Chapter Text
Everyone gathered around Zeri, the mood being a cheerful one.
“Yo, Zeri, glad to have you back!” Avan jumped over and embraced him.
“Things weren’t the same without you being around,” Zeri said, “I missed you.”
“You warm my heart, man,” Avan held onto him for a while longer before letting go.
This gave Magari the opportunity to run in and embrace him next.
“I missed you so much, Zeri! Please don’t disappear on us again, I didn’t know what to do without you.”
“I’m here to stay, Magari, I promise I won’t disappear like that on you again. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up.”
She nodded in approval, before she let go and run back into the crowd. The normally shy girl had gained the courage to be more open around others, thanks to him. He looked forward to being around her again.
Next to her back in the crowd was Mischlitt. The normally reserved girl flashed a smile at him, ever so slightly, a change from her usual demeanor and a sign of how comfortable she became around him.
Everyone clamored to ask Zeri all sorts of questions, but they soon shifted their attention to Lavinia, who climbed out of the tank.
“Listen up, y’all! This here is the debut of our tank! It’s been a long time coming, and thanks to all of you who helped me out around the shop, here we are! And I thought, what better way than this to bring back Zeri? Thought you all needed the morale booster.”
Class G chanted Zeri’s name. As he looked around at his classmates, he was reminded that he was never alone, and that he always had a place in Class G. Whatever doubts he had long ago, were well gone. After being in relative isolation, he was back into the light. Once the crowd calmed down, Lavinia continued.
“Things are going to get serious from now on. We have Class B to take on for the quarter finals. We’ll be using tanks for this round. They’ll have a tank, of course, but we’ll have our own. Thankfully, nothing more than that. I’ll be here to provide support. This may not be real combat, but that won’t stop us! We’ll get things done!”
Avan saw his opportunity to speak next.
“You heard her! We’re on the last round of the qualifiers, and while we may have lost a few matches, we’ve won a few others. If we win this one, we’ll move on to the playoffs! We’ve made a name for ourselves, we’re the talk of campus, but there are still a lot of people who don’t expect much from us. We’ll continue to prove them wrong. Each one of them. We’ll do what we usually do, go hard and fast. And our secret weapon? Zeri, my main man,” he pointed his thumb at him.
Zeri picked up without skipping a beat. “I’ll be running with Avan, just like the last time I was around. Going forward, our matches will take place outside of campus. This means we’ll have to deal with the terrain and more obstacles, compared to the drill grounds. Lavinia filled me in on the details, that we’ll have the tank at our disposal for this round. While we won’t be able to keep Orta at the camp, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
What he didn’t tell everyone was that he spent a great deal of time in the area because of the training that Clementia put him through. Because the training was done in secret, he couldn’t let his classmates know, since it would only bring on more questions, enough to possibly distract them from the match at hand. Knowing that he was in excellent shape was enough.
“Right on. I think that about covers everything. Zeri and I will lead the way. Any of you are more than welcome to tag along with us, until you’re ready to break off. Now who’s with me?” Avan shouted.
“Yeah!” Everyone shouted back as they raised their arms in the air.
“Alright everyone, let’s do this. Class G, moving out!” Avan shouted.
The students all got into position for the match. Some went over to Avan and Zeri’s side, including Magari and Mischlitt, while some of the others gathered by the tank. The rest stayed behind to either defend the base camp or be on standby. Lavinia gave the thumbs up to Zeri and Avan to reassure them that she had a handle on things.
The two team leaders led the group out into the field, while the tank trailed slowly behind. One by one, their classmates broke off into separate directions, until only Avan and Zeri remained.
After all the time that Zeri spent training out in these fields, he was glad to be around other people again. His only solace during those times were with Aliasse. The amount of times they relied on each other made them grow even closer than they were before. He thought about how they were sent out into training, sometimes lasting all day. To the training was physically strenuous was an understatement. Aliasse was no ordinary human, and by now, neither was Zeri. He wondered when she could join Class G for the Laevatein Cup, but that was up to Clementia.
“Say, Zeri, I take it you’ve been hanging in there?” Avan asked as they continued their march across the field.
“You could say that much.” Zeri wished he could tell Avan everything, but maybe when the time was right. “I should ask you and everyone else the same thing.”
“Oh man, you should have seen how we’ve improved. Not going to lie, we had trouble focusing on things without you around, but…”
“…you had plenty of brains around,” Zeri quipped.
“Magari and Mischlitt were a huge help! Never underestimate the quiet ones.”
“Without you, I don’t think Magari would have opened up so much. She used to only be like this around me.”
Zeri assumed that Avan and the rest knew their way around the area, enough, though not to the extent to which he was familiar. Which paths to take, where to take cover. Sandbags, hills, bushes, anything and anywhere really. The difference was in the amount of time he spent training there compared to the rest, particularly during the night. He doubted any of the matches would take place at night, but the familiarity helped, regardless of the time of day.
His submachine gun at hand and a pack of ragnaid readily accessible, he treaded carefully, looking around for any possible traps, with Avan doing the same. They peered through some bushes, seeing some of the opposing students running across the open field. All looked good so far.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Avan and Zeri moved out of hiding to walk across the open field. Nothing should go wrong, he thought.
Then his problems began. Hearing the treads of a tank rumbling closer within range, Zeri realized that they had been ambushed. He slowed down his vision to take in his surroundings and process how to get out of harms way. Usually, his vision turned gray except for the people or things of importance around him in social situations, specifically Juliana, but this was new for him in combat. As the machine gun turret turned around to aim, he grabbed Avan and ran towards cover.
He was reminded of the time the two of them took on the tank in Arlem, and that was before he was involuntarily augmented with the Ragnite-based enhancements.
Then he heard the roar of an anti-armor round coming their way, which flushed them out of their cover. In the midst of the smoke, he realized that both the anti-armor cannon and the machine gun turret used live rounds. There were supposed to be practice rounds only, non-lethal enough to pass for simulated combat, not real combat. Something didn’t add up, but he had no time to think as they were flushed out of cover. Questions could be asked later.
“I have an idea,” Avan shouted.
“I have a very good idea of what you have in mind,” Zeri shouted back.
To keep the tank from deciding where to aim, they broke off to run across opposite sides before they rejoined and find the next safe place for cover. It all happened so effortlessly. Before the tank could actually take aim and fire, they ran the rest of the distance across the open field, allowing them to get out of distance of the machine gun turret. Fortunately, they spotted Magari and Mischlitt.
Avan’s wild nature was influencing Zeri by the day. He was supposed to be the one to keep order and Class G from falling apart into a total operational disaster. Bless Avan and his charisma, but he was all too familiar with the recklessness and no-fear attitude that he displayed as he charged into danger. The thing was, his classmates had total confidence in their leader, which made anything possible, even with the hurdles and stumbles along the way.
At least the two were now reunited with Magari and Mischlitt. Magari checked the both of them for any possible injuries, of which they had none, while Mischlitt brought her shield into position.
They took a moment to come up with a new plan. The tank was the main obstacle between them and the base camp.
Zeri took out his radio. “Lavinia, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, kiddo.”
“We got the Class B tank on us. We’ll draw it to our side so we can get some backup support.”
“And I’ll come in to help. I have a very good idea of where you are. Over and out.”
The radio call done, Zeri looked to his squad mates and gave the signal. Mischlitt put up her shield to provide cover, Avan looked around his surroundings, Zeri led the way, and Magari held onto her pistol. It was just a matter of buying enough time.
The tank followed them, as planned, but did not fire on them. It was simply in pursuit. How long this would last, they didn’t know.
Right on schedule, Zeri saw Orta come out into the open and signaled for his squadmates to roll out of the way. On cue, Orta fired an anti-tank shell, which connected with the enemy tank. Several lancers appeared from behind the tank, took aim, and fired off their lance rounds, knocking it out of commission. Zeri couldn’t be more glad to have Lavinia at their side. Things would bode well for their actual field expeditions.
“You two go on ahead, Magari and I will take care of things here,” Mischlitt said.
This was Zeri and Avan’s cue to make their way back from where they fled and then to Class B’s base camp. The run across the field was relatively easy and effortless. With the team captain down, nothing stood in their way, and their classmates could easily handle the rest. It was a straightforward run from there. Once the base camp came within close enough range, they vaulted over the sandbags, captured it, and took down the flag. With that, the match was over.
Avan and Zeri sat down in relief.
“That was pretty bold what you did there, Zeri,” Avan said as he laughed.
“Yeah, you could say that much, Avan. I swear, you’re rubbing off on me. I’m supposed to be the calm and collected one,” Zeri sighed.
Avan and Zeri sat down in relief, glad for the match to be over.
“That was pretty bold what you did there, Zeri, heard about it over the radio,” Avan said as he laughed.
Zeri sighed. “Yeah, you could say that much, Avan. I swear, you’re rubbing off on me. I’m supposed to be the calm and collected one.”
“You still are the brains of the group. Leave the true hotheaded stuff to me,” he pointed a thumb at himself.
“Glad you’re self-aware.”
“Never underestimate me!”
“But we did it, we’re into the tournament proper.”
“You sure seem a bit spaced out. Everything okay?” he said with a look of concern.
Zeri looked up at the sky for a moment, then looked back down. “You could say that. Everything has been something of a blur for the last however many weeks.” He wasn’t sure how much he could tell Avan, considering what he went through. When the time would come, he’d tell him everything.
Avan paused, then went back to his usual cheerful mood. “It’s all good! You don’t have to tell me, I’m glad to have you back, buddy. We’ll need to properly celebrate with the rest of Class G, this is your homecoming!”
Things were going to be alright. He was back home, in the embrace of his classmates.
Castle Gassnearl was located somewhere in the southern part of Gallia, at a high elevation, far removed from other towns and villages, and yet the castle itself stood on a higher cliff, overlooking the entire area. It was the home of the home of the Gassenarl family, dating back to the middle ages, but in more recent times, it served as the headquarters for the Gallian Revolutionary Army.
The castle was a fortress. A river ran opposite of the bottom of the cliff, eventually turning into a waterfall. Within the grounds below the cliff were various encampments and buildings that served as the home base for the rebel forces. Within the cliff where the castle stood were defense turrets to defend the base, to go along with the guard towers placed below. Even if the castle ended up being the last stronghold in the civil war, it would be difficult to penetrate and capture.
Within the main hall of the castle, a large banquet was underway. Usually, it served as the conference room for the rebels, but this evening, it hosted Gallian nobles, high ranking military officials that had defected, and other prominent people in attendance, along with representatives from the Federation on unofficial business. Gilbert Gassenarl, the head of the family, stood on a podium, where he made a grand speech about the war effort. The mood was a boisterous one, with those in attendance applauding and raising their drinks in support for him.
Out in the distance, in a nearby room, Baldren and Audrey sat with food they took from the hall into somewhere more private. They were glad to be away from the noise.
“The fool, he can go on about whatever he wants, but I have no patience for his grandstanding, not tonight,” Baldren commented.
“Says the person who gave that grandiose speech at the Everhart estate,” Audrey commented.
“I had a purpose, dear sister. I needed to let those bootlickers know the follies of their leanings.”
“If only they knew the path of righteousness. They shall know their fate when we’re victorious, faced with the power of the Valkyur. Though, dear brother, there was more to it than that.”
He paused for a moment. “Yes, I know. Them.”
“They’ve been a total nuisance.”
“But not enough to make a difference in the war. It may seem like they’re on the winning side, but they cannot make up for the fact that the loyalists are spread out too thin.”
“You underestimate them. But you had one specific person in mind.”
Baldren laid a fist on the table. “I need to deal with him, and anyone else around him. Only then…”
“…do we deal with Cordelia, when the time is right. Trust me, I despise her as much as you do, but I’m responsible for keeping you from doing anything reckless,” she crossed her arms.
He sighed at her comment, knowing she had a point. “So what do you suggest then, Audrey?”
“We find a town to attack, to remind them all that we are not to be trifled with.”
“Where those Lanseal cadets will have more trouble getting to in time to intercept us, somewhere that will give us an opportunity to properly fight them. With the Darcsens as bait, they’ll be too preoccupied with saving whoever they can. This time, we send our actual army instead of the militia.”
“You get to make them suffer, and I get to work with our overall strategy. The less our father is involved with our planning, the better off we will be.”
“If only Juliana were on our side. Deep down, she resents Darcsens as much as we do. If only things were different, not having to deal with Lanseal. That damned Avan Hardins I keep hearing about. Zeri, most of all, that damned Darcsen. Words cannot express enough how much I despise him. I will meet those two on the battlefield. Those damned cadets have been interfering with us for far too long.”
Audrey resented the preferential treatment that her father gave to Baldren, since he was the first in the line of succession to the house. She wished that position belonged to her because she saw herself as more intelligent than him in every way possible. Baldren may have been a formidable fighter, but he was incompetent otherwise. Sure, their father was busy with the more political workings of the rebellion, but she still had a considerable amount of influence within the Gallian Revolutionary Army. She was not going to let that go.
They shared a common goal to rid the nation of Darcsens, but she was always aware of his personal motives, his inclinations which she was more than happy to use to her advantage. Anything to have control and gain more power over him.