2 Days Later in Colchester, 2150 Hours
"Are you ready, Luna?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied.
Luna was the last person to leave the barracks, in which she and Noctis were also the last to report to boarding the gliders. As they lined up to board, Stirling saluted Noctis in a gesture of Godspeed.
After 2 days of preparation, the day of their first operation came. Though the men were excited to return to Gallia as Paratroopers rather than RAF crewmen, they would expect that the Imps would very soon be right in front of them firing as they landed on the ground, so much so that Noctis instructed his men to land the gliders on a flat land as much as possible to prevent them from being heard.
Very soon, they finally embarked onto their gliders, in which they were towed by Halifax bomber planes. For this mission, the battalion was split into two gliders, with Noctis and Cloud's squads on the first glider, and Squall and Tidus's squads on the second glider. They were to land at the designated landing area before splitting up to complete their objectives.
At about 2350 hours, they were once again over Gallian airspace. 10 minutes later, they were getting closer to Vasel. Inside Noctis glider, Prompto led the group through a cadence of singing yet another popular Britannian March in a bid to lift their spirits up.
"What's the use of worrying? It never was worth while. So, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, And smile, smile, smile!"
By the ground, some members of Squad 7 saw the two bomber planes towing the gliders. At that time, Welkin was with Alicia and was about to turn in for bed when they overheard engine noises over their position.
"Who are those, Welkin?" Alicia asked.
"Gliders... Maybe the guys we'll meet tomorrow?" He described, staring at the gliders flying quietly through the night sky.
"Who?"
"We'll find out tomorrow. For now, we have to get some rest."
As Welkin and Alicia they retreated to their beds, the Paratroopers prepared to descend at Vasel. In the glider, Noctis had been called over by Corporal Biggs Callux, who was piloting the glider along with Private Wedge Kincaid, informing him that they were coming up on the landing point.
"Release point coming in, Major Caelum."
"Right, prepare for landing!"
"Cutting lose now, over." Biggs said over the radio, which also caused the other glider carrying the other squad to release its towing chain from the bomber.
The troops on both gliders took off their berets and in place of it were combat paratrooper helmets. As they were getting closer to the ground, some of them were nervous, specially Prompto, whom Barret helped fastened his helmet while still singing cadence to calm his nerves. Luna on the other hand was seated beside Noctis and was helped by him to fasten her helmet.
"Major Caelum! There's the bridge coming up. Just on our left." Noctis could see the large draw bridge. It was midnight and no one had any clue on the ground that 2 gliders carrying paratroopers were about to raid the Western side of the city.
"There's the landing area." Wedge pointed.
"Right, link your arms. Brace yourselves!"
With Biggs and Wedge's skill in piloting the glider, they were able to steer away from enemy occupied areas and targeted their intended landing zone, which was a large patch of land just south of their objective. The two remained calm as the troops braced for impact.
"Feet up! Hang on!"
The paratroopers raised their legs up to prevent any sort of injury once they hit the ground. As they inched closer, Noctis looked outside of the cockpit while Luna closed her eyes in a way to brace herself. Cloud looked intently on the cockpit as much as Noctis was, preparing to open the doors just to his right. He was seated just across where Noctis and Luna sat. Very soon, the glider hit the ground. The fuselage shook as the wheels of the glider touched uneven ground. Biggs immediately applied the speed brakes and stopped in time just before they hit a tree.
When the glider came to a complete stop, Noctis immediately signalled his squad to disembark as he opened the doors on his side. Stepping outside the glider, he could see a handful of Imperial sentries walking about in their usual relaxed state, which meant that they were able to land quietly. Noctis walked around with Luna and Cloud, observing the area. He went on the other side of the glider to see that Squall's glider had also landed just about 30 feet away from them. Their squads disembarked, cocking their Stens, Lee-Enfields, and Bren guns as they made their way to where Noctis was, who signalled them to advance and rush to their objectives.
Squall nodded and signalled Tidus and the rest of their group to follow him to their objective while they snuck up to the sentries, attempting to put them out of commission. Those who held the Enfield rifles attached bayonets in case of a signal to assault the area. Once the sentries have been put out of commission, they found a low wall that led to a small alleyway. And just ahead, they could see the communications bunker. Hurriedly, they quickly snuck up and hid on the darkest part of the alley, avoiding detection by the guards. Tidus signalled to volunteer to scout ahead to check how many were in position. Moving just near to the main street, he could see that the communications bunker was lightly defended with guards asleep just by their rifles.
Tidus then went back over to the squad to report what he saw. As soon as he came back, he whispered, "There's around 4 guards asleep near the bunker with around 2 guards roaming around it."
"Alright, here's what we'll do. Tidus, you and your men approach that bunker and quietly take out those guards before you go in and destroy the equipment. We'll position ourselves just around the bunker and wait for your signal for us to push up. If you get spotted, we'll start shooting."
"Gotcha." Tidus then turned to his men, "Let's go boys." Tidus and his squad soon headed for the bunker while Squall and his squad positioned themselves just around the hidden areas encircling the bunker.
Tidus splits his squad, with Nooj and Baralai knocking out the two roaming sentries, while him and the rest put the sleeping guards into a "deep sleep". Successfully knocking out the guards, they went inside the bunker and found an officer asleep by the table. Tidus draws his knife, putting his hand over his mouth and stabbed him, effectively clearing the area out. Going over the radio room, he and Rikku destroyed the radios and pulling out all cables that effectively silenced the entire western bank of Vasel. He then went outside the bunker and signals Squall that all is clear.
"They did it!" Squall exclaimed. "Alright boys, lets go." The squads soon moved in and secured the rest of the area.
"I found an officer inside. Thankfully he was asleep. Put him out of commission. Looks like the entire west district of this city is silenced. Now Noctis can push with his plan."
"Good job, Tidus. Let's secure the perimeter. Once we hear gunshots, we'll head over the the city square and help em' out. " Squall then turned to Zell. "Zell, go back to the gliders. Let Noctis know that it's safe to push up."
"Alright." Zell hurriedly went back to the landing zone through the same place where they got in as Tidus and Squall secured the area.
On Noctis' side, they were standing by for a signal that communications had all been silenced. They had just finished off the two sentries scouting the area and were now waiting for the signal. He looked at his Omega Field Watch to see that it had only been 8 minutes since they had disembarked from their gliders. A few moments later, they heard footsteps coming from the right. When they turned and pointed their guns, they saw Zell running towards them.
"Major Caelum, the communications have all but silenced. It's all clear."
"Alright. Good job! Tell Squall and Tidus to join up on the attack once we start shooting. We'll meet you boys inside."
"Yes Sir." Zell hurriedly left as Noctis and Cloud's squads entered the town through a small alleyway. Noctis led the squad straight to the Alley. Just to their right, they could see the city centre. Looking at his watch, it was already 10 minutes into their operation.
"Alright boys, let's make this quick." He turned to Snow, who was carrying a Bren light machine gun. "Snow, take Noel and Hope. Suppress and draw their fire from the left. The rest of us are gonna hit Jerry from the right."
"Copy that, Sir." The three men hurriedly went into position as Noctis and the rest moved. They sprinted towards the city centre and leaped into the constructed trenches, putting some guards out of commission. However, they were spotted by a machine gun team, who quickly deployed their MG42 and began shooting. As they started firing, Snow fired his machine gun and drew their fire away, giving the opportunity for Noctis and his men to slightly move up. When they got out of the trenches, another squad started firing at them, causing them to hit the dirt.
"Smoke screen. Smoke!"
Cloud immediately took out a smoke grenade from his pouch, throwing it in the direction of the machine gun crew and the squad that was firing on them. Instantly, the smoke grenade went off, blinding the machine gun crew.
Noctis got up on his feet and started firing his Sten gun as he bellowed, "UP THE ACTION, BUCKS! UP THE ACTION, BUCKS!"
The entire squad stormed the city centre and knocked out the first line of defenders with a grenade. When they were taken out, Noctis signalled Cloud to push towards the town hall. "Alright, Cloud. To the town hall!"
The guards woke up from their slumber and started firing as they moved out of the building. Cloud threw a grenade at the defenders, taking them out instantly. A guardsman tried to fire a flare in the air to signal that an attack was taking place but the flare gun jammed, causing him to flee in panic. Noctis looked around him to see that everything was going to plan. Seconds later, Noctis started to feel the ground shaking. To his left, just by Town Hall Road, an Imperial light tank along with a handful of Imperial troops come out to try and help the defenders.
"JERRY TANK! GET TO COVER!"
The squads grabbed for cover as the tank approached their positions. Just as the tank was heading towards them, a rocket suddenly fired from behind them, knocking the tank out. The Imperial soldiers turned their attention to their rear, and finding Squall and Tidus ambushing and foiling their attempt to relieve their fellow soldiers. Noctis and Cloud were relieved.
"Well I'll be..." Noctis smirked.
"They're just in time." Cloud remarked.
As the last of the enemy troops fled, Rikku went up to them holding the PIAT rocket launcher, which was what she used to take the tank out. "How'd you like the fireworks?" She smirked.
"Bloody beautiful!"
Seconds later, the last of the defenders had been taken out. Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal managed to get 4 Imperial soldiers as prisoners as they went in front of town square.
Noctis and the 3 other squad leaders met up just by the destroyed tank.
"Squall, get Quistis to send out the success codes. Keep sending until acknowledged."
"Right..." Squall hurriedly left to carry out his orders. Noctis then turned to Tidus.
"Tidus, get your men and de-mine the river bank."
"Copy that."
"And Cloud, get your men to the gates and await for the reinforcements."
"Alright."
Soon, the three men left Noctis to carry out their orders. When they left, Prompto came up to Noctis with a smile on his face, which meant that they succeeded with their objectives.
"All in less than 18 minutes." Noctis said, showing his watch to Prompto. "But now to wait for the reinforcements."
"How long do you think they might arrive?" Prompto inquired. "We've only secured this part of town. There's still a district to the north."
"Do we have enough strength to take it?"
"I don't think so, Noct. But we can be sure that the Imps are gonna try to take the centre from us any moment now."
"It worries me. It might only be a matter of time before the Jerries counterattack. The Gallians might take up even by midday before they get here. The question is... how long can we hold."
As Noctis left to ponder and worry, he walked about the town centre. As they rested and prepared defences, Noctis spotted Luna taking off her helmet as she breathed and relaxed while seated over some sandbags. Luna then noticed Noctis and smiled, signalling him to come over.
"There's my handsome commander." She said.
"Luna! I'm glad you're in one piece. How do you feel?"
"Never been better." She replied. "I thought I was probably gonna miss a beat but I'm surprised I did well. Though most of the time I was suppressing from the trenches over there. I'm glad that tank didn't do any damage to us. Did we suffer casualties?"
"Nope. So far, so good. But now we have to wait for the reinforcements." He then sat beside her, taking off his helmet. "Would you like to sleep? The night's still a bit young."
"Sure... I could use a snuggle. But are you worried we might get attacked in the middle of the night?"
"No. Their communications are severed but just to make sure, I had some of our guys take up guard around the area."
"That's good. Then we can probably sleep now." She said, cuddling him.
"Sure. Let's get some shut eye for now." He replied, leaning her to his shoulders.
The two lovers soon took rest after the raid had been carried out. At about the same time, Cloud's squad occupied the town gates without any resistance, setting up defences around the block and awaiting for the reinforcements. Other members of the regiment took rest as the night continued while some took guard of the area, expecting enemy reinforcements from the other district to attack them. Although the Imperials had been blinded by the destruction of their communication, they just couldn't let their guard down.
The Next Day
A small scouting team belonging to the Gallian Militia crouched hiding behind some bushes that had a view of Vasel's gates. It was about 10am in the morning, and at least an hour into their deployment to take the strategically important town of Vasel. The pair took out binoculars to scout the area. The entrance to the town had men watching over the entrance with a machine gun. The men were characterised by their maroon berets, which looked like a shade of red from afar. Just a few seconds after they scouted, they returned to the main road where their entire squad was waiting for them.
"Lt. Gunther, we're getting close to Vasel. But the entrance is guarded by men wearing red berets." The woman reported.
"Red Berets? Are they wearing Imperial uniform?" Welkin asked.
"No sir."
Welkin turned to Alicia, "I think they might be the guys we're supposed to meet up with. Get the men up and tell them they're friendlies. We'll walk in and meet them."
"Alright Welkin."
"Isara, follow the road." He commanded.
The squad got up their feet and walked in behind as the Edelweiss moved forward along the road and towards the gates. As this took place, the men at the entrance of the town stood by guarding the entrance. They had just finished breakfast when they heard tank tracks and an engine behind some trees down the road.
"Guys, I think I hear something." Yuffie said.
"It must be coming from behind those trees by the road. It must be a tank." Vincent described
"Think they're Imps?" Yuffie asked, preparing the Bren gun and cocking it.
"Maybe." Her male counterpart replied. "Zack, get Cloud up over here. We might have some company."
Zack hurriedly left to call Cloud, who was inside one of the buildings behind them. As the noise of the tracks and engine got closer, both Yuffie and Vincent prepared for the worse. Vincent chambered a new round into his Lee-Enfield as the noise got near. Just then, Zack, along with Cloud, Cissnei, and Barret arrived in time.
"What's going on?"
"We might have some company."
"Get ready, guys. We might have a rude awakening."
Out from the trees, the tank turned right and headed straight for the entrance into the town. To the relief of Cloud and his squad, they were the Gallians that they were supposed to link-up with. And not only that, the tank they saw looked very familiar to the squad, especially the commander looking out of the hatch.
"Wait a minute... Is that Welkin?!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"It is Welkin!" Cloud exclaimed. "Cissnei, go to the town hall and get Noctis. He's gonna want to see this."
Cloud's squad went up their feet to meet the incoming Gallians. As Welkin got closer, he could see the faces of the paratroopers. When he was just inches away from the entrance; He and Alicia recognised the faces of the paratroopers.
"Welkin, it's Cloud! And he's with the others who helped us back in Bruhl!"
"Well I'll be... This is a serious coincidence. I couldn't believe that the guys who helped us back in Bruhl would be the same guys who'll be joining us in this mission."
When they got to Cloud's nest, Welkin went out of his hatch and hopped onto the ground, eager to meet and be reunited with some familiar faces. Welkin went up to Cloud and saluted.
"Lt. Welkin Gunther, Squad 7, Gallian Militia." Welkin saluted.
"Cpt. Cloud Strife, Britannian Parachute Regiment." He saluted back, "It's great to see you again, Welkin."
"You too, Cloud. Where's the rest of your guys?"
"They're in the town centre. I asked one of my guys to get Noctis."
At the mention of Noctis' name, Welkin and Alicia's eyes widen. "Noctis?! He's here too?!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah. He's the one who led us. We arrived here by gliders last night."
Alicia turned to Welkin. "Well that explains it." She turned to Cloud, "We saw your gliders last night. We were wondering where it was headed."
Just then, a voice spoke up to Cloud's right, and Welkin's left.
"Well, well... What a surprise!"
They turned to where the voice was coming from and there, it was Noctis, Luna, Cissnei, Squall, and Tidus walking up towards them. Welkin's eyes widen in surprise.
"Noctis! You lead these guys?! We saw your gliders last night. I was wondering what were inside of it. I didn't know it was you guys until Cloud told me." Welkin reached out for Noctis hand. "Looks like you guys haven't lost your touch. It's great to see you again."
Noctis replied back, "You too, Welkin. I didn't know that you guys were assigned to rendezvous with us."
Then, a voice just to the right of Noctis spoke. It was an all too familiar voice that he clearly recognised. "Noctis!"
Turning to his right, there was Isara, who had just hopped off Edelweiss eager to meet him. "Isara!"
Excitedly, Isara embraced him. "I'm so glad to see you again." She smiled.
"You too Isara." Then he turns to Luna. "Luna, this is Isara. She's that young girl I told You and Father about."
As with first meets, Luna reached for her hand. "Hi Isara, Noctis told me all about you! Thank you for helping him when he bailed out." She said.
Isara replied and reached out for Luna's hand as well. "Hey Luna. It's nice to meet you. And you're welcome."
Then Welkin spoke up, expressing his delight in reuniting with old friends. "Guys, this is all fantastic. It's really nice to see old faces again. I hope we can keep cooperating with each other."
"We best head to the town centre. We'll continue talking there while your men could regroup." Noctis invited.
The Squad 7, along with the rest of Noctis battalion made their way to the town. As they made their way, Noctis told Welkin about what had happened last night upon their landing. Welkin looked around him and saw the damage inflicted from last night's attack. When they arrived at the town centre, Welkin was even more surprised of the carnage that Noctis' battalion had done.
"Did your guys do all this?" Welkin inquired.
"Yeah. The Western sector of this town is already secured for you guys. We were ordered to clear the way. But there might be some pockets of resistance left. Now that we've secured this area, we can focus on the bridge."
"Can we scout over by the river bank?"
"Sure." Noctis nodded.
"Do we need to come with you guys?" Alicia asked.
"Just stand-by for now, Alicia."
"Ok."
While the two gentlemen left to scout and check the area, Alicia and Isara had a girl time with Luna, who was standing just before them when the two men left. Curiosity shook Alicia being that Luna was someone that they didn't meet on the last time that Noctis and his crew were in Gallia. Alicia looked intently at her, noticing her hair flowing down past her shoulders up to her busts. It looked as it if was made of golden silk. Her eyes were blue and her face gave her the impression of a goddess. Never has Alicia seen such beauty. She was far different, even more so comparing herself to this 'goddess'.
Luna took notice of Alicia's stare. "Umm... hi." She waved.
"Hello, I'm sorry I was staring at you. It's just that... your hair is so beautiful."
"Why thank you..." Luna replied, stroking her hair.
"I'm Alicia Melchiott." She introduced herself, reaching her hand. "I'm Welkin's second-in-command."
She returned the friendly gesture, shaking Alicia's hand. "My name's Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. But people and Noctis just call me Luna."
"Do you mind telling more about yourself?" Isara said, curiously looking at her.
"Sure." She nodded. "I'm actually Noctis' childhood friend along with Ignis and Gladio. Perhaps you also met Prompto. I didn't meet him until when Me and Noctis attended middle school together. While him and the rest of the guys went to the RAF Training School after that, I went to college. Turns out having a degree in Political Science gets you out of the desk job pretty quick if you say yes. I enlisted in the auxiliaries and found myself working as an airfield officer for a few days before I joined Noctis and his guys to the Parachute Regiment."
Fascinated, Alicia was also interested with Luna's closeness with Noctis. "Interesting. I also notice how you and Noctis are really close... Aren't you guys possibly-"
"Yes... Noctis is my boyfriend. We've been dating since middle school." Luna flushed.
"Wow!" Isara exclaimed. "That explains why Noctis has been telling me about you." Isara then went on to explain that in the time that Noctis was stuck in Gallia, he had been telling him stories about Luna, how he wished to soon return just to see her.
"Well that's my Noctis." She described.
"But what I don't understand is how such a beautiful lady like you end up joining in a risky operation like this."
"Well... I was really dead worried about Noctis when I didn't saw his plane return that morning after their operation. He was listed as Missing-In-Action along with the rest of his crew. I waited and waited for the day he could return, sitting just by the end of the runway looking at the skies for any signs. I was about to give up hope that he might be dead until one day, he finally returned." She paused for a bit before continuing. "When he got the offer of joining the Parachute Regiment, I wanted to join him. At first he protested but all I said was that it was better if we died together rather than just waiting for him with the uncertainty that he might be dead or missing again."
Alicia could sense Luna's dedication to Noctis and comforted her, putting her left hand over her shoulders. "It must have been painful in those days that you thought he might be dead."
Luna nodded. "But now, I think I feel better knowing that I'll always be at his side."
"Well that's good to know." Alicia comforted.
Although Isara still had memories that Noctis danced her on the night before they returned home, she thought of concealing that memory from her, not wanting to give Luna the wrong impression that she might also have taken an interest in Noctis. But the more she thought about him, the more she could remember the eyes that gazed on her that night. Isara could only hope that whatever she feels about Noctis was only a hint of admiration and nothing more.
As the three women continued exchanging introductions, Noctis and Welkin soon returned back from their scout of the west bank. The three women stood up to meet them as they went by them.
"What did you find, Welkin?" Alicia asked.
"Nothing much. I still need to scout the other side of the town. I can't find any sign that might help us get across the river." He turned to Noctis. "Has the district to the north been secured?"
"Unfortunately not. We didn't have the numbers to secure the entire western bank of the city. We were only told to hold this area until relieved. We might've faced some attempts by the Jerries to retake the town square from us but we've largely kept them at bay."
"Then looks like we'll have to secure the entire western bank first before we can think of crossing."
"I concur." Noctis nodded. "I'll get my troops up."
Wasting no time, the two formations packed up to move further to secure the north of the western sector of the town.
TO BE CONTINUED