Class VII strategy meetings had become an annoyingly common occurrence since they had all gotten back together, but this time Fie was very focused on the topic of conversation. Unlike most of the others this wasn't about some grand strategy or overarching goal. Instead this meeting was for a singular focused objective:
The infiltration of the Twin Dragon Bridges and the rescue of Fiona Craig.
The news that the Kreuzen Provincial Army had taken the daughter of Olaf Craig hostage in order to blunt the 4th Armored Division's inevitable assault really shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did. While Zephyr had never found itself in so desperate a spot as to need hostages, she had witnessed plenty of lesser corps and military units that had. And experience taught her that such situations often ended in easily avoidable tragedy.
Needless to say, if even she was worried than the rest of Class VII were far worse off, with Elliot especially looking glum. Still, despite the negative atmosphere it seemed like everyone was raring to go. Thanks to Rean's ability to constantly go missing they had become somewhat accustomed to making plans under less than ideal circumstances.
...That was a depressing thought. Why was Class VII always thrust into such miserable situations?
Soon after learning the news of Fiona's capture, Towa had made contact with the armored division. While the officers there technically weren't allowed to divulge sensitive military plans to Class VII's independent third party, given the situation they had conveniently let slip the news that they were launching their attack the next day.
Since assaulting the bridge by themselves would be a terrible idea, they had unanimously agreed to use that assault as a diversion for their rescue operation. While she could tell that some were uncomfortable waiting around while the musician was a hostage, the benefits far outweighed the risks. Not only did that afford them a night to rest up, but it also meant that Vivi and the others had time to adjust to their new roles on the ship before the operation could begin.
"Hmm..." Rean furrowed his brows as they gazed at a map of the bridge with what limited intel they had on the enemy. "Most of their forces will probably be arrayed on the east side of the bridge to oppose the army's advance, so we should launch our attack from the west. I think splitting into two teams would be the best. One team to launch the rescue mission while a second team holds the line against any soldiers returning from the main battle. I'll use Valimar to drive away the enemy soldats before linking up with the support team after."
"You won't be leading the assault team?" Machias asked with a raised eyebrow.
The black-haired swordsman shook his head. "It'll be faster this way and I know you guys can handle things without me.
It was impossible to tell if he was glancing across the table at her when he said that, or Laura who was seated to her left. Either way, he was a good boy for not trying to do everything on his own.
"I'm on the assault team." Despite being visibly worried Elliot looked firm with that declaration. Not that anyone would deny him that spot given who was at stake.
"Back at Ymir I pledged my blade to you should the need arise. As that need has unfortunately come to pass, I would like to accompany you to fulfill that promise." Classic Laura.
"I would like to assist as well."
Elliot looked relieved. "Thanks, Laura, Gaius."
A heavy sigh drew all eyes. "No amount of words will ever make up for what my father keeps doing, so allow me to do so with action instead."
"Jusis..."
To be a part of the assault team or the support team... Yeah, that decision was a no brainer to Fie. "I'm in too." Infiltration was her specialty, after all.
"In that case, allow me to round off the squad, but I'm not going to lead it." Sara's declaration earned her a few confused looks. "This is your show. I'm just tagging along in case you kiddos end up in over your heads."
"In other words, you're just lazy." Fie knew the others were thinking it, but she was the only one with the courage to speak it aloud, earning the old woman's ire. Still, it was reassuring to have someone as skilled as Sara along, even if Fie wondered what would happen if they encountered the Northern Jaegers during this assault...
"In that case..." Rean's eyes darted between the six of them before inevitably settling upon the most obvious choice. "...Can I entrust this task to you, Laura?"
Said girl blinked in surprise. "M-Me? Of course! You can count on me!"
Princess Alfin clapped her hands together. "Good luck everyone! Know that I believe in you and will support you as best I can."
"The 4th Armored should be launching their assault shortly before noon, so make sure you all get a good night's rest." Towa informed the class, effectively ending the meeting.
One by one the students left the conference room. Seeing how troubled Laura was looking Fie opted to make her exit alongside her. "What's on your mind, leader?"
"Leader? I guess that's true..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "I had assumed Rean would have asked you, given your experience on missions like this."
"Nah." Fie refuted instantly. "If it were a small group sure, but leading half the class? Not my style at all."
"As much as I want to help shoulder Rean's burden am an honored that he picked me for such an important task, it is... quite daunting. Remember Bryonia Island?"
Of course Fie did. The one field study where it was the two of them with no Rean. While Group B never had a designated leader during those months, someone always tried to step up as much as possible. That field study they both tried and ended up butting heads with each other constantly, bringing down the entire group in the process. "...Let's just do the exact opposite of what we did there." Both girls shared a laugh at their earlier folly.
Moment of levity concluded she returned to the matter at hand. "You aren't the Boss. You aren't Rean, either. But even so... If you charged into Gehenna I would follow you without a second thought." She tilted her head in thought. "Of course I would be warning you about all the fiends and hellfire and whatnot the entire time."
"Fie... Thank you."
"Get a room, you two!" Naturally Sara had to appear from a side room at that moment, completely ruining the mood.
"Oh, joy. It's you." Fie schooled her expression lest she give anything away. Sara was many things, but she was no dummy. She was fishing, and not the fun Rean kind either. A teasing statement like that was obvious bait, but she was far too savvy to fall for something like that.
The teacher let out one of those obnoxious all-knowing laughs. "Sorry Fie, but your girlfriend here already told me all about it."
With wide eyes she turned to Laura and confirmed that the shame on her face was there. "For real!?"
"She tricked me!"
"It was the oldest trick in the book!?" Sara laughed again as she walked away. "...And she fell for it! Hook, line, and sinker!"
It was long after the instructor and her amusement faded away that Fie finally deigned to break the silence. "I take it all back," She told the red-faced girl. "If the mission involves hitting things with a hunk of metal? Sure, I'll trust you. For anything involving a little more subtlety?" Instead of verbally finishing her statement she merely gave Laura a condescending pat on the back, much to the older girl's further shame.
She let out a yawn as she stepped out of the elevator and made her way to her room. To her lack of surprise the Courageous was quiet, as most everyone save for the night crew was already in bed. As an avid fan of a good snooze she was usually one of the first in her room, but she had instead spent much of the evening after dinner in the engineering room, taking advantage of their tools to do some sorely needed maintenance on her gunblades for the first time since leaving Thors.
Fie paused, however, as she noticed one of her classmates was still awake and sitting morosely at a table by his lonesome, causing her to let out a long-suffering sigh. Of course Elliot would be a nervous mess right now.
Where was Rean when you needed him? Providing all the emotional support for Class VII was his job, not hers! But since there was nobody around right now...
She would be demanding compensation from him at a later date.
"What's up?"
"Huh?!" The musician practically fell out of his seat in surprise. It was pretty funny. "F-Fie!? W-What are you doing here?"
"Going to bed. Duh." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at such an obvious answer. "Something which you should have done a while ago. We're gonna be busy tomorrow."
The boy laughed nervously. "You're right, of course. It's just-"
"...You've got a lot on your mind." His sheepish expression was confirmation enough. "Want some advice? I would love to just tell you to stop worrying about things you can't control, but that's way easier said than done. Instead, try and think about something you actually can control."
"Such as?" He asked curiously.
She hummed thoughtfully before smirking as she came up with an answer. "Think about what you're gonna say to your sister when you meet up with her. We're all gonna be there, so you probably won't want to fall apart and embarrass yourself during your teary reunion, right?" There. That sounded pretty cool and insightful. Hurray for her.
"Like you did?"
Her teasing grin faded just as Elliot adopted one of his own. "Huh?"
"I was there at Celdic too, remember? You were such a nervous wreck that you stayed behind at the bridge for a while, right? And when you finally met Rean you threw yourself into his arms and cried for a long time."
"I was scouting the bridge!" She refuted hotly as realization that she had just placed her foot into her mouth set in. "And I didn't just throw myself into his arms while crying. I was..." She trailed off, mind failing to come up with any response.
Elliot laughed merrily. "I thought it was really cute. I know you guys had been together for a while, but seeing you let your guard down like that really made it sink it for me. I was really happy for you." His honest smile was too much for her and she looked away with a red hue. "...Thanks, Fie. I feel a little better now." The musician rose from his seat before walking off towards his room. "Goodnight."
Silently she watched his departure before letting out a miserable sigh. Her worst fears had been confirmed: Her reputation as the cool and aloof member of Class VII? Completely gone. Even Elliot was teasing her now!
…But maybe that wasn't so bad.
Breakfast the next morning was an annoying affair. While the rest of Class VII and new recruits chatted among themselves as if nothing was wrong, there was a clear and palpable tension among the group. Fie understood it well. Although this wasn't their first major operation as a class it was the first one where they found themselves forced to sit around and wait for everything to begin. Even veteran jaegers weren't immune to the painful lull before a battle.
But such tension would only stress them out unnecessarily. As her bored gaze swept across the room she locked eyes with Sara. The older woman was the only one seemingly unbothered by upcoming events... Was she really drinking booze for breakfast?
Looking at the older woman reminded her of the previous night. Fie's eyes widened as the solution to all this tension presented itself. Best of all it was a solution that didn't require much effort and absolutely no annoying speeches.
It was also the solution that would generate maximum chaos and mayhem. Her favorites.
Being the first to rise from her seat naturally attracted many sets of eyes. With a smirk on her face and swagger in her steps she rounded the table and approached her target: Rean. The swordsman gazed curiously at her approach. Something which made it a lot easier for her to lean down and kiss him.
It wasn't anything special, just a quick peck on the lips, but such public displays of affection between them were rare. Thus it managed to catch everyone off guard – Rean included. To his credit the boy recovered quickly and smiled warmly at her, with only the tiniest tinge of red on his cheeks.
For most everyone else, the reactions were a lot funnier. Conversation had ceased as lots of people were awkwardly looking away. In fact the only real noise was Millium making fake gagging sounds. But this wasn't her ultimate objective.
...This was merely the precursor.
Her true target was staring at her, surprised etched on her face. Thus she was slow to react when Fie sauntered over to her. Eyes widened in realization, but it was far too late. "Wait! Fie- Mmph!"
The reactions to her kiss with Rean? Pretty funny. The reactions to her kiss with Laura? Absolutely priceless.
"Gonna go get ready for the operation. See you guys in a bit." She nonchalantly answered before exiting the kitchen, leaving a very dumbfounded room behind her.
"I can't believe you did that!" Laura was still red-faced when Class VII convened on the deck as the Courageous moved into final position for the assault.
She let out a nonchalant shrug. "It was entirely your fault, you know." She was expecting the looks she received for that one so the elaboration was already forthcoming. "You already told Sara. She was probably gonna find a way to drop that on everyone in the most embarrassing way possible. I saved you."
"She's not wrong." Said instructor confirmed with an agreeable nod. "Still, gotta give you credit. That was pretty hilarious." She raised an arm for a high five which Fie decided to reciprocate.
"I mean we all already had our suspicions considering you're both dating Rean. But even still-" Emma looked away with an awkward blush.
"It was super hot!" Millium saying Millium things.
There was a loud sigh from above. It really was a shame that Rean was currently entombed in Valimar with Celine. Was he as red as Laura? "K-Knock it off, you guys." He totally was. "I can see the bridge up ahead."
Fun time was at an end. It was game time now.
The plan was for the Courageous to pass over the bridge from the east so that they could survey the battle and Alfin could address the soldiers. Not only would that hopefully demoralize the Kreuzen soldiers to hear their beloved princess calling them out, but it should at least buy the Courageous protection from any anti-aircraft positioned around the bridge.
As they had expected, the 4th Armored Division was giving the provincial army more than they could handle. Morons. Anyone with two brain cells would know that the soldats advantage in mobility was useless in the tight confines of the Garrelia road, and yet that was exactly where they made their stand. It wouldn't be long before the battle would reach the bridge itself.
That was good news for the Imperial Army, but bad news for Fiona Craig. Someone trapped was far more likely to do something rash, after all.
"Soldiers of Kreuzen, you should be ashamed of yourselves!" As planned, Alfin's voice rang out loud and clear over the ship's speaker. "Taking the enemy's family as hostages and trying to use them as tools of war is simply unforgivable! As princess of the Arnor family, I will not allow it!"
Oof. Although the soldiers were too far away to make out clearly from the ship's deck Fie could only imagine how much that one must have stung. It's easy to mentally justify your shameful actions as bring for the greater good, but to have someone you adore so call you out in the open like that? If nothing else that should at least buy Fiona some time for Class VII to do their thing.
As soon as the ship crossed to the other side of the bridge Rean put Valimar into motion, leaping off the side and to the ground below. That was Emma's cue to use her cheating teleport magic to send everyone else down alongside him. With everyone disembarked Towa led the ship away to safety.
Already the few enemies in reserve turned to face the Divine Knight in their midst, but Fie was easily able to brush away the annoyance at her inability to help Rean this time. As far as she could see the enemy force merely consisted of the same soldats that he had faced before, so she was more than confident that he could hold his own. And more importantly she and the others weren't forced to stand around watching as they had their own battle to attend to.
It was easy for them to slip inside the bridge thanks to the distraction of the dueling titans. What few soldiers and monsters were in position to oppose them were swiftly dealt with. Although she was certainly the type of person to prefer a more delicate approach to things there was certainly a charm to just charging in with guns blazing, especially after they had to be so stealthy the last time they were here.
Before long they had reached the main building of the bridge. After swiftly dispatching the soldiers that made their stand there Class VII split up. As soon as they realized their headquarters were under attack they would call for reinforcements, and it was the job of Alisa, Emma, Millium, and Machias to keep them from entering. Rean too would join them once he was finished with his own battle.
"Alright." Laura breathed out as the remaining six advanced deeper in. "I'm confident in our ability to overcome the remaining enemies, but I am worried that we don't have much time left. Let's move swiftly!"
Fortunately the 4th Armored had sent them blueprints to the building that they had studied, so their destination was clear. Fiona Craig was almost certainly being held in the command office on the highest floor. Given the size of the building it wasn't all that far to go.
Sadly, there were two things slowing them down. The first was very straightforward: Enemies. While there were very few soldiers still inside the bridge they made up for their lack of numbers with monsters and archaisms. Fie wasn't sure if the provincial armies found them to be too difficult to use in more complex offensive operations or if they merely wanted to keep them away from the public eye, but it sure seemed like the non-humanoid enemies were being constantly kept for garrison duty.
On one hand that was kinda annoying as a swarm of flying robots with machine guns and rockets were a lot more dangerous than moderately trained soldiers with rifles and funny hats. But on the other it was also good because they could afford to go all out on them and it seemed like her classmates had a lot of frustration to vent at thanks to the Kreuzen Army's underhanded tactics.
...Or at least that's what she hoped it was. It was either that or her friends had become really bloodthirsty without her noticing. Even mild-mannered Gaius seemed a lot more menacing as he impaled one archaism with his spear before using the still attached archaism as a hammer to smash its companions!
But while the enemies were a pain, they were the more straightforward of the two obstacles. "...It's locked." Laura frowned as she tried and failed to gain access to the room in front of them.
"Isn't that the only way to the next level?" Gaius looked worried. "I don't see a keyhole either."
"It's reinforced, but I still might be able to force it...?"
Fie rolled her eyes. Leave it to Laura to come up with the most blunt approach. "I'll handle it. Just give me a minute." And she wouldn't even need to use her explosives in the process.
Four pairs of curious eyes and Sara's knowing ones followed her as she rounded the corner while looking for her target. Not immediately seeing it she poked her head into a nearby room... There!
A conveniently placed vent.
With no hesitation she pried the cover off and wormed her way in. The shaft was on the smaller side, but as an expert in vent travel she was easily able to navigate the tight confines. The shaft branched in the middle, but her sense of direction was enough to guide her down the right path.
Upon exiting the vent she smirked as she saw a large switch next to a sealed reinforced door. Bingo. With a flourish she activated it and watched as the gate opened, revealing her friends to her. "There we go."
"You used a vent?" Jusis arched an eyebrow in surprise. "How awfully convenient."
"That seems like a really obvious security flaw..." The Nord looked confused.
The skepticism of the ignorant. How cute. "Sure, but that's why they're there. Large vents are mandatory in modern military bases."
"Fie..." Laura looked exasperated.
"Nah. She's completely right." Sara interjected with a serious expression. "Geez. Do none of you really know? The hell has Thomas been teaching you guys in history class?"
"Huh!?"
The older woman shook her head sadly as Elliot and the others looked at her in confusion. "The Orbal Revolution led to pretty much every military power rushing to construct new fortifications to take advantage of the new tech, right? Well naturally the jaegers weren't all that pleased that bases were getting a lot harder to infiltrate. Dunno if they coordinated their efforts or if they simply all thought the same plan at the same time, but pretty much every major military architect found themselves facing threats of unimaginable horror if they didn't leave some obvious security flaws to be exploited."
"Th-That's absurd!" Jusis looked so utterly flummoxed. It was hilarious.
Laura too looked like she was nursing a headache as she glanced between her and Sara as if trying to decide if their words were truthful or not. They totally were. "...Perhaps we should just move on?"
After that short break the group continued forth relentlessly. Locked doors were bypassed. Monsters were slain. Archaisms were smashed. Soldiers were knocked out and had their funny hats stolen. Given how uncoordinated the response was it was clear that the support team was doing their job well.
Before long the second floor gave way to the third, which quickly became the fourth. Given the lack of signs of Fiona's presence on the lower floors Fie and the others were certain that she was indeed being held in the final room before them. After confirming that everyone was ready Laura silently gave the order to charge into the room.
This time it was Sara who led the charge. As laid-back as she normally acted the woman was in fact still a high ranking bracer and right now there was a civilian in danger. Thus the Purple Lightning looked deadly serious as she threw open the door and charged in, weapons at the ready. With her speed Fie was right behind her.
The command room was surprisingly devoid of life as she only spotted two people inside it: Fiona Craig and the Kreuzen Army commander. Despite the tense situation however the hostage seemed elated to see them all. "Elliot?! And your friends are with you too!"
"Fiona!" In fact it was Elliot himself who looked most concerned by the standoff, but even he was able to maintain his composure as he held his staff at the battle ready. Good for him.
"I don't know how I can possibly begin to thank you... And just look at you, Elliot. You've grown so much since I last saw you! I'm so proud of you..."
"Silence, girl!" Unsurprisingly the foppish noble officer was extremely put out at being ignored. "Do you've any idea of the situation you're in?! And that goes for the rest of you, too! Don't come any closer... That is, if you value her life."
Even as the officer put his blade to Fiona's throat making the situation a lot more dangerous Fie couldn't help but blink in shock. It was the guy from the sewers who rolled his R's all the time! It was such a weird way to speak. Maybe she should try to copy him?
No. Save Fiona first. Make funny accent later.
"You dare use a hostage as a shield?" Jusis all but hissed in anger. "Have you no pride as a noble?! Get that filthy sword of yours away from her at once!"
The sword wavered slightly as the officer realized that Jusis was there with them. "L-Lord Jusis, I must ask that you please stand back! I am merely acting under the orders of your father!"
Fie could count the number of times she had seen Sara truly angry on one hand and still have fingers free, but as the older woman strode forward it was clear that this was one of those instances. "You can surrender peacefully, or you can walk outta here with one less hand. Your call."
The enemy looked fearful, but like most cornered beasts he refused to accept the reality and instead growled out a challenge. "You talk big now, but you're going to regret ever setting foot in the Twin Dragons Bridge!" He let out a whistle.
The former jaeger cursed under her breath as a secret door opened in the room. How had she not noticed it? It didn't seem like it was an escape exit, which meant...
Something was coming.
Two somethings, in fact. They were larger than the monsters most jaegers used, but Fie recognized them all the same. As did Jusis, in fact. "They're just like the ones we fought underneath Bareahard!"
Technically correct, but with one unfortunate caveat. "No. These are more highly trained!" These ones seemed a little larger and their movements hinted at improved coordination. Just great.
The idiot opposing them laughed as if the situation now favored him. "Those are no ordinary beasts! Go forth, Gaiser Dovens! Tear them to shreds with your ferocious fangs!"
But even as the Gaiser Dovens bounded forth towards the assembled students none of them flinched. Sure the ones they fought in Bareahard were dangerous, so anything stronger couldn't be underestimated, but Class VII were a lot stronger too. Not to mention they had Sara with them now. An angry Purple Lightning was someone feared throughout the jaeger world.
"Stay there, Fiona!" Elliot called out with surprising calmness. "We'll save you as soon as we've taken care of this!"
Fie dodged left to avoid the initial charge, drawing the ire of one of the dogs. Everyone else somehow moved to the right in near perfect unison. Well, damn. Looked like she was on her own for now.
The monster was quick. Annoyingly so. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to outpace it, especially while fighting. Still, since it was a big dog and she had guns it was only to her benefit to keep as much distance between them for as long as possible. So she began to run.
A shame the big dog didn't get the memo, as instead of running after her like she had expected it instead leapt at her. Fie couldn't help but let out a yelp as she rolled out of the way, just managing to avoid the lunging claws. Her gunblades were at the ready as she recovered, but her rushed shots accomplished little more than enraging the monster further.
...The results were different when rounds from a heavier caliber gun impacted the unsuspecting beast in the flank, causing it to rear back in pain. She let out her breath as a purple streak slammed into the monster. This was one of those rare moments in life where she was actually happy to see Sara.
"That was a pretty lame yelp. Are you seriously having trouble with a little puppy?" Never mind. Sara was still Sara. There's nothing to be happy about.
Still, annoyance aside her intervention had been helpful. The large beast was still combat effective, but the teacher had cut deeply into its flesh with her sword. And after an attack like that it would almost certainly focus its attention on the closer woman who had inflicted such a grievous injury, allowing her the chance to-
Eyes widened in surprise as the dog didn't spare the Purple Lightning a single glance as it once again charged towards her without hesitation. "What the hell!?"
Once again she was forced to flight as the unnaturally stubborn monster continued to pursue her. This sucked! Why was she the one being chased around like this?!
She felt the familiar sensation of someone trying to form a combat link with her. She was a bit surprised that Sara had waited this long, but didn't hesitate to accept it.
...Only it wasn't Sara. Fie was confused at first, but after experiencing her unexpected partner's senses she was quick to connect the dots. Laura was a genius.
As Fie sprinted across the room with enemy hot on her heels she spared a glance towards the other battle. Unsurprisingly, with the majority of Class VII fighting the second dog they were faring a lot better than she was. But the glance proved costly as the former jaeger stumbled a bit and lost her momentum.
Sensing victory the accursed dog let out a victorious howl as it again lunged towards its prey. Fie smirked. Just as planned.
Her stumble had been intentional. The monster had been so fixated on her that it hadn't heeded its surroundings at all. So instead of descending upon the vulnerable girl like it expected it soon found itself descending towards an ominously gleaming blue sword with no way to change course. "Radiant Waltz!"
Although she didn't bother looking back she could tell through the link that the Arseid's signature technique had struck true on the Gaiser Dovens's head. Whether it survived the attack or not was irrelevant, as there was no way it could recover in time before Sara and Laura finished it off.
For her part, however, Fie was sick of running and was now ready to go on the offensive. The second dog seemed to realize the peril it now found itself in, but was too slow to react before the new opponent was upon it. Her blades dug deep into the monster's hind legs, causing it to rear up in agony.
...Which made it extremely easy for Gaius to jam his spear into the neck, killing it immediately.
With the battle over Fie took stock of the situation. The monsters had been strong, sure, but against half of Class VII? Neither she nor anyone else there were at all surprised at the swift and decisive outcome.
"This... This can't be happening." With one obvious exception, of course.
"I think it's about time you tossed that sword aside, don't you?"
The officer growled angrily before perking back up again. "I'm not finished yet!" This time when he whistled a second door opened and again two more dogs charged in.
Fie blinked in confusion. Did he really think repeating the fight would change the outcome? Sure they were all a bit winded now, but even still. Why hadn't he just unleashed all four at once?
"We have already proven that such fiends won't be enough to stop us." Laura agreed out loud as she took a step forward. "I would advise you to throw down your sword and surrender."
"S-Silence!" The idiot in blue took a step back out of fright. "You should be the ones surrendering! If this commoner's life means anything to you, then-"
"Enough of this nonsense!" All were startled by a familiar but unexpected voice from above. All looked up in shock as Instructor Neithardt of all people jumped down from above. Even the dogs weren't expecting it, which left them wide open for the military officer to execute them in a single swing. Having lowered his blade in shock the Provincial Army Officer met a similar fate as Neithardt punched him into a nearby pillar.
The lack of activity from her classmates was not a surprise, as even she was struggling to process this unexpected turn of events. That silence was eventually broken as a concerned Elliot rushed towards his sister. "Fiona, are you okay?!"
The elder Craig giggled before wrapping her arms around her brother. "It's okay. I'm perfectly fine. Thank you, Elliot. For coming to save me. For being okay."
"I'm happy you're okay too." Elliot sniffed. "I was so worried..."
"Really?" Fie drawled out, ruining the heartfelt moment. "That's all you came up with?"
Many confused looks were sent her way, but the boy in question looked sheepish. "Sorry. I did think about it like you said, but I guess it just all slipped my mind in the moment..."
The silver-haired girl rolled her eyes, but decided to let it pass. Instead she slid up next to her favorite swordswoman and gave her a pat on the back. "Good job, Laurrr-ack!" Fie began to cough painfully.
Said girl arched an eyebrow in amusement. "...Did you just try to mimic that officer's voice?"
Hurriedly she worked to regain her composure. "We should go check on Rrrrean and the others." She frowned. She had held back a bit to prevent another coughing fit, but in doing so she failed to roll the name correctly. Instead she merely slurred Rean's name like Sara late in the evening.
"You should probably stop doing that." Mirth danced in Laura's eyes for the briefest of moments. "Still, you are correct. It is probably safe to assume that the fighting has ceased, but we should go down there to be safe."
And so ended the battle for the Twin Dragons Bridge. While Class VII had only intervened to save the family member of one of their own it was undeniable that their actions had helped to give the Imperial Army a significant victory. Fie could only wonder how the war would shift from here.
Anyone else think that some of the times when Rean was in Valimar would have made for a good excuse to not have him in your party? Love the guy, but it would have been fun seeing the others take charge for a bit instead of having to wait around for him to finish with the mech fight.
Either way, I'm just glad that this section seems to be cruising as quickly as I was hoping. I think I got a little too bogged down in all the plot of the early parts of CS2. Thankfully the rest of the game up until the finale is pretty open, so it should go fast. And after that is the epilogue, which I think will end up being a lot of fun.