Hi there.

The following is a fan-fiction of the Valkyria Chronicles series. I have written this years ago, because I have been knowing the franchise for long and I've always loved it. However, there were always some plot holes, continuity problems with the timeline and especially a premise that I felt simply couldn't allow the events of the first game to go the way they were: Gallia was basically leaderless, as the Chief of the Army was a complete idiot and the Prime Minister was a traitor vying for power.

Had the enemies been just as stupid, I could've accepted the ending, however History shows that a small group of soldiers might do some damage to an invader, but if their nation is without capable leaders it's doomed to fall.

Therefore, the major change to this book will be establishing a mighty leadership for Gallia in all fields: military, political and even economically, so the plot of the games makes much more sense.

Actually, this version is still a revisit of my old work, because rereading that I realized there were some aspects of the main plot that were way too convoluted and too hard to believe even for an anime WW2 product.

Prologue: The Triad

March 12, 1913.

The sun was shining over Bruhl. Salmons were swimming down the river and the lion paws were blooming. It might have been the regular beginning of spring, if it wasn't for the fact that the border checkpoint was being suddenly manned by a whole company of the Gallian Army.

Tensions were high between the Eastern Autocratic Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation, the two great powers of Europa. And the expansionist Empire had long pressured the small Principality of Gallia to become a vassal state. Preparations for a major imperial offensive had become apparent, and while the Principality would've like to avoid any involvement in the upcoming war, its people were ready to fight for their independence.

And among those people, commanding the platoon of border troopers at that moment, was Captain Erwin Absenkirch, age 23, short black hair with a growing beard and blue eyes.

"Captain. Scouts reported in, no sign of the enemy in the forest." said his second, Lieutenant Wilbur Fender.

"Understood." Erwin replied calmly and took his binocular, peeking in front of him. "Then I guess they're going to attack straight up." he said as he clearly spotted a whole regiment of imperial infantry lining up for an attack en masse.

"Did Adrien set up the defenses inside the town?" he asked.

"He did. Now, we only need to hope that General Gunther is ready, as well."

"He will be, have faith."

Not a moment later, Erwin saw the imperials starting their march toward them, passing the Gallian border signs without stopping.

Immediately, the Captain took his megaphone and spoke inside of it.

"Attention, imperial soldiers. You're entering Gallian territory without permission. Turn back immediately or we will open fire."

The soldiers in gray ignored him. With their officers at the head, the lines kept moving forward.

"I repeat. Turn around or we will open fire!" the Captain insisted, though he knew full well that they weren't going to stop.

As they kept marching without even trying to acknowledge him, the Captain put away the megaphone and instead took his rifle, leaning it onto the sandbags just like his men were doing.

"Hold steady...fire!"

The Gallians opened fire on the incoming enemy formation, quickly gunning down twenty of them and quickly reloading their bolt-action rifles, keeping a steady fire as the imperials started firing back.

With the defenders being entrenched, and having even a gatling gun, the attackers were quickly decimated with a speed that subconsciously shocked even Erwin, but that was no time to stop and think, because another line of enemy soldiers was coming.

"Bring back the MG. We'll cover you!" he ordered to the gunners, who quickly dismounted the gun while the infantry started a fighting retreat, toward the first buildings of the town.

They took some losses as the larger firepower of the Imperials did some damage now that the Gallians were out in the open, but Erwin and his forces still managed to reach the entrance of the Main Road of Bruhl, where a larger force of Army units had prepared a stronger defense.

Erwin jumped over the sandbags and took cover behind the first cover, not noticing that he had landed next to his third.

"So it has begun, uh sir?"

That was Adrien Agusta, currently Sergeant of the Gallian Army, but also son of a minor weapon producer.

"Indeed, Sergeant. Let's show these Imp bastards what happens to whoever tries to invade Gallia!" Erwin then exclaimed.

The Gallians thus unleashed another barrage of bullets, enhanced by what was now a total of three machine-guns that mowed down the Imperials like grain under a scythe, however they just kept coming.

"Where's the General?!" asked Wilbur as he kept firing his cartridges.

"Just hold on a little more." Erwin incited, still clinging to faith in his superior.

At last, an entire infantry regiment was attacking Bruhl, putting the defenders under severe strain as losses started to mount even for them.

Until a series of howitzer shells suddenly rained down on the Imperials, cutting them down even more. Caught by surprise, as they thought they were only facing a line of infantry, the attackers were now hesitating.

Then, an intense rifling came from their right and more Imperials started to fall down. Soon enough, the originators of that fire became apparent: Belgen Gunther and his battalion were falling on the Imps, not only helping the main defense line, but also maneuvering to encircle the enemy battalion.

"He's here!" said Wilbur. "General Gunther's here!"

"I told you he wouldn't abandon us. Everyone, now's our chance! Charge!" Erwin replicated.

While the gunners kept firing their deadly volleys, the infantry took spirit and charged the Imperials, who right then started panicking and crumble. Eventually, the few survivors threw their weapons away once all their officers had been shot.

"All right, boys. Line them up and take their weapons." Erwin instructed Wilbur and his squad.

While his officer obliged, the Captain turned toward his mentor. "Right on cue, General. Congratulations." he said with a salute.

"It is I who must thank you, Captain. You did a great job holding them back." the General replied benevolently.

"I just did my duty, sir. Now we should have gotten enough time for the civilians to…"

A sudden whistle stopped him from finishing his thought. Especially when the whistles multiplied.

"Cannon fire! Scatter!" Gunther immediately ordered.

However, the first explosions didn't happen on top of the troops...but inside the village. Quickly enough, the screaming of the last civilians departing could be heard all the way there.

"Bastards! Targeting the village when we're out of it!" Adrien yelled with indignation.

Erwin turned toward the General to ask for instructions, only to realize that the stoic General had suddenly widened his eyes.

"Helga! Welkin!"

Erwin quickly realized that the personal home of the General had been hit and was on fire. Presumably, Gunther's wife and infant son were still inside.

Just as Belgen was about to rush, Erwin stopped him with an arm. "Sir, no! We need you to coordinate the counter-artillery! I'll go get them!"

After the moment of shock passed, the General quickly realized that the Captain was speaking wisely, and nodded a positive. So while he turned around and tried to reach the Gallian artillery battery in the vicinity, Erwin nodded to Adrien and the two rushed inside the town.

Already along the Main Road, there were rubble and people laying around, others were trying to rescue the wounded. Adrien stopped to help a man whose wife had been hit in the head by a small pebble and was bleeding, Erwin instead rushed to the house.

The fire had engulfed the house and was spreading quickly. Erwin wasn't sure that he could survive inside of it...at least not without that.

He took a quick breather then reached his pocket. He took out a small piece of carved ragnite that he had been given when he left his village. He tightened it into his fist and focused. Quickly enough, he could feel the blue flame starting to burn inside his chest and then expanding to the rest of his body. His eyes turned glowing red and his hair turned suddenly white.

Only with that power he could hope to survive inside that raging inferno.

As he could feel the power swelling inside him, Erwin charged the door and crushed it open. He entered the house, where the flames were everywhere and the upper floor had crumbled partially upon the ground one.

"Miss Gunther!" he yelled.

"Over here!" a weakened voice came from the kitchen.

Avoiding a falling piece of flaming wood, Erwin rushed inside, finding Helga Gunther bent under a pile of rubble. She was unable to move, but she was holding out little Welkin with all her strength.

"Welkin...please…" she said with tears of pain and fear for her son, she probably didn't even realize that Erwin was bathing in the blue light of the Valkyrur.

On his part, Erwin didn't hesitate and grabbed the little child. To protect him, he was going to need both arms, so he said to her "Hold on, I'll be back immediately!"

Rushing with all his energies back to the front door, Erwin had to smash another small wall of charred wood that had formed in the fire before he could finally breathe again. He quickly checked Welkin: he was passed out, but he was still breathing loudly with his mouth, sign that he could still be saved.

"Hang tight, little one." he said as he put down the toddler. Erwin then turned back around, only to witness the house finally collapsing on itself.

Erwin quickly covered his face with an arm and ducked to shield Welkin from the dust and cinder that fell on them in the span of a few seconds. When it finally ended, the officer had Welkin at his chest and looked in horror at what was left of the wooden house, now reduced to a pile of black coal.

There was simply no way that Helga had survived that.

"Erwin!" the voice of Adrien came suddenly, but the Captain was too busy processing his frustration and rage for not being able to save the life he had set out to help.

As his friend realized that, too, they shared a moment of pain before the Sergeant spoke up again. "Come on. The General probably needs us."

Erwin nodded, even if it costed him. But first, they had to leave Welkin in the care of someone.

"Helga!" a woman's voice came.

Erwin turned toward that direction and saw an adult woman around her 30s running toward the garden where the trio was. She looked slightly familiar and a man, probably her husband, was trying to keep up with her.

"Are you the Gunther's neighbor?" Erwin asked after getting a hunch.

"Yes, sir. I'm Martha." she said, still shocked by everything happening. "Where's Helga?!"

"She...she couldn't get out." was all Erwin could say.

Martha gasped in horror, but that was no time to cry, as Adrien had underlined. Erwin stood up and showed Welkin to her. "Miss Martha. Please, I need you to take care of Welkin. Get him to the refugee camp, I'll make sure the General finds you once the battle is over."

Still shaken by the news of her friend dying, but with a renewed determination, Martha took little Welkin in her arms. "I'll protect him as if he was my son." she declared.

"Thank you." said Erwin before patting Adrien on the shoulder and the two rushed back to the frontline.

The imperial offensive that day had been a failure, but scouts reported that there were more incoming, and reports had come in that they were also besieging the fortress of Ghirlandaio, the main fortress of Gallia up to the north. The cannons were destroying the old medieval walls and it seemed unlikely that the Army could hold out before reinforcements arrived.

Even now, following General Gunther's plan, after evacuating the civilians, even the Army unit at Bruhl was pulling back toward a real defense line that crossed the Naggiar Plains, where he was hoping to drag and wear out the Imperial invasion into a battle of attrition from a favorable position.

However, the General was gloomy. They had already reached the refugee camp and recovered Welkin from Martha, thus letting him discover that his wife was dead.

And he wasn't the only one with a long face.

"Erwin, it wasn't your fault." Wilbur said to console him.

"Yeah, I saw you, man. You did everything you could." Adrien encouraged further.

Erwin didn't know if Adrien had seen his Valkyrur form, but at this point he should've asked something about it.

Erwin sighed and looked toward the General. He wanted to say something, but he just didn't have the courage.

"Go talk with him." Wilbur finally said. "I'm sure he will tell you the same thing."

The Captain had no desire to do that, but his friends were right: he couldn't delay that, especially since he was still a close collaborator of the General and there couldn't be unsolved issue if they were to operate optimally.

He took all the courage he had and walked up to the back of Gunther.

"General...sir." he said half-broken.

Gunther turned around. His face was still sad, but he bore no judgment.

"I'm...I'm sorry...I wasn't fast enough." Erwin said as he failed to hold a tear with his head lowered.

But to his surprise, Belgen stepped forward and softly put a hand on his shoulder. When Erwin rose his head, he found the General smiling warmly.

"I know you did everything in your power, Erwin. And you still gave me my son back. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart."

Erwin looked amazed and murmured a gasp. After getting his footing back, he found some confidence again and replied "Thank you, sir."

"This is war, Captain." the General said with a philosophical attitude. "Unfortunately, we can't save all."

On that, though, Erwin had to disagree. "I don't know, sir. If only we had known about the invasion a little sooner, we could've evacuated the people safely before the battle."

Gunther sighed. He didn't disagree, but he also said "Information can be very hard to attain. Especially with something like this."

"Really? We had spotted Imperial preparations a week ago. Why didn't anyone do anything?"

They were interrupted when Wilbur walked up to them. "Excuse the interruption. General? There is a Darcsen with the looks of an engineer who asks about you. Were you waiting for someone?"

"Ah, yes Lieutenant. Bring him to me, please." Belgen said cordially.

Wilbur saluted and walked away to compel with the order.

Erwin was instead a little fascinated by the way Wilbur had presented the matter: most officer of the Army would have chased any Darcsen away without even listening to him, but it seemed like that Lieutenant had at least given him the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe he could think about enlisting his help to redeem the sins of his ancestors. Sins that only him seemed to acknowledge.

"An engineer, sir?"

Gunther nodded. "An old friend of mine. He was working on a certain project."

Shortly after, Wilbur showed up with a Darcsen male that was around the same age as the General.

"Theimer." Belgen greeted amicably. "Glad to see you left unscathed."

"Me and my wife didn't have much to carry with us." the engineer said, then he added in a more contrite tone "I'm sorry about Helga."

"It's war. At least Welkin is still alive, thanks to Captain Absenkirch." the General replied, looking again at the Captain in a clear attempt to help him wash away the sense of guilt.

Erwin appreciated that, but now he was surprised to realize whom he had in front. Even Wilbur's face indicated that he had heard that name, before.

"Theimer?" the Lieutenant asked. "You're the Theimer who created our first model of machine-guns?"

Theimer gave a warm smile back. "Only doing my part for the defense of Gallia, since I'm too weak to fight."

Indeed, Theimer was quite slim, and one could easily guess that his family wasn't doing very well.

Another injustice, Erwin realized: Theimer was already a renowned engineer, but even if he worked for the government, his merits were unjustly downsized while the nation benefited greatly from them. The fact that he was a Darcsen was enough for his employers to pay him a misery and probably think that they were the ones doing him a favor.

"And you'll probably do even more, my friend." Belgen continued. "Did you happen to save your projects?"

Theimer nodded. "Luckily, yes. I have them all in my baggage."

"Good. I'll have an escort taking you and your wife directly to Randgriz. I have already arranged for you to lead one of our R&D facilities."

"Thank you, Belgen. I won't let you down." the Darcsen concluded before departing from the group.

Adrien, who had reached them but kept silent, now spoke up. "Was that Professor Theimer?" he asked incredulous.

"You know him?" asked Wilbur.

"Of course. I'm always on the lookout for engineers." he replied enthusiastic, then he toned down. "I actually suggested my father that we should've tried anything to hire him, but...well...my father is quite traditional about Darcsen."

"As pretty much every major businessman I heard about." Belgen said discouraged. "Wherever he goes, Theimer only found closed doors because of the color of his hair."

"Don't you have the same concerns, Adrien?" Erwin asked curious.

"I only care about a person's character and skills. And there are plenty of Darcsen who are great with technology, I think it's a waste that nobody gives them the chance to prove themselves." then he assumed a prouder stance. "But you know what? If I survive all this, I'm already set to inherit Agusta Co. Once my turn comes, I'll certainly do anything to hire people like Theimer."

"Yeah, I always wondered...your company might be small, but it's not poor. Was your father ok with you risking your life in the Army?" Wilbur asked.

"Yes, but then I said that if I served with the Army, I'd have a better understanding of the needs of our troops. We could start to produce better gear and thus get more commissions."

"Quite the dedication, Sergeant. I'm impressed." Belgen added amused.

"Then let's make sure you get out of this war in one piece, Sergeant." Erwin said with a smirk.

October 20, 1914.

It was over. After more than a year of brutal and static trench warfare, the introduction of the tanks and a death toll of over eight million lives all over Europa, the Great War had come to an end.

Under the leadership of Belgen Gunther, the Gallian Army and Militia had first stopped the Imperials on the Naggiar Plains, forced them to waste lives and materiel against the fortifications set up by the Gallians, until Belgen and Federal reinforcements managed to lead a successful counteroffensive that had pushed the Imperials out of Gallia.

It had been a massive victory that now threatened the back of the Imperial front against the Federation, which had forced them to agree to a ceasefire.

As the troops gathered around the Edelweiss, Belgen's personal tank built by Theimer, to celebrate, Erwin instead called Adrien and Wilbur aside to ask them something.

"All right, Erw, what's the matter? I don't want to miss the party!" Adrien exclaimed with a cheery attitude.

Even the usually serious Wilbur was on very high spirit. "Personally, I want to finally go to sleep soundly, but yeah, give us your shot."

They had come to a very secluded place, inside a trench where no one was left. Still, Erwin looked around another time before making his request in a very serious manner.

"Guys, what I'm about to show you, must not leave this hole. Is that clear?"

Surprised by the attitude of their friend, the by-now Captain and Lieutenant also lost their serenity and were starting to feel confused.

They became even more clueless and frightened when Erwin took his little talisman and transformed his eyes and hair in front of them, with a faint blue flame surrounding him. Major Absenkirch then undid the transformation and gave his two best friends a good minute for them to finally realize.

"Erwin...are you…?" Wilbur asked, unwilling to formulate the question.

"Yes. I have the blood of the Valkyrur." Erwin replied calmly.

Adrien brought a palm to his face and wiped away the sweat, while Wilbur struggled to elaborate further for a little more.

"I...I don't understand...I thought the Valkyrur were only a myth…"

"We are not." Erwin calmly stated. "But there are many things about us that had been...misinterpreted."

Adrien took another large breather then found the strength to speak. "Gosh. Now that was unexpected. Ok...how is this possible?!"

"You might want to sit down...this might take a few minutes."

The two obliged and sat on a wooden chair and a crate respectively, then Erwin started.

"As you know, our calendar begins with the conquest of Europa from the Valkyrur for the current Europans."

The other two nodded.

"Well...that's not a lie. Nearly 2000 years ago, a small tribe in the far north were the first to discover ragnite and to channel it into a technology that turned them into formidable warriors. Details of this story are scarce, but what's for sure is that the first Valkyrur led the Northmen from their hostile and frozen homeland into Europa to conquer it. In those days, the Darcsen were the dominant race of the continent, but they were also divided among different kingdoms, tribes and subcultures.

"As such, the Valkyrur first aimed at the most powerful of those kingdoms, which had its seat more or less in the current borders of Gallia. Once the strongest opponent was down, the Valkyrur led their people to the conquest of the continent, exterminating the Darcsen wherever they went. In response, the Darcsen did manage to build some weapons to fight their invaders, but it was too little, too late. The desertification of Barios was caused by one of their weapons, but they used it out of desperation, not malice.

"Eventually, it amounted to nothing. The Valkyrur destroyed any organized Darcsen state and subjugated them, and the people who followed them became the first Europans. The Valkyrur were thus celebrated as divinities, but reality was that they were humans, with all the defects that come with it."

"What happened after that?" Adrien asked as he listened with horror.

"The Valkyrur founded an Empire, but there was a major problem: as generations passed, the number of people able to use ragnite as a weapon decreased. With time, only a restrict group of families was left, and all they could do to solve that crisis was...a civil war."

"What?" Adrien asked baffled.

Erwin nodded. "Yes. The first empire fell barely a century after its founding. The Valkyrur killed each other and their number shrank abysmally, to the point where we almost went extinct. The few survivors, mostly people outside the power struggle of the nobles, eventually decided to renounce any claim of Valkyrur superiority and decided to hide their powers, so that the rest of humanity wouldn't be tempted to unleash that destruction ever again."

"And you...you are a descendant of the Valkyrur? How do you know all this things?" Wilbur asked. He was clearly shocked, but he was also trying to assess the situation coldly.

"You know I come from the island of Reite, right?"

"The 'Island of the Matriarchs'. Yes, we know." Adrien commented.

"Have you ever wondered why it's called that? And why, contrary to most societies in the world, that island is mostly ran by women?" Erwin asked. "They are all Valkyrias."

"Uh?" Wilbur asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that women are more likely to inherit the power. Nobody knows why, but I'm a huge exception: even in the past, only a small fraction of males were able to become Valkyrur."

"Oh, wow. Does it mean there are a lot of ladies trying to get you, back home?" Adrien joked.

Erwin didn't reply, but he couldn't avoid a nervous cough. Indeed, there were a few women who had the gene back on Reite and the elders thought that he should marry one of them to try and achieve a 'pure breed'.

"Oh, my God! I don't believe it! You lucky bastard!" Adrien exclaimed amused.

"But, Erwin…" Wilbur intervened more pragmatically. "Why are you telling this to us?"

"Because I trust you two like no others, and thus...I need your help."

"Help for what?" Adrien asked.

"To help me wash the sins of my ancestors. And to bring peace to Europa, once and for all."