18 Days after the Revolution began. Dawn, Western Territories, Upon the Field of Battle...

General Esdeath studied the enemy formation before her very eyes as the sun rose in the east.

Smaller than estimated, rounding out at a number of 1,500, composed of various individuals from three separate barbarian races found in the West. Two of which the Imperials fought in the previous war the won them the Western Territories.

1st were the tan skinned Enik, whom all had a single black ponytail sticking out of the back of their head at a 30 degree angle. The length of said ponytail varied between each individual, yet none stretched down beyond their shoulders. Other than that, these barbarians kept the rest of their heads bald.

Their eyes were a mix of black and brown, faces shaped strong and hard. They wore clothes made out of hay, animal skins, and leather each decorated in clan fashion.

Each were armed with at least one tomahawk, and either a bow with a quiver of arrows or a musket. The latter being the most advanced technology these particular barbarians posses, least in terms of weaponry.

They made up around 500 of the total 1,500 barbarian force.

The 2nd were known as Gauls, the most barbaric of all the barbarians of the west. Each had either slicked back spiky hair or long hair tied up in a large side not on the left side of their head. Their hair came in black, blonde, brown, and sunflower colors. They had an assortment of blue, brown, black, and grey colored eyes.

Most of them wore trousers, some wore simple shirts, capes, either or neither. Some of the more wealthy members of their clans wore chain mail and helmets. The wealthiest and usually leaders of these various clans ride into battle in a chariot.

The majority of the Gauls were armed with long wooden spears and large oval shields also made of wood with individual paint jobs that varied by clan and warrior. The wealthier warriors wielded a long sword. A space few wielded hunting bows.

All had blue war paint upon their faces and chests in various forms according to their native language as a pagan belief of invoking protection or boons in battle.

According to their customs, the youths of their society must enter the battlefield naked for their first campaign, save for a cape for those that choose to wear them. Many didn't.

These Gauls made up the majority of this particular barbarian force, with a rough estimate of 800 warriors in total.

The 3rd were the ones completely unknown to the Imperials: The Hoof.

These were a step people, each learning how to ride a horse as soon as they could walk. In addition, their skills with a bow are not to be trifled with. Each matured member of The Hoof race were master horsemen and archers.

Normally, they live on the massive mountainous boundary separating the lush Western territories and remaining Western Barbarian Lands from the vast deserts that stretch as far as the eye can see.

Each Hoof were armed with a recurve bow, a dagger, an iron sword, and some with spear. All wore an assortment of animal skin clothing perfectly suited for life in high elevations; warm jackets that covered down to their waist or upper leg, matching pants, long boots, and two thirds had a square hat with flaps that covered their ears.

All had square-like faces, small black eyes, an assortment of black hair in various styles including wildly unkept, long ponytails, shaven, and so on. Almost all had some sort of facial hair, most commonly a thin beard and thick eyebrows.

Around 300 in total, twice the number of the Imperial Cavalry under Esdeath's command.

The Gauls formed in the center, the Enik took the left with a dense forest at their backs, and the Hoof took position on the right.

"More diverse then I thought..." Esdeath muttered to herself.

She looked at her forces, the untested 2,500 Imperials she pulled from the shattered remains of the Western Imperial Armed Forces folded in with whatever garrison units could be spared.

A highly confident force that held the numerical advantage, and would no doubt hold against the savagely simple Gallic forces. The Enik and unknown Hoof however, would be tricky for this army to fight and win against. Lucky for them, they were lead by the infamous Ice Witch.

"Form the bowmen behind the shield bearers in the center." The general commanded. "Have our rifles supported with sufficient fighters take up our left to match the Enik, our cavalry are to form on the right and keep watch of the enemy horse archers in front of our spearmen."

An officer nodded, whirled their horse around and rode off to convey the general's orders.

"How...do you think we shall fare General Esdeath?" Her chosen adjustment asked nervously.

"Well...I have no doubt of our victory." She replied matter of fact like. "I'm concerned about some of the officers acting against my orders to obtain their own foolish glory, and there's the fact that for many this will be their first battle. 3 days of rushed retraining, even from someone like me, isn't enough to form you all into an ideal fighting force by my standards."

"In short, I think I'll have to do all the work this time. I trust you guys to hold back those Gauls while keeping those horse archers in check until I deal with those annoying Enik."

The fearsome general turned her head to the left. "Speaking of, I must travel to the left to lead the men personally. See to it someone with half a brain takes command here and holds those impulsive barbarians at bay."

"Yessir."

It took Esdeath a few minutes to arrive on the left flank.

The rifle corp and several sword armed soldiers stood in formation, awaiting her word.

She trotted her horse to study these inexperienced soldiers, glancing at the faces of each.

They were young and old. Barely legal to near retirement aged men and women. All about to experience their first real battle.

Esdeath knew that many of these people would die in this campaign, and while she'd do everything she could to insure as many of them would survive as possible, she wasn't about to take the naive route and do everything she could to make certain they would all live to see another day.

This is war after all.

People die in war.

Still, a proper speech here and there worked wonders. Thus, Esdeath decided to give these mostly "shiny" soldiers one.

"Soldiers of the Empire!" She shouted. "These invaders think they can take back land we have lawfully conquered in the previous wars with these filth! I say we give them nothing but cold steel and corpses to morn over! Reclaim what is rightfully ours! Defend your homes! Death to the barbarians!"

"DEATH TO THE BARBARIANS!" The 500 Imperials of the left flank shouted in kind, soon to be echoed by the remaining force in the center and right.

"Left flank, follow me!" General Esdeath commanded, drawing her rapier and pointing it forward. Her horse galloped forward, with a battle roar the troops behind her followed suit.

The Enik ahead surprisingly held their ground. Those with muskets moved to the front, aimed, and fired in near unity. Several Imperial riflemen fell to the volley as Esdeath's horse, unfamiliar with the found sound of musket fire, reared up. The fearsome general quickly brought the animal under control before focusing on the foes before her.

'They never fired muskets in volley before...Usually they rely on marksmen targeting.' She thought, referring to the tactics the Eniks used in the previous war.

"Rifles corp, form up." Esdeath commanded, turning her head around. "Form a firing line here and fire at will."

Unlike the machine guns saved for units closer to the Capital or important strongholds, the average Imperial Garrison Rifle Corpsmen were armed with single shot rifles.

Much faster loading time than the muskets used by the Eniks here and more accurate.

The riflemen lined up in three rows of 50 men each, the first rank kneeling after firing, allowing the second to fire over their heads with the third row as a reserve to fill in any gaps from return fire. A further 50 riflemen stood back in front of the 300 swordsmen to act as a screen in the off chance the enemy launches some surprise attack from the flanks or appears in the open gap from underground.

Crazy maneuvers have been preformed in the wars of the past.

The Imperials unloaded three devastating volleys before the musket wielders managed to fire a weaken counter. As the riflemen loaded a fourth, the barbarians ran to the relative protection of the forest at their backs.

"General, they are retreating!" A trooper reported the obvious.

Esdeath let out a small smile. She knew that this was a part of the Enik's usual playbook: Lore the enemy into a forest and conduct guerrilla warfare.

"Keep the pressure on, fire and advance." She commanded. "Stop short 6 feet from the forest, I'll take it from there."

One rank of riflemen fired, took a knee to reload, and the second line advanced in the gaps between each individual in the first row, took a step or two past those in the front row before firing. These men took a knee to reload as those from the first row stood up, advanced, fired, and took a knee while the second row conducted the same routine.

They continued to do this despite the lack of visual on the Enik contingent, some would call this a waste of ammo. Others knew the importance of keeping an enemy that can blend into the forests suppressed.

General Esdeath called the riflemen to a halt 6 feet from the forest. She rode her horse to the front of her men at a trot, stopping once she had the center of the forest directly off to her side.

She raised a hand up to the sky. Dozens of ice shards formed above her head. Esdeath waited a few seconds for what she believed to be a sufficient amount to form then swiftly lowered her hand towards the forest.

With shocking speed, the ice shards rained down unto the forest. Comparable to suffering an assault from several gatling guns, the trees splintered under the force of this ice attack.

The barbarians expertly hidden suffered massive casualties directly and indirectly as ice pierced bodies, splintered wood impaled the unlucky, and weaken trees fell upon those lying prone or falling from up high.

Screams of the Eniks hiding within reached even the furthest line of the Imperial formation, lasting for several minutes along with the crashing, cracking, and other sounds that portrayed these barbarians' devastation.

Silence fell upon the forest soon after the last shard fell.

"That should take care of most of them." General Esdeath stated. She turned her head to learn the status of the center front when an arrow brushed by her head. The Partas clan survivor offered a smile as she turned her head back to the forest.

As expected, she couldn't see the Enik that fired the arrow. Not that it mattered.

"I applaud you tenacity!" Esdeath praised, snapping her fingers in the direction of the forest. A moment after, a massive iceberg formed in the center of the forest and violently expanded nearly to the tree line separating it from the open plane.

Trees, bodies, animals, and other debris flew up in the air. Blood, dirt, and greenery rained down upon the iceberg dyeing it with red, brown, and green patches.

As the last of the Eniks fell to gravity, the fearsome general turned her horse around to face her men.

"Seems our foes are more tenacious then we give them credit for." She stated. "Reform the unit to flank the Gauls assaulting the center. We shall roll up on them and sweep this army from the field."

As the Imperials complied with her orders, General Esdeath finally could turn her attention to the battlefield as a whole.

What she saw made her pause in confusion.

As Esdeath leads the attack the Eniks...

Lieutenant Darodi, chosen commander of the center force, stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Imperials in the front line.

He gripped his oval shield tightly, holding a short sword in the other. This was his first real battle, like most of the others beside him.

Sure, he killed bandits before but never fought more then 20 men at the same time with allies as backup.

This is totally different. There's a tension in the air that made the LT break out in a cold sweat.

Darodi took a few deep breaths to calm himself, knowing that if he looked nervous it would be bad for moral.

Funny, how things change so fast.

Hours ago the whole force was boasting to General Esdeath that they could kill a million barbarians. Now they can barely contain their nerves when confronting a force they outnumbered almost 2:1.

"Keep formation as we move forward!" Darodi shouted, turning his head left and right so all could hear. "These Gauls will crash against our shields with all their barbaric might! Stand firm! Those in the back rows quickly fill any gaps that form in the shield wall! We need to hold out long enough for the general to attack their flank and we shall slaughter the whole lot of em!"

The men and women near him shouted their reply. One step at a time, maintaining their shield wall as best they can, the Imperial Center advanced towards the Gauls.

"Brace yourselves! Any moment now those barbarians will charge us with their full force in a foolish hope to overwhelm us with their strength!"

The mass of Imperials slowed but continued to press forward, preparing for the massive charge that was the signature move of the Gauls.

Minutes passed without any indication of the expected charge. Imperials looked to each other as they kept advancing, wondering what was happening.

Lieutenant Darodi lowered his shield, a risk tempting the rare Gallic archer to exploit. No arrows rained down as Darodi's eyes widened in surprise.

The space between the Gauls and the Imperials remained the same since the start of their march, giving the false impression that they weren't moving at all.

"They're matching our pace." The LT muttered. "Why? Why are they holding themselves back?" He turned his head to the left.

"Double quick lads!" He ordered. "Gauls are getting cold feet and falling back! Looks like they're scared of us before the fight even began!"

Several of his fellow Imperials chuckled nervously before the whole center quickened at a near jog. Their formation started to break but not enough where one or two steps would fix the fault.

Ahead, the Gauls increased their pace in retreat. Directed by a single warrior in a chariot, the horde of 800 continued to withdraw, uncharacteristically avoiding combat.

'Wait...weren't there some others on chariots?' Darodi suddenly realized. 'Where did they go?'

Before he could put any more thought to it, a trooper to his right called out.

"Lieutenant Darodi! Our right flank!"

Lieutenant Darodi turned his head right, struggling to see over the heads of his fellow Imperials.

The cavalry, lead by one Commander Gideon -the proper leader of this force under General Esdeath- stormed off rightward. Darodi couldn't see what they were chasing, only the spearmen assigned to the right also storming after the cavalry.

The LT only assumed they were chasing after those horsemen barbarians they were suppose to keep an eye on while guarding the center's flank.

"Those glory hungry idiots, they're gonna get us all killed." Darodi muttered a curse. With the right exposed, any sort of flank attack or risk of encirclement could easily break the mostly inexperienced Imperials.

Typical entitled officers, even in the face of someone as fearsome as General Esdeath all they cared about is their own prestige.

"Keep an eye on our right while we continue to advance!" LT Darodi commanded. "And relax our pace to reform our formation! The Gauls don't wanna play, that's fine! All we need do is keep them in check till General Esdeath can-"

Whatever Darodi had to say was forever silenced as an arrow pierced the right side of his throat. The man gargled blood as his eyes drifted right. His body spun around, catching only a glance of the enemy that took his life:

50 riders at full gallop firing with perfect accuracy into the exposed right flank reaching as far as the center of the formation.

Each shot killed or wounded an Imperial soldier, creating a further problem as they were in the middle of reforming the shield wall.

The Hoof forced open a gap.

As Darodi fell to the ground, his place in line quickly replaced by the shield men stepping over his body, the officer barely heard the characteristic howls of the barbaric horde.

The Gauls were coming.

The plan was for their 150 cavalry to absorb the blunt of the archer fire, acting as a shield for the spearmen behind them until Esdeath could free herself to deal with these horse archers by knocking them off their precious mounts, allowing the spearmen to move up with cover from whatever cavalrymen survived and deal with the barbarians on even ground.

A cruel plan, using her own men as shields, but what else could she do? The cavalry of this thrown together army were formed by entitled soldiers and officers with connections that bought their way to a position of note.

Utter nonsense. Only useful for parades, patrols, and sometimes scouting.

And now they were all gone from her sight, possibly destroyed along with the spearmen she assigned to support them.

A mistake on her part, trusting her reputation to prevent those incompetents from preforming disastrously stupid moves without her being present to hold their leashes.

Now with the right exposed, a mere 50 horse archers who artfully fired in full motion opened up gaps in the center formation.

The act of firing arrows with total accuracy at gallop instead of using the horse as an unmoving elevated platform is shocking enough -for the Imperial Empire never before encountered step archers- the fact that the Gauls showed restraint and lured the center out too far for the Imperial Left to close in from behind without circumventing the mostly frozen forest as originally planned is astonishing.

Now the Gallic horde violently crashed into the unorganized center, cutting their way through the front lines as the inexperienced Imperials desperately tried to hold them back.

General Esdeath frowned. This situation was far from ideal, but still salvageable.

Her first move, to deal with those troublesome horse archers.

She threw her hand across her body, snapping her finger once if was fully extended to the side.

Suddenly, a massive ice wall formed along the Imperial Center's right flank. A barrier to protect the exposed troopers from the accurate arrows, that as a bonus managed to take out 20 or so Hoof as it violently sent them airborne.
The length of the wall would prevent the remaining horse archers from hitting their flanks without riding hard to the ends, buying plenty of time for Esdeath to maneuver the Imperial Left.

Which is what she needed for the frozen forest laid in her forces way.

"Rifle Corps, skirt around the left side of the forest and attack the Gauls from the flank. The melee fighters will provide escort."

"And you general?" An officer asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Esdeath gave the subordinate a cool smile. "Saving my men from the barbarians."

With that, General Esdeath snapped the reins on her horse. At full gallop, she charge straight into the chaotic battlefield.

Commander Gideon lead from the front, following the cowardly Hoof with his 150 Imperial Cavalrymen. The spearmen struggled to keep pace behind them, but no matter.

General Esdeath overestimated the enemy. Never mind her audacity to even suggest that they, the prestige Imperial Calvary, act as shield for such plebeians as foot soldiers!

The commander smirked, his curly black mustache "flexing" at this speed. He and the others under his command will chase these horse archers from the field, then turn and hit those Gauls from behind. Thusly earning the glory and praise, despite disobeying orders.

Results were all that matter in war after all.

However, one thing irked the entitled commander.

These barbarians fled the field soon after the center started their advance. They didn't flee in a way that portrayed fear, but an organized retreat.

Gideon's ideology assumed these unknown step archers fled in the face of the superior Imperial might, but now... Also...weren't there less of them than before?

"No...something is wrong..." He muttered. Before he could ponder this thought, the Hoof ahead of him moved in an odd way.

Half of those in the rear grabbed the reins of the horsemen next to them, the other half turned themselves around to face the Imperials chasing them. These men and woman grabbed their bows, knocked their arrows, and fired with alarming accuracy.

Each arrow fired found their marks, wounding several Imperials around the commander. Gideon's eyes widened with shock at how anyone can fire a bow riding a horse backwards and hit their targets.

That shock was quickly replaced with rage. "You dare shoot at the prestigious Imperial Calvary?!" He shouted, joining his voice to his fellows similar cries at the sheer audacity of these barbarians.

And so in blind arrogance, the Imperials chased the Hoof in vain. The horses of the steps were much faster, sturdier creatures then those of the plains the Empire raise their breed, capable of feats that the average "plains walker" could only dream of.

On a dime, all 250 Hoof horse archers turned a neat 90 degrees to the left despite the significant snow on the ground. The bewildered Imperials galloped passed as their foes turned another perfect 90 degrees heading back the way they came.

Commander Gideon snapped his men out of their dumbfoundedness by ordering them to turn around and continue the chase.

As the Imperial Cavalry took a wide turn to maintain their formation, the Hoof horse archers closed on their true target: The exhausted spearmen.

The group of 350 depleted infantry didn't stand a chance as the Hoof formed what they called a "Hunting Circle"; a maneuver that involved several dozen riders to gallop in circles around a designated spot and shooting everything that moved.

By the time the Imperial Cavalry caught up, the spearmen were completely annihilated.

Commander Gideon cursed, ordering close ranks and shields raised. Slowly, for that was as fast as they can move in this formation realistically along with the fact their horses were tried, the 150 cavalrymen advanced.

Thus is came as a surprise when the 250 Hoof horse archers broke out of formation and scattered back in the direction of the battlefield. With what now looked like an ice wall of sorts blocking off the side they left exposed.

With a few seconds wasted on senseless gawking, Gideon gave new orders. Forming into wedge, the Imperials were set to chase after the Hoof when a new sound drew their attention.

What some would compare to the rumble of thunder came from their right. Soon after, the ground shook as thousands of shiny silhouettes appeared on the horizon.

"What...the hell are those?" An Imperial Cavalrymen asked in breathless fear.

Soon the silhouettes took form: Heavily armored riders with equally heavily armored horses.

None in the Imperial Empire ever seen soldiers like these before.

They came from beyond the desert of the far west, acting as mercenaries for these Western Barbarians and belonging to a powerful nation known as The Principality: An economic empire that runs on the slave trade.

Wearing scale armor on both rider and mount, armed with bow, lance, and sword or mace as a side-arm, each face covered by an Arabic styled cavarly helmet and a "mask" of scale or chainmail that covered all but the eyes.

These were cataphracts: A form of heavy shock cavalry.

The 150 Imperial Cavarlymen held their ground, rooted in nervous wonder and petrified with fear.

Barely visible from their position, these Principality Cataphracts drew their bows, knocked black steel forged arrows, and aimed high towards the foolish Imperials.

The sky turned black as these desert people released their arrows. Moments after, black steel rained down upon Imperial force that foolishly fell for the feint retreat that set this all up in the first place.

Commander Gideon was among the first to fall followed by what remains of the Imperial Right as each cavalrymen were pelted by at least 5 arrows.

In a total of 42 minutes since the battle began, the entire Imperial Right suffered 100% casualties due to sheer incompetence.

General Esdeath cut down another Gallic warrior with her blade. She turned to her left, extending her free hand out towards a naked Gaul toying with a fear struck Imperial. Several shards of ice impaled the youthful Gaul, allowing the Imperial to scurry away.

"This is utter chaos." The Ice Witch stated, not necessarily finding it a bad thing. The Gauls were more warrior than soldier, so a battlefield as mixed as this worked with their strengths.

Esdeath didn't have to focus on giving out orders, she did have to put effort into saving her subordinates however. Especially since many were overwhelmed by this intensity.

The sadistic woman turned her horse around, just in time to catch three Gauls charging her way. With a smirk, Esdeath pierced these brave fools with several quick thrusts of her rapier, followed by unleashing more ice shards into a group of a dozen or so Gauls that grouped together.

This turned to a war of attrition and, while the Gauls inflicted massive casualties thanks to their Hoof allies breaking apart the Imperial formation, they began the fight with a near 2:1 disadvantage.

With Esdeath pruning away their numbers, and the Imperial Left flanking around to the rear, it was only a matter of time before they put these barbarians in their place.

Little did the fearsome general realize that she had been playing into the hands of these barbarians master strategy.

On the left battlefield, the roughly 500 Imperials managed to round about 3/4ths of the mostly frozen forest when the ambush begun.

Gallic chariots -about 20 in all- rushed from their hiding spot just ahead of the Imperials. To these foes right, 300 Enik tribesmen on horseback appeared. The barbarians had reserves hidden behind the forest from the start.

Officers hastily organized a firing line, panic in their voices unnerving the relatively better trained than average rife corps. They fired a volley, too soon to inflict significant damage but enough to make a dozen or so riders and/or horses fall.

Fear struck the hearts of these men as officers ordered the ranks to reload and prepare a second volley as the rumbling of the Gallic chariots drew loader.

Instead the Imperials panicked, breaking ranks and turning to flee: The worse move any army can make in this situation.

The Gallic chariots and horseback Enik were upon them in minutes. They showed no mercy.

Thus is the double edged sword of being an overwhelmingly amazing general such as Esdeath. A being able to draw such superhuman strength from those around her, yet such men and women easily became paper tigers when their linchpin general wasn't around.

With the left flank secured, the Gallic chariots and the mounted Enik rode to strike the left flank of the remaining Imperial Army.

Esdeath realized things were taking a turn for the worse when a reserve force of 500 Gallic cavalry accompanied by 1,000 fresh Gallic infantry suddenly appeared and purred in from the front left and front right.

The enemy clearly hid their reserves behind the forest on the left and somehow planned for the ice wall on the right when positioning those swarming from that side. That, or they were absurdly lucky.

Her men were falling by the dozens, many loosing heart and fleeing. It was then that the Gallic chariots and mounted Enik slammed into the rear left, causing further Imperials to lose heart and flee towards the rear right.

Surprisingly to the general, the barbarians didn't fully encircle them and allowed those that routed to flee out of the closing gap. It became clear why moments after.

The Hoof riders, rounding 300 in strength, causally chased those Imperials that fled. These step people treated it like a hunt, shooting the panic stricken Imperials in the back with perfect marksmanship.

Soon enough, all those that fled had been killed. The Hoof prowled the opening, waiting like vultures for any other Imperials to make a similar mistake.

"So that's how it is..." General Esdeath stated with a frown. Around her, the remaining Imperials rallied around the Ice Witch. Out of the 2,500 they started with, only 300 remained in any sort of fighting condition.

The screams and pleas of the wounded and dying sounded all around, slowly being snuffed out by the barbarians as they "cleaned up" the field while surrounding the last of the Imperials.

General Esdeath mind raced, though she knew she could break out and perhaps crush most these barbarians herself, she knew that would be a different story for the rest of her remaining men.

Thus the Ice Witch hesitated, thinking of a way to effectively save the lives of the most of these Imperials as the mostly Gallic force cut off all but one point that lead to the waiting vulture-like Hoofs beyond.

As the general came up with several plausible ideas, a heavily armored Gaul adorned with a many antlered helmet approached on his chariot: A chieftain

He was an elder man with a thick, messy brown beard and a broad face. He gazed at the surviving Imperials in their defensive circle, looking in the faces of these determined but tired and clearly fearful men.

The Gallic Chieftain commanded his chariot driver to slowly circle the Imperials, for he wanted to take in the site of all these defiant mortal enemies.

The chariot came full circle 5 minutes later, coming to a stop roughly where he began. The Gallic Chieftain turned his body, hands resting on the chariot's side as he looked at the one being that devastate the entire army her by herself: General Esdeath.

"Tapfere Krieger unseres gehassten Feindes, du hast gut gekämpft!" The Chieftain began in his native language. "Wo es nicht für den Kollaborateur wäre, würden unsere Rollen sicherlich vertauscht sein. Sie haben uns unterschätzt und geglaubt, Ihre Art sei uns überlegen. Nun schau, was ein wenig gut durchdachte Planung mit sogenannten zivilisierten Wesen anrichten kann."

"Das heißt, du hast gut gekämpft. Sie haben sich unseren Respekt verdient. In diesem Sinne mache ich ein Angebot: Ergeben Sie sich und wir verschonen Ihr Leben. Es wäre eine Schande, Krieger eures Kalibers zu töten, also flehe ich euch an, euch einen verschwenderischen Untergang zu ersparen."

Relative silence held the battlefield captive as the Chieftain finished, awaiting his foes' reply.

(Arthur's Note: The native language is German and a rough translation that is basically paraphrased below. Forgive me German speakers if the sentences seem to not make any sense)

"He's saying that we fought well and earned his respect." An Imperial who understood at least some of the barbarian's language spoke to Esdeath's left. "He also says it would be a waste to kill us, and we should surrender."

General Esdeath let out a chuckle. "Of course he does." She turned her head toward the subordinate that spoke. "I think I found a method I can exploit...where all of you can make it out alive."

Esdeath commanded her horse forward, Imperials quickly opened up a path. Ahead, several Gallic riders approached their chieftain taking up guard positions as the Ice Witch causally approached.

She stopped when two armored Gauls moved to block her path. With a smirk, she glanced at these two before matching the Gallic Chieftain's gaze.

"I challenged you or one of your champions to single combat." Esdeath stated, recalling a particular tradition these Gauls partook in. "If I win, you let us go unmolested. If you win, my men will surrender to you without incident. Do we have a deal?"

The Chieftain waited as one of his subordinates translated the Pantas's reply, letting out a huff once finished.

"Normalerweise würden wir eine solche Herausforderung annehmen. Gegen dich, die berüchtigte Eishexe, wissen wir jedoch, dass keiner unserer meisters mit deiner Macht mithalten kann." He replied, tilting his head up as he glared at the general.

"Nein ... in Ihrem Fall hat der Kollaborateur diese angeheuert, um gegen Sie zu kämpfen."

"GENERAL, HE REFUSED!" The Imperial whom knew roughly what the barbarian was saying shouted just before an ear shattering chorus of horns blared out.

The Gallic Chieftain and his bodyguards rode off as a new force approached, riding through the gap left intentionally by the other barbarians.

Heavily armored riders unlike anything the Empire has ever seen before armed with spear, bow, mace, and/or sword rode into the encirclement. Hundreds of them.

They rode in a counterclockwise circle around the surviving Imperials while a few dozen formed a small clockwise circle around General Esdeath.

Without any warning, several of these cataphracts charged at the Ice Witch with spear, sword, and mace. While Esdeath fought off these new foes, taking it slow to observe they traits and pasterns, four of the heavily armored shock cavalry took out slings.

These sling armed warriors pulled out a small black sphere, lit the string stretching out from the center on fire by quickly brushing it against their armor, and placed the sphere in the pouch. The four cataphracts swung the sling around several times before throwing it forward, releasing the hissing black spheres into the crowd of Imperials.

Small explosions rocked the Imperial formation, enough disruption for the cataphracts to converge on the formation and take chunks apart with spear, sword, and mace.

Realizing she didn't have the luxury to enjoy herself as usual, General Esdeath swiftly cut down the current cataphracts assaulting her. More quickly took their place, which were just as quickly cut down with surgical strikes with blade and ice, and more stepped up.

Even so, the whole act didn't feel like the enemy's main focus. Like she was but a side show for their true aim.

It was then that Esdeath realized the true goal of the enemy and cursed herself for not realizing sooner.

This entire time, each and every move made by these barbarians was carried out with the intention to separate herself from her men and take the army apart piecemeal.

While Esdeath could certainly be considered a one-man army in her own right, she could only be in one place at a time. That and like all creatures only had so much stamina.

The fact that these formidable foes were more than willing to sacrifice themselves to keep her occupied spoke volumes of their determination.

General Esdeath stabbed the throat of one cataphract and was caught off guard by the pierced man grabbing her arm. Behind her, two others charged with maces in hand. With a frown, Esdeath let out a breath and froze the two behind. She struck the stubborn man in front in his exposed eyes, freeing her arm and sword before turning around to her remaining subordinates.

Arrows rushed towards her from the right, of which were deflected with rapid strikes or simply dodged.

Esdeath took a moment to look at the Imperials. They rallied and reformed, but took significant losses. It seemed a hopeless fight as these men tried desperately to keep the enemy back.

A few scored lucky blows and struck an exposed bit of leg at cataphracts that drew too close. However, the majority found their weapons to be ineffective against this new enemy, not for lack of trying.

Then the arrows rained, blanketing the tightly packed Imperials.

General Esdeath lowered her head, biting her lip in anger. She sheathed her rapier before raising her arms over her chest. "Enough of this," The Pantas survivor muttered, ignoring the 5 cataphracts charging her. "Mahapadma."

Thus time froze solid. Esdeath closed her eyes, taking in a breath, and redrew her blade. She began by stabbing the 5 cataphracts that dared to charge her, each with a simple thrust in between the eyes, before jumping off her still horse and moved on towards her subordinates.

'I suppose I'm too used to subordinates that can handle themselves in a fight.' She thought, walking to a particular Principality cataphract about to smash an Imperial with their mace. 'Years of combat have made me complacent in that fact. I need to be more mindful of the abilities the soldiers under my command can preform.'

Esdeath cut the hand off the mace wielder as she finished her thought, use its horse as a baselift and jumped to another cataphract. She continued to jump around, slaying or critically wounding various cataphracts about to do the same to particular Imperials until the very last moment.

Before she had to release her freeze on time, Esdeath positioned herself in the center of the remaining Imperials. Once time began to move, the Ice Witch quickly formed an ice made shield above to protect those that remained from the rest of the arrow storm that rained from above.

The Principality cataphracts as a whole stirred as Esdeath's handiwork reached real time. In the few seconds Esdeath can properly freeze time, she managed to kill or mane 47 cataphracts whom now either fell to the ground dead or registered their wounds in sudden shocking pain.

As their foes took a few moments to recover from the sudden changes, so too were the surviving Imperials.

"Rally around!" General Esdeath commanded. "Stay under the cover I created and form around me!"

With only a second of hesitation, the survivors did as directed. In that moment, a deep horn sounded out. In unison, the Principality cataphracts scattered in all directions, retreating from the battlefield.

It was then that Esdeath realized that the Gauls, Enik, and Hoof barbarians had long since withdrawn, using the heavy cavalry assault to cover their retreat.

Esdeath let out a tisk. Sure she could launch several long ranged attacks and score some kills, but the fleeing cataphracts were too scattered for such an act to be worth it. Same reason as to why chasing after such foes was pointless, along with the risk of exhaustion from using her trump card.

Besides, she had to deal with the fallout of this battle.

Several hours later...

All things accounted for, it was a shock that an even 100 Imperials survived that onslaught.

They-she underestimated the barbarians and those heavily armored cavalry. Here hours ago Esdeath blamed the Imperial officers stationed in the west of loosing due to sheer incompetence but now she knew things weren't so cut and dry.

With tactics like this, its little wonder why the western garrisons lost so quickly. Even the reports of the initial number of 30,000 invaders that she dismissed as an excuse for the disastrous losses would have to be reconsidered at face value...

She'd have to rethink her strategy to deal with these invaders.

"General Esdeath..." An Imperial drew her attention, clearly demoralized and drained from the previous fight by the low tone of voice.

The fearsome Ice Witch tilted her head to show she was paying attention.

"What...are your orders?" He asked, doing his best to maintain military discipline.

General Esdeath closed her eyes. "Send a report back to the Capital. Inform them of what happened here." She opened her eyes. "As for the survivors...head back to your homes."

"General?" The trooper tilted his head. "We suffered a defeat, but you still need an army to-"

"I will have an army." General Esdeath stated. "It'll take some time, a week or two to form, but they will be more than sufficient to destroy these invaders."

"I see...if that is what you command." The Imperial saluted half-heatedly, turned a full 180 and headed off.

Yes. She will have an army. One of her own making.

Another technique she developed back when her and her brother worked together to crush the Empire's enemies.

A technique that left her rather depleted as she used it, one that required patients and resources.

Thus, she decided to pull back as well to one of the few secure strong points left in the Western Territories. Time and security was what she needed to make her army. Once completed, these barbarians will be but a minor annoyance no matter what clever ploys they tried next.

General Esdeath commanded her horse towards the path of her chosen strong point; a minor fortress that should withstand any significant siege these invaders could throw at them.

As she headed off, the Ice Witch drew her sword. In deep thought, Esdeath moved her long rapier in front of her face. This particular blade was newly gifted on the night before her departure from the Capital. She smirked at the thought of the one that gifted the rapier.

"This seems just like his style..." Esdeath casually said, referring to recent events. "Wouldn't that be like you, to have an hand in all this. My...dear brother."

8 Days after the Revolution began. Before sunrise, The Capital, Fuyu's Mansion...

Fuyu personally answered the knock on his door, skipping in glee with the dumbest smile on his face. Normally, one of his maids would answer to door for all visitors the Chairmen would receive.

All but one individual, whom his staff have explicit orders to inform Fuyu should she approach.

"Sister~" He sang out, swinging the door open to reveal the Empire's Strongest General. "Welcome home~"

Esdeath chuckled at the repetitive routine her dear brother carried out every time she paid him a visit.

"Its good to be back." She asked, playing along with the goofy Fuyu." I trust everything has been fair since I've been away?"

"Everything is right as rain-well aside from one particular newcomer ruining my mood." Fuyu answered, glancing to the side as he spoke the last bit.

"Let me guess..." Esdeath tilted her head. "Is this about Syura returning to the Capital?"

"Got it in one!" Fuyu smiled wide at his dear sister. "You are so smart sis! No wonder you're still a general while I'm a lowly politician."

General Esdeath let out an uncharacteristic pfff. "You know as well as I that you are far more clever then I could ever hope to be, brother."

"Awh, you're just saying that." Fuyu chuckled, rubbing his elbow against her upper arm. "No one matches you in ruthless precision and sadistic execution."

Esdeath shook her head with a smile. Playing along with this brother-sister routine have always been amusing in private. A tad awkward in public but she "stayed in character" from time to time.

"Now then," Fuyu wrapped his arm around Esdeath's, escorting her inside. "what brings my brave sister who's about to head off to tackle the Western Barbarians to her silly older brother's impressive mansion at this hour?"

"I'd want to impose upon you a small favor." The Ice Witch replied as she walked with Fuyu towards the center staircase of the main hall. "Before I leave on this new campaign, I was hoping we could spar once more. For old times sake."

Fuyu stopped, eyes lighting up in a smirk as he turned his head to Esdeath. "It has been awhile hasn't it? Sure, why not?" He let out a laugh as he continued. "Best to see if I haven't gotten too rusty in all these years."

"You're being modest," Esdeath soundly countered. "I know that you engaged that masked Son of Nores member that interfered in that earlier operation. You haven't lost your touch."

Fuyu shrugged. "That guy wasn't anything to sneeze at. Barely a warmup." He released his dear sister from his arm, taking a step from the general to face her fully. "The backyard would be the best place to host our long overdue sparing match. I'll inform Ophelia to have a space cleared for it."

"I shall bare witness." A new voice called out. Both Partas survivors turned their heads at a casual rate. Standing in the open doorway was a member of Wild Hunt: Regin, the Illustrious Gentlemen.

"Apologies Flash Demon Fuyu and Ice Witch Esdeath," Regin started with a slight bow after crossing one arm over his heart. "I intended to knock, alas the door was left open and I overheard much of what you said in the last 5 minutes."

"No need to worry over it." Fuyu said dismissively.

"We detected your presence long ago, and choose to continue on as you held no hostile intent." Esdeath added with a smirk.

"It's...pleasing to know that one of that bastard's subordinates has a scrap of manners." Fuyu said, scratching the back of his head. "Any other members of your group stopping by this morning?"

"Thankfully, no." Regin answered with the shake of his head. "I share a distaste for many of my so called comrades that you seem to possess. I assure you that my goal here is completely unrelated to Wild Hunt."

"That's good, I suppose." Fuyu tilted his head. "So what did you come here for?"

"That can wait till after the duel between you two legends." Regin stated. "As a swordsmen that desires to fight the strongest of foes, baring witness to a fight between the Tyrant Duo...is a dream come true."

"Very well then. I'll allow it if you are fine with it Esdeath." Fuyu said, glancing at the woman.

Esdeath shrugged, closing her eyes with a smile. "This is your home Fuyu. You are allowed to call the shots, as they say."

Several minutes later...

Esdeath and Fuyu faced off against one another in a space cleared out for the two's sparing match. Standing in attendance were Reign, Ophelia, Air, and Diane. Air was struggling to suppress a yawn while Diane couldn't help but give a silly smile at the sight. The cold of winter bothered no one in that morning dawn.

As the two stood still, the rising sun slowly crept up from the East. Some with a more artistic soul would comment such a scene as the perfect backdrop for what was to come.

"What happened to your rapier?" Fuyu asked with the tilt of his head.

"Ah, yes." Esdeath started like she just remember the event. "It was shattered fighting a rather unique foe in Kyoroch."

Fuyu nodded. "A lot happened in the unofficial Capital of the East huh?" He said, drawing his rapier and placing it before his face.

"So much that few would even believe half of it." Esdeath replied, slowly stroking both her arms in turn. A moment after, ice surrounded them and formed sharp blades at the end.

Ophelia, acting at referee for the match, took a step forward. She turned her head to her master, then Esdeath in turn. With a nod, the green haired maid took one step back, closing her eyes as she spoke the next few words.

"You may begin."

What happened next took several dozen seconds in real time.

To the perception of these two monsters, it might as well have been hours.

The only one who could keep pace with a fraction of the battle was Reign, who's eyes trembled in awe.

He didn't catch the opening blows, but witnessed one of Esdeath's ice blades shattering.

At another point, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him as 6 Fuyus appeared to surround Esdeath in one moment.

Everyone saw ice residue and erratic formations of ice pillars appear suddenly that made Air jump awake and Diane rub her eyes before her jaw dropped in awe.

Reign braced himself, noting that Fuyu's Cheif Maid also adjusted her stance, before a shockwave struck out knocking Air and Diane on their back and rear respectively.

It was this moment that everyone saw Fuyu and Esdeath locked sword and ice blade with bloodthirsty smiles flashing their teeth portrayed on both their faces. Each tried to push the other forward with the weight behind their weapons, failing to gain ground despite their best efforts.

The pair soon vanished again, followed by more ice sporadically appearing and shockwaves raged.

Air turned on her back, hands holding her head in shellshocked fear. Diane moved to her side and gave the scarred girl a needed hug as she too shook in a lesser form of fear.

Reign took a moment to gaze at Ophelia during one period that he couldn't see either combatant. This mature maid held a face of calm the entire time, even as shards of ice came dangerously close to nicking her face.

Reign admired her nerves of steel, for rare was it upon the average person.

Just as he was about to return to trying to catch glimpses of the duel, the elderly man now noticed Ophelia's light greenish-blue eyes darting this way and that in perfect rhythm with what little could be visibly seen in real time.

Reign's eyes went wide at the sudden realization that this woman could keep pace with the battle between those two monsters.

"Return your focus to the field, Mr. Reign." Ophelia requested without so much as flinching in the surprised Wild Hunt member's direction. "This fight will end soon."

Reign, with questions in mind and shocked by what he learned in the span of 3 seconds, complied with Ophelia's direction.

What sounded like thunder struck out as soon as Reign returned his gaze to the field, followed by a light so bright in nearly blind the old man.

Air and Diane screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the thunderous noise.

The light faded, revealing a sweat covered Esdeath panting rapidly with as much of a smile as she could muster and a lightly sweating Fuyu pointing his rapier at his dear sister's throat.

"I haven't moved that fast in a long time." Fuyu stated with a laugh, removing his blade and sheathing it in one smooth motion. "It's nice to get a good early morning workout."

Esdeath tilted her head in a somewhat nod, clearly exhausted and struggling to catch her breath.

"Is...is it over?" Diane asked, peeking over her shoulder at the field.

"Please world, stop shacking!" Air muttered in relatively contained panic. "I can't take it!"

"It's over girls." Ophelia stated, turning around to face her fellow maids. "Go take a few minutes to compose yourselves then head off to your morning duties."

Diane nodded, pulling Air up with her and escorting the still trembling girl off towards the mansion.

"Poor Air. I think I traumatized the little cutie." Fuyu said casually, watching the pair go. "I'll make it up to her later then."

"That...was incredible." Reign stated, drawing the Chairmen of the Senate's gaze. "I couldn't keep up with even half of it, but from what I've seen it was spectacular."

Fuyu smirked. "Thank you for the praise, Reign." He turned his gaze back to his sister. "While I intended to keep things a tad slower at first, the thrill of the two of us fighting each other again riled us both up so much that barely anyone can witness the our battle."

"Trying to keep up with you're speed is always draining and distasteful." Esdeath stated between breaths, wiping the sweat off her brow."I cannot enjoy the battle with anyone at that pace, let alone use most of my moves."

"True." Fuyu smirked. "If I fought at your pace, or if you tried to counter me at such a slow speed with enough space using your usual tricks, I might have lost."

"If I'd used my trump card, you would have lost for sure."

"That's if I let you use it."

Esdeath laughed. "Indeed, the fact it requires a second of concentration and my two arms would probably be more than enough time for the infamous Flash Demon."

Fuyu bowed with a smug look in response.

"My lord," Ophelia stepped up, smiling. "Before your hubris grows any further, might I add my own critic?"

"By all means, let's here what you think of my brother's form." General Esdeath answered before Fuyu could reply.

Ophelia nodded at Esdeath, then returned her gaze to Fuyu. "Master?" She asked with that charming smile.

"Go ahead my dear." Fuyu said with the wave of a hand.

"As you have stated, it has been sometime since you reached that level of speed." Ophelia started. "So I'll forgive the fact that your footwork was off point. However, you still waste energy in those afterimages you fancy so much. True, seeing multiple forms of the same person at once can demoralize most it is a wasted effort upon you sister here."

"I just wanted to surprise her and see if she could defend from 6 angles at once." Fuyu defended himself with a nervous laugh.

Ophelia closed her eyes, letting out a dark aura. "Indeed. Since this was a practice match, you though you could play around with techniques I told you are a waste of time and stamina. I see I failed to stomp that out of you all those years ago..."

"Further more, what did I tell you about flashy moves during combat?"

"But...but Ophelia! That flashing finisher is how I earned my nickname as the Flash Demon-"

"So if your nickname was Dirty Boots, would you finish people off by kicking them with your dirty boots? Or if your name was Feces Fisher would you fish in your pants to throw feces at your foe like a goddamn monkey?"

"That's disgusting, I would never-"

"Then why the hell, my master, would you think to finish a fight with a thunderous flash that draws all you opponents attention to yourself?!"

"To...to show off?" Fuyu took a step back, mouth twitching as he let out forced awkward laughter.

The murderous aura around Ophelia grew more intense, pulsing with vivid anger that the Head Maid hid perfectly upon her face. She didn't say anything, simply took several steps forward until she stood face to face with her master.

For several long moments the two stood face to face, still as statues while Fuyu contemplated how long he had left to live.

Slowly, Ophelia pulled her head forward and rested it upon her master's shoulder.

"You are lucky I love you so much or I would have killed you for giving me such an idiotic answer." She whispered into Fuyu's ear, opening her eyes to gaze upon her lover with seductively cold eyes. "That, and the fact that you are no longer my student, I have no reason to correct your methods as I once did decades ago."

The aura around Ophelia suddenly dropped as she pulled her head back halfway, pausing a moment to caress Fuyu's face, then kissing the fearfully frozen man on the lips.

The Head Maid stepped back, bowed, turned and bowed to Esdeath and Reign in turn before turing around once more and headed off to the mansion.

Fuyu let out the breath he had been holding, panting much like Esdeath had been earlier. "Gods I thought she was gonna kill me there for a few seconds." He panted out.

"Haven't seen her like that in a long time." Esdeath added. "It has to be...20 years ago?"

"Around that time, aye." Fuyu agreed, gradually regaining his composure.

Reign took a step forward. "Forgive me, but I wish to get this correct. Would that green haired maid be your former teacher, Lord Fuyu?"

"Teacher, mother-like figure, and first true lover aye." Fuyu said, taking in a deep breath. "We meet soon after I arrived in the Capital, around when I was 6. Opheila was 10 at the time by the way."

"That woman was something of a genius, teaching others mostly older than her how to fight and reach speeds beyond the limits of normal humans." Esdeath cut in, folding her arms under her chest. "Only known in closed circles, of course. After all, the idea of a 10 year old being one of the strongest individuals in the Capital sounds ludicrous."

"I tried, but couldn't keep up with her training when I was a young girl, but my brother stumbled his way through it nearly dying several times. His reasoning for going through that hell was, of course, to try and satisfy his then newly discovered lust."

"Lets just say that she is as stunning now as she was 20 years ago." Fuyu said without shame. "But yeah, Ophelia's the reason I became ungodly fast. Thanks to her training, not only did I become one of the greatest generals in the entire history of Empire, I also bang the beautiful woman who helped make me who I am today on a regular basis. Am I lucky or what?"

Reign let out a snort. "I cannot say I agree with your reasoning, but it is needless to see how it carried you to such incredible heights." The elderly gentleman bowed, crossing his arm along his chest. "I humbly give my thanks for this insight. Thus, I shall take my leave after my other business in concluded."

With those words, Reign paced to Fuyu as he reached into his coat. Pulling out a folded up letter around the time he reach arms length, Reign held out said item to the Chairmen of the Senate.

"I've been asked to deliver this letter from a third party whom wishes to remain annonomys." The elder swordsmen stated. "He requests you open it once you are alone."

Fuyu took the letter casually, studying it for a moment before placing it in a pocket. "I will read this later today."

Reign nodded, bowed once more, then headed off without another word.

Fuyu and Esdeath watched him enter the mansion before committing to anything else.

"I won't pry into the letter," Esdeath stated. "do tell it it turns out to be an interesting piece."

Fuyu chuckled. "Who knows, it could be from a fan of the glory days or one of the surviving senators bitching about something new." He grabbed his sheaved sword, pulled out the whole set from his belt, and held it out to his dear sister.

General Esdeath stared at the sheaved rapier with an eyebrow raised for several moments before raising her gaze to her brother.

"Consider it a gift." Fuyu said, answering the question Esdeath was on the verge of asking. "A token of fortune for your inevitable success in combat."

With a second hesitation, Esdeath took the sword in her hands. She took a moment to draw the rapier, studying the blade and testing its out with a few simple strikes.

"It's lighter than mine."

"Of course, but just as strong." Fuyu replied. "We did have the rapiers made at the same forge after all."

Esdeath sheaved the blade, securing it to her belt while looking at Fuyu. "What will you use for a weapon then?"

"Oh I have various substitutes that I can call upon." Fuyu replied with a smirk. "Besides, I cannot in good faith let my sister go to war without a proper weapon at her side. So, take mine and know that I'm always with you."

Esdeath laughed. "You have a way with words, my dear brother. No wonder you turned to politics."

Fuyu rolled his eyes. "Ah, don't remind me."

The two Partas survivors laughed, locking eyes for several moments afterword.

They stepped closer, drawing into each other in a hug.

"Give them hell, dear sister."

"Of course, dear brother."

With that, the two pulled apart. Esdeath walked off, she had much to do before her departure to the Western Territories.

Fuyu watched her go, almost feeling sorry for his fellow Partas for the trouble his schemes would cause to the fearsome general.

Once she disappeared from sight, Fuyu took out the letter given to him just prior. He unfolded it, curious as to who would use a member of Wild Hunt to contact him.

In minutes, he crumpled the paper in fury as the sun fully rose from beyond the horizon.

Teeth flaring, Fuyu decided at that very moment that Wild Hunt had to be exterminated posthaste or all he planned would become undone.

19 Days after the Revolution began. Midday, The Capital, Imperial Palace...

"LET ME FUCKING KILL THAT BITCH!" White Scorpion, barely restrained by Iron Skull, screamed as loud as he could. "EVERYONE THAT MAN LOVES HAS TO DIE BY MY HANDS! FOR ALL THE DEATH THAT BASTARD DELIVERED TO OUR COMRADES! DDDDRRRAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKEEEEEE!"

The former member of the 31st Engineer Corps growled like a wild animal, snarling and foaming at the mouth as he cursed his need to kill Seryu.

"Come the hell down, you crazy SoB!" Iron Skull struggled out, his massive build moving this way and that as White Scorpion thrash about in the confines of the armlock the mercenary placed the crazy bastard in.

Wave and Run took up defensive positions in front of Seryu's bedroom. However, neither had their Imperial Arms on hand, thus were somewhat disadvantaged. The plus side is that White Scorpion didn't have his usual gear either, but this was offset by the surprising strength he showed now with this mountain of a man barely able to contain him.

"YOU ALL DON'T GET IT!" The tan man screamed. "I NEED-WE NEED CLOSURE FOR WHAT HE DID TO US! MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS NEED TO BE AVENGED! IF I CAN'T KILL THAT BASTARD THEN SOMEONE CLOSE TO HIM WILL BE ENOUGH! DRAKE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL BE SENDING YOUR WHORE TO SEE YOU IN HELL!"

"How do you even know that our Drake and the Drake you are looking for are the same person!?" Wave interrupted, throwing a hand to the side. "How do you know when you never even saw him?!"

The tan man suddenly stopped his tantrum. His eyes slowly drifted towards the young Jagears before him. White Scorpion's arms dropped, his body went limp as he stared at the two before him with a scowl.

"...Explain what he looks like then." White Scorpion demanded in a surprisingly contained voice.

Wave stared at the insane man before him, hesitating for a few moments. He took a deep breath, then proceeded to describe his recently fallen friend.

"He has short blue hair, dark blue eyes, a scar across his nose, and wears this black skin tight sleeveless shirt framing his biceps along with baggy, green cargo pants and short black boots."

"That's Drake down to a capital fucking D!" White Scorpion yelled with renewed vigor. Once more, he thrashed about in Iron Skull's arms. "Son of a bitch was hiding in plane sight and I missed him! That doesn't matter now though! Not with this wench to take on all his sins!"

"Let me at the little whore!" White Scorpion screeched. "If I can't kill the Drake, his bitch will be a fine substitute!"

"Like hell we're letting you hurt her!" Wave yelled in reply.

"THEN YOU CAN FUCKING DIE TOO FOR ALL I CARE!"

White Scorpion brought his helmet wearing head forward as far as he could, then whipped it back with a surprising amount of force smashing into Iron Skull's chin. The giant of a man took to steps back, daze and grip around his insane comrade weakened.

White Scorpion broke out of the hold in an instant, pouncing toward the door in front of him. "GET OUT OF MY DAMN WAY!" He roared, tongue handing from the side of his mouth.

White Scorpion grabbed both Jagears by the shoulder and threw them aside with unnatural force.

"What strength...!" Run muttered as he managed to barely catch himself before hitting the floor.

"Leave Seryu alone!" Wave called, pushing himself off the ground and running towards White Scorpion. The latter smiled wickedly, smashing the door to Seryu's room before pouncing inside like a wild animal.

The tan man took two leaps inside, eyes quickly scanning the room for Drake's lover. The room was dark and messy, things broken and carelessly thrown scattered all around.

Scorpion's eyes settled on the bed where the back of a naked woman laid. He chuckled, then felt someone grab his shoulders.

White Scorpion rose to his feet, spun around and delivered an open palm strike to Wave's face. The young man flew back toward the doorway, soon to be caught by the recovered Iron Skull.
Run ran into the room soon after, but by that time the Wild Hunt member already turned around and pounced at Seryu's laying form upon the ill-kept bed.

White Scorpion didn't care about what these three trying to stop him would do after, he only cared about revenge. Even if he wouldn't live for it to sink in, as long as it was carried out.

"DRAKE'S BITCH! AT LONG LAST!" He let out a wicked laugh. "TIME TO PAY UP FOR ALL THE PAIN YOUR FUCKING LOVER INFLICTED UPON THE 31ST!"

The tan man landed on the bed, mounted himself upon Seryu's naked body, and quickly began to chock the life out of her by wringing her neck.

Seryu, surprisingly, didn't show a sigh of struggle in her face. The look in her eyes were of someone who had lost all hope in living, they dried tear tracks upon her face hinted at hours upon hours of crying.

Still, even if this bitch was a broken husk, she still loved that hated man.

And that was enough for White Scorpion.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" The madman chanted, applying more force into his hold.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Run reached halfway to the bed. Plenty of time to snap the bitch's neck and enjoy it a little.

Or so he thought, when a flash of light appeared on the edge of his vision. By the time he gave a second of wonder as to what that light was, White Scorpion found himself upside down and airborne.

"Huh?" Was all he managed to say before landing hard in the far corner of Seryu's room.

The insane engineer hopped to his feet, crouching down to all fours to pounce again when he saw what hit him.

Seryu, wrapped in a white cloth, was held princess style by a blue-white, wavy haired man standing upon the bed.

The man wore a white Imperial Politician's uniform custom decorated with a short cape that covered part of his left arm and polished military medals upon his right chest.

It was none other than the Chairmen of the Senate.

The Partas Clansmen Fuyu.

"Who would have thought that upon taking a stroll through the palace I would find such an ugly sight as this?" Fuyu's voice filled with venom spoke aloud. "The mad dogs of Wild Hunt are causing trouble for my dear sister's subordinates. Tisk tisk, that is a big mistake."

Everything remained still and silent, as if the very world hung with bated breath upon this man's every world.

White Scorpion instantly hated this man with every fiber in his body.

Almost as much as he despised Drake.

After taking a moment to assess the man before him, the chairmen knew there would be no reasoning with this particular mad dog.

"Withdraw or die, that is my ultimatum." Fuyu narrowed his eyes towards the little man. "I have no patience for people like you, so consider it an honor I even gave you a choice."

White Scorpion flashed his teeth in a growl. "And who the hell-"

"-of course we will take up your offer to withdraw." Iron Skull interrupted, pacing to White Scorpion's side. "My buddy here just got too heated after hearing an old enemy's name is all."

The giant mercenary glared at the tan mercenary, eyes portraying anger and a need for compliance.

White Scorpion thought things through for a few moments, quickly realizing that he couldn't achieve his goal in this set up, and let out a tisk.

"Yeah yeah, my bad." He said half sarcastically. Rising to his two feet, White Scorpion followed Iron Skull past the young Jagears and out into the hall.

Run watched the pair leave as Wave rushed to Fuyu and Seryu.

"How's Seryu?" Wave asked once he drew near. Fuyu smirked at the young man. "She's doing fine, for someone who's given into despair."

"Right..." Wave looked down for a few moments, clenching his fists. He raised his head after coming to a decision. "Hey-"

"I think it's best if Seryu stays at my mansion for the time being." Fuyu said matter of fact like, cutting whatever Wave had to say short. "She'll be better protected there."

Wave blinked a few times before nodding in understanding. "Right, that might be the best move."

"Even Wild Hunt should think twice before assaulting the famed Chairmen Fuyu's home." Run said, coming beside his fellow Jagear.

"Just...don't make her a member of your maid harem, ok?" Wave finished.

Fuyu let out a burst of laughter. "Oh don't you worry, Seryu isn't my type anyway." He replied, stepping off the bed. "I'll bring her right away. If you two wouldn't mind gathering her belongings? I'll send someone to pick them up later."

"We'll get right on it." Run soundly replied.

Wave glanced down for a moment before speaking once more. "Uh...Chairmen? Can I request some of your time to...discuss something important?"

Fuyu smiled, taking a step toward the dark blue haired body. "I was actually going to ask if the lot of you would come with me on a little field trip in a few days. There's something I want to show you. We can talk after that, if it's ok?"

Wave let out a breath. "A few days...sure, that's fine." He answered. 'Plenty of time to get my head on straight...' He mentally finished.

"Great. I'll see you Jagears later then!" Fuyu said with a wide smile, walking off with Seryu still in his arms.

Run looked at his...friend, for that's what they were at this point, were they not?

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you want to discuss with Chairmen Fuyu?"

Wave sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure myself." He answered. "I just feel the need to...unpack a lot of my feelings with someone as wise as that guy I guess? I don't know. Before that mess with Bolic I thought I knew all the answers."

Run allowed himself a small smile, placing a hand on Wave's shoulder. "That's what it means to be human, Wave. We all tend to think we know it all, then something unexpected gets thrown at our face and throws everything out of proportion."

"Now come, we have to sort through this mess for Seryu's items." The blonde haired man finished, lowering his hand then turning towards the messy dressers along the wall.

"Right..." Wave turned around, following his comrade's lead. "We're only human, after all."

21 Days after the Revolution began. Late night, The Capital, Jast's Personal Office.

Senator Jast sat at his desk, researching once more into anything of note for the Sons of Nores organization. Their origin, lore, even what this Nores is. Anything that would help reveal anything about this mysteriously disruptive force.

He spent much of the last half year narrowing down the part of the globe this group might have come from: The Eastern Islands

"Interesting..." He muttered, flipping a page in the current book he engrossed himself in.
Currently, he read an old book of fables originating from the East. Many of these fables are far fetched, but showcase the wide array of cultures that can be found in that section of the world.

Of particular note was a nation of three islands referred to as Lui, another nation of magic aside from The Dominion. While Jast has yet to find anything on the history of this nation, the fact that their fables hint at necromancy being commonly practiced make this nation a strong candidate as the original host country for the Sons of Nores.

In addition to this, another hint which may lead to the answer of what is Nores pops up here and there.

Apparently, the nation of Lui have a rather unique religion. They worship a being they refer to as The Savior and, while other details are scarce, constantly reference him in various fables from the nation of Lui.

Heroes and Villains alike are compared to The Savior and what's referred to as The Faceless Figure, or comparing deeds to The Savior's Grand Army of the Dead against the Four Calamities of Discord.

Following this line of thought, is possible that this Nores is either The Savior or The Faceless Figure. Assuming the nation of Lui is indeed were these Sons of Nores originate from.

So deep was Jast involved in his studies that he failed to notice the musical notes being played before him until the third song began.

The dark haired senator quickly brought his head up. Leaning by the far wall close to the door was a man appearing in his mid twenties playing a soothing tone on his Cli lyre.

This man had brown, slicked back hair featuring a single cowlick hanging over the right side of his head and two strains of hair in the shape of thunderbolts stretched down to his shoulders. He had crystal blue eyes and a beauty mark upon his left cheek.

He wore a set of clothes featuring various green and brown colors that befit a traveling musician. He even wore a feathered cap.

"I was wondering how many songs I would get through before you noticed me." The man in a seductively soothing voice said, never missing a beat. "This is the third song I've preformed for your pleasure, in cause you too were wondering."

"I don't recall requesting a musician." Jast stated, placing both hands on his wooden desk. "And I do not recall any appointments regarding visitors matching your description."

The bard smiled. "I imagine ever since that Xein Shi murdered most of the senators you haven't had much in the way of visitors. Though you have gone out of your way to meet with Chairmen Fuyu several times. Curious, as the previously mentioned murderer now works for him."

Jast frowned. "Are you one of Saikyuu's spies?"

The good looking man rolled his shoulders, taking a moment to finish his song before replying. "That's not a bad guess, Senator Jast Ritterlichkeit. While I and my fellows do work with the good old secretary from time to time, we answer directly to the Prime Minister."

The man pulled his lyre down a tad as he looked deep into Jast's eyes.

"They call me Alec the Bard. You can call me Alec though, as simpler is better or so they say."

"Very well then, Alec." Jast straightened up in his chair. "What business does a bard-spy have with me?"

"Simple." Alec pulled his right arm to his a side pouch and pulled out a scroll with the broken seal of one of the noble households of the Polar Knight Kingdom.

"We intercepted a giant of a man in the Northern Territories. Found this on his person and upon reading its contents found your name scribbled upon it several times. Curious, very curious."

Jast broke out in a cold sweat. His hands tensed as his mind raced at what the reply could have been.

"Your marriage request has been approved by the way." Alec teased, tossing the scroll toward the senator. "Congratulations, I hope she's a real looker."

The scroll landed on Jast's desk and rolled perfectly to his left hand. The senator gave the scroll no attention however, retaining his focus upon this unexpected threat before him.

Alec stared into Jast's serious eyes with the most relaxed look upon his face for several minutes. Finally, the bard opened his mouth in a mocking smile.

"I get it. You think you're in trouble." Alec tilted his head. "You'd very well would be if the context of that letter were any different."

"Excuse me?" Jast blinked.

"Go on, read and you'll understand." Alec the Bard demanded while maintaining his causal tone of voice.

Slowly, Jast took the scroll in his hand. He glared at Alec, the latter shrugging once more before closing his eyes. His fingers moved to playing another song upon his lyre.

Keeping an eye on his "guest", Jast slowly opened the scroll. After a few moments, the senator took his eyes of the bard and read the words before him.

Greetings, Friend of the North.

I am know as Prince Vind Lyn, Supreme Commander of the combined armed forces of Polar Knight Kingdom.

My fellow princes and princesses in charge of our various city states have taking your generous proposal to debate and reached a favorable conclusion.

We agree that the sister of the Great Fool of the North, Akihiko Seika, shall be married to you, Jast Ritterlichkeit, as a measure of cementing your proposed alliance between our two nations.

As you have written, we agree that said marriage shall take place after the growing rebellion the Empire is facing have been brought to heel.

In a show of good faith of our future alliance, we of the Polar Knight Kingdom shall send a detachment of our army to assist in the defense of your capital, and more importantly you, Senator Jast, as the cornerstone to the joint future of our nations most be protected in equal measure.

We look forward to our future meeting.

Your future relative,

Prince Vind Lyn

"As you can see, we are in favor of what's written in that letter." Alec the Bard stated in perfect timing to when Jast finished reading the letter. "An alliance with the North would help ease the pressure currently plaguing the Empire. Though my boss is a tad disturbed you haven't informed anyone, outside of your buddy Fuyu we assume, about your plans."

"Had we known, my colleges would've have had to use such harsh measures against your giant messenger. If he wasn't so stubborn we might've been able to avoid killing him."

"So Norman is dead?" Jast asked for confirmation. Alec nodded in confirmation.

"A thousand apologies, it was a rather messy detail on the whole affair." The bard said. "As a form of repayment, I'll inform you that you are now a person of note. Meaning that you attracted the Prime Minister's eye and will be subjected to observation. This is but a courtesy visit as I and others will be watching you from this point forward."

Jast smirked. "Here you said I brought relief to the Empire by pacifying a threat, and now I'm to be watched like a potential criminal?"

"Indeed, and we are quite thankful for your efforts!" Alec said with his own smirk. "The fact remains however, that you acted without approval. In the eye of the Prime Minister, that's a big no no."

Alec the Bard pushed off the wall. "With all that said, I do favor you Senator Jast. You are a man of intelligence and beauty. Please do us all a favor and act innocent till all this noise dies down so we can go back to the days that you never knew of those that reside in the Prime Minister's shadow."

He tipped his hat to the senator before moving toward the door. "I bid you a goodnight...and do get some sleep soon. I fear for your completion if you continue to pull all-nighters."

With those words, the spy-bard saw himself out. The door to Jast's office closed with a quiet click, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.

Jast let out the breath he'd been holding and, after waiting several seconds, leaned back in his chair.

"You did catch all that, correct?" He spoke aloud.

"Indeed." One of Serpentine's shinobi hosts replied. "I will inform Chairmen Fuyu."

"Do that...these factors are getting much more complicated." Jast said, leaning forward to return attention to the book before him. "Also, tell him I have a lead on one of our other problems."

The shinobi didn't reply, they simply disappeared into the night.

Jast rubbed the side of his forehead, reveling in the fact that now he had to tread lightly.

For the eyes of Honest were not something any sane individual would want cast upon them.

25 Days after the Revolution began. Morning, The Capital, Fuyu's Mansion...

Run of the Jagears arrived earlier than what was originally agreed upon by his fellow comrades. He wished to have a private chat with the man that invited them as well as check in on Seryu in person if possible.

He had 3 hours before his fellow Jagears Wave and Kuro should arrive. Run hoped the chairmen wasn't the type of person that grew irritate by unannounced visits, otherwise this would be an awkward 3 hours.

The blond haired man took in a breath, stepped up to the front door of the impressive yet simple designed mansion, and knocked three times.

A few seconds passed before one of Fuyu's maids answered the door. This maid had tan skin and short orange-red hair. The maid uniform she wore was styled in a rather foreign manner unlike any Run had seen before. (Its in the Chinese Maid Style)

The uniform seemed to be a fusion of a typical miniskirt maid style with what Run identified as a qipao. The girl also wore black, thin slip on shoes.

"How can I help you?" She asked with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Run. I've been invited to the estate today, but I can a bit early. I'm wondering if Chairmen Fuyu is available? There are somethings I want to ask."

The maid bowed, opening the door wider. "I'll see if the master if available. For the time being, please wait here in the lobby until someone comes for you."

"Thank you." Run said as he stepped inside. The maid closed the door as Run walked to the center of the staircase hall. The maid walked off, traveling upstairs as Run was left to his own devices.

It took several minutes before another maid came for the young man. Lead by the young girl that introduced herself as Air, Run traveled up and through the mansion in a series of twists and turns that lasted shorter than it felt.

Air knocked on the door they stood before. "M-master Fuyu? I have brought Run."

"Let him in, my adorable Air."

Blushing slightly, Air opened the door for Run and assured the young man inside. The door closed behind him, leaving Run alone with the infamous Flash Demon.

"Greetings, Run. You came early." Fuyu said with a smile, resting his head upon his hand. With the other, he held a cup of tea. "Please, join me."

Run nodded, pacing to the open chair aside from the table Fuyu sat by.

"So, what brings you here hours early?" Fuyu asked, turning his body slightly toward Run.

"How is Seryu fairing?" Run asked out of hand.

Fuyu mouth an ah, taking a sip of his tea. "Seryu has...accumulated to life here." He answered, lowing the cup in his hand. "Still suffering from PTSD of course, but she's improving. We've managed to get her to exit out of her room yesterday for a walk through the mansion."

"That's good news." Run spoke, taking a simple cookie from a variety plate set upon the table beside him. He studied the cookie for a few moments, casually turning it around before speaking once more. "I trust you know that I haven't come here just to ask about my comrade."

Fuyu nodded. "I can arrange a meeting, if time allows."

Run smiled, closing his eyes as he took a bite of the cookie. Perfectly balanced sugar cookie that wasn't too overwhelming sweet for his tastes.

"Thank you." He stated before taking another bite from the sweet.

Fuyu waited patiently as Run ate, sipping his tea on occasion as the young man finished his snack.

"Before we go see your friend, would you mind if we talked in length?" The Partas survivor asked.

"I don't see why not." Run answered with a slight laugh.

Fuyu chuckled, placing his teacup upon the table before repositioning himself in his chair.

Crossing his hands together as he placed his elbows on the table, Fuyu looked at Run with a sort of focus that gave the latter pause.

"I've looked into your history, Run." The Chairmen of the Senate started.
"I know all about that despicable incident your hometown decided to cover up for the sake of their reputation. How you seduced the local official to come into your current status while ruining her and several others political lives soon afterword."

"I know the true reason why you joined my sister's private police force."

Run narrowed his eyes but continued to smile. "Do you intent to reprimand me for my actions?"

"On the contrary, I want to help you."

Run's eyes widened for a moment, caught off guard but quickly regaining his composure. "How so?"

Fuyu leaned back in his chair. "I know your enemy is here in the Capital. I know your enemy is among the members of Wild Hunt. And I know that we both can agree that that particular bastard child's private police force is nothing but a destructive and rouge liability to the Empire. Especially given their conduct the other day."

Run rose his head a tad, his face morphing into something serious. "What are you implying?"

"I have a meeting with the Prime Minister one hour from now." Fuyu stated. "I intend to lay the facts bare so even the dimwitted can understand. It is my hope that Honest limits or better yet revokes Wild Hunt's privileges."

"If so, no one would question if one or two members were to mysteriously disappear." Run added, catching on.

Fuyu smirked. "Most would think they left like a pampered child told for the first time they can't do as they please. As long as the clean up isn't half-assed, no one would know any better."

"I see...that would be most advantageous for me." Run muttered more to himself.

"Of course, this is assuming Honest acts the way favorable to this plan." Fuyu added with a shrug. "If that man were to refuse or carry out a lesser punishment than what is ideal, someone with a particular grudge would have to use more clandestine means of obtaining their revenge."

"Means that someone with your influence would assist in?" Run asked, crossing his arms.

"Tell me, Run." Fuyu leaned forward, chin resting on his folded arms as he brought them up to lean on the table as he answered Run's question with a question. "What would you sacrifice to kill the man you loath the most in this world?"

Run locked his cold eyes with the Chairmen. Memories of the children he used to teach, used to guide to become better individuals in this clearly corrupt nation filled his mind.

Simple times.

Happy times.

And then the memory of how it all ended.

All that needless death, just to satisfy the sick perversion of one individual.

Of one twisted clown.

Run let out his breath slowly, almost sounding like some monstrous foe about to devour its prey.

What would he sacrifice?

To bring about true justice?

To enact his revenge?

To wipe that scumbag from the face of the earth?

That answer is obvious.

"Everything."

At that answer, the grand plotter said with a wicked smile.

"Good."

THUS ENDS ANOTHER ENTRY TO AKAME GA KILL: CLOCKWORK!

1st one of the New Year!

With our first major battle of several to come none the less, and goddamn this was a long entry! Second largest entry thus far, I think.

At first, I didn't intend it to be this long but as I love my battle scenes I went far more in depth then I planned but that's fine as it shows off various bits of the fighting doctrine of the so called Barbarians.

History is filled with ironies of battles and conflicts where superior armies in terms of numbers, technology, and so on lost devastatingly to a foe they by all means should have won against by logical thinking yet at the same time they totally deserved the loss due to hubris and such. That is what we see here with the Imperial Force Esdeath scrapped together.

Also in all the bit I've seen with her leading an army, yes Esdeath is basically a force of nature but she's only one person.
Sure if she lead her personal army that seemed to be an elite force capable of holding their own against most forces they have fought against with their general leading, that battle would've been a bit closer to a tie.

However she wasn't, instead leading an army of mostly amateur soldiers that witnessed true warfare for the first time. Even with an amazing force of nature like Esdeath, one super piece will not win the game. Realism.

You might have noticed that there were no DAYS OF FUTURE PAST type bits with what happened one month ago in the Revolutionary HQ.

Plan on having a whole entry (probably two entries from now given how this is progressing) to focus solely on what happened one month ago with Tatsumi and Walker und wrap up that little plot point which will give context to how I PLAN on ending the next entry in this story.

Though we do got some back and for timeline stuff too, which is why I labeled the days as they are since the Revolution began. Expect some more "time travel" bits as we get to the confrontation with the Path of Peace next entry!

And we got them plot in motion along with a tease to a new subgroup that'll pop up in the near future.

Esdeath finds herself with a rare defeat, what is and how will her "new army" face off against a better organized and numerous barbarian horde than expected?

How does the rest of the Empire fare with the rebellion raging in the East and the Revolutionary Army in the South?

What does Fuyu plan to show the young Jagears? Find out this and more next time on Akame ga Kill: Clockwork!