Chapter 17: Götterdämmerung
Personnel: Ramal Valt
GSS Sergeant. Age 17. Born in Yugs in late 1917, Ramal comes from a middle-class family, with both his parents involved in the local administration and in supporting the Civil Rights Movement. He met Kiril in primary school and the two soon became inseparable friends, a bond that was unusual even in the city of tolerance, and made them famous with the entire community.
At age 16, both of them decided to apply for the GSS school. On Ramal part, he was following his friend and also deeply admired the Service. The two performed quite well in the individual tests and aced the group ones, gaining the attention of the instructors and the commanding officers. Putting themselves into training, the dynamic duo rose through the ranks, but when the war started, they insisted on going to the field.
Ramal can be impulsive, yet very creative in the face of a dire situation. He's steadfastly loyal toward the people he befriends to the point of taking major risks to protect them.
August 30, 1935.
It had been two days with ceaseless rumbling of artillery. Welkin for a moment remembered the pretty inspiring speech that the Archduchess had delivered to the whole army and how news was already spreading that she was actually helping the Gallian wounded in the back.
Still, it didn't change the fact that the ceaseless whistling, earthquakes and explosions were simply nerve-wracking, especially when they hit much closer to their position.
Nothing hurt Welkin more than looking around, though: Erwin had told him that the Naggiar was once a fertile land, covered in grass that, for centuries, had provided pastures and had forests and even a river cutting through it.
Modern war, specifically the first Europan War had reduced that gift of nature to a desolated wasteland. The river had almost disappeared and what little water was left had been poisoned by the imperial gases that still ran beneath the ground.
His men were sitting in the trench they had been assigned to, while the Edelweiss, much like any other tank, had been placed into ditches that would hopefully hide it from enemy artillery spotters as they Gallians waited for their next order.
And that order came not too late on that day.
Colonel Varrot arrived in the trench and informed the squad leaders that the Third Regiment was to attack the sector in front of them. The Edelweiss was to take point, in order to hopefully alarm the imperials, and while taking the first line would be a welcomed outcome, the main objective was to distract the imperials so that Gassenarl's assault armored battalion could punch through some few km north.
There was a hitch, however, and another barrage of imperial rockets sweeping the no-mans-land in front of their trenches, rocking every meter of land in a way that would have been comical if it wasn't happening for real.
"There's no way the tanks can survive that." Kiril commented as him, Ramal and the officers of the Regiment had gathered to study the situation. "We infantry can use those holes to find some cover and reach the enemy lines. If we can take their command bunker, the artillery will probably stop."
"Our job is to simply provide a distraction. Do we really have to take such a huge risk?" Faldio asked a little upset.
"If we can break through their first line, that's gonna be one good distraction." Arsen commented.
"Maybe you two guys can place some beacons to direct our artillery against the weaker points of that trench." Barnally suggested.
"Good idea." Welkin approved. "Especially considering we have been given a small mortar team."
"That can be arranged." Ramal said. "What do you say, Lt?" he then asked to his friend.
Kiril kept looking inside the binoculars and hummed. After a few seconds, he replied: "I'd like to spare the homing shells for that camp over there."
He pointed at an imperial outpost built on top of a small hill, right behind the trenches, and that dominated the sector with its high ground.
"Now we have smoke grenades. We can easily attack through that open space and fall upon them before throwing some real ones." he continued.
"That's quite the aggressive plan." Sanders commented. "But you have a point: we have a way to blind them, so let's use it."
"We should divide in three groups." Faldio proposed. "The first one breaks the trenches, the second will strengthen the attack on the main outpost, and the third then moves in to establish defensive positions should the Imps counterattack."
The others agreed, and so Squads 7 and 3 were to lead the first assault. Welkin let the two GSS go to inform and lead his squad: since Alicia was currently pooled with the Valkyrias of Gallia, the squad lacked an NCO, and Largo alone couldn't do all the job.
After scrutinizing the battlefield another time, they found the point where the Gallian trench and the Imperial one were the closest, so that the infantry would only have to cover a few dozen meters of ground, which, hopefully, combined with the smoke grenades would let the attack proceed with minimal losses.
And indeed, with enough boldness and by blinding the imperials for a short moment, the first wave of Gallians managed to jump on top of their enemies while these were firing blindly into the smoke. It was a brutal fight, though the Gallians overwhelmed the Imperials with relative ease, thanks to the simple fact that the Imperial weapons were notoriously powerful but quite heavy and cumbersome, two factors that put their users at a disadvantage in a melee.
It might also be useful to note that the Gallians knew that this battle might decide the future of their country, while the Imperials had long started to question the point of staying in Gallia after so many defeats on that soil.
Combining these factors, the first line was routed quite quickly, with the Militia only suffering three dead, among which was Private Coby Caird of Squad 7, an old veteran who had long fought in the Naggiar during the previous war.
The observation post was thus quickly removed from the equation, and soon enough, the imperial artillery became mostly silent, and so the tanks were able to roll forward.
While the Edelweiss and the Shamrock passed through no-mans-land, the infantry found a passageway that the Imperials had dug to link their outpost on the hill to the main trench, and so it didn't take much for Kiril to order the others to follow him into it. Thanks to the trench, they could approach with relative safety, and then the two GSS threw two more smoke grenades to cover the final assault. The Imperials fired at the tanks with their own vehicles and two anti-tank cannons, but with the Edelweiss making sure to keep its distance and the front always turned toward them, the shells mostly bounced off the sloped armor, and all the while, the first and second waves of Gallians joined forces and just crushed the enemy position.
As they looked around, Ramal noticed that Gassenarl's unit was still attacking on their left.
"Are they in trouble?" he asked.
"No, we're just very early." Kiril replied calmly, taking a look at his watch. He then pushed his earpiece and spoke into the mic: "Golim to Varrot, We have successfully breached the enemy lines, requesting reinforcements in Sector Kilo."
"Request received, Golim, stand by." the woman replied.
After receiving that communication, Kiril ordered to raise the Gallian flag on the pole at the center of the base, both to signal the allies and in the hope that the nearby imperial units would feel insecure. Yet, the young Lieutenant knew that they should try to exploit that success. He grabbed his binoculars and looked around.
For one, Gassenarl was quickly breaching his side of the enemy line, but his troops were under artillery fire. After making a few calculations in his head, the Darcsen pinpointed the probable origin and indeed noticed the flashing of the howitzers.
"Sheila, call some air support at these coordinates…" he quickly instructed. His girlfriend rapidly got in contact with air command and transmitted the grid.
Not even two minutes later, a group of three FT rumbled above the team and made a straight attack run on the enemy battery, silencing it with a payload of heavy bombs.
"Always a pleasure to see those birds." Rosie commented with satisfaction.
"Nice job, Gryphon 5." Kiril said into his radio. "See you ar…"
He was interrupted by Ramal. "Wait! What's that over there?!" he asked with a horrible doubt in his mind. He was pointing westward and slightly up.
Kiril also looked that direction and it didn't take long for him to spot three figures darting through the sky, with a dark-gray and yellow combination of colors. Soon enough, everyone noticed them and before the Lieutenant could say anything, it was Sheila who notified the Theimers. "Gryphon, look out! Enemy planes incoming from the west!"
"What?! Where?!" the pilot replied with urgency.
However, it wasn't them who needed to worry: those three imperial machines were heading straight for the camp, menacingly howling with their engines.
"Find cover!" Kiril yelled.
Everyone scrambled around just as the unmistakable sound of several machine-guns firing filled the air. Kiril dived to the ground and barely avoided a strafe that barely missed his legs. The engines of those new planes roared above him, and while he was too busy almost soiling himself, a part of him registered that the sound was indeed different from that of the FT.
He looked on the opposite side and saw the fighters fly away. Luckily for the Gallians, almost immediately their own pilots flew over them, chasing the enemy crafts now that they had dropped their bombs. Then he looked around to check on the others. Ramal was next to him and seemed unscathed as he gathered himself.
On the other end, the strafes had left clear markings on the ground, alongside two lifeless bodies of a soldier of Squad 2 and one of Squad 1. However most seemed to have avoided the rather brief and imprecise attack of the imperial pilots.
Then Kiril heard a very dear voice scream from the pain. He jolted toward that direction and saw Sheila dragging herself with an expression of gritted, determined pain. Private Pieron rushed to help her, but the Lieutenant didn't waste time sprinting toward her.
"Sheila!"
She stopped to let the engineer help her, and she also replied: "It's nothing. A bullet caught my ankle. I didn't notice until I tried to stand up."
"Stay still." Homer ordered and applied some ragnaid to favor the healing of the wound, but it was quite deep. She might even end up losing her left foot.
"Enemy counterattack!" someone yelled and Kiril turned around.
Indeed, from the imperial lines there was at least a whole battalion charging toward their position.
For a moment, Kiril didn't know what to do as he saw his beloved one suffering, but it was exactly her who, seeing his hesitation, grabbed the edge of his protective vest and pushed him away. "Go! I'll be fine. I can still use the radio, so ask me away if you need support."
Feeling ashamed when faced with that resolve from Sheila, Kiril promptly turned around and rejoined the fight.
September 3, 1935.
Finding out that the Empire now also had its own fighter planes had sent shock waves into the General Staff and chills down Erwin's spine. The fact that Intelligence had no clue either as to when did this happen was also a source of great concern. Still, one could argue that the Imps had rushed the training of the pilots, because so far, they have been easily outplayed by the flying knights of Gallia. However, the Marshall knew that armies learn very quickly in a war, and the Empire could certainly build many more planes and send many more pilots to learn first-hand.
With their most important advantage gone, the Gallians now had to come up with a new plan to win the battle. They also had to completely overhaul their battle plan and set up observation posts against enemy planes while the engineer corp was hastily building some radars in an attempt to establish a forewarning network against air attacks.
"We still forced them to retreat on their second line." Damon pointed out. "I say we keep attacking."
"Without air support, our casualties will surely ramp up." another General said. "And we already suffered quite a lot in the first confrontation."
"We don't even know where they have built their airbase." DeWytt commented.
"My scouts are working on it." Erwin reassured. "For the moment, we must focus on our main objective: force their Valkyrias into a final clash."
"Erwin, are you sure this is our best course of action?" Wilbur asked quite worried. "If things keep going like this, won't we be forced to use our Valkyrias first?"
"Not if we play our cards right." the Marshall replied calmly. "I have a plan to keep our momentum up. For the moment, all our efforts must go toward breaching the second line."
"But how?" Previette asked. "The only real advantage we have left are the radio-guided shells, but they can't really change much compared to the airplanes."
"Oh, I think they actually can, if we use them correctly. Listen here…"
Erwin proceeded to lay down his plan. It was crazy, but considering the kind of people he was going to assign them to, it might actually work. Even Cordelia told him to go through with it. So after he dismissed the Generals, the Marshall headed toward the camp of the GSS, where nearly a thousand agents had gathered.
As he entered, many operatives saluted him and Erwin turned toward the first one he found.
"Good evening, Agent. Would you be so kind as to gather all the officers here?"
"Yes, sir!" the man replied.
Soon enough, all Lieutenants and Captains gathered at the center of the camp, standing around Erwin. He quickly spotted Kiril, standing at attention in front of the crowd. The Valkyrur approached and put a hand on his shoulder with a paternal attitude.
"You okay, son?"
Kiril nodded with a calm demeanor and replied: "Yes. Sheila was stable this morning. She's on her way to Randgriz."
Erwin pursed his lips in what looked like an encouraging yet sober smile and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder he was touching before walking back inside the center of the circle.
"Gentlemen. As you have probably noticed, our offensive is quickly losing steam, and we can't allow to get bogged down while the Imperials are off-balance. Which is why it's time for you all to show why you're Gallia's best: tonight, there will be enough moonlight to allow you to carry out a series of strikes before dawn to destroy enemy supply lines and artillery posts. You will all be given two or three beacons should you need fire support."
"A night infiltration. Well, we appreciate your trust, sir." someone said with a mixture of banter and pride.
"Even if they find you out, at night nobody would be able to deploy its air force. Still, I expect you to do your best in laying low until the hour of the attack comes." Erwin said as he walked around. Then at one point he stopped, firmly planting his legs and assuming a straight-up posture. "I won't lie: this mission is near suicide. But after all, isn't the impossible part of your job description?"
The whole crowd replied with a brief shout, strong and firm just as the men who were listening.
"You are Gallia's best and brightest. It's time to remind everyone why. Now, bring me a map."
September 4, 1935.
Aduin was woken up by the sudden coming-to-life of the imperial artillery. The dim light filtering through the tent indicated that it was barely dawn. With a calm pacing, he put on his clothing and went outside his tent, finding the main camp of the Empire in complete turmoil, with soldiers all in a hurry.
He managed to halt a small group with an NCO and asked: "Sergeant, what is happening?"
The man promptly made the imperial military salute and replied with haste. "Lord Aduin! The Gallians have launched a night attack. We lost contact with several strongpoints."
Caught a little by surprise, Aduin retained his composure and nodded. "Thank you. Carry on."
"Thank you, my lord!" the soldier replied before dashing away with his team.
Aduin hurried with a quick pace toward the command tent, where he found Jaeger and Selvaria with some of the Generals of the Empire leading the various formations all along the front. By the tones flying around, it was clear that nobody knew what was going on or how should they respond.
"Ah, Lord Aduin." Jaeger said as he heard the entrance flap and turned around. The other Generals all made the salute to him.
"May I ask for an update, General?"
"The Gallian special forces have infiltrated our lines and blown up several ammo depots or even some of our bunkers and then slipped right back before dawn. Their army is now attacking in full and many our units are already out of ammo. I'm not sure we can salvage the second line." the man reported professionally, yet not hiding a hint of frustration and admiration for his adversaries.
"We are not even sure if it's their special forces." one of the officers replied frustrated.
"There are multiple reports of the infiltrators wearing black uniforms." Jaeger replied sarcastically. "Or are you saying that our troops had been ran around by some conscripted peasants?"
The other gulped with irritation.
"I believe you." Aduin conceded. "I saw Erwin and his students in action. This is definitely their doing. Then I suppose it's time to play all of our cards. It's now or never." he calmly explained. Then he turned toward Jaeger, who really was the highest ranking officer there. "General, I ask permission for me and the Valkyrias to set off."
The others looked with barred eyes, except for Selvaria, who instead became much more attentive. Her eyes showed her usual glacial attitude, yet her muscles were itching to spring into action.
Jaeger pondered it briefly, but it seemed quite clear to him as well that there really wasn't much else to do: the Gallians were clearly pushing them into a corner.
"Permission granted." he said at the end, then turned toward his staff. "Order all our forces to retreat to the third line. We will make our final stand alongside the Valkyrias."
While the officers scrambled to organize the retreat, Aduin nodded at Selvaria, who then eagerly went out to gather her companions.
September 5, 1935.
The Imperials, after taking heavy casualties, had managed to regain some cohesion and had finally retreated onto the third line, where they had stopped the Gallian breakthrough. Now, Erwin could clearly feel it in the air: the traces of the Valkyrias gearing up for a battle the likes of which had not been witnessed since ancient times.
Along the stretched frontline, there was a valley, dug between two hills and created by a river that had long deviated since prehistoric times. Once, that valley was quite beautiful, covered in grass and fruit plants. It even hosted a small town: Helbrum.
The last war had brought an end to that idyllic landscape. Erwin was there during the first battle of Helbrum, when the Imperials first used poison gas. In that occasion, only his regenerative ability as a Valkyrur had saved him, but thousands of men had died brutally and the following days saw the complete obliteration of any life form in the valley.
The Marshall stood on the edge of his side of the valley. Next to him, Urma, Alicia and the other Valkyrias stood on a perfect line. Their lances and shields at the ready as if they were part of a medieval army. Only Erwin was leaning on his greatsword against the ground.
And standing all around them were the rest of the Gallian forces, including tanks, infantry, APC and most of Erwin's most trusted underlings. On the opposite side, they could see the silhouettes and the tanks of the imperials.
The silence was absolute. Even the wind was absent, as if it was too afraid to break the tension. A tension that everyone could feel in the string of their hearts.
Finally, as the sun fully emerged over the land, Erwin felt a tingle in his neck. A number of powerful auras were not far from there, and their eagerness for battle was evident. Soon enough, on the same point of the opposite valley, appeared a total of nine figures that were clearly distinguishable from the identical shapes of the imperial soldiers, even from that distance.
Erwin felt the presence of his old mentor, and he could recognize him, standing slightly taller than the rest of his warrior line.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Urma asked patiently next to him, knowing that it was probably useless to ask, but still trying.
"I have to. Perhaps this won't have to end in more bloodshed." the Marshall replied. "Are you with me, or not?"
"What mother would I be, letting you walk into danger yourself?" she quipped back.
The man smiled, then turned toward his other side. "Alicia. Whatever happens there, do not intervene. We'll be back shortly."
"Yes, sir." the young woman replied with a visible pout, reminding that she did not share the idea in the slightest.
Erwin smirked, then rose his sword and suddenly lit up his eyes. Soon enough he was surrounded by the azure aura, but it wasn't a flame yet: more like a number of sparks gently flying upward.
While all the Gallians looked with curiosity and awe, on the Imperial side a similar hearth appeared.
"What's going on?" Kiril asked behind him.
"Aduin agrees to parley." Erwin simply explained.
Once again, everyone was left puzzled, but the two older Valkyrur refrained from explaining their reasons as they started marching toward the center of Helbrum. It took them nearly twenty minutes, but they reached the central square of the old town just as Aduin and Selvaria Bles marched in at the same moment. The old Valkyrur was now wearing the uniform of a high-ranking Imperial, a sign that now he had gone public and the elite was following him.
They stopped some ten paces away from each other and looked at each other.
"Greetings, sir Aduin. Or is it Lord?" Erwin started.
"You know you can avoid honorifics with me, Erwin." the old man replied, then turned his head toward the opposing woman. "Urma. It's been a while."
"Aduin." she replied stoically. "I kinda wish that you had just found peace, at this point."
The man chuckled. "I'm sorry to push this on you, old friend. Now, I think you and Major-General Bles have never met before." he eventually said, showing his ally.
"Not in a civil way, at least." Erwin replied, but made a respectful nod with his head. "But we do have met at Barious."
"Indeed. Though had I known that you were a Valkyrur, I would have tried to kill you back then." Selvaria returned with a firm, yet cordial tone.
"Or...perhaps, we won't need to fight anymore." Aduin intervened with a serene voice.
"What makes you think so?" Erwin asked.
"I come bearing a proposal from His Highness Maximillian. One that will go to the benefit of Gallia, as well."
"Allow me to have some reservations about this. But go on." Erwin replied.
"Thank you. Now, I realize you must feel pretty confident about winning."
"After everything that happened? Absolutely."
"Indeed, you and your allies have performed well. But let's be honest Erwin: how long do you think you can drag this war on? The Empire has a nearly unlimited amount of manpower and it won't be long before we will catch up to all the technology you have introduced in this conflict. I'm sure you understand that you either take Schwartzgrad within the next year at most, or you are destined to crumble under the weight of your own losses."
Erwin didn't reply, but deep down, he knew that his teacher wasn't wrong: every military strategist of the Union agreed that they needed to reduce the manpower pool of the Empire. That was the reason why the Federation was freeing territories with Operation Eastern Wind, but the core regions of the Empire were still very populated.
Nonetheless, at that moment, he didn't consider that much of an effective threat.
"You want us to surrender? Right when we are kicking you out?" he asked sarcastically.
"Not surrender. I'd rather suggest you switch sides while you have the advantage to push for concessions." Aduin said calmly.
"Excuse me?"
"His Highness has been very much impressed with the bravery and resourcefulness of the Gallian people. He would very much feel sorrow for taking more of your lives. That is the reason why he proposes to cease hostility...if Archduchess Cordelia agrees to a political marriage."
Both Erwin and Urma were shocked. The sheer nerve of that proposal was nothing short of appalling, considering the current standing of the Empire. Still, Erwin couldn't help but wonder why Maximillian was being so confident.
On another note, Erwin also noticed that Selvaria was looking quite embittered yet resigned after hearing Aduin. It might have been a sign that the old man wasn't bluffing.
"And what would you get out of this?" Urma asked directly. "Why would you support this plan?"
"With His Highness' support, Reite will officially become the new center of our people. Not just that, it will become a sacred place. The citizens of the Empire already revere us, but now we can finally become the guiding light of humanity. Think about it: our sisters (and occasionally, brothers) will never again be tortured and bent to the whims of nations. We can become the new arbiters of the world. But most importantly: our people will be finally safe. We will become so strong, that nobody will ever again try to start a war if we oppose it."
"Right...except that we would be vassals of the Empire. So they will be free to do as they please with the entire world." Erwin replied with poisonous words.
"That might look like it. But Maximillian is different from the rest of the imperial elite: he understands that there is no need to put the whole world under the boot. Besides, he is into this war only because he has been forced. He would be very to help negotiating a peace between Gallia and the Empire."
All of that sounded so absurd and unbelievably deliberate, a true exercise in post-truth. Erwin could sense that his mentor honestly believed in those words, but in front of the devastation and suffering of Gallia in the last months, how was he supposed to even consider anything coming from the commander of the invasion?
Eventually, he delivered his final reply. "I sincerely doubt that the Archduchess would ever consider your Prince as a suitor, especially after everybody saw how he treated the citizens of Gallia. And you can be sure that I will never join your side. I will never give my sword to someone who only understands violence."
Aduin made a soft, resigned sigh. "Then I'm sorry it has to end like this, my student. We will see you soon...as warriors on the march."
He and Selvaria turned on their heels and walked back toward their side. With a heavy heart, Erwin and Urma did the same.
Welkin had watched with his body almost petrified. It wasn't just the fact that his quasi-father was putting himself in an extremely vulnerable position, it was also the feeling that, even if he tried, he couldn't have done anything to affect the outcome of the battle that was brewing.
He gave another look at Alicia. She was standing there, still in line with seemingly no other care than focusing on the upcoming fight. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn't. Words wouldn't come out of his mouth.
"Götterdämmerung." Faldio suddenly murmured from the turret of his tank, which was standing on Welkin's right.
The young Lieutenant turned around puzzled and asked: "What?"
His friend chuckled nervously. "I just remembered of an old legend. The ancient people of the North had this belief that, at the end of time, the gods would come down on the world to have their final fight, alongside their best warriors. Now...I'm not sure if the Valkyrur are gods...but if we're supposed to be the warriors...well, I don't think we will make much of a difference." he said, smiling despite the angst that was visible in his eyes.
Welkin gulped silently: he couldn't have said it better.
The pressure became mostly unbearable when Welkin and Urma returned and Welkin heard the Marshall talk to the Valkyrias.
"Well, they won't surrender." he bantered to ease up some of the tension, and the women seemed to appreciate the attempt.
Everyone expected him to just turn around and order the women to prepare for battle, but first he went in front of Ramal and Kiril. He made a slow nod with a composed smile. The young men were nervous but returned the nodding firmly, so Welkin now knew that there likely was a plan in motion.
Only at that point he silently took his place at the center of the Valkyrur line. Welkin looked back on the Imperial side and noticed that the enemy was doing the same. Finally, breaking the silence with a sound that resonated even heavier than it actually was, Erwin lifted his greatsword as he activated his awakened form. The azure flame was soon followed by all the other eight Valkyrias, and all together they burned with a strength that caused a small whirlwind all around. Then, a total of eleven other flames emerged from the opposite side. Even at that distance, Welkin could see that the Imperials were just as awed as the Gallians.
They all stood like that for a few seconds...then, as silence had seemingly returned, Erwin launched a yell that reverberated thanks to the echo given by the awakened form. It was so powerful that it shook the hearts of all the humans around. The other Valkyrias quickly followed and so did the enemy ones.
Before everyone could realized, all Valkyrur were making a huge leap in the air, and all were converging onto Helbrum. Welkin watched as those that seemed falling stars then landed inside the ruins and were followed by a sudden cascades of air explosions that could be felt even from there.
The fight was literally so quick that many were having trouble understanding what was happening.
What Welkin felt for the most, however, was a paralyzing fear. Faldio's words resonated even more in his mind: what were they even doing there? There was no way they could influence such a fight.
Then something caught his attention: two flames clashed and, a moment later, one disappeared. For a split second, Gunther recognized Milia, her lance thrust and with one of the imperial Valkyrias impaled on the abdomen.
Milia retracted the lance and returned into the fray while the imperial one just fell on the ground from nearly five meters of height.
"Heavens…" Largo murmured with barred eyes. "That kill just...happened."
"Boss…what are we even doing here?" Rosie asked nervously.
"Forget what we are doing. I just hope I won't see Alicia on the receiving end of one of those!" Noce exclaimed.
Welkin felt irritation at how he said 'I' as if nobody else was worried for their comrade, but the guy was right. All they could do was watch as the ruins of Helbrum were gradually turned into dust by the shock-waves.
The next victim appeared: all of a sudden: Yarsa Buntloch, one of the recent Gallian recruits, was thrown outside the city and rolled for several meters before her body stopped, her flame disappeared and let everyone see the huge burning hole in her chest and her lifeless eyes.
A click made Welkin almost jump from the tension. He looked below the tank and saw Ellet taking a picture. Her face was just as focused and apprehensive as it could be.
The numerical superiority of the Imperials had forced Alicia to gather with Milia, Berthe, Freya, Riela and their last companion Ginevre Raubinger. After seeing Yarsa mauled like that, they had decided that they needed to stick together like Erwin had taught them: in a circular formation.
And all the while, their commander and Urma were engaged in a fight that seemed on a whole different level against Aduin and Selvaria. So much that the other Valkyrias could only fight among their peers.
"We can't stay in one point or they will just blast us." Riela alerted.
"Loosen up, but always stay in sight of each other!" Alicia thus ordered.
Being the only ones with any experience and training in squad tactics, the two of them were technically the highest ranking, but in particular it was Alicia who had been elected leader by the women, since Riela's unit was made up of talented individuals who generally didn't need someone to coordinate them aside from Kurt.
"Follow me!" Melchiott exhorted before dashing on the left. The other followed just in time to avoid a volley of energy bullets from two of their foes.
The Gallians returned fire and managed to hit one of them, but a single bolt hastily charged wasn't enough to take a Valkyria down.
Seeing how close the Gallians moved, the Imperials decided that they couldn't remain split either and decided that it was time to switch up. Right now, it was 6 against 8, so they decided to form into two groups of four that assumed a wedge formation and charged at the Gallian formation on two sides. However, that group quickly switched their formation as well, assembling in two lines, with Alicia and Riela leading each.
In that situation, it would all come down to training and teamwork. The Gallians kept their lines close enough that their enemies couldn't use their numbers to take them from behind. On their part, it seemed that the Imperials were certainly used to fight together, but both Alicia and Riela quickly noticed that those women had not yet seen a real fight, because as the battle dragged on, they all seemingly became fixated on just breaking the defenses of their foes and stab them.
Riela was the first to exploit this opportunity: she made a few steps back, luring her direct foe to expose her flank. Seeing that opportunity, Ginevre fired a bolt and hit the enemy Valkyria in her hip, making her lose balance and hiss in pain. Riela then jumped on the occasion, hit the enemy's shield with her own. It flew away and Riela was free to stab her opponent straight in the chest.
All of a sudden, one side of the skirmish had become even. Thus, Riela, Ginevre and Berthe charged back, now engaging a single foe each.
On the opposite side, Alicia, Freya and Milia were still in a tight spot.
"Alicia!" Milia said at one point as she stepped back from her post.
Freya promptly took her place, too, and Alicia understood what her companion intended to do, so she and the other tightened her defense for just three seconds.
"Jump!"
The two defenders complied. A moment later, Milia slammed the point of her lance on the ground, releasing an energy wave that avoided her allies and instead slammed on the tightly packed Imperials, putting the four of them on the defensive.
Meanwhile, Alicia and Freya had used those two, precious seconds to charge up their lances and fire.
Their blasts hit the group of Imperials, dispersing it. One of them didn't manage to raise her shield in time and Alicia's shot took her life. Freya, on her part, was quick to dash downward and to stab another one.
All of a sudden, the Gallians had the upper hand. Alicia motioned her two partners to gather around and prepare for the final strike.
One of the Imperial Valkyrias in front of her, though, suddenly launched a yell of rage and pain. Her flame suddenly became much more powerful and an incredibly violent gust of wind caught the three Gallians by surprise.
A moment later, that same Valkyria flew like a bullet toward the formation. She was so quick that Alicia didn't even know when Milia's head had been cut off.
With no time to mourn, Alicia quickly turned around and engaged the infuriated adversary. They clashed their lances and locked them, trying to overpower each other. Alicia could now better see her opponent: she looked like a woman in her 20s, her hair was short and her eyes were now the exemplification of blind rage, a rage dictated by the death of her comrades.
She even managed to read her surname on the uniform: Keller
Seeing that no one could win that contest, they both jumped back, and as the battle raged all around, Alicia focused all her strength against this Keller, since she was clearly much more dangerous. The confirmation to that concern came as Keller threw herself at Alicia again with the fierceness of a savage predator. Alicia blocked her thrust with her shield and the two weapons screeched as a handful of sparks came out from the contact.
The blow was so heavy that Keller was still pushing for a couple of seconds and Alicia couldn't find an opening to react, meaning that she kept her defenses up for two more blows. Then she finally managed to deviate Keller's lance and tried to counterattack, but the Imperial dodged the blow quite nimbly before delivering a rotating kick.
Even if Alicia blocked that with her shield, she was still thrown toward a wall, smashing it and the one behind it. It hurt slightly, so she quickly got back on her feet, realizing that she had just demolished a house and from the dust, Keller emerged with her usual speed.
At this point, even Alicia started to feel pure anger. A sheer will to destroy that prick that was trying to kill her.
As she literally fired up, she responded with a counter-charge and both hit each other's shield with their lances, releasing another wave of energy that boomed all around. The confrontation kept going with almost no tactic or technique. They both wounded each other, but eventually it was Alicia who managed to procure herself an opening and finally stab Keller in the chest. It first penetrated a shoulder bone, so Alicia gave another thrust, reaching a vital organ as her victim's body twitched with no more control.
Finally, Keller's head dangled down and her flame died out with her.
Seeing that, something snapped inside Alicia. She hastily removed her lance, as if that could somehow change the status of things, but the body of her enemy simply fell down like a rag-doll.
Alicia felt her heart almost exploding and a crippling nausea. There was something so viscerally different between shooting someone and killing in melee like that.
But for how much she felt confused, the sudden echo of more energy explosions quickly woke her up from her slumber and, after shaking her head, she returned to the fight.
Except that she found both sides unexpectedly gathered. Erwin, Urma, Aduin and Selvaria were all visibly exhausted and beaten. Apparently, nobody had been able to overcome the others.
However, probably after seeing that his own Valkyrias had taken twice the casualties than the Gallians, Aduin saw no point in continuing.
"Fall back." he ordered, quite calmly, actually.
Bitter and resentful, the surviving Imperials decided that they had been clearly outperformed and that it was time to pull out. They used their remaining strength to jump back to their lines, and before Erwin could even think of exploiting the situation, the Empire started a full retreat.
"Did...did we win?" Freya asked.
"I think so…" Riela replied uncertain.
September 8, 1935.
The rooms in the hospital were clearly packed, but luckily the hallways were clear enough for Isara to hastily walk among them, with Adrien behind her trying to keep up. The young girl aggressively looked at the numbers on the doors. 15...16...there was the 17!
In she went and started looking at the beds. There was a total of ten, but the person she was looking for was right at the end, actually staring outside of the window.
"Sheila!" she exclaimed.
The young girl sitting on her bed turned her head with a slight surprise and then made a tender smile. "Is!"
Isara went and hugged her as best as she could with the bed in the midst, but Sheila kindly returned the gesture.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Agusta." she then said when Adrien caught up.
"I just heard that you were here and we came right away. How long have you been here?" the businessman asked worried.
Sheila sighed. "Two days, actually. I got wounded on the first day of the battle. Kind of embarrassing."
"Is it true that the Imperials have developed their own planes?" Isara asked.
The young woman at first didn't reply, instead gripping her fist on the sheets. Her face was calm as she pulled them to uncover her feet...or foot.
Isara and Adrien gasped in horror.
"Sheila, I…" Isara said with sorrow and touched her friend's arm.
The other Darcsen mustered another timid smile and replied. "It's not that big of a deal. On the contrary, I got quite lucky. I should be okay with a small prosthesis." then she sighed. "Of course, docs say I won't be returning to the field."
There was silence after those words. Sheila wasn't certainly planning a life in the military and indeed she only lost a foot and ankle, nothing that would cripple her for life. Sitting idly was not her style, though, and she clearly felt frustrated about the idea of just going back to her family and wait while her boyfriend and her friends were out there, risking their lives to protect her.
Isara wasn't sure what to say. Adrien, on the other hand, after a moment to recollect himself, stepped forward.
"In all honesty, my girl, I always thought you were kinda wasted on the battlefield, too."
The two girls looked at him with slight confusion.
"Isara, weren't you in need of a new communication expert for your project?"
Isara's face first showed realization, then it was illuminated by joy. "You mean…?"
"If she wants, of course." the man replied with a calm and inviting tone.
Sheila was still quite shocked and stuttered a little. "A-are you offering me a job?"
"Girl, I saw your talent first-hand, and there aren't many technicians with your talent. With a little more tutoring, you can certainly help us a lot. And the pay is quite good, even for an apprentice."
Isara looked at her with hoping eyes. Sheila simply found it hard to believe that she was having such luck. "I...I have no words, Mr. Agusta. But if you're willing to trust me...then I would be glad to work for you."
"Great." Adrien replied merrily, throwing his arms around in a dandy jolt. "Then let me know when you come out of here. I'll take care of the paperwork, in the meantime." he then took out a business card from the inside pocket and handed it to the young girl.
Sheila took it and looked at it with amazement.
"I'm so happy! We'll be working together again!" Isara said with the excitement of a teenager.
Sheila chuckled. "Can't wait for that."
"That's the spirit." Adrien intervened. "Now, then, cheer up: after all, we won the greatest battle of this war."