Chapter 8: Eastern Wind

Weaponry: PzD 'Tank-Fist.'

Designed specifically to match the mobile tactics of the GSS, the Tank-Fist is a novelty in the world of anti-tank weaponry, for even if it's classified as a 'lance' it has consistent differences.

The device is quite simple and easy to produce: a tube loaded with a grenade that gets ignited and propelled as soon as the trigger is pulled, flying toward the target and then exploding on impact. While these devices are one-time-only, they are usually enough for the tasks performed by the Service.

The Tank-Fist is also renowned for its insane penetration capacity: despite its short range, even a heavy tank can easily be pierced if fired at 10 meters. This, combined with the THD being much more easy to wield than a lance, makes it a perfect tool for laying ambushes.


May 21, 1935.

The ceremony had been grandiose and especially full of tears on Adrien's part. But now, three days after the marriage, it was time for him to crack the news open to his daughter.

"Pa!" Bethany greeted him at her and Andy's new home, a lovely cottage situated halfway between the outskirts of New Leeds and the factory of Mawnokee. She threw her arms around his neck and Adrien replied by squeezing her and making fatherly giggles before putting her down.

"Sorry to barge in right now. You must be quite busy with the preparations." he then said.

"You arrived just in time, then. We're leaving in two days. I can't wait to reach the Great Lakes."

Adrien chuckled. "Ah, you always wanted to go there. Just wait until you see the Falls."

"Honey, have you seen my…" the voice of Andy started before he reached the entrance room and realized Adrien was there. "Oh, Mister Agusta." he greeted cheerfully.

"Oh, come on Andy. We're family, now." Adrien replied with amused severity.

Andy chuckled. "You're right. Welcome, Adrien. Here to see your daughter off?"

"Pretty much. Before you guys go...there is something I would like to discuss."

Andy switched his mood entirely, for he knew what that was about. They took place in the kitchen, where the couple had placed table and chairs, and while Beth and Andy sat on one side, Adrien sat on the other.

"Beth...Andy is already aware of this. Don't be too harsh on him: I asked him to keep it secret from you."

Bethany started to be worried. "What?"

Adrien took a breather and said it clear as day. "I'm going back to Gallia. I will depart with the first batch of airplanes, then I will supervise the new factory near Randgriz to build more of them."

Bethany's eyes had already widened. Then she jumped from her seat. "What?! You can't do this! Gallia is a warzone!" she yelled.

"Beth, please sit down." Andy tried to intervene.

"No! I don't accept it! You want someone to oversee the factory there? I will go!"

"Beth. Sit down." her father replied unfazed.

Seeing that he wouldn't budge, the daughter eventually gave up and sat down defeated and terrified. Her husband quickly grabbed her hand to soothe her as much as he could.

"You two will oversee Mawnokee. I need somebody I can trust completely." he added.

"But…" Bethany said with tears starting to come out of her eyes and her throat twisted. "Dad...please…" she pleaded.

The sight hurt Adrien more than he could be allowed to say. Instead, he put his hands on the table, with the palms upside to invite her to take them, and he tried his best to muster a reassuring smile.

Bethany eventually gave in and grabbed her father's hands.

"Beth, you know that you are the most precious thing in the world to me, right?"

She sniffed, but tried to show a positive smile, too.

"When your mother died, I swore to her that you would be happy. Happy and living in a world that will never bind you to anything. Now, you found a reliable man who I know loves you more than his life. Therefore, I only need to make sure that you will live in a world free from fear. And to do that, I have to go back to Gallia, to my friends who are fighting with every inch of their being to protect out homeland.

"I have duties as a man and a father. Please, just let me fulfill them."

Bethany sobbed a little more, then wiped her eyes with her forearm and said sternly. "You have to write me. Every week!"

Adrien smiled. "It's a promise." he said. Then he stood up, imitated by the others. He kissed his daughter's forehead and bid one last goodbye.


June 6, 1935.

4AM. The sun was starting to rise. Quite far from Gallia's southern border, Ramal and Kiril were venturing through a wooded hill, using the tenuous light to navigate toward a good observation point. And it wasn't that hard to find, somewhere along the ridge of that harsh terrain. So harsh, that the Imperials had not stationed a single sentry in that area, clearly thinking that nobody would be able to climb up there.

Clearly, they had never heard about the stubbornness of the GSS.

"Shall we place here?" Ramal asked as he already prepared his GLS-30.

"Yeah. There is quite the view from here." his partner replied, whipping out his binocular instead.

Said view included a series of Imperial fortifications on the main front with the Federation, and they could easily see, going from their right to their left, the first trenches, an artillery line five km behind it, and then a large base 11 km from the first line.

As Ramal placed his rifle down and looked through the optics, Kiril put down the radio equipment on his back.

"All right, let's see…" he mumbled as he started looking for a signal.

"Come on, I know Sheila taught you everything you need to know." Ramal quipped.

His friend chuckled. "Yeah. Though I wish she was here. She would get it right away." he said as he kept adjusting the antenna and going through statics. Eventually he managed to find the right frequency.

"This is Golim calling the Federal forces. Please, respond." he said.

After a few seconds, luckily, a voice came through. "Golim, this is the 101st Division of the Edinburgh Army. Reading you loud and clear."

"We're in position. Ready to direct air support whenever you are ready to attack."

"Our squads are in position. Send them in whenever you want." the officer replied with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

Not that Kiril blamed him: aside from the highest personalities of a few countries, the world was not aware of the sudden arrival of the Flying Theimers. But that day, they were going to make their first appearance on the war stage by ravaging the support and supplies of the Imperial lines.

"Let's do this, then." Ramal commented.

"Anyone noticing us?"

"So far, nothing. Though they might get suspicious once the airplanes start their deliveries."

"Maybe. Or maybe the frontal assault will keep them occupied." Kiril replied a little more optimistic before setting the radio to speak with the incoming flights and took the map that the pilots had and that he had just been trained to read.

"Gryphon Squadron, this is Golim. We have a visual on the targets. What's your status, over?"

"Golim, this is Gryphon Leader, we are awaiting at waypoint Abbot. Mark us the target and we will start our attack run."

"Copy that. Your target is a battery of thirty imperial cannons. It's placed on a line 302 degrees. Prepare two squads and leave the others on stand-by to provide air support for our allies."

"Understood, Golim, we're en route. Estimated time to arrival: 4 minutes."

Kiril then switched back to the Federal HQ. "HQ, this is Golim. Payloads dispatched and en route. 4 minutes to strike. I repeat: 4 minutes."

"Copy that, Golim. We're waiting. Request: would you be willing to gather intel for our frontline teams?"

"We're here to assist, HQ." Ramal replied on the frequency.

"HQ, once the strike occurs, we will have three more payloads. If you want, link us with your combat units, so we can better direct fire." Kiril offered.

"We appreciate it. Please, stand-by."

The two GSS waited patiently, and after less than a minute later, a young voice came through.

"This is the Hafen from Squad E of the Armored Ranger Corp."

The two GSS looked at each other in surprise, then Kiril said "Am I talking to Lieutenant Claude Wallace?"

"Uh...do I know you?" the other replied a little surprised and maybe embarrassed.

"No, but we know about you. You're the leader of the Gallian volunteers in the Edinburgh Army. It's nice to know we'll be fighting alongside compatriots."

"Thanks. It's an honor for us to work with the legendary GSS."

"All right, then, Hafen. It's gonna be two minutes until the airstrike. Load your weapons and wait for the firework, we'll keep an eye on the Imperial lines and inform you on their movements."

"That's very appreciated."

"Ah, and if you need any more help, we have three more strikes reserved for your needs. Just tell us what's bogging you down and we'll make sure is removed."

"Will do."

With that, they waited, and finally, quite suddenly because the hill blocked the sound until the last moment, the rumble of engines erupted into the valley and the first four FT entered the scene, already aligned to hit the imperial artillery.

"This is Gryphon Leader. 1stFlight is starting the attack run." the voice of the Captain came through the radio again.

The planes sped through, placed into a jagged single file, with the leader pointing as far as possible while leaving the batteries he was leaving behind to his comrades. The planes made their presence very clear by starting a strafing with their machine-guns, then once they all had a target below, they dropped their bombs.

In a few seconds, a line of explosions gobbled up half of the imperial artillery battalion that was waiting behind the main line. Looking through their scopes, the Sergeants could see nearly half the cannons completely dismembered or flaming, while the surviving Imperials scrambled around, trying to understand what just happened.

"1st Flight, impact positive. Nice shot." Kiril said in the radio.

"Thank you, Golim, the 2ndFlight is about to strike."

Just as he said that, the next wave of airplanes passed over their heads, reached the second half of the cannons and finished the job, leaving that sector completely without support.

"Golim to Hafen. Enemy artillery neutralized."

"We...we see it, Golim." Wallace replied, still amazed by what he had just witnessed but quickly regaining his footing. "Squad E, move out!"

"Reminder, Hafen: we have three more strikes." Kiril added, at the cost of sounding repetitive.

Then he heard Ramal humming in thought as he looked through his rifle's scope.

"What's on your mind?" Kiril asked.

"Those pillboxes have some crates full of ragnaid behind them. Close enough to take them out." the other Sergeant replied.

"Oh, I see." Kiril said after taking a better look with his own binocular and noticing that two crates were distant, but withing the range of the sniper rifle. So, as bullets were starting to echo and dart around the bunkers, Kiril reached Claude again. "Attention, Hafen, we're about to open a breach on the left extreme of the line."

"But we didn't request any airstrike." Wallace replied confused.

"No need for an airstrike. Just watch."

He then turned and nodded to his friend with a smile and Ramal smirked before taking a deep breath and then pulling the trigger.

The shot echoed through the valley, meaning that there was a chance they would be discovered, but then again, if everything went according to plan, they would stay there no more than other ten minutes.

In any case, after a couple of seconds, the first pillbox was blown sky-high as the ragna-crate was hit and destroyed.

Without wasting time, Ramal drew his breath again and fired the second shot, soon turning the second pillbox into rubble with the gunners inside.

As they kept observing the battle, the two GSS noticed that Wallace had quickly exploited the gap in the line and had sent his team into the trenches, starting to clear them out while the federate tank Hafen went through the breach and started targeting the fixed weapons of the imperials.

"Golim, this is the Hafen, requesting an airstrike on the central part of the enemy line."

"Copy that...3rd Flight, your target is the center of the enemy line. Beware of the left flank: our allies have broken in from there."

"This is 3rdFlight, understood. Commencing attack run."

Merely 30 seconds later, the new wave of airplanes came in and sowed death and destruction upon a good chunk of the imperial line, opening more breaches for the other squads of the Ranger Corp, while in the back, the bulk of the Federate army was starting to show up to exploit the gaps opened by their vanguards.

"Kiril, look over there!" Ramal then said.

The other Sergeant turned around and realized that, from the Imperial main base, there was an entire brigade coming up.

"Attention, all Federal forces: the enemy has mustered a large force from its main base and it's counterattacking." Kiril quickly reported.

At the main line, the Imperials were already retreating in panic after seeing their artillery and nearly a third of their comrades ravaged by the new flying machines, against which they had virtually no defenses.

"How about we send the rest of the planes?" Ramal suggested.

"Without our allies requesting it…" Kiril objected.

"What else would they need them for, right now?!" his friend insisted.

After pondering for a second, Kiril realized that it was true: the greatest threat was that large force trying to counterattack. Two Flights were bound to shatter it, though. So he took the talker and directed the remaining flights to hit the enemy formation, indeed destroying half of the tanks and severely damaging nearly all of the others.

As the Federate forces kept smashing through the Imperial line, the reserves lost their cohesion and the battle soon became a rout for the Empire. With that, the northernmost end of the Eastern Front found itself with the Federation scoring its first major victory in the war.

"Well, that was quite the show." Ramal commented satisfied.

"You bet. Airplanes will truly change the war. Let's hope the Imps don't catch up too quickly on how to build them." Kiril replied.

"Not much we can do about that. Let's leave that to the Generals. Now it begins the real part of our mission."

After he said that, the Sergeants gathered their equipment and hurried down the hill to join the advancing Federal forces. In doing so, they reached the bottom just when the first vanguards were passing below them. The two noticed a federal tank accompanied by a team of soldiers with the Ranger symbols on their pauldrons. In particular, there was a Darcsen with scruffy air and the looks of a punk, a woman with a sniper rifle with a hat and a mantle covering most of her body. Then there was a series of certainly unique characters.

The two GSS waved at them and the Rangers waved back. As the tank stopped in front of them, the officer came out of the turret.

"You two must be Golim and Othen."

Recognizing the voice, Kiril asked "Lieutenant Wallace?"

Claude made an educate smile and replied "That would be me."

The Sergeants thus made the salute and presented themselves.

"Sergeant Kiril."

"Sergeant Ramal Valt. We've been sent by General Erwin Absenkirch as attaches for the first phase of Operation Eastern Wind."

"Woah! So you are the guys of the General." the Darcsen blurted out quite amazed.

"You heard about us?"

"It's not everyday you hear of two close friends making their way into the pages of the war. And they are a Darcsen and a Europan at that." the woman added with sincere respect.

"Forgive us." Claude then said. "These are Sergeants Raz and Kai Schulen."

The two GSS froze for a moment: Kai Schulen was the real name of Captain Forseti, so that meant…

"Something wrong?" Kai asked puzzled.

The two realized that they had been staring for a second too many and were forced to improvise. Maintaining a not too surprised tone, Ramal asked "Uhm...I don't want to pry...but isn't Kai a male name?"

Kai assumed a completely carefree attitude as she replied "What are you talking about? I am a man through and through."

They knew perfectly that her name was Leena Schulen and that she was registered with her brother's name, but at least the cover of the Captain was still safe after that little exchange.

"Right, sorry about that." Kiril added with a quipping tone. "We have been marching for three days on our own, after all, our mind must be playing tricks."

"That's right. And you gave us a huge hand with those airplanes. Come on, you deserve a ride while we advance." Claude offered gently.

"Also, we've been starving for news from Gallia." Raz added.

"I promise you, brother, this evening there will be plenty of stories." Kiril reassured. "But for now, we need to exploit the advantage. Let's move up."

"Right." Claude said, then turned inside his tank. "Miles, get us forward. Ramirez, give me a recount of the shells."

And thus, the tank moved on, followed by its infantry squad, while Kiril and Ramal took a moment of rest in the back side of the hull.

"Mission accomplished." Kiril sighed in satisfaction.

"Yup. Though the real one starts now." Ramal said. "Final target: Reine."

"Well, if things go smoothly as today, we will be back in Gallia by the beginning of July."

"Right...and when that happens, I will ask Isara out." Ramal said confidently.

The two shared a quick laugh.


June 7, 1935.

Operation Eastern Wind couldn't have begun better. The first engagement of the newly born Gallian Air Force had been a resounding success and it had already become the main image that the propaganda of the allied nations was using to raise morale. While the Theimers really made a number, the offensive had generally caught the Empire completely by surprise and multiple breaches on the front had been opened, making the main army retreat in disorder as the Federal Army kept chasing it.

Nonetheless, the Empire had a few fallback lines ready, so the success of the day before would only last so long. And most importantly for Gallia, all of this hadn't been enough for Imperial Command to recall any of Maximillian's forces.

Still, with the knowledge that the air support worked perfectly, Erwin was confident that Gallia's own offensive was going to be a success.

For the moment, though, General DeWytt had ordered him to spare his Division and leave it to the rest of the Army to wear down the Imperials while probing their current front in search for any gap to exploit.

In the meantime, Erwin saw fit to train the new Valkyria in his ranks with the other three.

Therefore, Alicia, Freya, Milia and Berthe had been split into two teams to spar with each other. And while one would think that the latest to awaken would be at disadvantage, they would be sorely mistaken: after all, Alicia had actual combat experience, and after getting used to her new abilities, her proficiency was growing quickly.

"All right, that's enough for today." Erwin finally decreed.

The four Valkyrias, who were quite tired, gladly turned off their flames and retracted their weapons. Alicia had been bestowed a lance and shield, too, after undergoing the Awakening ritual. As those could easily shrink so much to be put inside a field bag given to any soldier of the Militia, of which the three women from Reite now were also enlisted in, it was easy to hide their identity from indiscreet eyes.

For now, the only other spectator in that forest was Faldio, who was extremely curious to see actual Valkyrias at work, given that he had studied the supposedly vanished civilization for half of his life.

"It still seems so...surreal." Faldio commented. "For my whole life I thought your people was a myth, but you were actually hiding in plain sight."

"As long as we didn't show our flames, it was quite easy to conceal ourselves." Erwin explained gently. "But now, hiding is no longer an option."

"So are you going to make a public apparition?"

"Yes. On the day of Her Highness' coronation, when the Europan Community will also be proclaimed."

After that, the group returned to Amatrian, where most of the troops were finishing a large exercise and in particular the Edelweiss was maneuvering alongside its brand, spanking new brothers. Though they had a much more elegant design and cover for the tracks on the sides, the original Edelweiss still marched proudly among them.

After the groups were debriefed by Asso and Rowe, who found the exercise satisfying, the soldiers could finally relax a little, so Erwin reached the tank platoon, to Welkin and Isara.

"So, what do you guys think of the new Edelweiss?"

"The difference between us and the professionals is honestly daunting." Welkin said with humility.

"Uncle Adrien and his people did a really great job." Isara recognized. "These new models have no problem keeping up with the original."

"Don't sell yourselves too short, guys." one of the tank commanders of the 1st quickly passed by. "You two can keep up just fine."

Welkin thanked him and then the rest of Squad 7 started gathering around.

"Good job, everyone." Welkin complimented. "Take the weapons back to the armory, then go get some rest."

The group complied eagerly, only Sheila stayed around. "Hey, Is, shall we go get something to eat?"

Despite the confusion, Isara seemed lost, her gaze forlorn in the distance, southward precisely.

"Ehm, Isara? Everything okay?" Alicia asked a little worried.

Suddenly, the Darcsen girl snapped out and realized she was acting weird. "Oh, yes...sorry I was just...ehm...thinking about a couple upgrades."

That reaction was way out of character for her, and left the adults speechless, while Sheila looked at her with a malevolent grin. "Oh, really? You sure you're not thinking about someone?"

Isara gasped slightly in surprise and suddenly blushed.

Alicia also caught up and jumped in on the fun. "Wait! Isara? Thinking about a boy?!"

"N-No! I am not!" the girl denied, unable to sound any bit innocent.

"Oh, really?" Sheila kept going mercilessly. "Then how comes that you space out every day more?"

"Oh…" Welkin voiced. "Well, I guess that would make sense." he pondered.

"Welks!" Isara protested.

Welkin smiled, though. "Come on, Is. It's not like there's anything wrong with that."

Isara didn't reply, but her gaze shied away. At which point, Sheila went and grabbed her friend by the wrist. "All right, then. Time for a girls talk."

"Uh? Wait...Sheila?" the other asked baffled as her friend started dragging her away. "Help me!" but there was little she could do: Isara was very weak compared to Sheila.

Alicia just bursted out laughing and even Erwin couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Ah, must be nice to be young."

A voice then coughed to call attention. The three turned around and saw Juno Coren.

"Excuse me, General. General DeWytt just arrived and is looking for you."

Surprised by that announcement, Erwin replied nonetheless. "Thank you, Corporal. I'll be on my way." and walked out, leaving the members of the Militia to their deserved rest.

The General then quickly headed back to the command building, where an assistant told him that DeWytt had been already escorted into Erwin's office. He quickly headed there and found the Chief of Staff waiting on a chair.

"Sir." Erwin saluted.

"Sorry to arrive unannounced, Erwin." the old officer said. "But we have an emergency."

"That would be?"

DeWytt stood up and sighed before replying firmly. "The Imperials launched a surprise attack on our northern line and broke through. Fouzen is vulnerable."

Erwin froze in place, then reacted "We need to send out Gryphon, right now!"

"Calm down, my friend." DeWytt reassured. "I already gave the order to evacuate as much as possible. We have enough ragnite reserves to keep operating for three months, but first there's something else that needs our attention."

"What could possibly be more…?" he started, but then realized quickly. "The Kloden Wildwood."

DeWytt made a slow nod. "Correct. Your men's most recent adventure indicates that the Imperials probably have a presence in the Wildwood that we ignore. For all we know, that was the last outpost, but we can't take that risk: our southern border must be completely under our control for when the Federation will finally liberate Wesel." he said, referring to the associated state of the Federation that bordered Gallia on the south, and that had been quickly overrun in the first days of the war.

"It would make sense: the Wesel city of Reine is an important logistical hub for the Empire, and it's not far from our southern border."

"Indeed. If we push our way through the Wildwood, we will be able to put pressure on the Imperials and help our allies' advance. Now, officially, we can't use the Militia outside our borders, so if you think you have a chance at hitting the Imps from the north, leave the Third Regiment as a rearguard, then keep advancing toward Reine."

"I'll send a coded message to Ramal and Kiril, so they can inform the Feds." Erwin finally decided.

DeWytt nodded. "Good. We will hold the line here. Now go and make sure we don't have a second front."

Erwin saluted. "Yes, sir." and then left the office. For a moment he remembered that the Nameless were also prowling the Wildwood in their search for the Calamity Raven. It might have been better to see if they could catch two birds with one stone.


The Federation was advancing with incredible speed. In just a day, a good chunk of the western portions of Wesel and Assen had been liberated, and the Generals seemed intent on exploiting the advantage as much as possible, pushing their men as far as they could go.

For Ramal and Kiril, this was a good thing because it meant that they might see Gallia again soon, though the company of Squad E wasn't bad at all.

"You took a camp all by yourself? No damn way!" Raz said after hearing the story of the Kloden incident.

"I'd say I mostly scared them out of it. But if the others hadn't arrived, I would have ran out of ammo very quickly." Ramal declined the compliment cordially.

"It still takes a lot of courage and decision-making to come up with such a plan." Claude replied. "You two make quite the efficient team."

"And those shots yesterday morning were really impressive." Kai added. "It's not that easy to hit a target so far away."

"All it takes is constant training. But I bet you know that as I do." Ramal returned in kind.

"We have also heard some stories about your team, Lieutenant Wallace." Kiril deviated. "And about the Ranger Corp. It seems like they weren't exaggerated."

"Please, just Claude is fine." the Lieutenant insisted.

"Ok, Claude."

"Even if they're our guests, Claude, it wouldn't be bad to retain some formality." a voice said suddenly.

The two GSS turned around, with the rest of the squad, to see First Lieutenant Minerva Victor, the senior officer of the Brigade and commander of Squad F. A very strict woman.

"Minerva." Claude talked with his usual cordiality. "Is there an emergency?"

"Not this time. My apologies, Sergeants, but we just received a message from Randgriz and…" she whipped out a small piece of paper. "Well, I guess it's meant for you to translate it."

"Of course." Kiril, who was the closest to the edge of the table, said as he extended his hand. Minerva passed it and the Sergeant started reading.

Indeed, the message was coded, but Ramal and Kiril had been notified in advance of all the passwords up until two days, so it was easy for him to make sense of it.

"Uh, interesting." he mumbled before standing up and replying "General Absenkirch is preparing an attack in the Kloden Wildwood to support us when we will reach Reine."

"Ok, please come say this to the Commander." Minerva replied with her severe frown but an overall diplomatic tone.

While she escorted him briefly to the command tent, Ramal was left with the rest of the group to finish their lunch. He also noticed Kai eating with a certain gusto the ordinary loaf of bread.

"How do you like this thing so much, Kai?" he asked curious. "Everyone seems to find it rather average, at best."

"Well, I just really like bread." she replied sincerely.

Ramal then smiled and his mind went to someone else "Then I hope you get the chance to meet Alicia. She can make bread with everything and of every flavor imaginable."

"Really? Then I really hope so, too."

"If that happens, you're gonna need a diet for months after." Raz teased her.

That only earned him an elbow to the arm.

"Still, we will get a chance to fight with the legendary Erwin Absenkirch." Claude said on another note. "I can't believe I'm saying this: but I'm looking quite forward to that."

"Trust me. Whatever expectation you have about him…he'll manage to surprise you even more." Ramal replied.