After witnessing the ever entertaining spectacle of General Craig smothering poor Elliot death and learning that it was indeed Captain Claire who had been the sniper, Class VII were invited by said Captain to join her and the 4th Armored in their temporary headquarters on the opposite side of the fortress. Naturally they agreed, as that had been their primary mission to begin with. The sun was already down by the time they arrived at the military installation and could finally feel safe for the first time in a month.

Fie couldn't deny being impressed as she witnessed the soldiers in action. The 4th Armored truly lived up to its reputation as the finest in Erebonia as she could spot few wasted movements as soldiers debriefed themselves and mechanics got to work on damaged tanks. Although they had been fighting battles for an entire month the division looked just as fit for combat as it had been when they visited the fortress back in August.

And not only that, but morale seemed to be exceptionally high too. Sure spirits were always higher after a victorious battle, but she had expected the overall war situation to have been weighing them down at least a little. That did not seem to be the case. Despite the constant defeats elsewhere and what must be a serious shortage of supplies these people still looked as confident as ever and that made them extremely dangerous foes. It seemed the war wasn't as over as the Imperial Chronicle wanted everyone to believe.

The journey to the command center was detoured as Rean wanted to move Valimar to this safer location, which the general was willing to allow. Fie glanced warily as the awe-struck soldiers gazed upon the Ashen Knight. Sure the Imperial Army were allies, but she had no doubt in her mind that at some level they would want to get Rean under their thumb since he possessed a weapon capable of turning the war in their favor. She would have to remain wary around the soldiers, but at the very least felt confident that Olaf Craig would be on their side. That man would let Erebonia burn to the ground before doing anything to further upset his son.

Once inside the group were seated at a long table. The only ones present outside of Class VII and their friends were the general and the captain. "I'd like to begin by congratulating you on making it all the way here." Claire started the discussion. "I'm overjoyed to see you all again." Fie frowned at that. Sure the words seemed genuine enough, but the older woman was an Ironblood. Sara had complained about her so much that some few tidbits had managed to slip through Fie's ignore filter and none of them painted the RMP agent in a good light.

On the other hand, Millium was an Ironblood too, wasn't she? Perhaps she was just being paranoid. It was always possible that Sara was just upset that Claire was both more intelligent and better looking.

"The same to you, Captain." Elliot naturally held none of the suspicions that she carried, instead responding happily as only he could. But she could give him a pass. It wasn't just his father he was delighted to see. From what she had seen as they entered the camp the general's son was popular and loved by most of the division and the feeling seemed mutual. So seeing them all alright meant he was probably on cloud nine at the moment.

"I had no idea what had happened to you after Heimdallr's occupation..." Oh right. Rean brought up a good point. Claire had been at the capital opposing Crow when it all went down, hadn't she? "It's a huge relief to see you made it out okay."

The Railway officer smiled warmly. "Funny. I was just as concerned for all of you." She turned her gaze to the oldest member of their group, who was seated directly opposite her. "As for you, I believe it's the first time we've had the pleasure of meeting. You're Toval Randonneur of the Bracer Guild, yes? One of Sara's coworkers?"

"Wow. You've actually heard of me? Though to tell you the truth, I've heard more than my fair share of stories about you from Sara, too." Either he was a kindred soul who knew how to ignore anything Sara said or he had much better grasp on his emotions than she expected, cause he didn't seem at all displeased by the presence of the RMP officer.

Claire's issues with Sara aside, there was one thing she was curious about. "Kinda surprising to see you with the 4th Armored Division." Weren't they supposed to be focused on the railroads and stuff? Although right now all the railroads were under the thumb of the Provincial Armies, so...

"She got in touch with us soon after the war broke out, in fact." General Craig answered. "She then mobilized the RMP to guide us to this proving ground so that we could establish a base. We wouldn't be here now if not for her."

"Reorganizing the divided divisions was of the utmost importance. I simply did what I had to do." That made sense. Even without the trains the RMP was the most mobile unit in the Imperial Army. Making use of that advantage to help rally the scattered forces was probably the most useful thing they could be doing right now. "I was concerned about His Excellency and what was happening in the capital, but he always told me to act objectively in times of crisis."

The others appeared sympathetic to her words, but Fie wasn't sure what to think. Sara clearly hated the chancellor and few stories painted him in a flattering light, but Fie had only met the man once before he died and hadn't really cared enough to form an opinion of the man. And now he was dead, so the point was entirely moot.

"O-Oh, yeah." Elliot seemed determined to break the awkward silence, but fumbled to find a good question to ask. Eventually one must have come to mind as he looked towards his father. "Where's instructor Neithardt, anyway? I thought ht would be here with you, Dad." Not a bad question. The instructor had been fighting alongside Sara and the rest at Trista, so news about him would be handy to have.

"He hasn't been back to this division, no. We had no idea whatsoever of his whereabouts until a few days ago, but then he was finally able to get in contact and inform us that he was well."

"That's good news." She shared in Rean's relief, although personally she could have done with a lot less of his weird military mindset. The Manway Method? Seriously?

With that useful tangent out of the way Toval brought the discussion back on topic. "Either way, it sounds like you can't be too careful. This base has held so far, but there's no guarantee that will always be the case."

"...I wish I could deny that. The Noble Alliance is starting to put more and more resources into trying to finish us off. We know how to deal with their Soldats, which events the odds, but we're at a disadvantage when it comes to supplies."

"True." It was just as Fie had thought. "This isn't the best location for getting outside help. The longer the war goes on, the harder it's gonna be to hold out."

Naturally, the bombastic general was undeterred. "That said, we have no intention of giving up without a fight. Our enemies have occupied the capital and effectively taken the citizens – as well as the Imperial family – hostage." He crossed his arms and scowled. "Even should the Goddess forgive them I damn well won't!"

They all sweatdropped. It was a good thing that he wasn't even considering giving in, but... "You don't need to yell quite that loudly." Good boy, Elliot. "Besides, I don't think you'll find many who are willing to forgive them." The younger Craig's face shifted to a more somber expression. "Although if anything, I'm just worried about how Fiona's doing..."

"Yeah... I'm worried about Dad, too." Fie felt for her classmates as all of them had family unaccounted for or captured by the nobles. Technically Xeno and Leo kinda counted, but they were with the nobles willingly and she knew not to worry about those two idiots by now. The closest family she could think of would be Laura and possibly Sara... Nah, just Laura. And she knew well enough that if anyone with bad intentions went to Legram they would be facing the business end of her stupidly large sword.

"I'm afraid I don't yet have any specific information regarding Heimdallr's current situation." Claire informed them. "With control of the railways taken from us, we're limited on what we can actually do, I'm afraid." She could only imagine how frustrating that must be for the older woman.

"Regardless, it's my turn to ask all of you something." Fie tensed, already knowing what was to come from the general. "Bearing all of what we've just discussed in mind... what do you intend to do from here on out?"

There it was. The million mira question. But despite the difficulty of it it was one that needed to be asked. "Well..." Rean wasn't the only one unsure of himself as they all glanced among each other.

"You don't have the raw power that the alliance or the Imperial Army's got, but you've still got a pretty significant weapon at your disposal, and one that neither side can afford to ignore. You need to think long and hard about how you intend to use it." Toval stated aloud that which she had been thinking for a while now.

She wasn't the only one to think about the question as silence descended upon the room, with the adults being kind enough to give them time to ponder their decision. "Valimar's power is incredible, that much is definitely true. These past few days have left me with no choice but to accept what I have."

"He can take on multiple Soldats at once and still come out on top. If used the right way, he could maybe even change the direction of this war." Despite her words, Fie wasn't all happy with the way things were. No matter what they decided Rean would be stuck fighting in battles not of his own choosing and there was very little she or the others could do to help him.

Celine, who had been silent for the entire discussion, finally spoke up. "Keep in mind, it's all dependent on the strength of his Awakener." It was hard to tell if she was stating facts or insulting Rean. Knowing her, it could be either, likely both.

"I hate to toss aside the subject of war so frivolously, but we also need to find some way to rescue Elise and Princess Alfin." Not to mention his dad, Elliot's sister, and any other friend or family member caught up in this war. That all sounded like a lot of work. A nap would be far better. "If we focus on that, it makes perfect sense for us to support the Imperial Army and fight against the Noble Alliance." The way Machias trailed off made Fie think there was a 'but' coming up. "But..." Called it.

Although he didn't elaborate further, his unspoken words were understood by all of them. Sharing a glance and a nod it was clear that her answer was the same as the others. "Lieutenant General." Rean, as leader, spoke for all of them. I'm afraid that we can't answer your question at the present time. At the very least, not until we've heard everyone's opinion."

Neither Claire nor Olaf responded to that, prompting Elliot to continue in Rean's place. "We hate what the alliance is doing as much as you do. So in that sense, we want to do what we can to help you fight against them, but I don't think it would be right for just the four of us to decide without everyone else's input."

Even though their words worked for her she felt responsible to say her own piece. For solidarity and all that. "Yup. We need to find everyone else before making such a major decision. We make our decisions together. That's how we roll."

"For now, we solely want to put our focus on finding the rest of our classmates. Then, and only then, will we decide how best to approach this war. And what we as a class can do to help end it."

"I see..." General Craig remained silent so it was the RMP captain who filled the silence. She almost looked impressed. That and confused. Fie couldn't really blame her. Such solidarity as a class must look insane to an outsider. Still, it just felt right to the former jaeger.

Toval at least seemed onboard. "Once a member of Class VII, always a member of Class VII." He let out an amused laugh. "Can't say I'm all that surprised."

Once again all eyes turned back to the silent general. While their path was set at this point and nothing he said or did could change it, having the approval and support of the Imperial Army would be a great help in the days to come. After a few seconds the powerful man opened his eyes and smiled. "Very well!" He boomed. "You have have been separated from Thors, but you still have every bit the spirit of a student. And it is the duty of students to absorb the world around them. Go forth, and when you're all together once again, find your role to play. Only then will I hear your answer."

"Thank you, sir!"

"Thanks, Dad."

Unlike her friends Fie didn't bother answering, but she did nod in appreciation of the support. "I apologize for not being able to give you a better and more immediate answer." Rean stated at last.

"Not at all. What you said was perfectly reasonable, Rean. You'll hear no objections from me. Whatever path you choose, I hope you see it through to the end with all the inner strength and conviction of a son of Erebonia." Olaf paused as he contemplated something. "That said, I'm conflicted about sending my dear Elliot away without proper protection... Should I send a company of troops with him? No, that might not be enough. He needs airships as well..."

All present sweatdropped. The funniest part was that he appeared to be dead serious. The only one who didn't seem amused was the boy in question, who looked at his father nervously. "Dad, stop! This is so embarrassing..."

"I bet one-hundred mira the war would be over in no time flat if the alliance ever tried to kidnap Elliot." She whispered to the others as they watched him plead with his dad. Sadly none of them were dumb enough to accept.

"Well, in that case..." All eyes turned to the RMP officer. "how would you like me to accompany you?"

Wait, what? That was not an offer she had been expecting at all. And given the others reactions, neither had they.

"You're currently using Ymir as your base of operations, correct? Not only could I use my knowledge to better fortify it, I could also handle communications with other regions from there. This could be a good chance to reach out and find Millium as well. I haven't been able to contact her since the war broke out..."

All of her points were valid, and they were definitely her best bet if she wanted to find Millium, but Fie couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy with the offer. Still, something as silly as a bad feeling was no reason to refuse someone. Especially as Sara was probably to blame for that feeling in the first place.

None of the others had any reservations towards the offer. "Works for me." Toval answered quickly. "To be blunt, Ymir's borders are wide open. And the alliance could take advantage of that at any time. We can't have another incident like with the jaegers. Bringing her back just might be our best defense right now."

"...I hate to admit it, but you're right. There's a limit to how much we can do. At the end of the day, we're students." Rean readily conceded the bracer's point. "We need to swallow our pride and take help where it's given, especially from specialists like the two of you. And more important than all of that, I know we can trust you." He glanced towards the rest of them and they gave their assent. "Captain Claire. We'd be honored to accept your kind offer. Welcome to the team."

She seemed amused by their reactions, but happy for the approval all the same. "The pleasure's all mine. In addition to my duties as a member of the RMP, I hereby pledge my support to everyone in Class VII."

With that the meeting began to wind down. A few lesser conversations continued, but Fie tuned them out, instead focusing her attention on the large map of Erebonia situated on the table with icons representing both Imperial and Provincial armies scattered about. As expected, Legram - being far from the front lines – seemed to be far removed from the nearest fighting. What wasn't as expected, however, were the multiple troop icons placed up in the vicinity of Roer and the Nord Highlands.

She frowned ads she focused on that. Alisa, Millium, and Gaius were up in that region. Clearly it wasn't as safe as they had believed when they separated on that day one month ago. Briefly she contemplated asking the soldiers about the situation there, but figured they probably wouldn't divulge classified information to an outsider, even if they were allies. Perhaps she could get answers from Claire about it later, especially with Millium likely being there.

Eventually the meeting came to an end and they were given their leave. Their newest party member had some things to take care of first, so they couldn't return to Ymir quite yet. That was fine, as Elliot informed them that a few Thors students had made their way to the proving ground and that was worth investigating. Thus did the group of five humans and one cat decide to explore the place.

They didn't really learn anything interesting from the soldiers they talked to, but it was pretty funny watching them all fawn over Elliot as if he was there own child, much to his chagrin, and as much as he tried to hide it, his delight. These soldiers really were a far cry from the stereotype. Well, except for that one soldier that yelled at Toval for being a bracer and warned the rest to stay away from the tanks. That one fit the stereotype to the letter.

Of greater interest were the Thors students that had somehow made it here. The first one they encountered was Laura's friend, Monica. From her they learned about how she, Rex, and another student managed to escape thanks to the help of some second years before making their way in this direction and getting picked up by the 4th Armored. Her disappointment that Laura wasn't with them was obvious, but Fie reassured her that their mutual friend was fine and that they would find her before long, which cheered her up a bit.

Speaking of Rex, apparently the photographer wasn't at the base as he had been spending the past month taking pictures of the battles. The only interactions that Fie had had with that boy were when he snapped a couple pictures of her when he thought she was sleeping on a bench, so finding out that he was actually doing good work for a change improved her opinion of him... slightly.

The third and final Thors student that they came across was the creepy radio guy that she had seen around campus a few times. As always, Rean was already well acquainted with him. Munk was his name and he seemed really depressed. To the surprise of absolutely no one his depression was because the radio entertainment networks were one of the many casualties brought on by the war. For a brief second Fie entertained the idea of telling the guy that Misty was actually a bad guy and that even when the war ended she wouldn't be coming back, but not even she was that heartless.

She did her best to not show her annoyance upon realizing that somehow these three students had made it to the fortress with ease while her group had failed miserably for an entire month until Rean arrived. They just got lucky, that's all.

With nothing else to do they elected to wait by Valimar until Claire arrived. From what Rean, Toval, and Celine described, the knight could also be used to teleport them across long distances and that was how they arrived at Celdic in the first place. It all sounded so insane, but she was starting to get used to insane and didn't let it bother her any.

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long." Their discussion was halted by the arrival of the person they were waiting for. She was surprised to see the captain not in uniform, and said as much. "I'd be something of a walking target if we were to travel to any alliance-ruled areas dressed like that, after all. This outfit doesn't look too strange on me, does it?"

"N-No, absolutely not!" Machias looked a little too excited to see the older woman dressed like that. Elliot was no better.

What truly annoyed Fie, however, was the way Rean was staring at her. She couldn't quite keep the miffed expression off her face as she elbowed the swordsman none too gently. He attempted to save face once he recovered from the blow by commenting that he was merely surprised by how different Claire looked, but Fie recalled a similar excuse when they found her in a cocktail dress a few months back. She was not impressed. Behind her Toval began to snicker, clearly finding this amusing. She would have considered saying something to him except she was busy trying to burn a hole into Rean's head with her eyes.

Either Claire was completely oblivious or she simply had enough tact to ignore the stares of the idiots, as she didn't respond at all to their horny gazes. It would be almost impressive if it wasn't so annoying. She truly was Sara's opposite in every way.

"You're all ready to depart, then?" General Craig and a couple RMP officers approached the ever expanding group.

Claire saluted. "I've given my subordinates their orders. They will be backing you up as best they can in my absence." The RMP officers nodded in agreement. "Should you need anything, let them know. They will be able to get in contact with me if need be."

"Very well. Leave everything here to us. In return, I will be counting on you to support the young lions of the academy." With confirmation received the doting father turned to his son. "...Elliot. I'm astounded by just how much stronger you've become in less than a year. You might not appreciate me saying this, but everything you've done has just confirmed in my mind that sending you to Thors was the right choice after all."

She - along with Rean and Machias - glanced at the boy in question, curious to hear his answer. "Honestly, Dad, I feel the same way. It wasn't what I wanted to do originally, but if not for enrolling there, I never would have met all of my friends. So while I couldn't imagine I'd ever feel this way at the time... I'm really grateful to you now."

"I'm glad to hear that." So was she, if she were being honest with herself. "Looking at you now, it's clear that you're finally ready to forge your own path through life and make your own choices. As such, once this war is over, and this nation is back to the way it was... if you still wish to live your life as a musician, you will have my full support."

Wow. None of them had expected that concession. "Y-You'd... actually allow that?"

Olaf nodded. "I'm true to my word. You needn't rush to decide what you want to do now, though. I imagine that if you keep fighting alongside your classmates, you will eventually realize what you want to do. And a choice reached after long, serious thought is not one you will regret."

They continued to silently watch this back and forth between father and son. "Thanks, Dad. To tell you the truth, I'm really not sure what I want to do anymore... but by this war's end, I'm sure I'll know, too."

"That's my boy." Olaf smiled happily at the young musician before turning his gaze to the rest of them. He tried to regain a professional demeanor, but the proud smile never left his face. "Well, I wish all of you luck and good health. Take care of yourselves."

They bade the general farewell before Rean turned and gave an order to Valimar. She felt like she did a better job at concealing her surprise than Elliot or Machias did as an azure light surrounded the group, but not even she could maintain her composure as the group suddenly found themselves flying through a crazy colorful world before emerging out the other side in a more familiar snowy surrounding. It took much of her considerable skill to remain on her feet after that wild trip.

Sure they had all heard about Valimar's capabilities, but experiencing it for themselves was both awesome and a little terrifying, especially when Captain Claire rightfully pointed out that the nobles had a Divine Knight of their own. Celine did calm their worries a little bit when she pointed out the limitations of the teleportation ability, both in the limited number of possible destinations and the high mana cost, but the thought of Crow popping up out of nowhere was still unsettling to say the least.

One of those limitations did make itself known in that moment as Valimar slumped down to one knee. "Mana decreasing. Entering inactive state..." Listening to such a big robot chat with Rean when he thanked it for its work was odd, but on the lower end of the many oddities they had experienced that day, so she simply brushed it off.

According to Celine it would take Valimar at least a day to recharge. A bit disappointing since Rean wasn't the only one chomping at the bit to find their friends, but Ymir promised tasty food, long bathes, and warm beds, so there was no way in hell she was complaining. Not after the last month.

Since it was already so late, the group made haste as they traversed the snowy valley to Ymir, but darkness had already blanketed the lands by the time they finally arrived at Rean's hometown. Fie was surprised to see the town looking so normal. From what Rean had said, it had only been a few days since the jaegers attacked the little village, but either the damage hadn't been that extensive or the residents were just really good at cleaning up, as there were very few traces of the battle still remaining. The few people still out and about at that hour greeted Rean cheerfully as they made their way to the Schwarzer manor.

Rean's mom was there to greet them as soon as they arrived. Although it wasn't nearly as entertaining as Elliot and his dad, seeing the woman gasp in delight before smothering the swordsman in a big hug was no less heartwarming. After pulling away Lucia smiled warmly at the group before inviting them all in.

Rean's first destination was to see his dad, and although he insisted that none of them needed to tag along, they all did so anyways. It just felt right. His mom just giggled in amusement at the exasperated but happy expression her son was sporting as the group ascended to the baron's bedroom.

For a man in a coma after getting shot multiple times, the Baron of Ymir looked to be in remarkably good shape, almost as if he were sleeping peacefully. Still, the prognosis that they weren't sure when he would awaken was a bit of a downer, but Rean seemed relieved all the same.

After that Lucia insisted on cooking them all dinner. Given the lateness of the hour she didn't promise them anything too exquisite, but that didn't matter much as she proved without a shadow of a doubt that even on short notice she was still a far far better cook than any of them, Rean or Toval included. The older woman promised them all a proper feast the next evening, which Fie was already looking forward to.

After dinner was finished she hesitated. Now that they were well and truly out of danger there were so many things she wanted to say or do, but her body was betraying her. She did her best to stifle the yawn that threatened to burst forth, but probably didn't do a very good job of it given the way the others glanced at her.

Rean, for his part, merely smiled at her.. "Don't worry about it. We have all day tomorrow with Valimar recovering." Damn. When had he gotten so good at reading her? "That goes for all of you, too. Get some rest, alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll get 'em to their rooms." Toval agreed before they could consider protesting. "Most of you have been to the Phoenix Wings before, yeah?" Reluctantly she allowed the bracer to lead them all out of the Schwarzer estate as Rean watched them go.

Still, he was right. They did have all day tomorrow. But now that she was alone again she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift back to the events that had taken place that afternoon. 'Xeno. Leo...'

Despite the amazing bed sleep did not come easily to the former jaeger.