emma said quietly.
"Crow, why are you the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front!?" Elliot yelled.
"Judging by your stance, I imagine you don't plan to answer any of our questions and seek only a fight." Laura commented.
"Don't worry, I plan to answer some of your questions. What I'm doing is simple: I'm leading the invasion of Trista. While I won't give too many details: Vita helped me awaken my Divine Knight. And as to why I shot Osborne: consider it my petty revenge. That's also why I'm the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front, it's nothing but my petty revenge. Oh, and I don't plan on fighting all of you. I'm only fighting those who stand in our way." Crow informed them. To make his intentions clear he raised his Divine Knight's weapon to Rean and Valimar.
He was ready to strike at any minute.
Besides Rean, all of Class VII was nearing collapse. Rean knew that he would have to fight Crow by himself to keep them safe.
"Crow, you're coming with us! Once a member of Class VII always a member of Class VII! You're going to have to explain yourself to Principal Vandyke yourself! Don't forget that you still owe me that interest!" Rean yelled as he readied himself to take on Crow.
Without speaking, Rean and Crow started to fight. Although calling it a fight would be an understatement of Crow's abilities. A more accurate description would be to call it a slaughter.
Class VII watched in horror as with each swing Rean took, Crow countered with a critical hit. It was clear to everyone that Crow had more experience fighting with his Divine Knight. Even Scarltet questioned if Crow was going to kill his first Divine Knight opponent.
Rean was hesitant to use his ogre powers while inside Valimar. He feared that he would become a greater danger than Crow was if he'd lost control. All he could do was continue to try and strike Crow to the best of his ability.
After a few more attempts, Crow finally grew bored of only countering and slowly approached Rean and Valimar.
Crow's Divine Knight grabbed Valimar by where their throat would be and lifted them off the ground.
"You've been piloting a Divine Knight for one day. I've been using mine for three years." Crow said as he readied his final blow.
Before Crow could finish the job however, he was hit by an orbal spell. It did little more than scuff Crow's Divine Knight's armor, but it did cause Crow to stop what he was doing.
As Rean and Crow looked for who cast the spell, they spotted Towa and George standing next to the exhausted Class VII.
Towa prepared her next attack and ordered Crow to listen to her warning. "Put him down! You t-traitor!"
"If you know what's good for you Crow, you better stop all of this right now!" George threatened.
Crow slowly put Valimar and Rean down, and made his way towards Towa and George. Class VII and Rean were too exhausted to move and help Towa and George.
Towa and George attempted to fight him off using their combat arts, but nothing was leaving a mark on Crow's Divine Knight.
Without saying a word, Crow raised his Divine Knight's weapon, he was ready to strike down Towa and George.
Rean could only scream at what he was about to witness Crow do to his own friends. "No… Don't… STOOOOOOOOOP!"
Using the last of his energy, Rean accelerated Valimar towards Crow and used Valimar's weapon to stab Crow's Divine Knight and stop him.
At least that was what was supposed to happen, if Valimar's weapon hadn't shattered immediately once it made contact with Crow's Divine Knight.
Rean felt himself starting to lose consciousness as Crow slowly turned around and slowly approached Rean and Valimar.
"You call that a stab? This is a stab!" Crow announced.
"Wait Crow, what are you doing!? Stop!" Everyone yelled.
Crow's next move shocked everyone.
Without hesitation, Crow thrust his Divine Knight's weapon into Valimar's abdomen. Class VII collapsed in despair as they saw Valimar go limp.
"Rean!" Towa screamed as she felt her legs give out from under her.
The image of Crow's Divine Knight piercing Rean inside his Divine Knight was burned into Towa's mind as she passed out.
With George and Scarlet as the only remaining witnesses, Crow pulled out his Divine Knight's weapon from Valimar's abdomen.
George took note of how despite the fact it looked as if it had also pierced through Rean, Crow's Divine Knight weapon didn't have a drop of blood on it. It was as if Crow made sure not to hit Rean or Celine.
Crow then gave his Divine Knight an order. "Scan for any sign of life Ordine."
"Of course." Ordine announced as they started scanning Valimar.
"The witch's familiar is unharmed. Valimar still has some remaining energy and should be able to repair themself from any damage we have done to them. The awakener inside however is unconscious. It seems as if they lost consciousness when they tried to hit us from behind. One more blow should be enough to neutralize them." Ordine announced.
Before Crow could get a chance to land a final blow however, Celine took emergency control of Valimar and ordered them to find a safe location to escape to so they could heal.
"Acknowledged." Valimar announced as they instantly flew into the sky.
Scarlet watched as Crow and Ordine did nothing to stop Valimar from escaping.
"Aren't you going to do anything to stop them!?" Scarlet questioned.
"Our mission is to take Trista, having me go after someone who's as good as dead is counterproductive." Crow explained.
Crow then turned to George and ordered him to go and open the front gate. He informed him that the faster he cooperated, the faster Class VII and their Student Council President could receive medical attention.
Seeing as he had no other options, George left to go open the front gate for them.
As George left, more members of the Imperial Liberation Front arrived. Vulcan was successfully able to distract the instructors and make them retreat into the wilderness.
Trista was theirs for the taking.
Crow then gave everyone new instructions. "All right, the Courageous should be here within a few hours. We are to fortify Thors as a negotiation token for later. Under no circumstance are you allowed to lay a finger on any student or citizen of Trista. If you see anyone trying to escape you are to let them leave. There's a good chance a noble student is trying to escape and is using a disguise such as wearing a commoner uniform or dressing as a civilian. Seeing as we don't want to anger too many nobles, you'll have to assume that everyone escaping is of noble birth. Vulcan, take Class VII and their Student Council President to the Class VII Dorm and help the medical staff. Scarlet, you're coming with me to the main dorms and school ground. Remember everyone, the civil war is only just beginning."
The Imperial Liberation Front's invasion of Trista went off without a hitch.
After Vulcan left the Class VII Dorm, he took over looking over the school grounds while Crow and Scarlet left to inspect the dorms. Scarlet rummaged through a certain room in the Lower-Class Dorm as Crow requested her to do. Crow however insisted on inspecting the Upper-Class Dorm.
Although once inside the Upper-Class Dorm, Crow stopped to do something else.
Crow took out his Arcus to update the Noble Alliance's database. Crow had added Rean to the database when Valimar appeared in the old schoolhouse, as he saw Rean as the most likely candidate to be Valimar's awakener. Once he found Rean's profile he updated Rean's current status. Crow edited Rean's current status to "Missing/Presumed Dead".
It would seem as if their Divine Knight rematch would have to wait some time.
Author's Note
*Insert "I Miss You" here*
Well, thus concludes the first arc of this story. Hopefully things improve soon. Don't worry this story isn't over yet, the Cold Steel 2 arc starts soon! Hopefully things improve for Rean and Towa, only time will tell.
Thank you all for reading! Writing this has been a joy to write (besides all the sad moments). Here's to another arc!
